JP3225292B2 - Combustion device for fuel cell reformer - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combustion device of a reformer for a fuel cell that supplies a reformed gas to a fuel cell.

[Related Art] Some electric vehicles equipped with a fuel cell include, for example, a reformer for a fuel cell and run using electric power generated by the fuel cell as a driving source.

This fuel cell reacts hydrogen with air (oxygen) to generate water and electricity, and the fuel cell reformer is used to generate hydrogen required for power generation by this fuel cell. The raw material gas is converted into a reformed gas mainly composed of hydrogen gas by passing it through a heated catalyst layer.

This fuel cell reformer is equipped with a combustion device that burns fuel gas.The fuel is vaporized by a vaporizer, and the vaporized fuel gas is discharged to a combustion section, mixed with air, and ejected for combustion. Let me. For example, in order to sufficiently mix the fuel gas and the air, the combustion section may be extended linearly to secure a distance, or may be provided with a partition plate so as to have a plurality of stages.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, if the combustion section is extended linearly and the distance is secured, it becomes large in order to form an air-fuel mixture in which fuel gas and air are sufficiently mixed. As a result, the air-fuel mixture in each part of the combustion part becomes light and shade.

In the case where a partition plate is provided so as to have a plurality of stages,
Since the flow is turned back, the airflow resistance increases, for example, partial stagnation occurs. In this case, a uniform air-fuel mixture cannot be expected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a combustion apparatus of a reformer for a fuel cell, which can form a sufficient and uniform mixture of fuel gas and air without increasing the size of the apparatus. It is intended to be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the problems and achieve the object, the present invention is configured as follows.

The first aspect of the present invention is directed to a reforming apparatus for supplying a raw material gas supplied from a raw material gas supply source to a fuel cell by supplying a reformed gas obtained by reacting the supplied raw material gas by heating. A catalyst layer having a high quality gas outlet, and an air intake for taking in air,
A combustion section having a fuel gas inlet section to which the vaporized fuel gas is supplied, burning a mixture of the vaporized fuel gas and the taken-in air to heat the catalyst layer, and a fuel supply source A fuel cell reforming apparatus including a vaporizing heater that heats and vaporizes a fuel liquid supplied from a fuel cell, and a vaporizer having a fuel gas discharge unit that supplies the vaporized fuel gas to the fuel gas inlet. The combustion section is formed as a combustion burner having a continuous loop around the entire circumference and provided with an injection section for air-fuel mixture, and discharges vaporized fuel gas from the fuel gas discharge section to the fuel gas inlet section. A combustion device for a reformer for a fuel cell, wherein a direction is substantially a circumferential direction of a loop. 』
It is.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the combustion section is formed as a combustion burner having a continuous loop around the entire circumference and provided with an injection section for air-fuel mixture, and the fuel of the fuel gas vaporized from the fuel gas discharge section. Since the discharge direction to the gas inlet is set to the substantially circumferential direction of the loop, the fuel gas vaporized by the carburetor flows in the circumferential direction, and furthermore, becomes a continuous state around the circumference in the form of a loop of the combustion burner. The length of mixing becomes longer,
A sufficient and uniform mixing state results.

The invention according to claim 2 is that “the catalyst layer and the vaporizer are arranged at a position above the combustion section, and the catalyst layer and the vaporizer are heated by the combustion section. The combustion device of a reformer for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein: ].

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by heating the catalyst layer and the vaporizer by the combustion section, the size of the distributing apparatus in which the combustion section also serves as the vaporization heater can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell reforming device having the combustion device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a fuel cell reforming device having the combustion device of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the combustion apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a plan view of a state in which a fuel burner and a carburetor are assembled, and FIG. 7 is a side view as viewed from the direction of the arrow, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a developed view of the fuel burner.

A fuel cell device 2 and three storage batteries 3 are respectively arranged on the left and right of a substantially central portion of the electric vehicle 1 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. A raw material tank 4 as a raw gas supply source and a fuel tank 5 as a liquid fuel supply source are arranged behind the fuel cell device 2. Exhaust pipes 6, 7 derived from the fuel cell device 2 extend rearward of the vehicle body and open to the rear of the vehicle body. A control device 8 is disposed substantially at the center of the rear part of the vehicle body.

The fuel cell 9 of the fuel cell device 2 is disposed near the center in the width direction of the vehicle body, and its longitudinal direction is aligned with the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. 10 are located.

This reformer for a fuel cell is configured as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG.

The fuel cell reformer 10 has a cylindrical upper housing 11, and a lower housing 12 is provided below the upper housing 11.
Are fastened and fixed. Inside the upper housing 11, a catalyst layer 13 formed by spirally winding two parallel plate members is provided, and a spiral heating layer 14 is formed adjacent to and parallel to the catalyst layer 13. I have.

A heating gas passage 15 penetrating vertically is provided at the center between the catalyst layer 13 and the heating layer 14, and communicates with a heating chamber 16 formed by the lower housing 12. Also, the upper housing
A heating section 17 having a spiral shape is disposed below the heating section 11, and the heating section 17 extends upward through the heating gas passage 15. The heating unit 17 is driven by the supply pump 31 to drive the raw material tank 4.
Is heated by the heating unit 17 to be vaporized to become a raw material gas. A pipe 19 is connected to the heating unit 17 via a connection pipe 18, and the pipe 19 is connected to the catalyst layer 13. A slit 19a is formed in the pipe 19,
The slit 19a serves as a material gas inlet for the vaporized material gas into the catalyst layer 13.

A catalyst filling port 20 is provided above the catalyst layer 13, and a reformed gas outlet 21 is provided.
The reformed gas obtained by the reaction at 13 is sent from the reformed gas outlet 21 to the fuel cell 9. The fuel cell 9 reacts hydrogen with air (oxygen) to generate water and electricity, drives a load 22 such as a motor, and charges the storage battery 3. Storage battery 3
Supplies a drive voltage to the load 22 and a drive voltage to the control device 8.

At the upper part of the upper housing 11, a sensor mounting portion 23 is provided at a portion corresponding to the catalyst layer 13, and a temperature sensor 24 is mounted on the sensor mounting portion 23, and the temperature of the catalyst layer 13 is detected by the temperature sensor 24. The information is sent to the control device 8 and is used as control information.

An air inlet 12a is formed in a lower portion of the lower housing 12, and a fan 25 is connected to the air inlet 12a. The fan 25 is driven by the control device 8, and secondary air is forcibly sent to the heating chamber 16 from the air inlet 12a.

In the heating chamber 16, a combustion section 28 including a hydrogen burner 26 and a fuel burner 27 is arranged, and the hydrogen burner 26 and the fuel burner 27 are each formed in a loop. Hydrogen burner 26
And the fuel burners 27 are arranged concentrically, and the fuel burners 27
The mounting portions 27a and 27b are formed so as to protrude at opposing positions on the inside thereof, and the mounting portions 27c are also formed so as to protrude outside, and the mounting portions 27a to 27c are formed in the lower housing 12.
The bracket 29 is fixed to the bracket 29. At a position above the fuel burner 27, a hydrogen burner
26 are installed.

The hydrogen burner 26 is connected to the fuel cell 9 via a supply pipe 90, and surplus hydrogen is supplied from the fuel cell 9. An injection hole 26a is formed inside the upper part of the hydrogen burner 26, and hydrogen is injected from the injection hole 26a to burn.

A wire mesh 33 is provided inside the fuel burner 27.
33 is a porous heat transfer enhancer that also serves as a partition plate. That is, the secondary air is passed from the central passage 34 to the outer peripheral passage by the wire mesh 33.
It can be distributed to 35, improving the combustion efficiency, eliminating the central blow-through and improving the temperature distribution. Further, the wire mesh 33 serves as a heat transfer enhancer, receives radiant heat, and does not escape heat to the outside, so that thermal efficiency is improved. Further, since the heat is transferred to the vaporizer 36 by the wire mesh 33, there is an effect of preventing liquefaction.

The vaporizer 36 is located above the hydrogen burner 26 and the fuel burner 27, is bridged between these two places, and receives heat from the flame of combustion to vaporize the fuel, and is located at substantially the same level as the fuel burner 27. It comprises a fuel gas discharge portion 36b for discharging the vaporized fuel gas to the fuel burner 27, and a connecting portion 36c for connecting the two. The connecting portion 36c of the carburetor 36 is disposed so as to be located inside the outer periphery of the loop of the fuel burner 27 in plan view, and the discharge portion 36b is attached to the bracket 29 fixed to the lower housing 12.

A supply pipe 37 is connected to the heat receiving portion 36a of the vaporizer 36,
By driving the supply pump 38, fuel, for example, methanol is supplied from the fuel tank 5. Central part 36g of heat receiving part 36a of vaporizer 36
Is provided with a vaporization heater 40, and the vaporization heater 40 heats a central portion 36g. The heat receiving portion 36a is located above the hydrogen burner 26 and the fuel burner 27 and is bridged at two places, so that the passage becomes long and the fuel from the combustion portion 28 is effectively vaporized by receiving the heat from the combustion portion 28. Can be.

A heater control switch 41 is provided, which is driven at an early stage of driving the vaporization heater 40 or when the amount of heat generated by the hydrogen burner 26 and the fuel burner 27 is small, and detects a temperature level at this time. The heater control switch 41 is made of a bimetal, is connected to the storage battery 3 in series with the vaporizer heater 40,
The heater control switch 41 and its lead wire are disposed in the central passage 34 for the secondary air, and this portion is located around the vaporizer 36 and at the lowest temperature, and is not directly exposed to the flame.

The fuel gas discharge part 36b of the carburetor 36 is inserted into a fuel gas inlet part 27d of a trumpet shape of the fuel burner 27. Air is sucked from the opening of the fuel gas inlet 27d by the vaporized fuel gas flow from the fuel gas outlet 36b, and the fuel gas inlet 2
7d serves both as an air inlet and a fuel gas inlet.
A throttle portion 27e is formed in the fuel gas inlet portion 27d at a portion downstream of the inserted fuel gas discharge portion 36b.

The discharge direction of the vaporized fuel gas from the carburetor 36 to the fuel burner 27 is substantially in the circumferential direction of the loop, so that the fuel gas flows in the circumferential direction. A predetermined gap is formed between the fuel gas discharge part 36b of the carburetor 36 and the fuel gas inlet part 27d of the fuel burner 27, and when supplying the fuel gas vaporized by the carburetor 36, The side has a negative pressure, and the primary air is sucked and mixed through the gap.

The carburetor 36 and the fuel burner 27 are a one-piece bracket 29
, Respectively, so that the fuel gas discharge portion 36b
Accuracy of the clearance between the fuel gas inlet 27d and the fuel gas inlet 27d is ensured, and as a result, it is easy to ensure the accuracy of the primary air intake amount.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the fuel burner 27 is formed by joining the upper case 42 and the lower case 43 with the partition plate 44 interposed therebetween and welding the flange portion to connect the upper case 42 and the lower case 43 to each other. A lower passage 46 is formed.

A support wire mesh 47 is further provided inside the upper case 42. The support wire mesh 47 supports a nozzle wire mesh 48 on the upper case 42. From the nozzle wire mesh 48, a mixture of fuel gas and air is ejected. Is done. That is, the nozzle wire net 48 serves as a jet portion of the mixture. The jetted air-fuel mixture reacts with the secondary air in the heating chamber 16 to become a flame.

The support wire mesh 47 is provided with its both ends 47a in contact with the partition plate 44, and is positioned by contacting both ends with the partition plate 44, thereby facilitating the manufacture of the fuel burner 27. A communication hole 49 that connects the lower passage 46 and the upper passage 45 is formed corresponding to the position of the nozzle wire netting 48 of the partition plate 44.

As described above, the fuel gas vaporized by the vaporizer 36 is discharged from the fuel gas discharge portion 36b of the vaporizer 36 to the fuel burner 27 formed in a continuous loop around the entire circumference, and the discharge direction is substantially a circle of the loop. Since the fuel gas flows in the circumferential direction, a smooth circumferential flow of the fuel gas occurs, and the air resistance is low. Moreover,
It is in a loop shape and is continuous over the entire circumference, the length of mixing with air becomes infinite, there is a mixing effect, and a sufficient and uniform mixing state is obtained.

Further, the fuel gas is supplied from the fuel gas discharge portion 36b of the carburetor 36 to the lower passage 46 partitioned by the partition plate 44 from the fuel gas inlet portion 27d of the fuel burner 27,
Since it flows into the upper passage 45 from the communication hole 49 of 44, the dynamic pressure of the fuel gas is attenuated by the partition plate 44 to become a static pressure,
Since the gas uniformly acts on the nozzle wire net 48 of the fuel burner 27, the flame produced by the reaction of the air-fuel mixture as the secondary air becomes uniform and stable.

Further, since the discharge portion of the fuel burner 27 has a double structure of the supporting wire mesh 47 and the nozzle wire mesh 48, the dynamic pressure of the fuel gas is further attenuated to become a static pressure, so that the flame is uniform, stable and good combustion. Becomes

An ignition device 50 is provided at a position above the fuel burner 27 and the hydrogen burner 26, and a temperature detection sensor 51 for detecting a combustion temperature is provided. Control of the device is performed based on temperature information from the temperature detection sensor 51. It has become.

In the combustion device of the fuel cell room changing apparatus, the fuel in the fuel tank 5 is supplied to the heat receiving portion 36a of the carburetor 36 through the supply pipe 37 by the drive of the supply pump 38.
Combustion unit whose fuel consists of hydrogen burner 26 and fuel burner 27
It is vaporized by the heating of 28 to become a fuel gas. The fuel gas flows from the connecting portion 36c of the carburetor 36 to the fuel gas discharging portion 36b, is discharged to the fuel burner 27 and is mixed with the primary air,
Further, it reacts with the secondary air and burns.

On the other hand, surplus hydrogen is supplied to the hydrogen burner 26 from the fuel cell 9 from the supply pipe 90 and burned. The combustion of the hydrogen burner 26 and the fuel burner 27 in this way causes the heating section 17
The heating gas generated in the heating chamber 16 by the combustion enters the heating layer 14 through the heating gas passage 15 and flows outward from the center thereof in a spiral shape while the catalyst layer 13 is heated. Is heated, and finally discharged from the outer discharge section 52 to the atmosphere.

A raw material is supplied from the raw material tank 4 to the heating unit 17 by driving a supply pump 31, and the raw material is vaporized by the heating unit 17 to become a raw material gas, and the raw material gas is supplied through a connecting pipe 18.
From 19, it is supplied to the catalyst layer 13. The raw material gas reacts in the catalyst layer 13 to obtain a reformed gas. The reformed gas is sent from the reformed gas outlet 21 to the fuel cell 9, where the fuel cell 9 reacts hydrogen with air to produce water. To drive the load 22 such as a motor and to charge the storage battery 3.

 FIG. 9 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the fuel burner.

In this embodiment, the nozzle wire mesh 48 of the fuel burner 27 is extended until it comes into contact with the lower partition plate 44, and the other configuration is the same as that of the previous embodiment. In this way, by extending the nozzle wire mesh 48 of the fuel burner 27 to the lower portion, the nozzle wire mesh 48 becomes a heat transfer body, and the heat of the flame portion can be released,
With a simple structure, it is possible to effectively prevent the backflow of the flame. The support wire mesh 47 and the nozzle wire mesh 48 are provided with their ends 47a, 48a in contact with the partition plate 44, respectively, and are positioned by contacting the ends 47a, 48a with the partition plate 44, whereby positioning is performed. The manufacture of the fuel burner 27 becomes easy.

10 to 12 are plan views of another embodiment of the partition plate of the fuel burner.

The partition plate 60 in FIG. 10 is formed with a slit 60a that becomes wider along the direction in which the fuel gas flows, and the partition plate 61 in FIG. 11 has communication holes 61a of the same diameter spaced along the direction in which the fuel gas flows. The partition plate 62 in FIG. 12 is formed with communication holes 62a whose diameter increases in the fuel gas flow direction at equal intervals, and in each case, the fuel gas flows below the fuel burner. It flows uniformly from the side passage to the upper passage.

13 to 15 are schematic views of another embodiment of the combustion apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 13, the fuel burner 70 and the fuel gas discharge section 71a of the carburetor 71 are at the same level, and the fuel gas discharge is performed. Part 7
1a is arranged so that the fuel gas flows from the fuel gas inlet 70a inside the fuel burner 70.

In FIG. 14, the fuel gas discharge sections of the fuel burner 72 and the carburetor 73 are shown.
Similarly, the fuel gas discharge portion 73a is disposed outside the fuel burner 72, and allows the fuel gas to flow from the supply port 72a outside the fuel burner 72.

In FIG. 15, a partition plate is not provided in the fuel burner 74, and a supply port 74a is formed on the lower side.
The fuel gas is introduced from the fuel gas discharge part 75a of the carburetor 75 arranged at 4a. In any of these embodiments, the fuel gas discharge units 71a, 73 of the vaporizers 71, 73, 75
The discharge direction of the fuel gas from the fuel burners 70, 72, 7
4 is the circumferential direction.

As described above, the arrangement of the fuel burner and the carburetor is performed in consideration of the arrangement space of the device provided with the fuel combustion device.

The fuel burner can be formed in a loop shape such as an elliptical shape or a square shape, in addition to the above-described loop shape.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the combustion portion is formed as a combustion burner having a continuous loop around the entire circumference and provided with an air-fuel mixture ejection portion, and is provided with a fuel gas. Since the direction of discharge of the fuel gas vaporized from the discharge portion to the fuel gas inlet is substantially in the circumferential direction of the loop, a circumferential flow of the fuel gas vaporized by the carburetor is generated, and the combustion burner loop is formed. In this state, the entire circumference is continuous, the length of mixing with the air is increased, and a sufficient and uniform mixing state is obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by heating the catalyst layer and the vaporizer by the combustion section, the size of the distributing apparatus in which the combustion section also serves as the vaporization heater can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell reforming device including the combustion device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a fuel cell reforming device including the combustion device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the combustion apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a plan view of a state where a fuel burner and a carburetor are assembled, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a developed view of the fuel burner, FIG. 9 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the fuel burner, FIG. 12 to 12 are plan views of another embodiment of the partition plate of the fuel burner, and FIGS. 13 to 15 are schematic views of another embodiment of the combustion apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an electric vehicle, 2 denotes a fuel cell device, 3 denotes a storage battery, 4 denotes a raw material tank, 5 denotes a fuel tank, 8 denotes a control device,
9 is a fuel cell, 10 is a fuel cell reformer, 12a is an air inlet, 13 is a catalyst layer, 16 is a heating chamber, 17 is a heating section, 19a is a slit (source gas inlet), and 21 is reforming. Gas outlet, 2
7, 70, 72, 74 is a fuel burner, 27d is a fuel gas inlet, 28 is a combustion part, 36, 71, 73, 75 is a vaporizer, 36a is a heat receiving part, 40 is a vaporization heater, 36b, 71a, 73a, 75a is a fuel gas discharge part, and 36c is a connection part.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-26326 (JP, A) JP-A-61-171530 (JP, A) JP-A-5-501379 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01J 8/02-8/06 H01M 8/06 F02M 27/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A source gas inlet for supplying a source gas from a source gas supply source; and a reformed gas outlet for sending a reformed gas obtained by reacting the supplied source gas by heating to a fuel cell. Having a fuel gas inlet portion, which also serves as an air inlet for taking in air, and to which vaporized fuel gas is supplied,
A combustion section that burns a mixture obtained by mixing the vaporized fuel gas and the introduced air to heat the catalyst layer; a vaporization heater that heats and vaporizes a fuel liquid supplied from a fuel supply source; A reformer for a fuel cell, comprising: a vaporizer having a fuel gas discharge unit for supplying a vaporized fuel gas to the fuel gas inlet. Is formed as a combustion burner provided with an ejection portion of
A combustion apparatus for a reformer for a fuel cell, wherein a direction in which fuel gas vaporized from the fuel gas discharge section is discharged to the fuel gas inlet section is substantially a circumferential direction of a loop. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said catalyst layer and said vaporizer are disposed above said combustion section, and said catalyst section and said vaporizer are heated by said combustion section. 2. The combustion device of the reformer for a fuel cell according to 1.