Abstract: A cogeneration apparatus including a polymer electrolyte fuel cell that generates electric power using a fuel gas and oxidizing gas; an internal circulation circuit that circulates an internal heat transport medium into the fuel cell; internal circulating means of circulating the internal heat transport medium; first heat exchanging means of exchanging heat of the internal heat transport medium with an external heat transport medium; a fuel cell main unit that incorporates the fuel cell, the internal circulation circuit, the internal circulating means and the first heat exchanging means; and heat utilizing means of utilizing heat of the external heat transport medium heat-exchanged by the first heat exchanging means through waste heat collecting pipes.

Abstract: A condenser condenses an unused exhaust gas exhausted from a fuel cell and recovers water, condensation-capacity detection means always monitors the condensation capacity of the condenser, control means controls an output of heat-transport-medium circulation means, stores the exhaust heat of the fuel cell in heat-using means when a sufficient condensation capacity is left, and stops the heat-transport-medium circulation means to complete exhaust-heat recovery when the condensation capacity lowers. Moreover, a fuel cell, a cooling pipe through which a first heating medium of carrying the heat of the fuel cell circulates, a cooling-water pump of circulating the first heating medium, and a fuel-cell-temperature detector of detecting the temperature of the fuel cell are used to operate a cooling-water pump until the temperature detected by the fuel-cell-temperature detector becomes a predetermine threshold value or less even after supply of a fuel and an oxidant to the fuel cell is stopped.

Abstract: To provide a fuel cell power generator capable of reliably recognizing ignition and misfire of a burner for heating a fuel gas generator and operating safely, a fuel cell power generator comprising, a fuel gas generator for generating a fuel gas composed mainly of hydrogen from a raw material for power generation and water, a water feeder for feeding water to the fuel gas generator, and a fuel cell for performing power generation using the fuel gas and oxidant gas is provided with: a burner for heating the fuel gas generator by combusting at least one combustion fuel selected from the group consisting of the raw material for power generation, the fuel gas, and an off-gas discharged from a fuel cell; and a flame detector for detecting the state of a flame formed in the burner.

Abstract: A grating of the present invention has a groove cross section shaped, for example, like a sinusoidal wave or a sawtooth other than a laminar shape, and a groove bottom part shaped as a flat form. In a region wherein the groove cycle and the used wavelength are the same degree for wavelengths from near infrared to infrared, the grating of the present invention has the excellent spectrum performance (high efficiency in balance in a wide wavelength zone) more than a holographic grating and an echellette grating in related arts. When replicas for the grating of the present invention are manufactured, the engagement force of grooves with each other is small as the groove aspect ratio is small, and a release agent sufficiently reaches the groove bottom as the groove bottom is large.

Abstract: A fuel cell power generation system has inert gas supply means of supplying a particular inert gas at least to the reformer; and alternative gas supply means of supplying an alternative gas other than the particular inert gas at least to the reformer, wherein when the operation of the fuel cell is stopped, the alternative gas supply means is used to discharge hydrogen rich gas staying at least in the reformer if the stop of the operation of the fuel cell is an ordinary stop, and the inert gas supply means is used to perform the discharge if the stop of the operation of the fuel cell is an emergency stop.

Abstract: A fuel cell generation system, in which an interior of a package is partitioned into a gas path compartment and a non gas compartment with a partition wall, a component through which flammable gas flows is placed within the gas path compartment, a part of the frame member of the package constituting the gas path compartment is provided with gas path compartment inlets, a gas path compartment outlet and a ventilation fan, a component through which the flammable gas does not flows is placed within the non gas compartment, and a part of the frame member of the package of the non gas compartment is provided with a non gas compartment inlet, allowing a blower inlet to open into an interior of the non gas compartment and allowing an air outlet to open into an exterior of the package.

Abstract: A stable and high reliability fuel cell electricity-generating device capable of generating electricity even in the case of sudden drop of load power. A fuel cell generating electric power from a fuel and an oxidizer, a fuel processor producing fuel to be supplied into the fuel cell from an electricity-generating material, a combustion device combusting a residual fuel gas unconsumed in the fuel cell to raise the temperature of the fuel processor, and an electric power generation instructing means of determining the electric power generated by the fuel cell, wherein when the electric power generation instructing means decreases the electric power generated by the fuel cell depending on the decrease of load power to be supplied, the rate at which the generated electric power is decreased is made different depending on the change of the temperature of the fuel processor.

Abstract: It has been difficult to reduce a waste of energy in a fuel cell power generating process when, for example, a temporary rise or drop of a power load occurs. A fuel cell power generation system includes: load detection means of detecting power requested by a load; and output control means of accumulating a time at which a detected power requested by the load is equal to or larger than a predetermined value when a fuel cell body does not generate power to be supplied to the load, and allowing the fuel cell body to start generating power to be supplied to the load according to a predetermined rule based on an accumulation result.

Abstract: It has been difficult to reduce a waste of energy in a fuel cell power generating process when, for example, a temporary rise or drop of a power load occurs. A fuel cell power generation system includes: load detection means of detecting power requested by a load; and output control means of accumulating a time at which a detected power requested by the load is equal to or larger than a predetermined value when a fuel cell body does not generate power to be supplied to the load, and allowing the fuel cell body to start generating power to be supplied to the load according to a predetermined rule based on an accumulation result.

Abstract: A fuel cell system is disclosed, comprising, within a package, a fuel cell stack; a hydrogen-rich gas supply means configured to supply a hydrogen-rich gas; a combustible gas detector configured to detect leakage of a combustible gas which is the hydrogen-rich gas or a raw fuel gas which is a raw material of the hydrogen-rich gas within the package; a combustible gas guide pipe through which the combustible gas is guided into the package; and a controller; wherein the controller is configured to inject the combustible gas intermittently through the combustible gas guide pipe, and to perform a self-diagnostic process as to whether or not the combustible gas detector is functioning properly.

Abstract: A cogeneration system of the present invention includes: a power generation system equipped with a power generator; waste heat utilization system for recovering waste heat from the power generator, storing the heat, and utilize the waste heat as an effective output thermal energy; and a waste heat utilization promoting system for promoting utilization of the effective output thermal energy in the waste heat utilization system to avoid a stop of the system associated with a heat storage amount reaching a full amount. The waste heat utilization promoting system is equipped with a stop predicting function to predict an operation stop of the power generation system by comparing a current operating state with a reference pattern and computing an operation sustainable time, and a stop warning function to give the user a warning of the operation stop with an image or sound according to stop prediction information obtained.

Abstract: A fuel cell cogeneration system comprises a fuel cell, a cooling system for the fuel cell, a heater, a heat utilization portion configured to store heat recovered in the cooling system to allow the heat to be consumed, a detector configured to detect calories remaining in the heat utilization portion, and a controller, wherein the controller determines whether or not the calories remaining in the heat utilization portion are at least not less than the calories required to increase the temperature of the fuel cell to the operating temperature, and based on determination, increases the temperature of the fuel cell to the operating temperature by supplying the remaining calories to the fuel cell through the cooling system and/or by heating the cooling water in the cooling system by the heater.

Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a fuel generator for generating a fuel gas from a feedstock; a fuel supplying conduit for supplying the fuel gas produced by the fuel generator to the fuel cell; a fuel exhausting conduit for introducing a remaining fuel gas, which has not been consumed by the fuel cell, to a combustion chamber of the fuel generator; a first bypass conduit for connecting the fuel supplying conduit with the fuel exhausting conduit; a second bypass conduit for supplying the feedstock to the fuel exhausting conduit. The fuel cell system further comprises: either one of (1) a gas pathway switching device A installed at a junction of the fuel supplying conduit and the first bypass conduit; and (2) a gas pathway switching device B installed at a junction of the fuel exhausting conduit and the first bypass conduit.

Abstract: There are provided a fuel cell, a fuel gas supplying unit, an oxidizer gas supplying unit, a state detecting unit of detecting the temperature of the fuel gas supplying unit, an operation controlling unit of detecting abnormalities of predetermined functions performed by the fuel gas supplying unit utilizing the results detected by the state detecting unit and performing operation control in an operation mode corresponding to the contents of abnormalities, and an operation mode switching unit of switching to an operation mode corresponding to the contents of abnormalities.

Abstract: A power controller includes power storage means for storing DC power from DC power generation means that. Power conversion means include a DC/DC converter that converts a voltage when receiving a DC input. Charge and discharge means discharge electric power from the power storage means to the power conversion means and charge DC power from the DC power generation means in the power storage means. The charge and discharge means are provided among the DC power generation means, the power storage means and the power conversion means. Detection means detect electric energy of an external power load to which power from at least the power conversion means is supplied. Control means control operation of the charge and discharge means on the basis of the detected electric energy.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an electric power generator and its operation method, which electric power generator is equipped with a hydrogen generator, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell for generating electric power using hydrogen rich gas from the hydrogen generator, a burner for heating the hydrogen generator, a flow rate controller for controlling the supply amount of a burning fuel to the burner, a communicating pathway connecting the flow rate controller and the burner, a joint where at least a residual fuel gas from a fuel electrode of the fuel cell and/or an incompletely generated gas from the hydrogen generator are combined into the communicating pathway, and a pressure-transferring pipe for releasing the pressure between the joint and the flow rate controller into the flow rate controller; the flow rate controller controls the supply amount of the burning fuel on the basis of the above-mentioned pressure.

Abstract: It has been expected that more economical power generation could be performed using a fuel cell. The present invention provides a fuel cell power generation apparatus including a fuel cell 1 for generating power and heat to be supplied to a consumption point, storing means 11 of storing data on past patterns of time variations of power and/or heat consumption at the consumption point, power controlling means 12 of performing control for regulating power generation carried out based on the stored data and flow rate controlling means 4.

Abstract: To provide a fuel cell power generator capable of reliably recognizing ignition and misfire of a burner for heating a fuel gas generator and operating safely, a fuel cell power generator comprising, a fuel gas generator for generating a fuel gas composed mainly of hydrogen from a raw material for power generation and water, a water feeder for feeding water to the fuel gas generator, and a fuel cell for performing power generation using the fuel gas and oxidant gas is provided with: a burner for heating the fuel gas generator by combusting at least one combustion fuel selected from the group consisting of the raw material for power generation, the fuel gas, and an off-gas discharged from a fuel cell; and a flame detector for detecting the state of a flame formed in the burner.

Abstract: The fuel cell system includes a humidifying unit for humidifying supply air to be supplied to the fuel cell, utilizing cooling water used for cooling the fuel cell. It also includes a pre-humidifying unit for humidifying the supply air beforehand with air discharged from the fuel cell, the pre-humidifying unit being positioned in the upstream of the humidifying unit within a supply air path. The cooling water, which recovered heat generated when the fuel cell generated electricity, releases heat in a cooling water heat radiator. The heat is then utilized for heating water which circulates in a hot water path and the hot water is stored in a hot water reserve tank.

Abstract: A fuel cell system comprises a reformer for reforming a feed material to generate a reformed gas containing hydrogen, a material feed means for feeding the feed material to the reformer, a heater for heating the reformer, a fuel cell for generating a power by reacting the reformed gas supplied from the reformer with an oxidizing gas, and a temperature detector for detecting a temperature at a predetermined position in the fuel cell system, and in a first antifreezing operation mode, when the detector detects a temperature which is not higher than a threshold, the feed material heated in the reformer by the heater is caused to flow through flow passages and of the reformed gas.