JP2006073415A - Fuel cell system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide a fuel cell system having both of merit in a case where the fuel cell is installed in each user and merit, when a large fuel cell is installed for supplying in a lump electric power to many users. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of users A-H present in a prescribed local area individually equipped with a PEFC unit 200, an SOFC unit 300, or a general gas appliance. The PEFC unit 200 and the SOFC unit 300 are not equipped with reformers, reformed gas is purified in a lump by a concentrated fuel gas supply 10, and the reformed gas is supplied to each user via an accumulator 120. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is based on a fuel supply system in which fuel gas as a driving source is concentrated with respect to a standard small fuel cell unit distributed in a general home such as a detached house or an apartment house or a small business facility. The present invention relates to a fuel cell system to be supplied.

  Conventionally, as a method of supplying electric power and heat (hot water, etc.) to general households and business facilities, as shown in FIG. 13 (a), electric power is purchased from a commercial power system, and hot water is supplied with city gas fuel, In general, hot water is produced by a hot water heater using LPG or kerosene as a fuel, or is produced by an electric water heater and supplied. However, in recent years, fuel cell systems such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) and solid electrolyte fuel cells (SOFC) are being introduced as power and heat supply systems for homes and businesses. As shown in FIG. 13B, such a fuel cell system is a system that generates electricity and hot water using city gas, LPG, kerosene, or the like as fuel, and the generated electricity is used for electric equipment as electric power. (Insufficient electricity is purchased from the commercial power system). Moreover, hot water generated using the exhaust heat of the fuel cell is stored in a hot water storage tank and supplied to an oil supply system in a consumer. Thus, a single fuel cell unit has a function of supplying both electricity and heat. Currently, models with power generation capacities of 500 W to 1 kW for household fuel cells and 3 to 5 kW and 30 kW class power generation capacities for commercial fuel cells are being developed.

  FIG. 14 shows a conceptual diagram of a fuel cell system 900 using a household polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). In this fuel cell system 900, a power generation operation is performed by PEFC 901 using city gas as fuel, and electric power generated by PEFC 901 is supplied to household electrical devices such as a television 902, an air conditioner 903, and a refrigerator 904 via a power conditioner or the like. And the lighting fixture 905 or the like. In addition, when the power generated by PEFC 901 is insufficient, power is supplied from the commercial power system. On the other hand, if the generated power is surplus, there is a case where the reverse flow of commercial power as a commercial power is contracted with a power company, but there is a case where such reverse power flow is not allowed. Electricity will not be utilized.

  The PEFC 901 also generates heat (exhaust heat) at the same time during power generation. Therefore, hot water is generated using the heat and stored in the small hot water tank 911. If necessary, the bath 912 and the hot water heater 913 are used. It is supplied to a hot water supply device 914 in the kitchen, a hot water floor heater 915 and the like. Note that when the amount of heat generated by the PEFC 901 is insufficient, the hot water in the small hot water tank 911 is replenished using city gas.

  The type of fuel cell used for such applications is not limited to the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC901), and the characteristics differ due to different operating temperatures. However, phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), molten carbonate A salt fuel cell (MCFC), a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), or the like can also be used. FIG. 15 shows the characteristics of these fuel cells for each type.

By the way, a fuel cell is generally provided with a reformer that converts a hydrocarbon-based fuel such as city gas into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas. On the other hand, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for transporting hydrogen gas over a long distance using an existing city gas conduit network and connecting a household fuel cell system to the end thereof.
JP 2002-235900 A

  The electric load and the heat load such as heating and hot water change every moment, and the temporal fluctuation becomes large especially for small consumers such as ordinary households. In particular, with regard to the electric power load, since electric appliances in the home are frequently started and stopped, the electric load greatly fluctuates in a short time in seconds. FIG. 16A shows a power load fluctuation state in which the electrical load in a single-family house is measured in seconds. As shown in the figure, a large electric power load fluctuation is constantly generated in a detached house, and in this measurement example, the minimum load is about 300 W, the maximum load is about 3000 W, and there is a fluctuation of up to 10 times.

  However, the load follow-up performance of a household fuel cell having a reformer is limited to about 10% / min, and cannot be operated following the instantaneous load fluctuation as described above. For this reason, household fuel cells are connected to the power system, and sudden load changes are supplied from the commercial power system, or backup power sources such as batteries are installed, It is necessary to adopt a configuration corresponding to the backup power source. Usually, grid connection with the commercial power system is performed, but there is a problem that economical operation cannot be performed due to purchase of insufficient power or generation of surplus power when reverse power flow is not allowed. In addition, the reformer has a long start-up time, and the fuel cell system cannot be started and stopped frequently in response to power and heat demand, and the fuel cell is efficient even when the power load and heat demand are low, such as at midnight. There is also a problem that the economy is deteriorated because it is necessary to operate at a low minimum load.

  In addition, there are considerable differences in the power load pattern in each house depending on the number of people in the family, age, lifestyle, etc., so consider and install fuel cell capacity with power generation capacity and heat capacity suitable for each home. In addition, when the demand for electricity and heat load changes with time, the optimum fuel cell capacity changes, so there is a disadvantage that replacement such as model replacement is required. Also, when a large amount of heat is required beyond the electrical load, such as in winter, the power output of the fuel cell cannot be set higher than the electrical load. Even when necessary, there is a problem that the output of the generated power of the fuel cell cannot be increased beyond the thermal load, and the operation of the fuel cell system is restricted.

  On the other hand, FIG.16 (b) is the electric power load fluctuation state measured in the whole apartment house. In such an apartment house, the load change curve is smoothed compared to a detached house. In this measurement example, the minimum load is about 8000 W, the maximum load is about 30000 W, and the fluctuation range is about 3.8 times. It is settled. This is because various households gather in the housing complex, so that the power and heat load are leveled as a whole. Therefore, even when introducing a fuel cell into a general house, rather than introducing a single fuel cell for each household, a single large fuel cell is introduced into multiple apartments and concentrated. It is considered that a system that manufactures and supplies electricity and heat can improve the facility utilization rate and is preferable in terms of economy.

  However, when a large fuel cell system with a reformer is installed for a customer existing in a local area, there is no problem in terms of power supply, but exhaust heat is also concentrated, so a large hot water storage A tank is required. In addition, a heat supply pipe for supplying heat to each customer is required, and heat loss from the heat supply pipe, transfer power, and equipment cost of the pipe become high, and it is impossible to construct an economical system after all. There's a problem.

  On the other hand, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, a fuel cell is disposed in each household, while the fuel cell is not provided with a reformer, and the city gas conduit network is utilized to extend the hydrogen gas. According to the method of transporting by distance transportation, it is possible to supply hydrogen gas to individual fuel cells as needed. However, the danger of transporting hydrogen gas over long distances cannot be eliminated, and the cost of safety becomes enormous, and it is extremely difficult to actually construct such a large-scale system.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a low-cost fuel cell system that combines the advantages of installing a fuel cell for each consumer as described above and the advantages of installing a large fuel cell together with many customers. The purpose is to provide. In other words, fuel cells are distributed in each household to enable individual consumption of electricity and heat at each consumer, while the fuel gas supply to each fuel cell is supplied from a centralized fuel supply system. Therefore, a technical issue is to reduce the excessive power generation facilities and enable efficient operation by building a fuel cell system that can control the operation in the entire local area.

  A fuel cell system according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a fuel gas supply facility that is connected to a commercial gas supply system and purifies a fuel gas serving as a drive source of the fuel cell, and a plurality of consumers existing in a predetermined local area. The fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell unit distributed and arranged in the fuel cell system, wherein the fuel gas supply facility is a centralized fuel gas common to each fuel cell unit capable of supplying fuel gas to each consumer. It is a supply facility, and the fuel cell unit is an individual fuel cell unit that generates electric power to be supplied to at least an electric power load in each consumer.

  Differences between the fuel cell system according to the present invention and a conventional general fuel cell system will be roughly described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general fuel cell system. In this system, the fuel cell system unit 800 includes a fuel cell unit 801, a reformer 802 that supplies reformed gas to the fuel cell unit 801, a control unit 803 that controls these operations, and a fuel cell unit 801. The hot water storage tank 804 which produces | generates warm water using the waste heat of this. The electricity generated by the fuel cell unit 801 is used by an electric device 811 in a consumer, and the hot water in the hot water storage tank 804 is used by a heat demand device 812 such as a hot water supply facility. In such a system, raw fuel such as city gas is introduced into the reformer 802, and the reformed gas is purified by the reformer 802 and supplied to the fuel cell unit 801. That is, the fuel cell system unit 800 provided individually for each consumer is provided with the reformer 802, and the reformed gas is purified for each consumer. As described above, with such a configuration, it is difficult to operate following a load fluctuation of a consumer (especially a small consumer).

  On the other hand, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a fuel cell system according to the present invention. Fuel cell units 700a and 700b are individually provided for (small) consumers A and B existing in a predetermined local area (for example, a group of detached houses in an apartment house or a certain area). However, for example, reformed gas or the like is supplied to these fuel cell units 700a and 700b from a common centralized fuel gas supply facility (centralized reformer 10). That is, the fuel cell units 700a and 700b are composed of fuel cell units 701a and 701b, control units 703a and 703b, and hot water storage tanks 704a and 704b, and are not equipped with individual reformers, and are controlled by the control unit 10A. The reformed gas is purified from the raw fuel by the centralized reformer 10 and supplied to the consumers A and B. And the electric power and heat which generate | occur | produced in each fuel cell unit 700a, 700b are consumed by the electric equipment 711a, 711b and heat demand equipment 712a, 712b with which each consumer A, B is equipped.

  For heat use by small consumers such as households, it is possible to eliminate the need for heat supply piping by installing fuel cell equipment in the consumer, which is the heat demand point, and extracting heat. It is the most economical from the viewpoint that heat loss can be suppressed. On the other hand, it is more practical to install a fuel gas supply apparatus having a large scale merit, high efficiency, and a centralized type that has the capacity for small fuel gas fluctuations. In view of such points, in the present invention, small fuel cell units 700a and 700b having no reformer are distributed and installed at each customer site, while the supply of reformed gas is a concentrated fuel gas supply. The system configuration is such that the apparatus (central reforming apparatus 10) collectively supplies the power load (electric devices 711a and 711b) and the heat load (heat demand devices 712a and 712b) independently for each consumer. Is.

  According to such a configuration, even if each small fuel cell unit 700a, 700b is individually operated, the fuel gas supply amount as a whole of several, tens, hundreds of small fuel cell units is smoothed ( In other words, sudden load fluctuation does not occur as a whole), so that the aggregated fuel gas supply apparatus can be operated gently and can be economically operated. The fuel cell unit is not limited to one type of fuel cell, but a plurality of units having different power generation capacity, power generation efficiency, exhaust heat efficiency, start-up time, etc., and different fuel cells such as solid polymer type and solid electrolyte type A combination of standard units can also be used.

  A fuel cell system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the fuel cell system according to the first aspect, wherein the centralized fuel gas supply facility includes a reforming device that converts a hydrocarbon-based fuel into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas. The fuel cell unit is arranged to be supplied to a consumer. According to this configuration, since the hydrogen-rich reformed gas is supplied from the centralized fuel gas supply facility to each consumer, the fuel can be used immediately in the fuel cell unit provided in each consumer. Gas is supplied.

  A fuel cell system according to a third aspect of the present invention is the fuel cell system according to the second aspect, wherein the centralized fuel gas supply facility further includes a carbon monoxide remover that adjusts the carbon monoxide concentration in the reformed gas to 100 ppm or less. And Here, as the carbon monoxide remover, for example, a carbon monoxide selective oxidizer, a carbon monoxide adsorber, or the like may be provided with a function capable of reducing the carbon monoxide concentration, and the form thereof is not limited. According to this configuration, the reformed gas supplied from the centralized fuel gas supply facility can be a hydrogen-rich reformed gas composition having a low carbon monoxide concentration. As a result, it is possible to use a polymer electrolyte fuel cell that has the advantages of a short start-up time and few restrictions on the number of start / stop operations. Furthermore, since the gas has a low carbon monoxide concentration, it can be supplied as a fuel for general-purpose gas appliances.

A fuel cell system according to a fourth aspect is the fuel cell system according to the second aspect, wherein a reformed gas purified by the reformer is used as a fuel for a burner used as a heating source for inducing a reforming reaction in the reformer. It is characterized by being able to. According to this configuration, the NO _X generation amount due to the combustion of reforming the burner, as compared with the case of using a raw fuel such as city gas, LPG or kerosene becomes possible to lower concentration.

  A fuel cell system according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the fuel cell system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply facility includes a general consumer not having a fuel cell unit. The general consumer is configured to be supplied with the fuel gas purified by the centralized fuel gas supply facility to the general gas equipment provided in the general consumer. According to this configuration, a centralized fuel gas supply facility in general gas equipment (for example, cooking gas appliances, bath heating burner gas appliances, heating gas appliances, etc.) provided by general consumers who do not have a fuel cell unit By using the fuel gas supplied from the vehicle, the stability of the load fluctuation is further ensured.

  A fuel cell system according to a sixth aspect is the hydrogen gas purification according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the hydrogen gas is purified from the fuel gas supplied to the fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply facility. A hydrogen gas supply facility comprising an apparatus and a hydrogen gas storage apparatus for storing hydrogen gas purified by the hydrogen gas purification apparatus is connected. According to this configuration, the reformed gas is produced by the surplus capacity of the centralized fuel gas supply facility in the nighttime or the daytime when the demand for the reformed gas is low, and the hydrogen gas is purified by the hydrogen gas purifier. If purified and stored as high-pressure gas in a hydrogen gas storage device, the hydrogen gas storage device can be used as a hydrogen facility for supplying high-pressure hydrogen gas to a fuel vehicle driven by hydrogen fuel, for example. Become.

  A fuel cell system according to a seventh aspect is the fuel cell system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein a plurality of centralized fuel gas supply facilities each having a fuel gas supply system are provided, and each of the centralized fuel gas supply facilities refines the fuel cell system. It is characterized in that a connecting pipeline for enabling the fuel gas to be supplied to other fuel gas supply systems is provided. According to this configuration, for example, by providing a connecting pipeline between adjacent fuel cell systems, fuel can be supplied in the event of an emergency such as a periodic check of one centralized fuel gas supply facility or a reformer failure. Gas can be interchanged. Further, in the time zone or season when the load is low, by stopping the gas purification / supply by one of the centralized fuel gas supply facilities, it is possible to increase the load on the operation side and increase the economy.

  A fuel cell system according to an eighth aspect of the present invention includes a fuel gas supply facility for purifying a fuel gas serving as a fuel cell drive source, fuel cell units distributed to a plurality of consumers, A fuel cell system comprising a shared power system interconnecting power supply systems, wherein the fuel gas supply facility is a centralized fuel common to each fuel cell unit capable of supplying fuel gas to the consumer. It is a gas supply facility, and the power generated by each of the fuel cell units can be supplied to the shared power system.

According to this configuration, for example, the following operations (1) to (3) are possible, and the convenience of the fuel cell system is improved.
(1) All the power generated by the fuel cell units distributed to each consumer is once sent to the shared power system, and each consumer purchases the amount of power to be used individually from the shared power system. All the heat generated from the fuel cell unit can be used individually by each consumer.
(2) Operation in which surplus power obtained by subtracting power consumed by each consumer from the power generated by each fuel cell unit is sent to the shared power system, and each customer purchases the amount of power used from the shared power system.
(3) While the heat generated from the fuel cell unit of each consumer is used individually by each consumer, the total surplus of the power generated by the fuel cell unit is sold through the shared power system The lack of electricity is purchased in bulk by customers in the local area.

  According to the fuel cell system of the first aspect, the fuel cell units are distributed and installed in each consumer, and the supply of fuel gas is supplied from a centralized fuel gas supply facility, so that each consumer can Because large fuel gas supply load changes are leveled, it is possible to mitigate the influence of the load follow-up speed of the reformer, which is the biggest limiting factor of the load follow-up speed of the fuel cell system. System operability can be greatly improved. In order to supply fuel gas from the centralized fuel gas supply facility to each customer, existing city gas piping can be used. Can be reduced.

  Further, since the fuel gas is constantly supplied to the vicinity of the fuel cell unit of each individual customer, if the supply valve is opened, the fuel supply is immediately started to the fuel cell unit, and the fuel gas is reformed. Therefore, if the fuel cell unit is made of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, for example, rapid load following and immediate activation are possible. As a result, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell unit can be frequently started and stopped, and can be stopped during midnight hours, and can also be stopped during the day when electricity or heat is not needed, reducing operational restrictions due to fuel cell system restrictions. Economical operation is possible.

  According to the fuel cell system of claim 2, by using a reformer as the centralized fuel gas supply device, city gas, LPG, naphtha, kerosene, biogas, etc. are used as raw fuel, and hydrogen-rich reform It becomes possible to supply quality gas. That is, the fuel cell unit installed at each consumer is supplied with fuel gas that can be immediately generated, so that no reformer is required. Therefore, the fuel cell unit can be made as compact as the reformer can be omitted, which is advantageous when the fuel cell unit is installed on a veranda of an apartment house. By supplying the reformed gas in this way, phosphoric acid fuel cells, solid electrolyte fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, etc. can be applied to this system, and can also be used in general gas appliances. It becomes. As a result, phosphoric acid fuel cells can be started in a few minutes if the cell stack temperature is maintained, and the reformed gas can be used as a temperature raising gas in molten carbonate fuel cells and solid oxide fuel cells. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the start / stop process and speed up the start-up time.

  According to the fuel cell system of claim 3, since the reformed gas supplied from the centralized fuel gas supply facility can be a hydrogen-rich reformed gas composition having a low carbon monoxide concentration, it is distributed to each consumer. As the fuel cell unit to be arranged, not only the above-described phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell and solid electrolyte fuel cell but also a polymer electrolyte fuel cell can be used. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell has a low operating temperature, and the start-up time of a fuel cell system of a type having a reformer requires about 30 minutes to 1 hour. In the method of the present invention in which the reformed gas is supplied, The start-up time is about 1 minute, and the start-stop can be freely performed with respect to electricity and heat load. Therefore, even operation equivalent to that of a gas water heater is possible. For this reason, the operation | movement which stops a power generation unit also at the time slot | zone with few load demands, such as daytime or midnight, also becomes possible. In addition, reformed gas with carbon monoxide concentration reduced to 10 ppm or less conforms to the current Industrial Safety and Health Act, Building Standards Act, Building Management Act, School Sanitation Act, and carbon monoxide due to gas leaks. There is no fear of poisoning, and there is no problem from the health and safety aspect. Further, even when such reformed gas is used as fuel for general gas appliances, NOX is not generated, and consideration can be given to the environmental aspects in the home.

  According to the fuel cell system according to claim 4, since the reformed gas is used as the fuel for the reformer heating burner, the NOx concentration generated by the burner combustion is reduced, and the fuel cell system (centralized fuel gas supply facility) ) Can be made environmentally friendly.

  According to the fuel cell system according to claim 5, in a customer who does not need a fuel cell or has no economic merit even when installed, a reformed gas, a refined reformed gas (carbon monoxide concentration is low), or General gas equipment can be used using hydrogen gas (it can be used without problems if the burner part is replaced with reformed gas), and it can also meet the demands of consumers. Furthermore, since the fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply facility is increased, the stability of the load fluctuation is further secured, and more economical operation is possible.

  According to the fuel cell system of the sixth aspect, the reformed gas is produced by the surplus capacity of the centralized fuel gas supply facility at a time when the demand for the reformed gas is low at midnight or in the daytime, and this is converted into hydrogen gas. By storing in a storage device, hydrogen supply equipment for various purposes can be constructed. For example, a hydrogen supply facility capable of supplying high-pressure hydrogen gas to a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle can be constructed, which enables each customer to refuel the fuel cell vehicle at night in the apartment house, improving convenience. To do. By operating in such a manner, the equipment utilization rate and the equipment load factor are increased because the operation is performed with a high load even at midnight, and the economic efficiency such as shortening the equipment investment recovery period can be improved.

  According to the fuel cell system of the seventh aspect, by providing a communication pipe line for interfacing a normal reformed gas, a reformed gas having a low carbon monoxide concentration, and hydrogen gas with a plurality of fuel cell systems. However, it is possible to cope with failure or maintenance of one centralized fuel gas supply device, and the stability of the system can be improved. Further, the system can be made more economical by, for example, stopping one of the centralized fuel gas supply devices when the load is low.

  According to the fuel cell system of the eighth aspect, since the electric power (surplus power) generated by the fuel cell unit can be distributed through the shared power system, for example, the surplus power in each household is separated. Thus, the fuel cell unit of each consumer can be operated by following the heat load without receiving fluctuations in the power load demand. For this reason, as in the case where a fuel cell system is individually installed in each home, there are less restrictions on the reverse power flow, and economical operation is possible.

  In addition, according to the fuel cell system according to each of the above claims, since a centralized fuel gas supply facility is used, even if it is usually an apartment house, etc., an individual contract is made with a city gas supply company for each consumer. It is possible to make a one-time purchase contract between a city gas supplier and the centralized fuel gas supply facility manager. For this reason, the amount of city gas used increases, and the gas unit price can be lower than that of a gas contract with an individual. In addition, if the amount of gas used at the centralized fuel gas supply facility management point is 500,000 cubic meters or more (2004) annually and 100,000 cubic meters or more (2007) in the future, it will be within the scope of gas liberalization. There is also an advantage that new businesses can enter the gas business.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications.

(First embodiment)
Before describing the present embodiment, a general power and gas supply system will be outlined. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a form of supplying power and gas to a typical detached house or apartment house. For the consumers A, B, E, and G, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system 200a is used. For the consumers C and F, the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system 300a is used. General gas appliances 600 (fuel cell power generation system not yet introduced) are arranged. For each consumer A to H, gas is individually supplied from a commercial gas supply source 101G via a commercial gas supply system (city gas piping) 101, and power is supplied from a commercial power supply source 110G to a commercial power supply system. 110 are supplied individually. That is, even if the consumers A to H have introduced the fuel cell systems 200a and 300a, they individually contract with the commercial gas supply company or the commercial power supply company, Gas and power are supplied through the power system 110.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the fuel cell system according to the present invention. Here, the consumers A to H are a plurality of small consumers existing in a predetermined local area, for example, each household of an apartment house, a single-family house in a predetermined area, or a small business consumer. While the consumers A, B, E, and G have the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) units 200 and the consumers C and F, the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) units 300 are distributed. In addition, general gas appliances 600 (fuel cell power generation units are not introduced) are arranged at the consumers D and H. For example, as illustrated for the consumer A, the general gas appliance 601 is also installed in the consumer in which the fuel cell units 200 and 300 are introduced.

  And about electric power, it is the form supplied separately to each consumer AH through the commercial power supply system 110 from the commercial power supply source 110G similarly to the normal supply form shown in FIG. Is configured to be individually supplied to each of the consumers A to H via the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 and the accumulator 120. That is, a source gas such as city gas is supplied from the commercial gas supply source 101G through the commercial gas supply system 101 to the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10, and the reformed gas is purified by the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10. The reformed gas is supplied to each consumer A to H via the accumulator 120. The fuel used in the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 may be petroleum gas liquid such as kerosene, light oil, naphtha, or biogas in addition to city gas. Furthermore, hydrogen gas produced by water electrolysis using sunlight and midnight power can be mixed and supplied together with these reformed gases.

  The accumulator 120 is installed to store a certain amount of reformed gas and maintain the reformed gas pressure at a constant level even when a sudden demand change of the reformed gas occurs. The reformed gas is supplied to the PEFC unit 200 and SOFC provided in each of the consumers A to H through a local pipeline 103 (which may be an existing city gas pipeline or the like) connected to the accumulator 120. It is supplied to the unit 300 and the general gas appliances 600 and 601. In addition, although the electric power used by each consumer AH is covered by the electric power generation by a fuel cell system, it is set as the structure purchased for every consumer from the commercial system 110 about the shortage.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the PEFC unit 200. The PEFC unit 200 includes a PEFC battery stack 210, a radiator 220, a heat exchanger 230, a hot water storage tank 240, an air supply device 250, an inverter 260, and the like. The PEFC battery stack 210 includes a fuel electrode 211, an air electrode 212, an electrolyte 213, and a cooling plate 214. The fuel electrode 211 is supplied from the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 via the accumulator 120 and the local piping 103, and the carbon monoxide remover 201 reduces the carbon monoxide concentration to 10 to 100 ppm or less (if necessary). And further through a humidifier or the like), a hydrogen-rich reformed gas is introduced.

  Thereafter, most of the hydrogen component in the introduced reformed gas is ionized at the fuel electrode 211, and the hydrogen ions are transferred to the air electrode 212 through the electrolyte 213. Air is introduced into the air electrode 212 from an air supply device 250 including a blower 251 and a drive motor 252, and oxygen in the air is taken in and ionized. The oxygen ions and hydrogen ions moved from the fuel electrode 211 chemically react to generate water and generate power. Since the electric power generated by such a chemical reaction is a direct current, it is converted into a direct current to an alternating current by the inverter 260 and supplied as a driving power source to various power devices existing in the consumer.

  In the PEFC battery stack 210, heat is generated because hydrogen and oxygen chemically react as described above. Therefore, although it is necessary to cool the PEFC battery stack 210 so as not to be overheated, the heat at the time of cooling is recovered to generate hot water or the like, thereby effectively utilizing the heat. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the cooling water circulation path 222 and the radiator 220 that pass through the cooling plate 214 of the PEFC battery stack 210 are provided, and the cooling water is circulated in the circulation path 222 by the pump 221, thereby Is kept at a constant temperature (cooled).

  On the other hand, the circulation path 222 is a piping path that also passes through the heat exchanger 230. One of the heat absorbed by the cooling plate 214 into the tap water introduced into the heat exchanger 230 through the water pipe path 231. Department (surplus heat) is exchanged. By such a heat exchange operation, warm water of about 60 ° C. is generated in the heat exchanger 230. Such hot water is sent to the hot water storage tank 240 through the output piping 232 and stored therein, and is used for a kitchen, a washroom, and a bath (heat demand equipment) as necessary.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the SOFC unit 300. The SOFC unit 300 includes a SOFC battery stack 310, a high-temperature water heat exchanger 320, a low-temperature water heat exchanger 330, a combustion chamber 340, an air supply device 350, an inverter 360, and the like. The SOFC battery stack 310 includes a fuel electrode 311, an air electrode 312, and an electrolyte 313. Hydrogen-rich reformed gas is introduced into the fuel electrode 311 from the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 through the accumulator 120 and the local piping 103.

  After that, most of the hydrogen component (and carbon monoxide component) in the introduced reformed gas reacts with oxygen ions sent from the air electrode 312 in the fuel electrode 311 to generate electricity. Air is introduced into the air electrode 312 from an air supply device 350 including a blower 351 and a drive motor 352, and oxygen in the air is taken in and ionized. Such oxygen ions move to the fuel electrode 311 through the electrolyte 313, and chemically react with the hydrogen component (and carbon monoxide component) as described above to generate electricity. Similarly, since the generated electric power is DC, the inverter 360 performs DC-AC conversion, and is supplied as a driving power source to various power devices existing in the consumer.

  Generally, the hydrogen utilization rate at the fuel electrode 311 is 70 to 80%, and the remainder is discharged as surplus (fuel electrode exhaust gas). The oxygen utilization rate in the air at the air electrode 312 is 50 to 60%, and the remainder is discharged as surplus (air electrode exhaust air). In order to utilize such surplus energy, the fuel electrode exhaust gas and the air electrode exhaust air are introduced into the combustion chamber 340 disposed on the outlet side of the SOFC battery stack 310 and burned. The heat generated by this combustion is used for heat retention of the SOFC battery stack 310 and is recovered by a heat exchanger.

  That is, an exhaust gas recovery pipe 341 is connected to the combustion chamber 340, and the exhaust gas recovery pipe 341 is configured to pass through the high temperature water heat exchanger 320 and the low temperature water heat exchanger 330. The high temperature combustion exhaust gas generated by the combustion reaction in the combustion chamber 340 is sequentially guided to the high temperature water heat exchanger 320 and the low temperature water heat exchanger 330 through the exhaust gas recovery pipe 341, and the high temperature water heat exchanger 320 and the low temperature water heat exchange are conducted. Heat is transferred to and from the tap water introduced into the vessel 330 via the water pipe line 332. By such a heat transfer operation, the high-temperature water heat exchanger 320 generates high-temperature water of about 90 ° C., and the low-temperature water heat exchanger 330 generates low-temperature water of about 60 ° C. Such high-temperature water and low-temperature water are used for heat demand equipment in the consumer through output piping lines 321 and 331, respectively.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the internal configuration of the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10. The centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 includes a desulfurizer 11 having a sulfur removal function, a steam supply device 12 that generates steam and adds steam to raw fuel, and a reformer that performs a reforming reaction (reformation). Apparatus) 13, a carbon monoxide converter 14 for performing a shift reaction for generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and a reformer burner 15 for heating the reformer 13.

The operation of the concentrated fuel gas supply apparatus 10 will be described. A raw fuel such as city gas supplied from the commercial gas supply source 101G (CH ₄ is used in the present embodiment) is first introduced into the desulfurizer 11 and the sulfur component of the odorous material contained in the raw fuel. Is removed. Steam is added from the steam supplier 12 to the desulfurized gas and introduced into the reformer 13. The reformer 13 is heated to an operating temperature of about 750 to 800 ° C. by the reformer burner 15, and the introduced CH ₄ and water are reformed in the reformer 13 using a Ni-based catalyst. , Separated into hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Thereafter, the separation gas is introduced into the carbon monoxide converter 14 maintained at a temperature of 350 to 200 ° C., and the carbon monoxide is converted into hydrogen and carbon dioxide using an Fe-based catalyst or a Cu-based catalyst. . Thereby, the carbon monoxide concentration in the fuel gas (reformed gas) is reduced to about several percent.

  In this way, the reformed gas obtained by refining the city gas in the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 is appropriately sent to each consumer A to H via the accumulator 120. In the present embodiment, a shunt 141 is provided in the outlet side piping path of the carbon monoxide transformer 14, and a part of the reformed gas purified in the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 is converted into the reformer burner 15. It is comprised so that it may be supplied to. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of NOx generated by combustion of the reformer burner 15 to a lower concentration (about 10 ppm) than when using raw fuel such as city gas, LPG, or kerosene. There are advantages that the improvement of the above can be achieved and that the residual gas can be effectively used.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the operation of the fuel cell system according to the present embodiment described above will be described. In this system, fuel gas (reformed gas) is refined from raw fuel (city gas) at once by the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 for small consumers A to H existing in a predetermined local area. And distributed to each consumer A to H through the accumulator 120. And each consumer AH receives the supply of the said reformed gas by opening and closing a supply valve etc. suitably, and operates the fuel cell unit with which each consumer AH is equipped.

  That is, in the consumers A, B, E, and G, when the PEFC unit 200 is operated, the supply valve and the like are opened, the reformed gas is introduced into the fuel electrode 211, and the operation is executed. In addition, in the fuel cell of the PEFC format, since it is necessary to supply the carbon monoxide concentration in the reformed gas after making the concentration low (about 10 to 100 ppm or less), on the upstream side of each PEFC unit 200 A carbon monoxide remover 201 such as a carbon monoxide selective oxidizer for reducing the carbon monoxide concentration is provided. In addition, in the customers C and F, when the SOFC unit 300 is operated, the supply valve and the like are opened, the reformed gas is introduced into the fuel electrode 311, and the operation is executed. In the SOFC type fuel cell, carbon monoxide can also be used as a fuel, so that it is not necessary to reduce the carbon monoxide component, so that the reformed gas is introduced as it is. On the other hand, in the consumers D and H in which the fuel cell unit is not introduced, the reformed gas can be supplied to the general gas appliance 600, and the reformed gas is used when the general gas appliance 600 is used. It will be.

  In a consumer in which the PEFC unit 200 or the SOFC unit 300 is arranged, the electric power generated by the operation of each PEFC unit 200 or the SOFC unit 300 is individually utilized as an operation power source of electric equipment in each consumer. The The insufficient power is purchased individually from the commercial power supply source 110G. In addition, the exhaust heat generated by the operation of the PEFC unit 200 or the SOFC unit 300 is used individually in each customer as hot water by exchanging heat with tap water as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. is there.

  According to the fuel cell system according to the present embodiment described above, fuel is supplied to (small) fuel cell units (PEFC unit 200 or SOFC unit 300) and general gas appliances 600 that are distributed and installed in a plurality of small consumers. In addition, the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 common to each consumer is used, while the individual power load and heat load of each consumer are individually handled by the PEFC unit 200 or SOFC unit 300 installed in each consumer. Corresponding configuration. Therefore, each fuel cell unit does not require a reformer unit, and the device configuration can be simplified and downsized. In addition, since the reformed gas can be constantly supplied, the start-up time is shortened and the fuel cell unit can be operated efficiently. Furthermore, since it respond | corresponds individually using the waste heat of the PEFC unit 200 or SOFC unit 300 with which each consumer is equipped with a heat load, the heat loss by heat transport can be suppressed to the minimum.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of the fuel cell systems described above may be provided, and the fuel gas may be coordinated between these systems. That is, in the first fuel cell system S1 in which the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 having a fuel gas supply system is installed for each consumer in the first local area, and in the second local area adjacent thereto Similarly, when there is a second fuel cell system S2 in which a centralized fuel gas supply device 10 having a fuel gas supply system is installed for each consumer, the centralized fuel gas supply of each fuel cell system You may make it provide the connection piping 104 for enabling the fuel gas refine | purified by the apparatus 10 also to supply to another fuel gas supply system.

  Specifically, a diversion part is provided in each of the local piping 103 provided in the first fuel cell system S1 and the local piping 103 provided in the second fuel cell system S2, and a connecting piping 104 is provided between them. It is connected. A control valve 105 is provided at an intermediate portion of the connecting pipe line 104 so that fuel gas (reformed gas) can be supplied to each fuel gas supply system as needed.

  With such a configuration, the first fuel cell system S1 and the second fuel cell system S2 can be used in an emergency such as a periodic check of one centralized fuel gas supply device 10 or a reformer failure, for example. Fuel gas can be interchanged between the two. Further, in the time zone or season when the load is low, by stopping the gas purification / supply by one of the centralized fuel gas supply facilities, it is possible to increase the load on the operation side and increase the economy.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the fuel cell system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 described above is that the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10A is provided with a centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16 as a centralized carbon monoxide remover. The hydrogen gas purification device 131 and the hydrogen gas storage device 132 are provided in the fuel gas supply system of the centralized fuel gas supply device 10A. Hereinafter, these differences will be mainly described.

  As described above, in the PEFC type fuel cell, it is necessary to supply the reformed gas after reducing the carbon monoxide concentration in the gas to a low concentration (about 10 to 100 ppm or less). Therefore, in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the consumers A, B, E, and G that have installed the PEFC unit 200 need to individually install a carbon monoxide concentration reducing device. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the centralized fuel gas reformer 10B and the centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16 that lowers the carbon monoxide concentration of the reformed gas are provided as the centralized fuel gas supply device 10A. I have to.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of such a concentrated fuel gas supply apparatus 10A. The centralized fuel gas reforming apparatus 10B has the same configuration as that of the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 7, and includes a desulfurizer 11 having a sulfur removal function, and steam that generates steam into raw fuel. A steam supply device 12 for adding a reformer, a reformer (reformer) 13 for performing a reforming reaction, a carbon monoxide converter 14 for performing a shift reaction for generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and the reformer And a reformer burner 15 for heating 13.

  A centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16 is connected to the downstream side of the carbon monoxide converter 14, and the concentration of carbon monoxide contained in the reformed gas purified by the centralized fuel gas reformer 10B. In addition, the reformed gas is supplied to the accumulator 120.

  In other words, the reformed gas purified in the centralized fuel gas reformer 10B contains about 1% level of carbon monoxide. Such a reformed gas is introduced into the centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16 heated to about 100 ° C., and the carbon monoxide component is converted into carbon dioxide using a Pt-based catalyst. By such a conversion operation, the carbon monoxide concentration of the reformed gas output from the centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16 is reduced to about 10 to 100 ppm or less. In addition, instead of the centralized carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 16, for example, a centralized carbon monoxide adsorber or the like can be used. In addition, various centralized types having a function of reducing the carbon monoxide concentration can be used. A carbon monoxide remover can be applied.

  By supplying the reformed gas having such a low carbon monoxide concentration from the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10A to the respective consumers A to H, the consumers A, B, E, Also in G, the reformed gas can be introduced and used as it is in the PEFC unit 200, and the PEFC unit 200 can be simplified and downsized. In addition, a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), and the like that require supply of a reformed gas having a low carbon monoxide concentration can also be applied to the fuel cell system. Note that the general gas appliance 600 is used by modifying the burner structure to be suitable for the reformed gas combustion. Furthermore, if the carbon monoxide concentration is 10 ppm or less, it can be used in conformity with the current Industrial Safety and Health Law, Building Standard Law, Building Management Law, and School Sanitation Law. If a gas leak occurs, there is no possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, and a gas supply system that is preferable in terms of safety can be obtained.

  In addition to such a configuration, in this embodiment, a hydrogen gas purification device 131 and a hydrogen gas storage device 132 are provided in the fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply device 10A. The hydrogen gas purification device 131 is a reformed gas supplied from the centralized fuel gas supply device 10A by a PSA method (a gas purification method that repeats adsorption and desorption by switching pressure), a membrane separation method, a chemical absorption method, or the like. Is a device for extracting a hydrogen component from a gas. The hydrogen gas storage device 132 is a device that stores the hydrogen extracted by the hydrogen gas purification device 131 and includes a supply valve or the like so that the stored hydrogen can be supplied to the outside.

  If a hydrogen gas facility comprising such a hydrogen gas purification device 131 and a hydrogen gas storage device 132 is provided, a centralized fuel gas supply device can be used at nighttime or when the demand for reformed gas is low during the daytime. It is possible to produce reformed gas with a surplus capacity of 10 A, purify the hydrogen gas with the hydrogen gas purifier 131 and store it as high-pressure gas with the hydrogen gas storage device 132. As a result, for example, the hydrogen gas storage device 132 can be used as a hydrogen facility for supplying high-pressure hydrogen gas to a fuel cell vehicle C driven by hydrogen fuel. In addition, fuel cell vehicles can be refueled, improving convenience. And by operating in this way, the centralized fuel gas reforming apparatus 10B is operated at a high load even in the midnight hours, etc., so that the equipment utilization rate and equipment load factor are increased, and the economic merit is greatly increased. can do.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the fuel cell system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 described above is that the power receiving system from the commercial power supply source 110G to each consumer A to H existing in a predetermined local area is unified, and each consumer A common power system 111 for interconnecting power supply systems to A to H is provided, and a gas meter and a power meter are arranged at appropriate positions. Hereinafter, these differences will be mainly described.

  Since the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 is a gas supply facility common to each consumer A to H existing in a predetermined local area, a management association of the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 is established, and commercial gas is established. It is advantageous in terms of cost to conclude a large-scale gas purchase contract with a city gas supplier that supplies the gas. In view of this point, a common gas meter 61 is installed on the upstream side of the centralized fuel gas supply device 10 so that the amount of gas used in each consumer A to H existing in the local area is comprehensively measured. It has become.

  In the local pipeline 103, individual gas meters 62A to 62E are attached to the consumers A to H, respectively. That is, the gas amounts used in the fuel cell units 200 and 300 and the general gas appliances 600 of the consumers A to H are measured by the individual gas meters 62A to 62E. Thereby, the gas charge can be collected from the management association of the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 according to the amount of fuel gas used in each consumer A to H.

  As for power, a large-scale power purchase contract is concluded with a power supply company that supplies commercial power, a common power meter 64 is installed, and each demand from the common power meter 64 via the common power system 111 is set. It is set as the structure which supplies electric power with respect to house AH. In the shared power system 111, individual power meters 63A to 63E are attached to the consumers A to H, respectively. That is, the amount of electric power used by the electric appliances of the consumers A to H is measured by the individual electric power meters 63A to 63E in the same manner as the gas. Note that a power control device 115 is interposed in the shared power system 111 so that power reception control from the commercial power supply source 110G, power distribution control for each of the consumers A to H, and the like can be performed.

  Furthermore, the electric power generated by the fuel cell unit provided by each consumer can be supplied to the shared power system 111. That is, the power generation output of the PEFC unit 200 installed in the consumers A, B, E, and G and the power generation output of the SOFC unit 300 installed in the consumers C and F are connected to the shared power system 111. .

  At present, the sale of privately generated power is not allowed except for solar power generation and wind power generation. Therefore, the power generated by the fuel cell unit provided by each consumer cannot flow backward to the commercial power supply system 110. Therefore, in the control unit (not shown) of the fuel cell unit, it is necessary to predict the power and heat load demand of the consumer and to command and operate the power generation output so as not to generate surplus power. In some cases, it could not meet the heat demand. However, by making it possible to supply the generated power of the fuel cell unit provided by each consumer to the shared power system 111 as in this embodiment, for example, surplus power is sent to the shared power system 111, and this surplus power is Operation that other consumers use is possible. As a result, the fuel cell unit is operated in accordance with the heat demand, and when surplus power is generated, it may be flowed to the shared power system 111, and the convenience of the fuel cell unit is further improved.

Next, a specific operation mode of the fuel cell system according to the present embodiment will be described.
(1) All the electric power generated by the fuel cell units 200 and 300 dispersedly arranged in the consumers A, B, C, E, F, and G is once sent to the shared power system 111, and each of the consumers A to H The amount of power to be used individually is purchased from the shared power system 111, and all the heat generated from the fuel cell units 200 and 300 is individually used by the consumers A, B, C, E, F, and G. In this case, the consumers A to H existing in the local area share the power generated by the fuel cell units 200 and 300 owned by the consumers A, B, C, E, F, and G. In addition to receiving power from the system 111, the shortage is received from the commercial power supply system 110 that is contracted in a lump. The latter received power amount is measured by the common power meter 64, and the individual received power amounts including the former and the latter are measured by the individual power meters 63A to 63E. For customers A, B, C, E, F, and G who own the fuel cell units 200 and 300, a transmission power meter is also attached, and the amount of power supplied to the shared power system 111 is measured and offset. It is desirable to operate.

  In such an operation, the power control apparatus 115 stores or predicts the types of power generation patterns and power consumption patterns by the fuel cell unit in advance so that the supply power to the consumers A to H is not insufficient. Thus, an operation for controlling the amount of power received from the commercial power supply system 110 is performed.

(2) Only surplus power obtained by removing the power consumed by the consumers A, B, C, E, F, and G from the power generated by the fuel cell units 200 and 300 is sent to the shared power system 111, and each customer Purchases the amount of power to be used from the shared power system 111. This operation mode substantially conforms to the operation mode (1).

(3) While the heat generated from each fuel cell unit 200, 300 is individually used by the consumers A, B, C, E, F, G, the total amount of power generated by the fuel cell units 200, 300 The surplus is sold through the shared power system 111, and the insufficient power is purchased collectively by the consumers A to H in the local area. This is an operation based on the premise that the power can be sold. In this case, the power control apparatus 115 also performs the determination operation between the power sale and the power reception.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to a modification of the fuel cell system according to the third embodiment described above. The point different from the system shown in FIG. 11 described above is that each consumer A to H individually purchases electric power from the commercial power supply system 110 (in FIG. This is the point that two power receiving routes are provided, that is, a route (only a system line is displayed) and a route that receives power generated by each fuel cell unit 200, 300 from the shared power system 111 described above.

  In the shared power system 111, the power generation output of the PEFC unit 200 installed in the consumers A, B, E, and G and the power generation output of the SOFC unit 300 installed in the consumers C and F are the shared power system 111. So that the generated power can be supplied to the shared power system 111. The operation mode of the shared power system 111 can depend on the above-described operation mode (1) or (2). Note that a power control device 116 is interposed in the shared power system 111 so that the power distribution operation is controlled. In the shared power system 111, the amount of power used by each of the consumers A to H is measured by the individual power meters 63A to 63E.

  On the other hand, the power purchased individually for each consumer from the commercial power supply system 110 is measured by the general power meters 65A and 65F. According to this fuel cell system, it is not necessary to predict the power consumption pattern of each consumer, and the fuel cell units 200 and 300 can be operated without backflowing into the commercial power system while always ensuring a stable power supply source. There is an advantage that surplus power can be used effectively.

According to the fuel cell system according to the present invention as described above, raw fuel (city gas) is purchased in a lump for fuel cell units held by consumers existing in a predetermined local area. Since the reformed gas is purified and supplied using the centralized fuel gas supply device 10, the unit price of gas purchase can be reduced. That is, at present, the pay-as-you-go fee in the contract for the city gas household fee system is 121 to 124 yen / Nm ³ . On the other hand, city gas charges for business use become cheaper when the gas usage is large. For example, for business use, the metered gas unit rate for the rate table A (0 to 25 Nm ³ / month) is 134 yen / Nm ³ , and the metered gas unit rate for the rate table B (25 to 500 Nm ³ / month) is 112 yen / Nm ^3. The unit gas unit charge in the charge table C (500 to Nm ³ / month) is 102 yen / Nm ^3, and becomes cheaper as the usage amount increases.

For example, in the case of a small business such as a beauty salon or a retail store, if one 1kW class PEFC type fuel cell unit is installed in each consumer, the gas usage per month is 60% of the equipment utilization rate. Assuming
0.33 Nm ³ / h × 24 h × 30 days × 0.6 = 202 Nm ³ / month. For this reason, although it becomes the said price list B, five or more such consumers concentrate, and fuel gas (reformed gas and hydrogen) is collectively put into this consumer group by the centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10. If it supplies, the contract of the administrator of this centralized fuel gas supply apparatus 10 and a city gas company will become the fee schedule C, and a gas unit price may become cheap. Therefore, the raw material cost for operating the fuel cell unit can be greatly reduced, and the merit of introducing the fuel cell unit is further improved.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications added to the configuration exemplified above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which one of the PEFC unit 200 and the SOFC unit 300 is employed as the fuel cell unit has been shown. However, other fuel cell units, for example, phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) units are used. Alternatively, it may be a mode of being distributed to consumers including a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) unit.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a general fuel cell system. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a fuel cell system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the supply form of the electric power and gas with respect to a normal detached house and an apartment house. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fuel cell system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) unit. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) unit. It is a block diagram which shows an example of an internal structure of a concentrated fuel gas supply apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a plurality of fuel cell systems are provided and fuel gas is coordinated between these systems. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the fuel cell system concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of an internal structure of a concentrated fuel gas supply apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the fuel cell system concerning 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the deformation | transformation structure of the fuel cell system concerning 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the supply system of the electric power and heat | fever (hot water etc.) with respect to the conventional general household or business equipment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the usage form in a general household of a fuel cell system. It is a figure of the table format which shows the characteristic of each fuel cell. It is a graph which shows the fluctuation state of an electric power load, Comprising: (a) has shown the load fluctuation state of the detached house, (b) has shown the load fluctuation state in an apartment house, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

10 (10A) Centralized fuel gas supply system (centralized fuel gas supply equipment)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Commercial gas supply system 103 Local piping line 104 Connection piping line 110 Commercial power supply system 111 Shared electric power system 120 Accumulator 13 Reformer (reformer)
131 Hydrogen gas refining device 132 Hydrogen gas storage device 14 Carbon monoxide converter 15 Reformer burner 16 Carbon monoxide selective oxidizer 200 PEFC unit (fuel cell unit)
201 Carbon monoxide remover 300 SOFC unit (fuel cell unit)
600 General gas appliances A to H

Claims (8)

A fuel comprising a fuel gas supply facility that is connected to a commercial gas supply system and purifies a fuel gas that serves as a drive source for the fuel cell, and a fuel cell unit that is distributed among a plurality of consumers in a predetermined local area. A battery system,
The fuel gas supply facility is a centralized fuel gas supply facility common to each fuel cell unit capable of supplying fuel gas to each consumer,
The fuel cell system is an individual fuel cell unit that generates power to be supplied to at least a power load in each consumer.   The centralized fuel gas supply facility includes a reformer that converts a hydrocarbon-based fuel into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas, and the reformed gas is supplied to a fuel cell unit disposed in each consumer. The fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein:   The fuel cell system according to claim 2, wherein the centralized fuel gas supply facility further includes a carbon monoxide remover that adjusts the carbon monoxide concentration in the reformed gas to 100 ppm or less.   3. The fuel cell system according to claim 2, wherein a reformed gas purified by the reformer is used as a burner fuel used as a heat source for inducing a reforming reaction in the reformer. The fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply facility includes general consumers who do not have a fuel cell unit,
The fuel gas purified by a centralized fuel gas supply facility is supplied to a general gas device provided to the general consumer to the general consumer. 5. The fuel cell system according to any one of 4.   Hydrogen gas purification device for purifying hydrogen gas from fuel gas supplied to the fuel gas supply system by the centralized fuel gas supply facility, and hydrogen gas storage device for storing hydrogen gas purified by the hydrogen gas purification device The fuel cell system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a hydrogen gas supply facility comprising: A plurality of centralized fuel gas supply facilities each having a fuel gas supply system;
7. A connecting pipe for enabling the fuel gas purified by each of these centralized fuel gas supply facilities to be supplied to another fuel gas supply system is provided. A fuel cell system according to claim 1. A fuel gas supply facility for refining fuel gas as a driving source of a fuel cell, fuel cell units distributed to a plurality of consumers, and a shared power system for interconnecting power supply systems to the consumers A fuel cell system,
The fuel gas supply facility is a centralized fuel gas supply facility common to each fuel cell unit that can supply fuel gas to the consumer,
The fuel cell system, wherein power generated by each fuel cell unit can be supplied to the shared power system.

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