JP2002298892A - Fuel cell generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely report the exchange of a consumption article to a user at a proper time. SOLUTION: This system comprises a timer 13 for measuring the used time of the consumption article, a memory device 21 for storing the used time of the consumption article, an arithmetic means 22 for calculating the remaining life time of the consumption article on the basis of the timer 13 and the used time of the consumption article, and an alarm display means 25 for alarm- displaying, when the remaining life time of the consumption article reaches a fixed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel cell power generation system which is installed in, for example, homes and vehicles and converts fuel gas and an oxidant into electric energy by electrochemical reaction. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a fuel cell power generation system capable of surely causing a user to replace consumables in order to prevent long-term shutdown, equipment damage, and accidents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fuel cell is known as a system for directly converting chemical energy of fuel into electricity. In this fuel cell, hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as an oxidant are electrochemically reacted to directly extract electricity, so that electric energy can be extracted with high efficiency, and at the same time noise and harmful This is a system that has excellent environmental characteristics that does not generate exhaust gas.

[0003] By the way, conventional fuel cells are usually managed by a chief electrician engineer class, and it is assumed that a person with some knowledge in the operation is managed. In addition, the scale is several tens of kW or more, and is usually introduced to a medium-sized factory or the like.

[0004] However, recently, small fuel cells have been developed, and it is certain that ordinary users, such as those for home use and vehicle use, will use the fuel cells in the future.

[0005] The fuel cell power generation system has a flammable gas inside and has a complicated structure as compared with general gas appliances.
In addition, since power is generated by a chemical reaction, a sufficient maintenance response is required for a change over time.

[0006] Therefore, although the reliability and safety of the fuel cell power generation system can be ensured by periodically performing maintenance, when the fuel cell power generation system is widely used for home use, general users are not allowed. Since maintenance will be performed, the burden on the user should be minimized. In addition, the system must not cause equipment failures or accidents even when the maintenance that is common for general users is neglected.

For example, in the case of a home air conditioner, it is necessary to periodically clean the filter. Even if the user does not perform the filter cleaning, the efficiency is reduced, but the equipment is not damaged. Absent.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the structure of a typical conventional fuel cell power generation system.

As shown in FIG. 6, natural gas as a raw fuel is introduced from a fuel inlet 1, a sulfur content is removed by a normal-temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2, and then converted into a hydrogen-rich gas by a reformer 3. Is converted. Then, the hydrogen-rich gas is supplied to the fuel cell 4
And a DC current is generated in the fuel cell 4 by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and the DC current is converted into an AC current by the inverter 5.

The control device 6 controls each device to be in an optimum state, and these devices are housed in a package 7 and integrated. In addition, a catalyst as described in JP-A-10-237473 is used for the ordinary temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2.

[0011]

In the above-described conventional fuel cell power generation system, when the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is used beyond the service life, the sulfur component slips to the downstream side and the reformer 3 Catalyst becomes poisoned and becomes unusable. Since a large amount of cost is required for this recovery, it is necessary to replace the room-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 at an appropriate time so that such a situation does not occur.

However, it is difficult for a general user to know when to replace the room-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 and to replace it with a new one.
This is difficult in practice, and this is a major obstacle in developing fuel cells for general users.

On the other hand, in the industrial fuel cell plant, the control device 6 has a function of quantitatively grasping the current performance of a consumable.
In some cases, and a method of issuing an appropriate alarm display as needed may be adopted. Although this method can be applied to household fuel cells, it requires a large amount of cost, such as requiring a large number of expensive sensors to quantitatively detect the current performance of consumables. Unrealistic. Therefore, a system for issuing a warning by an inexpensive means has been demanded.

[0014] Further, even when the user does not know the alarm of the replacement of consumables and does not execute the alarm, it is necessary to provide a system that does not break down like the home air conditioner described above.

Further, the control device 6 grasps the time of replacement by some means, issues an alarm to the user, resets the alarm, and if the control device 6 does not confirm the reset, the operation can be continued. Although the measure of not being able to work is effective, ordinary users do not replace consumables,
The user may reset the alarm, and even in such a case, it is necessary to ensure the safety of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a fuel cell power generation system that can reliably notify a user of replacement of consumables at an appropriate time and execute the replacement. I do.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fuel cell main body for converting a fuel gas and an oxidant electrochemically into electric energy, In a fuel cell power generation system including a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in a battery body, a timer for measuring a use time of the consumable, a storage device for storing a use time of the consumable, and the timer and the consumable Calculating means for calculating the remaining life time of the consumable based on the usage time of the consumable; and alarm display means for displaying an alarm when the remaining life of the consumable reaches a predetermined time. .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the timer continues to count from the new use of the consumable, measures the use time, calculates the remaining life time based on the use time, and the remaining life time is constant. When the time comes, that is, when approaching the preset life time, an alarm display is issued.
This allows the user to replace consumables at an appropriate timing.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fuel cell includes a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy, and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. In the fuel cell power generation system, a storage device for storing the use time of the consumable, an electric energy measuring unit for measuring the amount of electric power generated by the fuel cell main body, and a power supply based on the generated electric energy and the use time of the consumable. It has a calculating means for calculating the remaining life time of the consumable, and an alarm display means for displaying an alarm when the remaining life of the consumable reaches a predetermined time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the time for replacing the consumables is determined based on the amount of generated power instead of time management as in the first aspect of the present invention. That is, since the life of the consumables often has a stronger correlation with the fuel gas consumption than the usage time, similarly, the life can be determined based on the generated power amount having a strong correlation with the fuel gas consumption. The determination accuracy can be further improved. As a result, the invention according to the second aspect enables more accurate determination than the invention according to the first aspect.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fuel cell includes a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy, and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. In the fuel cell power generation system, a storage device for storing a use time of the consumable, a fuel flow integrated value detecting means for detecting a fuel flow integrated value of the fuel cell main body, and a fuel flow integrated value and use of the consumable. It is characterized by having arithmetic means for calculating the remaining life of the consumable based on time, and alarm display means for displaying an alarm when the remaining life of the consumable reaches a predetermined time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the time for replacing the consumables is determined based on the integrated value of the fuel flow rate. That is, since the life of the consumables often has the strongest correlation with the integrated fuel flow value, the most accurate determination can be made by calculating the pre-life of the consumable based on the integrated fuel flow value. Become.

Incidentally, it is easy to calculate a fuel integrated value from a battery DC current value usually provided in a fuel cell.
It is the most practical as compared with the first and second aspects of the invention. As a result, compared with the first and second aspects of the invention,
A more accurate determination can be made.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel cell power generation system according to any one of the first to third aspects,
An automatic stop means is provided for automatically stopping the operation if no action is taken during a certain period of time after the alarm display means issues an alarm display.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, if the user does not replace the consumable for a certain period of time even when the alarm display is issued, the operation is automatically stopped. In this way, even if the user response is bad for some reason,
It is possible to avoid damaging the equipment and impairing safety, and to maintain the fuel cell power generation system.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel cell power generation system according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The storage unit stores an operation history of the user who has performed the replacement of the consumables, and the operation history can be reproduced as needed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the operation history of the replacement of the consumables by the user is stored, and the stored contents can be later taken out by the maintenance staff of the manufacturer. Thus, a PL (product liability) problem can be avoided in the event of a device failure or accident caused by the user erroneously or intentionally performing the replacement of consumables without replacing the consumables.

According to the invention of claim 6, the fuel cell includes a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy, and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. The fuel cell power generation system is characterized by including a consumable sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the consumable and a replacement presence / absence determining means for determining whether or not the consumable has been replaced based on the state of the consumable sensor.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the fact that the consumable is actually taken out and reinstalled is detected by the consumable sensor, and it is determined whether or not the consumable has been replaced based on the state of the consumable sensor. Then, by automatically performing the exchange confirmation, it is possible to prevent the user from performing an erroneous operation or an improper operation (performing the exchange confirmation operation without replacement), and to reliably and automatically confirm the exchange of the consumables.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fuel cell power generation system according to the sixth aspect, a transpiration solid attached to the consumable, and a solid presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the transpiration solid are provided. And determining means for determining whether or not the consumable has been replaced with a new consumable based on the solid matter presence sensor and the consumable sensor.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not a consumable item is attached and whether or not the consumable item has just been attached. That is, when the life of a consumable is measured by the volatilization amount of a transpirable solid, there is a limit in accuracy. Unauthorized operation (replacement confirmation operation without replacement) can be prevented, and replacement of consumables can be reliably and automatically confirmed.

According to the present invention, the fuel cell includes a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidizing agent to convert the fuel gas into electric energy, and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. In the fuel cell power generation system, the evaporable solid attached to the consumable, a solid presence sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the evaporable solid, and replacement of the consumable based on the presence or absence of the evaporable solid And a replacement timing determining means for determining a timing.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the life is determined not based on the calculation of the life but on the basis of whether or not a certain amount of the transpirable solid has volatilized. That is, a new consumable immediately after opening is provided with a certain amount of evaporative solids, and the evaporative solids evaporate over time,
When the amount reaches a predetermined amount or less, an alarm display is issued. Then, when the new transpirable solid is attached, the transpirable solid returns to a certain amount or more, and the alarm display is reset.

The invention according to claim 8 is used when a room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer is applied to consumables. This room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer has a strong correlation with the normal temperature and has a high temperature. And life is shortened. In general, the higher the temperature of the transpirable solid, the higher the volatilization rate. Therefore, by selecting an appropriate transpirable solid and appropriately adjusting the air opening portion, it becomes possible to reproduce the life characteristics in consideration of the temperature dependency of the ordinary temperature adsorption desulfurizer.

As a result, erroneous operation or improper operation by the user (replacement confirmation operation without replacement) can be prevented, and a consumables replacement confirmation system can be realized inexpensively, reliably and automatically.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel cell system according to the first to eighth aspects, the consumable item is a renewable item such as a ventilation filter in response to a user.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, erroneous operation or improper operation by a user (performing a cleaning confirmation operation without cleaning) is prevented, and a renewable product such as a ventilation filter is reliably and automatically subjected to cleaning confirmation. can do.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel cell power generation system according to the first to eighth aspects, the consumables include an ion exchange resin of a water treatment facility, a desulfurizer, a fuel cell,
It is one of the catalysts such as a reformer.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, erroneous operation or improper operation by the user (replacement confirmation operation without replacement) can be prevented, and replacement confirmation can be performed reliably and automatically.

[0040]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the fuel cell power generation system according to the present invention. Note that the same parts as those in the conventional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is applied to consumables will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, natural gas, which is a raw fuel, is introduced from a fuel inlet 1, and after a sulfur content is removed by a normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2, a natural gas is converted into a hydrogen-rich gas by a reformer 3. Is converted. Then, the hydrogen-rich gas is supplied to the fuel cell 4
And a DC current is generated in the fuel cell 4 by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and the DC current is converted into an AC current by the inverter 5. A fuel cell main body is constituted by the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2, the reformer 3, the fuel cell 4 and the inverter 5.

The control device 6 controls each device of the fuel cell body so as to be in an optimum state, and these devices are housed in a package 7 and integrated.

Further, the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 of the present embodiment
6, a transpirable solid material 8 such as naphthalene or transpirable pyrethroid is attached to the lower part, and the presence or absence of the transpirable solid material 8 and the presence or absence of the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 are detected by a sensor 9. Then, based on this detection signal, the control device 6 can recognize the presence or absence of the transpirable solid material 8 and the presence or absence of the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2. Then, the DC ammeter 10 measures the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 4, and the measurement signal is also sent to the control device 6.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are enlarged views showing the consumables sensing system according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2 (A), a fixed amount of transpirable solid substance 8 and a sensor 9 are attached to the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2. The sensor 9 has a protrusion 9a which can be protruded and retracted by an elastic means such as a spring.
Is immersed in the sensor 9 with a fixed amount of the transpirable solid material 8 attached thereto, gradually protrudes from the sensor 9 as the transpirable solid material 8 evaporates, and the room-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 is removed. In the state in which it is set, all are protruded. Therefore, the sensor 9 has a function as a solids presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the transpirable solids 8 and also has a function as a consumables sensor for detecting the presence / absence of consumables.

FIG. 2 (A) shows a state in which a certain amount of the transpirable solid 8 is attached, FIG. 2 (B) shows a state in which the transpirable solid 8 is not attached, and FIG. 2 (C) shows a normal-temperature adsorption desulfurization. Vessel 2
Respectively show the state where it was removed. Hereinafter, description will be made in order.

In FIG. 2A, both the room-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 and the transpirable solid 8 are present,
a is completely pushed and sunk. FIG.
In (B), since the transpirable solid 8 is completely volatilized and only the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is used, the projection 9 of the sensor 9 is used.
a is in a slightly protruding state (intermediate position). Further, in FIG. 2C, the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is not attached, and the projection 9a of the sensor 9 is in a state of completely projecting.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the sensor 9 detects whether or not the room-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 is attached and whether or not the transpirable solid 8 is present. The controller 6 determines whether or not the adsorption desulfurizer 2 has been replaced. In this case, the control device 6 functions as a replacement presence / absence determination unit.

In this embodiment, the sensor 9 detects whether or not the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is attached. From the state of the sensor 9, it is determined whether the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 has been replaced with a new one at the time of replacement of the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2. The control device 6 determines whether or not it is not. In this case, the control device 6 functions as a determination unit.

Further, in the present embodiment, the transpirable solid 8
Is detected by the sensor 9, and based on the sensor 9, the controller 6 determines the replacement time of the room temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2. In this case, the control device 6 functions as replacement time determination means.

Next, the operation of the fuel cell power generation system of this embodiment will be described with reference to a control logic diagram shown in FIG.

The amount of power generated by the fuel cell 4 is measured by the DC ammeter 10 shown in FIG. 1, and the measured value is sent to the control device 6 as a measurement signal. The control device 6 has a function operation unit 11 as shown in FIG.
Thus, the measurement value (current value) of the DC ammeter 10 is converted into a fuel flow rate, and is integrated by the integrator 12 as a calculating means.
The integrator 12 also receives a measurement signal from a timer 13.

This integrated value is compared with the life equivalent value of the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 preset by the desulfurizer life alarm setting device 14 as a storage means by the comparator 15, and the integrated value is calculated as the life equivalent value. In the case where is divided, an alarm display for requesting replacement of the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 is issued from an alarm generator 16 as alarm display means on a display screen (not shown).

When the operation is continued for a certain period of time even after the alarm display is issued from the alarm generator 16, the integrated value and the automatic operation set value preset by the desulfurizer life operation stop setting device 17 are compared with the comparator. The operation is automatically stopped by the system automatic stop means 19 when the integrated value is smaller than the automatic operation set value.

The alarm display time issued from the alarm generator 16 and the time when the operation was automatically stopped by the system automatic stop means 19 are stored as an operation history in a memory 20 as a storage means. It can be reproduced accordingly.

Further, when an alarm display is issued from the alarm generator 16, the user stops the operation and replaces the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2. At this time, the alarm is reset and the operation is started only when the control device 6 can recognize by the sensor 9 that the old ordinary-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 is taken out and the new ordinary-temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2 is attached. Can be resumed. The state signal of the sensor 9 is also stored in the memory 20 as an operation history.

Here, the user uses an old ordinary temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2
Is reattached, the sensor 9 can recognize that the transpirable solids 8 are already gone, so the alarm display cannot be reset. With this function, security against erroneous operation by the user is maintained.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the control device 6 in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the fuel cell power generation system is generating power.
The DC current value generated from the fuel cell 4 in 2 is detected by the DC ammeter 10.

Next, in step S3, the function calculator 11
, The fuel flow rate estimated value (FL) is calculated based on the measurement value (current value) of the DC ammeter 10, and the integrator 12 calculates the fuel flow rate integrated value Σf (I) (step S4).

Further, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the integrated value of the fuel flow rate is smaller than the automatic operation set value set in advance by the desulfurizer life operation stop setting unit 17, and if it is smaller, the process proceeds to step S6. Then, it is determined whether or not the integrated value of the fuel flow rate is longer than the life equivalent value, and if it is larger, a warning is displayed to indicate that it is time to replace the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 (step S7).

On the other hand, if the fuel flow rate integrated value is larger than the automatic operation set value preset by the desulfurizer life operation stop setting unit 17 in step S5, the process proceeds to step S8 to stop the operation automatically. Raise an alarm. Then, the alarm display time (including the alarm display time in step S7) and the time when the operation is automatically stopped are recorded in a log (step S9).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the life of the ordinary temperature adsorption desulfurizer 2, which is a consumable, is strictly calculated using the integrated value of the fuel flow rate, the amount of generated electric power, and the like. And automatically stops the operation, and the alarm display does not reset until it is confirmed by using the sensor 9 that the consumables have been actually replaced, so that the consumables can be replaced at an optimum time. Since it is possible and cannot be operated without replacement, it is possible to realize a highly reliable and safe fuel cell power generation system.

Further, in this embodiment, the determination of the replacement time of the consumables is performed based on the amount of generated power instead of time management. In other words, the life of consumables often correlates more strongly with fuel gas consumption than usage time,
Similarly, by judging the life based on the amount of generated power having a strong correlation with the fuel gas consumption, the judgment accuracy can be further improved.

Further, in this embodiment, the judgment of the replacement time of the consumables is made based on the integrated value of the fuel flow rate. That is, since the life of the consumables often has the strongest correlation with the integrated fuel flow value, the most accurate determination can be made by calculating the pre-life of the consumable based on the integrated fuel flow value. Become.

According to the present embodiment, if the user does not replace the consumable for a certain period of time even when the alarm display is issued, the operation is automatically stopped. In this way, even if the user response is bad for some reason,
It is possible to avoid damaging the equipment and impairing safety, and to maintain the fuel cell power generation system.

According to the present embodiment, the operation history of replacement of the consumables by the user is stored, and the stored contents can be later taken out by the maintenance staff of the manufacturer. Thus, a PL (product liability) problem can be avoided in the event of a device failure or accident caused by the user erroneously or intentionally performing the replacement of consumables without replacing the consumables.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the sensor 9 detects that the consumable has been actually taken out and reinstalled, and determines whether or not the consumable has been replaced based on the state of the sensor 9, and By performing the exchange confirmation, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation or an improper operation (performing the exchange confirmation operation without replacement) by the user, and to reliably and automatically confirm the exchange of the consumables.

Further, in the present embodiment, the life may be determined based on whether or not a certain amount of the transpirable solid has volatilized, instead of the life determination by calculation. That is, a new consumable item immediately after opening is provided with a certain amount of the transpirable solid material 8, and the transpirable solid material 8 evaporates with the passage of time and issues an alarm display when it reaches a predetermined amount or less. . Then, the attachment of the new transpirable solid 8 returns the transpirable solid 8 to a certain amount or more, and thus the alarm display is reset.

In this case, a cold adsorption desulfurizer 2 is used as a consumable, and the cold adsorption desulfurizer 2 has a strong correlation with the normal temperature, and the life is shortened when the temperature is high. In general, the evaporation rate of the transpirable solid 8 increases as the temperature increases. Therefore, by selecting an appropriate transpirable solid material 8 and appropriately adjusting the air opening portion, it is possible to reproduce the life characteristics in consideration of the temperature dependency of the ordinary temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2.

As a result, erroneous operation or improper operation by the user (replacement confirmation operation without replacement) can be prevented, and a consumables replacement confirmation system can be realized inexpensively, reliably and automatically.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to determine whether or not the consumable is attached and whether or not the consumable is just installed. That is, when the life of the consumable is measured by the volatilization amount of the transpirable solid material 8, the accuracy is limited. Therefore, the user determines whether or not the consumable is actually replaced with a new one, thereby performing an erroneous operation by the user. And unauthorized operation (replacement confirmation operation without replacement) can be prevented, and replacement of consumables can be reliably and automatically confirmed.

In this embodiment, the case where the consumables are applied to the normal temperature adsorption type desulfurizer 2 has been described. However, other than this, the ion exchange resin of the water treatment equipment, the catalyst such as the fuel cell 4 and the reformer 3, etc. Or a reproducible product such as a ventilation filter in response to the user.

In this embodiment, when measuring the amount of generated power, a generated power meter is provided, and the generated power is calculated based on the value of the generated power meter and the timer 13 of the control device 6. You may.

Further, in the present embodiment, when calculating the fuel flow integrated value, the fuel flow integrated value and the control device 6
The fuel flow integrated value may be calculated based on the timer 13 described above, or the fuel flow integrated value may be calculated based on the DC current value of the fuel cell 4 and the timer 13 of the control device 6.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the fuel cell power generation system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the timer 13 measures the use time of the consumable, while the life time storage device 21 stores the use time of the consumable item, and stores the measurement signal of the timer 13 and the life time storage device 21. The signal of the stored use time is sent to a remaining life time calculator 22 as calculation means. The remaining life time calculator 22 calculates the remaining life time of the consumable based on the timer 13 and the usage time of the consumable.

The calculated remaining life time is compared by the comparator 24 with the set time set by the remaining life time setting device 23. If the remaining life time of the consumable becomes a certain time, an alarm is issued. An alarm is displayed from an alarm generator 25 as a display means.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the timer 13 keeps counting from the new use of consumables, measures the use time, and calculates the remaining life time based on the use time.
When the remaining life time reaches a predetermined time, that is, when the life time approaches a preset life time, an alarm display is issued. This allows the user to replace consumables at an appropriate timing.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Highly reliable and safe fuel cell power generation because it is possible to properly grasp the information on the time of replacement of consumables and to ensure that users are notified of replacement of consumables at the appropriate timing and that they can be performed without leakage. A system can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a fuel cell power generation system according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are enlarged views showing a consumable goods sensing system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control logic diagram showing the operation of the fuel cell power generation system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control device 6 in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the fuel cell power generation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a conventional fuel cell power generation system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel inlet 2 Room temperature adsorption desulfurizer (consumables) 3 Reformer 4 Fuel cell 5 Inverter 6 Control device (exchange presence / absence judgment means, judgment means, exchange time judgment means) 7 Package 8 Evaporable solid matter 9 Sensor (Solid) Object presence / absence sensor, consumables sensor) 10 DC ammeter 11 Function calculator 12 Integrator (Calculation means) 13 Timer 14 Desulfurizer life alarm setter (Storage means) 15 Comparator 16 Alarm generator (Alarm display means) 17 Desulfurization Unit life operation stop setting unit 18 Comparator 19 System automatic stop unit 20 Memory (Storage unit) 21 Life time storage unit 22 Remaining life time calculator (Calculation unit) 23 Remaining life time setting unit 24 Comparator 25 Alarm generator (Alarm Display means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5H027 BA01 BA16 KK00 KK21 KK51

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas with an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy; and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. A timer for measuring the use time of the consumable, a storage device for storing the use time of the consumable, and calculating means for calculating a remaining life time of the consumable based on the timer and the use time of the consumable. And a warning display means for displaying a warning when the remaining life time of the consumable has reached a predetermined time. 2. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy; and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. A storage device for storing a use time of the consumable, an electric energy measuring unit for measuring an amount of power generated by the fuel cell main body, and a remaining life of the consumable based on the generated power and the use time of the consumable. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: calculating means for calculating time; and alarm display means for displaying an alarm when the remaining life time of the consumable item reaches a predetermined time. 3. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy; and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. A storage device for storing a use time of the consumable, a fuel flow integrated value detecting means for detecting an integrated fuel flow value of the fuel cell main body, and a fuel consumption based on the fuel flow integrated value and the use time of the consumable. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: calculating means for calculating a remaining life of a consumable; and alarm display means for displaying an alarm when a remaining time of the consumable reaches a predetermined time. 4. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, wherein the operation is automatically stopped if no action is taken for a certain period of time after the alarm display means issues an alarm display. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: 5. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores an operation history of the user performing the replacement of the consumables, and stores the operation history as necessary. A fuel cell power generation system characterized by being renewable. 6. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy; and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. A fuel cell power generation system, comprising: a consumable sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the consumable; and a replacement presence / absence determining unit for determining whether or not the consumable is replaced based on a state of the consumable sensor. 7. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 6, wherein a transpirable solid attached to the consumable,
A solids presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the transpirable solids, and a judging means for judging whether or not the consumables have been replaced with new consumables based on the solids presence / absence sensor and the consumables sensor. And a fuel cell power generation system comprising: 8. A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a fuel cell main body for electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidant to convert the fuel gas into electric energy; and a consumable that can be appropriately replaced in the fuel cell main body. Evaporable solids attached to the consumable, a solids presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the evaporable solids, and a replacement time for determining the replacement time of the consumable based on the presence or absence of the evaporable solids A fuel cell power generation system comprising: a determination unit. 9. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, wherein said consumables are renewables such as a ventilation filter in response to a user. 10. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, wherein the consumable is one of an ion exchange resin of a water treatment facility, a catalyst of a desulfurizer, a fuel cell, a reformer, and the like. Characteristic fuel cell power generation system.