US 11,682,779 B2
Fuel cell freeze start method with anode pressure control
Pere Antoni Pastor Nigorra, Tuebingen (DE); Sven Schmalzriedt, Esslingen (DE); Richard Fellows, Vancouver (CA); and Laura Iwan, Burnaby (CA)
Assigned to Cellcentric GMBH & Co. KG, Kirchheim unter Teck (DE)
Appl. No. 16/954,707
Filed by cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG, Kirchheim unter Teck (DE)
PCT Filed Nov. 29, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/083011
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 17, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/120927, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 27, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2017 011 925.2 (DE), filed on Dec. 18, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0388866 A1, Dec. 10, 2020
Int. Cl. H01M 8/04225 (2016.01); H01M 8/04223 (2016.01); H01M 8/04302 (2016.01); H01M 8/04746 (2016.01); H01M 8/04791 (2016.01); H01M 8/04858 (2016.01)
CPC H01M 8/04253 (2013.01) [H01M 8/0491 (2013.01); H01M 8/04302 (2016.02); H01M 8/04753 (2013.01); H01M 8/04798 (2013.01); H01M 2250/20 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for starting a fuel cell in a fuel cell system at a temperature below a freezing point of water, comprising the steps of:
increasing a hydrogen concentration in an anode in a first step;
following the first step, increasing an anode pressure for a fixed period of time and, while air is supplied to the cathode, drawing a maximum possible current from the fuel cell in a second step;
following the second step, switching the fuel cell in a load-free manner and reducing the anode pressure in a third step; and
following the third step, repeating the second step and the third step consecutively until the fuel cell reaches a predetermined performance level for operation above the freezing point of water,
wherein the increasing of the hydrogen concentration in the first step is performed while the anode pressure decreases during the first step with the discharge valve open until a predetermined emission limit for hydrogen in an exhaust gas is reached, and
wherein, during the first step, air supplied to the cathode takes place at a lower level than during the second step.