Patent 10164278 was granted and assigned to Hydrogenics on December, 2018 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A fuel cell power module is used to provide nitrogen enriched air for, in one application, fuel tank inerting in an aircraft. The fuel cell power module has a recirculation line between its cathode side outlet and cathode side inlet. At least one controllable device is provided to allow the flow rate in the recirculation line to be controlled. The recirculation flow rate is adjusted such that the cathode exhaust has an oxygen concentration useful for inerting a fuel tank or suppressing fire.