JP2010278130A - Cooling device for power device, and fuel cell system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve cooling performance of a power device by a cooling device while preventing an increase in the scale of the cooling device and an increase in a cost. <P>SOLUTION: The cooling device 1 includes an IPM 14 on its upper surface 50a, and internally includes a cooling section 50 through which a refrigerant passes. The cooling section 50 includes a partition plate 70 which partitions the inside into an upper space 71 on the side of the IPM 14 and a lower space 72 on the opposite side therefrom, a refrigerant intake 60 communicating with the lower space 72, and a refrigerant outlet 61 communicating with the upper space 71. The partition plate 70 includes a plurality of refrigerant passage holes 73 for making the lower space 72 and upper space 71 to communicate with each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a power device cooling apparatus and a fuel cell system including the power device cooling apparatus.

  For example, in a fuel cell system mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, an intelligent power module (hereinafter referred to as “IPM”) for performing various drive controls and a power device such as a reactor provided in various control circuits. Is provided. Since the power device generates heat upon operation, a cooling device is required. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the cooling of the power device 100 is performed by providing the coolant channel 101 through which the coolant flows and bringing the power device 100 into close contact with the outer surface of the coolant channel 101.

JP 2005-346948 A

  However, in the above-described cooling method, the refrigerant temperature gradually increases toward the downstream side in order to cool the power device 100 while the refrigerant flows in one direction along the power device 100. For this reason, cooling of the part located in the downstream of the power device 100 may not be performed effectively. In addition, since the refrigerant flows in one direction along the refrigerant flow path 101, the temperature boundary layer near the wall surface of the refrigerant flow path 101 becomes thick, and the amount of heat transport decreases accordingly. In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to enlarge the cooling flow path and increase the flow rate of the refrigerant. In this case, however, the cooling device becomes larger and the cost increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and includes a power device cooling device and a power device cooling device capable of improving the cooling performance of the power device while preventing an increase in size and cost of the device. Another object is to provide a fuel cell system.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a cooling device for cooling a power device, wherein the power device is provided on one surface, and has a cooling part through which a refrigerant passes. A partition plate that divides the space into one space on the power device side and another space on the opposite side, a refrigerant inlet that leads to the other space, and a refrigerant outlet that leads to the one space, Has a plurality of refrigerant passage holes for communicating the other space with the one space.

  According to the above embodiment, since the refrigerant flows from the other space in the cooling unit to the one space on the power device side through the plurality of refrigerant passage holes of the partition plate, the refrigerant is directed to one surface where the power device is located. Flowing. As a result, for example, since the low-temperature refrigerant can be supplied to the entire power device, the entire power device can be effectively cooled. Moreover, since the temperature boundary layer near one surface in the cooling unit near the power device is thinned, the power device is efficiently cooled. Furthermore, since the partition plate that changes the flow direction of the refrigerant is provided inside the cooling unit, the cooling device is not increased in size and the cost is not increased. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling performance of the power device while preventing an increase in size and cost of the cooling device.

The cooling part is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the refrigerant inlet is formed on one side surface perpendicular to the one surface, and the refrigerant outlet is formed on the other side surface facing the one side surface. Also good.

A guide for flowing the refrigerant in a predetermined direction on the power device side may be formed in the refrigerant passage hole.

The guide may be formed by raising a part of the partition plate.

Another aspect of the present invention is a fuel cell system including the cooling device for the power device.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the cooling performance of the power device of a cooling device can be improved, preventing the enlargement of a cooling device and a raise of cost.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the outline of a structure of a fuel cell system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of a structure of a cooling device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a cooling unit. It is a top view of a partition plate. It is explanatory drawing which shows the cooling part at the time of making the guide of a refrigerant | coolant passage hole slant. It is sectional drawing of a partition plate at the time of raising a part of partition plate and forming a guide. It is a perspective view of the partition plate at the time of raising a part of partition plate and forming a guide. It is explanatory drawing which shows the cooling flow path before improvement.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a fuel cell system 2 in which a power device cooling apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is mounted. In the present embodiment, an example in which the fuel cell system 2 is applied to an on-vehicle power generation system of a fuel cell vehicle (moving body) will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell system 2 includes a fuel cell 10 that generates power upon receiving supply of reaction gas (oxidation gas and fuel gas), and an oxidation that supplies oxidation gas (for example, air) to the fuel cell 10. A gas piping system 11 and a hydrogen gas piping system 12 for supplying hydrogen gas as a fuel gas to the fuel cell 10 are provided.

  The fuel cell 10 has a stack structure in which a required number of single cells (single cells) that generate power upon receipt of reaction gas are stacked. For example, an IPM 14 as a power device, a load unit 15 to which generated power is supplied, and the like are connected to the fuel cell 10. The cooling device 1 according to the present embodiment cools the IPM 14.

  The oxidizing gas piping system 11 includes, for example, a humidifier 20, a gas supply passage 21 that supplies the oxidizing gas humidified by the humidifier 20 to the fuel cell 10, and the oxidizing off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 to the humidifier 20. A gas discharge passage 22 for sending and a gas exhaust passage 23 for discharging the oxidizing off gas of the humidifier 20 to the outside are provided. The gas supply passage 21 is provided with a compressor 24 and the like that take in the oxidizing gas in the atmosphere and pump it to the humidifier 20.

  The hydrogen gas piping system 12 includes, for example, a hydrogen tank 30 as a fuel supply source that stores high-pressure (for example, 70 MPa) hydrogen gas, and a gas supply channel 31 for supplying the hydrogen gas in the hydrogen tank 30 to the fuel cell 10. A circulation flow path 32 for returning the hydrogen off gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 to the gas supply flow path 31 is provided.

  For example, the gas supply flow path 31 functions as an original valve of the hydrogen tank 30 and shuts off or allows the supply of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank 30 to the fuel cell 10 side, and the hydrogen gas pressure is preset. A regulator 34 for reducing the pressure to the secondary pressure and a pressure regulator 35 such as an injector for adjusting the flow rate and gas pressure of the hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell 10 with high accuracy are provided.

  The circulation channel 32 is provided with, for example, an ion exchanger 36 that removes water and impurities from the hydrogen off-gas, and a hydrogen pump 37 that pressurizes the hydrogen off-gas in the circulation channel 32 and pumps it to the gas supply channel 31 side. ing. The ion exchanger 36 is connected to a discharge flow path 38 for discharging water separated by the ion exchanger 36 and a part of the hydrogen off-gas to the outside. The discharge flow path 38 is provided with a discharge control valve 39 that controls the discharge of water and a part of the hydrogen off-gas from the ion exchanger 36.

In addition to the traction motor, the load section 15 includes a compressor 24, a hydrogen pump 37, and a motor for auxiliary equipment such as a refrigerant circulation pump (not shown) necessary for operating the fuel cell 10, and a vehicle running Actuators used in various devices (wheel control unit, steering device, suspension device, etc.), air conditioner, lighting, audio, etc.

  Next, the configuration of the cooling device 1 mounted on the fuel cell system 2 configured as described above will be described.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the cooling device 1 includes a cooling unit 50 to which the IPM 14 is attached, a refrigerant supply unit 51 that supplies a refrigerant to the cooling unit 50, and a pipe line 52 that connects the cooling unit 50 and the refrigerant supply unit 51. have.

  The cooling unit 50 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in FIG. 3, for example, and a plurality of IPMs 14 are in close contact with an upper surface 50a as one surface of a square having a large area. For example, the IPMs 14 are evenly arranged in the upper surface 50a without being biased. The close contact between the IPM 14 and the upper surface 50a may be performed by interposing grease.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a refrigerant inlet 60 connected to the supply-side pipe line 52 is formed on one side surface 50b of the cooling unit 50, and on the other side surface 50c facing the one side surface 50b. Is formed with a refrigerant outlet 61 to which the discharge side pipe line 52 is connected. The refrigerant inflow port 60 is disposed near one end portion in the longitudinal direction (X direction in FIG. 3) of one side surface 50b, and the refrigerant outflow port 61 is opposite to one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the other side surface 50c. It is arranged near the other end.

  Inside the cooling unit 50, as shown in FIG. 2, a partition plate 70 parallel to the upper surface 50a and the lower surface 50d is provided. The partition plate 70 is disposed, for example, at an intermediate position in the vertical direction inside the cooling unit 50. The inside of the cooling unit 50 is used as an upper space 71 as one space on the upper surface 50a side and another space on the lower surface 50d side. The lower space 72 is divided. A large number of coolant passage holes 73 are formed in the partition plate 70. The coolant passage hole 73 is formed with a guide 74 for causing the coolant to collide from a direction perpendicular to the upper surface 50a. The coolant passage hole 73 is formed in a circular shape as shown in FIG. 4, for example, and is disposed in the plane of the partition plate 70 without deviation. The refrigerant passage hole 73 is formed at a position corresponding to at least the IPM 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant inlet 60 opens, for example, in the lower space 72, and the refrigerant outlet 61 opens in the upper space 71.

  When the IPM 14 is cooled by the cooling device 1, the refrigerant in the refrigerant supply unit 51 is supplied to the cooling unit 50 through the conduit 52. The refrigerant flows from the pipe line 52 into the lower space 72 in the cooling unit 50 through the refrigerant inlet 60. At this time, the refrigerant convects in the lower space 72, for example. The refrigerant in the lower space 72 flows into the upper space 71 from the entirety of the partition plate 70 through the large number of refrigerant passage holes 73 of the partition plate 70. At this time, the refrigerant is supplied from the vertical direction, for example, toward the upper surface 50a. Thereafter, the refrigerant collides with the upper surface 50 a in the upper space 71, flows through the upper space 71, and is discharged to the conduit 52 through the refrigerant outlet 61. The refrigerant that has flowed out into the pipeline 52 is returned to the refrigerant supply unit 51, for example.

  According to the above embodiment, since the refrigerant flows from the lower space 72 in the cooling unit 50 to the upper space 71 on the IPM 14 side through the plurality of refrigerant passage holes 73 of the partition plate 70, the refrigerant is directed toward the upper surface 50a where the IPM 14 is located. Flowing. As a result, for example, since the low-temperature refrigerant can be supplied to the entire IPM 14, the entire IPM 14 can be effectively cooled. In addition, since the temperature boundary layer near the upper surface 50a on the IPM 14 side in the cooling unit 50 becomes thin, the IPM 14 is efficiently cooled. Furthermore, since the partition plate 70 that changes the flow direction of the refrigerant is provided in the cooling unit 50, the cooling device 1 does not increase in size and the cost does not increase. Therefore, the cooling performance of the IPM 14 can be improved while preventing an increase in the size of the cooling device 1 and an increase in cost.

The cooling unit 50 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the refrigerant inlet 60 is formed on one side surface 50b perpendicular to the upper surface 50a, and the refrigerant outlet 61 is formed on the other side surface 50c facing the one side surface 50b. Therefore, the refrigerant is properly supplied to the entire upper surface 50a where the IPM 14 is located. Thereby, cooling of the whole IPM14 can be performed appropriately.

  Since the coolant passage hole 73 is formed with a guide 74 for flowing the coolant in a predetermined direction on the IPM 14 side, the coolant can be efficiently supplied to the IPM 14 side.

  In the above embodiment, the guide 74 is oriented in the vertical direction with respect to the upper surface 50a, but may be oriented obliquely upward. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the guide 74 may be inclined toward the refrigerant outlet 61 from the vertical direction. By doing so, for example, the refrigerant can be flowed smoothly while sufficiently supplying the refrigerant to the upper surface 50a on the IPM 14 side, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the guide 74 in the above embodiment may be formed by cutting a part of the partition plate 70 and raising the part. By carrying out like this, the partition plate 70 can be manufactured cheaply and the cost of the cooling device 1 can further be suppressed.

In the above-described embodiment, the coolant passage hole 73 is not limited to a circular shape, and may have another shape such as a semicircle or a wedge shape.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various modifications or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the idea described in the claims, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood.

  In the above embodiment, the cooling device 1 that cools the IPM 14 of the fuel cell system 2 has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to cooling other power devices such as a reactor in the fuel cell system 2. The power device may be directly attached to the upper surface 50a of the cooling unit 50, or may be indirectly attached via another member. Further, the fuel cell system on which the cooling device 1 is mounted may be applied to various moving bodies (robots, ships, aircrafts, etc.) other than the fuel cell vehicle. Further, the fuel cell system may be applied to a stationary power generation system used as a power generation facility for a building (house, building, etc.). Further, the cooling device can be applied to cooling power devices other than the fuel cell system.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for improving the cooling performance of a power device while preventing an increase in size and cost of the power device cooling apparatus.

1 Cooling device 2 Fuel cell system 14 IPM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Cooling part 60 Refrigerant inlet 61 Refrigerant outlet 70 Partition plate 71 Upper space 72 Lower space 73 Refrigerant passage hole

Claims (5)

A cooling device for cooling a power device,
A power device is provided on one surface, and has a cooling part through which a refrigerant passes,
The cooling unit includes a partition plate that divides the interior into one space on the power device side and another space on the opposite side, a refrigerant inlet that leads to the other space, and a refrigerant outlet that leads to the one space. Have
The cooling device for a power device, wherein the partition plate has a plurality of refrigerant passage holes that allow the other space to communicate with the one space.   The cooling portion is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the refrigerant inlet is formed on one side surface perpendicular to the one surface, and the refrigerant outlet is formed on the other side surface facing the one side surface. The power device cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The power device cooling mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a guide for flowing the refrigerant in a predetermined direction on the power device side is formed in the refrigerant passage hole.   4. The power device cooling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the guide is formed by raising a part of the partition plate.   A fuel cell system comprising the power device cooling device according to claim 1.

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