CN207896211U - A kind of air gas supply humidification ICS intercooler system for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses an air supply, humidification and intercooling system for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The system is connected to a fuel cell stack which has a cooling circuit for circulating cooling water. The humidification and intercooling system includes: a humidification intercooler, a humidification branch and a gas-water separator. The humidifying intercooler is connected to the air supply branch including the air filter and the air compressor, and is used for cooling and humidifying the air before entering the fuel cell stack. The humidification branch is connected with the outlet of the cooling water pump in the cooling circuit and the cooling water inlet of the humidification intercooler, and is used for delivering cooling water to the humidification intercooler. The air-water separator communicates with the air outlet of the humidifying intercooler and the air inlet of the stack. The utility model has the functions of intercooling and humidification, does not need to specially set up a humidification waterway, and does not need electric control in the cooling and humidification link, is suitable for high-power fuel cell systems and helps to greatly reduce system costs.

Description

An air supply humidification intercooling system for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

technical field

The utility model relates to a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, in particular to an air supply humidification intercooling system for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

Background technique

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (hereinafter referred to as fuel cells) have the advantages of high power density, high efficiency, low operating temperature, and non-polluting products, making them very suitable for vehicle use; and compared to pure electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries as the main power , Fuel cell vehicles can effectively solve the problem of mileage anxiety and have great development prospects.

As an electrochemical power source, the fuel cell needs to be completed with the cooperation of air supply system, hydrogen supply system, cooling system and other subsystems. Fuel cells are very sensitive to internal water conditions. The lack of internal water will lead to: (1) dehydration of the proton exchange membrane, the decrease of proton conductivity, and the increase of the ohmic impedance of the stack; (2) the decrease of the catalytic activity of the catalytic layer, and the increase of the activation loss of the fuel cell. The accumulation of internal liquid water will hinder the reaction gas from diffusing to the catalytic layer to participate in the reaction, which may cause the fuel cell to flood. Both lack of water and excess of water will cause the performance of the fuel cell to decline, which shows that it is necessary to provide humidification for the reaction gas of the fuel cell, and the humidification must be appropriate.

At present, there is a scheme to achieve self-humidification inside the stack by rationally designing the structure of the fuel cell stack and the flow field. The three-dimensional flow field design of the Toyota Mirai fuel cell stack belongs to internal humidification. However, the structural design is difficult, the process requirements are complex, the control variables are many, and the humidification effect is limited.

At present, there is also a liquid water spray humidification method, which is widely used in high-power fuel cell systems, and can also play the role of air humidification and cooling. However, the current spray humidification system has obvious technical weaknesses, mainly including:

(1) It is necessary to separately construct a water channel for liquid water spray. If the newly constructed waterway is not heated, the humidification effect will be poor; if the newly constructed waterway is heated, the system structure will be further complicated.

(2) The internal structure design of the spray chamber is insufficiently considered, and the effect of cooling and humidifying is not ideal, and it is necessary to rely on the control of the amount of water sprayed; there is a large space for optimizing the structure of the chamber.

(3) Control the water level inside the humidifier. By controlling and avoiding excessive liquid water inside the humidifier and causing failures, the system control is complicated and the system reliability is reduced.

Utility model content

The utility model aims at at least solving one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. For this reason, the utility model proposes an air supply air humidification intercooler system for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

The utility model provides an air supply humidification intercooling system for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, which is connected to the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell stack has a stack cooling water inlet, a stack cooling water outlet and a The stack air inlet, the fuel cell stack has a cooling circuit to circulate cooling water, wherein the cooling water passes through the cooling water pump, enters the fuel cell stack from the stack cooling water inlet, and enters the heat dissipation through the stack cooling water outlet After dissipating heat, it enters the stack cooling water inlet through the cooling water pump to realize circulation. The air supply humidification and intercooling system includes:

A humidifying intercooler, connected to the air supply branch including an air filter and an air compressor, for cooling and humidifying the air before entering the fuel cell stack, the humidifying intercooler has a humidifying intercooler Cooling water inlet of humidifier, air inlet of humidifying intercooler and air outlet of humidifying intercooler;

a humidification branch, connected to the outlet of the cooling water pump and the cooling water inlet of the humidification intercooler, for delivering cooling water to the humidification intercooler; and

The air-water separator is connected to the air outlet of the humidification intercooler and the air inlet of the electric stack, and is used to separate the liquid water in the humidified air, and has an inlet of the air-water separator, an outlet of the air-water separator and an air-water separation drain outlet;

Wherein, the air passes through the air filter, the air compressor, the humidifying intercooler and the gas-water separator in sequence, and enters the fuel cell stack from the stack air inlet to participate in the cathode reaction.

Further, the flow rate of the cooling water pump is fixed, and the temperature of the cooling water is controlled by controlling the start, stop and rotation speed of the cooling fan in the radiator, so as to ensure a constant water pressure at the outlet of the cooling water pump.

Further, in the air supply humidification intercooling system,

ΔP＝P _pump -P _humidifier

ΔP is the pressure difference between the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump and the air pressure at the nozzle outlet of the inner chamber of the humidification intercooler under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system,

P _pump is the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump,

P _humidifier is the air pressure at the outlet of the nozzle of the inner chamber of the humidification intercooler under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system,

If ΔP<1 bar, the air supply humidification intercooler system further includes a booster water pump arranged before the cooling water inlet of the humidification intercooler;

If ΔP≥1 bar, the air supply humidification and intercooling system does not need to add the booster water pump.

Further, the booster water pump has a booster water pump inlet and a booster water pump outlet, and by keeping the water pressure at the outlet of the booster water pump at a constant value, the water pressure at the cooling water inlet of the humidifying intercooler is guaranteed to be constant. .

Further, the humidification intercooler and the air-water separator are arranged in a vertical direction under normal working conditions, and the air outlet of the humidification intercooler is fixedly connected with the inlet of the air-water separator. The outlet of the air-water separator is vertically downward.

Further, the humidifying intercooler includes:

a shell with the air inlet of the humidification intercooler and the air outlet of the humidification intercooler;

a top cover, covering the top of the housing, and fixedly connected with the housing;

A pressure atomizing nozzle installed at the top cover, which has an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet is the cooling water inlet of the humidifying intercooler; and

The guide fins are installed inside the housing and located below the pressure atomizing nozzle.

Further, the pressure at the inlet and outlet of the pressure atomizing nozzle is fixed to maintain a fixed spray water volume, the minimum water volume is the saturated humidification water volume corresponding to the maximum air flow rate, and the calculation formula is:

In the formula,

is the minimum spray water volume of the pressure atomizing nozzle, unit: g/s;

P _sat,T is the saturated vapor pressure at the working temperature T of the stack, unit: Pa;

P _air,in is the pressure of air entering the stack, unit: Pa;

is the maximum air flow, unit: SLPM.

Further, the number of the guide fins is multiple and arranged in a staggered manner, so as to force the air to make zigzag flow inside the humidification intercooler and prolong the length of the air movement.

Further, the gas-water separator is a compressed air gas-water separator to separate the liquid water in the humidified air and ensure that the liquid water is automatically discharged without affecting the air pressure.

Further, the liquid water accumulated inside the humidifying intercooler is discharged into the gas-water separator under the action of air blowing and gravity, and is automatically discharged after being separated. The gas-water separator simultaneously functions to eliminate the The effect of the residual water in the humidification intercooler and the dehydration of the humidified air.

The humidification intercooler in the air supply humidification intercooling system of the utility model integrates effective humidification and intercooling functions, avoids the complicated design of using an intercooler outside the humidifier, and simplifies the system structure; The utility model directly uses the cooling water circuit to provide liquid water for the humidification intercooler, which saves the additional complicated water circuit for the humidification intercooler, simplifies the system structure of cooling water spray humidification, and provides cooling water at the outlet of the cooling water pump The temperature is higher, which can enhance the humidification effect; the cooling and humidification link of the air supply humidification intercooling system of the utility model does not need any control, which improves the reliability of the system.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Description of drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present utility model will become apparent and easy to understand from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is the structural schematic diagram of the air supply humidification intercooler system for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell of the utility model embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of the humidifying intercooler and the gas-water separator in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the composition and structure of the humidifying intercooler in Fig. 1 .

Reference signs:

1 air filter,

2 air compressors,

3 humidifying intercoolers,

31 Top cover, 32 Pressure atomizing nozzle, 33 Housing, 34 Guide fins, 35 Humidification intercooler air inlet, 36 Humidification intercooler air outlet, 37 Humidification intercooler cooling water inlet,

4 gas water separator,

41 gas-water separator inlet, 42 gas-water separator outlet, 43 gas-water separator outlet,

5 fuel cell stacks,

51 stack cooling water inlet, 52 stack air inlet, 53 stack cooling water outlet,

6 radiators,

7 cooling water pumps,

8 Booster water pumps.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present utility model, but should not be construed as limiting the present utility model.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an air supply, humidification and intercooling system for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention. An air supply humidification intercooling system for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, connected to a fuel cell stack 5, the fuel cell stack 5 has a stack cooling water inlet 51, a stack cooling water outlet 53 and a stack Air inlet 52, the fuel cell stack 5 has a cooling circuit to circulate cooling water. Wherein, the cooling water passes through the cooling water pump 7, enters the fuel cell stack 5 from the stack cooling water inlet 51, enters the radiator 6 through the stack cooling water outlet 53, and enters the fuel cell stack 5 through the cooling water pump 7 after dissipating heat. The stack cooling water inlet 51 realizes circulation. The air supply humidification and intercooling system includes: a humidification intercooler 3 , a humidification branch and an air-water separator 4 . The humidifying intercooler 3 is connected to the air supply branch road including the air filter 1 and the air compressor 2, and is used for cooling and humidifying the air before entering the fuel cell stack 5. The humidifying intercooler 3 has The cooling water inlet 37 of the humidifying intercooler, the air inlet 35 of the humidifying intercooler and the air outlet 36 of the humidifying intercooler. The humidification branch connects the outlet of the cooling water pump 7 and the cooling water inlet 37 of the humidification intercooler, and is used for delivering cooling water to the humidification intercooler 3 . The gas-water separator 4 communicates with the air outlet 36 of the humidifying intercooler and the air inlet 52 of the stack, and is used to separate the liquid water in the humidified air, and has a gas-water separator inlet 41 and a gas-water separator outlet 42 And gas-water separator outlet 43. Wherein, the air enters the humidification intercooler 3 through the air filter 1 and the air compressor 2 successively, and the humidification intercooler 3 sprays liquid water, and the air is humidified and dehumidified while the liquid water is vaporized. After cooling, the humidified air passes through the gas-water separator 4 to remove liquid water, and enters the fuel cell stack 5 from the stack air inlet 52 to participate in the cathode reaction.

The air supply humidification and intercooling system of the utility model adopts the spray humidification method to cool and humidify the high-heat and low-humidity air discharged from the air compressor 2 . The humidification intercooler integrates effective humidification and intercooling functions, which avoids the complicated design of using an intercooler outside the humidifier and simplifies the system structure. The utility model directly uses the cooling water path to provide liquid water for the humidification intercooler 3, which saves the additional complicated water path for the humidification intercooler 3, simplifies the system structure of cooling water spray humidification, and provides a cooling water pump 7 The outlet cooling water temperature is higher, which can enhance the humidification effect. The air supply humidification intercooling system of the utility model does not need any control in the cooling and humidification link, which improves the reliability of the system. The utility model is suitable for a high-power fuel cell system and helps to greatly reduce the system cost.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, the flow rate of the cooling water pump 7 is fixed, and the temperature of the cooling water is controlled by controlling the cooling fan in the radiator 6 to start, stop and rotate, so as to ensure that the cooling water pump The water pressure of the outlet of 7 is constant.

Further, as shown in Figure 1, in this embodiment, further, in the air supply humidification and intercooling system,

ΔP＝P _pump -P _humidifier

ΔP is the pressure difference between the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump 7 and the air pressure at the outlet of the inner cavity nozzle of the humidification intercooler 3 under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system,

P _pump is the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump 7,

P _humidifier is the air pressure at the outlet of the inner cavity nozzle of the humidification intercooler 3 under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system,

If ΔP<1 bar, the air supply humidification intercooler system further includes a booster water pump 8 arranged before the cooling water inlet 37 of the humidification intercooler;

If ΔP≥1 bar, the air supply humidification and intercooling system does not need to add the booster water pump 8 . Furthermore, the booster water pump 8 has a booster water pump inlet and a booster water pump outlet, and by maintaining a constant value of the water pressure at the outlet of the booster water pump, the hydraulic pressure of the cooling water inlet 37 of the humidification intercooler is guaranteed. constant.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of the humidifying intercooler and the gas-water separator in Fig. 1 . Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the composition and structure of the humidifying intercooler in Fig. 1 . Referring to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, further, in this embodiment, the humidification intercooler 3 and the gas-water separator 4 are arranged in the vertical direction under normal working conditions, and the humidification The air outlet 36 of the intercooler is fixedly connected with the inlet 41 of the air-water separator, and the water outlet 43 of the air-water separator is vertically downward. Furthermore, the gas-water separator 4 is a compressed air gas-water separator to separate the liquid water in the humidified air and ensure that the liquid water is automatically discharged without affecting the air pressure. Furthermore, the liquid water accumulated inside the humidifying intercooler 3 is discharged into the gas-water separator 4 under the action of air blowing and gravity, and is automatically discharged after being separated, and the gas-water separator 4 simultaneously To get rid of the residual water in the inner cavity of the humidifying intercooler 3 and the post-treatment of humidifying air to remove water.

In the utility model, the liquid water accumulated inside the humidifying intercooler 3 is discharged into the gas-water separator 4 by using air purging and gravity, and the gas-water separator 4 simultaneously functions to remove the remaining water inside the humidifying intercooler 3 And the role of dehydration post-treatment of humidified air, no need to control the amount of liquid water inside the humidified intercooler 3, and can effectively avoid liquid water in the air supplied to the stack. In this way, the system structure is simplified and the system reliability is improved.

Further, the humidifying intercooler 3 includes: a housing 33 , a top cover 31 , a pressure atomizing nozzle 32 and a guide fin 34 . The housing 33 has the humidification intercooler air inlet 35 and the humidification intercooler air outlet 36 . The top cover 31 covers the top of the housing 33 and is fixedly connected with the housing 33 . In this embodiment, they are connected by fasteners. The pressure atomizing nozzle 32 is installed at the top cover 31, and has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet is the cooling water inlet 37 of the humidifying intercooler, and the outlet of the cooling water pump 7 is directly connected to the cooling water of the humidifying intercooler. The inlet 37 is connected to supply liquid water to the pressure atomizing nozzle 32 . The guide fins 34 are installed inside the housing 33 and located below the pressure atomizing nozzle 32 . In this embodiment, the liquid water of the pressure atomizing nozzle 32 comes from the cooling circuit, and the high temperature of the cooling water is used to enhance the humidification effect.

Further, if the lift of the cooling water pump 7 cannot meet the nozzle atomization pressure requirement, the cooling water at the outlet of the cooling water pump 7 can be boosted by the booster water pump 8 and then flow to the pressure atomization nozzle 32 . The inlet and outlet pressures of the pressure atomizing nozzle 32 are fixed to maintain a fixed spray water volume. The minimum water volume is the saturated humidification water volume corresponding to the maximum air flow rate. The calculation formula is:

In the formula,

is the minimum spray water volume of pressure atomizing nozzle 32, unit: g/s;

P _sat,T is the saturated vapor pressure at the working temperature T of the stack, unit: Pa;

P _air,in is the pressure of air entering the stack, unit: Pa;

is the maximum air flow, unit: SLPM (standard liters per minute).

Further, as shown in Figure 3, in this embodiment, the utility model redesigns the internal structure of the spray chamber of the pressure atomizing nozzle 32, and the number of the guide fins 34 is multiple and arranged in a staggered manner, so as to Enhance the water vapor contact effect and assist heat dissipation, effectively enhance the cooling and humidification performance. During specific implementation, the guide fins 34 are used to force the air to flow zigzag inside the humidifying intercooler 3 to prolong the length of the air movement. The guide fins 34 are used to strengthen the formation of the internal vortex, utilize the vortex to effectively retain water, and enhance the water-air contact effect. The deflector fins 34 are used to enhance the convective heat transfer effect of the humidifying intercooler 3 and have the effect of assisting heat dissipation.

In the description of this specification, references to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "exemplary embodiments," "example," "specific examples," or "some examples" are intended to mean that the implementation Specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in an embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and modifications, the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (10)

1. A kind of air supply humidification intercooler system for proton exchange membrane fuel cell, it is characterized in that, is connected at the fuel cell stack place, and described fuel cell stack has stack cooling water inlet, stack cooling water outlet and The stack air inlet, the fuel cell stack has a cooling circuit to circulate cooling water, wherein the cooling water passes through the cooling water pump, enters the fuel cell stack from the stack cooling water inlet, and enters through the stack cooling water outlet The radiator, after heat dissipation, enters the stack cooling water inlet through the cooling water pump to realize circulation, and the air supply humidification and intercooling system includes: A humidifying intercooler, connected to the air supply branch including an air filter and an air compressor, for cooling and humidifying the air before entering the fuel cell stack, the humidifying intercooler has a humidifying intercooler Cooling water inlet of humidifier, air inlet of humidifying intercooler and air outlet of humidifying intercooler; a humidification branch, connected to the outlet of the cooling water pump and the cooling water inlet of the humidification intercooler, for delivering cooling water to the humidification intercooler; and The air-water separator is connected to the air outlet of the humidification intercooler and the air inlet of the electric stack, and is used to separate the liquid water in the humidified air, and has an inlet of the air-water separator, an outlet of the air-water separator and an air-water separation drain outlet; Wherein, the air passes through the air filter, the air compressor, the humidifying intercooler and the gas-water separator in sequence, and enters the fuel cell stack from the stack air inlet to participate in the cathode reaction. 2. The inter-cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the cooling water pump is fixed, and the temperature of the cooling water is controlled by controlling the start and stop of the cooling fan in the radiator and the rotating speed, so as to This ensures a constant water pressure at the outlet of the cooling water pump. 3. The intercooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, ΔP＝P _pump -P _humidifier ΔP is the pressure difference between the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump and the air pressure at the nozzle outlet of the inner chamber of the humidification intercooler under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system, P _pump is the outlet pressure of the cooling water pump, P _humidifier is the air pressure at the outlet of the nozzle of the inner chamber of the humidification intercooler under the rated working condition of the air supply humidification intercooler system, If ΔP<1 bar, the air supply humidification intercooler system further includes a booster water pump arranged before the cooling water inlet of the humidification intercooler; If ΔP≥1 bar, the air supply humidification and intercooling system does not need to add the booster water pump. 4. The intercooling system according to claim 3, wherein the booster water pump has a booster water pump inlet and a booster water pump outlet, and the water pressure at the outlet of the booster water pump is kept constant. value to ensure constant water pressure at the cooling water inlet of the humidifying intercooler. 5. The air supply air humidification intercooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, the humidification intercooler and the air-water separator are arranged along the vertical direction under normal working conditions, and the The air outlet of the humidifying intercooler is fixedly connected with the inlet of the air-water separator, and the outlet of the air-water separator is vertically downward. 6. The air supply humidification intercooler system according to claim 1, wherein the humidification intercooler comprises: a shell with the air inlet of the humidification intercooler and the air outlet of the humidification intercooler; a top cover, covering the top of the housing, and fixedly connected with the housing; A pressure atomizing nozzle installed at the top cover, which has an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet is the cooling water inlet of the humidifying intercooler; and The guide fins are installed inside the housing and located below the pressure atomizing nozzle. 7. The air supply humidification and intercooling system according to claim 6, characterized in that, the inlet and outlet pressures of the pressure atomizing nozzles are fixed to maintain a fixed spray water volume, and the minimum water volume is set when the air flow rate is maximum. The corresponding saturated humidification water volume, the calculation formula is: In the formula, is the minimum spray water volume of the pressure atomizing nozzle, unit: g/s; P _sat,T is the saturated vapor pressure at the working temperature T of the stack, unit: Pa; P _air,in is the pressure of air entering the stack, unit: Pa; is the maximum air flow, unit: SLPM. 8. The air supply air humidification intercooler system according to claim 6, characterized in that the number of the guide fins is multiple and arranged in a staggered manner to force the air inside the humidifier intercooler Make zigzagging flow to extend the length of air movement. 9. The intercooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that, the air-water separator is a compressed air air-water separator to separate the liquid water in the humidified air, and ensure that The liquid water is automatically expelled without affecting the air pressure. 10. The air supply humidification intercooler system according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that the liquid water accumulated inside the humidification intercooler is discharged into the air under the action of air blowing and gravity The air-water separator is automatically discharged after being separated, and the air-water separator also plays the role of removing the residual water in the inner cavity of the humidifying intercooler and the post-treatment of dehydrating the humidified air.