CN220367947U - Off-line pre-humidifying device for fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides an off-line pre-humidification device for a fuel cell, belongs to the technical field of fuel cells, and solves the problems of overlong warm-up time or easy occurrence of over-humidification and flooding phenomena of the existing pre-humidification technology or a newly produced fuel cell system. The device comprises an air source, a first stop valve, a second stop valve, a pressure reducing valve, a first electromagnetic valve, a second electromagnetic valve, a humidifier, a gas mixing tank and a plurality of imbedding mechanisms capable of imbedding the membrane tube humidifier. Wherein, the air source stores compressed air. The output pipeline of the air source is divided into two branches after passing through a first stop valve, a pressure reducing valve and a second stop valve in sequence, wherein one branch is connected with the input end I of the gas mixing tank through a first electromagnetic valve and a humidifier in sequence, and the other branch is connected with the input end II of the gas mixing tank through a second electromagnetic valve. The output end of the gas mixing tank is respectively connected with the wet path inlet of each membrane tube humidifier arranged on the structure. A section of transparent pipe for observing liquid water is arranged on the wet path air outlet pipe of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on each imbedding structure.

Description

Off-line pre-humidifying device for fuel cell

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of fuel cells, in particular to an off-line pre-humidifying device for a fuel cell.

Background

The operating temperature of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) is typically between 60 and 120 ℃. In this temperature range, the electrochemical reaction rate is faster, the conduction rate of electrons and protons is also faster, and the cell performance is higher. In addition, the proton exchange membrane in the PEMFC requires a certain amount of moisture to work properly. If the membrane is too dry, the proton conduction rate will decrease, thereby affecting the output power of the cell. Generally, the optimal relative humidity of the PEMFC is between 60% and 80%. Currently, common air pre-humidification schemes for vehicle fuel cell systems include external membrane tube humidifiers, spray humidification.

The pre-humidification scheme of the existing external membrane tube humidifier is disclosed in China patent No. CN209344234U, tail exhaust gas of a fuel cell system is circulated into a wet path in the membrane tube humidifier, and water generated by a galvanic pile is utilized to perform wet and heat exchange on dry air entering the dry path, so that the aim of air humidification is achieved. For newly produced fuel cell systems, the wet path of the membrane tube humidifier is in a dry state, which increases the time to reach the target humidity during warm-up. And under-gassing is easy to occur under the condition of smaller air metering, and certain influence can be caused on the service life of the electric pile.

The pre-humidification scheme of the existing spray humidification device is disclosed in China patent No. 212485379U, and the air inlet is humidified in a direct spray humidification mode, so that parasitic power of a system is increased, humidity is difficult to control, risks of over-humidification and flooding exist, and the spray humidification device is not suitable for batch production and is not beneficial to commercialization of products.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present utility model provide an off-line pre-humidification device for fuel cells, which is used to solve the problems of the existing pre-humidification technology or the long warm-up time of the newly produced fuel cell system or the phenomena of excessive humidification and flooding.

In one aspect, the embodiment of the utility model provides an off-line pre-humidification device for a fuel cell, which comprises an air source, a first stop valve, a second stop valve, a pressure reducing valve, a first electromagnetic valve, a second electromagnetic valve, a humidifier, a gas mixing tank and a plurality of imbedding mechanisms capable of imbedding a membrane tube humidifier; wherein,

compressed air is stored in the air source; the output pipeline of the air source is divided into two branches after passing through a first stop valve, a pressure reducing valve and a second stop valve in sequence, wherein one branch is connected with the input end I of the gas mixing tank through a first electromagnetic valve and a humidifier in sequence, and the other branch is connected with the input end II of the gas mixing tank through a second electromagnetic valve;

the output end of the gas mixing tank is respectively connected with the wet path inlet of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on the structure;

a section of transparent pipe for observing liquid water is arranged on the wet path air outlet pipe of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on each imbedding structure.

The beneficial effects of the technical scheme are as follows: the device is applied to the membrane tube humidifier for offline pre-humidification before the fuel cell engine is assembled, so that the purpose of fast humidification of a galvanic pile is realized, the warming-up working hour is shortened, and the production cost of a system is reduced. A transparent pipe is arranged on an air outlet pipe of a wet path of the device, so that whether liquid water exists in the wet path or not after humidification can be observed, a first electromagnetic valve is closed at the moment that the liquid water exists, the liquid water in the wet path is blown out through dry gas, and the phenomenon that a fuel cell system is humidified or flooded during a test period is prevented. The safety of the fuel cell system test is improved, the method has obvious advantages in the aspects of cost reduction and synergy, and is beneficial to the mass production of the fuel cell system.

Based on the further improvement of the device, the humidifier adopts a bubbling humidification tank made of corrosion-resistant and high-temperature-resistant materials.

Further, the bubbling humidifying tank consists of an upper cover and a tank body, and the whole structure material is stainless steel;

wherein,

the upper cover is fastened and connected with the tank body through double-lug bolts;

the top of the upper cover is provided with an air inlet, an air outlet, a safety valve and a pressure relief valve.

Further, the transparent tube is a transparent silicone tube.

Further, one side of the outer side of the bubbling humidifying tank body is provided with a section of transparent pipe for observing the liquid level height in the tank.

Further, the gas mixing tank adopts an integrated structure made of stainless steel, and the upper end of the tank body is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet; and, in addition, the processing unit,

a gas humidity sensor and a gas pressure sensor are arranged at the gas outlet of the gas mixing tank;

the bottom of the tank body of the gas mixing tank is provided with a water outlet.

Further, a gas flow sensor and a gas temperature sensor are arranged on the main path of the gas outlet pipeline of the gas mixing tank.

Further, a third electromagnetic valve which is independently controlled is arranged at the wet path inlet of the membrane tube humidifier on each embedded structure.

Further, an independently operated gas flow sensor and an independently operated gas temperature sensor are arranged in the wet path air inlet pipeline of each membrane tube humidifier arranged on each embedded structure.

Further, the off-line pre-humidification device for the fuel cell further comprises a controller; wherein,

the output end of the controller is respectively connected with the control ends of the first stop valve, the second stop valve, the pressure reducing valve, the first electromagnetic valve, the second electromagnetic valve and the third electromagnetic valve.

The summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the utility model, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the utility model.

Drawings

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the utility model will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the utility model as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts throughout the exemplary embodiments of the utility model.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the constitution of an off-line pre-humidifier for a fuel cell according to example 1;

figure 2 shows a schematic of the humidification scheme of example 2.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present utility model will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While embodiments of the present utility model are illustrated in the drawings, it should be understood that the present utility model may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the utility model to those skilled in the art.

The term "comprising" and variations thereof as used herein means open ended, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "or" means "and/or" unless specifically stated otherwise. The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The terms "one example embodiment" and "one embodiment" mean "at least one example embodiment. The term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional 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.

Flooding phenomenon: in the fuel cell system, excessive moisture is accumulated in the proton exchange membrane, so that the moisture cannot be smoothly discharged from the fuel cell system, and further, the fuel cell system is limited and damaged.

Example 1

The utility model discloses an off-line pre-humidifying device for a fuel cell, which is mainly applied to a fuel cell system assembly production line, can integrate automatic equipment, comprises automatic quick plugging and automatic feeding and discharging, realizes full-automatic pre-humidifying operation, can expand the equipment scale, simultaneously pre-humidifies a plurality of humidifiers, is convenient for the mass production and testing of subsequent systems, reduces the manufacturing cost of the fuel cell system, and promotes the commercialized popularization of the technology.

The off-line pre-humidifying device for the fuel cell is shown in figure 1, and comprises an air source, a first stop valve, a second stop valve, a pressure reducing valve, a first electromagnetic valve, a second electromagnetic valve, a humidifier, a gas mixing tank and a plurality of imbedding mechanisms capable of imbedding the membrane tube humidifier.

Compressed air is stored in the air source, and the air source is replaceable. The output pipeline of the air source is divided into two branches after passing through a first stop valve, a pressure reducing valve and a second stop valve in sequence, one branch is connected with the first input end of the gas mixing tank through a first electromagnetic valve and a humidifier in sequence to form a wet gas branch, and the other branch is connected with the second input end of the gas mixing tank through a second electromagnetic valve to form a dry gas wet path.

The output end of the gas mixing tank is respectively connected with the wet path inlet of each membrane tube humidifier arranged on the structure.

A section of transparent pipe for observing liquid water is arranged on the wet path air outlet pipe of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on each imbedding structure.

And the first stop valve is used for controlling the on-off of the total gas path.

And the pressure reducing valve is used for regulating and controlling the total pressure of the gas required by pre-humidification.

And the second stop valve is used for controlling the progress and suspension of the pre-humidification process.

And the first electromagnetic valve is used for controlling the moisture flow.

And the second electromagnetic valve is used for controlling the flow of the dry gas.

And the gas mixing tank is used for fully mixing dry gas and wet gas in the gas mixing tank to obtain gas with target humidity.

When the method is implemented, the relative humidity of the wet path of the membrane tube humidifier is controlled to be about 100% by performing the pre-humidification operation on the membrane tube humidifier, and meanwhile, the liquid water in the wet path is blown out by closing the first electromagnetic valve and only opening the dry blowing strategy of the second electromagnetic valve, so that the flooding phenomenon of the fuel cell system during the test can be prevented.

Compared with the prior art, the off-line pre-humidification device for the fuel cell provided by the embodiment provides a device for off-line pre-humidification of a membrane tube humidifier before the assembly of a fuel cell engine so as to realize the purpose of fast humidification of a galvanic pile, thereby shortening the man-hour of warm-up and reducing the production cost of a system. A transparent pipe is arranged on an air outlet pipe of a wet path of the device, so that whether liquid water exists in the wet path or not after humidification can be observed, a first electromagnetic valve is closed at the moment that the liquid water exists, the liquid water in the wet path is blown out through dry gas, and the phenomenon that a fuel cell system is humidified or flooded during a test period is prevented. The safety of the fuel cell system test is improved, the method has obvious advantages in the aspects of cost reduction and synergy, and is beneficial to the mass production of the fuel cell system.

Example 2

The bubbling humidification tank is prepared by adopting a corrosion-resistant and high-temperature-resistant material on the basis of the embodiment 1.

Preferably, the transparent tube is a transparent silicone tube, and the opening degree of the first electromagnetic valve and the opening degree of the second electromagnetic valve can be adjusted by a user according to whether liquid exists in the transparent silicone tube, so that the humidification degree of the membrane tube humidifier can be adjusted.

Preferably, the bubbling humidifying tank consists of an upper cover and a tank body, and the whole structure material is stainless steel. Wherein, upper cover and jar body pass through binaural bolt and carry out fastening connection. The top of the upper cover is provided with an air inlet, an air outlet, a safety valve and a pressure relief valve.

Preferably, one side of the outer side of the bubbling humidification tank is provided with a section of transparent pipe for observing the liquid level height in the tank. One end of the transparent tube is connected with the bottom of the tank body, and the other end is connected with a certain preset position on the tank body.

Preferably, the gas mixing tank adopts an integrated structure made of stainless steel, and the upper end of the tank body is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet. And a gas humidity sensor and a gas pressure sensor are arranged at the gas outlet of the gas mixing tank. The bottom of the tank body of the gas mixing tank is provided with a water outlet.

Preferably, a gas flow sensor, a gas temperature sensor, a gas humidity sensor and a gas pressure sensor are arranged on a main path of a gas outlet pipeline of the gas mixing tank and are used for controlling physical properties of a main path gas source, and the gas is evenly distributed into a plurality of membrane tube humidifier wet paths to be pre-humidified through a plurality of branches, so that the purpose of pre-humidification is realized.

Preferably, a third solenoid valve which is independently controlled is arranged at the wet path inlet of the membrane tube humidifier on each embedded structure.

Preferably, an independently operated gas flow sensor and an independently operated gas temperature sensor are arranged in the wet path air inlet pipeline of each membrane tube humidifier arranged on the structure for monitoring gas parameters distributed in the wet path of the membrane tube humidifier to be pre-humidified.

Preferably, the off-line pre-humidification device for a fuel cell further comprises a controller. The input end of the controller is respectively connected with the output ends of the gas flow sensor, the gas temperature sensor, the gas humidity sensor and the gas pressure sensor, and the output ends of the controller are respectively connected with the control ends of the first stop valve, the second stop valve, the pressure reducing valve, the first electromagnetic valve, the second electromagnetic valve and the third electromagnetic valve.

Preferably, this embodiment particularly proposes a good humidification scheme, as shown in fig. 2, the controller may perform the following procedure:

s1, controlling a second electromagnetic valve (an electromagnetic valve 2 in FIG. 2) to be opened, and controlling the pressure of a required air source through a pressure reducing valve; preferably, the control pressure sensor data is 60kpa, because the maximum pressure difference of a dry-wet path of the membrane tube humidifier is 80kpa, the value can be adjusted according to the characteristic parameters of the product, and the pre-humidification operation is carried out on the humidifier under the condition of ensuring the safety of the product;

s2, controlling a first electromagnetic valve (an electromagnetic valve 1 in FIG. 2) to be opened, wherein the humidity of a required air source can be controlled through the first electromagnetic valve; preferably, the humidity sensor data is controlled to be 100%, and the value can be adjusted according to practical situations. Physical property control of the humidifying air source is realized through pressure, humidity and temperature adjustment of the air source. Evenly distributing the wet air to the interior of the wet path of each humidifier through the pipeline;

s3, setting the humidification and purging time to be 10 minutes, and executing humidification and purging. This value can be adjusted according to the actual situation in order to achieve complete humidification of the humidifier wet path. Meanwhile, the humidifier needs to ensure that no too much liquid water exists in the humidifier, so that flooding phenomenon in the subsequent testing process is prevented, partial single cell voltage is too low, and the performance and the service life of the product are affected.

S4, controlling the first electromagnetic valve to be closed, opening the second electromagnetic valve, disconnecting the wet gas path, introducing dry gas into the gas mixing tank, controlling the gas source flow to be 65g/s, and carrying out dry purging for 1min to blow out liquid water in the membrane tube humidifier; the phenomenon of flooding can be prevented through the dry blowing strategy, an air outlet pipeline of the device can be set to be a transparent silicone tube, whether liquid water is blown clean can be observed, all parameters can be modified according to actual conditions, the purpose is to control the humidity in the humidifier in a proper range, and meanwhile, too much liquid water does not exist.

In practice, the fuel cell system humidifier off-line pre-humidification process generally includes the steps of:

SS1, pre-humidifying a membrane tube humidifier by using the fuel cell off-line pre-humidifying device;

SS2, assembling the fuel cell system;

SS3, warming up the fuel cell system;

SS4 performance testing of the fuel cell system.

The membrane tube humidifier is added with a humidifier pre-humidification process before being assembled, and is assembled on a system after the pre-humidification is finished, then warmup and polarization curve performance test are carried out, and the membrane tube humidifier leaves a factory after the test is qualified. The working time of the pre-humidification process can be controlled within thirty minutes, a plurality of humidifiers can be pre-humidified simultaneously, and the system provided with the membrane tube humidifier after pre-humidification can realize the humidification purpose rapidly in the subsequent warming-up working procedure, so that the working time of warming-up is shortened.

After the membrane tube humidifier is subjected to a pre-humidification process, membrane groups in a wet path are all in a wet state, and stack air can be quickly humidified in the starting and starting processes of the fuel cell system. Taking a 120KW fuel cell system as an example, the current in a specified warm-up condition is 250A, the air flow is 65g/s, and the power is 50KW. Under the working condition, the air flow is smaller, humidification of the dry air entering the pile is facilitated, the heat generating efficiency of the pile is high, the target temperature can be reached within 1min, and the purpose of warming up is achieved rapidly. The jump-out condition of the warm-up step is set to be that the cell temperature is 70 ℃ and the impedance of the single cell is less than or equal to 1mΩ, the impedance value represents the humidification effect of the electric pile, and the lower the impedance value, the higher the humidification degree of the electric pile. Through the pre-humidification process and the warm working design, the warm working procedure of the fuel cell system can be rapidly realized in a short time, the factory testing working hours are reduced, and the hydrogen consumption is reduced. The device cooperates warm-up operating mode design, realizes fuel cell system's quick warm-up, shortens product delivery test man-hour, reduces hydrogen consumption, reduction in production manufacturing cost.

Compared with the prior art, the off-line pre-humidifying device for the fuel cell has the following beneficial effects:

1. the humidity condition in the warming up procedure can be met rapidly through the pre-humidification process, so that the warming up time is shortened, and the production efficiency is improved.

2. Because the pre-humidification process uses wet air, hydrogen is not consumed, the production cost is reduced, and the safety of the test is improved.

3. The proposed off-line pre-humidification device for the humidifiers suitable for the mass production of the fuel cell system can pre-humidify a plurality of membrane tube humidifiers at the same time, is integrated with automation equipment, is simple and efficient in process operation, is matched with a pre-humidification control strategy and a warming strategy, can greatly shorten the warming working condition, simultaneously reduces hydrogen consumption, improves the safety of testing, has obvious advantages in the aspects of cost reduction and synergy, and is beneficial to the mass production of the fuel cell system.

4. The method is suitable for a production line of a fuel cell system, integrates automatic equipment and realizes the pre-humidification work of a large quantity of humidifiers.

5. The first electromagnetic valve and the second electromagnetic valve are arranged to control the humidity in the pre-humidification process, and the liquid water content is controlled in a reasonable range. The fuel cell system can be quickly warmed up, the factory testing time of the product is shortened, the hydrogen consumption is reduced, and the production and manufacturing cost is reduced.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the utility model has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the various embodiments described. The terminology used herein is chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or the improvement of the prior art, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (10)

1. An off-line pre-humidifying device for a fuel cell is characterized by comprising an air source, a first stop valve, a second stop valve, a pressure reducing valve, a first electromagnetic valve, a second electromagnetic valve, a humidifier, a gas mixing tank and a plurality of imbedding mechanisms capable of imbedding a membrane tube humidifier; wherein,

compressed air is stored in the air source; the output pipeline of the air source is divided into two branches after passing through a first stop valve, a pressure reducing valve and a second stop valve in sequence, wherein one branch is connected with the input end I of the gas mixing tank through a first electromagnetic valve and a humidifier in sequence, and the other branch is connected with the input end II of the gas mixing tank through a second electromagnetic valve;

the output end of the gas mixing tank is respectively connected with the wet path inlet of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on the structure;

a section of transparent pipe for observing liquid water is arranged on the wet path air outlet pipe of each membrane pipe humidifier arranged on each imbedding structure.

2. The off-line pre-humidifier for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the humidifier is a bubbling humidification tank made of a corrosion-resistant and high temperature-resistant material.

3. The off-line pre-humidification device for fuel cells according to claim 2, wherein the bubbling humidification tank consists of an upper cover and a tank body, and the whole structure materials are all stainless steel; wherein,

the upper cover is fastened and connected with the tank body through double-lug bolts;

the top of the upper cover is provided with an air inlet, an air outlet, a safety valve and a pressure relief valve.

4. An off-line pre-humidification device for a fuel cell according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transparent tube is a transparent silicone tube.

5. The off-line pre-humidifier for fuel cell according to claim 4, wherein the bubbling humidification tank is provided with a transparent tube for observing the height of the liquid level in the tank at one side outside the tank body.

6. The off-line pre-humidification device for fuel cells according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3 and 5, wherein the gas mixing tank is of an integrated structure made of stainless steel, and the upper end of the tank body is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet; and, in addition, the processing unit,

a gas humidity sensor and a gas pressure sensor are arranged at the gas outlet of the gas mixing tank;

the bottom of the tank body of the gas mixing tank is provided with a water outlet.

7. The off-line pre-humidification device for fuel cells according to claim 6, wherein a gas flow sensor and a gas temperature sensor are provided on a main path of an outlet pipe of the gas mixing tank.

8. The off-line pre-humidification device for fuel cells of any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7, wherein a third solenoid valve is provided at a wet path inlet of each of the membrane tube humidifiers on the insertion structure.

9. The off-line pre-humidifier for a fuel cell according to claim 8, wherein each of the wet path inlet pipes of the membrane tube humidifier is provided with an independently operated gas flow sensor and an independently operated gas temperature sensor.

10. The off-line pre-humidification device for a fuel cell of claim 8, further comprising a controller; wherein,

the output end of the controller is respectively connected with the control ends of the first stop valve, the second stop valve, the pressure reducing valve, the first electromagnetic valve, the second electromagnetic valve and the third electromagnetic valve.