| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To prevent drop of the power generating characteristics of a fuel cell caused by its interative start and stop of thermal operation by supplying an inert gas to the air electrode side during the process of the fuel cell being in the start heating or stop cooling. CONSTITUTION:When a fuel cell is at a temp. rising stage till the cell operating temp. or at the sinking stage from the cell operating temp., an inert gas is supplied to the air electrode 2 side of a solid electrolyte 1 on whose other side a fuel electrode 3 is formed. Thereby oxygen supply to the air electrode 2 is suppressed to allow preventing exfoliation from the solid electrolyte due to grain growth of the air electrode 2 even in case start and stop are repeated. Accordingly it is possible to maintain the power generating characteristics stably for a long period of time even though the fuel cell is operated with iterative starts and stops. The air electrode 2 should preferably be made of a composite oxide containing at least La and Mn and/or Co or a material prepared by substituting part of these metal components with an alkali earth metal. |
