JP2003199254A - Cogeneration system and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To meet demands for more economically generating power using, for example, a fuel battery. <P>SOLUTION: A cogeneration system comprises a plurality of heat and electricity supplying devices 11 which supply customers with electric power and hot water; an operation mode determining device 15 which determines an operation mode related to the number of heat and electricity supplying devices 11 to be operated among the plurality of the heat and electricity supplying devices 11 based on the state of power consumption and the state of hot water consumption at the customers; and an operation control device 16 which controls the operations of the heat and electricity supplying devices 11 according to a determined operation mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cogeneration system for generating power using a fuel cell or the like, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a conventional cogeneration system.

A conventional cogeneration system is
Power is generated in the power generation unit 2 inside the combined heat and power device 1 using a fuel containing hydrocarbon such as methane such as city gas. As a power generation method performed by the power generation unit 2, there are a method in which a generator is rotated by an internal combustion engine or a turbine to generate power, and a method in which a gas containing hydrogen is converted by a reformer to generate power by a fuel cell. The electric power obtained by the power generation is grid-connected to the commercial electric power and is supplied to the electric power load.

FIG. 6 shows a change in electric power load in a general house, which is shown in arbitrary units. Electricity consumption in homes fluctuates greatly over time.
Power consumption is tens of watts at midnight and during absence. On the other hand, when the start of the motor etc. overlaps, it reaches several tens of kilowatts.

When the electric power load is large as compared with the amount of power generated by the combined heat and power device 1, the electric power of the difference is supplied from the commercial electric power. On the other hand, when the power load becomes smaller than the amount of power generation, so-called reverse power flow is performed in which the difference is supplied to commercial power. However, the purchase price of electricity generated by cogeneration at the time of reverse power flow is extremely low compared to the price at the time of power purchase, so it is controlled to adjust the amount of power generation and reduce the amount of power in reverse power flow. Is common. Therefore, the rated power generation of the cogeneration system is
It is set to less than half of the maximum load.

The energy converted by the power generation unit 2 is about 20 to 30% of the supplied energy, and the remaining energy is discharged as heat energy. This heat energy is recovered as steam or hot water and supplied to the hot water supply load. The amount of heat energy is almost proportional to the amount of power generation. Therefore, when the electric power load decreases and the amount of power generation decreases, the amount of heat energy also decreases. Generally, since the changes in the electric power load and the hot water supply load do not match, it is necessary to store one energy. For this purpose, the hot water storage tank 3 is used.

[0007]

However, in the conventional cogeneration system (see FIG. 5), it was difficult to quickly respond to changes in demands of electric power and heat and to secure economic efficiency.

More specifically, (1) the load fluctuation of electric power is large, and most of the operations are partial load operation.
The total amount of power generation will be small, and the effect of reducing utility costs due to combined heat and power supply will be small. (2) Since the fluctuations of the power generation and the hot water supply load are steep, it is difficult to accurately follow the load, the self-sufficiency rate with respect to the electric power load is reduced, and it is difficult to obtain the effect of reducing the utility bill. (3) The hot water storage tank becomes large because the electric power load and the hot water load of the house do not match, and the hot water supply is not in time because the hot water load concentrates on the electric power load. (4) Further, as a result of these, the initial investment for the cogeneration system became large, and the installation itself was sometimes hesitant.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention has an object to provide a cogeneration system and a program capable of more economical power generation using a fuel cell, for example. Is.

[0010]

A first aspect of the present invention is based on a plurality of thermoelectric supply means for supplying electric power and hot water to a consumer, and the power consumption state and / or hot water consumption state of the consumer. An operation mode determining means for determining an operation mode related to the number of thermoelectric supply means to be operated among the plurality of thermoelectric supply means, and an operation of the thermoelectric supply means according to the determined operation mode. Is a cogeneration system that includes an operation control unit that controls the.

A second aspect of the present invention is a thermoelectric supply means for supplying electric power and hot water to a plurality of consumption destinations, a total sum of electric power consumption of the plurality of consumption destinations, and / or a plurality of the consumption destinations. A cogeneration system including: an operation control unit that controls the operation of the thermoelectric supply unit based on the total sum of hot water consumption.

The third aspect of the present invention is the cogeneration system according to the second aspect of the present invention, in which the temporal changes in the power consumption and / or the hot water consumption of the respective consumers are complementary.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the temporal change in the power consumption and / or the hot water consumption of each of the consumers is complementary, and the power consumption of each of the consumers and / or The time zone in which the hot water is consumed is not the same for all of the plurality of consumers.
Is a cogeneration system of the present invention.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the cogeneration system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses with different floor plans.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the cogeneration system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses having different living areas.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is the cogeneration system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses having different personnel configurations.

In an eighth aspect of the present invention, the thermoelectric supply means is
A plurality of fuel cells that are leased in exchange for a lease fee to each of the plurality of consumption destinations, the lease fee according to the power consumption and / or hot water consumption,
It is a cogeneration system of the second present invention calculated for each of the plurality of consumers.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is the cogeneration system according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, further comprising a hot water storage tank for storing the hot water and heating means for heating the hot water storage tank.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the cogeneration system of the first aspect of the present invention is operated based on the power consumption state and / or hot water consumption state of the consumption destination among the plurality of thermoelectric supply means. A computer as all or part of operation mode determining means for determining an operation mode related to the number of thermoelectric power supplying means, and operation control means for controlling the operation of the thermoelectric supplying means according to the determined operation mode. Is a program for making the function.

The eleventh aspect of the present invention is based on the total sum of electric power consumption of the plurality of consumers and / or the total sum of hot water consumption of the plurality of consumers in the cogeneration system of the second aspect. And a program for causing a computer to function as operation control means for controlling the operation of the thermoelectric supply means.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) First, the configuration of the cogeneration system in this embodiment will be described. 1 is a configuration diagram of the cogeneration system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the cogeneration system according to the present embodiment, power is generated by the thermoelectric supply device 11 using a fuel containing hydrocarbon such as methane such as city gas as a raw material.

Hot water is generated by the heat generated at this time. Hot water is stored in the hot water storage tank 12. In this embodiment,
An example using three thermoelectric supply devices is shown. Each has a hot water storage tank 12.

The electric power and hot water are supplied to the load side through the electric power meter 13 and the hot water meter 14.

The measured values of the electric power amount 13 and the hot water meter 14 are sent to the operation mode determination device 15, and based on the information processed here, the operation control device 16 provided in each heat and power cogeneration device 11 performs. , Control the driving.

At the outlet of the hot water storage tank 12, the hot water amount adjusting valve 1
7 is installed, and the amount of hot water is adjusted by a command from the operation control device 16.

The combined heat and power supply device 11 corresponds to the heat and power supply means of the present invention, the operation mode determination device 15 corresponds to the operation mode determination means of the present invention, and the operation control device 16 is the operation control means of the present invention. Corresponding to.

Next, the operation of the cogeneration system of this embodiment will be described. While describing the operation of the cogeneration system of the present embodiment, one embodiment of the cogeneration method of the invention will also be described (also in the following embodiments,
The same).

The power consumption and the amount of hot water consumed by each house are measured by the watt hour meter 13 and the hot water meter 14, and are sent to the operation mode determining device 15.

The operation mode determination device 15 determines the optimum operation mode according to the state of the total amount of consumption at each time point and sends a control signal to the operation control device 16. For example,
When the total power load is small, the combined heat and power supply device 1
Operate only one of the items. Then, the number of operating thermoelectricity supply devices 11 is controlled according to the total of the electric power loads.

The heat generated during power generation warms the water in the hot water storage tank 12. Since the amount of heat at this time is almost proportional to the amount of power generation, the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 12 changes depending on the operating time of each combined heat and power device 11.

Therefore, the operation mode determining device 15 is
By determining the optimum supply amount from each hot water storage tank according to the total hot water storage amount of each hot water storage tank 12 and the total hot water consumption of each door at each time point, and sending a control signal to the operation control device 16. The hot water amount adjusting valve 17 is controlled, and warm hot water is supplied to each door.

As an example, the electricity bill and the hot water bill are measured by the electricity meter 24 and the hot water meter 25 installed in each door, recorded by the operation controller 26, and billed for each door. In such a system, it is also possible to employ a system in which each heat and power co-generation device and each hot water storage tank are installed under a lease contract and the utility bill is billed to each house.

In this way, by adjusting the operation mode relating to the number of the combined heat and power supply devices 11 to be operated, it is possible to provide a cogeneration system having a high operation efficiency and a large effect of reducing the utility cost. Needless to say, such adjustment of the operation mode is effective even when there is only one house.

(Second Embodiment) First, the configuration of the cogeneration system according to the present embodiment will be described. 2 is a configuration diagram of the cogeneration system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Power is generated by the thermoelectric supply device 21 using a fuel containing hydrocarbon such as methane as city gas as a raw material.

Hot water is generated by the heat generated at this time. Hot water is stored in the hot water storage tank 22. A backup burner 23 for reheating is installed at the outlet of the hot water storage tank 22.

On the load side, house 27 (house A), house 28
(House B) and House 29 (House C).
These electric power and hot water are supplied to the load side via the electric power meter 24 and the hot water meter 25.

Information on the electricity meter 24 and the hot water meter 25 is collected by the operation control device 26 and used for controlling the thermoelectric supply device 21.

The combined heat and power supply device 21 corresponds to the heat and power supply means of the present invention, and the operation control device 26 corresponds to the operation control means of the present invention. The hot water storage tank 22 corresponds to the hot water storage tank of the present invention, and the backup burner 23 corresponds to the heating means of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the cogeneration system of this embodiment will be described.

The electric power consumption of the house A (arbitrary unit) in a certain time zone is shown in FIG.

Power consumption in a typical house fluctuates greatly over time.

The power consumption at midnight or in the absence is several tens of watts. On the other hand, when the start of the motor etc. overlaps, it reaches several tens of kilowatts.

For example, the amount of power generation is 1 with respect to the vertical axis in FIG.
When the thermoelectric supply device 21 of 0 is installed, the rated operation cannot be performed in most time zones, and the partial load operation is performed.

The power consumption of the house B (arbitrary unit) in a certain time zone is shown in FIG. The house B is different from the house A in the floor plan, the living area, or the personnel composition, and thus the change in the power consumption is different.

FIG. 4 shows the floor plan in a certain time zone.
The total electric power consumption is the total electric power consumption, which is the total of the electric power consumption (arbitrary unit) of the house C having a different living area and personnel composition.

In the present embodiment, the combined heat and power supply device 21 whose power generation amount is 10 with respect to the vertical axis of FIG. 4 is introduced.

As described above, the power consumption and the heat consumption at each consumption destination are not the same for all of the plurality of consumption destinations, so that the power consumption and heat consumption at each consumption destination change with time. Becomes complementary. As a result, the operating status of the combined heat and power supply device 21 is more than doubled when it is used in three houses as compared to when it is used in one house. Therefore, the effect of reducing the utility cost is further increased.

In this embodiment, the three combined heat and power supply device 21 and the hot water storage tank 22 are installed in three units.

The electricity bill and the hot water bill are measured by the electricity meter 24 and the hot water meter 25 installed in each door, recorded by the operation controller 26, and billed for each door, for example. .

In such a system, the combined heat and power supply device 21
It is also possible to adopt a system in which the hot water storage tank 22 is installed under a lease contract and the utility bill is billed to each house.

Of course, as in the case of the above-described first embodiment, a lease for each door to utilize not only the combined heat and power supply device 21 and / or the hot water storage tank 22 but also the other combined heat transfer device and / or the hot water storage tank. It is also possible to introduce a contract. If such a system is adopted, each user can select supply of electricity or heat supplied at a lower cost, and more efficient use of heat or electricity becomes possible.

In addition, since it is assumed that the hot water supply will be insufficient due to the use of three units, the backup burner 2
In No. 3, it is configured to cope with the shortage of hot water. Such control of the backup burner may be performed by the operation control device 26, or may be performed by another control device associated with the operation control device 26.

In this way, it is possible to provide a cogeneration system which has a high operating efficiency and a large effect of reducing the utility cost.

In the above, the first and second embodiments have been described in detail.

The present invention can provide a cogeneration system capable of highly efficient and stable operation. In such a cogeneration system, (1) by coping with the loads of a plurality of houses, the total amount of power generation becomes large, and the effect of reducing heat and power costs by cogeneration is increased.

(2) By targeting a plurality of houses having different loads, fluctuations in power generation and hot water supply load are alleviated,
It becomes easier to more accurately follow the load, the self-sufficiency rate with respect to the power load increases, and it becomes easier to obtain the effect of reducing utility costs.

(3) By purchasing or leasing a plurality of houses, the initial investment for the cogeneration system is reduced, and the installation becomes easy.

(4) By adopting the backup burner, even if the electric power load and hot water load of the house do not match, a small hot water storage tank can be used. As a result, the initial investment is small.

The present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute the functions of all or part of the above-mentioned cogeneration system of the present invention (or devices, elements, circuits, sections, etc.). , A program that operates in cooperation with a computer is included. Of course, the computer is not limited to pure hardware such as a CPU, but may include firmware, an OS, and peripheral devices.

Further, the invention is a program for causing a computer to execute all or some of the steps (or steps, operations, actions, etc.) of the above-described cogeneration method of the invention, which program cooperates with the computer. Includes programs that work and work.

It should be noted that some means (or devices, elements, circuits, sections, etc.) of the present invention and some steps (or steps, operations, actions, etc.) of the present invention are those plural means or steps. It means some means or steps in the above, or some functions or some operations in one means or steps.

Further, some devices (or elements, circuits, parts, etc.) of the present invention mean some devices of the plurality of devices, or some means of one device. (Or, an element, a circuit, a part, etc.) or a part of the functions of one means.

Further, a computer-readable recording medium in which the program of the invention is recorded is also included in the invention.
Further, one usage form of the program of the invention may be a mode in which the program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium and operates in cooperation with the computer. Further, one usage form of the program of the invention may be a mode in which the program is transmitted through a transmission medium, read by a computer, and operates in cooperation with the computer. The recording medium includes a ROM and the like, and the transmission medium includes a transmission medium such as the Internet and light, radio waves, sound waves and the like.

The configuration of the invention may be realized by software or hardware.

Further, the present invention is a medium carrying a program for causing a computer to execute all or some of the functions of all or some of the means of the cogeneration system of the present invention described above, which is read by the computer. Included is a medium on which the readable and readable program cooperates with the computer to perform the functions.

Further, the invention is a medium carrying a program for causing a computer to execute all or some of the operations of all or some of the steps of the cogeneration method of the invention described above, which is readable by the computer and Included is a medium on which the read program cooperates with the computer to perform the operations.

[0070]

As is apparent from the above description,
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has an advantage that more economical power generation can be performed using a fuel cell, for example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a cogeneration system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a cogeneration system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a change in electric power load of a house B according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes in the total power load of houses A, B, and C according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional cogeneration system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in electric power load of a house A according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11, 21 Combined heat and power equipment 3, 12, 22 Hot water storage tank 13, 24 Electricity meter 14, 25 Hot water meter 15 Operation mode determination device 16, 26 Operation control device 18 housing 23 Backup Burner 27 House A 28 House B 29 Housing C

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of thermoelectric supply means for supplying electric power and hot water to a consumer, and among the plurality of thermoelectric supply means based on the power consumption state and / or hot water consumption state of the consumer. The operation mode determining means for determining an operation mode relating to the number of thermoelectric supply means to be operated, and the operation control means for controlling the operation of the thermoelectric supply means according to the determined operation mode. Generation system. 2. A thermoelectric supply means for supplying electric power and hot water to a plurality of consumers, a total sum of power consumptions of the plurality of consumers, and / or a total of hot water consumptions of the plurality of consumers. A cogeneration system comprising: an operation control unit that controls the operation of the thermoelectric supply unit based on a meter. 3. The power consumption of each of the consumers and //
3. The cogeneration system according to claim 2, wherein the temporal change of the hot water consumption amount is complementary. 4. The power consumption of each of the consumers and //
Alternatively, the temporal change of the hot water consumption amount is complementary means that the power consumption and / or the hot water consumption time of each consumption destination is the same for all of the plurality of consumption destinations. The cogeneration system according to claim 3, which is absent. 5. The cogeneration system according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses with different floor plans. 6. The cogeneration system according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses having different living areas. 7. The cogeneration system according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of consumers are at least two houses having different personnel configurations. 8. The thermoelectric supply means is a plurality of fuel cells that are leased to each of the plurality of consumers in exchange for a lease fee, wherein the lease fee is the power consumption and / or hot water consumption. The cogeneration system according to claim 2, wherein the cogeneration system is calculated for each of the plurality of consumers according to the amount. 9. The cogeneration system according to claim 1, further comprising a hot water storage tank for storing the hot water, and a heating means for heating the hot water storage tank. 10. The thermoelectric supply means to be operated among the plurality of thermoelectric supply means based on the power consumption state and / or hot water consumption state of the consumption destination of the cogeneration system according to claim 1. A program for causing a computer to function as all or a part of an operation mode determining unit that determines an operation mode related to the number of units, and an operation control unit that controls the operation of the thermoelectric supply unit according to the determined operation mode. . 11. The thermoelectric supply of the cogeneration system according to claim 2, based on the total sum of electric power consumption of the plurality of consumers and / or the total sum of hot water consumption of the plurality of consumers. A program for causing a computer to function as operation control means for controlling the operation of the means.