JP2638023B2 - Electrolyte circulation battery - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Industrial Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrolyte circulation type battery in which an electrolyte is circulated between a battery body and an electrolyte tank by a pump, particularly a battery body,
The present invention relates to a recirculating electrolyte battery in which a tank, a pump, and a pipe connecting them can be compactly stored.

B. Summary of the Invention The present invention is a box having one electrolyte storage tank of an electrolyte circulation battery having an opening in one direction, and a part or the whole of the box forms a double structure. A tank with a specific structure that can store electrolyte in its double structure,
By storing the other electrolyte tank, the pump, and the pipe connecting them in the opening of the tank, a compact, light-weight, and highly heat-dissipating electrolyte circulation battery is provided.

C. Prior Art FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a basic configuration of a zinc bromine battery which is an example of an electrolyte circulation battery. In the figure, 201 is a battery body, 202 positive electrode chamber, 203 negative electrode chamber, 204 separator, 205 positive electrode,
206 negative electrode, 209 positive electrode electrolyte storage tank, 210 negative electrode electrolyte storage tank, and 211,212 pump.

In the battery body 201, bromine generated in the positive electrode 205 during charging is
A positive electrode chamber 202 and a negative electrode chamber 203 are formed by being separated by a bromine-barrier separator 204 so as not to cause self-discharge by reacting with the zinc deposited on 206, and the positive electrode chamber and the negative electrode chamber 202 are respectively formed. Are connected to the electrolyte storage tanks 209 and 210 by piping.

In such a battery, at the time of charge and discharge, the respective electrolytes are circulated and used between the battery body and the electrolyte storage tank by pumps 211 and 212 interposed in the middle of the pipe,
Conventionally, the battery main body was generally mounted on two tanks as shown in FIG. 3 or arranged beside the tanks.

D. Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional electrolyte circulation type battery as described above, the pipe connecting the battery body and the electrolyte tank is exposed to the outside. Since there is a danger of the liquid leaking, a container for accommodating the whole battery body, tank, pump, and piping connecting these components is required.

For this reason, the weight of the container is added to the weight of the battery, the energy density of the battery is reduced, and the air between the container and the battery body or tank housed therein serves as a heat insulating material, and the heat generated from the battery is reduced. Is difficult to be released.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point,
An object of the present invention is to provide a compact and lightweight electrolyte circulation battery having excellent heat dissipation.

E. Means for Solving the Problems In the present invention, in the electrolyte circulation type battery used by circulating a positive electrode and a negative electrode electrolyte by a pump between a battery body and a tank for storing the respective electrolytes, A double-sided box-shaped tank having a constant volume inside the double-sided structure, wherein a part or the whole of the box-shaped body has a double structure; One electrolyte is stored in the double-structured portion of the box-shaped tank, and the battery body, the tank for storing the other electrolyte, the pump for circulating the electrolyte and the pump are provided in the opening of the double-structured tank. The above problem is solved by storing the connecting pipe.

F. Function The double-structure box-type tank according to the present invention stores the electrolyte solution of either the positive electrode or the negative electrode electrolyte in the double-structured portion and functions as a conventional electrolyte tank, A tank for storing the other electrolyte, a battery main body, a pump and a pipe connecting them are housed in the opening of the box, and also serve as a conventional container.

That is, in the present invention, one of the tanks has the functions of both a tank and a container, and the container which has been required conventionally becomes unnecessary.

As a result, the weight of the battery can be reduced by the amount of the container, and the energy density of the battery can be improved.In addition, since the tank storing one of the electrolytes is in direct contact with the outside air, the heat dissipation can be improved, and the pump can be used. It is possible to prevent the temperature of the electrolytic solution from unnecessarily rising due to heat loss or the like.

In addition, since such a double-structured box-type tank stores an electrolyte in a double-structured portion on the outer periphery, the entire battery is compared with a conventional case using two substantially rectangular parallelepiped tanks. The battery can be compactly packed, and the entire battery can be carried.

G. Embodiment FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double-structure box-type tank according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment using the double-structure box-type tank shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a battery main body, 9 is an electrolyte tank, 10 is a double-structure box-shaped tank, 11
Is a pump, and 13 is a recess.

The battery body 1 in this embodiment was formed by bipolar-laminating a framed intermediate electrode and a membrane to improve the output voltage of the battery, forming a plurality of cell chambers therebetween, and arranging and clamping electrode end plates at both ends. It has a laminated battery structure.

The double-structured box-shaped tank 10 has a box-shaped outer shape having an opening in one direction, and has a double-sided structure as shown in FIG. The electrolyte can be stored with a certain volume inside.

The double-structured box-type tank 10 stores one electrolytic solution in the double-structured portion, and stores the other electrolytic solution in the opening 9, the battery body 1, and the pump 11 (circulating electrolyte). A pump for circulating the electrolyte between the double-structured box-type tank 10 and the battery body 1 is not shown) and a pipe for communicating the same is housed therein.

This eliminates the need for a heavy container, which was previously necessary for damping the electrolyte inside the pipes in the event that the pipes, etc. are damaged, which reduces the battery weight and increases the energy density. Means to do.

In addition, compared to the case where two substantially rectangular parallelepiped tanks are used as in the related art, the whole battery can be more compactly designed and designed to be large enough to carry the entire battery as needed. It also becomes easier. In this embodiment, the four outer walls of the double-structured box-shaped tank 10 are provided with recesses 13 for access, so that it is more convenient to carry the whole battery.

Furthermore, in the present invention, since one of the electrolyte tanks is in direct contact with the outside air, the heat dissipation is excellent, and the temperature of the electrolyte can be prevented from rising more than necessary.

Here, as described above, the electrolyte stored in the double-structured box-shaped tank 10 may be any one of the positive electrode electrolyte and the negative electrode electrolyte.For example, in the case of a zinc bromine battery, bromine generated in the positive electrode passes through the separator. In order to prevent diffusion into the negative electrode chamber, the temperature of the negative electrode electrolyte is made lower than that of the positive electrode electrolyte, that is, in order to make bromine solubility in the negative electrode electrolyte smaller than that in the positive electrode electrolyte, a double-structured box is used. The negative electrode electrolyte is preferably stored in the mold tank 10.

H. Effects of the Invention In the present invention, the electrolytic solution circulating battery is a box body having an opening in one direction with one electrolyte storage tank,
A part or the whole of the box has a double structure, and a tank having a specific structure capable of storing the electrolyte in the double structure is provided. The other electrolyte tank, the pump, and the like are provided at the opening of the tank. By storing the piping that connects the batteries, the entire battery can be compactly packed so that it can be transported, and the container that was required in the past becomes unnecessary, so the weight of the battery can be reduced by that much, That is, the energy density of the battery can be improved.

Further, since the number of members constituting the battery is reduced by one, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, since one of the electrolyte tanks is in direct contact with the outside air, the heat dissipation is excellent and the temperature of the electrolyte can be prevented from rising more than necessary due to heat loss of the pump.

The present invention has the above-described excellent effects, and is extremely useful for improving the characteristics of the electrolyte circulation battery and reducing the size and weight.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double-structure box-type tank according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment using the double-structured box-type tank shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of an electrolyte circulating battery, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram of a basic structure of a bromine battery. 1, 101, 201: battery body, 202: positive electrode chamber, 203: negative electrode chamber, 204: separator, 205: positive electrode, 206: negative electrode, 9: electrolyte storage tank,
209: Positive electrolyte storage tank, 10: Double structure box type tank, 2
10: negative electrode electrolyte storage tank, 11, 211, 212: pump, 13: recess.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An electrolyte circulation type battery in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode electrolyte are circulated by a pump between a battery body and a tank for storing the respective electrolytes is a box having an opening in one direction. A part or the whole of the box body has a double structure, a double structure box-type tank having a certain volume inside the double structure, and a double structure part of the double structure box-type tank. A battery main body, a tank for storing the other electrolytic solution, a pump for circulating the electrolytic solution, and a pipe connecting them are stored in the opening of the double-structured box-shaped tank for storing one electrolytic solution. Electrolyte circulation type battery.