JP2018190511A - Power generating equipment for working apparatus or system and power generating system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide power generating equipment capable of collectively supplying energy or matter required for an apparatus or a system of a supply destination.SOLUTION: The power generating equipment is provided which supplies electric power for use in working to a working apparatus or system that works a workpiece by charging the workpiece into a heated medium. The power generating equipment comprises: a power generation part including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using supplied fuel and gas including oxygen; and an inactive gas supply part that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into the inactive gas for covering a front surface of the medium in which at least the workpiece is charged, and that supplies the gas to the working apparatus or system. It is preferred that the power generating equipment further comprises a hydrogen gas generation part that generates a hydrogen gas by processing the supplied material and an oxygen removal part that acquires a part of the generated hydrogen gas, reacts the acquired hydrogen gas with oxygen gas in the exhaust gas exhausted from the power generation part to thereby reduce or nearly remove the content of oxygen in the exhaust gas.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology of a power generation apparatus that supplies power to an apparatus or a system.

  In recent years, fuel cells have been actively used. For example, fuel cell vehicles have been put into practical use, and household fuel cell facilities are becoming widespread. If a fuel cell is used, not only high-efficiency power generation can be achieved, but also carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced to zero or significantly reduced unlike conventional power generation means using an internal combustion engine. . For this reason, fuel cells are expected to greatly contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society in the future.

  The inventors of the present application have invented a soldering apparatus using a fuel cell as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, paying attention to the potential of such a fuel cell. In this soldering apparatus, not only electric power generated by the fuel cell but also exhaust gas generated by power generation is supplied to the soldering apparatus for use.

JP2013-233549A JP 2006-164987 A

  Furthermore, the inventors of the present application have come to realize that if a fuel cell is used, energy and substances required for the device or system can be supplied to various devices or systems collectively or collectively. It was.

  In other words, they discovered that vast applications could be opened by rethinking fuel cells not only as a means for generating electricity but also as a means for preparing and providing necessary energy and materials in parallel with electricity. .

  In addition, it has also been conceived that by adding various devices and devices to the fuel cell, it is possible to construct a device or system that can solve the problems of conventional or long-standing issues in the device or system of the supply destination.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a power generation apparatus that can supply necessary energy and substances collectively or collectively to a supply destination apparatus or system.

According to the present invention, a power generation device that supplies electric power used for processing to a processing device or system for processing a workpiece in a heated medium,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the supplied fuel and a gas containing oxygen and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit for converting at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas for covering at least the surface of the medium containing the workpiece and supplying the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system. A power generator is provided.

As one embodiment of the power generation device according to the present invention, the power generation device further includes a hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas,
It is also preferable that the power generation unit generates the electric power using at least a part of the generated hydrogen gas as fuel.

  Further, the power generation device according to the present invention obtains a part of the hydrogen gas generated in the hydrogen gas generation unit, and reacts the hydrogen gas and the oxygen gas content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit, It is also preferable to further include an oxygen removing section that reduces or substantially eliminates the oxygen content in the exhaust gas.

  Further, in the embodiment relating to the hydrogen gas described above, the power generation device is configured to reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit, or to reduce the oxygen content to substantially zero. It is also preferable to further include a control unit that controls the amount of oxygen-containing gas supplied to the power generation unit. It is also preferable to further include a hydrogen removing unit that reduces or substantially eliminates the hydrogen content in the exhaust gas in which the oxygen content is reduced or substantially zero.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment related to the hydrogen gas, the power generation apparatus supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the medium to supply the processing apparatus or system so as to suppress the oxidation of the medium. It is also preferable to further include a hydrogen supply unit.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment related to the hydrogen gas, the hydrogen gas generation unit electrolyzes the supplied water or water vapor using electric power or commercial power from a solar cell or a storage battery installed outside or inside. It is also preferable to include an electrolysis unit that generates hydrogen. In addition, it is preferable that the power generation device further includes an electrolytic heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated when generating power by the power generation unit to the electrolysis unit.

  Furthermore, as another embodiment, the power generation apparatus of the present invention is a processing heat transfer that transmits heat generated during power generation by the power generation unit to the above processing apparatus or system to be used for heating the medium. It is also preferable to further include a portion.

  According to the present invention, there is also provided a fryer that is the processing apparatus or system including the power generation apparatus described above.

According to the present invention, the power generation system further supplies power used for processing to a processing apparatus or system for processing a workpiece by putting it into a heated medium,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the supplied fuel and a gas containing oxygen and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit for converting at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas for covering at least the surface of the medium containing the workpiece and supplying the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system. A power generation system is provided.

According to the present invention, there is also a power generation device that supplies electric power to a processing device or system that performs processing by heating an object to be heated with electric power in a non-oxidizing atmosphere,
A hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas;
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing gas and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas that can be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere and supplies the inert gas to a processing apparatus or system;
A power generation apparatus is provided that includes a hydrogen supply unit that supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere.

  As one embodiment of the power generator according to the present invention, the power generator acquires a part of the hydrogen gas generated in the hydrogen gas generator, and the oxygen gas in the exhaust gas discharged from the hydrogen gas and the power generator. It is also preferable to further include an oxygen removing unit that reacts with the component to reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas or to make it substantially zero.

  As another embodiment of the power generation device according to the present invention, the power generation device includes hydrogen gas supplied to the power generation unit so as to reduce or substantially reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit. It is also preferable to further include a control unit that controls the amount of the gas and the amount of the gas containing oxygen supplied to the power generation unit. It is also preferable to further include a hydrogen removing unit that reduces or substantially eliminates the hydrogen content in the exhaust gas in which the oxygen content is reduced or substantially zero.

  Furthermore, as still another embodiment of the power generation apparatus according to the present invention, the power generation apparatus includes the processing apparatus described above in order to suppress the oxidation of the medium by mixing a part of the generated hydrogen gas into the medium. Alternatively, it is also preferable to further include a hydrogen supply unit that supplies the system.

  Further, as still another embodiment of the power generation device according to the present invention, the power generation device is configured to perform the above processing so that heat generated when generating power by the power generation unit is used to heat the object to be heated. It is also preferable to further include a machining heat transfer section for transferring to the apparatus or system.

  According to the present invention, there is also provided an atmospheric furnace that is the processing apparatus or system including the above-described power generation apparatus.

According to the present invention, the power generation system further supplies power to a processing apparatus or system that performs processing by heating an object to be heated with power in a non-oxidizing atmosphere,
A hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas;
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing gas and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas that can be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere, and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system;
A power generation system is provided that includes a hydrogen supply unit that supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere.

  According to the power generation apparatus, the power generation system, and the processing apparatus or system provided with the power generation apparatus or system of the present invention, it is possible to supply necessary energy and materials to the supply destination apparatus or system collectively. Become.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating various embodiment in the electric power generating apparatus and electric power generation system by this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows one Embodiment of the electric power generating apparatus and processing apparatus which concern on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows other embodiment in the off-gas process with the electric power generating apparatus by this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows other embodiment of the electric power generating apparatus and processing apparatus which concern on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows other embodiment of the electric power generating apparatus and processing apparatus which concern on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows other embodiment in the supply destination apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a mimetic diagram for explaining one embodiment of a power generation device (system) by the present invention, and a store related system as a supply destination system. It is a mimetic diagram showing one embodiment of an electrolysis part concerning the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows further another embodiment of the electric power generating apparatus and processing apparatus which concern on this invention. It is a mimetic diagram for explaining one embodiment of a power generation device (system) by the present invention, and a hospital related system as a supply destination system. It is a mimetic diagram for explaining one embodiment of a power generator (system) by the present invention, and a hydroponics system as a supply destination system.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail, referring an accompanying drawing. In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, components that can have similar structures and functions may be denoted using the same reference numerals. Furthermore, the dimensional ratios within and between the components in the drawings are arbitrary for ease of viewing the drawings.

[Power generation system / equipment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining various embodiments of a power generation apparatus and a power generation system according to the present invention.

According to FIG. 1, the power generation system 1 or the power generation device 2 according to the present invention is
(A) A fuel cell unit as a power generation unit including a fuel cell 30 that generates electric power and discharges exhaust gas (off-gas) using supplied fuel (for example, hydrogen gas) and gas (for example, air) containing oxygen. 3 and
(B) a gas reforming unit 31 as a hydrogen gas generation unit that processes a supplied material (for example, a hydrocarbon gas such as city gas (commercial gas)) to generate hydrogen gas;
(C) a hydrogen removal unit 32 that removes or reduces the hydrogen content in the off-gas (exhaust gas);
(D) an oxygen removal unit 33 that removes or reduces oxygen content in off-gas (exhaust gas);
(E) a heat exchange unit 34 as a processing heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated during power generation by the fuel cell 30 to the apparatus or system to be used in the supply destination apparatus or system;
(F) a solar cell unit 41 including a solar cell that is installed outside or inside and generates power by sunlight;
(G) an electrolysis unit 42 as an electrolysis unit that generates hydrogen by electrolyzing supplied water or water vapor using electric power from the solar cell unit 41 or a storage battery installed outside or inside;
(H) a power storage unit 51 that stores and stores electric power from the solar cell unit 41, the fuel cell unit 3, and the like;
(I) a heat storage unit 52 for storing and accumulating heat from the solar cell unit 41, the fuel cell unit 3 and the like;
(J) a thermoelectric power generation unit 53 that generates electric power using heat from the solar cell unit 41, the fuel cell unit 3, and the like.

  Here, the power generation system 1 or the power generation apparatus 2 uses the fuel cell unit (U) 3 of (A) as an essential unit, but the other units (B) to (J) are supplied to Depending on the type of energy or substance supplied to the device or system, or according to the request in the system or device, it is appropriately selected or combined. This makes it possible to supply necessary energy and substances collectively or collectively to the supply destination apparatus or system.

  Incidentally, the power generation system 1 has a configuration in which a plurality of devices including at least one unit including the fuel cell unit 3 are combined to form a whole. On the other hand, the power generation device 2 includes a fuel cell unit. All the units adopted including the one are included in one apparatus. Hereinafter, a possible embodiment will be described as the invention device 2, but naturally the same contents also apply to the power generation system 1.

  In addition, (C) the hydrogen removal unit 32 and (D) the oxygen removal unit 33 convert at least a part of the off-gas into an inert gas used in the supply destination apparatus or system, and supply it to the supply destination apparatus or system. It also functions as an “inert gas supply unit” for supplying. Incidentally, an embodiment that does not require these units is possible, but even in that case, some processing (for example, dehumidification) is performed on the off-gas. At this time, the processing unit that performs this processing functions as an “inert gas supply unit”.

  Further, (B) the gas reforming unit 31 and (C) the hydrogen removal unit 32 are configured to supply “hydrogen” to the supply destination apparatus or system so that a part of the generated hydrogen gas is used in the supply destination apparatus or system. It may also function as a “supply section”.

  In addition, (E) the heat exchanging unit 34 transmits heat generated during power generation by the fuel cell 30 to the (G) electrolysis unit 42 in addition to or instead of the function as the processing heat transfer unit. It also preferably functions as an electrolytic heat transfer unit. Hereinafter, the details of the components (A) to (J) will be sequentially described.

First, (A) the fuel cell 30 included in the fuel cell unit 3 has a hydrogen electrode (anode) and an air electrode (cathode) with an electrolyte interposed therebetween, a hydrogen-containing gas (reformed hydrogen), A DC reaction is generated by causing a battery reaction from the oxygen (O ₂ ) contained in the air. As a battery system in the fuel cell 30, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system, a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) system, a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) system, or a solid oxide fuel cell ( SOFC) method can be adopted.

Here, the PEFC system is widely used in fuel cell vehicles because it operates at a relatively low temperature and the battery size can be reduced. The SOFC system has high power generation efficiency, normally operates at about 700 to about 1000 ° C., and the exhausted off-gas is very high. Furthermore, in the PEFC method and the PAFC method, a platinum (P _t ) -based material is used as a reaction catalyst. This platinum-based material generally degrades when exposed to carbon monoxide (CO). For this reason, normally, CO modification removal means is further provided.

  This CO modification removal means reduces the amount of carbon monoxide gas contained in the hydrogen-containing gas supplied as fuel to the fuel cell 30 using a CO modification catalyst or the like. Further, CO selective oxidation means for further reducing the carbon monoxide concentration using a CO selective oxidation catalyst may be provided. On the other hand, when adopting the SOFC method or the MCFC method, since at least a platinum-based material is not used as a catalyst, such CO modification removal means is not required.

  Further, as a modification of the fuel cell 30, it is also possible to configure a multi-stage (multiple-stage) fuel cell by combining different or the same type of fuel cells or connecting them. For example, it is also preferable to configure the fuel cell 30 by combining the PEFC method and the SOFC method in order to keep the power generation efficiency, the temperature of generated heat, the off-gas composition, the battery size, and the like within the design range.

  Further, as the fuel cell unit 3, an ENE-FARM (registered trademark) fuel cell unit which is a commercially available fuel cell cogeneration system may be used. Further, for example, it is possible to use a fuel cell power generation system as disclosed in JP-A-2001-180911.

  Further, the fuel cell unit 3 preferably includes an inverter that converts the generated DC power into AC power when AC power is required in the supply destination apparatus or system. In addition, even when DC power is required, it is preferable to include a stabilization circuit for adjusting the generated DC power to the required stable power.

  In any case, the fuel cell unit 3 can supply power, heat, and off-gas to the supply destination apparatus or system. Of these, the off-gas may be processed as described later and supplied as nitrogen gas (inert gas), hydrogen gas, and / or oxygen gas. It is also possible to take a form in which a part of the electric power generated by the fuel cell unit 3 is supplied to the electrolysis unit 42.

  Furthermore, it is also preferable that the fuel cell unit 3 supplies pure water (steam) generated by the fuel cell reaction to a supply destination apparatus or system. A part of the generated pure water (water vapor) may be supplied to the electrolysis unit 42.

Further, (B) the gas reforming unit 31 takes in a hydrocarbon gas such as city gas or LPG, mixes the hydrocarbon gas and steam, and hydrogen (H ₂ ) from the mixed gas by a steam reforming reaction. A hydrogen-containing gas containing as a main component is generated. The gas reforming unit 31 may supply the generated hydrogen-containing gas to the fuel cell unit 3 and may further supply it to a supply destination apparatus or system.

  Here, the gas reforming unit 31 takes out a hydrogen gas component from the generated hydrogen-containing gas using a hydrogen separation filter or the like described later, and supplies high-purity hydrogen to the fuel cell unit 3 or a supply destination apparatus or system. It is also preferable to supply.

  Further, (C) the hydrogen removal unit 32 removes / reduces the hydrogen gas content in the hydrogen offgas discharged from the hydrogen electrode among the offgas discharged from the fuel cell unit 3. By removing the hydrogen gas component, for example, it is possible to mitigate measures for preventing hydrogen explosion in off-gas utilization.

  Specifically, the hydrogen removal unit 32 removes a hydrogen gas component using a filter (hydrogen separation membrane) that allows small molecules such as hydrogen and helium to pass through and blocks larger molecules such as nitrogen, for example. There may be. Incidentally, as this hydrogen separation membrane, for example, a commercially available hollow fiber membrane using a polymer material such as aromatic polyimide can be used.

  Here, the hydrogen gas component removed from the off-gas in the hydrogen removal unit 32 may be configured to be supplied to a supply destination apparatus or system, or to be reusable as fuel for the fuel cell 40. preferable. As a further modification, in the hydrogen removal unit 32, hydrogen gas in the hydrogen off gas and oxygen gas in the air off gas are combusted by, for example, an electric heating unit, and the hydrogen gas content in the off gas is converted into water vapor (moisture). May be processed.

Further, (D) the oxygen removing unit 33 removes the oxygen gas content in the air off-gas released from the air electrode (not consumed at the air electrode) from the exhaust gas of the fuel cell unit 3.
(A) An oxygen scavenger, an oxidizing absorbent, an oxygen absorbing cartridge, or the like, or (b) An easily oxidizable metal such as iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), or manganese (Mn) Remove or reduce with powder or fine pieces / thread pieces.

As a modification, the oxygen removal unit 33 uses a commercially available hollow fiber membrane (so-called nitrogen-enriched membrane) using a polymer material such as polyimide that allows oxygen to pass more than nitrogen in the air, and oxygen gas. May be separated and removed. Further, the oxygen gas can be separated and removed by an oxygen separation filter using a zirconia solid electrolyte, a BaO—SrO—CoO—Fe ₂ O ₃ composite oxide, or the like.

  As described above, the off-gas from which the hydrogen gas component and the oxygen gas component have been removed by the hydrogen removal unit 32 and the oxygen removal unit 33 can be supplied to a supply destination apparatus or system as, for example, high-purity nitrogen gas. Although not shown, it is also preferable to provide a dehumidifying unit that removes and reduces water vapor (moisture) from off-gas.

  (E) The heat exchange unit 34 receives the heat (reaction heat) generated in the fuel cell 30 and transfers it to the heat exchange fluid filled in the heat exchange pipe. Next, heat is supplied to the supply destination apparatus or system in such a manner that the heat exchange fluid is circulated in the heat exchange pipe extending to the supply destination apparatus or system. The heat exchange fluid may be circulated using, for example, electric power generated by the fuel cell unit 3.

  Further, (F) the solar cell unit 41 includes a solar cell that converts light energy such as sunlight into electric power, and supplies the generated electric power to the electrolysis unit 42 or stores it in the power storage unit 51. . Further, the solar cell unit 41 includes a heat exchange tube filled with a heat exchange fluid and a concentrator for concentrating light energy on the heat exchange tube, and the generated heat is stored in the heat storage unit 52 via the heat exchange fluid. It is also preferable to store them in the storage area or to generate power by transferring them to the thermoelectric generation unit 53.

Further, (G) the electrolysis unit 42 is generated by decomposing the supplied water or water vapor (H ₂ O) into hydrogen (H ₂ ) and oxygen (O ₂ ) by electrolysis with the supplied electric power. Hydrogen can be supplied to the fuel cell unit 3 or supplied to a supply destination apparatus or system. Further, the generated oxygen may be supplied to a supply destination apparatus or system. Furthermore, it is also possible to use an electrode for electrolysis that generates oxygen as a carbon electrode, oxidize the carbon to generate carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), and supply this carbon dioxide to the supply destination device or system.

  Incidentally, the electrolysis unit 42 may improve the hydrogen generation efficiency in electrolysis by generating water vapor to be electrolyzed using the supplied heat or raising the temperature of water to be electrolyzed. preferable. At this time, it is also preferable to monitor and control the temperature of the electrolysis cell or the entire unit in order to avoid the occurrence of explosion due to heating of the electrolyte or the like. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the applied voltage between the electrodes so as to perform an electrolysis process without using an electrolyte and requiring no monitoring or maintenance of the electrolyte.

  Further, the electrolysis unit 42 may store the generated hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in a cylinder for a while and appropriately release them when necessary. For example, in the daytime, it is possible to store hydrogen generated by the electric power from the solar cell unit 41 in a cylinder and supply hydrogen to the fuel cell unit 3 and the like after nighttime.

  The (H) power storage unit 51 includes a secondary battery such as a lead storage battery or a lithium ion battery, and stores power generated by the solar cell unit 41 or the fuel cell unit 3. The power stored here is preferably supplied to the supply destination apparatus or system or the electrolysis unit 42 as appropriate.

  In addition, (I) the heat storage unit 52 includes a heat storage unit made using a known latent heat storage material such as zeolite, and heat generated in the solar cell unit 41 and the fuel cell unit 3 in this heat storage unit. Save. The heat stored here is preferably supplied to the supply destination apparatus or system or the electrolysis unit 42 as appropriate. Furthermore, the heat can be supplied to the power storage unit 51 to keep the secondary battery cells of the power storage unit warm, and the power storage efficiency of the power storage unit 51 can be maintained and improved.

  The (J) thermoelectric power generation unit 53 includes a thermoelectric module including a thermoelectric element that converts the amount of heat into electric power using the Seebeck effect (reverse action of the Peltier effect), and the solar cell unit 41 (heat exchange unit 34). Or heat from the fuel cell unit 3 to generate electric power. The generated power is also preferably supplied to the supply destination apparatus or system or the electrolysis unit 42 as appropriate. Here, the thermoelectric element specifically includes two junctions in a conductor such as bismuth (Bi) / tellurium (Te), lead (Pb) / tellurium, or silicon (Si) / germanium (Ge). It is an element that takes out power by supplying heat to one side to generate a potential difference between the junctions. Usually, in a thermoelectric module, a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series so as to obtain a voltage of a predetermined level or higher.

  As described above, the thermoelectric power generation unit 53 generates power by the thermoelectric module regardless of a movable part or a chemical reaction, and thus can be used as a maintenance-free unit and a stable power generation source. In particular, it is useful as a supplementary power source even when the fuel cell unit 3 is malfunctioning or during a disaster or emergency when the solar cell unit 41 becomes unusable.

  Incidentally, in the above-mentioned supply destination apparatus or system, the flyer 61, the flyer 65, the showcase 68, the convenience store 6, the atmosphere furnace 71, the hospital 8, the autoclave 81, and the hydroponic cultivation system which will be described in detail later. 9 and hydroponics unit 91 are applicable. Of course, the supply destination apparatus or system to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to these.

  As described above, various embodiments that the power generation device 2 (power generation system 1) can take are outlined with reference to FIG. In any case, depending on the embodiment, the entire power generation device 2 (power generation system 1), and further, the entire power generation device 2 (power generation system 1) and the supply destination device or system present one aspect of an artificial ecosystem. It is understood that As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to construct an apparatus or system that is efficient or lean as a natural ecosystem in terms of energy and substance generation and consumption.

[Flyer]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a power generation device and a processing device according to the present invention.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 (A), the power generation apparatus 2 according to the present invention and the flyer 61 are combined to constitute a machining system as a whole. Among these, the fryer 61 carries the frying process as a processing process by putting the fried object (for example, foodstuffs such as potatoes, vegetables and fruits) into the fried oil which is a heated medium. And a processing apparatus or processing system for manufacturing fried food.

Specifically, the flyer 61 is
(61a) an oil tank 611 containing fried oil;
(61b) a heater 612 and a heat exchange pipe 613 for heating the frying oil in the oil tank 611;
(61c) a temperature controller 614 for adjusting the temperature of the frying oil based on the sensor output from the temperature sensor 614a charged in the frying oil;
(61d) a power line 615 for supplying power from the power generator 2 to the heater 612 (temperature controller 614);
(61e) a nitrogen supply pipe 621 for supplying the nitrogen gas sent from the power generation apparatus 2 into the fryer 61 as an inert gas for covering at least the surface of the frying oil containing the object to be fried;
(61f) a blower 622 for transferring the nitrogen gas in the nitrogen supply pipe 621 into the fryer 61;
(61 g) a cooler 623 for cooling nitrogen gas to be blown in order to rapidly cool the fried food after the frying treatment;
(61h) a hydrogen supply pipe 631 that supplies the hydrogen gas sent from the power generation device 2 to the frying oil and suppresses the oxidation of the frying oil to be supplied into the oil tank 611 (frying oil);
(61i) A conveyor 641 for moving the frying object to be put into the frying oil in the oil tank 611 and for taking out the frying object (fried food) after the frying process from the oil tank 611 is provided.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 2A, a flyer 61 includes a paddle for transferring a fried object contained in fried oil, and a damper for exhausting the supplied nitrogen gas outside the apparatus after using it as an inert atmosphere. May be further provided.

On the other hand, the power generator 2
(2a) A fuel cell unit (U) 3 including a fuel cell 30, an air filter 36 that supplies filtered air to the fuel cell 30, and an inverter 37 that converts DC power generated by the fuel cell 30 into AC power. When,
(2b) the gas reforming unit 31;
(2c) a hydrogen removal unit 32 and an oxygen removal unit 33 as an inert gas supply unit that processes off-gas from the fuel cell 30 and supplies the gas to the flyer 61 (nitrogen supply pipe 621) as nitrogen gas;
(2d) a heat exchange unit 34 as a processing heat transfer unit that extracts heat generated from the fuel cell 30 and supplies the heat to the flyer 61 (heat exchange pipe 613);
(2e) Distribution as a hydrogen supply unit that supplies the hydrogen gas generated by the gas reforming unit 31 (or taken out by the hydrogen removal unit 32) to the fuel cell 30 and / or the flyer 61 (hydrogen supply pipe 631). And a container 35. Further, the flyer 61 further includes a control unit 20 that controls the driving of these components and the activation of functions in an integrated manner.

  Incidentally, when the above-described components (2a) to (2e) are provided across a plurality of devices, the power generation system 1 is configured by these components. Moreover, said component (2a)-(2e) may be included in the flyer 61, and the processing apparatus or the processing system as a whole shown to FIG. 2 (A) may be comprised.

  With the configuration as described above, the power generation apparatus 2 collects energy (electric power, heat) and substances (nitrogen, hydrogen) in a form required by the flyer 61, as shown in FIG. Thus, it can be appropriately supplied to the flyer 61.

  That is, in many cases in the past, energy supply and substance supply have been performed from separate device systems for a predetermined device or system as a supply destination, but in the present embodiment, those required are summarized. Or can be supplied in bulk. As a result, it is possible to easily construct a supply system that is more stable and suppresses an increase in supply cost.

  As another embodiment of the power generation device 2 (power generation system 1), as a hydrogen gas supply source to the fuel cell 30, an electrolysis unit 42 (FIG. 1) may be used instead of or together with the gas reforming unit 31. 8), which will be described later, is also preferably provided. Here, it is also preferable that the electrolysis unit 42 uses power from the solar cell unit 41 (FIG. 1) or a storage battery installed outside or inside, or commercial power as power for electrolysis. Further, a heat exchanger may be provided as an electrolytic heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated during power generation by the fuel cell 30 to the solar cell unit 41.

Furthermore, the molar ratio of hydrogen (H ₂ ) introduced from the gas reforming unit 31 to the fuel cell 30 and oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air also introduced into the fuel cell 30 is set to a value larger than 2. However, it is also preferable that the mixed gas of the remaining nitrogen in the air and the excessive hydrogen in the air is discharged as off-gas (that is, excessive hydrogen in the fuel cell 30). In this off gas, the oxygen gas content is substantially zero. Such adjustment of the molar ratio may be performed by the distributor 35 ′ in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 20.

  By the way, as is the case with fuel cells in fuel cell vehicles, the ratio of hydrogen gas to the fuel cell and oxygen gas (in the air) is usually excessive in oxygen (air) in the cell reaction. Thus, it is determined that the hydrogen is used up (burned out). On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the opposite is true, and the supply of hydrogen gas (fuel) is made excessive so that oxygen (air) is used up. As a result, it is possible to provide the supply destination apparatus or system with the off gas in which the amount of oxygen gas that is unnecessary or harmful to the supply destination apparatus or system is sufficiently reduced or substantially zero. .

  Subsequently, the hydrogen removing unit 32 removes the hydrogen gas component from the above-described mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen, whereby high purity nitrogen gas can be fed into the fryer 61. The hydrogen gas component removed here may be sent to the fuel cell unit 3 through a pipe by the distributor 35 and reused as fuel for the fuel cell 30.

  Further, as a modified mode, by mixing this mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen into the frying oil through, for example, the nitrogen supply pipe 621, it becomes possible to suppress the oxidation of the frying oil as will be described later. is there. In the case described above, since oxygen is almost entirely consumed, for example, a configuration in which the oxygen removal unit 33 is not provided is possible.

  Incidentally, various fuel cell types can be used as the fuel cell 30, for example, an SOFC fuel cell that has high power generation efficiency and can output very high temperature heat, or operates at a relatively low temperature. It is also preferable to use a PEFC fuel cell that can be easily made compact. When the SOFC type fuel cell 30 is employed, the cell reaction temperature is as high as about 700 to about 1000 ° C. Therefore, for example, the main heating as a base for the frying oil is used for the heat exchange unit 34 and the heat exchange pipe 613. It is also possible to carry out by this battery reaction heat using.

Next, features unique to the flyer 61 according to the present invention will be described. Conventionally, in the fryer which manufactures a foodstuff, the following three have become an important subject.
(A) In the flyer, for example, a temperature of the order of 200 ° C. is continuously maintained, so that a stable high power is required. For example, even when the supply of commercial power is stopped due to a power failure or the like, it is necessary to take measures so as not to destroy the fried object being manufactured.
(A) It is necessary to ensure the safety of food processed by fryers.
(C) It is necessary to suppress the oxidation of the frying oil used in the fryer as much as possible and to ensure the life of the frying oil.

  First, regarding the above problem (A), the flyer 61 can, of course, draw commercial power and operate the heater 612 and the like, but can receive large power from the fuel cell unit 3 via the power line 615. it can. As for the temperature maintenance of the frying oil, a large amount of heat is received from the fuel cell unit 3 through the heat exchange pipe 613 to support the high temperature maintenance of the frying oil. Thus, the flyer 61 reliably solves this problem (a).

  Next, the problem (A) will be described in more detail. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-302131, “After frying potatoes, root vegetables, vegetables, fruits and other materials, if the fried product is kept at a high temperature, acrylamide is produced in the fried product. There is a desire to suppress the formation of acrylamide, and in order to suppress the formation of acrylamide, it is necessary to cool the fried product after frying as soon as possible. "

  In this way, traditionally cooking foods rich in carbohydrates at high temperatures (above 120 ° C), asparagine, a kind of amino acid in foods, reacts with reducing sugars such as glucose and fructose and changes to acrylamide. I know you will.

  This acrylamide has neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and mutagenicity (carcinogenicity), and its occurrence must be sufficiently suppressed. On the other hand, the flyer 61 can receive a large amount of nitrogen gas from the fuel cell unit 3 via the nitrogen supply pipe 621, and further, this large amount of nitrogen gas cooled by the cooler 623 is used for the fried food after the frying process. By spraying, the fried food can be cooled rapidly. As a result, the generation of acrylamide in the fried food is suppressed.

  Note that the nitrogen gas supplied from the nitrogen supply pipe 621 can be lowered in temperature by taking out a considerable amount of heat from the nitrogen gas generated from the fuel cell unit 30 by the heat exchange unit 34. In this case, low-temperature nitrogen gas can be blown onto the fried food without using the cooler 623. Furthermore, although it is an embodiment different from the above, when using hydrogen gas from a liquefied hydrogen cylinder instead of the hydrogen gas generated by the gas reforming unit 31, using this cryogenic liquefied hydrogen, It is also possible to lower the temperature of the nitrogen gas supplied through the supply pipe 621.

  Further, in the fryer 61, the nitrogen gas supplied from the nitrogen supply pipe 621 fills the entire frying processing space including the oil tank 611 and the surrounding conveyor 641, so that the frying object and fried food before and during the frying process can be obtained. The oxidation of the deep-fried food after a process can also be suppressed.

  Next, for the problem (c), the flyer 61 covers the surface of the frying oil containing the object to be fried with the nitrogen gas as the inert gas received from the fuel cell unit 3 via the nitrogen supply pipe 621. Supply into the oil tank 611. Thereby, it is possible to avoid a state in which the frying oil in a high temperature state comes into contact with, for example, oxygen in the air, and to suppress oxidation of the frying oil.

  Furthermore, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-24219, by “supplying hydrogen into oil”, “free radicals such as peroxy radicals generated when the hydrogen is oxidized during oil and It has been found that by reacting, the chain reaction of oil oxidation can be significantly suppressed. " In particular, in unsaturated fatty acids often found in vegetable oils and fats, oxidation is suppressed by sealing one end of a carbon double bond with hydrogen.

  In this regard, the flyer 61 can mix the hydrogen gas received from the power generation device 2 through the hydrogen supply pipe 631 into the frying oil. As a result, it becomes possible to suppress the oxidation of the frying oil.

  Here, the amount of hydrogen mixed into the frying oil through the hydrogen supply pipe 631 is set to a very small amount, and further, the hydrogen gas does not come into contact with air (oxygen) at all in the hydrogen supply pipe 631 and in the hydrogen discharge hole. It is preferred that Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of dangerous states, such as a hydrogen explosion, can be suppressed. As a modification, it is also preferable that nitrogen gas as an inert gas supplied through the nitrogen supply pipe 621 is mixed with the frying oil to suppress the oxidation of the frying oil.

  Furthermore, as a modification, the fryer 61 may include an electrode in the oil tank 611 that can apply a high voltage (strong electric field) to the frying oil. This high voltage (strong electric field) is, for example, in the range of 1 to 10 kV, and can be generated using a large DC power received from the fuel cell unit 3 via the power line 615. Of course, AC power converted by the inverter 37 may be used. As one example of the effect of suppressing oxidation by applying such a high voltage, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-88769 discloses that this edible oil can be obtained by inserting a high potential generating plate having a negative DC high potential into the edible oil. It is disclosed that the oxidation of can be suppressed.

  Thus, according to the power generation device 2 (power generation system 1), DC power is efficiently supplied to a supply destination device or system that requires DC power (usually not obtained unless commercial power is converted). You can also do it.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment in the off-gas processing in the power generation device 2.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the distributor 35 ′ monitors the oxygen concentration remaining in the offgas by the oxygen concentration measurement sensor 351. Based on the measured residual oxygen concentration, the distributor 35 ′ reacts with the oxygen gas in the off-gas per unit time without excessive or short of the hydrogen gas supplied from the gas reforming unit 31 ( Hydrogen gas is supplied to the oxygen removal unit 33 ′ in the number of moles twice the number of moles of residual oxygen gas per unit time.

This oxygen removing unit 33 ′ is a mixture of off-gas and hydrogen gas supplied from the distributor 35 ′, and then heated platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru), copper (Cu), etc. Oxygen (O ₂ ) in the off-gas is converted into moisture (H ₂ O) by reacting in an environment in contact with a catalyst containing. Next, this moisture is removed by a dehumidifier, so that high-purity nitrogen gas can be generated and sent to the fryer 61.

Incidentally, according to the estimation by the inventors of the present application, when nitrogen gas with a purity of 99.9% flows into the oxygen removal unit 33 ′ at a pace of 10 m ³ / hour, in order to increase the purity of the nitrogen gas to 99.999%, Gas may be supplied at a rate of 1.98 × 10 ⁻³ m ³ / hour.

  The off-gas treatment using the oxygen removal unit 33 ′ described above is performed not only in the flyer 61 (FIG. 2) but also in the flyer 65 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and the atmosphere furnace 71 (FIG. 9) described later. Applicable. In any case, depending on the required oxygen partial pressure or hydrogen partial pressure in the off gas, the off gas treatment can be performed with a simple configuration without providing an oxygen removal unit or a hydrogen removal unit. Of course, an embodiment in which the hydrogen removal unit 32 and / or the oxygen removal unit 33 are provided side by side to bring hydrogen and / or oxygen close to substantially zero may be employed.

  4 and 5 are schematic views showing another embodiment of the power generation apparatus and the processing apparatus according to the present invention. Here, FIG. 4 (A), FIG. 4 (B), and FIG. 5 are respectively a front view, a side view, and a top view of the apparatus (flyer 65) of this embodiment.

  According to the embodiments shown in these drawings, the power generation device 2 and the simple fryer 65 used in a convenience store (convenience store), a small-scale store or the like constitute a processing system. Incidentally, the power generator 2 may be included in the flyer 65, and the whole may be integrated into a device as a flyer. In this case, it is also preferable to employ a PEFC type fuel cell 40 that can be easily made compact.

  The oil tank 651 of the fryer 65 contains frying oil for producing fried foods, and a net-like basket with handles for loading / unloading frying objects with respect to the frying oils. Further, a heater 652 is provided at the bottom of the oil tank 651. The heater 652 receives AC power or commercial power supplied from the fuel cell unit 3 via the inverter 37 after being adjusted by the power regulator 656, and heats the frying oil with this power.

  Here, the power regulator 656 controls the ratio of use of supplied AC power and commercial power according to, for example, the temperature of frying oil, a set temperature instructed via the operation panel, and the presence or absence of a power failure. To do. Basically, it is also preferable that the AC power from the fuel cell unit 3 is mainly used, and if there is a shortage or the like, the commercial power is also used.

  In addition, a heat exchange pipe 653 is provided at the bottom of the oil tank 651 of the fryer 65 together with the heater 652. The heat exchange pipe 653 transmits heat supplied from the fuel cell unit 3 via the heat exchange unit 34 to the frying oil by a heat exchange medium circulating in the pipe, and heats the frying oil. Thus, for example, when frying oil is heated to a set temperature by electric power, the base frying oil temperature can be increased and power saving can be achieved.

  Further, the nitrogen supply pipe 654 of the flyer 65 supplies nitrogen gas supplied from the fuel cell unit 3 via the hydrogen removal unit 32 into the oil tank 651 so as to cover the surface of the frying oil. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the nitrogen supply pipe 654 is arranged so as to go around the oil tank 651, and the nitrogen gas can be discharged toward the frying oil from a large number of holes opened in the pipe. it can. Thereby, while producing a deep-fried thing, nitrogen gas can be filled with the frying oil surface, and frying oil and a deep-fried object can be interrupted | blocked from external air. As a result, the oxidation of the frying oil and the object to be fried by oxygen in the air is suppressed, the service life of the frying oil is greatly increased, and the quality of the fried food is also improved.

Here, the nitrogen gas supplied through the nitrogen supply pipe 654 is generated through the hydrogen removal unit 32. At this time, the molar ratio of hydrogen (H ₂ ) introduced from the gas reforming unit 31 to the fuel cell 30 and oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air also introduced into the fuel cell 30 is set to a value larger than 2. It is set (that is, hydrogen is excessive in the fuel cell 30), and the mixed gas of the remaining nitrogen in the air and hydrogen corresponding to the excessive reaction is discharged as off-gas. In this off gas, the oxygen gas content is substantially zero. Incidentally, such adjustment of the molar ratio may be performed by the distributor 35 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 20.

  Subsequently, by removing the hydrogen gas component from the mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen by the hydrogen removing unit 32, high purity nitrogen gas can be sent to the flyer 65 through the nitrogen supply pipe 654.

  In addition, by mixing the hydrogen gas component removed by the hydrogen removal unit 32 into the frying oil via the hydrogen supply pipe 655, it is possible to suppress the oxidation of the frying oil as described in the flyer 61. Further, the removed hydrogen gas content may be reused as fuel in the fuel cell 40 via the distributor 35.

  Incidentally, in the fryer 65, a waste oil hole is provided at the bottom of the oil tank 651, and the frying oil that has passed the expiration date is taken out from the waste oil hole by opening the waste oil valve, and is filtered through an oil residue separation network. It may be stored in. In the flyer 65, a plurality of oil tanks 651 may be provided. In this case, for example, the flyer configuration described above may be one unit, and a plurality of units may be connected to form the flyer 65.

[Showcase]
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the supply destination apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 6 shows a showcase 68 installed in a store such as a convenience store. The showcase 68 is a transparent case that displays the fried food made by the flyer 65 to the store customers while keeping it in a warm state. The nitrogen supply pipe 681 of the showcase 68 supplies nitrogen gas from the power generator 2 into the booth where the fried food is placed, and fills the booth with nitrogen gas. Thereby, the oxidation of the fried food by the oxygen in the air is greatly suppressed, and the quality of the fried food is maintained.

  Moreover, the heat exchange pipe 682 transfers the heat from the heat exchange unit 34 of the power generator 2 into the booth where the fried food is placed, warms the nitrogen gas in the booth, and keeps the fried food warm. It is also preferable that the heat exchange pipe 682 heats and keeps the beverage in the hot water supply device 69 installed side by side in the fried food booth. Further, it is also preferable that the heating illumination lamp 683 is supplied with electric power from the power generation device 2 to emit visible light and infrared rays, illuminates the fried food for display, and heats and keeps it warm.

  As described above, the power generation device 2 can supply necessary energy and substances collectively or collectively to various devices and facilities installed in a store such as a convenience store. Next, an embodiment in which a store to which energy or a substance is supplied from the power generation system 1 or the power generation apparatus 2 is regarded as a system will be described.

[Store-related system]
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a power generation apparatus (system) according to the present invention and a store-related system as a supply destination system.

According to FIG. 7, a convenience store (store) 6 as a supply destination system including a flyer 65, a showcase 68 and the like is supplied with necessary energy and materials from the power generation system 1 according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the power generation system 1 is
(1a) solar cell unit 41;
(1b) an electrolysis unit 42 that performs electrolysis using electric power generated by the solar cell unit 41;
(1c) an oxygen tank for storing oxygen gas generated by the electrolysis unit 42;
(1d) a high-pressure hydrogen tank and a low-pressure hydrogen tank that store the hydrogen gas generated by the electrolysis unit 42;
(1e) a fuel cell unit 3 that generates power using hydrogen obtained from such a hydrogen tank;
(1f) a hydrogen removal unit 32 for removing hydrogen gas from the off-gas of the fuel cell unit 3;
(1g) a nitrogen tank for storing the nitrogen gas produced by the hydrogen removal unit 32;
(1h) a pure water tank for storing pure water produced by the fuel cell unit 3;
(1i) A heat exchange unit 34 that recovers heat generated in the fuel cell unit 3 is provided.

  Incidentally, a configuration in which these components (1a) to (1i) are provided in one apparatus and can be regarded as the power generation apparatus 2 may be employed. Further, the convenience store 6 may include these components (1a) to (1i) and can be grasped as one system. The high-pressure hydrogen tank and the low-pressure hydrogen tank (1d) can be used in combination or used according to the battery system and power generation mode of the fuel cell 30, or only one of them may be provided in advance.

  Electric power is supplied to the convenience store 6 from the fuel cell unit 3 through the power line, nitrogen gas is supplied from the nitrogen tank through the nitrogen supply pipe, and hydrogen gas is supplied from the hydrogen removal unit 32 through the hydrogen supply pipe. The oxygen gas is supplied from the oxygen tank through the oxygen supply pipe, the pure water is supplied from the pure water tank through the pure water supply pipe, and the heat is supplied from the heat exchange unit 34 through the heat exchange pipe. In the convenience store 6, these supplied energy and materials are distributed and used in in-store devices and facilities such as the flyer 65 and the showcase 68.

  Here, it is also preferable that nitrogen gas, hydrogen gas, and oxygen gas are stored in a tank. For example, a convenience store in which hydrogen gas is stored in a hydrogen tank in the daytime when the solar cell unit 41 can generate power, and then the fuel cell unit 3 generates power using the stored hydrogen gas at night and is also operated at night. Electricity, nitrogen gas, heat, or the like may be supplied to the flyer 65 in the store.

  Further, the fuel cell unit 3 also generates electricity in the daytime, stores the generated power in the power storage unit 51 (FIG. 1), stores the generated nitrogen gas in a nitrogen tank, and further stores the generated heat as heat storage. It is also possible to store heat in the unit 52 (FIG. 1) and then supply these energy / materials to the convenience store 6 at night.

[Electrolysis unit]
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the electrolysis unit according to the present invention.

According to FIG. 8A, the electrolysis unit 42 of this embodiment includes an electrolysis cell 421, a parabolic reflector 422, and a heat absorption tube 423. In the present embodiment, the electrolysis cell 421 has a configuration capable of electrolyzing water vapor. Specifically, water vapor maintained at high pressure in the negative electrode is decomposed into hydrogen (H ₂ ) and oxygen ions (O ²⁻ ), and oxygen ions reaching the positive electrode are released as oxygen (O ₂ ) through the electrolyte. To do.

  By electrolyzing water vapor in this way, the hydrogen generation efficiency is greatly improved as compared with the decomposition of water, which is a liquid. The efficiency can also be improved by raising the temperature of the electrolyte with the heat of the water vapor. In addition, although direct-current power required for electrolysis may be acquired by converting commercial power, it can be acquired from the solar cell unit 41 in this embodiment.

  Here, the water vapor supplied to the electrolysis cell 421 can be generated by heating water (pure water) passing through the heat absorption tube 423 using sunlight condensed by the parabolic reflector 422. Incidentally, the parabolic reflector that can be used is not limited to the point focus type as shown in FIG. For example, it is possible to use a parabolic reflector 422 'whose focal points are arranged on a line as shown in FIG. 8B, and to arrange the heat absorption tube 423' at this line position to generate water vapor.

  By using the units as described above, for example, the solar cell unit 41 and the electrolysis unit 42 generate hydrogen gas during the daytime during which power generation and steam generation are possible and store them in a hydrogen tank, and then at night. In addition, it is possible to generate power with the fuel cell unit 3 using the stored hydrogen gas.

  In addition, it is also possible to allocate at least a part of the heat for generating water vapor and / or at least a part of the heat for heating the electrolyte from the fuel cell unit 3 (the heat storage unit 52, the heat exchange unit 34). . Further, in accordance with the power usage status, the hydrogen gas storage status, etc., at least a part of the power used in the electrolysis unit 42 may be provided from the fuel cell unit 3 (power storage unit 51).

The technical matters related to the electrolysis unit 42 as described above are summarized as follows.
[Technical matter 1]
A power generation device that supplies power used for processing to a processing device that processes an object to be heated by heating in a non-oxidizing atmosphere,
A hydrogen gas generator that generates hydrogen by electrolyzing water or water vapor using electric power from a solar cell installed outside or inside; and
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing gas and discharges exhaust gas;
An electric power generation apparatus comprising: an inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas that can be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus.
[Technical matter 2]
The power generation device according to claim 1, further comprising a hydrogen supply unit configured to supply a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus so as to be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere.
[Technical matter 3]
The processing apparatus is a processing apparatus for processing the heated object by adding the object to be heated to a heated medium,
The power generation device further includes a hydrogen supply unit that supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing device in order to mix the generated hydrogen gas into the medium and suppress the oxidation of the medium. The power generator according to Item 1.
[Technical matter 4]
Any one of the technical matters 1 to 3, wherein the power generation device further includes a heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated during power generation by the power generation unit to the hydrogen gas generation unit. The power generator described in 1.
[Technical matter 5]
The power generation device further includes a processing heat transfer unit that transmits heat generated during power generation by the power generation unit to the processing device to be used for heating the object to be heated. 5. The power generation device according to any one of technical items 1 to 4, which is characterized.

[Atmosphere furnace]
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing still another embodiment of the power generation apparatus and the processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9A, the power generation apparatus 2 according to the present invention and the atmosphere heat treatment furnace (atmosphere furnace) 71 are combined to constitute a processing system as a whole. Among these, the atmospheric furnace 71 performs heat processing (heat treatment) in a non-oxidizing atmosphere so as to perform transformation control in accordance with the product on the steel material that is the object to be heated (heat treatment object) in the present embodiment. It is a high temperature furnace for.

  In this atmosphere furnace 71, nitrogen gas as an inert gas and hydrogen gas as a reducing gas are introduced so that the steel material is not oxidized during the process, and hydrogen gas or the like is introduced as a process gas. Is done. In addition, one processing apparatus (atmosphere furnace) may be comprised by the component of the electric power generating apparatus 2 of FIG. 9 and the whole component of the atmosphere furnace 71. FIG.

Specifically, the atmosphere furnace 71 is:
(71a) a front chamber for introducing a steel material through a gate including a gate opening / closing plate, into which purge gas can be introduced;
(71b) a plurality of atmosphere chambers, each of which is partitioned by a partition to provide a unique process environment (for example, temperature, etc.), and further equipped with a stirring fan for making the indoor atmosphere uniform;
(71c) a rear chamber in which purge gas can be introduced for carrying out the heat-treated steel material through the gate including the gate opening and closing plate;
(71d) Receiving nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas supplied from the power generation device 2 and distributing them to the required atmosphere chambers via the nitrogen / hydrogen supply pipe 712, or generating a mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen A mixer / distributor 711 for supplying the required atmosphere chamber;
(71e) The steel material is transported from the front chamber through a plurality of atmosphere chambers through a heat treatment process path to the rear chamber chamber, while the steel material is heated to a temperature set according to the position. Roller hearth 721,
(71f) A roller hearth control unit 722 that receives power supplied from the power generation device 2 (inverter 37) via the power line 723, supplies power to the roller hearth 721 for conveyance operation and heating operation, and controls these operations. When,
(71g) A heat exchange pipe 731 that transfers heat supplied from the power generation device 2 (heat exchange unit 34) to the atmosphere chamber and heats the steel material or assists the heating operation by the roller hearth 721 is provided.

  On the other hand, the power generation device 2 is the same as that of FIG. 2 in terms of configuration and function, and it is also the same that the power generation device 2 may be regarded as the power generation system 1 depending on the mode. However, in FIG. 9, the hydrogen removal unit 32 supplies the remaining nitrogen gas obtained by removing the hydrogen gas component from the off-gas discharged from the fuel cell unit 3 to the mixer / distributor 711. Further, on the other hand, the separated hydrogen gas is reused as power generation fuel via the distributor 35.

  The hydrogen removal unit 32 may supply the separated hydrogen gas to the mixer / distributor 711 so as to be used as a reducing gas. Furthermore, it is also preferable that a part of the hydrogen gas generated by the gas reforming unit 31 is supplied to the mixing / distributing device 711 via the distributor 35.

  With the configuration described above, the power generation apparatus 2 collects energy (electric power, heat) and substances (nitrogen, hydrogen) in a form required by the atmospheric furnace 71 as shown in FIG. They can be supplied to the atmosphere furnace 71 as appropriate in a lump. As a result, it is possible to easily construct a supply system that is more stable and suppresses an increase in supply cost.

  In particular, the atmosphere furnace 71 usually consumes a large amount of electric power, inert gas (nitrogen gas), and hydrogen gas (reducing gas), and therefore, procurement thereof requires enormous costs. On the other hand, according to the electric power generating apparatus 2, this procurement cost can be significantly reduced.

  As another embodiment of the power generation apparatus 2 (power generation system 1), the hydrogen gas supply source to the fuel cell 30 is used here instead of the gas reforming unit 31 or together with the unit 31 as well as the electrolysis unit 42 ( 1 and 8) are also preferably provided. Further, the electrolysis unit 42 preferably uses, as electrolysis power, power from the solar cell unit 41 (FIG. 1) or storage battery installed outside or inside, or commercial power. Further, a heat exchanger may be provided as an electrolytic heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated during power generation by the fuel cell 30 to the solar cell unit 41.

Furthermore, the molar ratio of hydrogen (H ₂ ) introduced from the gas reforming unit 31 to the fuel cell 30 and oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air also introduced into the fuel cell 30 is set to a value larger than 2. However, it is also preferable that the mixed gas of the remaining nitrogen in the air and the excessive hydrogen in the air is discharged as off-gas (that is, excessive hydrogen in the fuel cell 30). In this mixed gas, the oxygen gas content is substantially zero. Incidentally, such adjustment of the molar ratio may be performed by the distributor 35 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 20.

  Then, further, by removing the hydrogen gas content from the mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen by the hydrogen removal unit 32, high purity nitrogen gas can be sent into the atmosphere furnace 71. The removed hydrogen gas component may be sent to the fuel cell unit 3 through the pipe and by the distributor 35 and reused as the fuel of the fuel cell 30.

  Incidentally, as the fuel cell 30, in the case of the present embodiment, it is also preferable to employ a SOFC type fuel cell having a high power generation efficiency and a very high cell reaction temperature (about 700 to about 1000 ° C.). In this case, this high-temperature reaction heat is recovered using the heat exchange unit 34 and transferred to the atmosphere furnace via the heat exchange pipe 731, so that the base temperature during the heat treatment by the roller hearth 721 is sufficiently increased. It may be raised. Thereby, it is possible to achieve power saving in the atmosphere furnace 71.

Next, features unique to the atmosphere furnace 71 according to the present invention will be described. Conventionally, in the atmosphere heat treatment furnace, the following three have been important issues.
(A) Stable high power is required even in an atmospheric heat treatment furnace. For example, even when the supply of electric power is stopped due to a power failure or failure of a thermal power generation facility or the like, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the steel material being manufactured from being destroyed.
(B) Oxidation of iron (Fe) and oxidation / decarburization of carbon (C) in steel materials during heat treatment must be avoided as much as possible.

  First, regarding the above-mentioned problem (A), the atmosphere furnace 71 is, of course, without the need for commercial power or an installed thermal power generation facility, or separately from the fuel cell unit 3 via the power line 723. Can receive large power. Similarly, a large amount of heat is received from the fuel cell unit 3 through the heat exchange pipe 731, and a considerable amount of heat necessary for high-temperature heat treatment is secured. Thus, the atmospheric furnace 71 reliably solves this problem (a).

  Next, as for the above problem (A), it is known that oxidation is not negligible even in a high-temperature environment exceeding 700 ° C. even for a stainless steel material. In fact, at higher temperatures, it is practically impossible to completely reduce the oxygen partial pressure to zero. Therefore, only the generation of a nitrogen gas atmosphere suppresses oxidation and decarburization of steel materials. Has become difficult.

  In contrast, the atmosphere furnace 71 can supply a mixed gas of nitrogen and hydrogen into the atmosphere chamber by the mixer / distributor 711. That is, the atmosphere chamber can be filled not only with an inert atmosphere with nitrogen gas but also with a reducing atmosphere with hydrogen gas. As described above, the atmosphere furnace 71 reliably solves this problem (A). Incidentally, it is also preferable that the mixer / distributor 711 has a function of removing molecular gas components including oxygen atoms such as water vapor and carbon dioxide in order to more reliably prevent oxidation of the steel material.

Of course, the atmosphere furnace 71 can supply only nitrogen gas into the atmosphere chamber by the mixer / distributor 711. In this case, in order to suppress the oxidation of the steel material as described above, it is necessary to remove the oxygen gas content in the nitrogen gas almost completely and to increase the purity of the nitrogen gas as much as possible. In the present embodiment, as described above, in the power generation device 2, the molar ratio of hydrogen (H ₂ ) and oxygen (O ₂ ) introduced into the fuel cell 30 is set to a value larger than 2, and this off-gas is further reduced. It is also possible to send high-purity nitrogen gas to the atmospheric furnace 71 by removing the hydrogen gas component from the hydrogen removal unit 32.

  In addition, as described with reference to FIG. 3, as described with reference to FIG. 3, in the oxygen removal unit 33, oxygen in the off-gas is caused to undergo a catalytic reaction or combustion reaction with part of the hydrogen gas generated by the gas reforming unit 31. It is also preferable to remove it as water.

  Further, as another embodiment of the power generation device 2, the power is supplied by using power from the solar cell unit 41 (FIG. 1) installed outside or inside, power from the power storage unit 51 (FIG. 1), or commercial power. It is also preferable that an electrolysis unit 42 (FIGS. 1 and 8) for generating hydrogen by electrolyzing water or water vapor is provided. Further, a heat exchange unit 34 (FIG. 1) may be further provided as an electrolytic heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated when the fuel cell 40 generates power to the electrolysis unit 42.

  Hereinafter, finally, a hospital-related system (FIG. 10) and a hydroponics system (FIG. 11) are demonstrated as an example of the supply destination apparatus or system which concerns on this invention.

[Hospital system]
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a power generation apparatus (system) according to the present invention and a hospital-related system as a supply destination system.

According to FIG. 10, a hospital (medical service providing organization) 8 as a supply destination system (hospital-related system) including an autoclave 81 and the like to be described later supplies necessary energy and substances from the power generation system 1 according to the present invention. Has been. In the present embodiment, the power generation system 1 is
(1a) solar cell unit 41;
(1b) an electrolysis unit 42 that performs electrolysis using electric power generated by the solar cell unit 41;
(1c) an oxygen tank for storing oxygen gas generated by the electrolysis unit 42;
(1d) a high-pressure hydrogen tank and a low-pressure hydrogen tank that store the hydrogen gas generated by the electrolysis unit 42;
(1e) a fuel cell unit 3 that generates power using hydrogen obtained from such a hydrogen tank;
(1f) a hydrogen removal unit 32 for removing hydrogen gas from the off-gas of the fuel cell unit 3;
(1g) a nitrogen tank for storing the nitrogen gas produced by the hydrogen removal unit 32;
(1h) a pure water tank for storing pure water produced by the fuel cell unit 3;
(1i) A heat exchange unit 34 that recovers heat generated in the fuel cell unit 3 is provided.

  Incidentally, a configuration in which these components (1a) to (1i) are provided in one apparatus and can be regarded as the power generation apparatus 2 may be employed. Moreover, the hospital 8 can also take the form grasped as one system also including these structural elements (1a)-(1i). Note that the high-pressure type hydrogen tank and the low-pressure type hydrogen tank can be used in combination or used according to the battery system and power generation mode of the fuel cell 30, or only one of them may be provided in advance.

  Electric power is supplied to the hospital 8 from the fuel cell unit 3 through the power line, nitrogen gas is supplied from the nitrogen tank through the nitrogen supply pipe, and oxygen gas is supplied from the oxygen tank through the oxygen supply pipe. Pure water is supplied from the water tank via the pure water supply pipe, and heat is supplied from the heat exchange unit 34 via the heat exchange pipe. In the hospital 8, these supplied energy and substances are distributed and used for in-hospital devices / equipment such as an autoclave 81 described later. If necessary, hydrogen gas may be supplied from the hydrogen removal unit 32 to the hospital 8 through a hydrogen supply pipe.

  Here, it is also preferable that nitrogen gas, hydrogen gas, and oxygen gas are stored in a tank. For example, a hospital in which hydrogen gas is stored in a hydrogen tank in the daytime when the solar cell unit 41 can generate power, and then the fuel cell unit 3 generates power using the stored hydrogen gas at night and is also operated at night. Electric power, nitrogen gas, heat, or the like may be supplied to the devices and equipment in 8.

  Further, the fuel cell unit 3 also generates electricity in the daytime, stores the generated power in the power storage unit 51 (FIG. 1), stores the generated nitrogen gas in a nitrogen tank, and further stores the generated heat as heat storage. It is also possible to store heat in the unit 52 (FIG. 1) and then supply these energy / materials to the hospital 8 at night.

  In particular, in the hospital 8, when commercial power is stopped due to a power failure or the like, power must be continuously supplied, for example, by performing an emergency operation. According to the present embodiment, for example, hydrogen gas is stored in the hydrogen tank by using the solar cell unit 41 and the electrolysis unit 42 installed in a wide roof space of the hospital 8, for example, in an emergency. The fuel cell unit 3 can be operated to supply power to the in-hospital apparatus / equipment. Of course, it is possible to provide power in a form that complements commercial power even during normal times. In this case, as a matter of course, commercial power saving in the in-hospital apparatus / equipment can be realized.

  In addition, the hospital 8 usually requires heat (heat source) for room heating and hot water supply. In the present embodiment, such heat (heat source) can be provided from the heat exchange unit 34 via the heat exchange tube.

  Furthermore, in the hospital 8, a mixed gas (artificial air) of pure oxygen and pure nitrogen having a mixing ratio according to the case is required as the gas sucked by the patient. According to this embodiment, a gas close to pure nitrogen can be provided from the nitrogen tank that has received the nitrogen gas from the hydrogen removal unit 32. In addition, pure oxygen gas can be provided from an oxygen tank that has received oxygen gas from the electrolysis unit 42.

  In addition, as a situation peculiar to medical institutions, in hospital 8, pure water (RO water) manufactured using a reverse osmotic membrane (RO membrane) is widely used in various medical departments in various medical practices. Used. According to the present embodiment, pure water that is a raw material of RO water or supplements RO water can be provided from a pure water tank that has received pure water (water vapor) from the fuel cell unit 3.

  Furthermore, pure water (water vapor) supplied from the fuel cell unit 3 is used as washing water and rinsing water for washing and rinsing various equipment collected from the operating room, outpatient clinic, hospital ward, etc. of the hospital 8. Can be used as Further, it may be used as raw water for clean steam in the autoclave 81.

  Here, the autoclave is a high-pressure steam sterilizer that cleans and / or sterilizes an object in heated water or in an atmosphere of water vapor generated from the heated water. For example, as a preliminary vacuum process, the residual air in the cleaning / sterilization chamber containing the object is first discharged by a vacuum pump, and then high-temperature clean steam generated from pure water is introduced, and steam is introduced into the cleaning / sterilization chamber. The object is washed and / or sterilized.

  For this autoclave 81, the power generation system 1 supplies pure water as a raw material for clean water vapor, and electric power for operating the heater for driving the pure water to generate clean water vapor and driving a vacuum pump. They can be provided together or in bulk. Naturally, the power generation system 1 can also provide at least pure water and electric power for operating the apparatus collectively or collectively for apparatuses that handle pure water other than the autoclave.

  Furthermore, the pure water (steam) supplied from the fuel cell unit 3 can be used in the hospital 8 as chemical adjustment water, instrument washing water, dialysis water, or the like, or as a raw material thereof. Incidentally, pure water as described above used in the hospital 8 has a predetermined water quality standard according to its use, and even if pure water (steam) is supplied from the fuel cell unit 3, The pure water (water vapor) is further provided with a predetermined treatment so that the water quality meets the standard. For example, the dialysis water must be pure water that complies with the prescribed ISO standards. In particular, hard water softening treatment or ultrafiltration treatment is performed in order to remove endotoxin, chloramine, etc. and prevent complications in dialysis patients. Etc. are required.

The technical items related to the power generation device 2 and the hospital 8 as described above are summarized as follows.
[Technical matter 1]
A power generation device that supplies power, water and nitrogen to a device, facility or building that uses electric power, water and nitrogen to provide services or produce products,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the supplied fuel and air and discharges exhaust gas and water;
A nitrogen supply unit that removes or reduces components other than nitrogen from at least a part of the exhaust gas and supplies the nitrogen to the medical device, facility, or building;
A power generation apparatus comprising: a water supply unit that supplies at least a part of the discharged water to the apparatus, facility, or building.
[Technical matter 2]
2. The power generation device according to Technical Item 1, wherein the device, facility, or building that is a target for providing the electric power, the water, and the nitrogen is a medical device, a medical facility, or a hospital.
[Technical matter 3]
This is a power generation device that supplies electric power used by a device for cleaning and / or sterilizing an object in heated water or in an atmosphere of water vapor generated from the heated water. And
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates at least the electric power using the supplied fuel and a gas containing oxygen and discharges water;
A power generation apparatus comprising: a water supply unit that supplies at least a part of the discharged water to the device as a raw material of the heated water.
[Technical matter 4]
A high-pressure steam sterilizer equipped with the power generation device described in Technical Item 3.

[Hydroculture system]
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a power generation device (system) according to the present invention and a hydroponic cultivation system as a supply destination system.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the power generation device 2 (power generation system 1) described above with reference to FIG. 1 is supplied to the hydroponic cultivation system 9 with electric power, heat, nitrogen gas, hydrogen gas, water (pure Water) and carbon dioxide gas. Incidentally, the power generator 2 of the present embodiment includes a rainwater recovery unit 43 to be described later in addition to the components shown in FIG.

This hydroponics stem 9
(9a) A hydroponic cultivation unit 91 including a cultivation table 911 that enables hydroponic cultivation of plants such as medicinal herbs and vegetables, and an LED illumination device 912 as a photosynthesis light source,
(9b) a purification unit 93 and a nitrogen fixing unit 92;
(9c) A fertilizer unit 94 is provided.

Among these, hydroponics unit 91 is
(9a1) The carbon dioxide gas received from the power generation device 2 generates a carbon dioxide rich environment suitable for plant growth,
(9a2) In that environment, the water supplied from the power generation device 2 is used to secure the cultivation water required for the cultivation table 911,
(9a3) By the heat received from the power generation device 2, the temperature and water temperature in the carbon dioxide rich environment and cultivation water are controlled to be suitable for plant growth,
(9a4) The LED illumination device 912 is driven by the electric power supplied from the power generation device 2 to realize illumination light having a wavelength band and intensity change suitable for the growth of the plant to be cultivated.

Further, the nitrogen fixing unit 92 receives nitrogen gas (or off-gas) from the power generation device 2 and further fixes the nitrogen content in the nitrogen gas using the hydrogen gas, power and heat supplied from the power generation device 2. Specifically, according to the well-known Habor Bosch method, the nitrogen gas and the hydrogen gas are heated at a high temperature (about 400 to about 600 ° C.) and a high pressure (about 200 ° C.) using the electric power and heat supplied from the power generator 2 together. To about 400 atm) and can be reacted under an iron (Fe) -based catalyst or the like to produce ammonia (NH ₃ ).

  Conventionally, this nitrogen fixation treatment is a process that is not easy to implement because it requires not only a large amount of nitrogen and hydrogen but also a large amount of energy, including the production of hydrogen gas from fossil fuels. However, according to the present embodiment, not only the raw material for nitrogen fixation, but also a large amount of required energy is prepared collectively or collectively in the form of electric power and heat amount, and the nitrogen fixation unit 92 is prepared. Since it can be provided, this nitrogen fixation treatment can be performed more easily.

  Incidentally, the hydrogen gas used in the nitrogen fixing unit 92 is not limited to that generated in the electrolysis unit 42, for example, hydrogen separated from the off gas of the fuel cell unit 3 by the hydrogen removing unit 32 (FIG. 1). Gas or hydrogen gas generated by the gas reforming unit 31 (FIG. 1) may be used. Of course, it is also possible to use hydrogen gas obtained from a hydrogen tank in which these hydrogen gases are stored together.

  In addition, the purification unit 93 collects the excrement of a person or an animal who has ingested medicines or foods including medicinal herbs or vegetables cultivated in the hydroponics unit 91, and produces fertilizers in the fertilizer unit 94. To produce raw materials for. Furthermore, the fertilizer unit 94 acquires ammonia and a fertilizer raw material from the nitrogen fixation unit 92 and the purification unit 93, respectively, and produces nitrogen fertilizer, potash fertilizer, and phosphate fertilizer under a known fertilizer cycle.

  Incidentally, if the seawater can be obtained, the fertilizer unit 94 may obtain potassium content from the seawater to produce potash fertilizer. Moreover, when an igneous rock is acquired, it is also possible to manufacture a potassium fertilizer and a phosphate fertilizer using the potassium content and phosphate content which are contained in this igneous rock.

  Although these manufactured fertilizers may be sold as a product, for example, they can be supplied to the cultivation table 911 while automatically adjusting their amounts. In the cultivation stand 911, cultivation water is produced | generated using the supplied fertilizer and the water supplied from the electric power generating apparatus 2 as a raw material. Incidentally, this water supply can also be performed by dropping from above the cultivation table 911 as, for example, artificial rain in the hydroponic cultivation unit 91.

  Moreover, the cultivation stand 911 drives the moving apparatus of the cultivation floor 911a using the electric power supplied from the power generation device 2, and moves the cultivation floor 911a in the vertical direction according to the water level of the cultivation water and the degree of growth of the cultivation target plant. It may be moved to. Thereby, the cultivation water environment suitable for growth is maintained, for example, root rot etc. are prevented. Such adjustment of the vertical position of the cultivation floor 911a is also effective when cultivating medicinal herbs and vegetables of root vegetables. For example, licorice is a medicinal herb with high added value as a material for Chinese herbal medicine, but the roots usually extend to 1 m or more. Therefore, soil cultivation requires considerable labor for harvesting, and the level of cultivation water becomes a problem in hydroponics. Even such licorice can be easily harvested after being sufficiently grown by adjusting the position of the cultivation bed 911a in accordance with the growth of the roots.

  Furthermore, although it becomes another embodiment, it is also possible to culture plankton and fish in the aquarium in the cultivation stand 911 or in the aquarium separately installed and similarly adjusted in environment. For example, oxygen generated by cultivating a large amount of phytoplankton may be collected and stored, for example, in an oxygen tank provided in the power generation device 2.

  Here, in the electrolysis unit 42 (electrolysis cell 421) shown in FIG. 11 (although already described with reference to FIG. 1), the positive electrode that originally generates oxygen gas is used as a carbon electrode. The generated oxygen and the carbon of the electrode are combined to generate carbon dioxide. In the present embodiment, the carbon dioxide is supplied to the hydroponic cultivation unit 91 to promote the growth of the plant to be cultivated, but the consumed carbon content in the carbon electrode is fixed by the grown plant ( It is also possible to configure a recycle system that replenishes with carbon content including carbon (such as starch).

Furthermore, the rainwater collection unit 43 of the power generation apparatus 2 (power generation system 1) shown in FIG. 11 collects rainwater so that rain can be used as a water resource, and stores it in a pure water tank (or water tank) in the power generation apparatus 2. To do. At this time, the collected rainwater
(A) Using a filtering device or an ion exchange device to make the water more pure,
(B) Distilling using the heat of the electricity storage unit 51,
(C) It is also preferable to store the water after adjusting the water quality within a predetermined range by adjusting the pH (pH) using ammonia generated by the nitrogen fixing unit 92.

  Further, the rainwater recovery unit 43 may be installed as a component of the power generation system 1, for example, on the roof of a high-rise building. In this case, the collected rainwater is dropped to a tank installed on the ground via a water pipe, and a micro hydroelectric generator is installed in the middle to generate electricity using the potential energy of rainwater, and the generated power is stored. It is also preferable to store in the unit 51.

  The various modes that can be implemented in the system formed by the power generation device 2 (power generation system 1) and the hydroponic cultivation system 9 have been described above using FIG. In any case, depending on the mode, it is understood that the power generation apparatus 2 (power generation system 1) and the hydroponic cultivation system 9 exhibit one aspect of an artificial ecosystem.

  Therefore, for example, if an energy / material cycle system independent of the external environment is constructed by using the present invention (for some or a long period of time), environments such as polar regions, isolated islands, deserts, outer space, satellites / planetary surfaces, etc. In this case, it is possible to set up a production system for desired plants and the like. In any case, an efficient device / system can be constructed in terms of energy / material generation / consumption.

The technical matters relating to the hydroponic cultivation system 9 as described above are summarized as follows.
[Technical matter 1]
A power generation device or system for supplying power required for cultivation to a cultivation device for cultivating a plant,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates electric power using the supplied fuel and air and discharges water;
A power generation apparatus or system comprising a water supply unit that supplies at least a part of the discharged water to the cultivation apparatus or system.
[Technical matter 2]
It is a cultivation system provided with the power generation device or system described in the technical matter 1 and the cultivation device,
A nitrogen fixing part for fixing a nitrogen gas component contained in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation part;
The cultivation system characterized by further including the fertilizer conversion part which produces | generates the fertilizer used with the said cultivation apparatus using the nitride produced | generated by the fixation by the said nitrogen fixation part.
[Technical matter 3]
A method of fixing nitrogen using a fuel cell that generates power using fuel and air, and an electrolyzer capable of electrolyzing water or water vapor,
Obtaining nitrogen gas contained in the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell, and hydrogen gas generated by the electrolyzer,
Using the power generated by the fuel cell, the nitrogen gas and the hydrogen gas are brought into a state having a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature and a pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure.
A nitrogen fixing method comprising reacting the nitrogen gas and the hydrogen gas in the state under a predetermined catalyst.
[Technical matter 4]
4. The nitrogen fixing method according to Technical Item 3, wherein the electrolysis apparatus electrolyzes water or water vapor with electric power generated by a solar cell installed in advance to generate the hydrogen gas.

  As described above, according to the present invention, not only the power generated by the power generation unit (fuel cell unit) provided with the fuel cell but also the energy required for the supply destination device or system, Substances can be supplied in bulk or in bulk.

  Of course, the supply destination apparatus or system is not limited to the one described above. For example, a laser processing apparatus or system that generates a processing laser with electric power and blows nitrogen gas on a workpiece during processing corresponds to this supply destination apparatus or system. According to the present invention, particularly, it is possible to easily satisfy the requirements for a supply destination apparatus / system that requires at least a large amount of power and a large amount of nitrogen gas.

  It should be noted that all of the embodiments described above are illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention can be implemented in other various modifications and changes. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims and their equivalents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power generation system 2 Power generation apparatus 20 Control part 3 Fuel cell unit (power generation part)
30 Fuel cell 31 Gas reforming unit 32 Hydrogen removal unit 33, 33 'Oxygen removal unit 34 Heat exchange unit 35, 35' Distributor 351 Oxygen concentration measurement sensor 36 Air filter 37 Inverter 38 Nitrogen tank 41 Solar cell unit 421 Electrolytic cell 422, 422 'parabolic reflector 423, 423' heat absorption pipe 42 electrolysis unit 43 rainwater recovery unit 51 power storage unit 52 heat storage unit 53 thermoelectric power generation unit 6 convenience store (convenience store)
61, 65 Flyer 611, 651 Oil tank 612, 652 Heater 613, 653, 682, 731 Heat exchange pipe 614 Temperature controller 614a Temperature sensor 615, 723 Power line 621, 654, 681 Nitrogen supply pipe 622 Blower 623 Cooler 631, 655 Hydrogen Supply pipe 641 Conveyor 656 Power regulator 68 Showcase 683 Heating lamp 69 High-temperature water supply 71 Atmospheric furnace 711 Mixing / distributor 712 Nitrogen / hydrogen supply pipe 721 Roller hearth 722 Roller hearth controller 8 Hospital 9 Hydroponic system 91 Hydroponic Cultivation unit 911 Cultivation table 911a Cultivation floor 912 LED lighting device 92 Nitrogen fixation unit 93 Purification unit 94 Fertilizer unit

Claims (19)

A power generation device that supplies power used for processing to a processing device or system that puts a workpiece into a heated medium for processing,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the supplied fuel and a gas containing oxygen and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas for covering at least the surface of the medium containing the workpiece, and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system. A power generator characterized by that. The power generation apparatus further includes a hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas,
The power generation device according to claim 1, wherein the power generation unit generates the electric power using at least a part of the generated hydrogen gas as fuel.   A part of the hydrogen gas generated in the hydrogen gas generation unit is acquired, and the hydrogen gas and the oxygen gas content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit are reacted to reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas. The power generation device according to claim 2, further comprising an oxygen removing unit that is set to be substantially zero.   In order to reduce or substantially reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit, the amount of hydrogen gas supplied to the power generation unit and the oxygen-containing gas supplied to the power generation unit The power generator according to claim 2, further comprising a control unit that controls the amount.   The power generator according to claim 4, further comprising a hydrogen removal unit that reduces or substantially reduces the hydrogen content in the exhaust gas in which the oxygen content is reduced or substantially zero.   3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a hydrogen supply unit that supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to mix a part of the generated hydrogen gas into the medium and suppress oxidation of the medium. The power generation device according to any one of 5.   The hydrogen gas generation unit includes an electrolysis unit that generates hydrogen by electrolyzing supplied water or water vapor using electric power or commercial power from a solar cell or a storage battery installed outside or inside. The power generator according to any one of claims 2 to 6.   The power generation device according to claim 7, further comprising an electrolytic heat transfer unit that transfers heat generated during power generation by the power generation unit to the electrolysis unit.   The heat generating part which transmits the heat which generate | occur | produces at the time of the electric power generation by the said electric power generation part to the said processing apparatus or system so that it may be used in order to heat the said medium is further provided. The power generation device according to any one of 8.   The fryer which is the said processing apparatus or system provided with the electric power generating apparatus described in any one of Claim 1 to 9. A power generation system that supplies electric power used for processing to a processing apparatus or system for processing a workpiece in a heated medium,
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the supplied fuel and a gas containing oxygen and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas for covering at least the surface of the medium containing the workpiece, and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system. A power generation system characterized by that. A power generation device that supplies power to a processing device or system that heats an object to be heated with power in a non-oxidizing atmosphere and performs processing,
A hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas;
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing gas and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas that can be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere, and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system;
A power generation apparatus comprising: a hydrogen supply unit configured to supply a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere.   A part of the hydrogen gas generated in the hydrogen gas generation unit is acquired, and the hydrogen gas and the oxygen gas content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit are reacted to reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas. The power generation device according to claim 12, further comprising an oxygen removing unit that is made to be substantially zero.   In order to reduce or substantially reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust gas discharged from the power generation unit, the amount of hydrogen gas supplied to the power generation unit and the oxygen-containing gas supplied to the power generation unit The power generation device according to claim 12, further comprising a control unit that controls the amount.   The power generation device according to claim 14, further comprising a hydrogen removing unit that reduces or substantially reduces the hydrogen content in the exhaust gas in which the oxygen content is reduced or substantially zero.   The apparatus further comprises a hydrogen supply unit that supplies a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to mix the part of the generated hydrogen gas into the medium and suppress the oxidation of the medium. 15. The power generation device according to any one of 15.   The apparatus further comprises a processing heat transfer unit that transmits heat generated when generating electric power by the power generation unit to the processing apparatus or system to be used for heating the object to be heated. Item 17. The power generation device according to any one of Items 12 to 16.   An atmosphere furnace, which is the processing apparatus or system, comprising the power generation apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 17. A power generation system that supplies power to a processing apparatus or system that heats an object to be heated with power in a non-oxidizing atmosphere and performs processing,
A hydrogen gas generation unit that processes the supplied material to generate hydrogen gas;
A power generation unit including a fuel cell that generates the electric power using the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing gas and discharges exhaust gas;
An inert gas supply unit that converts at least a part of the exhaust gas into an inert gas that can be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere, and supplies the inert gas to the processing apparatus or system;
A power generation system comprising: a hydrogen supply unit configured to supply a part of the generated hydrogen gas to the processing apparatus or system so as to be used as the non-oxidizing atmosphere.

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