JP2002373698A - Gas-liquid separator for fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell which can separate moisture contained in exhausted gas from the fuel cell, without causing pressure loss when separating gas and liquid from each other and eliminate dust contained in the separated moisture. SOLUTION: This gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell comprises a cylindrical body part 10, with both upper and lower sides being hermetically sealed, an inlet pipe 11 disposed in the vicinity of the upper part of cylindrical part of the body part 10 and in the tangential direction, an outlet pipe 12 protrudingly disposed on the central part of the top plate part 10b of the body part 10 to the internal and external parts of the body part 10, and a drain pipe 13 disposed on the lower part of the body part 10. A filter 14 for collecting dust is disposed at the vertically middle part of the internal part of the body part 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell. More specifically, the present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell that removes moisture contained in exhaust gas from a fuel cell of an electric vehicle powered by the fuel cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the exhaust gas of a fuel cell vehicle that generates power by reacting oxygen and hydrogen generates mist of water humidified to promote the reaction and water generated by a chemical reaction. Included in. If this exhaust gas is allowed to flow through the exhaust system duct as it is, there is a problem that the function of the muffler is reduced or white smoke is emitted from the exit of the muffler. For this reason, a gas-liquid separator is provided for the purpose of separating water in the exhaust gas from the exhaust gas.

There are various types of gas-liquid separators, and one of them is a cyclone separator. FIG. 2 shows this cyclone type gas-liquid separator. In the same figure, (a) is a top view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line bb of (a), and reference numeral 1 denotes a main body portion serving as a cyclone chamber (centrifugal separation chamber), 2 denotes an inlet pipe, 3 is an outlet pipe and 4 is a drain pipe. The main body 1 has a cylindrical shape in which the upper part of the cylindrical part 1a is sealed by the top plate part 1b and the lower part is sealed by the bottom part 1c.
Are provided in the vicinity of the top plate portion 1b and tangentially to the cylindrical portion 1a. Also, the outlet pipe 3 is the main body 1
Is vertically provided at the center of the top plate 1b at the top of the main body 1 and protrudes inside and outside the main body 1. The drain pipe 4 is provided at the center of the bottom 1c.

[0004] Exhaust gas from the fuel cell enters the main body 1 through the inlet pipe 2, goes downward while rotating, goes upside down, and is exhausted from the outlet pipe 3. At this time, the gas and moisture in the exhaust gas are separated by the centrifugal force of the turning motion, the gas is exhausted from the outlet pipe 3, and the water descends along the inner wall surface of the main body 1 and is discharged from the drain pipe 4. .

[0005]

In the above-mentioned gas-liquid separator, water in the exhaust gas flowing from the inlet pipe can be removed, but dust contained in the water cannot be removed. Therefore, when the water is circulated and reused, dust may enter the fuel cell and cause a failure. If this water is discarded without being reused, there is a problem of polluting the environment.

For this reason, a filter for removing dust may be provided. However, if the filter is provided in the middle of the duct connecting the fuel cell and the gas-liquid separator, or in the middle of the duct going from the gas-liquid separator to the muffler, the pressure is reduced. There is a problem that the loss becomes large and the exhaust of the fuel cell cannot be performed well, so that the function of the fuel cell may be deteriorated.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention separates water contained in the exhaust of a fuel cell without causing a pressure loss during gas-liquid separation, and separates dust contained in the separated water. It is an object of the present invention to realize a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell capable of removing the gas.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a cylindrical main body 1 having a closed upper and lower part.
0, an inlet pipe 11 provided in the vicinity of a cylindrical upper portion of the main body 10 and in a tangential direction, and a top plate 10b of the main body 10
A gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell, comprising: an outlet pipe 12 provided at the center of the main body 10 so as to protrude inside and outside the main body 10; and a drain pipe 13 provided at a lower part of the main body 10. A filter 14 for collecting dust is provided in the upper and lower middle portions of the inside of the main body 10. A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the filter 14 is formed by insert-molding a circular wire net 14b with a resin 14a.

With this configuration, moisture contained in exhaust gas from the fuel cell can be removed by the cyclone principle, and dust can be removed by the filter.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell according to the present invention, wherein FIG.
(B) is a perspective view of the filter. In the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, the cylindrical portion 10a, the top plate portion 10b, and the bottom portion 1
0c and a main body 10 forming a cyclone chamber (centrifugal separation chamber), and an inlet pipe 1 provided at an upper portion of the cylindrical portion 10a.
1, an outlet pipe 12 provided at the center of the top plate 10b,
The fact that the drain pipe 13 provided on the bottom part 10c is formed of resin is the same as the conventional example described with reference to FIG. 2, and the difference is that the filter 14 is provided on the main body part 10.

As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the filter 14 is made of a circular metal net 14b made of a resin 14a such as polypropylene having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the main body 10.
Is insert-molded on the outer periphery of. As the wire net 14b, for example, a wire formed by forming a stainless wire having a diameter of 40 μ in a mesh at a pitch of 95 μ is used.

The filter 14 is attached to the main body 10 by vibration welding to a stepped portion 15 provided on the main body 10, or as shown in FIG.
A hole 14c is formed in the resin portion 14a of
It is also possible to insert the pin 16 provided in the 5 and fix it by caulking with a hot plate or the like. In addition, the main body 10 is formed by being divided into upper and lower parts from the arrow A part, and after the filter is fixed, the upper and lower parts are integrated by thermocompression bonding or the like.

In this embodiment, the exhaust gas of the fuel cell that enters through the inlet pipe 11 is separated into gas and moisture by the cyclone effect in the main body 10.
The gas is discharged from the outlet pipe 12, and the water falls along the inner wall of the cylindrical portion 10 a and is discharged from the drain pipe 13. At this time, the dust contained in the moisture is removed from the wire mesh 14b of the filter 14.
Only the water collected and cleaned by the drain pipe 1
Drained from 3. This makes it possible to reuse water. Also, when discharged to the outside, it does not pollute the environment.

[0014]

According to the gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell of the present invention, the dust contained in the water separated by the gas-liquid is removed by the filter, and the water discharged from the drain pipe contains the dust. Because it is not available, it can be reused for fuel cells,
There is no concern about environmental pollution when directly discarding outside. Further, since no filter is provided in the duct connected to the fuel cell, there is no pressure loss. In the above-described embodiment, the main body and the like are made of resin, but may be made of metal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a longitudinal sectional view and (b) is a perspective view of a filter.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views showing an example of a conventional gas-liquid separator, wherein FIG. 2A is a top view and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Main body part 10a ... Cylindrical part 10b ... Top plate part 10c ... Bottom part 11 ... Inlet pipe 12 ... Outlet pipe 13 ... Drain pipe 14 ... Filter 14a ... Resin part 14b ... Wire mesh part 14c ... Hole 15 ... Stepped part 16 ... Pin

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mino Mizuno 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Kazunori Yanagihara 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Motor Corporation F-term (reference) 4D031 AC04 BA07 EA01 5H027 AA02

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical main body (10) having a closed upper and lower part.
And an inlet pipe (11) provided in the vicinity of the cylindrical upper portion of the main body (10) and in a tangential direction, and the main body (10) A) a gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell, comprising: an outlet pipe (12) provided so as to protrude inward and outward; and a drain pipe (13) provided at a lower part of the main body (10). The main body (1
A dust collection filter (1)
4) A gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell, characterized by comprising: 2. The gas-liquid separator for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the filter (14) is formed by insert-molding a circular wire net (14b) with a resin (14a).