CN112652790A

CN112652790A - On-vehicle hydrogen system for fuel cell, control method, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112652790A
Application number: CN202110157252.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李飞强; 邢贺民; 郑宝乾; 于长云; 李佳莹
Original assignee: Beijing Sinohytec Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Sinohytec Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-05
Filing date: 2021-02-05
Publication date: 2021-04-13

Abstract

The invention provides an on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell, a control method of the system, and a computer-readable storage medium. The vehicle-mounted hydrogen system includes a hydrogen gas supply portion. The hydrogen supply portion includes: a pressure reducer for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas to a range where the fuel cell is applicable; a hydrogen buffer member provided between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell for increasing a hydrogen storage volume between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell; the electromagnetic valve is arranged between the pressure reducer and the hydrogen cache component and is suitable for being controlled to change the opening degree; and a flow sensor disposed between the hydrogen buffer member and the fuel cell for detecting a flow rate of hydrogen gas flowing in the pipe to the fuel cell. The vehicle-mounted hydrogen system further comprises a controller for controlling the opening of the solenoid valve according to the measurement value of the flow sensor. In this way, the hydrogen supply capacity of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system can be improved, and the fuel cell can be supplied with hydrogen with stable pressure and large flow.

Description

On-vehicle hydrogen system for fuel cell, control method, and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to hydrogen fuel cells, and more particularly to an on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell, a control method, and a storage medium.

Background

The on-board hydrogen system is a fuel storage and supply system of a fuel cell vehicle, and the safety and reliability of the on-board hydrogen system have important influence on the performance and stability of the fuel cell and the vehicle. In recent years, with the development of fuel cell vehicles, the market share of the vehicle market is increased year by year, and the fuel cell vehicles show the development trend of high power, double electric stacks or even multiple electric stacks to meet various vehicle types with long endurance mileage and heavy load. The power of the single electric pile is increased, so that the power requirement of part of vehicles can be met, but the power of the electric pile cannot be increased infinitely, so that the defects of the single electric pile are overcome due to the occurrence of double electric piles or even multiple electric piles. The increase of the stack power or the increase of the number of the stacks of the fuel cell electric automobile can improve the power of the vehicle, but for a vehicle-mounted hydrogen system, a system with larger flow rate needs to be adapted to the high-power or large number of fuel cells so as to meet the demand of the hydrogen fuel of the fuel cell stack.

For fuel cell vehicles with high power or multiple stacks, the existing vehicle-mounted hydrogen system adopts two schemes to solve the problem. One scheme is to adopt a large-flow pressure reducer, namely, the pressure reducer with small output flow in the system is replaced by the pressure reducer with larger output flow. The other scheme is to add pipelines, namely pipelines with the same function are added in the system, and all pipelines are connected in parallel to meet the requirement of large-flow hydrogen.

The first scheme is high in cost, and the large-flow pressure reducer is short in service life, large in abnormal sound, poor in output stability and the like. The second scheme increases the cost and size of the system, and the parallel connection of the same pipelines needs to ensure the cooperative control among the pipelines, and the pressure reducers of different pipelines need to ensure the output coordination. This in turn increases the difficulty and cost of control.

Disclosure of Invention

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure, an improvement and control scheme for an on-board hydrogen system is provided. The technical scheme aims to effectively improve the hydrogen supply capacity of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system and improve the hydrogen supply stability of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system, so that the requirement of high-power operation of the fuel cell on large-flow hydrogen is met.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, an on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell is provided. The vehicle-mounted hydrogen system includes a hydrogen gas supply portion including: a pressure reducer for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas to a range where the fuel cell is applicable; a hydrogen buffer member provided between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell for increasing a hydrogen storage volume between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell; the electromagnetic valve is arranged between the pressure reducer and the hydrogen cache component and is suitable for being controlled to change the opening degree; and a flow sensor disposed between the hydrogen buffer member and the fuel cell for detecting a flow rate of hydrogen gas flowing in the pipe to the fuel cell. The vehicle-mounted hydrogen system further includes a controller configured to be operatively connected to the solenoid valve and the flow sensor to control an opening degree of the solenoid valve according to a measurement value of the flow sensor.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a control method for an on-vehicle hydrogen system of a fuel cell is provided. The method comprises the following steps: determining the hydrogen flow required by the fuel cell; acquiring the actual hydrogen flow in the pipeline by a flow sensor; and adjusting the opening size of the electromagnetic valve according to the deviation between the required hydrogen flow and the actual hydrogen flow.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by a processor, implements a method according to the second aspect of the present disclosure.

According to the hydrogen cache component, the manufacturing cost of the system can be reduced, and the problems of short service life, large abnormal sound, poor output stability and the like of a large-flow pressure reducer are solved. In addition, the embodiment of the disclosure is beneficial to reducing the occupied vehicle body space of the system, and avoids the control cost and difficulty caused by parallel connection of pipelines. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be capable of feeding back actual hydrogen flow data in the system to the on-board hydrogen system controller. The controller adjusts the opening of the solenoid valve, thereby realizing dynamic control of the hydrogen flow.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an on-board hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 2 shows a component connection diagram of an on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "include" and its derivatives should be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions are also possible below.

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to clearly describe the positional relationship and the connection relationship between the respective components in the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system, the term "upstream" may be used to refer to a component or a position through which hydrogen flows first, with reference to the flow direction of hydrogen in the system piping; accordingly, the term "downstream" may be used to refer to a component or location through which hydrogen flows later. It should be understood that the terms "upstream" and "downstream" are relative concepts. A component may be "upstream" with respect to one or more components but "downstream" with respect to another or other components, depending on the reference.

In general, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, an improvement and control scheme for an on-board hydrogen system is provided. In the scheme, the hydrogen storage volume downstream of the pressure reducer is increased mainly by arranging the hydrogen buffer component downstream of the pressure reducer of the hydrogen supply part of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system, so that the requirement on the hydrogen flow is ensured when the fuel cell runs at high power. In addition, the control scheme detects hydrogen flow data fed back in real time in a system pipeline, and adjusts the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve according to the deviation of the measured flow and the required flow so as to realize the feedback control of the hydrogen flow.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an on-board hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 shows a component connection diagram of an on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

An on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure generally includes three sections, namely, a hydrogen gas filling section, a hydrogen gas storage section, and a hydrogen gas supply section. The three parts are connected through pipelines to realize respective functions, and finally, hydrogen meeting the requirements of the fuel cell is supplied to the fuel cell for electrochemical reaction.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the hydrogen filling part may include a hydrogen adding port 1, a first filter 2.1, a first check valve 3.1, and the like. The hydrogenation port 1 is connected with a hydrogenation gun of a hydrogenation station to realize the filling of hydrogen. The hydrogenation port 1 is internally provided with a filter and a one-way valve, and has the functions of filtering and one-way filling. The hydrogen passes through the hydrogenation port 1 to the first filter 2.1. The first filter 2.1 has a higher filtration level, which can prevent impurities in the gas source from entering the system and causing pollution. After that, the hydrogen reaches the first non return valve 3.1. The first one-way valve 3.1 has one-way conduction capability, and can prevent hydrogen in the system from flowing reversely to impact the hydrogenation port 1 and the first filter 2.1. The hydrogen passing through the first one-way valve 3.1 continues into the downstream hydrogen storage section.

The hydrogen storage portion may include a cylinder valve 9, a hydrogen storage cylinder 10, and the like. The hydrogen from the first non return valve 3.1 reaches the bottle neck valve 9. The bottleneck valve 9 is internally provided with a temperature sensor, an overflow valve, an electromagnetic valve, a temperature relief valve, an exhaust valve and the like. The bottleneck valve 9 has multiple functions: a function of detecting the temperature of the hydrogen gas in the hydrogen storage cylinder 10; the function of overflow flow limitation; when the vehicle is started, the function of starting the electromagnetic valve is utilized; the function of safe discharge when the gas cylinder exceeds the safe temperature; and the function of a manual air exhaust bottle. Hydrogen gas is injected into the hydrogen storage cylinder 10 through the cylinder port valve 9 to be stored. The hydrogen storage cylinder 10 may be one or more according to the amount of hydrogen to be stored. In the case where more than one hydrogen storage cylinder 10 is included in the system, a three-way pipe may be provided upstream of the mouthpiece valve 9 to connect to other hydrogen storage cylinders 10, thereby increasing the capacity of the system to store hydrogen. In this case, each hydrogen storage cylinder 10 is provided with a corresponding port valve 9.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the hydrogen gas supply portion may include a first pressure sensor 4.1, a second strainer 2.2, a pressure reducer 5, a solenoid valve 11, a second pressure sensor 4.2, a first relief valve 6.1, a first ball valve 7.1, a second check valve 3.2, and the like.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hydrogen supply part further includes at least one hydrogen buffer part. The hydrogen buffer member is provided between the pressure reducer 5 and the fuel cell FC for increasing the hydrogen storage volume between the pressure reducer 5 and the fuel cell. It should be understood that according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the hydrogen buffer component functions to increase the storage volume of hydrogen downstream of the pressure reducer 5, serving as a buffer. The hydrogen supply is ensured under the condition that the fuel cell runs at high power and needs large flow of hydrogen. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the hydrogen buffer means may be a buffer tank 8. The hydrogen buffer means may also be an increased diameter portion of the conduit. The increased diameter portion of the conduit also increases the downstream hydrogen storage volume and provides a buffer function.

The hydrogen supply section may further include a safety valve, a ball valve, a flow sensor, and the like downstream of the hydrogen buffer section.

Specifically, in an example embodiment, the hydrogen gas from the hydrogen storage portion may have its pressure value detected in real time by the first pressure sensor 4.1 and transmitted to the controller 13, thereby controlling the pressure of the hydrogen gas in the pipe. Then, the hydrogen can flow through the second filter 2.2, and impurities of the hydrogen in the system (pipeline, hydrogen storage cylinder 10, etc.) can be filtered, so that the impurities are prevented from influencing the sealing effect of parts in the subsequent pressure reducer 5. The hydrogen next reaches the pressure reducer 5. The pressure reducer 5 can reduce the pressure of the high-pressure hydrogen gas (35 Mpa, 70Mpa, etc.) inside the system to a hydrogen pressure range required by the fuel cell. The hydrogen gas next passes through the solenoid valve 11. The opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 11 may be controlled by a controller (HF-ECU) 13 to adjust the amount of hydrogen flow in the system. Downstream of the solenoid valve 11, a second pressure sensor 4.2 can be provided. The second pressure sensor 4.2 can detect the value of the hydrogen pressure inside the pipeline downstream of the pressure reducer 5 in real time and transmit the value of the pressure to the controller 13, thereby controlling the hydrogen pressure inside the pipeline. A first safety valve 6.1 can be arranged downstream of the second pressure sensor 4.2, so as to avoid the danger of a sudden increase in the hydrogen pressure inside the downstream line in the event of failure of the pressure reducer 5. The high-pressure hydrogen can be discharged through the first safety valve 6.1 in time. Downstream of the first safety valve 6.1 a first ball valve 7.1 can be arranged. If necessary, the hydrogen inside the pipeline can be evacuated via the first ball valve 7.1, ready for the maintenance of the pipeline. The hydrogen can then flow through the second non return valve 3.2. The second non return valve 3.2 prevents reverse flow of hydrogen gas inside the downstream hydrogen buffer component (e.g. buffer tank 8). After that, the hydrogen gas reaches the buffer tank 8. The buffer tank 8 can collect low-pressure hydrogen at the rear end of the pressure reducer 5 to supply hydrogen for the fuel cell, so that the supply and flow stability of the hydrogen are ensured. A second safety valve 6.2 can also be arranged downstream of the buffer vessel 8. Since the second non return valve 3.2 is arranged in the line upstream of the buffer vessel 8, a second safety valve 6.2 is added here for protecting the line from the second non return valve 3.2 to the fuel cell against the risk of overpressure. A second ball valve 7.2 may also be provided downstream of the second relief valve 6.2. Since the second one-way valve 3.2 is arranged in the pipeline at the upstream of the buffer tank 8, the second ball valve 7.2 is added, so that hydrogen in the pipeline can be emptied when necessary, and the pipeline is ready for maintenance. Next, a flow sensor 12 is provided in the pipe to transmit the flow rate of hydrogen in the pipe to the controller 13 in real time for feedback of hydrogen flow rate information. Finally, hydrogen gas satisfying the pressure and flow rate requirements is supplied to the fuel cell.

During the operation of the system, the controller 13 may adjust the opening of the electromagnetic valve 11 according to the deviation between the feedback hydrogen flow data and the required flow through the electromagnetic valve 11 and the flow sensor 12, so as to control the hydrogen flow of the system. The hydrogen flow rate required for the fuel cell is determined, for example, from experimentally measured values by a program prepared inside the system. The controller 13 receives the actual hydrogen flow rate in the line acquired by the flow sensor 12. Then, the controller 13 adjusts the opening of the electromagnetic valve 11 according to the deviation between the required hydrogen flow rate and the actual hydrogen flow rate, thereby implementing dynamic control of the hydrogen flow rate.

Aiming at the scheme that (1) adopted at present is replaced by a large-flow pressure reducer; and (2) a scheme of adding parallel pipelines, a solution that a hydrogen buffer component is arranged at the downstream of a pressure reducer of a hydrogen supply part of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen system to increase the hydrogen storage volume at the downstream of the pressure reducer is provided according to the embodiment of the disclosure, and guarantee is provided for the requirement of hydrogen flow when the fuel cell runs at high power.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, on one hand, the hydrogen buffer component is added in the pipeline, other parts in the pipeline system are not required to be changed, and the cost is far lower than that of the pressure reducer. And the problems of short service life, large abnormal sound and poor output stability caused by the increase of the flow of the pressure reducer are avoided. On the other hand, the hydrogen cache component is added in the pipeline, other parts in the pipeline system do not need to be changed, and the cost is far lower than that of adding one pipeline. Meanwhile, the space size of the hydrogen cache component is far smaller than that of one pipeline, and the control cost and difficulty caused by parallel connection of the pipelines are avoided.

In addition, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, by arranging the controller, the flow sensor and the solenoid valve, actual hydrogen flow data in the system can be fed back to the controller, and then the opening of the solenoid valve is adjusted, so as to realize dynamic control of the hydrogen flow.

The functions described herein above may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SOC), a load programmable logic device (CPLD), and the like.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable storage medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Under certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted hydrogen system for a fuel cell includes a hydrogen gas supply portion,

the hydrogen supply portion includes:

a pressure reducer for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas to a range where the fuel cell is applicable;

a hydrogen buffer member provided between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell for increasing a hydrogen storage volume between the pressure reducer and the fuel cell;

an electromagnetic valve provided between the pressure reducer and the hydrogen buffer member and adapted to be controlled to change an opening degree; and

the flow sensor is arranged between the hydrogen cache part and the fuel cell and is used for detecting the hydrogen flow flowing to the fuel cell in a pipeline;

the on-vehicle hydrogen system further includes a controller configured to be operatively connected to the solenoid valve and the flow sensor to control an opening degree of the solenoid valve according to a measurement value of the flow sensor.

2. The on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the hydrogen gas buffer means is an enlarged diameter portion of a buffer tank and/or a pipe.

3. The on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to claim 1, further comprising a check valve provided between the pressure reducer and the hydrogen cache part.

4. The on-vehicle hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to claim 3, further comprising a safety valve provided between the hydrogen buffer member and the fuel cell.

5. The on-board hydrogen system for a fuel cell according to claim 3, further comprising a ball valve provided between the hydrogen cache part and the fuel cell.

6. The control method for the on-vehicle hydrogen system for the fuel cell according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising:

determining the hydrogen flow required by the fuel cell;

acquiring the actual hydrogen flow in the pipeline by the flow sensor; and

and adjusting the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve according to the deviation between the required hydrogen flow and the actual hydrogen flow.

7. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a controller or processor, carries out the method of claim 6.