Abstract: Disclosed is a method for controlling a fuel cell system including a fuel cell and a secondary battery, to variably control an output power of the fuel cell. The method includes the steps of: (i) charging the secondary battery with the output power or discharging the secondary battery, depending on an amount of power supplied to a load and the output power; (ii) detecting a remaining capacity CR of the secondary battery; (iii) switching stepwise the output power, depending on the remaining capacity CR; (iv) detecting the number of cycles of the charging and discharging of the secondary battery; and (v) correcting conditions for switching the output power, on the basis of the detected number of cycles of the charging and discharging.

Abstract: Disclosed is a direct oxidation fuel cell system including: a direct oxidation fuel cell including an anode and a cathode, an air pump for supplying air to the cathode, a liquid feed pump for supplying an aqueous fuel solution to the anode, and a collection tank for collecting an anode fluid discharged from the anode. The collection tank has an anode fluid collection port at which the anode fluid is merged with a liquid in the collection tank. Either during normal operation or during suspension of operation of the fuel cell system, or both, the volume of the liquid in the collection tank is controlled to be equal to or greater than a predetermined first lower-limit value. The first lower-limit value is set such that the anode fluid collection port is positioned below the level of the liquid in the collection tank.

Abstract: A combustion apparatus 51 includes a plurality of burners 58, a plurality of fuel supply channels 89, a blower 53, an air supply passage 37, and a pressure regulator 56. The burners 58 are divided into a plurality of burner groups 71. The pressure regulator 56 is branched at a portion located immediately after a gas outlet 31 at downstream of the regulator 56 and connected to the respective fuel supply channels 89, so as to regulate gas supplied at a primary pressure to gas at a secondary pressure in response to a predetermined signal pressure sensed from one selected from a part of the air supply passage 37 and the blower 53 and to discharge the regulated gas through the pressure regulator 56. The fuel supply channels 89 each are configured to perform fuel supply to the respective burner groups 71 and are provided with a switching valve 75 for either shutting off or reducing the fuel supply to at least a part of the burner groups 71.

Abstract: A membrane-electrode assembly for a direct oxidation fuel cell includes an electrolyte membrane, and an anode and a cathode sandwiching said electrolyte membrane. The cathode includes a catalyst layer in contact with the electrolyte membrane and a diffusion layer formed on the catalyst layer, and the catalyst layer contains 2 to 20% by volume of pores. A direct oxidation fuel cell including this membrane-electrode assembly has excellent power generating performance and durability.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to the provision of an FSC type color display device wherein the frame frequency is set within a range of 20 Hz to 59 Hz, and a portable electronic appliance incorporating such a display device. The color display device according to the present invention includes a plurality of light sources, which emit respectively different colors, and a light source controller for sequentially and selectively emitting of predetermined light source within the plurality of light sources, and repeating the sequential and selective emitting with a predetermined cycle, wherein a frequency of the predetermined cycle is set so that, when the color display device is held stationary, the colors emitted from the plurality of light sources are not visible as separate colors, but when the color display device is in motion, the colors emitted from the plurality of light sources are visible as separate colors.

Abstract: A method for activating a direct oxidation fuel cell including an anode, a cathode, and a proton-conductive electrolyte membrane interposed between the anode and the cathode is provided. The anode and the cathode each have a catalyst layer on a face in contact with the proton-conductive electrolyte membrane. This method activates the fuel cell by passing a current through the fuel cell from an external power source, with the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the external power source connected to the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell, respectively, while supplying an organic fuel and an inert gas to the anode and the cathode, respectively.

Abstract: The direct oxidation fuel cell of the present invention is provided with: a membrane electrode assembly including an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the anode and the cathode; an anode-side separator having a fuel flow channel for supplying fuel to the anode; and a cathode-side separator having an oxidant flow channel for supplying oxidant to the cathode, in which the anode includes an anode catalyst layer disposed at the side of the electrolyte membrane and an anode diffusion layer disposed at the side of the anode-side separator. The anode diffusion layer includes a water repellent layer disposed at the side of the anode catalyst layer and including a first conductive agent and a first water repellent agent; and a substrate layer disposed at the side of the anode-side separator, and the porosity of the substrate layer is higher at the downstream side than at the upstream side of the fuel flow.

Abstract: When update information with respect to a first database or a second database is received, a database update control apparatus updates the first database or the second database on the basis of the update information. When updating the first database or the second database, the database update control apparatus associates pre-update data with an identifier that is added to the update information and retains them for each database. The database update control apparatus extracts, for each database from among the retained identifiers, an identifier that indicates the latest update information and specifies, from the extracted identifiers, an identifier that is the oldest updated identifier. The database update control apparatus reflects pre-update data associated with an identifier that is newer than that specified in a corresponding database out of the first database and the second database.

Abstract: A polymer electrolyte fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly including an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte membrane, an anode-side separator having a fuel flow channel for supplying fuel, and a cathode-side separator having an oxidant flow channel for supplying oxidant. The anode includes an anode catalyst layer and an anode diffusion layer, and the cathode includes a cathode catalyst layer and a cathode diffusion layer. At least one of the fuel flow channel and the oxidant flow channel has a plurality of parallel linear portions. The anode catalyst layer or the cathode catalyst layer has a plurality of belt-like first regions facing the linear portions and at least one second region between the adjacent first regions. The amount of catalyst in the first regions per unit area is on average larger than the amount of catalyst in the at least one second region per unit area.

Abstract: A method is provided for controlling a fuel cell system including a fuel cell and a secondary battery for storing output power thereof. The method includes the steps of: detecting a remaining capacity of the secondary battery; determining a rate of change of the remaining capacity, where the rate of change is defined as positive when it increases and negative when it decreases; and changing an operation state of the fuel cell based on the remaining capacity and the rate of change. The step of changing the operation state is, for example, a step of switching the operation state between a plurality of power generation modes based on the remaining capacity and the rate of change.

Abstract: A rich-lean combustion burner has a supply channel through which a lean-side mixture is supplied to lean-side flame holes; and a supply channel through which a rich-side mixture is supplied to rich-side flame holes. The supply channels are partitioned from each other. A third plate member including a pair of plate parts which are bent to form a V shape at its lower end edge as a fold line is employed to form a central rich-side burner part. A slit part is partitioned and formed between side edges of a pair of first plate members on both longitudinal sides for forming lean-side flame holes on width-wise sides of the central rich-side burner part. With the lower end part in front, the V-shaped third plate members inserted into the slit part, thereby being interposed between the first plate members.

Abstract: A fixing assembly is adapted to be secured to a workpiece with a fastener that is struck out from a nose part of a nailer. The fixing assembly includes a fixing formed with an insertion hole through which the fastener is to be inserted, and a guide member. The guide member includes a base part fixed to the insertion hole, and a guide part adapted to be elastically engaged with the nose part. An outer diameter of a distal end portion of the guide part is larger than an inner diameter of the nose part.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to providing an LED driving circuit that can be reduced in size and produced at low cost, and that can effectively prevent a shoot-through current that may flow between a plurality of LED arrays. The LED driving circuit includes a rectifier, a first LED array containing a plurality of LEDs, a second LED array containing a plurality of LEDs; a connection unit for connecting the first and second LED arrays in series relative to the rectifier or for connecting the first and second LED arrays in parallel relative to the rectifier, a control unit for switching the connection of the first and second LED arrays relative to the rectifier from parallel to series by controlling the connection unit, and a reverse current preventing diode disposed between the first LED array and the second LED array.

Abstract: A direct oxidation fuel cell (DOFC) having a liquid fuel and an anode electrode configured to generate power. The anode electrode includes a gas diffusion layer (GDL) and a microporous layer, such that a decrease in the porosity of the GDL achieves an increase in the power density of the DOFC.

Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell stack including a plurality of fuel cells connected in series; a fuel supply portion supplying a fuel to each fuel cell; a current regulation portion regulating an electric current flowing from the fuel cell stack in such a way that an output voltage of the fuel cell stack is a predetermined set voltage; a voltage detection portion detecting an output voltage of each fuel cell; a fuel-supply control portion regulating a fuel supply to each fuel cell by the fuel supply portion in such a way that the difference decreases between an output voltage of each fuel cell detected by the voltage detection portion; a fuel-stoichiometric ratio detection portion detecting a fuel stoichiometric ratio of the fuel cell stack; and a fuel-stoichiometric ratio control portion regulating the set voltage in such a way that a fuel stoichiometric ratio detected by the fuel-stoichiometric ratio detection portion is a target fuel stoichiometric ratio set in advance.

Abstract: A cathode for use in a direct oxidation fuel cell (DOFC) comprises a gas diffusion medium (GDM) including a backing layer and a microporous layer comprising a fluoropolymer and an electrically conductive material, wherein loading of the fluoropolymer in the microporous layer is in the range from about 10 to about 60 wt. %. In use, a concentrated solution of a liquid fuel is supplied to an anode and an oxidant to the cathode of the fuel cell, and the fuel cell may be operated at a low oxidant stoichiometry ?c not greater than about 2.5.

Abstract: A direct oxidation fuel cell system includes a fuel cell and a cooling device. An anode-side separator of the fuel cell has a fuel flow channel in the face in contact with the anode. The direction of a flow of air supplied by the cooling device is set so that the upstream-side portion in the average flow direction of fuel in the fuel flow channel is selectively cooled. This allows the upstream-side portion of the polymer electrolyte membrane having large MCO to be cooled, thereby reducing the amount of MCO. Also, the downstream-side portion where the fuel concentration in the fuel flow channel is low has a relatively high temperature, thereby making it possible to improve the energy conversion efficiency.

Abstract: A row of rich-side flame holes of a combustion burner is arranged in center. Two rows of lean-side flame holes are arranged respectively on sides of the rich-side flame hole row. Two rows of rich-side flame holes are arranged respectively on the outsides of the two lean-side flame hole rows. Supply of lean-side mixture is provided to the lean-side flame hole rows from a tubular part. A lower end part of a central rich-side burner part is projected into a tubular part, into which the rich-side mixture is introduced, to establish lateral fluid communication, with its lower end edge placed in a state of non-contact with the inner surface of the tubular part. First communication holes in fluid communication with an internal space are opened in the lower end part. Communication holes in fluid communication with the outer rich-side flame holes are opened in the inside of the tubular part.