JP2016184490A - Hydrogen fuel supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hydrogen fuel supply system that can avoid crush of a filter in the regulator, overshoot of pressure regulator and occurrence of leakage from a lip seal portion by suppressing rapid pressure increase on the upstream side of a regulator when hydrogen supply is started.SOLUTION: A hydrogen fuel supply system 301 for supplying hydrogen gas to a fuel battery 310 through a hydrogen supply passage 314 from a hydrogen tank 312, includes: a main stop valve 318 for switching supply of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank 312 to the hydrogen supply passage 314 and cutoff of the supply of hydrogen gas; a high-pressure regulator 322 for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas; and an injector 354 for adjusting the flow rate of the hydrogen gas to be supplied to the fuel battery 310. The main stop valve 318, the high-pressure regulator 322, and the fuel supply device 354 are arranged on the hydrogen supply passage 314 from the side of the hydrogen tank 312 in this order, and a throttle portion 302 is provided between the main stop valve 318 and the high-pressure regulator 322.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a hydrogen fuel supply system for supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell.

  In the hydrogen fuel supply system, high-pressure hydrogen gas is decompressed to a predetermined pressure and supplied to the fuel cell. Examples of such a hydrogen fuel supply system include a fuel cell, a fuel gas supply passage for flowing hydrogen gas supplied from a hydrogen supply source (hydrogen tank) to the fuel cell, and an upstream side of the fuel gas supply passage. A variable gas supply device that adjusts the gas state and supplies the gas downstream, and a surge tank that is provided in the fuel gas supply flow channel upstream of the variable gas supply device and suppresses fluctuations in hydrogen gas pressure in the fuel gas supply channel; And an orifice is provided at the inflow port of the surge tank. Further, in this hydrogen fuel supply system, a shutoff valve and a hydrogen pressure regulating valve (regulator) are provided on the upstream side of the variable gas supply device from the hydrogen supply source side.

  In this hydrogen fuel supply system, the impact of the pulsation of hydrogen gas is absorbed by the orifice, the effect of suppressing the pulsation by the surge tank is enhanced, and the pulsation is not generated in the hydrogen gas in the fuel gas supply passage. The generation of vibration and noise due to the pulsation of the noise is suppressed (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-130492 A

  However, in the hydrogen fuel supply system described above, when the supply of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank is started, the hydrogen gas may intrude into the fuel supply passage at once and a sudden pressure increase may occur. If a sudden pressure rise occurs upstream of the regulator, problems such as collapse of the filter provided in the regulator, overshooting of the regulator pressure regulation, and leakage from the lip seal portion of the regulator may occur. there were.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and suppresses a rapid pressure increase on the upstream side of the regulator at the start of supply of hydrogen, filter collapse in the regulator, overshoot of pressure regulation, An object of the present invention is to provide a hydrogen fuel supply system that can avoid the occurrence of leakage from the lip seal portion.

  One aspect of the present invention made to solve the above problems is a hydrogen fuel supply system that supplies hydrogen gas from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell via a fuel supply passage. A main stop valve that switches between supply and cutoff of hydrogen gas, a high-pressure regulator that reduces the pressure of hydrogen gas, and a fuel supply device that adjusts the flow rate of hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell, the main stop valve, The high-pressure regulator and the fuel supply device are arranged in this order on the fuel supply passage from the hydrogen tank side, and a throttle part is provided between the main stop valve and the high-pressure regulator. Features.

  In this hydrogen fuel supply system, since the throttle part is provided between the main stop valve and the high-pressure regulator, the flow rate of hydrogen gas is throttled at the throttle part, so the main stop valve is opened and hydrogen is supplied from the hydrogen tank. When gas is supplied, hydrogen gas can be prevented from entering the fuel supply passage at once. Further, since a large pressure loss occurs at the throttle portion, the pressure of hydrogen gas is also reduced. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a sudden pressure increase upstream of the high-pressure regulator, so that it is possible to avoid filter collapse, pressure regulation overshoot, and leakage from the lip seal portion in the high-pressure regulator. .

  In the hydrogen fuel supply system described above, the high-pressure regulator includes a needle portion, and an opening area of the needle portion is determined by a cross-sectional area of the fuel supply passage between the main stop valve and the high-pressure regulator. The opening area of the throttle portion is preferably equal to or larger than the opening area of the needle portion and smaller than the cross-sectional area of the fuel supply passage.

  By setting in this way, the opening area of the throttle part can be made larger than the opening area of the needle part in the high-pressure regulator that minimizes the cross-sectional area of the flow path in the hydrogen fuel supply system. It is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of a sudden pressure increase on the upstream side of the high pressure regulator without deteriorating.

  In the hydrogen fuel supply system described above, it is preferable that the throttle portion is disposed in the vicinity of the main stop valve.

  By adopting such a configuration, after hydrogen gas flows out from the main stop valve, the hydrogen gas immediately passes through the throttle part, and a larger volume of the fuel supply passage to the high-pressure regulator is secured on the downstream side of the throttle part. it can. By these, since the pressure reduction effect of hydrogen gas can be heightened, generation | occurrence | production of the rapid pressure rise in the upstream of a high voltage | pressure regulator can be suppressed effectively.

  Another aspect of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, is a hydrogen fuel supply system that supplies hydrogen gas from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell via a fuel supply passage, from the hydrogen tank to the fuel supply passage. A main stop valve that switches between supply and cutoff of hydrogen gas, a high-pressure regulator that reduces the pressure of hydrogen gas, and a fuel supply device that adjusts the flow rate of hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell, the main stop valve, The high-pressure regulator and the fuel supply device are arranged in this order on the fuel supply passage from the hydrogen tank side, and a chamber is provided between the main stop valve and the high-pressure regulator. The volume is at least twice the volume of the fuel supply passage between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator.

  In this hydrogen fuel supply system, a chamber that is at least twice the volume of the fuel supply passage between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator is provided between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator. Since the hydrogen gas expands, the pressure of the hydrogen gas that has passed through the chamber is reduced (reduced by more than half). Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a sudden pressure increase on the upstream side of the high pressure regulator, so that it is possible to avoid the occurrence of filter collapse, pressure regulation overshoot, and leakage from the lip seal portion in the high pressure regulator.

In the hydrogen fuel supply system described above, it is desirable that a throttle portion be provided between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator.
Note that the throttle portion may be disposed either upstream or downstream of the chamber.

  By adopting such a configuration, the effect of reducing the pressure of hydrogen gas by the throttle portion can be obtained, so that the effect of reducing the pressure of hydrogen gas can be further enhanced. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the occurrence of a sudden pressure increase on the upstream side of the high pressure regulator.

  According to the hydrogen fuel supply system of the present invention, at the start of hydrogen supply, a sudden pressure rise on the upstream side of the regulator is suppressed, and filter collapse, pressure regulation overshoot, and leakage from the lip seal portion occur in the regulator. Can be avoided.

It is a schematic block diagram of the fuel cell system to which the hydrogen supply unit which concerns on this embodiment is applied. It is sectional drawing of a high voltage | pressure regulator. It is a figure which shows the opening area of a needle part.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the hydrogen supply unit of the present invention is embodied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, an example in which the present invention is applied to a fuel cell system mounted on a vehicle is illustrated.

First, a fuel cell system to which a hydrogen supply unit according to this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fuel cell system to which a hydrogen supply unit according to this embodiment is applied.
As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell system 300 includes a fuel cell (FC) 310, a hydrogen tank 312, a hydrogen supply passage 314, a hydrogen discharge passage 316, a main stop valve 318, a first switching valve 320, a high pressure regulator 322, hydrogen A supply unit 324 and the like are included.

  The fuel cell system 300 is mounted on an electric vehicle and used to supply electric power to a driving motor (not shown). The fuel cell 310 generates power by receiving supply of hydrogen as a fuel gas and air as an oxidant gas. The electric power generated by the fuel cell 310 is supplied to a drive motor (not shown) via an inverter (not shown). The hydrogen tank 312 stores high-pressure (for example, about 80 to 90 MPa) hydrogen gas.

  A hydrogen fuel supply system 301 is provided on the anode side of the fuel cell 310. The hydrogen fuel supply system 301 includes a hydrogen supply passage 314 for supplying hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank 312 to the fuel cell 310 to which the hydrogen fuel is supplied, and a hydrogen discharge passage 316 for discharging hydrogen off-gas derived from the fuel cell 310. And. A hydrogen supply passage 314 immediately downstream of the hydrogen tank 312 is provided with a main stop valve 318 that switches between supply and shutoff of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank 312 to the hydrogen supply passage 314. The hydrogen discharge passage 316 is provided with a first switching valve 320 made of an electromagnetic valve.

  A hydrogen supply passage 314 downstream from the main stop valve 318 is provided with a high pressure regulator 322 for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas. The hydrogen supply passage 314 between the main stop valve 318 and the high-pressure regulator 322 is provided with a throttle portion 302 and a chamber 303. In the present embodiment, the throttle unit 302 is disposed on the upstream side of the chamber 303, but the arrangement relationship between them is not limited thereto, and the chamber 303 may be disposed on the upstream side of the throttle unit 302.

  The throttle portion 302 has an opening area that is equal to or larger than an opening area of a needle portion 131 in a high pressure regulator 322, which will be described later, and is set to be smaller than a passage cross-sectional area of the hydrogen supply passage 314 between the main stop valve 318 and the high pressure regulator 322. ing. In the present embodiment, the opening area of the throttle portion 302 is substantially the same as the opening area of the needle portion 131.

  And when the throttle part 302 is arrange | positioned upstream from the chamber 303 like this embodiment, the throttle part 302 is good to arrange | position near the main stop valve 318. This is because, after hydrogen gas flows out of the main stop valve 318, it immediately passes through the throttle portion 302, and a larger volume of the hydrogen supply passage 314 to the high pressure regulator 322 can be secured on the downstream side of the throttle portion 302. .

The volume of the chamber 303 is set to be not less than twice the volume of the hydrogen supply passage 314 between the main stop valve 318 and the high pressure regulator 322.
In the present embodiment, the throttle unit 302 and the chamber 303 are provided, but only one of them may be provided.

  A primary pressure sensor 338 for detecting the pressure in the hydrogen supply passage 314 (the upstream pressure of the high pressure regulator 322) as the primary pressure P1 is provided on the downstream side of the chamber 303. Details of the high voltage regulator 322 will be described later.

  A hydrogen supply unit 324 for adjusting the flow rate and pressure of hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell 310 is provided in the hydrogen supply passage 314 downstream from the high-pressure regulator 322. The hydrogen supply unit 324 includes an introduction passage 350, a discharge passage 352, injectors 354 (three in this embodiment), a secondary pressure sensor 356, a tertiary pressure sensor 358, and the like.

Here, the structure of the high voltage regulator 322 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the high-pressure regulator. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an opening area of the needle portion.
The high pressure regulator 322 includes an upstream pressure regulating valve 1 located upstream, a downstream pressure regulating valve 2 located downstream, and hydrogen gas after being decompressed by the upstream pressure regulating valve 1 and before being decompressed by the downstream pressure regulating valve 2. The body member 7 is provided with a passing middle passage 3 and a check valve 4 connected to the middle passage 3, and is a multistage pressure regulating valve that regulates hydrogen gas to a desired pressure while reducing the pressure in multiple stages. The high pressure regulator 322 is formed with an upstream pressure regulating valve 1, a downstream pressure regulating valve 2, an intermediate passage 3, a check valve 4 and the like inside a body member 7 made of aluminum alloy. The upstream pressure regulating valve 1 and the downstream pressure regulating valve 2 are connected in series.

  The upstream pressure regulating valve 1 includes a valve chamber 12 that communicates with an inlet 8, a valve body 13 that moves up and down in the valve chamber 12, and a valve seat that is formed at the lower end of the valve chamber 12 and contacts and separates from the valve body 13. 14, a pressure regulating chamber 11 that is located below the valve seat 14 and communicates with the valve chamber 12 when the valve body 13 moves upward, a piston 15 that moves up and down in the pressure regulating chamber 11, and a piston 15 that moves upward And a coil spring 16 for biasing.

  An inlet passage 81 is formed vertically between the inlet 8 and the valve chamber 12. A filter 30 is provided on the upstream side of the inlet passage 81. The filter 30 has a hollow cylindrical shape with an open downstream end (lower end), and is a member that prevents foreign matter from entering the high-pressure regulator 322. The filter 30 is fixed by a holding spring 31. The hydrogen gas flowing in from the inlet 8 passes from the outside to the inside of the filter 30 and flows out to the inlet passage 81.

  A valve spring 133 that biases the valve body 13 downward is interposed between the valve chamber 12 and the valve body 13. The valve body 13 is formed with a tapered portion 132 that comes into contact with the valve seat 14 below the main body portion on which the valve spring 133 is mounted. A needle portion 131 is formed below the taper portion 132. The needle portion 131 extends through the through hole 14 a formed in the valve seat 14 to the pressure regulating chamber 11. Therefore, the opening part of the needle part 131 becomes an annular part formed by the inner periphery of the through-hole 14a and the outer periphery of the needle part 131, and the opening area is a hatched area shown in FIG. This opening area is smaller than the passage sectional area of the hydrogen supply passage 314 between the main stop valve 318 and the high pressure regulator 322. The lower end of the needle portion 131 is in contact with the upper end of the shaft protrusion 153 that protrudes from the upper end of the main body of the piston 15.

  A lip seal member 151 that slides in contact with the inner peripheral edge of the pressure adjusting chamber 11 and seals the pressure adjusting chamber 11 is fitted to the outer peripheral edge of the piston 15. The lip seal member 151 has a lip-shaped cross section that opens upward in a V shape.

  The downstream pressure regulating valve 2 includes a pressure regulating chamber 21 that communicates with the outlet 6, a piston 24 that moves up and down in the pressure regulating chamber 21, a coil spring 25 that biases the piston 24 upward, and a pressure regulating chamber 21. A valve chamber 22 formed below, and a substantially cylindrical valve body 241 extending to the valve chamber 22 along the shaft portion of the piston 24 are provided.

  The pressure regulating chamber 21 is sealed by a lid member 23 fitted from the upper right end of the body member 7. Below the axis of the lid member 23, a columnar convex portion is formed that contacts the upper end portion of the piston 24 and restricts the upward movement of the piston 24. An annular space is formed in the pressure regulating chamber 21 when the columnar convex portion comes into contact with the upper end portion of the piston 24.

  A cylindrical through hole 2411 is formed at the axial center of the piston 24 and the valve body 241 from the upper end of the piston 24 to the lower end of the valve body. A lip seal member 242 that slidably contacts the inner peripheral edge of the pressure regulating chamber 21 and seals the pressure regulating chamber 21 is fitted to the outer peripheral edge of the piston 24. The lip seal member 242 has a lip-shaped cross section that opens upward in a V shape.

  With the high pressure regulator 322 having such a configuration, the hydrogen gas supplied from the hydrogen tank 312 is reduced to about 3.0 to 2.5 Mpa, for example, by the upstream pressure regulating valve 1, and then the downstream pressure regulating valve 2 The pressure is reduced from about 3.0 to 2.5 Mpa to about 1.0 to 1.5 Mpa. As a result, hydrogen gas of about 1.0 to 1.5 MPa is supplied to the injector 348.

  On the other hand, on the cathode side of the fuel cell 310, an air supply passage 330 for supplying air to the fuel cell 310 and an air discharge passage 332 for discharging the air off gas led out from the fuel cell 310 are provided. . An air pump 334 for adjusting the flow rate of air supplied to the fuel cell 310 is provided in the air supply passage 330. An air pressure sensor 340 for detecting the air pressure P4 is provided in the air supply passage 330 downstream of the air pump 334. The air discharge passage 332 is provided with a second switching valve 336 made of an electromagnetic valve.

  In such a fuel cell system 300, the hydrogen gas led out from the hydrogen tank 312 passes through the hydrogen supply passage 314 and is supplied to the fuel cell 310 via the main stop valve 318, the high pressure regulator 322, and the hydrogen supply unit 324. . At this time, a very high pressure hydrogen gas is supplied to the high pressure regulator 322. For example, when the main stop valve 318 is opened after the hydrogen gas is filled in the hydrogen tank 312, very high-pressure hydrogen gas enters the hydrogen supply passage 314 at a stretch, and a rapid pressure increase occurs. . In the high-pressure regulator 322, the filter 30 is crushed due to a sudden pressure rise generated on the upstream side of the regulator, overshooting occurs in pressure regulation, and the pressure difference between the top and bottom of the lip seal member 151 disappears and the lip seal member 151 leaks. May cause problems such as

  However, in the present embodiment, before the main stop valve 318 is opened and high-pressure hydrogen gas is supplied from the hydrogen tank 312 to the high-pressure regulator 322, it passes through the throttle portion 302. Since the flow rate of the hydrogen gas is reduced by the throttle 302, the hydrogen gas is prevented from entering the hydrogen supply passage 314 at a stretch. Further, since a large pressure loss occurs in the throttle portion 302, the pressure of the hydrogen gas is reduced. In addition, since the opening area of the throttle part 302 is ensured more than the opening area of the needle part 131, the followability of hydrogen supply does not deteriorate by providing the throttle part 302.

  Then, the hydrogen gas that has passed through the throttle 302 passes through the chamber 303 and flows into the high-pressure regulator 322. Here, since the volume of the chamber 303 is more than twice the volume of the hydrogen supply passage 314 between the main stop valve 318 and the high pressure regulator 322, the pressure of the hydrogen gas is sufficiently reduced by the chamber 303 (less than half). Greatly reduced). Therefore, it is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of a rapid pressure increase on the upstream side of the high-pressure regulator 322. Therefore, the filter 30 in the high-pressure regulator 322 can be reliably prevented from being crushed, pressure regulation overshoot, and leakage from the lip seal member 151.

  Thereafter, the hydrogen gas adjusted (depressurized) to a predetermined pressure by the high pressure regulator 322 is supplied to the hydrogen supply unit 324 and supplied to the fuel cell 310 by the injector 354. The hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell 310 is used for power generation in the fuel cell 310 and then discharged from the fuel cell 310 as a hydrogen off-gas through the hydrogen discharge passage 316 and the first switching valve 320.

  Air discharged to the air supply passage 330 by the air pump 334 is supplied to the fuel cell 310. The air supplied to the fuel cell 310 is used for power generation in the fuel cell 310 and then discharged from the fuel cell 310 as an air off gas through the air discharge passage 332 and the second switching valve 336.

  As described above in detail, according to the hydrogen fuel supply system 301 according to this embodiment, the main stop valve 318 includes the throttle portion 302 and the chamber 303 provided between the main stop valve 318 and the high pressure regulator 322. Until the valve is opened and supplied from the hydrogen tank 312 to the high pressure regulator 322, the flow rate of hydrogen gas is reduced and the pressure is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of a sudden pressure increase upstream of the high-pressure regulator 322, and to prevent the filter 30 from being crushed in the high-pressure regulator 322, pressure regulation overshoot, and leakage from the lip seal member 151. It can be avoided reliably.

  It should be noted that the above-described embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the present invention in any way, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 upstream pressure regulating valve 2 downstream pressure regulating valve 3 middle passage 30 filter 151 lip seal member 300 fuel cell system 301 hydrogen fuel supply system 302 throttle portion 303 chamber 310 fuel cell 312 hydrogen tank 314 hydrogen supply passage 318 main stop valve 322 high pressure regulator

Claims (5)

In a hydrogen fuel supply system for supplying hydrogen gas from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell via a fuel supply passage,
A main stop valve for switching between supply and shutoff of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank to the fuel supply passage;
A high-pressure regulator for reducing the pressure of hydrogen gas;
A fuel supply device for adjusting a flow rate of hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell;
The main stop valve, the high-pressure regulator, and the fuel supply device are arranged in this order on the fuel supply passage from the hydrogen tank side,
A hydrogen fuel supply system, wherein a throttle portion is provided between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator. The hydrogen fuel supply system according to claim 1,
The high pressure regulator includes a needle portion,
An opening area of the needle portion is smaller than a passage cross-sectional area of the fuel supply passage between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator,
2. The hydrogen fuel supply system according to claim 1, wherein an opening area of the throttle portion is equal to or larger than an opening area of the needle portion and less than a passage sectional area of the fuel supply passage. In the hydrogen fuel supply system according to claim 1 or 2,
2. The hydrogen fuel supply system according to claim 1, wherein the throttle portion is disposed in proximity to the main stop valve. In a hydrogen fuel supply system for supplying hydrogen gas from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell via a fuel supply passage,
A main stop valve for switching between supply and shutoff of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank to the fuel supply passage;
A high-pressure regulator for reducing the pressure of hydrogen gas;
A fuel supply device for adjusting a flow rate of hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell;
The main stop valve, the high pressure regulator, and the fuel supply device are arranged in this order from the hydrogen tank side on the fuel supply passage,
A chamber is provided between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator,
The hydrogen fuel supply system, wherein the volume of the chamber is at least twice the volume of the fuel supply passage between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator. The hydrogen fuel supply system according to claim 4, wherein
A hydrogen fuel supply system, wherein a throttle portion is provided between the main stop valve and the high pressure regulator.

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