JP2010186680A - Air supply device for fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air supply device for a fuel cell excellent in silence. <P>SOLUTION: The air supply device for fuel cell 1 including an outer housing 2 in which an outer air flow inlet 2b is formed, an inner housing 3 which is contained in the outer housing 2, in which an inner air flow inlet 3b is formed and which is provided with rigid reinforcing members 4, 5a, a winding air flow passage 5 disposed between the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3 to communicate the outer air flow inlet 2b with the inner air flow inlet 3b, a pump 6 and a motor 7 disposed in the inner housing 3, and an air filter 11 disposed in the inner housing 3 at a position where it closes the inner air flow inlet 2b is adopted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell air supply device that supplies air to a fuel cell.

  The fuel cell system includes an air supply device that supplies oxygen in the air, which is a cathode gas, to the fuel cell. Since the fuel cell generates electric power by the reaction between the anode gas and the cathode gas, the fuel cell itself hardly generates noise. On the other hand, an air supply device that supplies air to the fuel cell has a pump that is driven by, for example, an electric motor, and the operating noise of the pump and motor becomes noise. For this reason, when the fuel cell is used as a power source for an acoustic device such as an electronic musical instrument, for example, the operating sound of the air supply device hinders performance.

  Therefore, conventionally, it has been considered to accommodate auxiliary equipment such as a motor and a pump, which are noise generation sources, in a housing (see Patent Document 1). Thereby, the sound generated from the motor and the pump is sound-insulated by the housing, and the sound emitted to the outside is reduced.

FIG. 10 shows another example in which a motor, a pump, and the like are housed in a housing. In the fuel cell air supply device 101 shown in FIG. 10, a pump 105 and a motor 106 for driving the pump 105 are housed in an inner box 102 of a double housing 104 composed of an inner box 102 and an outer box 103. Yes. Further, the inner box 102 is provided with an inner air inlet 102 a, and this inner air inlet 102 a is provided in the outer box 103 via an air supply pipe 107 disposed between the outer box 103 and the inner box 102. Connected to the outer air inlet 103a. Further, a sound absorbing member 108 such as glass wool is disposed between the inner box 102 and the outer box 103. An air cleaning filter 109 is attached to the outside of the outer air inlet 103a.
In the air supply device 101 shown in FIG. 10, the air supplied to the inside of the inner box 102 through the filter 109 and the air supply pipe 107 passes through the periphery of the motor 106 and is supplied to the pump 105. Then, air containing oxygen can be supplied from the exhaust port 105a of the pump 105 toward the fuel cell.

JP 2002-343394 A

  By the way, the pump 105 housed in the inner box 102 is a diaphragm type or piston type pump, but the noise generated from such a pump 105 is a peak high sound pressure in a specific frequency band of 1000 Hz or less. The component which shows is contained. When noise having such frequency characteristics is generated, resonance or resonance is likely to occur in relation to the vibration mode of the inner box 102. Further, since the filter 109 is only installed at the outer air inlet 103a, there is a problem that noise generated inside the inner box 102 is likely to leak to the outside through the air inflow path.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a fuel cell air supply device having excellent quietness.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.
The fuel cell air supply apparatus according to the present invention includes a box-shaped outer housing provided with an outer air inlet, and is housed in the outer housing, provided with an inner air inlet and a rigid reinforcing member. A box-shaped inner housing; a zigzag air flow path provided between the outer housing and the inner housing and connecting the outer air inlet and the inner air inlet; and in the inner housing An air filter disposed at a position that closes the inner air inlet, a pump that is provided inside the inner housing and that sends air to the fuel cell, and a pump driving motor are provided.

  According to the air supply device for a fuel cell of the present invention, since the rigidity reinforcing member is provided in the inner housing, the inner housing does not resonate or resonate due to noise of the pump and the pump driving motor. Moreover, since the air filter and the zigzag folded air flow path are provided, when the noise of the pump and the motor for driving the pump leaks to the outside through the inner air inlet and the outer air inlet, the air filter and the zigzag folded flow path are provided. Noise can be attenuated by the air flow path. In this way, it is possible to provide a fuel cell air supply device that is excellent in quietness.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fuel cell air supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the fuel cell air supply apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the internal structure of the fuel cell air supply device of FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an inner housing constituting the fuel cell air supply device of FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the inner housing shown in FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the internal structure of the inner housing of FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a motor housing constituting the fuel cell air supply device of FIG. 1. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an air flow path in the inner housing of FIG. FIG. 9 is a graph showing the frequency characteristics of the noise level of the A characteristic in Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional fuel cell air supply device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an air supply device 1 (hereinafter referred to as an air supply device) of the present embodiment includes a box-shaped outer housing 2 and a box-shaped inner housing 3 housed in the outer housing 2. , Rigidity reinforcing members 4, 5 a that reinforce the rigidity of the inner housing 3, a zigzag-shaped air flow path 5 provided between the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3, and a pump provided inside the inner housing 3. 6 and a motor 7 for driving the pump, and an air filter 11 provided inside the inner housing 3.

  The outer housing 2 is a box-shaped member that constitutes a housing of the air supply device 1. An outer air inlet 2b is provided on the upper surface portion 2a of the outer housing 2, and an air exhaust port 2d is provided on one of the side surfaces 2c.

  Next, the inner housing 3 is a box-shaped member that houses the pump 6 and the pump driving motor 7, and functions as a soundproofing material that prevents noise from the pump 6 and the like from leaking to the outside. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, an inner air inlet 3 b is provided on the upper surface portion 3 a of the inner housing 3, and an air exhaust port 3 d is provided on the side surface portion 3 c.

  Also, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 is disposed between the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3. The sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 is spread inside the bottom surface portion 2e and the side surface portion 2c of the outer housing 2. The inner housing 3 is accommodated in a region surrounded by the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8. In this way, the inner housing 3 is separated from the outer housing 2 by the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 without using any holding means. The sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 absorbs noise inside the inner housing 3 and functions as a heat insulating material for the inner housing 3. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for a part of the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8, the upper end surface 8 a extends to a position higher than the upper surface portion 3 a of the inner housing 3. In this way, the extending portion 8b is formed in some of the sound absorbing members 8. A part of the zigzag folded air flow path 5 is partitioned by the extending portion 8b. This point will be described later. For the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8, for example, a fiber-based sound absorbing material such as glass wool can be used. Further, the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 may be omitted. In this case, an elastic member such as a rubber member is disposed between the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3 to separate the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3 from each other. do it.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a plurality of partition plates 5 a constituting a zigzag-shaped air flow path 5 are disposed on the upper surface portion 3 a of the inner housing 3. The plurality of partition plates 5a are first rigid reinforcing members that reinforce the inner housing 3 as ribs. The zigzag folded air flow path 5 is provided between the upper surface portion 2 a of the outer housing 2 and the upper surface portion 3 a of the inner housing 3. The zigzag folded air flow path 5 is a flow path for guiding the air flowing between the outer housing 2 and the inner housing 3 from the outer air inlet 2b to the inner air inlet 3b, and is generated inside the inner housing 3. It is a muffler that absorbs or isolates the generated noise.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the zigzag folded air flow path 5 is partitioned in the vertical direction by the upper surface portion 3 a of the inner housing 3 and the upper surface portion 2 a of the outer housing 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the zigzag folded air flow path 5 includes a plurality of partition plates 5 a, a side surface portion 2 c of the outer housing 2, and an extension portion 8 b of the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8. It is divided by.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the plurality of partition plates 5 a are arranged in parallel with a space between each other so that the air flow path 5 is zigzag. Further, each end portion 5 b of the partition plate 5 a is in contact with the extending portion 8 b of the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8. Further, each upper surface portion 5 c of the partition plate 5 a is in contact with the upper surface portion 2 a of the outer housing 2.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, the surface of the partition plate 5a facing the air flow path 5 is covered with a sound absorbing material 5d. Thereby, a part of the airflow path 5 having a zigzag shape is partitioned by the sound absorbing material 5d. As the sound absorbing material 5d, for example, a fiber-based sound absorbing material such as glass wool can be used in the same manner as the sheet-like sound absorbing member.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 6, inside the inner housing 3, a rigid reinforcing member 4 as a partition member, a pump 6, a pump driving motor 7 (hereinafter referred to as a motor 7), air A filter 11 and a motor housing 9 are provided.

The rigidity reinforcing member 4 is disposed inside the inner housing 3 in order to reinforce the rigidity of the inner housing 3. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 6, the rigid reinforcing member 4 includes second to fourth rigid reinforcing members 4 a to 4 c.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 6, the second rigid reinforcing member 4 a is erected from the substantially center of the bottom surface portion 3 e of the inner housing 3 and is located between the pump 6 and the motor 7. Yes. The third rigidity reinforcing member 4b is bent horizontally from the upper end of the second rigidity reinforcing member 4a, is in contact with the side surface portion 3c of the inner housing 3, and is positioned above the pump 6. The fourth rigidity reinforcing member 4 c is disposed substantially horizontally between the vicinity of the upper end of the second rigidity reinforcing member 4 a and another side surface portion 3 c of the inner housing 3, and is positioned above the motor 7. Yes. Further, a bent portion 4d is provided at the outer peripheral ends of the respective rigid reinforcing members 4a to 4c, and the respective rigid reinforcing members 4a to 4c are joined to the inner housing 3 by the bent portion 4d. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 6, the internal space of the inner housing 3 is partitioned into an upper space 3 </ b> A, a pump-side lower space 3 </ b> B, and a motor-side lower space 3 </ b> C by these rigidity reinforcing members 4 a to 4 c. .

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, each space 3A-3C is a space with a mutually different volume. By setting the volumes of the spaces 3A to 3BC to different sizes, resonance or resonance due to noise can be effectively reduced.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the air filter 11 is disposed at a position that closes the inner air inlet 3 b inside the inner housing 3. Thereby, when air flows into the upper space 3A of the inner housing 3 from the inner air inlet 3b, the air passes through the air filter 11, and foreign matters contained in the air are removed. Further, by arranging the air filter 11 at a position that closes the inner air inlet 3 b, it is possible to absorb noise generated inside the inner housing 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the side surface portion 2c side of the fourth rigid reinforcing member 4c, the through-hole 4c ₁ for circulating the air is provided. Through the through hole 4c _1, air passing through the air filter 11 has to be able to flow from the upper space 3A in the motor side lower space 3C. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 6, a motor shaft through-hole 4 a ₁ is provided substantially at the center of the second rigidity reinforcing member 4 a. The through hole 4a ₁ has an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the motor shaft 7a, and a gap is provided when the motor shaft 7a of the motor 7 is inserted into the through hole 4a ₁ . This gap allows air to flow from the motor-side lower space 3C toward the pump-side lower space 3B.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the motor 7 is disposed in the motor side lower space 3 </ b> C together with the motor housing 9, and the motor 7 is accommodated in the motor housing 9. The motor housing 9 is a hollow cylindrical member as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, and one end 9 a is joined to the second rigid reinforcing member 4 a, so that the second hollow portion 9 b and the second portion of the motor housing 9 are joined. are communicated through hole 4a ₁ communicate with each other in the rigid reinforcing member 4a. The motor 7 is housed in the hollow portion of the motor housing 9. At this time, a gap is provided between the inner peripheral surface 9c of the motor housing 9 and the motor 7, and this gap serves as an air flow path 9d for air cooling. Air passage 9d for cooling is passed through through hole 4a ₁ and the communication of the second rigid reinforcing member 4a. When the air flows through the air flow path 9d, the motor 7 is cooled by air. Further, since the motor 7 is accommodated in the motor housing 9, the motor housing 9 also functions as a sound insulating material or a sound absorbing material for the motor 7.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a closing plate 10 is attached to the other end portion 9 e of the motor housing 9. As shown in FIG. 7, a penetrating portion 10 a is provided inside the closing plate 10. One of the penetrating portions 10a opens at the upper end surface 10b of the closing plate 10, and the other of the penetrating portions 10a opens at the surface 10c of the closing plate 10 on the motor housing 9 side. The upper end surface 10b of the closure plate 10 is abutted to the fourth rigid reinforcing member 4c, thereby, are communicated through hole 4c ₁ are communicated through region 10a and the fourth rigid reinforcing member 4c.

  With the above configuration, the air in the upper space 3 </ b> A passes through the through-hole 4 c 1 and the through-hole 10 a to reach the hollow portion 9 b of the motor housing 9, and is a gap between the inner peripheral surface 9 c of the motor housing 9 and the motor 7. The air-cooling air flow path 9d is configured to reach the pump-side lower space 3B from the through-hole 4a1.

Next, the pump 6 is disposed in the pump-side lower space 3B defined by the second rigidity reinforcing member 4a and the third rigidity reinforcing member 4b. The pump 6 is provided with an intake port and an exhaust port 6a (not shown). Exhaust port 6a is connected to the air outlet 2d of the outer housing 2 via an air outlet 3d of the inner housing 3, the air flowing into the pump side lower space 3B through the through hole 4a _1, the not shown It is designed to be sent to the fuel cell.

Next, operation | movement of the air supply apparatus 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG.1 and FIG.8.
The air supply device 1 is connected to the fuel cell, the motor 7 is started, and the pump 6 is operated. When the pump 6 is actuated, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the air outside the air supply device 1 passes between the upper surface portion 2a of the outer housing 2 and the upper surface portion 3a of the inner housing 3 via the outer air inlet 2b. Flow into. The inflowed air further passes through the folded air flow path 5 and flows into the inner housing 3 from the inner air inlet 3 b of the inner housing 3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the air that flows into the inner housing 3 from the inner air inlet 3b passes through the air filter 11 and flows into the upper space 3A. At this time, foreign matter in the air is cleaned by the air filter 11. The air flowing into the upper space 3A, reaches the hollow portion 9b of the motor housing 9 through the through portion 10a of the through hole 4c ₁ and the closure plate 10 of the fourth rigid reinforcing member 4c, further an inner periphery of the motor housing 9 It passes through an air flow passage 9d for air cooling, which is a gap between the surface 9c and the motor 7. The flows from the through-hole 4a ₁ to the pump side lower space 3B.

  At this time, heat is generated with the operation of the motor 7, but the motor 7 is air-cooled by the air flowing through the air flow path 9d. The air-cooling air flow path 9d has a smaller flow-path cross-sectional area than the other flow paths, so that the air flow rate is increased and the cooling efficiency is increased. On the other hand, the air warmed by the motor 7 is sent to the fuel cell as it is and contributes to the improvement of the thermal efficiency of the fuel cell. The heat generated from the motor 7 is also transmitted to the partition plate 5a through the respective rigid reinforcing members 4a to 4c and the inner housing 3, and is radiated from the partition plate 5a. Thereby, the heat | fever is not accumulate | stored inside the inner housing 3, but the raise of the internal temperature of the inner housing 3 is avoided.

  The air flowing into the pump-side lower space 3B is sent out from the air exhaust port 2d of the outer housing 2 by the pump 6. Further, the sent air is supplied to the fuel cell, and oxygen in the air is consumed as a cathode gas for the electrochemical reaction.

  On the other hand, the noise generated by the operation of the pump 6 and the motor 7 is firstly sound-insulated by the motor housing 9 and the closing plate 10, and is also sound-insulated by the rigid reinforcing members 4a to 4c. Further, the vibration sound of the inner housing 3 is absorbed by the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8. Furthermore, since the rigidity of the inner housing 3 is enhanced by the respective rigidity reinforcing members 4a to 4c, the inner housing 3 does not resonate or resonate, and noise in a relatively low frequency band is compared with 1000 Hz or more. The noise absorption effect by the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 can be enhanced. Furthermore, most of the noise leaking from the inner air inlet 3 b is absorbed by the air filter 11. Further, the noise leaking from the inner air inlet 3b is further absorbed by the sound absorbing material 5d on the surface of the partition plate 5a or the extending portion 8b of the sheet-like sound absorbing member 8 while propagating through the zigzag air flow path 5. In addition, the sound is insulated by the partition plate 5a. Thus, quietness is maintained with almost no noise leaking from the outer air inlet 2b.

As described above, according to the air supply device 1 of the present embodiment, the inner housing 3 is provided with the rigidity reinforcing members 4a to 4b and 5a, so that the inner housing resonates due to the noise of the pump and the pump driving motor. Alternatively, relatively low frequency noise can be shifted to high frequency noise without resonance, and sound absorption or sound insulation can be easily performed. Further, since the air filter 11 and the zigzag-shaped air flow path 5 are provided, when the noise of the pump 6 and the motor 7 leaks outside through the inner air inlet 3b and the outer air inlet 2a, these air Noise can be attenuated by the filter 11 and the air flow path 5. Thus, the air supply apparatus 1 excellent in silence can be provided.
Moreover, according to the air supply device 1 of the present embodiment, the air flow passage 9d for air cooling is provided between the motor 7 and the inner peripheral surface 9c of the motor housing 9, and a high flow velocity flowing through the air flow passage 9d. Therefore, the motor 7 can be efficiently cooled by the air, and the thermal efficiency of the fuel cell can be improved by exhaust heat.
Furthermore, according to the air supply device 1 of the present embodiment, the zigzag folded air flow path 5 is partitioned and formed by the plurality of partition plates 5a, and the sound absorbing material 5d is provided on the surface of the partition plates 5a. The noise leaking through the flow path 5 can be absorbed and simultaneously insulated to reduce the noise leaking outside.

  The zigzag folded air flow path 5 is disposed between the upper surface portions 2a and 3a of the respective housings 2 and 3, and is further formed in a zigzag folded shape along the in-plane direction of the respective upper surface portions 2a and 3a. Therefore, the air flow path 5 that functions as a silencer can be made compact, and the air supply device 1 can be miniaturized. In particular, it is suitable as an air supply device 1 for an indoor fuel cell.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.
First, as Example 1, an air supply device of Example 1 similar to the air supply device shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 was prepared except that the sheet-like sound absorbing member was omitted. As Example 2, an air supply device of Example 2 similar to the air supply device shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 was prepared. Further, as Comparative Example 1, a comparative example air supply apparatus similar to that shown in FIG. 10 was prepared.

  The air supply devices of Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example will be described in detail. The outer housing is a stainless steel rectangular housing having outer dimensions of 133 mm in length, 109 mm in width, 240 mm in height and 3 mm in thickness. In addition, the inner housing was a rectangular parallelepiped casing made of stainless steel having an outer size of 109 mm in length, 82 mm in width, 217 mm in height and 3 mm in thickness. The sheet-like sound absorbing member of Example 2 was used as a fiber sound absorbing member made of PET. Further, as the rigid reinforcing member, a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 3 mm was used. In addition, pumps and motors used for each air supply device are those that exhibit equivalent noise characteristics. The frequency dependence of the noise level (A characteristic) of these air supply devices was evaluated. The results are shown in FIG. 9 and Table 1 also include background noise data in addition to Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example.

  As is apparent from FIG. 9 and Table 1, it can be seen that the noise peak in Example 1 is shifted to the high frequency band as compared with the comparative example. That is, when the peak frequency indicating the maximum sound pressure in Comparative Example 1 is 1000 Hz, in Example 1, it is increased to 1600 Hz. Further, in the comparative example, a peak indicating a relatively high sound pressure appears at 500 Hz in addition to 1000 Hz. From the results of Example 1 and the comparative example, it can be seen that the effect of improving the rigidity of the inner housing by the rigidity reinforcing member appears.

  Next, as is clear from FIG. 9, comparing Example 1 and Example 2, it can be seen that in Example 2, the sound pressure level in the frequency band of 500 Hz or higher is significantly reduced. From the results of Examples 1 and 2, it can be seen that the sound absorbing effect by the sheet-like sound absorbing member appears.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air supply apparatus (air supply apparatus for fuel cells), 2 ... Outer housing, 2a ... Upper surface part of outer housing, 2b ... Outer air inlet, 3 ... Inner housing, 3a ... Upper surface part of inner housing, 3b ... Inner Air inlet, 4 ... Rigid reinforcing member, 5 ... Zigzag air passage, 5a ... Partition plate, 5d ... Sound absorbing material, 6 ... Pump, 7 ... Motor (pump drive motor), 9 ... Motor housing, 9c ... Inner circumferential surface of motor housing, 9d: cooling air flow path, 11: air filter.

Claims (3)

A box-shaped outer housing provided with an outer air inlet;
A box-shaped inner housing housed in the outer housing, provided with an inner air inlet, and provided with a rigid reinforcing member;
A zigzag air flow path provided between the outer housing and the inner housing and connecting the outer air inlet and the inner air inlet;
An air filter disposed in a position to close the inner air inlet in the inner housing;
A pump provided inside the inner housing and for sending air to the fuel cell and a pump driving motor;
An air supply device for a fuel cell, comprising:   A hollow cylindrical motor housing that houses the pump driving motor is provided inside the inner housing, and an air cooling air flow path is provided between the pump driving motor and the inner peripheral surface of the motor housing. The fuel cell air supply device according to claim 1, wherein the air supply device is a fuel cell.   The zigzag folded air flow path is defined by a plurality of partition plates disposed between the upper surface portion of the inner housing and the upper surface portion of the outer housing, and a sound absorbing material is provided on the surface of the partition plate. 3. The fuel cell air supply device according to claim 1, wherein the air supply device is for a fuel cell.

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