Abstract: A humidifier 21 for use with a fuel cell 1, including a plurality of combined water permeable membranes or water permeable devices 21, each of the water permeable membranes or water permeable devices generating humidified gas by flowing therein different gases with different moisture contents and by moisture exchanging between the different gases so that one dry gas with smaller moisture content is humidified with the other moist gas with larger moisture content; and flowing passage switching devices Va for optionally switching flowing passages Ca of the dry gas. The flowing passage switching devices Va switches the flowing passage Ca in accordance with a required amount of the humidified gas so as to selectively use particular water permeable membranes or a particular water permeable device 21 from among the plurality of water permeable membranes or water permeable devices 21.

Abstract: The present invention is made for supplying the humidifying module, which has a water permeable hollow fiber membrane bundle, at the about center part of which an bottomed inner flow passage are inserted, which gives the improved output responsibility and the startup responsibility, and which can prevent the occurrence of the remained water, even if the fluid containing steam and condensed water is led to the inner flow passage.

Abstract: The present invention provides the fuel cell system, in which the decrease in the power generation and the degradation of the durability of the fuel cell can be prevented even if the temperature of fuel cell is low at starting or the ambient temperature is low. On the fuel cell starting electric power generation, the air supplied to the cathode inlet is humidified by the hollow fiber membrane humidifier and the hydrogen gas supplied to be anode inlet is humidified by another hollow fiber membrane humidifier. The cooling fluid of the cooling line, which absorbs the heat from the fuel cell and flows into the heat exchanger, heats the hollow fiber membrane humidifiers. Thus the humidification is promoted by heating the humidified air and hydrogen gas to raise their dew-point temperatures.

Abstract: The invention provides a fuel cell system, which has a humidifying apparatus to supply the sufficient moisture to the solid electrolyte membrane of a fuel cell and is capable of preventing the mixture of fuel and oxidant gases in the apparatus. The hydrogen gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell is humidified in the first humidifier and the air Ad supplied to the cathode is humidified in the second humidifier. The first humidifier has the non-porous water permeable membrane, which is permeable only to the moisture of the cathode off-gas discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell, on the other hand the second humidifier has the porous water permeable membrane, which is permeable to the moisture of the cathode off-gas.

Abstract: A fuel cell system 10 of the present invention comprises a fuel cell 11, an ejector 15 which mixes an exhaust gas exhausted from the fuel cell 11 with a fuel gas, and circulating this mixed gas to the fuel cell 11, and a fuel humidifying section 16 for bringing the exhaust gas exhausted from the fuel cell 11 into contact with the fuel gas which is made to flow out from the ejector 15, via a water permeable membrane, to thereby humidify the fuel gas by the water content contained in the exhaust gas. The fuel humidifying section 16 is arranged between the fuel cell 11 and the ejector 15.

Abstract: A more compact humidifying apparatus for a fuel cell can be implemented. In the present invention, hydrogen humidifying modules 30A and 30B are disposed so as to be separated vertically on the front surface side of the humidifying unit 20, the air humidifying modules 30C and 30D are disposed separated vertically on the back side surface thereof, and the air humidifying modules 30E is disposed at the center, surrounded by the humidifying modules 30A, 30B, 30C, and 30D. The axis direction of all of the humidifying modules 30A to 30E are disposed so as to be parallel to each other, only the hydrogen humidifying module 30A is disposed so that its position is shifted to the left (the longitudinal direction) of the axial direction of the other humidifying modules 30A to 30E, and the air off gas discharge pipes 43 of the air humidifying modules 30C to 30E are disposed in the space formed by this shift.

Abstract: A humidifier for fuel cell of the present invention comprises a hollow fiber membrane module in which a hollow fiber membrane bundle, comprising hollow fiber membranes bundled together, is accommodated inside a housing. The module comprises an entrance head which supplies off-gas inside the hollow fiber membranes, an exit head which converges off-gas, which has passed through the hollow fiber membranes, at another end of the hollow fiber membrane module, and an exhaust exit which exhausts liquid, accumulated in the entrance head. According to this humidifier, it is possible to prevent the hollow fiber membranes from becoming blocked by water.

Abstract: A small and simple humidifier comprised of at least one hollow fiber membrane module formed by inserting into a cylindrical housing, both ends of which are opened, a bunch of water-permeable hollow fiber membrane along the axis of said housing, fixing both ends of said bunch at the outer circumference sides onto both ends of said housing at the inner circumference sides by means of a resin to thereby block the ends of said housing so as to form a plurality of peripheral apertures which are communicated within said housing at several intervals in the circumferential direction, a first passage which allows gas for flowing from one ends of said peripheral apertures to the other ends thereof serving as an inlet and an outlet, and a second passage which allows gas for flowing from one end to the other end of the bunch of said hollow fiber membrane, and what is more, in aforementioned, said first passage and said second passage being sectioned by a plurality of overlapped plates in a dent state.

Abstract: An apparatus for warming-up a fuel cell has means for returning an exhaust gas which returns the exhaust gas to the supply gas depending upon the warning-up conditions of the fuel cell at the time when the supply gas is supplied into the fuel cell and it is discharged as the exhaust gas after utilizing the supply gas in the fuel cell.

Abstract: A humidifier having a plurality of water-permeable hollow fiber membranes placed along the lengthwise direction of a housing accommodated within the housing in which gases each having a different moisture content flow inside and outside said hollow fiber membranes to carry out moisture exchange whereby the dry air having a low moisture content is humidified is disclosed. The said humidifier (1) comprises a gas inlet formed on an end of the lengthwise direction of the housing, (2) has a construction for generating a turbulent flow provided on the inner surface of said housing, or (3) has a construction for generating a turbulent flow provided within the hollow fiber membranes.

Abstract: A fuel cell system comprises a humidifier which can humidify a fuel cell even when humidification has become insufficient at start-up of the fuel cell and during normal operation thereof. A water collecting apparatus which collects water in the exhaust gas of the fuel cell, and an auxiliary humidifier which humidifies the gas supply by using collected water from the water collecting apparatus, are provided separate to the water-permeable-type humidifier. The water collecting apparatus comprises a vapor/liquid separator and a collected water storage tank, and the auxiliary humidifier comprises a check valve, a collected water supply pump, an auxiliary humidification pipe, and an injector. The collected water in the collected water storage tank is transferred by a collected water supply pump, atomized by the injector, and supplied to the intake side of the fuel cell.

Abstract: A humidifier having a plurality of water-permeable hollow fiber membranes placed along the lengthwise direction of a housing accommodated within the housing in which gases each having a different moisture content flow inside and outside the hollow fiber membranes to carry out moisture exchange whereby the dry air having a low moisture content is humidified is disclosed. The humidifier comprises a bypass channel having a larger diameter than that of the hollow fiber membrane, in which the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane, formed on an approximately central portion of the cross-lengthwise direction of the housing along the lengthwise direction of the housing, and an inlet which introduces the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane into the housing and an outlet which discharges the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane formed on the bypass channel.

Abstract: The invention offers a humidifier consisting of a housing accommodating a large number of water permeable hollow fiber membranes arranged along the longitudinal direction of the housing and two different gasses having different moisture contents pass through outside and inside of the bundle of the hollow fiber membranes separately to exchange their moistures through the hollow fiber membranes and the dry gas of lesser moisture content is humidified. By applying such a heating means the humidifier can be used even in colder territory.

Abstract: A fuel cell humidification system is provided capable of operating the fuel cell at the optimum dew-point state when the fuel cell 1 is restarted. The fuel cell system having a humidification apparatus 6 for humidifying dry air by a water content in an discharge gas after the reaction in the fuel cell comprises an air supply line 3 for supplying dry air to the fuel cell and an gas discharge line 5 for discharging the discharge gas from the fuel cell, and the humidification apparatus 6 is provided across these air supply line and the gas discharge line. A communication line is also provided so as to be able to form a closed loop between the air supply line and the gas discharge line. When the fuel cell is stopped, the closed loop is maintained. When the fuel cell is restarted, the supercharger 17 and the heater 21 are activated for circulating the air in the closed loop and for raising the air temperature, and, after adjusting the dew-point, the fuel cell 1 converted into the normal load operation.

Abstract: A humidification system for a fuel cell includes a humidifier having a bundled plurality of tube type hollow thread members made of a water permeable membrane. The humidifier transfers a water content contained in a discharge gas, which is emitted from a fuel cell, to a supply gas, which is supplied to the fuel cell, when one of the discharge gas and the supply gas is passed through the inside of the tube type hollow thread members and the other one of the discharge gas and the supply gas is passed through between the tube type hollow thread members. Manometers P1, P2, P3, and P4 detect a difference in pressure of the supply gas and the discharge gas, respectively, between an upper stream side and a down stream side of the humidifier. A determination unit determines a generation of clogging in the humidifier based on detection signals from the manometers.

Abstract: The fuel cell humidifying system is to prevent freezing and clogging of a water permeable type humidifier by providing a gas passage switching device for changing the gas flow paths communicating with the humidifier. To direct the flow of dry air exiting from the supercharger to the exhaust passage in the humidifier, the gas passage switching device includes a first three-way valve, a second three-way valve, a flow adjusting valve and a sweep piping. In this system, water vapor in the humidifier which causes freezing can be swept off by flowing dry air through the exhaust gas passage in the humidifier, and therefore, clogging caused by ice particles which plug up the pores of the hollow thread membrane in the humidifier can be prevented.

Abstract: A humidifying system for a fuel cell, the system producing a highly wet air by allowing dry air to pass through a water permeable humidifier, and supplying the highly wet gas to a fuel cell, wherein the humidifying system comprises a supercharger between an inlet for introducing gas into the fuel cell and an outlet for releasing gas from the humidifier. Since the pressure at the inlet of the supercharger is lower than the pressure at the outlet, the flow velocity at the inlet is higher than the flow velocity at the outlet. Therefore, the flow velocity of the dry air which flows inside the humidifier can be increased so as to be higher than the flow velocity in the case where the supercharger 3 is provided between the inlet for introducing gas into the fuel cell and a gas intake opening. Accordingly, the efficiency of humidification is improved, and the sizes of the humidifier and the supercharger can be reduced.

Abstract: The humidification system for humidifying a fuel cell of the present invention comprises: a water-permeable-type humidifier for humidifying reaction gas used in reaction with moisture in exhaust gas exhausted after the reaction; and an adjuster for adjusting an amount of humidification to the humidification amount required by the fuel cell.

Abstract: A humidifier 21 for use with a fuel cell 1, comprising: a plurality of combined water permeable membranes or water permeable devices 21, each of the water permeable membrane or water permeable device generating humidified gas by flowing therein different gases with different moisture contents and by moisture exchanging between the different gases so that one dry gas with smaller moisture content is humidified with the other moist gas with larger moisture content; and flowing passage switching means Va for optionally switching flowing passages Ca of said dry gas. The flowing passage switching means Va switches the flowing passage Ca in accordance with a required amount of said humidified gas so as to selectively use particular water permeable membranes or a particular water permeable device 21 from among the plurality of water permeable membranes or water permeable devices 21.

Abstract: A compressed natural gas charging system includes a gas charging passageway whose one end is capable of being connected to a compressed natural gas supply device capable of supplying a compressed natural gas and whose other end opens into a gas vessel, and a one-way valve incorporated in the gas charging passageway to permit the compressed natural gas to flow from the one end of the gas charging passage through the one-way valve toward the other end. In the compressed natural gas charging system, a constriction is provided in the gas charging passageway downstream of the one-way valve and has a constriction degree larger than that of the one-way valve. Thus, it is possible to prevent an excessive temperature drop due to the adiabatic expansion of the compressed natural gas from occurring across the one-way valve and to rapidly charge the compressed natural gas, and it is unnecessary to use an expensive material for a part of or constituting the one-way valve.