JP2001026401A - Hydrogen supply system-for equipment using hydrogen as fuel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hydrogen supply system structured relatively compact, excellent in starting equipment and capable of performing stable operation. SOLUTION: The hydrogen supply system 1 for the equipment using hydrogen as the fuel has an electrolyzer 3 generating pure hydrogen by the electrolysis of water to supply hydrogen to the equipment 2 using hydrogen as the fuel, a vortex tube 5 for separating hydrogen generated in the electrolyzer 3 into hydrogen having a high temp. and low temp. hydrogen having lower temp. than that of the high tamp. hydrogen and a hydrogen reservoir capable of occluding the high temp. hydrogen and the low tamp. hydrogen from the vortex tube 5 and releasing the occluded hydrogen to supply the equipment 2. The hydrogen reservoir is composed of a 1st reserving part 11 provided with a 1st hydrogen occluding material MH1 having a high temp. with respect to the occlusion and the release of hydrogen and a 2nd reserving part 72 provided with a 2nd hydrogen occluding material MH2 having a low tamp. with respect to the occlusion and the release of hydrogen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a system for supplying hydrogen to equipment using hydrogen as fuel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as this kind of hydrogen supply system, a system provided with a reformer for hydrogen generation has been known.

[0003]

However, the current reformer takes a long time to start, and therefore, in an electric vehicle powered by a fuel cell as the device, the reformer starts immediately even if the start switch is turned on. Responsiveness to the demand for increasing the amount of hydrogen generated is low, and therefore the acceleration of electric vehicles is poor. The hydrogen generated by the reformer contains CO,
In order to prevent the deterioration of the function of the fuel cell due to the above, it is necessary to arrange the processing device in two stages for CO removal treatment. For example, the number of parts is large, so the structure becomes complicated and the weight becomes large. Therefore, the hydrogen supply system using the reformer was unsuitable for use in vehicles.

[0004]

According to the present invention, pure hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water, and the hydrogen is divided into a storage section suitable for starting the equipment and a storage section suitable for operating the equipment. By storing and supplying only hydrogen released from these storage units to the equipment, it is relatively compact, and can solve the problems of the reformer and the problems of installing it. It is an object to provide the hydrogen supply system described above.

[0005] To achieve the above object, according to the present invention,
An electrolyzer that electrolyzes water to produce pure hydrogen in order to supply hydrogen to equipment using hydrogen as fuel, and converts the hydrogen generated by the electrolyzer into high-temperature hydrogen and low-temperature hydrogen. A vortex tube that separates the hydrogen into hydrogen, and a hydrogen storage device that can store high-temperature hydrogen and low-temperature hydrogen from the vortex tube, release the stored hydrogen, and supply the hydrogen to the device. The storage device is provided with a first hydrogen storage material having a high temperature for hydrogen storage and hydrogen release in order to store high-temperature hydrogen.
A second storage unit having a storage unit and a second hydrogen storage material having a low temperature relating to hydrogen storage and hydrogen release for storing low-temperature hydrogen;
A hydrogen supply system for a hydrogen-fueled device, comprising a storage unit, is provided.

[0006] During equipment downtime, the electrolysis of water produces pure hydrogen, which is separated by a vortex tube into hot and cold hydrogen, which are adapted to the first and second reservoirs. Is efficiently absorbed.

At the start of the operation of the equipment, only the hydrogen released from the second storage unit is supplied to the equipment, and the operation of the equipment is started quickly. Since the release of hydrogen is performed at a low temperature, a heat energy source is not required, or a small output is sufficient when required. The operation of the device is performed using the hydrogen released from the first storage unit. The release of hydrogen is carried out at a high temperature, and the heat energy in this case is, for example, the waste heat of equipment whose temperature has been raised by operation. The required hydrogen amount of equipment is the first
When the supply amount of hydrogen in the storage section is exceeded, hydrogen released from the first storage section is added to hydrogen released from the second storage section and supplied to the equipment.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A hydrogen supply system 1 shown in FIG.
Is mounted on an electric vehicle powered by a fuel cell 2 as a device using hydrogen as a fuel.

In the hydrogen supply system 1, an electrolyzer 3 generates pure hydrogen by electrolyzing water. Electric power for the generation is supplied from a solar cell 4. The electrolyzer 3 is, for example, rated 20 V, 30
At 0 A, the amount of hydrogen generated was 16 Nl / min, and the water content was 25 ° C. saturated steam.

The vortex tube 5 is used for the electrolyzer 3
Has a function of being supplied via a conduit 6 to separate the hydrogen into high-temperature hydrogen and low-temperature hydrogen having a lower temperature, and the outlet side of which is connected to the inlet side of the hydrogen storage 7. .

The hydrogen storage 7 is a vortex tube 5
Absorbs high and low temperature hydrogen and releases hydrogen
And can be supplied to the fuel cell 2.
A first storage section 71 provided with a hydrogen storage material MH1 and a second water storage section 71;
And a second storage section 72 provided with the element storage material MH2. No.
1, as the second hydrogen storage materials MH1, MH2, hydrogen storage
An alloy or a carbon material is used. First hydrogen storage material MH
The temperature indicating the plateau region of No. 1 is the second hydrogen storage material MH2
Higher than that of hydrogen and therefore hydrogen storage and release
Temperature of the first hydrogen storage material MH1 is higher than that of the second water
It is higher than the elementary storage material MH2. In the embodiment, the first hydrogen storage
Material MH1 is LaNi which is a hydrogen storage alloy _FiveMore than alloy
And the second hydrogen storage material MH2 is a hydrogen storage alloy.
MmNi_FiveIt is made of an alloy (Mm is a misch metal).

The first for high temperature hydrogen of the vortex tube 5
The outlet 81 is connected to the entrance 10 of the first storage 71 through the conduit 9.
Connected to 1. In the conduit 9, a first three-way valve 3V1, a first humidity controller 111 and a first two-way valve 2V1 are sequentially disposed from the vortex tube 5 side, and the first and second ports p1, p1 of the first three-way valve 3V1 are arranged. p2 and the first and second communication ports 121 and 122 of the first humidity controller 111 are connected to the upper and lower sides of the conduit 9, respectively. The second outlet 82 for low-temperature hydrogen of the vortex tube 5 is connected to the second storage 72 through the conduit 13.
Is connected to the entrance 102. The conduit 13 has a water remover 14 and a second three-way valve 3V from the vortex tube 5 side.
2, a second humidity controller 112 and a second two-way valve 2V2 are sequentially arranged, and first and second ports p1, p of a second three-way valve 3V2 are provided.
The first and second communication ports 151 of the second and second humidity controllers 112,
152 are connected to the upper side and the downstream side of the conduit 13, respectively.
The third port p3 of the first and second three-way valves 3V1 and 3V2 is connected to the inlet pipe 18 of the fuel cell 2 via conduits 16 and 17. A check valve 19 is provided near the connection between the conduits 16 and 17 and the inlet pipe 18.

Hydrogen by electrolysis contains moisture, and almost all of the moisture is transferred to low-temperature hydrogen from the vortex tube 5. To remove this water, conduit 1
3 is provided with a water remover 14. First and second humidity controller 1
Numerals 11 and 112 have a humidifying function and a dehumidifying function, and perform a dehumidifying process on hydrogen in order to improve the hydrogen storage ability in the first and second storage units 71 and 72.
The released hydrogen is subjected to humidification in order to improve the power generation performance of the hydrogen. A molecular sieve having such a function can be mentioned. According to this, it is possible to release the moisture adsorbed in the dehumidification process during the humidification process and to give the released hydrogen to the released hydrogen. (1) When charging the hydrogen storage unit 7 with hydrogen, the operation of the fuel cell 2 is stopped and the following operation is performed. FIG.
As shown in (1), the first and second three-way valves 3V1 and 3V2 are switched so that the first three-way valve 3V1 → the path from the fuel cell 2 and the second
The three-way valve 3V2 cuts off the path of the fuel cell 2 respectively, and the first and second two-way valves 2V1 and 2V2 are switched so that the electrolyzer 3 → the vortex tube 5 → the first three-way valve 3V1
→ 1st humidity controller 111 → 1st two-way valve 2V1 → 1st storage part 7
1 and the electrolyzer 3 → the vortex tube 5 → the water remover 14 → the second three-way valve 3V2 → the second humidity controller 112
→ The second two-way valve 2V2 → the path of the second storage unit 72 is established. Then, the electrolyzer 3 is powered by the power of the solar cell 4 (including the power of the solar cell 4 stored in the battery).
Is operated, pure hydrogen generated by the device 3 is introduced into the vortex tube 5 at a pressure of, for example, 0.5 MPa, and high-temperature hydrogen at 30 ° C. and 0.3 MPa is supplied from the vortex tube 5 to the first storage unit 71. The first storage unit 72 stores low-temperature hydrogen at −10 ° C. and 0.2 MPa in the second storage unit 72.
In the second hydrogen storage material MH2. The first and second storage sections 71 and 72 are filled (full state) with this hydrogen storage.
Repeat until

(2) When the electric vehicle starts running, that is, when the fuel cell 2 starts operating, as shown in FIG.
By switching the three-way valve 3V1 and the first two-way valve 2V1, respectively, the path from the first three-way valve 3V1 to the fuel cell 2 is established, and the path from the first storage unit 71 to the first humidity controller 111 is shut off. In addition, the second three-way valve 3V2 and the second two-way valve 2V2 are switched to establish a route of the second storage unit 72 → the second two-way valve 2V2 → the second humidifier 112 → the second three-way valve 3V2 → the fuel cell 2. . As a result, hydrogen is released from the second storage unit 72 at room temperature and supplied to the fuel cell 2, and the electric vehicle runs with the operation of the fuel cell 2. Thus the second
The storage unit 72 functions as a hydrogen supply source for fuel cell operation start.

(3) After the electric vehicle starts running, the first two-way valve 2V1 is switched as shown in FIG. 3 so that the first storage unit 71 → the first two-way valve 2V1 → the first humidity controller 111 →
The route of the first three-way valve 3V1 → the fuel cell 2 is established to continue the running of the electric vehicle, while the second two-way valve 2V2 is switched to cut off the route of the second storage section 72 → the second humidity controller 112. I do. As described above, the first storage unit 71 functions as a hydrogen supply source for running the electric vehicle. In this case, the hydrogen is released by heating the first storage section 72, and the heat source is, for example, the waste heat of the fuel cell 2 that has been heated during operation.

(4) If the amount of hydrogen supplied from the first storage unit 71 becomes less than the required amount of hydrogen for the fuel cell 2 during acceleration of the electric vehicle, a second two-way valve is provided as shown in FIG. 2V2 is switched to the second storage section 72 → the second two-way valve 2
The route of V2 → second humidity controller 112 → second three-way valve 3V2 → fuel cell 2 is established, and the shortage of the hydrogen supply amount by the first storage unit 71 is filled with the hydrogen released from the second storage unit 72. Thus, the second storage unit 72 also functions as an additional hydrogen supply source for accelerating the electric vehicle. After acceleration, 2V 2V
2, the path from the second storage section 72 to the second humidity controller 112 is cut off.

As an apparatus using hydrogen as a fuel, an internal combustion engine can be used in addition to a fuel cell.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an electrolysis apparatus, a vortex tube and a hydrogen storage are provided.
It is relatively compact, has good startability of the equipment, and can operate stably.
It is possible to provide a hydrogen supply system capable of solving the problem of the reformer and the problem of installing the reformer.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by adopting the above means, low-temperature hydrogen generated by electrolysis of water and separated by the vortex tube can be efficiently stored in the second storage section. And a hydrogen supply system capable of causing the hydrogen supply to be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by employing the above-described means, the operation of the fuel cell can be reliably started, and the running of the electric vehicle can be stabilized. A hydrogen supply system capable of smoothly performing acceleration can be provided.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by employing the above means, the operation cost of the electrolyzer can be reduced and a relatively inexpensive hydrogen supply system can be supplied. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a hydrogen supply system showing a state in which a hydrogen storage unit is being filled with hydrogen during a suspension of operation of a fuel cell.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a hydrogen supply system showing an operation start state of a fuel cell.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a hydrogen supply system showing a running state of the electric vehicle.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a hydrogen supply system showing an acceleration state of the electric vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hydrogen supply system 2 Fuel cell (equipment) 3 Electrolyzer 4 Solar cell 5 Vortex tube 7 Hydrogen storage 14 Water remover 71, 72 First and second storage unit MH1, MH2 First and second hydrogen storage material

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Kitagawa 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Prefecture Inside Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Koyanagi 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama F-term in Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (reference) 4G040 AA13 AA14 AA25 FB02 FC02 5H027 AA02 BA11 BA14 DD01

Claims (4)

[Claims] An electrolyzer for producing pure hydrogen by electrolyzing water so as to supply hydrogen to a device using hydrogen as fuel, and an electrolyzer produced by the electrolyzer. A vortex tube (5) for separating the extracted hydrogen into a high-temperature hydrogen and a low-temperature hydrogen having a lower temperature, storing the high-temperature hydrogen and the low-temperature hydrogen from the vortex tube (5), and releasing the stored hydrogen. The equipment (2)
Hydrogen storage (7) capable of supplying hydrogen to the first hydrogen storage material (7) having a high temperature relating to hydrogen storage and hydrogen release in order to store high-temperature hydrogen. MH1) and a second storage unit (7) provided with a second hydrogen storage material (MH2) having a low temperature relating to hydrogen storage and hydrogen release for storing low-temperature hydrogen.
2) A system for supplying hydrogen to equipment using hydrogen as a fuel, characterized by comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a dewatering device (14) for introducing the low-temperature hydrogen into the second storage part (72) after removing water contained therein. System for supplying hydrogen to the equipment. 3. The device is a fuel cell (2) in an electric vehicle, wherein the second storage unit (72) is used as a hydrogen supply source for fuel cell operation start and an additional hydrogen supply source for electric vehicle acceleration, 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first storage unit is used as a hydrogen supply source for driving an electric vehicle. 4. A solar cell (4) for supplying power to said electrolyzer (3).
A hydrogen supply system to a device using hydrogen as described in the above.