DE102021208332A1 - Fuel cell system and operating method for a fuel cell system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention presented relates to a fuel cell system (100) for providing electrical energy. The fuel cell system (100) comprises a large number of valves (101, 103, 105) and a control device (107), it being possible for the respective valves of the large number of valves (101, 103, 105) to be activated in order to draw off a fluid flow via an exhaust air system from the fuel cell system (100 ), and wherein the control device (107) is configured to activate respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) with a time offset, so that at a given point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) can be activated in order to derive a fluid flow from the fuel cell system (100).

Description

State of the art

Fuel cell systems convert hydrogen into electrical energy and water using oxygen.

Water produced during the operation of a fuel cell system is partially drained from the fuel cell system by means of drainage valves. When a drainage valve is activated, a quantity of hydrogen is generally released from the fuel cell system into an area surrounding the fuel cell system in addition to a quantity of water to be discharged.

Furthermore, a fuel cell stack of a fuel cell system is regularly flushed with fresh hydrogen in order to ensure optimal operating conditions in the fuel cell stack. In such a scavenging process, hydrogen is released into an environment of the fuel cell system.

Anode waste gas, i. H. gas discharged from an anode subsystem of a fuel cell system, and/or separated product water discharged from the anode subsystem and fed to a cathode exhaust air system via connecting lines at an inlet point. In the cathode exhaust system, the introduced anode exhaust gas is diluted by the air flow of an exhaust air of a cathode subsystem and discharged into the environment. A hydrogen concentration is established in the exhaust air discharged into the environment, which depends on the amount of hydrogen introduced from the anode exhaust gas and on a diluting air flow of the cathode exhaust air.

Since drainage valves and flushing valves are usually activated independently of one another, situations can arise in which several valves are activated at the same time, so that the amounts of hydrogen released into an environment by the various valves add up and a particularly large amount of hydrogen is released into the environment reached.

Disclosure of Invention

As part of the presented invention, a fuel cell system and an operating method for operating the fuel cell system are presented. Further features and details of the invention result from the respective dependent claims, the description and the drawings. Features and details that are described in connection with the fuel cell system according to the invention naturally also apply in connection with the operating method according to the invention and vice versa, so that the disclosure of the individual aspects of the invention is or can always be referred to alternately.

The invention presented is used for the safe operation of a fuel cell system. In particular, the invention presented is used to set a maximum hydrogen concentration in an exhaust air from a fuel cell system.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a fuel cell system for providing electrical energy is thus presented. The fuel cell system comprises a plurality of valves and a control device, wherein respective valves of the plurality of valves can be activated in order to direct a fluid flow out of the fuel cell system via an exhaust air system, and wherein the control device is configured to activate respective valves of the plurality at different times, so that a each time only a single valve of the plurality of valves can be activated in order to divert a fluid flow from the fuel cell system.

In the context of the present invention, a time-staggered activation of respective valves is to be understood as a process in which the respective valves are activated exclusively, so that when a respective valve is activated, only the respectively activated valve is used to discharge anode exhaust gas from a fuel cell system and no other Anode waste gas is discharged through additional valves. Accordingly, a hydrogen concentration in the exhaust air can be monitored or controlled by monitoring or controlling the respectively activated valve.

In the context of the presented invention, a control device is a processor, a control unit, an ASIC or any other programmable circuit for controlling a valve, i. H. for transmitting control commands to a valve.

The invention presented is based on the principle that parallel or simultaneous activation of a plurality of valves for discharging hydrogen from the presented fuel cell system into an environment is prevented by only activating or being able to activate a single valve for discharging hydrogen into the environment.

To avoid parallel activation of multiple valves for venting hydrogen in one environment includes the presented fuel cell system a control device. The control device is configured to activate respective valves of the plurality of valves of the fuel cell system with a time offset, so that at a particular point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves can be activated in order to discharge a fluid flow from the fuel cell system. Accordingly, an amount of hydrogen discharged into an environment can be controlled directly by controlling a respectively activated valve.

For the exclusive activation of a respective or selected valve, the control device of the fuel cell system presented is communicatively connected to all valves of the plurality of valves of the fuel cell system presented. In particular, the control device can use the communicative connection to the valves to determine a status of a respective valve and transmit control commands to the respective valves.

The communicative connection between the control device and the respective valves of the fuel cell system presented can run directly, for example via a cable or a wireless interface, or indirectly, via an intermediate element such as a valve control device.

In particular, it can be provided that the control unit of the fuel cell system presented is the only element of the fuel cell system that can or may activate and deactivate the valves of the fuel cell system. For this purpose, the control device can be the only element of the fuel cell system that can or may transmit control commands to the valves, so that parallel activation of a number of valves by other elements is ruled out. For example, the control device can act as an intermediate device that receives all control commands for checking the valves, compares them with a list of criteria stored in the control device, and controls the valves accordingly. This means that, for example, a central control unit of the fuel cell system issues a control command for a flushing process, i. H. for activating a respective flushing valve, to the control device provided according to the invention and not directly to the respective valve.

Provision can be made for the plurality of valves to include a flush valve and a drain valve.

Since, in particular, parallel activation of flushing valves and drainage valves leads to an uncontrolled addition of discharged amounts of hydrogen, checking drainage valves and flushing valves by the control device according to the invention also prevents hydrogen amounts from adding up in this way, in that only one flushing valve or one drainage valve is activated or can be activated.

Provision can furthermore be made for the control device to be configured to determine an activation state of respective valves of the plurality of valves. By determining a current activation state of respective valves of the fuel cell system presented, the control device provided according to the invention can determine whether a respective valve can be activated or whether another valve is currently activated that must first be deactivated.

To determine a current activation status of respective valves of the fuel cell system presented, the control device provided according to the invention can communicate directly with the respective valves or query the activation status of an intermediate element, such as a central control device of the fuel cell system.

Provision can furthermore be made for the control device to be configured to deactivate all valves of the plurality of valves before activating a respective valve.

A general deactivation of all valves before an activation of a respective valve ensures, independently of knowledge about a current activation state of respective valves, that only the valve activated after the deactivation is activated. Accordingly, such a blanket deactivation means that a complex determination method for determining an activation state of the respective valves can be dispensed with.

Provision can furthermore be made for the control device to be configured to block activation of further valves when a respective valve of the plurality of valves is activated.

An accidental activation of the respective additional valves can be avoided by blocking an activation of respective additional valves, which can be triggered, for example, by a control command correspondingly stored in a memory of the control device provided according to the invention. For this purpose, the control device provided according to the invention can be configured in particular as a “master” in a “master and slave arrangement”, so that other devices of the fuel cell system presented can or may only control the valves as “slaves” with the consent of the control device.

Provision can also be made for the control device to be configured to control respective valves of the plurality of valves according to a predetermined order of priority and, in the event that a valve with a first priority is to be activated, an activated valve with a priority that is lower than the first priority to deactivate and then to activate the valve with the first priority.

By means of a prioritization, which is defined, for example, by a manufacturer of the fuel cell system presented and stored in a memory of the control device, a circuit diagram can be generated according to which valves with a high priority are automatically deactivated when a high-priority valve is activated.

Provision can furthermore be made for the control device to be configured to activate respective valves of the plurality of valves according to a predefined cyclical activation sequence, the activation sequence exclusively assigning a time range to each individual valve of the plurality of valves within which a corresponding valve can be activated.

By means of a cyclic activation order, i. H. a number of activation windows or time ranges in which a valve can be activated, which is repeated over time, each valve is exclusively assigned an activation time window in which only this valve can be activated. Accordingly, a valve can only be activated if its activation time window is currently running.

Provision can furthermore be made for all of the valves in the plurality of valves to be connected to a common introduction point for introducing fluid into the exhaust air system.

A common introduction point for introducing fluid into an exhaust air system requires a particularly robust fuel cell system, since a large number of individual introduction points, which have to be sealed individually, are dispensed with.

Provision can furthermore be made for respective valves of the plurality of valves to be connected to a respective introduction point for introducing fluid into the exhaust air system.

Several points of introduction for introducing fluids from respective valves enable controlled and separate discharge of the fluids from the fuel cell system presented.

In a second aspect, the presented invention relates to an operating method for operating a fuel cell system. The operating method comprises a preparation step, in which a possible configuration of the presented fuel cell system is provided, and a control step, in which activation of the respective valves of a large number of valves of the fuel cell system, by means of which a fluid flow can be discharged from the fuel cell system via an exhaust air system, is controlled, wherein in the control step, respective valves of the plurality of valves are activated with a time offset, so that at a particular point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves is activated in order to discharge a fluid flow from the fuel cell system.

The operating method presented serves in particular to operate the fuel cell system presented.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention result from the following description, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings. The features mentioned in the claims and in the description can each be essential to the invention individually or in any combination.

• 1 einen schematischen Aufbau einer möglichen Ausgestaltung des erfindungsgemäßen Brennstoffzellensystems,
• 2 eine schematische Darstellung einer Ansteuerung von Ventilen gemäß dem Stand der Technik,
• 3 eine schematische Darstellung einer Ansteuerung von Ventilen gemäß dem Brennstoffzellensystem aus 1,
• 4 eine schematische Darstellung einer möglichen Ausgestaltung des erfindungsgemäßen Betriebsverfahrens.

Show it:

• 1 a schematic structure of a possible embodiment of the fuel cell system according to the invention,
• 2 a schematic representation of a control of valves according to the prior art,
• 3 a schematic representation of a control of valves according to the fuel cell system 1 ,
• 4 a schematic representation of a possible embodiment of the operating method according to the invention.

In 1 a fuel cell system 100 is shown. The fuel cell system 100 includes a plurality of valves 101, 103 and 105 as well as a control unit 107. The valve 101 can, for example, be a flushing valve or a so-called "purge valve", while the valve 103 and the valve 105 are each water drain valves or so-called " drain valves”.

The valves 101, 103 and 105 can each be activated in order to discharge a fluid flow, in particular hydrogen-containing anode exhaust gas, from the fuel cell system 100 via an exhaust air system.

The control unit 107 is configured to activate the valves 101, 103 and 105 at different times four, so that at a given point in time only a single valve, that is either valve 101 or valve 103 or valve 105, can be or is activated in order to discharge a fluid flow from fuel cell system 100.

The staggered activation of the valves 101, 103 and 105 ensures that two of the valves 101, 103 and 105 are never active at the same time. Accordingly, the staggered activation of the valves 101, 103 and 105 prevents the accumulation of hydrogen concentrations in the respective fluid streams flowing out of the valves 101, 103 and 105.

In 2 FIG. 200 is a diagram spanning a hydrogen concentration in an exhaust air of a fuel cell system on its ordinate and over time on its abscissa.

In 2 It can be seen that repeated activation of an individual valve, such as a scavenging valve, at times t1 and t2 leads to a constant hydrogen concentration in the exhaust air of a fuel cell system.

At a point in time t3, in addition to the flushing valve, a water drain valve is opened at the same time, so that a first hydrogen concentration from a first fluid flow provided by the flushing valve and a second hydrogen concentration from a second fluid flow provided by the water drain valve add up and a particularly high amount of hydrogen enters an area surrounding the fuel cell system is delivered.

At times t4 and t5 the water drain valve is closed again and at time t6 it is opened again at the same time as the flushing valve.

In 3 FIG. 300 is a diagram spanning a hydrogen concentration in an exhaust air of a fuel cell system on its ordinate and over time on its abscissa. It can be seen that activation of a valve, such as a scavenging valve, at times t1 and t2 leads to a constant hydrogen concentration in the exhaust air of the fuel cell system.

At a point in time t3`, shortly after the flushing valve was activated and deactivated again at a point in time t3, a water drain valve is opened. Accordingly, due to the temporal separation of the activation processes of the flushing valve and the water drain valve, there is no accumulation of hydrogen quantities, so that the hydrogen concentration in the exhaust air of the fuel cell system remains unchanged compared to t1 or t2. Instead, at time t3' or t6', at which the water drain valve is activated at a different time from the flushing valve, analogously to time t3', the amount of hydrogen released into the environment is reduced compared to the amount of hydrogen released at time t1.

In 4 an operating method 400 for operating a fuel cell system is shown. Operating method 400 comprises a preparation step 401, in which a possible configuration of the presented fuel cell system is provided, and a control step 403, in which activation of the respective valves in a large number of valves in the fuel cell system, by means of which a fluid flow can be discharged from the fuel cell system via an exhaust air system, is checked , wherein in the control step 403 respective valves of the plurality of valves are activated with a time offset, so that at a particular point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves is activated in order to discharge a fluid flow from the fuel cell system.

Claims (10)

Fuel cell system (100) for providing electrical energy, the fuel cell system (100) comprising: - a variety of valves (101, 103, 105), - a control device (107), wherein respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) can be activated in order to discharge a fluid flow via an exhaust air system from the fuel cell system (100), and wherein the control device (107) is configured to activate respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) with a time offset, so that at a particular point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) can be activated in order to derive a fluid flow from the fuel cell system (100). Fuel cell system (100) after claim 1 , characterized in that the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) comprises a flush valve and a drain valve. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (107) is configured to determine an activation state of respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105). Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (107) is configured to deactivate all valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) before activating a respective valve. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control unit (107) is configured to block activation of further valves when a respective valve of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) is activated. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (107) is configured to control respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) according to a predetermined order of priority and in the event that a valve with a to activate the first priority is to deactivate an activated valve with a priority that is lower than the first priority and then to activate the valve with the first priority. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (107) is configured to activate respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) according to a predetermined cyclic activation order, the activation order of each individual valve of the Multiple valves (101, 103, 105) exclusively assigns a time range within which a corresponding valve can be activated. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that all valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) are connected to a common inlet point for introducing fluid into the exhaust air system. Fuel cell system (100) according to one of Claims 1 until 7 , characterized in that respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) are connected to a respective introduction point for introducing fluid into the exhaust air system. Operating method (400) for operating a fuel cell system (100), the operating method (400) comprising: - a preparation step (401), in which a fuel cell system (100) according to one of Claims 1 until 9 is provided, - a control step (403) in which an activation of respective valves of a plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) of the fuel cell system (100), by means of which a fluid flow can be discharged from the fuel cell system (100) via an exhaust air system, is controlled , wherein in the control step (403) respective valves of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) are activated with a time offset, so that at a particular point in time only a single valve of the plurality of valves (101, 103, 105) is activated to flow a fluid derive from the fuel cell system (100).

Images