JP5656024B2 - Moving body - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving body equipped with a fuel cell system.

  For example, a fuel cell system mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile has a fuel cell that generates electricity by electrochemically reacting a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas.

  The fuel cell is connected to an exhaust pipe for discharging the exhaust gas after the reaction to the outside. The exhaust pipe is provided with a gas valve for controlling the exhaust gas and a muffler that is a silencer.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-066909

  By the way, when the vehicle as described above is started in a low temperature environment, for example, the muffler is frozen, and the muffler function may be remarkably deteriorated for a long time.

  Patent Document 1 describes a fuel cell system housing provided with an integrated condenser / silencer that is provided in fluid communication with the inside of a stack module to improve heat insulation. In this case, the module structure in the vehicle becomes large. When the module structure is enlarged, the degree of freedom of the installation location of various devices in the vehicle is lowered, which is not preferable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a moving body such as a vehicle that quickly recovers the muffler muffler function at the time of low-temperature startup while avoiding an increase in the size of the module structure. Objective.

  The present invention for achieving the above object is a mobile body equipped with a fuel cell system, and includes a fuel cell and a muffler through which gas discharged from the fuel cell passes. The refrigerant flowing in the fuel cell is installed in such a direction that it flows from one side to the other side in the front-rear direction of the moving body, and the muffler is disposed in close proximity to the other side of the fuel cell in parallel with the fuel cell. It is what.

  According to the present invention, since the fuel cell and the muffler are separately arranged, it is possible to avoid an increase in the module structure of the moving body. In addition, since the muffler is arranged in parallel and close to the other side which is the downstream side of the refrigerant of the fuel cell, the entire muffler is close to the high temperature side of the fuel cell, and the muffler muffler function at low temperature startup Can be recovered quickly.

  The moving body further includes an auxiliary device provided on the upstream side of the muffler, for discharging the gas discharged from the fuel cell to the outside of the moving body, and the auxiliary device is arranged in a horizontal direction of the moving body. The fuel cell may be adjacent to a side surface of the fuel cell. In such a case, since the auxiliary machine is adjacent to the side surface of the fuel cell, the auxiliary machine and the muffler are also close, and the configuration of the fuel cell, the auxiliary machine, and the muffler can be made compact. In addition, since the length of the gas flow path between the auxiliary machine that can be a noise generation source and the muffler can be shortened, the silencing efficiency can be improved.

  The auxiliary machine may have a gas valve that controls a flow of gas discharged from the fuel cell.

  The fuel cell may be installed such that the refrigerant flows from the front side to the rear side of the moving body, and the muffler may be arranged on the rear side of the fuel cell.

  The fuel cell may be mounted under the floor of the moving body.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the muffling function of the muffler at the time of low temperature starting can be recovered rapidly, avoiding the enlargement of the module structure of a moving body.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of a fuel cell system. It is a schematic diagram which shows the flow path structure of the cooling water in a fuel cell. It is explanatory drawing which shows the fuel cell vehicle which has a fuel cell under the floor. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of a fuel cell vehicle showing an arrangement of mufflers.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a fuel cell system 1 provided in a fuel cell vehicle as a moving body according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell system 1 includes a fuel cell 10 that generates power upon receiving supply of reaction gases (oxidizing gas and fuel gas), and air that supplies and exhausts air as oxidizing gas to the fuel cell 10. A piping system 11 and a hydrogen gas piping system 12 for supplying and exhausting hydrogen gas as fuel gas to the fuel cell 10 are provided.

  The fuel cell 10 has a cell stack 21 formed by stacking a plurality of single cells 20 that generate power upon receiving a reaction gas. A pair of end plates 22 are provided at both ends of the fuel cell 10.

  The air gas piping system 11 sends a humidifier 30, an air supply passage 31 for supplying the air humidified by the humidifier 30 to the fuel cell 10, and exhaust air discharged from the fuel cell 10 to the humidifier 30, and then An air discharge channel 32 for discharging to the outside is provided. The air supply channel 31 is provided with a compressor 34 that takes in air in the atmosphere and pumps it to the humidifier 30. In the air discharge channel 32, for example, an air valve 35 for controlling the exhaust air and a muffler 36 for silencing are provided. In addition, the air supply passage 31 and the air discharge passage 32 are provided with, for example, a pressure sensor and a pressure regulating valve (not shown).

  The hydrogen gas piping system 12 includes a hydrogen tank 40 as a fuel supply source that stores high-pressure (for example, 70 MPa) hydrogen gas, and a hydrogen gas supply passage 41 for supplying the hydrogen gas in the hydrogen tank 40 to the fuel cell 10. A circulation passage 42 for returning the hydrogen off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 to the hydrogen gas supply passage 41 is provided.

  In the hydrogen gas supply channel 41, a shutoff valve 43 that functions as a main valve of the hydrogen tank 40 and shuts off or allows the supply of hydrogen gas from the hydrogen tank 40 to the fuel cell 10 side, and the hydrogen gas pressure is preset. A regulator 44 for reducing the secondary pressure to the secondary pressure and an injector 45 for adjusting the flow rate and gas pressure of the hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell 10 with high accuracy are provided.

  The circulation channel 42 is provided with, for example, an ion exchanger 46 that removes water and impurities from the hydrogen off gas, and a hydrogen pump 47 that pressurizes the hydrogen off gas in the circulation channel 42 and pumps it to the hydrogen gas supply channel 41 side. It has been. The ion exchanger 46 is connected to a discharge channel 48 for discharging water separated by the ion exchanger 46 and a part of the hydrogen off-gas to the outside. The discharge flow path 48 is provided with a discharge control valve 49 that controls the discharge of water and part of the hydrogen off-gas from the ion exchanger 46.

  The fuel cell system 1 includes a cooling system 60 that cools the fuel cell 10. The cooling system 60 includes a cooling device 70 that circulates cooling water as a refrigerant at a predetermined temperature, a cooling water supply passage 71 that supplies cooling water from the cooling device 70 to the fuel cell 10, and cooling that has passed through the fuel cell 10. A cooling water return passage 72 for returning water to the cooling device 70 is provided.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the fuel cell 10 is connected to a cooling water supply passage 71, and the vicinity of one side surface 10 a of the fuel cell 10 is directed toward the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10 (the stacking direction of the cell stack 21). A first flow path 80 that passes through, and a second flow path 81 that passes through the vicinity of the other side surface 10b of the fuel cell 10 in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10 and communicates with the cooling water return flow path 72; A third flow path 82 for passing cooling water from the first flow path 80 to the second flow path 81 in the lateral direction (perpendicular to the longitudinal direction) of the fuel cell 10 is provided for each of the 21 single cells. Yes. Therefore, the cooling system 60 supplies the cooling water to the cooling device 70, the cooling water supply channel 71, the first channel 80, the third channel 82, the second channel 81, the cooling water return channel 72, The fuel cell 10 can be cooled by circulating the cooling device 70 in order.

  When the fuel cell system 1 is activated and power generation is performed, hydrogen gas is supplied from the hydrogen tank 40 shown in FIG. 1 to the fuel cell 10 through the hydrogen gas supply channel 41, and the fuel cell 10 is supplied through the air supply channel 31. Air is supplied to In the fuel cell 10, electric power is generated by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen gas and air. The hydrogen off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 flows through the circulation flow path 42, a part is returned to the hydrogen gas supply flow path 41 through the ion exchanger 46, and a part is discharged through the discharge flow path 48. Further, the exhaust air discharged from the fuel cell 10 flows through the air discharge passage 32, passes through the humidifier 30, and is discharged to the outside through the muffler 36.

  Next, a fuel cell vehicle equipped with the fuel cell system 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the fuel cell 10 is disposed below the floor A of the fuel cell vehicle 100, and a muffler 36 is disposed adjacent to the fuel cell 10 behind the fuel cell 10.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the fuel cell 10 is installed in such a direction that cooling water flowing in the fuel cell 10 flows from the front side to the rear side of the fuel cell vehicle 100. That is, the fuel cell 10 is installed such that the first flow path 80 of the cooling water is on the front side, the second flow path 81 is on the rear side, and the third flow path 82 is directed from the front to the rear. As the cooling water flows downstream, heat is taken in and the temperature rises and the cooling capacity is lowered. Therefore, when the fuel cell 10 is started, the rear side of the fuel cell 10 becomes a higher temperature portion than the front side.

  Auxiliary machinery 110 is disposed close to the side surface of the fuel cell 10 in the left-right direction of the fuel cell vehicle 100, and the auxiliary machinery 110 is connected to the end plate 22 of the fuel cell 10. The auxiliary equipment 110 is for exhausting air from the fuel cell 10, for example. In the present embodiment, the auxiliary equipment 110 includes, for example, the humidifier 30 of the fuel cell system 1 and the auxiliary equipment of the air valve 35. ing.

  The muffler 36 is disposed close to the rear of the fuel cell 10 and is disposed in parallel with the fuel cell 10. Accordingly, the muffler 36 is disposed in the vicinity of the high temperature portion of the fuel cell 10. The muffler 36 has a structure in which, for example, a cylindrical non-woven fabric is provided in a cylindrical stainless steel or resin pipeline. The distance between the fuel cell 10 and the muffler 36 is preferably 10 cm or less.

  The muffler 36 and the auxiliary device 110 are connected by a connection pipe 120 that forms a part of the air discharge channel 32. On the downstream side of the muffler 36, a pipe 121 that constitutes a part of the air discharge channel 32 and communicates with the outside of the vehicle is connected.

  According to the present embodiment, since the fuel cell 10 and the muffler 36 are separately arranged, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the module structure in the vehicle. Further, since the muffler 36 is disposed in parallel and close to the rear side surface of the fuel cell 10, the entire muffler 36 is close to the portion on the high temperature side of the fuel cell 10, and the muffler 36 is heated by the heat of the fuel cell 10 at low temperature startup. Will be thawed. Therefore, the mute function of the muffler 36 at the time of starting at a low temperature can be quickly recovered.

  The fuel cell vehicle 100 is provided on the upstream side of the muffler 36, and includes auxiliary equipment 110 (humidifier 30 and air valve 35) for discharging gas exhausted from the fuel cell 10 to the outside. Are arranged in close proximity to the lateral side surface of the fuel cell 10. In this case, the fuel cell 10, the auxiliary machinery 110, and the muffler 36 are close to each other, and the configuration of the fuel cell 10, the auxiliary machinery 110, and the muffler 36 can be made compact. Further, since the length of the gas flow path between the auxiliary equipment 110 that can be a noise generation source and the muffler 36 can be shortened, the silencing efficiency can be improved.

  Since the fuel cell 10 is mounted under the floor of the fuel cell vehicle 100, the arrangement of the fuel cell 10, the muffler 36, and the auxiliary machinery 110 can be suitably realized. Moreover, the collision safety performance can be improved and the maneuverability can be improved by lowering the center of gravity of the vehicle.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various modifications or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the idea described in the claims, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the fuel cell 10 is installed so that the cooling water flows from the front side to the rear side of the fuel cell vehicle 100, and the muffler 36 is arranged on the rear side of the fuel cell 10. The fuel cell 10 may be installed so that the cooling water flows from the rear side to the front side of the fuel cell vehicle 100, and the muffler 36 may be arranged on the front side of the fuel cell 10. Also in this case, the muffler 36 is close to the high temperature side portion of the fuel cell 10 and the muffler 36 can be quickly restored to the muffler 36 when the low temperature is started.

  Further, for example, the flow path configuration of the cooling water in the fuel cell 10 in the above embodiment may have other configurations. The auxiliary equipment 110 disposed on the side surface of the fuel cell 10 may be a device other than the air valve 35 and the humidifier 30, and includes other devices other than the air valve 35 and the humidifier 30. It may be. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to various mobile objects (for example, ships, airplanes, robots, etc.) in addition to vehicles such as fuel cell vehicles, electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for quickly recovering the muffler muffler function at low temperature start-up while avoiding an increase in the size of the module structure in a mobile body equipped with a fuel cell system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel cell system 10 Fuel cell 35 Air valve 36 Muffler 100 Fuel cell vehicle 110 Auxiliary machinery

Claims (5)

A mobile body equipped with a fuel cell system,
A fuel cell;
A muffler through which gas discharged from the fuel cell passes,
The fuel cell is installed in such a direction that the refrigerant flowing in the fuel cell flows from one side in the front-rear direction of the moving body to the other side,
The muffler is a moving body that is disposed in parallel with the fuel cell on the other side surface of the fuel cell. An auxiliary machine provided on the upstream side of the muffler for discharging the gas discharged from the fuel cell to the outside of the moving body;
The moving body according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary machine is adjacent to a side surface of the fuel cell in a left-right direction of the moving body.   The movable body according to claim 2, wherein the auxiliary machine includes a gas valve that controls a flow of gas discharged from the fuel cell. The fuel cell is installed so that the refrigerant flows from the front side to the rear side of the moving body,
The moving body according to claim 1, wherein the muffler is disposed on a rear side of the fuel cell.   The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell is mounted under the floor of the mobile body.

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