JP4442170B2 - Solid polymer fuel cell generator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power generator using a solid polymer electrolyte type fuel cell using a polymer membrane as an electrolyte.

  A fuel cell is a device that directly converts chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy, and can achieve high energy efficiency. Among these, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is a fuel cell that uses a polymer membrane as an electrolyte, and has features such as high output density and long battery life.

  PEFC arranges a pair of electrodes with a solid polymer electrolyte membrane (hereinafter also referred to as an electrolyte membrane) in between, and supplies fuel gas containing hydrogen to one electrode (anode side) and the other electrode (cathode side) ) Is supplied with an oxidizing gas containing oxygen, and an electromotive force is obtained by utilizing an electrochemical reaction occurring between the two electrodes. The following equation (1) represents the reaction on the anode side, equation (2) represents the reaction on the cathode side, and the reaction represented by equation (3) proceeds in the entire fuel cell.

H ₂ → 2H ⁺ + 2e ⁻ (1)
1 / 2O ₂ + 2H ⁺ + 2e ⁻ → H ₂ O (2)
_{H 2 + 1 / 2O 2 →} H 2 O ......... (3)
FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional fuel cell power generator using this solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The fuel cell main body 50 includes an electrolyte membrane 51, and a fuel electrode 52 (anode electrode) and an air electrode 53 (cathode electrode) disposed on both sides thereof.

  Air is used as the oxidizing gas to be supplied and is supplied to the air electrode 53 by the air blower 60. The electrolyte membrane 51 is characterized by high ion conductivity in a wet state containing moisture. Generally, high battery characteristics can be obtained by humidifying a reaction gas and supplying it to the battery. For this reason, the water vapor exchanger 70 is provided between the air blower 60 and the air electrode 53 so that the reaction air can be humidified.

  The water vapor exchanger 70 is divided into two chambers via a water vapor exchange membrane 71, and the air from the air blower 60 is humidified in the fuel side gas chamber 72 of the water vapor exchanger 70, After being supplied to the air electrode 53 side, it again enters the circulation side gas chamber 73 of the water vapor exchanger 70, and the water vapor moves from the circulation side gas chamber 73 to the fuel side gas chamber 72 via the water vapor exchange membrane 71. Thus, the water vapor is exchanged.

  On the other hand, as the fuel gas, a hydrocarbon-based raw fuel such as natural gas is used, and this raw fuel is steam reformed by the reformer 80 to generate a reformed gas containing hydrogen. The following equation (4) is a reforming reaction in the reformer 80 when the raw fuel is methane.

CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2 +206.14 KJ / mol ……… (4)
The reformed gas leaving the reformer 80 is supplied to the carbon monoxide converter 81 in order to reduce the carbon monoxide in the reformed gas, and the carbon monoxide is 1% by the reaction of the following formula (5). Reduced to:

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 -41.17 KJ / mol ……… (5)
On the other hand, since the operating temperature of PEFC is as low as 60 to 80 ° C., if carbon monoxide is present in the reformed gas, it becomes a catalyst poison and performance is deteriorated. Therefore, the reformed gas is supplied to the carbon monoxide remover 82 in order to further reduce the carbon monoxide, and after reducing the carbon monoxide to 10 ppm or less by the reaction of the following equation (6), the fuel electrode 52 To be supplied.

CO + 1/2 O2 → CO2 -257.2 KJ / mol ……… (6)
Here, the reformed gas generated by the reformer 80, the carbon monoxide converter 81, and the carbon monoxide remover 82 contains water vapor. This water is water generated by reacting unreacted water in the above formulas (4) and (5) and oxygen introduced in the selective oxidation reaction of carbon monoxide in formula (6) with hydrogen in the reformed gas. It is derived from. In general, the reformed gas is supplied to the fuel electrode 52 while containing the water vapor.

However, the water vapor in the reformed gas contains ionic impurities. The ionic impurities referred to here are those in which metals such as Fe, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Ni, Cu, Zn, Al, Cr, Ti, Mn, Pt, and Ru are cationized, ammonium ions (NH Negative ions such as ₄ ⁺ ), F ⁻ ions, acetate ions, formate ions, Cl ⁻ ions, NO ₂ ⁻ ions, Br ⁻ ions, NO ₃ ⁻ ions, SO ₄ ²⁻ ions, PO ₄ ³⁻ ions, and the like. Ions.

  The source of these ionic impurities is impurities in the fuel gas (methane gas), impurities generated from the reforming catalyst used in the reforming reaction, impurities in the reforming water used in the reforming reaction, reaction of the reformer, etc. It is thought to be impurities generated from the material used for the container.

When water vapor containing these impurities is supplied to the fuel cell, there is a possibility that the cell characteristics are deteriorated. In particular, when a cation exchange membrane is used as the electrolyte membrane, the mixed cation is ion-exchanged with the ion exchange group of the electrolyte membrane and adsorbed on the electrolyte membrane, resulting in a decrease in ionic conductivity. In addition, Cl ⁻ ions may promote radicalization of intermediate organisms generated in the battery reaction, which also promotes decomposition of the electrolyte membrane and decreases the battery life.

  On the other hand, it has been conventionally proposed to separate water vapor in the reformed gas before the reformed gas is supplied to the fuel cell. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses that water vapor in the reformed gas is separated by a water vapor separator such as a pressure swing adsorption device (PSA).

Further, Patent Document 2 is a fuel cell including a fuel cell that receives a supply of fuel gas and oxidant gas and generates DC power, and is provided in the fuel gas supply path. It is disclosed that a fuel reformer for reforming fuel gas is installed below the fuel battery cell to avoid blockage of the gas supply path due to water vapor.
JP 2003-168466 A JP 2003-197245 A

  However, the above-mentioned countermeasure against water vapor in the prior art is to prevent the reaction gas supply path from being blocked by water vapor and the decrease in hydrogen concentration due to water vapor, and the removal of ionic impurities by removal in water vapor has been studied. Not. For this reason, even if it uses said steam separator and fuel reformer as it is, the ionic impurity in steam cannot be removed effectively.

  Further, in the steam separator disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-168466, the separated steam is directly introduced into the reformer, so that the ionic impurities in the reformed gas are further increased. That is, the ionic impurities contained in the water vapor in the reformed gas increase with the operation, and are supplied again to the fuel cell together with the remaining water vapor without being removed, thereby deteriorating the battery characteristics. there were.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator capable of effectively removing ionic impurities in water vapor of the reformed gas. And

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator according to the present invention includes a fuel electrode to which a gas containing hydrogen is supplied and an air electrode to which reaction air is supplied with a solid polymer electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween. A reformer for steam reforming a fuel gas containing a hydrocarbon-based compound to produce a reformed gas containing hydrogen and steam, and the reformed gas on the fuel electrode side In the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator comprising the reformed gas supply means for supplying the reaction air and the reaction air supply means for supplying the reaction air to the air electrode side,
A fuel-side gas chamber through which the reformed gas passes; an air-side gas chamber through which unhumidized reaction air supplied from the reaction air supply means passes; and an ion exchange membrane disposed therebetween. And a water vapor exchanger configured so that water vapor contained in the reformed gas in the fuel side gas chamber passes through the ion exchange membrane and moves to the air side gas chamber ,
The fuel-side gas chamber of the steam exchanger is located in a fuel gas supply path between the reformer and the fuel electrode, and the air-side gas chamber of the steam exchanger includes the reaction air supply means. It arrange | positions so that it may be located in the reaction air supply path | route between the said air electrodes .

  According to the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator of the present invention, in the water vapor exchanger, the water vapor contained in the reformed gas permeates from the fuel side gas chamber through the ion exchange membrane and moves to the air side gas chamber. To do. Thereby, when water vapor permeates the ion exchange membrane, the ionic impurities are ion-exchanged and adsorbed by the ion exchange membrane. Therefore, the amount of ionic impurities mixed in the reformed gas after passing through the fuel side gas chamber can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the ionic impurities are adsorbed by the ion exchange membrane, mixing of the ionic impurities into the reaction air in the air side gas chamber can be prevented.

  Moreover, since the removal of the ionic impurities is performed by the water vapor exchanger, the reaction air can be humidified at the same time. Therefore, a humidifier or a steam exchanger for separately humidifying the air electrode side is unnecessary, and it is possible to simultaneously remove ionic impurities and humidify the reaction air without complicating the apparatus configuration. .

  In the present invention, the ion exchange membrane is preferably a cation exchange membrane having protonated ion exchange groups and / or an anion exchange membrane having hydroxylated ion exchange groups. According to this, the ionic impurities contained in the water vapor of the reformed gas can be efficiently removed. Moreover, since these ion exchange membranes are chemically stable, they can be used for a long time.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a catalyst layer containing a hydrogen combustion catalyst is disposed on at least one side of the ion exchange membrane. According to this, when water vapor permeates through the ion exchange membrane, even when hydrogen gas is accompanied by water vapor and permeates through the ion exchange membrane, the permeated hydrogen can be burned in the hydrogen combustion catalyst in the air side gas chamber. it can. Therefore, it is possible to prevent hydrogen mixed in the reaction air from mixing into the air electrode.

  In addition, depending on the state of the gas introduced into the water vapor exchanger, the reaction air may pass through the ion exchange membrane and reach the fuel side gas chamber. By being consumed by the combustion reaction in the hydrogen combustion catalyst in the chamber, it is possible to prevent air mixed in the fuel gas from mixing into the fuel electrode.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is preferable to further include a humidifying means for humidifying the reformed gas and / or the reaction air after the steam is exchanged by the steam exchanger. According to this, since the reformed gas and / or air after the steam exchange is humidified again by the humidifier and supplied to the fuel cell, the ion conductivity of the electrolyte membrane can be increased. Higher battery characteristics can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively remove ionic impurities contained in the water vapor of the reformed gas by providing the water vapor exchanger for exchanging water vapor between the reformed gas and the reaction air. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the life of the fuel cell due to the deterioration of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and a long-time stable operation is possible.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell of the present invention. In the following description of the embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to substantially the same parts as those in FIG. 5, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a solid polymer fuel cell power generator according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the steam exchanger in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the steam exchanger. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator includes a fuel cell main body 50, a reformer 80 for generating a reformed gas containing hydrogen, and an air blower for supplying reaction air. 60 and a water vapor exchanger 10 for exchanging water vapor between the reformed gas and the reaction air.

  In the fuel cell main body 50, a fuel electrode 52 to which a gas containing hydrogen is supplied and an air electrode 53 to which reaction air is supplied are arranged with an electrolyte membrane 51 interposed therebetween. The fuel cell body 50 is not particularly limited as long as it is a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, and a conventionally known fuel cell can be used.

  As described above, the reformer 80, the carbon monoxide converter 81, and the carbon monoxide remover 82 are provided to take out the reformed gas mainly composed of hydrogen and water vapor from the raw material gas containing the hydrocarbon compound. Conventionally known devices can be used. In the present invention, it is preferable to use a carbon monoxide converter 81 and a carbon monoxide remover 82 in order to sufficiently reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide that can be a catalyst poison for the electrolyte membrane 51. In addition, the air blower 60 which supplies reaction air can use a well-known thing, and is not specifically limited.

  The present invention is characterized in that a steam exchanger 10 is provided for steam exchange between the reformed gas and the reaction air.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the water vapor exchanger 10 includes a fuel side gas chamber 12 through which the reformed gas passes, an air side gas chamber 13 through which reaction air passes, and an ion exchange membrane 11 disposed therebetween. The water vapor contained in the reformed gas in the fuel-side gas chamber 12 passes through the ion exchange membrane 11 and moves to the air-side gas chamber 13.

  Referring also to FIG. 2, in this water vapor exchanger 10, a pair of base materials 14 are arranged with an ion exchange membrane 11 interposed therebetween. Furthermore, both surfaces of the base material 14 are configured to be sandwiched between a pair of separators 17, and the outer peripheral portion of the separator 17 is sealed with a seal portion 15.

  A groove-like gas flow path is formed on the surface of the separator 17 on the ion exchange membrane 11 side, and this gas flow path constitutes a fuel side gas chamber 12 and an air side gas chamber 13. As the separator 17, for example, carbon or SUS material can be used. Further, carbon paper or the like can be used as the base material 14, and fluororubber or the like can be used as the seal portion 15.

  As the ion exchange membrane 11, a hydrocarbon ion exchange membrane or a fluorine ion exchange membrane is preferably used. For example, NEOSEPTA-AMX (trade name: manufactured by Tokuyama) can be used as a hydrocarbon-based anion exchange membrane, and Nafion N-117 (product name: manufactured by DuPont) can be used as a fluorine-based cation exchange membrane. However, it is not limited to these. These cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes may be used alone, or may be used as a composite membrane by overlapping the cation exchange membrane and the anion exchange membrane.

When using a cation exchange membrane, it is preferable to use a proton type in which the counter ion of the ion exchange group is protonated. For example, in the case of the above Nafion N-117, protons are bonded to a sulfone group (—SO ₃ —) that is an ion exchange group to form a proton type of —SO ₃ H. When a proton-type cation exchange membrane is used, a cationic impurity (M1 ⁺ ) undergoes ion exchange with an ion exchange group to become —SO ₃ M, and H ⁺ is separated. By this reaction, the cationic impurities are adsorbed on the ion exchange membrane and can be removed.

On the other hand, when an anion exchange membrane is used, it is preferable to use a hydroxyl group type in which the counter ion of the ion exchange group is a hydroxide ion (OH ⁻ ). For example, when the ion exchange group is methylamine (—N (CH ₃ ) ₃ ⁺ ), ion exchange with a hydroxide ion results in (—N (CH ₃ ) ₃ OH). When an anion exchange membrane ion-exchanged with a hydroxide ion is used, the anionic impurity (M2 ⁻ ) undergoes ion exchange with the ion exchange group (—N (CH ₃ ) ₃ M2), and OH ⁻ is dissociated. To do. By this reaction, the anionic impurities are adsorbed on the ion exchange membrane and can be removed.

  In addition, as a water vapor exchanger used for this invention, it is more preferable to use a structure as shown in FIG. This steam exchanger 10 ′ is different from the steam exchanger 10 described above in that a catalyst layer 16 including a hydrogen combustion catalyst is provided between the ion exchange membrane 11 and the base material 14 disposed on both sides thereof. ing. Examples of the catalyst layer 16 include those in which a hydrogen combustion catalyst is dispersed in a resin or the like, and examples of the hydrogen combustion catalyst include platinum and palladium. The catalyst layer 16 may be provided only on one side of the ion exchange membrane 11 or may be provided on both sides.

  According to this water vapor exchanger 10 ′, when water vapor permeates through the ion exchange membrane, even when hydrogen gas is accompanied by water vapor and permeates through the ion exchange membrane, the permeated hydrogen is used as a hydrogen combustion catalyst in the air side gas chamber. Can be burned. Therefore, it is possible to prevent hydrogen mixed in the reaction air from mixing into the air electrode of the fuel cell.

  In addition, depending on the state of the gas introduced into the water vapor exchanger, the reaction air may pass through the ion exchange membrane and reach the fuel side gas chamber. By being consumed by the combustion reaction in the hydrogen combustion catalyst in the chamber, it is possible to prevent air mixed in the fuel gas from mixing into the fuel electrode of the fuel cell.

Next, the operation of this polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator will be described.
A raw material gas containing a hydrocarbon-based compound such as methane is steam reformed in a reformer 80 to generate a reformed gas containing hydrogen and steam. Further, CO that becomes a catalyst poison in the fuel cell main body 50 is removed to 10 ppm or less by the carbon monoxide converter 81 and the carbon monoxide remover 82, and is introduced into the fuel side gas chamber 12 of the water vapor exchanger 10.

  On the other hand, reaction air is supplied from the air blower 60 and introduced into the air-side gas chamber 13 of the water vapor exchanger 10 in a dry state.

  At this time, in the water vapor exchanger 10, the water vapor contained in the reformed gas passes through the ion exchange membrane 11 and moves to the air in the air side gas chamber. At this time, the movement of the water vapor occurs because a water vapor concentration gradient occurs between the fuel side gas chamber 12 and the air side gas chamber 13.

  Thus, when water vapor passes through the ion exchange membrane 11, the ionic impurities are ion-exchanged and adsorbed by the ion exchange membrane 11. Therefore, the amount of ionic impurities mixed in the reformed gas after passing through the fuel side gas chamber 12 can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the ionic impurities are adsorbed by the ion exchange membrane 11, the ionic impurities are not mixed into the reaction air on the air side gas chamber 13 side.

  The amount of ionic impurities contained in the reformed gas varies depending on the type of impurity ions. For example, in the case of iron ions, battery characteristics are adversely affected on the order of several hundred ppm. Iron ions are adsorbed on the electrolyte membrane 51 of the battery, and promote the reaction of generating OH radicals from peroxide generated by electrolytic reaction or the like. Since this OH radical decomposes the electrolyte membrane 51, a hole is opened in the electrolyte membrane 51, a cross leak occurs between the electrodes, and the battery characteristics are deteriorated. For this reason, in this invention, it is preferable to perform water vapor | steam exchange so that the iron ion density | concentration after the water vapor exchanger 10 may be 10 ppm or less.

  Further, for example, in the case of sodium ions, it is adsorbed on the electrolyte membrane 51 to reduce the proton conductivity of the membrane, thereby reducing the battery characteristics. When this sodium ion is contained in the battery in several percent, battery characteristics are adversely affected. Therefore, it is preferable to perform water vapor exchange so that the sodium ion concentration after the water vapor exchanger 10 is 10 ppm or less.

  The water vapor exchange amount varies depending on the film thickness of the ion exchange membrane, the ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange membrane, the gas contact area, etc., and can be set as appropriate. Thus, the amount of ionic impurities in the reformed gas can be reduced by 10 to 80% depending on the amount of water vapor exchange.

  As described above, the reformed gas dehumidified by the water vapor exchanger 10 is supplied to the fuel electrode 52 of the fuel cell, and the air humidified by the water vapor exchanger 10 is supplied to the air electrode 53 of the fuel cell. Power generation is performed by the battery body 50. In this polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator, since ionic impurities are removed, deterioration of battery characteristics over time can be prevented over a long period of time, and the battery life can be extended.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration diagram of another embodiment of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator of the present invention.

  This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in that humidifiers 20 and 30 for humidifying the reformed gas and the reaction air are respectively provided after the steam exchanger 10.

  The humidifier 20 provided on the reformed gas side is divided into two chambers via a water vapor exchange membrane 71, and the reformed gas is humidified in the fuel side gas chamber 23, so that the fuel cell main body 50 has a fuel electrode 52 side. Then, the gas enters the circulation side gas chamber 22 of the humidifier 20 again. As a result, the water vapor is transferred from the circulation side gas chamber 22 to the fuel side gas chamber 22 via the water vapor exchange membrane 21, whereby the water vapor is exchanged. The humidifier 30 on the reaction air side has the same configuration as described above, and the steam is exchanged by the steam moving from the circulation side gas chamber 30 to the fuel side gas chamber 32 through the steam exchange membrane 31. Is called.

  As a specific configuration of the humidifiers 20 and 30, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. 2 can be used. As the water vapor exchange membrane 31, for example, Nafion N-117 (trade name, manufactured by DuPont) can be used.

  According to this embodiment, the reformed gas and / or air after the steam exchange is humidified again by the humidifiers 20 and 30 and supplied to the fuel cell, so that the ion conductivity of the electrolyte membrane 51 is increased. Therefore, higher battery characteristics can be obtained.

  The humidifiers 20 and 30 are not limited to the above structure, and for example, a humidifier of a type that does not circulate gas may be used. It is also possible to humidify using liquid water such as fuel cell cooling water. In addition, both the humidifiers 20 and 30 may be provided as shown in FIG. 4, or only one of them may be provided.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.

Example 1
The reformed gas was introduced into the steam exchanger and the composition of the reformed gas and the air before and after the steam exchanger was measured using a polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator configured as shown in FIG. In addition, the steam exchanger having the structure shown in FIG. 2 is used, Nafion N-117 (trade name, manufactured by DuPont) having a contact area of 100 cm ² is used as the ion exchange membrane, and carbon paper (product) is used as the substrate. Name: TGP-H-60, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.). The gas flow was performed under the conditions of reformed gas 3 L / min and air 12 L / min. The results are summarized in Table 1.

  The reformed gas before introduction into the steam exchanger contained a steam component with a dew point of 60 ° C. and 50 ppm of iron ions, but the dew point after introduction of the steam exchanger decreased to 30 ° C. and the iron ion concentration was It turns out that it is reduced to 1/5. Note that no change was observed in the hydrogen concentration before and after the steam exchanger.

  On the other hand, the reaction air had a dew point of 5 ° C. before introduction into the steam exchanger, but the dew point after introduction of the steam exchanger rose to 30 ° C. The iron ion concentration does not change from 0 ppm before and after the steam exchanger. From the above, it can be seen that the iron ions contained in the reformed gas are adsorbed and removed by the steam exchanger.

Example 2
Using the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator of Example 1, changes over time in battery performance were measured. As a comparative example, a change in battery performance with time was measured under the same conditions using a solid polymer fuel cell power generator having a conventional configuration shown in FIG. The results are summarized in FIG.

  The fuel cell body uses Nafion N-117 (trade name, manufactured by DuPont) as a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and a catalyst layer (cathode side: platinum-supported carbon catalyst, anode side: platinum-ruthenium alloy) on both sides thereof. A supported carbon catalyst) was placed. In the catalyst layer, a solid polymer electrolyte resin for effectively utilizing the catalyst was mixed. A gas diffusion layer (trade name: TGP-H-60, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) made of carbon paper was disposed outside each catalyst layer, and these were joined to form MEA. And this MEA was inserted | pinched with a pair of separator (The flat plate which consists of a gas-impermeable carbon board and the gas flow path was processed), and comprised the battery cell.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the comparative example, since ionic impurities in the reformed gas cannot be removed, the ionic impurities are adsorbed and accumulated in the battery, and the battery characteristics are drastically reduced in operation 20000 hours. became. On the other hand, in Example 2, the battery characteristics were not deteriorated even when the operation exceeded 40000 hours.

  The present invention can be suitably used as a solid polymer electrolyte type fuel cell power generator using a polymer membrane as an electrolyte.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view which shows one Embodiment of the water vapor exchanger in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view showing other embodiments of a steam exchanger. It is a schematic block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator. It is a graph which shows the result of the battery life test in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Steam exchanger 11 Ion exchange membrane 12 Fuel side gas chamber 13 Air side gas chamber 14 Base material 15 Sealing part 16 Catalyst layer 17 Separator 20, 30 Humidifiers 21, 31 Steam exchange membranes 22, 32 Circulation side gas chambers 23, 33 Fuel side gas chamber 50 Fuel cell body 51 Electrolyte membrane 52 Fuel electrode 53 Air electrode 60 Air blower 80 Reformer 81 Carbon monoxide transformer 82 Carbon monoxide remover

Claims (4)

A fuel cell body in which a fuel electrode to which a gas containing hydrogen is supplied and an air electrode to which reaction air is supplied is disposed across a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and a fuel gas containing a hydrocarbon compound is steam-modified. A reformer for generating a reformed gas containing hydrogen and water vapor, a reformed gas supply means for supplying the reformed gas to the fuel electrode side, and a supply of the reaction air to the air electrode side In a polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator equipped with a reaction air supply means,
A fuel-side gas chamber through which the reformed gas passes; an air-side gas chamber through which unhumidized reaction air supplied from the reaction air supply means passes; and an ion exchange membrane disposed therebetween. And a water vapor exchanger configured so that water vapor contained in the reformed gas in the fuel side gas chamber passes through the ion exchange membrane and moves to the air side gas chamber ,
The fuel-side gas chamber of the steam exchanger is located in a fuel gas supply path between the reformer and the fuel electrode, and the air-side gas chamber of the steam exchanger includes the reaction air supply means. A polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator, which is disposed so as to be positioned in a reaction air supply path between the air electrode and the air electrode .   The polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator according to claim 1, wherein the ion exchange membrane is a cation exchange membrane having protonated ion exchange groups and / or an anion exchange membrane having hydroxylated ion exchange groups. .   The polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a catalyst layer containing a hydrogen combustion catalyst is disposed on at least one surface of the ion exchange membrane.   The polymer electrolyte fuel cell power generation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising humidifying means for humidifying the reformed gas and / or the reaction air after the water vapor is exchanged by the water vapor exchanger. apparatus.

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