JP4730019B2 - Humidifier - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a humidifier, and more particularly to a humidifier using a hollow fiber membrane suitable for humidifying a gas supplied to a fuel cell.

  The fuel cell has a structure in which an anode and a cathode are arranged with an electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween. Then, when a fuel gas such as hydrogen is brought into contact with the anode and an oxidizing gas such as oxygen is brought into contact with the cathode, an electrochemical reaction occurs between both electrodes to generate an electromotive force.

  In such a fuel cell, it is necessary to humidify the fuel gas and the oxidizing gas before supplying them to the anode and the cathode. For this reason, conventionally, a hollow fiber module has been used as a humidifier for a fuel cell.

  The hollow fiber module has a configuration in which a bundle of hollow fiber membranes is accommodated in a cylindrical housing, separates moisture from the wet gas flowing inside the hollow fiber membrane, and generates dry gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane. It is to be humidified.

  In the conventional hollow fiber module, the introduction pipe and the lead-out pipe for the dry gas are arranged so that the line connecting them is parallel to the central axis of the housing. Here, the dry gas introduced into the hollow fiber module tends to flow by taking the shortest distance from the introduction pipe to the outlet pipe. For this reason, the dry gas was concentrated in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion in the hollow fiber module. On the other hand, when the dry gas flows between the hollow fiber membranes, the pressure loss increases toward the center of the bundle of hollow fiber membranes. Therefore, the dry gas does not flow evenly between the hollow fiber membranes, and the flow rate is greatly reduced as it approaches the center.

  For this reason, in the conventional hollow fiber module, the flow of dry gas is biased near the outer periphery of the bundle of hollow fiber membranes, so that moisture cannot be exchanged in the entire area of the hollow fiber module and the efficiency is poor. There was a problem.

  To solve this problem, a hollow fiber module has been proposed in which an inflow hole and an outflow hole for dry gas are formed at positions on the outer peripheral surface of the housing that are substantially diagonal (see Patent Document 1). According to this hollow fiber module, moisture exchange between the dry gas and the wet gas can be performed in substantially the entire area of the module.

JP-T 2004-241227 JP 2004-202478 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-066662

  However, in the hollow fiber module described in Patent Document 1, since the inflow hole and the outflow hole are provided at positions that are substantially diagonal on the outer peripheral surface, the dry gas draws a diagonal line across the bundle of hollow fiber membranes. Flow. Furthermore, as described above, since the pressure loss between the hollow fiber membranes increases, the dry gas easily flows outside the bundle of hollow fiber membranes, not between the hollow fiber membranes. Therefore, even in the hollow fiber module described in Patent Document 1, a problem arises that the flow of the dry gas is uneven, and the efficiency of moisture exchange with the wet gas cannot be sufficiently improved. was there.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems. In other words, an object of the present invention is to provide a humidifying device having good moisture exchange efficiency between a dry gas and a wet gas.

  Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

The humidifying device of the present invention is a humidifying device comprising a plurality of hollow fiber membranes and a container for dispersing and storing the plurality of hollow fiber membranes in parallel along the longitudinal direction, the container being a container A first gas inlet provided on the outer peripheral surface into which the first gas flows, a first gas outlet provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container through which the first gas flows out, and in the longitudinal direction of the container Provided on either one of the two end faces, the second gas inlet into which the second gas flows, and on one of the two end faces, provided on an end face different from the second gas inlet. The second gas outlet from which the second gas flows out, and the first partition plate, the second partition plate, the third partition plate and the second partition plate arranged in parallel between the both end faces along the longitudinal direction of the container. 4 partition plates. The first gas inflow port is connected to a space formed by the first partition plate and the second partition plate. The first gas outlet is connected to a space formed by the third partition plate and the fourth partition plate. The plurality of hollow fiber membranes penetrate through the second partition plate and the third partition plate, and end portions are exposed from the first partition plate and the fourth partition plate. Further, the second partition plate is provided with a first through-hole into which the first gas flows , at a position interposed between the plurality of hollow fiber membranes, and the third partition plate includes: A second through-hole through which the first gas flows out is provided at a position interposed between the plurality of hollow fiber membranes .

  In the humidifying device of the present invention, the space formed by the second partition plate and the third partition plate is the space formed by the first partition plate and the second partition plate, the third partition plate, and the fourth partition plate. It is preferable to be larger than the space formed by the partition plate.

  In the humidifying device of the present invention, it is preferable that the first through hole and the second through hole are provided in a plural number and an equal amount in each of the second partition plate and the third partition plate.

  Furthermore, in the humidifying device of the present invention, the second gas outflow hole is provided on one end surface adjacent to the first partition plate in the both end surfaces of the container, and the second gas inflow hole is formed by the fourth gas It is preferable to be provided on the other end surface adjacent to the partition plate.

  According to the humidifier of the present invention, the first gas flowing in from the first gas inflow port diffuses in the space formed by the first partition plate and the second partition plate, and then first penetrates. It flows from the hole into a space formed by the second partition plate and the third partition plate. After that, after moving from the second through hole to the space formed by the third partition plate and the fourth partition plate, it flows out from the first gas outlet to the outside of the container. Therefore, as compared with the case where the inlet and outlet of the dry gas are provided in the same space, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of bias in the flow of the dry gas in each space. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the utilization of the hollow fiber membrane than before and to improve the efficiency of moisture exchange between the dry gas and the wet gas.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the humidifier according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the humidifier 1 includes a plurality of hollow fiber membranes 2 and a container 3 that stores the hollow fiber membranes 2 in the longitudinal direction. Here, the hollow fiber membrane 2 forms a bundle of hollow fiber membranes by collecting a plurality of hollow fiber membranes.

  The outer peripheral surface 4 of the container 3 is provided with a first gas inlet 5 through which the first gas flows and a first gas outlet 6 through which the first gas flows out. In FIG. 1, the first gas outlet 6 is provided at a position that is substantially diagonal to the first gas inlet 5 of the outer peripheral surface 4, but the present invention is limited to this. is not. For example, the first gas outlet 6 may be provided on the outer peripheral surface immediately above the first gas inlet 5. However, in order to make the flow of the first gas in the entire region in the container 3 as uniform as possible, the structure of FIG. 1 is preferable.

  Further, a second gas inflow port 8 into which the second gas flows is provided at one end surface 7 of the container 3, and a second gas from which the second gas flows out at the other end surface 9. An outlet 10 is provided.

  Further, the container 3 includes a first partition plate 11, a second partition plate 12, a third partition plate 13, and a fourth partition plate 14. As shown in FIG. 1, these are arranged in parallel between the end surface 7 and the end surface 9 along the longitudinal direction of the container 3. The first gas inlet 5 is connected to the space 15 formed by the first partition plate 11 and the second partition plate 12, and the first gas outlet 6 is the third partition plate. 13 and the fourth partition plate 14 are connected to a space 16. Further, the hollow fiber membrane 2 passes through the second partition plate 12 and the third partition plate 13. And from the 1st partition plate 11 and the 4th partition plate 14, the edge part of the hollow fiber membrane 2 is exposed (In addition, in FIG. 1, only the edge part 2a exposed from the 4th partition plate 14 is exposed. It is shown.).

  The second partition plate 12 is provided with a first through hole 17 into which the first gas flows. Further, the third partition plate 13 is provided with a second through hole 18 through which the first gas flows out.

  For example, the first gas is a dry gas and the second gas is a wet gas.

  The dry gas that has flowed into the container 3 from the first gas inflow hole 5 passes through the space 15 and from the first through hole 17 to the space 19 formed by the second partition plate 12 and the third partition plate 13. Flow into. Thereafter, after moving from the second through hole 18 to the space 16, the gas flows out of the container 3 through the first gas outlet 6.

  On the other hand, the wet gas that has flowed into the container 3 from the second gas inlet 8 enters the hollow fiber membrane 2 from the end 2 a of the hollow fiber membrane exposed from the fourth partition plate 14. Inside the hollow fiber membrane 2, moisture in the wet gas is separated by capillary action. The separated moisture passes through the capillary of the hollow fiber membrane 2 and moves outward. And when a dry gas flows into the space outside the hollow fiber membrane 2, moisture is humidified over the dry gas. The wet gas that has passed through the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 2 is discharged from the second gas outlet 10 to the outside of the container 3.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the dry gas flows in from the first gas inflow port 5 and flows out of the first gas outflow port 6 until the space 15 and the space 19 are discharged. And the space 16 are moved in order.

  That is, the dry gas first flows into the space 15 from the first gas inlet 5. Next, after diffusing in the space 15, it flows into the adjacent space 19. Here, since the first through hole 17 is provided between the space 15 and the space 19, the dry gas flows into the space 19 through the first through hole 17. Thereby, the dry gas can be guided to the space 19 without being influenced by the distance between the inlet and the outlet and the pressure loss of the hollow fiber membrane. In particular, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to provide a plurality of first through holes 17 in the second partition plate 12 equally. By doing in this way, dry gas can be made to flow in the whole space 19. FIG.

  The dry gas that has flowed into the space 19 then moves to the adjacent space 16. Again, since the second through hole 18 is provided between the space 19 and the space 16, the dry gas flows into the space 18 through the second through hole 18. And it is discharged | emitted from the 1st gas outflow port 6 connected to the space 18 to the exterior of the humidification apparatus 1. FIG.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the drying gas inlet and the outlet are provided in different spaces. Therefore, as compared with the case where the inflow port and the outflow port are provided in the same space, it is possible to suppress a deviation in the flow of the dry gas in each space. That is, according to the humidifier of the present embodiment, the flow of the dry gas can be prevented from being biased near the outer periphery of the hollow fiber membrane, and the dry gas can flow evenly between the hollow fiber membranes. Thereby, since dry air comes to flow outside each hollow fiber membrane, it is possible to improve the efficiency with which moisture moves from the hollow fiber membrane to the dry air. That is, it is possible to improve the efficiency of moisture exchange between the dry gas and the wet gas by increasing the utilization of the hollow fiber membrane than before.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of unevenness in the flow of the dry gas in the space 19 in particular. This is because neither the first gas inlet 5 nor the first gas outlet 6 is connected to the space 19. Therefore, by increasing the volume of the space 19 compared to the space 15 and the space 16, it is possible to further increase the efficiency of moisture exchange.

  In the present embodiment, the second through holes 18 are also preferably provided in a plurality and evenly in the third partition plate 13. In particular, it is preferable that the through holes constituting the first through hole 17 and the second through hole 18 are provided so as to face each other. By doing in this way, the dry gas which permeate | transmitted the 1st through-hole 17 permeate | transmits the corresponding 2nd through-hole 18, without changing a flow significantly. That is, since the flow of the dry air flowing into and out of each through hole can be made parallel to each other, it is possible to prevent a new bias from occurring in the flow of the dry gas in the space 19.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the second gas inlet 8 is provided on the end face 7 and the second gas outlet 10 is provided on the end face 9, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, the second gas outlet may be provided on the end face 7 and the second gas inlet may be provided on the end face 9. However, it is preferable that the flow of the first gas and the flow of the second gas are opposite to each other from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of moisture exchange. According to the above-described “configuration in which the first through hole 17 and the second through hole 18 are opposed to each other”, the flow of the first gas (dry gas) is the second gas (wet gas). ) In parallel and in the opposite direction.

  In the present invention, it is also possible to apply the example of FIG. 1 using the first gas as the wet gas and the second gas as the dry gas. In this case, the wet gas flows outside the hollow fiber membrane, and the dry gas flows inside the hollow fiber membrane. And the water | moisture content isolate | separated from the wet gas moves to the inside of a hollow fiber membrane, Then, it passes to dry gas in a hollow fiber membrane. According to the humidifying device 1 shown in FIG. 1, since the unevenness of the wet gas flowing in the container 3 is minimized, the utilization of the hollow fiber membrane 2 is increased and the moisture between the dry gas and the wet gas is increased. It becomes possible to make the exchange efficiency good.

  Furthermore, the humidifier of the present embodiment can be used as a humidifier for a system that supplies gas to the cathode of the fuel cell using air as the dry gas and cathode off-gas as the wet gas. Alternatively, the dry gas may be hydrogen or a hydrogen-rich reformed gas, the wet gas may be an anode off gas, and the humidifier of a system that supplies gas to the anode of the fuel cell.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which the humidifier of the present invention is applied to a fuel cell system.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fuel cell system 101 includes a fuel cell 102 that generates an electromotive force by being supplied with hydrogen as fuel gas and air as an oxidizing gas, and a compressor 103 that supplies compressed air to the fuel cell 102. And a humidifier 104 that separates moisture contained in the cathode off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 102 and humidifies the air supplied to the fuel cell 102, and adjusts the pressure of the air supplied from the compressor 103 to the fuel cell 102 And a pressure regulating valve 105. Here, the humidifier 104 corresponds to the humidifier of FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the fuel gas flow control for controlling the fuel gas to be supplied to the anode of the fuel cell 102, for example, the fuel gas supply system, and the fuel gas supply amount from the fuel gas supply system is optimized. Equipment etc. are omitted. Further, this fuel cell system can be applied to various uses such as in-vehicle use and stationary type.

  The fuel cell 102 has a structure in which cells (not shown) that generate electricity by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen are stacked. Here, each cell has a structure in which an anode and a cathode are arranged across an electrolyte membrane.

  Air pressurized by the compressor 103 is supplied to the cathode. Then, after a predetermined amount of oxygen is consumed from the air by an electrochemical reaction in the fuel cell 102, the remaining gas is discharged as a cathode off gas.

  The humidifier 104 functions to separate the moisture in the cathode offgas discharged from the fuel cell 102 and humidify the air supplied to the fuel cell 102. As a result, the water content of the electrolyte membrane in the fuel cell 102 can be properly managed, and the electrolyte membrane can function normally. The cathode off-gas discharged from the humidifier 104 is discharged from the fuel cell system 101 through the pressure regulating valve 105.

  According to the humidifier of the present embodiment, it is possible to increase the utilization of the hollow fiber membrane than before and improve the efficiency of moisture exchange between the dry gas and the wet gas. Can be efficiently passed to the air. In other words, according to the humidifying device of the present invention, the utilization of the hollow fiber membrane can be improved as compared with the conventional one, so that it is possible to achieve a reduction in size, weight and cost as compared with the conventional humidifying device. Become. Therefore, it can be set as the humidification apparatus especially suitable for the vehicle-mounted fuel cell system.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the humidifier of the present invention can be applied to a dryer for an analyzer. Also in this case, it is possible to reduce the size, weight and cost of the apparatus.

It is a cross-sectional perspective view of the humidification apparatus by this invention. It is an example of the block diagram of the fuel cell system to which the humidification apparatus of this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Humidifier 2 Hollow fiber membrane 3 Container 4 Outer peripheral surface 5 1st gas inflow port 6 1st gas outflow port 7,9 End surface 8 2nd gas inflow port 10 2nd gas outflow port 11 1st partition plate DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 2nd partition plate 13 3rd partition plate 14 4th partition plate 15, 16, 19 Space 17 1st through-hole 18 2nd through-hole 101 Fuel cell system 102 Fuel cell 103 Compressor 104 Humidifier 105 Conditioning Pressure valve

Claims (4)

A plurality of hollow fiber membranes;
In a humidifying device comprising a container for dispersing and storing the plurality of hollow fiber membranes in parallel along the longitudinal direction,
The container is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container, and a first gas inlet into which the first gas flows,
A first gas outlet provided on the outer peripheral surface from which the first gas flows out;
A second gas inflow port that is provided on any one of both end faces in the longitudinal direction and into which the second gas flows;
A second gas outlet from which one of the both end faces is provided at an end face different from the second gas inlet and from which the second gas flows;
A first partition plate, a second partition plate, a third partition plate, and a fourth partition plate that are arranged in parallel between the both end faces along the longitudinal direction;
The first gas inlet is connected to a space formed by the first partition plate and the second partition plate,
The first gas outlet is connected to a space formed by the third partition plate and the fourth partition plate;
The plurality of hollow fiber membranes pass through the second partition plate and the third partition plate, and have exposed end portions from the first partition plate and the fourth partition plate,
In the second partition plate, a first through hole into which the first gas flows is provided at a position interposed between the plurality of hollow fiber membranes ,
The humidifying device, wherein the third partition plate is provided with a second through hole through which the first gas flows out at a position interposed between the plurality of hollow fiber membranes .   The space formed by the second partition plate and the third partition plate is the space formed by the first partition plate and the second partition plate, the third partition plate, and the fourth partition plate. The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the humidifier is larger than a space formed by the partition plate.   3. The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the first through hole and the second through hole are provided in plural and equally on each of the second partition plate and the third partition plate. The second gas outflow hole is provided on one end surface of the both end surfaces adjacent to the first partition plate,
The humidification device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second gas inflow hole is provided on the other end surface adjacent to the fourth partition plate.

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