| abstract |
A fuel cell system capable of recovering the characteristics of a fuel cell with a simpler system configuration is provided. The amount of water in a catalyst layer is controlled during power generation of a fuel cell, and the amount of water is increased at a low load. The water amount control means in the catalyst layer increases the amount of water by decreasing the gas flow rate of at least one of the fuel gas and the oxidant gas, or pressurizing at least one of the fuel electrode and the oxidant electrode. The amount of water is increased by lowering the temperature inside the fuel cell. When impurities accumulate in the fuel cell, by increasing the amount of water in the catalyst layer, the impurities accumulated in the fuel cell can be removed by the water. Moreover, after removing the impurities, it is easy to recover the power generation performance by returning the amount of water. [Selection] Figure 3 |