JP2006185647A - Fuel cell power generation system and unit for it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To essentially reduce piping heat radiation, apparatus heat radiation and enhance efficiency by forming the main parts of a system in rational structure useful for the optimizing design of the whole system. <P>SOLUTION: A fuel cell 2, a reformer (a fuel treating device) 3, a condenser (a heat recovery device) 4 are constituted in an individual unit structurally capable of uniting and separating. Piping 201-203, 301, 302, 401, 402 are assembled on the inside of apparatuses 2-4. In the uniting installation, the reformer 3 is joined to the fuel cell 2 and the condenser 4 on the joining surface S10, the fuel cell 2 and the condenser 4 are joined on the joining surface 20. The reformer 3 and the fuel cell 2 are joined to piping connection parts A, B by piping on the joining surface S10. The reformer 3 and the condenser 4 are joined with a piping connection part C on the joining surface S10. The fuel cell 2 and the condenser 4 are connected to piping connection parts D, E by piping on the joining surface S20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell power generation system having a plurality of devices including a fuel cell main body, a fuel processing device, and a heat recovery device, and piping connecting the devices.

  Conventionally, a fuel cell is known as a system for directly converting chemical energy of a fuel into electricity. This fuel cell is the one that takes out electricity directly by electrochemically reacting hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as oxidant, and can take out electric energy with high efficiency, and at the same time, quiet and harmful exhaust gas It has a feature that is excellent in environmental characteristics that it does not emit. As such a fuel cell, relatively large PAFC (phosphoric acid type) has been mainly developed until recently, but recently, development of a small PEFC (individual polymer fuel cell) has been activated. The spread of household fuel cell power generation systems is also approaching.

  By the way, this household fuel cell power generation system is extremely small compared to conventional industrial and electric power fuel cell power generation systems, so the rate of heat dissipation loss is physically high, so power generation efficiency and waste heat It is difficult to increase recovery efficiency. In order to increase the efficiency, it is a common approach to use an expensive high-performance heat insulating material, but there is a problem that the cost becomes high. Even if high-performance heat insulating materials are used, it has been difficult to obtain 40% of the standard power generation efficiency for industrial use.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional typical hydrogen fuel utilization type fuel cell power generation system. Hereinafter, the fuel cell power generation system will be described in the order of configuration, operation, and effect.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a fuel cell package in which the entire configuration of the fuel cell power generation system is packaged by an outer case, a cover, or the like. In the fuel cell package 1, a fuel cell main body 2 that generates DC power, a reformer 3 that generates hydrogen, and a condenser 4 that condenses moisture in the exhaust gas are installed. Each of these devices 2 to 4 is one system that is individually optimized and is covered with a heat insulating material 5 in order to minimize heat dissipation.

  The fuel cell main body 2 is a device that supplies fuel and an oxidant to the anode and the cathode, respectively, and generates DC power by an electrochemical reaction. In order to generate power, the fuel cell main body 2 introduces and discharges the reformed fuel from the reformer 3 to the anode, the anode inlet 21 that discharges the anode, the anode outlet 22, and the cathode that introduces and discharges oxidant air to the cathode. It has an inlet 23 and a cathode outlet 24. The fuel cell main body 2 also has a cooling water inlet 25 and a cooling water outlet 26 for introducing and discharging hot water from the condenser 4 in the hot water extraction system 6 as cooling water for battery cooling.

  The reformer 3 is a device that reforms fuel by obtaining thermal energy for reforming by burner combustion. The reformer 3 has a fuel inlet 31 for introducing fuel and water for generating reformed fuel, a water inlet 32, and a fuel outlet 33 for discharging the generated reformed fuel and supplying it to the fuel cell main body 2. The reformer 3 also includes a burner fuel inlet 34 for introducing unreacted gas from the anode of the fuel cell body 2 as burner fuel into the burner combustion chamber, a burner air inlet 35 for introducing burner combustion air into the burner combustion chamber, It has a burner exhaust gas outlet 36 for discharging combustion exhaust gas from the burner combustion chamber.

  The condenser 4 is a device that recovers heat in the exhaust gas from the fuel cell main body 2 and the reformer 3. The condenser 4 introduces and discharges the burner exhaust gas from the reformer 3 and the unreacted air from the cathode of the fuel cell main body 2 and introduces and discharges the exhaust gas inlet 41, the exhaust gas outlet 42, and the hot water extraction system 6. A hot water inlet 43 and a hot water outlet 44 are provided.

  The basic operation of this fuel cell power generation system is as follows. At the time of power generation, the fuel introduced from the fuel inlet 31 of the reformer 3 is merged with the water vapor introduced and vaporized from the water inlet 32 into the reformer 3 and reformed into a hydrogen-rich fuel. The reformed fuel is discharged from the fuel outlet 33 of the reformer 3 and then introduced into the fuel cell main body 2 from the anode inlet 21 to be used for power generation.

  The unreacted fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell main body 2 is discharged from the anode outlet 22, introduced into the burner combustion chamber of the reformer 3 from the burner fuel inlet 34, and burner air introduced from the burner air inlet 35. It burns with and is used as reforming energy. Air necessary for power generation of the fuel cell main body 2 is introduced from the cathode inlet 23, and unreacted air is discharged from the cathode outlet 24.

  On the other hand, the combustion exhaust gas combusted in the burner combustion chamber of the reformer 3 is introduced into the condenser 4 from the exhaust gas inlet 41 and is discharged from the exhaust gas outlet 42 after removing water.

  In the hot water extraction system 6, the combustion exhaust gas energy is recovered by the condenser 4, and the heat generated during power generation is recovered by the fuel cell main body 2, taken out as hot water, and supplied to an external hot water usage destination. In addition, the heat recovery by the hot water extraction system 6 has an effect that the temperature of the fuel cell main body 2 and the temperature of the exhaust gas can be appropriately maintained.

The above is the basic operation of the conventional typical fuel cell power generation system shown in FIG. Actually, there are many auxiliary systems not shown such as an air blower for supplying air to the fuel cell, a pump for circulating hot water, and a control device. Since the correlation with the characteristic portion is low, the description is omitted in this specification.
JP2003-74519

  However, the conventional fuel cell power generation system as described above has the following problems.

  That is, in the conventional fuel cell power generation system as shown in FIG. 6, since it is individually optimized for each device, the piping becomes longer, and as a result, the heat radiation amount of the entire system increases (piping Heat dissipation). In addition, since each device is individually installed and kept warm, the total heat radiation amount for each device also increases (device heat dissipation).

  Among these problems, with regard to pipe heat dissipation, the point is how to reduce the pipe length of the entire system. On the other hand, in patent document 1, the piping made into the logic plate is proposed. When such a logic plate-like pipe is used, the workability can be improved and the pipe can be shortened to some extent, but the heat transfer of the pipe is structurally increased.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable to use a high-performance heat insulating material such as TiO for the purpose of reducing equipment heat dissipation. However, when such a high-performance heat insulating material is used, the cost increases and the surface area of the heat insulating material is large. Therefore, a certain heat dissipation loss is inevitable, and as a result, there is a problem that it is difficult to increase the power generation efficiency and the exhaust heat recovery efficiency.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to reduce the heat radiation of pipes and equipment by making the main part of the system a rational structure useful for the optimization design of the entire system. It is to provide a fuel cell power generation system and a unit therefor that can essentially reduce and contribute to efficiency improvement.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention shortens the piping length of the entire system by configuring the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device, which should be maintained at a high temperature, so that they can be integrated with the heat recovery device. In addition, the device surface area can be reduced, and as a result, pipe heat dissipation and device heat dissipation can be substantially reduced to contribute to efficiency improvement.

  The fuel cell power generation system of the present invention includes a fuel cell main body that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel and an oxidant, a fuel processing device that processes the fuel and supplies the fuel to the fuel cell main body, and the fuel cell main body. And a plurality of devices including a heat recovery device that recovers heat of the gas discharged from the fuel processing device, and a fuel cell power generation system having piping connecting the devices, the plurality of devices are structurally integrated And a plurality of separable units, and each unit is configured as follows.

  That is, each unit has a joint surface that is surface-bonded to another unit at the time of integrated installation, and a pipe that is built into the unit. In addition, each of the two units that are surface-bonded at the joint surface and connected to each other at the time of integrated installation includes a first pipe end exposed on the surface of one unit and a second exposed on the surface of the other unit. It has a pair of pipe ends composed of pipe ends, and is configured to connect the two units by connecting the pair of pipe ends. In addition, each of the two units that are surface-bonded and pipe-connected at the joint surface at the time of integrated installation has the pair of pipe ends for performing pipe connection between the two units at the same position on the joint surface. Or configured to be arranged on the externally exposed surface adjacent to the joint surface with the joint surface interposed therebetween.

  The unit for a fuel cell power generation system according to the present invention grasps the characteristics of the fuel cell power generation system from the viewpoint of a unit for constituting the system.

  Meanwhile, another fuel cell power generation system of the present invention includes a fuel cell main body that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel and an oxidant, a fuel processing apparatus that processes the fuel and supplies the fuel to the fuel cell main body, In the fuel cell power generation system having a plurality of devices including a heat recovery device that recovers heat of the gas discharged from the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device, and a pipe connecting the devices, the fuel cell main body, the fuel The processing device and the heat recovery device are structurally integrated including piping between these devices.

  According to the present invention having the above-described features, each device is individually optimized and designed by optimizing the entire device so that the fuel cell body and the fuel processing device can be integrated with the heat recovery device. Compared to the case of covering with heat insulating material, the piping design of the integrated part can be streamlined and the pipe length can be greatly shortened, and the equipment surface area can be greatly reduced by rationalizing the equipment layout of the integrated part, The heat loss of the entire system can be greatly reduced. In particular, by integrating the devices that should be maintained at high temperatures, such as the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device, with the heat recovery device, the heat dissipation from the pipe and the device is substantially reduced, and the exhaust from the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device is reduced. Heat can be efficiently recovered by a heat recovery device.

  According to the present invention, by configuring the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device to be maintained at a high temperature so that they can be integrated with the heat recovery device, it is possible to substantially reduce pipe heat dissipation and device heat dissipation and contribute to efficiency improvement. Possible fuel cell power generation systems and units therefor can be provided.

  Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. From the viewpoint of simplifying the description, the same parts as those in the prior art shown in FIG.

[First Embodiment]
[System configuration]
FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams showing a fuel cell power generation system according to a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. From the viewpoint of simplifying the drawings, The oxidant supply / discharge system (a) and the hot water extraction system (b) are shown separately. 2A and 2B are perspective views schematically showing the external appearance of the main structure (unit structure) portion of the fuel cell power generation system shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. b) shows an integrated installation state, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) and (b), in the present embodiment, a fuel cell body 2 in a fuel cell package 1 of a fuel cell power generation system, a reformer (fuel processor) 3, The condenser (heat recovery device) 4 is configured as an individual unit having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is configured to be structurally integrated and separable. These devices 2 to 4 are not only substantially rectangular parallelepiped shapes, but also when the three devices 2 to 4 are integrated, the overall structure is a compact substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. It is configured.

  Here, the structure of the unit of each apparatus 2-4 is as follows. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 (a), the reformer 3 is incorporated into the unit itself with a single joining surface S11 for surface joining with the fuel cell body 2 and the condenser 4. A fuel pipe 301 and a burner pipe 302 are provided.

  The fuel cell main body 2 includes joining surfaces S12 and S21 for surface joining with the reformer 3 and the condenser 4, respectively, an anode pipe 201, a cathode pipe 202, and a cooling water pipe 203 incorporated in the unit. Have. The condenser 4 has joint surfaces S13 and S22 for surface joining with the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2, respectively, and an exhaust gas pipe 401 and a hot water pipe 402 incorporated in the unit itself.

  Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each device 2 to 4 is covered with a heat insulating material 5 for each device in order to minimize heat dissipation, as in the conventional case.

[Device joint / pipe connection configuration during integrated installation]
Next, a device joint configuration and a pipe connection configuration at the time of integrated installation of these devices 2 to 4 will be described. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), at the time of integrated installation, the reformer 3 is surface-bonded to the joint surfaces S12 and S13 of the fuel cell body 2 and the condenser 4 at the joint surface S11. The fuel cell main body 2 and the condenser 4 are surface-bonded at the joint surfaces S21 and S22.

  In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B, S10 indicates a single joint surface composed of joint surfaces S11 to S13 joined in an integrated installation state, and S20 indicates an integrated installation state. The single joining surface which consists of joining surfaces S21 and S22 joined in FIG. These joint surfaces S10 and S20 are joint surfaces between devices in an integrated installation state, and at the same time, are boundary surfaces that separate the devices.

  In such an integrated installation state, the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 that are surface-joined at the joint surface S10 are pipe-connected at two locations on the joint surface S10. That is, the outlet of the fuel pipe 301 of the reformer 3 (corresponding to the fuel outlet 33 of FIG. 6) and the inlet of the anode pipe 201 of the fuel cell body 2 (corresponding to the anode inlet 21 of FIG. 6) are joined to the joint surface S10. The pipe connection is made at the pipe connection part A. Further, the inlet of the burner pipe 302 of the reformer 3 (corresponding to the burner fuel inlet 34 of FIG. 6) and the outlet of the anode pipe 201 of the fuel cell body (corresponding to the anode outlet 22 of FIG. 6) are joined surfaces S10. The pipe connection portion B is connected to the pipe.

  In addition, the reformer 3 and the condenser 4 that are surface-bonded at the bonding surface S10 are connected by piping at one place on the bonding surface S10. That is, the outlet of the burner pipe 302 of the reformer 3 (corresponding to the burner exhaust gas outlet 36 of FIG. 6) and the inlet of the exhaust gas pipe 401 of the condenser 4 (corresponding to the exhaust gas inlet 41 of FIG. 6) are joined surfaces S10. The pipe connection part C is connected to the pipe.

  Furthermore, the fuel cell main body 2 and the condenser 4 that are surface-joined at the joint surface S20 are connected by piping at two locations on the joint surface S20. That is, the outlet of the cathode pipe 202 of the fuel cell body 2 (corresponding to the cathode outlet 24 of FIG. 6) and the second inlet (corresponding to the exhaust gas inlet 41 of FIG. 6) of the exhaust pipe 401 of the condenser 4 are joined. Pipe connection is made at the pipe connection portion D of the surface S20. The outlet of the hot water pipe 402 of the condenser 4 (corresponding to the hot water outlet 44 of FIG. 6) and the inlet of the cooling water pipe 203 of the fuel cell body 2 (corresponding to the cooling water inlet 25 of FIG. 6) are joined surfaces. Pipe connection is made at the pipe connection E of S20.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the inlet of the exhaust gas pipe 401 of the condenser 4 is provided at two different positions of the pipe connection portions C and D with respect to the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2. This is a clear difference from the exhaust gas inlet 41 of the condenser 4 in the prior art shown in FIG.

  That is, in the prior art shown in FIG. 6, since each device is individually optimized, the exhaust gas from the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 is pre-merged before a single exhaust gas. As a result, the configuration of the piping for sending the exhaust gas from the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 to the condenser 4 becomes complicated, and the length of the piping in this portion is increased. Was getting longer.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the exhaust gas from the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 has different inlets, that is, two pipe connection portions from the viewpoint of optimization design of the entire system. C and D are introduced into the condenser 4 respectively. As a result, the configuration of the piping for sending the exhaust gas from the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 to the condenser 4 is greatly simplified. The pipe length of the part is greatly shortened.

[Specific example of pipe connection / equipment connection configuration]
Each of the pipe connection portions A to E as described above is formed by connecting the pipe end portions exposed to the joint surfaces S10 and S20. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 as a specific example of the configuration of the pipe connection portion and the device joining configuration at the time of integrated installation in the present embodiment. The separated state, (b) is the combined state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pipe connection portions A and B between the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 are connected to the pipe end flange 701 exposed on the joint surface S11 of the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2. The pipe end flange 701 is a pair of pipe end flanges 701 and 702 that are exposed on the surface S12, and a sealing O-ring 703 is inserted between the pipe end flanges 701 and 702. In this case, the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 are covered with the heat insulating material 5 for each device, and only the pipe end flanges 701 and 702 penetrate the heat insulating material 5 and are exposed to the joint surfaces S11 and S12. ing.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the pair of pipe end flanges 701 and 702 join the joining surfaces S11 and S12 of the reformer 3 and the fuel cell body 2 so as to have a predetermined positional relationship. When the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 are combined, they are butt-connected via the O-ring 703. .

  In addition, although fixation to such an apparatus joining state is realizable using various existing fixing and connection techniques, in FIG. 3, as an example, the apparatus 2 is utilized using elastic force from both sides of the joining surface S10. , 3 is shown in a U-shaped lock jig 704. Such a locking jig 704 can easily realize fixing between devices by a simple operation of fitting into a corner portion of the device or a recess or a step provided in advance in the device.

  In FIG. 3, only the configuration of the pipe connection portions A and B is shown, but the other pipe connection portions C to E (not shown) are similarly paired with the pipe end flanges 701 and 702, respectively. It is assumed that an O-ring 703 is used.

[Basic operation]
The basic operation of the fuel cell power generation system according to this embodiment as described above is as follows. That is, at the time of power generation, the fuel introduced from the fuel inlet 31 of the reformer 3 merges with the water vapor introduced and vaporized from the water inlet 32 and reformed into hydrogen-rich fuel. The reformed fuel is introduced from the fuel pipe 301 of the reformer 3 into the anode pipe 201 of the fuel cell main body 2 via the pipe connection portion A and used for power generation.

  The unreacted fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell main body 2 is introduced from the anode pipe 201 of the fuel cell main body 2 into the burner combustion chamber of the reformer 3 through the pipe connection portion B and introduced from the burner air inlet 35. It burns with burner air and is used as reforming energy. Air necessary for power generation of the fuel cell main body 2 is introduced into the cathode pipe 202 from the cathode inlet 23, and unreacted air is introduced into the exhaust gas pipe 401 of the condenser 4 through the pipe connection portion D.

  On the other hand, the combustion exhaust gas burned in the burner combustion chamber of the reformer 3 is introduced from the burner pipe 302 into the exhaust gas pipe 401 of the condenser 4 via the pipe connection portion C, and after removing water, the exhaust gas outlet 42 is removed. Discharged from.

  In the hot water extraction system 6, the energy of the combustion exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust gas pipe 401 is recovered by the hot water pipe 402 of the condenser 4, and the heat generated during power generation is recovered by the cooling water pipe 203 of the fuel cell main body 2. And supply it to an external hot water usage destination. In addition, the heat recovery by the hot water extraction system 6 has an effect that the temperature of the fuel cell main body 2 and the temperature of the exhaust gas can be appropriately maintained.

[Reduces heat dissipation by shortening pipe length and surface area]
In the fuel cell power generation system according to this embodiment, the length of the pipe can be shortened and the surface area of the equipment can be reduced due to the characteristics of the equipment joint / pipe connection configuration as described above, so that the heat dissipation loss of the entire system can be reduced. This operation will be described below.

  First, according to the present embodiment, by optimizing the entire device so that the fuel cell body 2 and the reformer 3 can be integrated with the condenser 4, each device is individually optimized and designed. Compared with the prior art covered with heat insulating material, the piping design of the integrated part can be streamlined and the pipe length can be greatly shortened, and the equipment layout of the integrated part can be rationalized and the equipment surface area can be greatly reduced.

  Here, regarding the piping length, compared to the complicated piping configuration between devices in the prior art shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the piping between the devices is extremely simplified as shown in FIG. It is clear that the pipe length has been greatly reduced.

  Further, regarding the device surface area, in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, compared to the conventional technique using the piping plate 100 (the logic plate or the like of Patent Document 1) as shown in FIG. It is clear that the instrument surface area has been greatly reduced. That is, in the prior art shown in FIG. 2 (c), devices of various sizes and shapes are individually installed on a piping plate 100 in which piping between a plurality of devices is integrated. The area obtained by adding the surface area of the equipment and the surface area of the piping plate is the same, but in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, a plurality of equipments are integrated in a compact manner by joining adjacent equipments. The device surface area is greatly reduced according to the area of the joint surface.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the piping design of the integrated part can be streamlined to greatly reduce the piping length, and the equipment surface area of the integrated part can be rationalized to greatly reduce the equipment surface area. It is possible to significantly reduce the heat radiation of the pipes according to the device and the heat radiation of the devices according to the surface area of the device, and as a result, the heat radiation loss of the entire system can be greatly reduced. In particular, by integrating the equipment that should be maintained at high temperatures, such as the fuel cell main body and the reformer, with the condenser, the heat radiation from the fuel cell main body and the reformer is substantially reduced by reducing the heat radiation from the pipe and equipment. Can be efficiently recovered by the condenser.

[effect]
As described above, according to the fuel cell power generation system according to the present embodiment, a plurality of units that can structurally integrate and separate the fuel cell main body, the reformer, the device to be maintained at a high temperature, and the condenser. By configuring as above, it is possible to provide a fuel cell power generation system and a unit therefor that can substantially reduce pipe heat dissipation and device heat dissipation and contribute to efficiency improvement.

  Therefore, when the fuel cell power generation system of the present embodiment is applied to a 1 kW class small fuel cell power generation system, it is possible to suppress the amount of heat radiation, realizing a system with high power generation efficiency and high exhaust heat recovery efficiency. can do.

  In addition, the pipe connection part is composed of a pair of flange pipe end parts and an O-ring, and a lock jig is used for fixing between the equipments. In addition, the effect of excellent maintainability can also be obtained.

[Second Embodiment]
FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views schematically showing the external appearance of the main structure (unit structure) portion of the fuel cell power generation system according to the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied. ) Shows before pipe connection, and (b) shows the pipe connection state. The present embodiment is a modification in which the configuration of the pipe connection portion in the first embodiment is changed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the pipe connection between the reformer 3 and the condenser 4 joined at the joint surface S10 is connected to the externally exposed surface S30 adjacent to the joint surface S10 at the time of integrated installation. This is performed by a pair of pipe openings 801 and 802 provided so as to be arranged across the surface S10, and a U-shaped connection pipe 803 inserted between the pipe openings 801 and 802. In this case, the pair of pipe openings 801 and 802 are arranged at the closest positions so that the interval is as short as possible from the viewpoint of shortening the pipe length of the connection pipe 803 as much as possible.

  Similarly, the pipe connection between the reformer 3 and the fuel cell main body 2 and the pipe connection between the fuel cell main body 2 and the condenser 4 are also a pair of pipe openings 801 and 802 and a U-shaped connection. This is performed by the pipe 803. In addition, it is comprised similarly to 1st Embodiment except such a pipe connection part.

  According to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the same operations and effects as those of the first embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, since all the pipe connection portions between the devices are provided on the single externally exposed surface S30 at the time of integrated installation, there is no need to separate the devices. In this respect, it is more maintainable because the pipe connection part can be easily accessed.

[Other Embodiments]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other variations can be implemented within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the pipe end part constituting the pipe connection part has a flange shape, but the pipe connection part has various existing types such as a detachable coupler generally used for pipe connection. Piping connection technology can be freely applied.

  That is, in the unit structure of the present invention, as long as the pipe connection between two units is made by the connection between a pair of pipe ends exposed on the surface of these units, the specific equipment joining configuration and pipe connection configuration are It can be changed as appropriate, and similarly excellent effects can be obtained.

  In the present invention, the fuel cell body 2, the reformer 3, and the condenser 4 are not structurally separated from each other, including the piping between these devices, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to have a completely integrated design. Here, (a) and (b) of FIG. 5 respectively show a fuel / oxidant supply / discharge system and a hot water extraction system for power generation, similarly to (a) and (b) of FIG. It is a block diagram. In FIG. 5, since the devices are structurally completely integrated, there are no joint surfaces and pipe connections that can be separated between the devices, and only the boundary between the devices is indicated by a broken line. .

  According to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, although it is not easy to separate the devices, the maintainability is lowered, but since it is a completely integrated design, the fuel cell power generation system as a whole is further reduced in size and more efficient. Can be realized. Therefore, when applied to a 1 kW class small fuel cell power generation system, it is possible to further reduce the amount of heat dissipation, and a system with higher power generation efficiency and higher exhaust heat recovery efficiency can be realized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the fuel cell electric power generation system which concerns on 1st Embodiment to which this invention is applied, (a), (b) is the supply / discharge system and hot water extraction system of the fuel and oxidant for performing electric power generation. FIG. The perspective view which shows typically the external appearance of the isolation | separation state (a) and integrated installation state (b) of the unit structure of the fuel cell power generation system shown in FIG. 1, and the conventional piping plate structure (c). Sectional drawing which shows typically a isolation | separation state (a) and a united state (b) about the example of a joining structure between the apparatuses shown in FIG. The perspective view which shows typically the external appearance before the pipe connection of the unit structure of the fuel cell power generation system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment to which this invention is applied, and the pipe connection state (b), respectively. It is a figure which shows the fuel cell power generation system which concerns on other embodiment to which this invention is applied, (a), (b) is the supply / discharge system and hot water extraction system of the fuel and oxidant for performing electric power generation, respectively. FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional typical fuel cell power generation system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Fuel cell package 2 ... Fuel cell main body 201 ... Anode piping 202 ... Cathode piping 203 ... Cooling water piping 21 ... Anode inlet 22 ... Anode outlet 23 ... Cathode inlet 24 ... Cathode outlet 25 ... Cooling water inlet 26 ... Cooling water outlet 3 ... reformer 301 ... fuel pipe 302 ... burner pipe 31 ... fuel inlet 32 ... water inlet 33 ... fuel outlet 34 ... burner fuel inlet 35 ... burner air inlet 36 ... burner exhaust gas outlet 4 ... condenser 401 ... exhaust gas pipe 402 ... hot water Pipe 41 ... Exhaust gas inlet 42 ... Exhaust gas outlet 43 ... Warm water inlet 44 ... Warm water outlet 5 ... Insulating material 6 ... Warm water extraction system S10, S20 ... (between devices) Joint surfaces S11-S13, S21, S22 ... (for each device) Bonding surface S30 ... Externally exposed surfaces A to E ... Pipe connection portions 701, 702 ... Pipe end flange 703 ... O-ring 704 ... Lock jig 80 , 802 ... pipe openings 803 ... connection pipe

Claims (9)

A fuel cell main body that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel and an oxidant, a fuel processing device that processes and supplies the fuel to the fuel cell main body, and is discharged from the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device In a fuel cell power generation system having a plurality of devices including a heat recovery device that recovers the heat of gas and piping connecting between the devices,
The plurality of devices are composed of a plurality of units that can be structurally integrated and separated,
Each unit has a joint surface that is surface-bonded to another unit at the time of integrated installation, and a pipe that is built into the unit itself.
Each of the two units that are surface-bonded and pipe-connected at the joint surface during integrated installation includes a first pipe end exposed on the surface of one unit and a second pipe end exposed on the surface of the other unit. A pair of pipe ends, and by connecting between the pair of pipe ends, the pipe is connected between the two units,
In each of the two units that are surface-bonded at the joint surface and pipe-connected at the time of integrated installation, the pair of pipe end portions for pipe connection between the two units are at the same position on the joint surface. Alternatively, the fuel cell power generation system is configured to be arranged on an externally exposed surface adjacent to the joint surface with the joint surface interposed therebetween. In each of the two units that are surface-bonded at the joint surface and pipe-connected at the time of integrated installation, the pair of pipe end portions for pipe connection between the two units are at the same position on the joint surface. In this case, the pipes are connected by butt connection between the pair of pipe ends, and in the case where the joint surfaces are arranged, the pipes are connected by interposing a U-shaped connection pipe between the pair of pipe ends. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell power generation system is configured as described above. Each of the two units that are surface-bonded and pipe-connected at the joint surface during integrated installation,
Sealing means inserted between the pair of pipe ends for pipe connection between the two units;
3. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, further comprising a lock unit that fixes the pair of pipe ends so as to be crimped to each other. Each of the two units that are surface-bonded and pipe-connected at the joint surface during integrated installation,
3. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 1, further comprising: coupler means for detachably connecting the pair of pipe ends for performing pipe connection between the two units. 4. The fuel cell power generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each of the units has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The fuel cell according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fuel cell main body, the fuel processing device, and the heat recovery device are configured as three units independent of each other. Power generation system. Each of the three units has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape,
At the time of integrated installation, the second and third units are joined side by side on the single joining surface of the first unit, and the second and third units are joined. The fuel cell power generation system according to claim 6, wherein the two units are connected to each other by a butt connection between the pair of pipe ends at a joint surface between the units. A fuel cell main body that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel and an oxidant, a fuel processing device that processes and supplies the fuel to the fuel cell main body, and is discharged from the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device In a fuel cell power generation system having a plurality of devices including a heat recovery device that recovers the heat of gas and piping connecting between the devices,
The fuel cell power generation system, wherein the fuel cell main body, the fuel processing device, and the heat recovery device are structurally integrated including piping between these devices. A fuel cell main body that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel and an oxidant, a fuel processing device that processes and supplies the fuel to the fuel cell main body, and is discharged from the fuel cell main body and the fuel processing device In a unit for configuring a fuel cell power generation system having a plurality of devices including a heat recovery device that recovers the heat of gas and pipes connecting the devices,
In order to configure the plurality of devices, it is configured to be structurally integrated and separable with other units,
It has a joint surface that is surface-bonded to the other unit at the time of integrated installation with the other unit, and a pipe incorporated in the inside.
A first pipe end exposed on the surface of the unit when the surface is joined to the other unit at the joint surface and connected to the pipe at the time of integrated installation with the other unit; By connecting between a pair of pipe ends composed of a pipe end and a second pipe end exposed on the surface of the other unit, the pipe is connected to the other unit,
When the surface is joined and pipe connected to the other unit at the time of integrated installation with the other unit, the pair of pipe ends for performing pipe connection with the other unit, A unit for a fuel cell power generation system, wherein the units are arranged at the same position on the joint surface, or are arranged on the externally exposed surface adjacent to the joint surface with the joint surface interposed therebetween.

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