JP2001068133A - Fuel cell device and distributed power source system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel cell device capable of effectively avoiding an overload on a commercial power source system. SOLUTION: A fuel cell device 10 comprises a fuel gas supply system 1 and a gas supply quantity adjust valve 2 disposed in the fuel gas supply system 1. The fuel gas supply system 1 is connected to a fuel cell body 3 for generating an auxiliary power according to the opening degree of the gas supply quantity adjust valve 2. A commercial power source system 20 is connected to a controller 22 for generating an auxiliary power by the fuel cell body 3 in such a manner that a power quantity supplied from the commercial power source system 20 cannot exceed a predetermined quantity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel cell device and a distributed power supply system using the fuel cell device, and more particularly to a fuel cell device and a fuel cell capable of effectively avoiding an overload state of a commercial power supply system. The present invention relates to a distributed power supply system using devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cogeneration system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-306376 receives electric power from a system-linked commercial power supply system when an excessive load exceeding the power of a fuel cell is required in an AC load. Connect the AC load to the power output line of the fuel cell via an inverter, and supply the AC load to the AC load so that the shortage of power is supplied to the AC load and an unnecessary large fuel cell is not required. Power from the commercial power supply system can be supplied.

[0003]

The above-described cogeneration system compensates for the power that is insufficient with the power of the fuel cell using a commercial power supply system. The spread of such a system may increase the variation in the amount of power generated and supplied by the commercial power supply.

On the other hand, an apparatus using a fuel cell for adjusting the power demand of a commercial power supply system has not yet been proposed. If the power demand of the commercial power system can be adjusted, the generated power can be adjusted, and the power generation cost can be significantly reduced.

[0005] Further, the conventional fuel cell also has a problem that power generation becomes impossible if the city gas supply system is cut off at the time of an earthquake or the like.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel cell device capable of effectively avoiding an overload state of a commercial power supply system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell device that can be used even when an earthquake occurs.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell device and a distributed power supply system using the fuel cell device, which can adjust the power demand of the commercial power supply system and realize the adjustment of the generated power. And

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a fuel gas supply system, a gas supply control valve installed in the fuel gas supply system, and an opening of the gas supply control valve connected to the fuel gas supply system. The amount of electric power supplied from the commercial power supply system is connected to the fuel cell main unit that generates the auxiliary electric energy according to the power supply amount, and controls the opening of the gas supply amount adjustment valve according to the electric power consumption. And a control unit for generating an amount of auxiliary power from the fuel cell main body so that does not exceed a predetermined amount.

According to the present invention, the control unit generates the auxiliary power amount from the fuel cell main unit so that the power amount supplied from the commercial power supply system does not exceed a predetermined amount. Can be effectively avoided.

[0011] The present invention also provides a fuel gas supply system, a gas supply control valve installed in the fuel gas supply system, and an auxiliary power supply connected to the fuel gas supply system in accordance with the opening of the gas supply control valve. A fuel cell comprising: a fuel cell main body for generating an amount; and a storage unit provided in the fuel cell main body and storing, in a time series, information on the amount of auxiliary power generated by the fuel cell main body. It is a battery device.

According to the present invention, the storage unit of the fuel cell device stores information on the amount of auxiliary power generated by the fuel cell main unit in a time series. Power generation efficiency can be improved.

Further, the present invention includes a fuel gas supply system, and a fuel cell main body connected to the fuel gas supply system and generating an auxiliary electric energy, wherein the fuel gas supply system includes city gas in the fuel cell main body. A city gas supply system for supplying fuel gas, a methanol gas supply system for supplying methanol gas to the fuel cell body, and a switch for switching between the city gas supply system and the methanol gas supply system. This is a fuel cell device.

According to the present invention, even if the city gas supply system is shut off, the fuel cell main body generates an auxiliary electric energy using the methanol gas supply system, so that the operation is continued without interruption even in the event of an earthquake or the like. can do.

Further, the present invention includes a power plant, a commercial power system including a plurality of power transmission and distribution networks connected to the power plant, and a transmission device for generated electric energy, and at least one power system that can be system-linked to the commercial power system. A distributed power supply system comprising: a fuel cell device; and a power generation control unit that controls a power generation amount of the power plant based on information on a generated power amount of the fuel cell device transmitted from the transmission device. .

According to the present invention, the power generation control section controls the power generation amount of the power plant based on the information on the generated power amount of the fuel cell device, so that the power generation efficiency can be significantly improved.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a fuel cell device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a fuel cell device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention
It is installed near the commercial power supply system 20 and includes a city gas supply system 1 as a fuel gas supply system.

The city gas supply system 1 is provided with a gas supply control valve 2 and a fuel cell main body 3 for generating an auxiliary power in accordance with the opening of the gas supply control valve 2. A power distribution system 30 is connected to the commercial power supply system 20 and the fuel cell main body 3.

On the other hand, the commercial power system 20 has a distribution system 30
And a control unit 22 that controls the opening of the gas supply amount adjustment valve 2 according to the output of the sensor 21. Specifically, the control unit 22 generates an auxiliary power amount from the fuel cell main unit 3 so that the power amount supplied from the commercial power supply system 20 does not exceed a predetermined amount.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

Normally, power is supplied to the power distribution system 30 only from the commercial power supply system 20. When the sensor 21 detects that the power consumption of the power distribution system 30 increases and the amount of power supplied from the commercial power supply system 20 is likely to exceed a predetermined amount, the control unit 22 activates the gas supply amount adjustment valve 2. open.

The fuel cell main body 3 generates an auxiliary power amount according to the opening of the gas supply amount adjusting valve 2. Thereby, it is possible to cope with the increased power consumption of the power distribution system 30 without putting the commercial power supply system 20 in an overload state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, control unit 22 generates auxiliary electric energy from fuel cell main unit 3 so that the electric energy supplied from commercial power supply system 20 does not exceed a predetermined amount. Therefore, an overload state of the commercial power supply system 20 can be effectively avoided.

Next, a fuel cell device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the fuel cell device according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, a fuel cell device 10 of the present embodiment has a fuel cell
The configuration is substantially the same as that of the fuel cell device 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that a storage unit 3m that stores information on the amount of auxiliary power generated by the chronological order is connected. In the second embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, for each distribution system (home, other) 30, the trend of the amount of power used exceeding the amount of power supplied by only the commercial power system 20 is:
It is stored in the storage unit 3m. For example, the electric energy for each hour is stored as one set for one day.

According to the present embodiment, various types of information stored in the storage unit 3m can be used. For example,
Based on the information stored in the storage unit 3m, each distribution system 3
It is possible to grasp the power consumption of 0.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 22
The auxiliary electric energy is generated from the fuel cell main unit 3 so that the electric energy supplied from the commercial power supply system 20 does not exceed a predetermined amount, but various information stored in the storage unit 3m can be used. This effect can be obtained irrespective of the control contents of the control unit 22.

Next, a fuel cell device according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the fuel cell device according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fuel cell device 10 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a storage unit 3m is connected to a transmission device 3s for transmitting information of the auxiliary power amount stored in the storage unit 3m. Has substantially the same configuration as the fuel cell device 10 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. In the third embodiment, the same portions as those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, the information of the auxiliary power amount stored in the storage unit 3m is transmitted in real time by the transmitting device 3s.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to use information stored in the storage unit 3m in real time.

In this embodiment, the storage unit 3
The effect that the information stored in m can be used in real time is obtained irrespective of the control contents of the control unit 22.

Next, a fuel cell device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a portion near a fuel cell main body of a fuel cell device according to a fourth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fuel cell device 10 of the present embodiment has a fuel gas supply system in addition to the city gas supply system 1 for supplying city gas to the fuel cell body 3 and a fuel cell body. A methanol gas supply system 41 for supplying methanol gas is provided in the section 3, and a switch 1 s for switching between the city gas supply system 1 and the methanol gas supply system 41 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the city gas supply system 1 of the fuel cell device 10 is a gas line 1 of an existing city gas company.
1, a gas meter 12 is connected to a general gas appliance piping 13 via a distributor 14. On the other hand, the methanol gas supply system 41 is connected to a methanol tank 43. The methanol gas supply system 41 is provided with a second gas supply amount adjustment valve 42.

The city gas supply system 1 and the methanol gas supply system 41 are joined by the switch 1s, and the gas reformer 15
And a gas converter (not shown) connected to the fuel cell main body 3.

The other configuration is substantially the same as that of the fuel cell device 10 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. In the fourth embodiment, the same portions as those of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In this embodiment, in a normal state, the switch 1 s connects the city gas supply system 1 to the fuel cell main body 3, and supplies the city gas in accordance with the degree of opening of the gas supply amount control valve 2. The city gas supplied from the system 1 generates hydrogen in the converter, and the hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the air in the fuel cell main body 3 to generate power.

In this embodiment, when the supply of the city gas from the city gas supply system 1 is cut off due to an earthquake or the like, the switch 1s connects the methanol gas supply system 41 to the fuel cell main unit 3. The methanol gas supplied from the methanol gas supply system 41 generates hydrogen in the converter according to the opening degree of the second gas supply amount control valve 42, and this hydrogen is combined with oxygen in the air in the fuel cell main body 3. It generates power by reacting.

According to the present embodiment, the city gas supply system 1
Is shut off, the fuel cell main body 3 generates the auxiliary power using the methanol gas supply system 41, so that the operation can be continued without interruption even when an earthquake occurs.

A small gas reformer and gas transformer are used to produce a small output (about 1 to 3 kW) of the fuel cell main body.
It is preferable to use a solid polymer type of the above. In this case, since the exhaust heat temperature is low and the operating temperature of the fuel cell is low, installation in a general household is easier.

Next, a distributed power supply system using the fuel cell device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a distributed power supply system.

The distributed power supply system 50 shown in FIG.
1, a commercial power supply system 20 including a plurality of power transmission and distribution networks connected to a power plant 51, and the fuel cell device 10 shown in FIG.

The distributed power supply system 5 according to the present embodiment
0 includes a power generation control unit 53 that controls the power generation amount of the power plant 51 based on the information on the amount of power generated by the fuel cell device 10 transmitted from the transmission device 3s of the fuel power supply device 10.

The power generation control unit 53 may be provided inside or near the power plant 51, but may be set at a place remote from the power plant 51, and is usually called a power demand monitoring center or the like.

Next, the operation of the distributed power supply system according to this embodiment will be described.

The power plant 51 supplies generated electric power to the commercial power supply system 20 in system cooperation. On the other hand, the power amount data generated by the fuel power supply device 10 is transmitted from the transmission device 3s to the power generation control unit 53. Then, the power generation control unit 53, based on the information on the amount of power generated by the fuel cell device 10,
To control the amount of power generated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the power generation control unit 53 can appropriately determine the amount of power generated at the power plant 51, so that the power generation efficiency is significantly improved and the power system is further improved. Can be stabilized.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The control unit generates the auxiliary power amount from the fuel cell main unit so that the power amount supplied from the commercial power supply system does not exceed a predetermined amount, so that an overload state of the commercial power supply system can be effectively avoided. It is.

Further, according to the present invention, the storage unit of the fuel cell device stores information on the amount of auxiliary power generated by the fuel cell main unit in a time-series manner. The power generation efficiency of the power generation amount can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the city gas supply system is shut off, the fuel cell main body uses the methanol gas supply system to generate auxiliary electric energy, so that the operation is performed without interruption even in the event of an earthquake or the like. Can be continued.

Further, according to the present invention, since the power generation control section controls the power generation amount of the power plant based on the information on the auxiliary power amount of the fuel cell device, the power generation efficiency can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a fuel cell device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a fuel cell device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a fuel cell device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a fuel cell device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a distributed power supply system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 city gas supply system 1 s switch 2 gas supply amount adjustment valve 3 fuel cell main unit 3 m storage unit 3 s transmission device 10 fuel cell device 11 gas line 12 gas meter 13 gas appliance piping 14 distributor 15 gas reformer 20 commercial power supply System 21 Sensor 30 Distribution system 41 Methanol gas supply system 42 Second gas supply control valve 43 Methanol tank 50 Distributed power supply system 51 Power station 53 Power generation control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A fuel gas supply system, a gas supply amount control valve installed in the fuel gas supply system, and an auxiliary power amount that is connected to the fuel gas supply system and generates an auxiliary power amount according to an opening degree of the gas supply amount control valve. Connected to a commercial power supply system, and controls the opening of the gas supply control valve according to the amount of power used so that the amount of power supplied from the commercial power supply system does not exceed a predetermined amount. A fuel cell device comprising: a control unit configured to generate an auxiliary electric energy from a fuel cell main body. 2. A fuel gas supply system, a gas supply amount control valve installed in the fuel gas supply system, and an auxiliary power amount that is connected to the fuel gas supply system and generates an auxiliary power amount according to an opening degree of the gas supply amount control valve. A fuel cell device, comprising: a fuel cell main unit to be operated; and a storage unit provided in the fuel cell main unit and storing, in a time series, information on the amount of auxiliary power generated by the fuel cell main unit. 3. The fuel cell device according to claim 2, wherein a transmission device for transmitting information on the amount of auxiliary power stored in the storage unit is connected to the storage unit. 4. A fuel gas supply system comprising: a fuel gas supply system; and a fuel cell body connected to the fuel gas supply system and configured to generate an auxiliary electric energy. The fuel gas supply system supplies city gas to the fuel cell body. A fuel cell, comprising: a city gas supply system; a methanol gas supply system for supplying methanol gas to a fuel cell main body; and a switch for switching between the city gas supply system and the methanol gas supply system. apparatus. 5. A fuel cell system comprising: a power plant; a commercial power system including a plurality of power transmission and distribution networks connected to the power plant; A power generation control unit that controls the power generation amount of the power plant based on the information on the generated power amount of the fuel cell device transmitted from the transmission device;
A distributed power supply system comprising: