JP6291402B2 - Compressed hydrogen supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a compressed hydrogen supply apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an electrochemical gas compressor for compressing a gas using an electrochemical reaction. Specifically, a compression device using the principle of electrochemical gas compression, a hydration passage for hydrating the compression device, an external electric circuit for supplying power necessary for gas compression, A reinforcing body for an ion conductive solid electrolyte body is described.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a cell structure of an electrochemical gas compression apparatus.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an apparatus for controlling the discharge flow rate of atmospheric hydrogen using the same principle as electrochemical gas compression.

  Patent Document 4 discloses that an electrochemical gas compressor (hydrogen separation means) is provided integrally with the hydrogen generation reactor. Specifically, by transferring (removing) hydrogen from the reactor to the hydrogen separation chamber, the equilibrium of the chemical reaction is shifted to the hydrogen production side to increase hydrogen production efficiency, and the fuel cell is used as a power source for the gas compressor. In addition, it is described that water obtained by a fuel cell is used in a reactor. This technique aims to increase hydrogen production efficiency using a separation membrane.

  Patent Document 5 discloses a method and apparatus for electrochemically decomposing water to produce hydrogen and simultaneously obtaining compressed hydrogen.

  Patent Document 6 discloses an apparatus for producing medium pressure hydrogen by electrochemically decomposing water using a solid polymer water electrolysis apparatus and storing it in an intermediate pressure tank. This device supplies hydrogen at an intermediate pressure when the tank residual pressure of the fuel cell vehicle is low, while further compressing the intermediate pressure hydrogen to increase the pressure when a high pressure is required. At this time, since it is possible to compress hydrogen by the principle of electrochemical gas compression using a solid polymer type water electrolysis apparatus, it is said that the entire apparatus can be reduced in size.

  Patent Document 7 discloses a technique for reducing noise leaking from a duct in a hydrogen production apparatus.

JP-A-5-242850 JP 2003-213471 A JP 2003-313691 A JP 2004-31159 A JP 2007-100204 A JP-A-2005-324584 JP 2010-281288 A

  For example, a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is equipped with a high-pressure hydrogen tank that can be filled with compressed hydrogen of 70 MPa or more in order to increase the travel distance. The high-pressure hydrogen tank is filled with hydrogen, for example, at a hydrogen station. In the hydrogen station, in order to fill hydrogen with a differential pressure with respect to the high-pressure hydrogen tank of the fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen is increased to, for example, 82 MPa or more.

The hydrogen station is mainly a large-sized station having a hydrogen production capacity of 300 Nm ³ / h that can be fully filled in a high-pressure hydrogen tank mounted on a fuel cell vehicle for about five vehicles per hour. For example, in order to efficiently produce compressed hydrogen at an on-site hydrogen station, the process of synthesizing hydrogen from fossil fuels (hydrogen production), the process of removing impurities from the produced hydrogen (hydrogen purification), the pressure of purified hydrogen It is required to increase the efficiency in each step such as the step of increasing the pressure (hydrogen compression).

On the other hand, the scale of the hydrogen station needs to be examined. In order to spread the hydrogen supply infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles in urban areas, not only the large hydrogen station of 300Nm ³ / h class mentioned above, but also hydrogen filling at home or parking lot like electric vehicle filling station There is also a need for a small hydrogen station (referred to herein as a “hydrogen station”) that is capable of being, for example, 50 Nm ³ / h or less. In order to realize a hydrogen stand, a small and highly efficient apparatus is required in all the processes of hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, and hydrogen compression.

[Problems about hydrogen production]
Examples of the small hydrogen production apparatus include a fuel processing apparatus mounted on ENE-FARM (registered trademark). The fuel processor can efficiently synthesize hydrogen from primary energy derived from fossil fuels such as city gas and kerosene by a steam reforming reaction with high efficiency and space saving. However, for example, about 25% of carbon dioxide is mixed in addition to hydrogen in the fuel gas obtained from the fuel processing apparatus using methane as fuel. In a hydrogen stand for supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell vehicle, carbon dioxide needs to be 2 ppm or less, for example.

  Further, when hydrogen and carbon dioxide are included in the fuel gas, the molar fraction of hydrogen is 75% in the above example. When the outlet side of the fuel processor is at normal pressure, the hydrogen partial pressure is lower than normal pressure. In that case, in order to increase the hydrogen pressure by the compressor to 82 MPa or more, it is necessary to increase the compression ratio = outlet pressure / inlet pressure (for example, 82 / 0.075 = 1093), and the compression power becomes very large. .

  In addition, according to the hydrogen production method based on electrolysis of water according to Patent Document 5, the hydrogen purity becomes high and a purifier is not required. However, the energy required for hydrogen production (electric power for water electrolysis) is larger than that of the fuel processor, and the efficiency of the entire hydrogen station is lowered.

[Problems with hydrogen purification]
When hydrogen purification is performed by a gas purification separation technique using a pressure swing adsorption method, there are problems such as difficulty in downsizing the apparatus and consumption of a large amount of energy (electricity). Moreover, since auxiliary equipment such as a pump is required in addition to the adsorption tower, the gas purification separation technique based on the pressure swing adsorption method is not suitable for the hydrogen stand.

[Problems with hydrogen compression]
As the hydrogen compressor, volumetric compressors such as a reciprocating type and a diaphragm type are widely known and have a track record in a hydrogen station. However, it is necessary to increase the number of compression stages in order to bring hydrogen to an ultrahigh pressure of 82 MPa or more, and the apparatus becomes large, which is not suitable for a hydrogen stand. In addition, since the volume compressor moves mechanically, the noise is high, and a soundproofing measure as described in Patent Document 7 is required separately.

  From the above, when considering hydrogen filling in urban areas and homes, an electrochemical hydrogen compression technique as described in Patent Document 1 is important. In this technique, since only hydrogen moves to the cathode through the electrolyte membrane, the electrochemical hydrogen compressor can be used not only as a hydrogen compressor but also as a purifier, and a separate purifier is required. It is possible to construct a hydrogen stand that does not.

[Challenges of electrochemical hydrogen compressor]
However, in an electrochemical hydrogen compressor, if the gas supplied to the electrochemical hydrogen compressor is a mixed gas containing hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and the concentration of carbon dioxide is high, a closed system as in Patent Document 2 is used. In such an electrochemical hydrogen compressor, the operation efficiency decreases due to concentration polarization. Here, the concentration polarization is a phenomenon in which the concentration of other impurity gas increases near the electrolyte membrane due to consumption of hydrogen. Even when a non-closed system such as Patent Document 4 is used, unused hydrogen discharged without being used in the electrochemical hydrogen compressor becomes excessive, and it is considered that the operation efficiency of the entire hydrogen station is lowered.

  Furthermore, moisture balance is important when using a solid polymer membrane in an electrochemical hydrogen compressor. In order to maintain the membrane performance, it is desirable that the dew point of the low-pressure hydrogen supplied is higher. However, in order to increase the dew point, it is necessary to install a separate water supply facility, a humidifier, etc., and it is thought that facilities and control become complicated.

  In addition, the technique of patent document 4 has mounted in the motor vehicle in mind, and application to the stationary type compressed hydrogen production apparatus like a hydrogen stand is not considered. The fuel cell generates power for the power required for electrochemical hydrogen compression and has a low output. Furthermore, since the off gas (unreacted gas) of the electrochemical hydrogen compression part is used for the fuel cell, the power generation efficiency is lowered. In addition, since it is assumed that all hydrogen is consumed in the fuel cell, new heat (fuel) supply to the hydrogen generation reactor is required.

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 5 alone, hydrogen can be boosted only to about 40 MPa. Therefore, when the pressure is set to a high pressure (70 MPa or more) required for a hydrogen stand, a separate compressor is required.

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 6, compressed hydrogen can be supplied only from an intermediate pressure tank and cannot be compressed while producing hydrogen. Therefore, continuous operation is difficult unless an ultra-large tank is installed.

  In consideration of the above facts, the present invention supplies hydrogen gas necessary for hydrogen production so that hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, hydrogen compression and power generation can be performed independently in one system. The purpose is to do.

  A compressed hydrogen supply device according to claim 1 includes a catalyst that produces hydrogen from a raw material gas, a burner that heats the catalyst, a fuel processing device that produces fuel gas containing hydrogen, and a gas in which the catalyst is arranged Diffusion electrodes are provided on both sides of the ionic conductor, and the hydrogen in the fuel gas is ionized on one of the gas diffusion electrodes to move the ionic conductor as ions, and on the other gas diffusion electrode The hydrogen compressor obtains compressed hydrogen that has been purified and compressed on the other gas diffusion electrode side by returning to the gas, and removes water from the compressed hydrogen and supplies the removed water to the fuel processor. 1 a water supply device, a fuel cell that generates power using the fuel gas supplied from the fuel processor, and supplies at least a part of the generated power to the hydrogen compressor; A second water supplier for supplying the water to be supplied to the fuel processor, and an off-gas supply means for sending off-gas out of the fuel gas that is not used in the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell to the burner Have.

  In this compressed hydrogen supply device, a fuel gas containing hydrogen is generated from the raw material gas in the fuel processing device. This fuel gas is supplied to the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell. In the hydrogen compressor, hydrogen at an arbitrary pressure can be obtained by separating hydrogen from the fuel gas and further controlling the back pressure with a pressure controller or the like. Water contained in the compressed hydrogen is removed by the first water supplier. Thereby, dry compressed hydrogen can be obtained. The removed water is supplied from the first water supplier to the fuel processor and used for producing hydrogen from the raw material gas.

  In a fuel cell, power generation is performed using fuel gas. At least a part of the electric power obtained by the fuel cell is supplied to the hydrogen compressor. Thereby, a potential can be applied to the gas diffusion electrode of the hydrogen compressor. The water discharged from the fuel cell is supplied to the fuel processor and used for producing hydrogen from the raw material gas.

  Of the fuel gas, the off gas discharged without being used in the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell is sent to the burner of the fuel processing apparatus by the off gas supply means, and is used as fuel for the burner.

  As described above, in this compressed hydrogen supply apparatus, hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, hydrogen compression, and power generation can be performed independently in one system by supplying the raw material gas necessary for hydrogen production. The term “self-supporting” as used herein means that it is not necessary to newly add water for hydrogen production or fuel for keeping the fuel processing device at a high temperature from the outside.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the compressed hydrogen supply device according to the first aspect, the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in parallel in the flow path of the fuel gas.

  In this compressed hydrogen supply device, since the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in parallel in the fuel gas flow path, the same quality fuel gas is supplied to the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell, respectively. For this reason, since the partial pressure of hydrogen can be kept high in each of the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell, the operation efficiency can be improved.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the flow path of the off gas discharged from the hydrogen compressor and the flow path of the off gas discharged from the fuel cell are one. The off-gas supply means is arranged in the circulation return flow path.

  In this compressed hydrogen supply device, the off gas recovery line to the burner of the fuel processing device is compared with the case where the off gas flow channel from the hydrogen compressor, the off gas flow channel from the fuel cell, and the off gas supply means are provided separately. Can be greatly reduced.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the compressed hydrogen supply device according to the first aspect, the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in series in the flow path of the fuel gas.

  In this compressed hydrogen supply apparatus, since the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in series in the fuel gas flow path, the flow path can be reduced and the apparatus can be further downsized.

  According to the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus of claim 1, by supplying the raw material gas necessary for hydrogen production, hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, hydrogen compression and power generation can be performed independently in one system. The excellent effect of being able to be obtained is obtained.

  According to the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus of the second aspect, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the operation efficiency of the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell can be increased.

  According to the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus of the third aspect, an excellent effect that the apparatus can be further reduced in size can be obtained.

  According to the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus of the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the off-gas recovery line to the burner of the fuel processing apparatus can be reduced.

It is a block diagram showing typically the composition of the compressed hydrogen supply device concerning a 1st embodiment. It is the diagram which compared the relationship between compression ratio and theoretical compression power in a volumetric compressor and a hydrogen compressor (EHC). It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure of the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
In FIG. 1, a compressed hydrogen supply device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a fuel processing device 12, a hydrogen compressor 14, a first water supply device 16, a fuel cell 18, a second water supply device 22, and an off-gas. And a circulation blower 24 as an example of a supply means.

  The fuel processing apparatus 12 is an apparatus (FPS: Fuel Processing System) that includes a catalyst 12A that produces hydrogen from a raw material gas and a burner 12B that heats the catalyst 12A, and generates a fuel gas containing hydrogen. The catalyst 12A is, for example, a reforming catalyst, a CO selective oxidation catalyst, or a shift reaction catalyst. A raw material gas pipe 26 is connected to the catalyst 12 </ b> A, and a raw material gas is supplied through the raw material gas pipe 26. The catalyst 12 </ b> A is connected to a water supply pipe 30 connected to the first water supplier 16 and a water supply pipe 32 connected to the second water supplier 22. The catalyst 12A uses the water supplied through the water supply pipes 30 and 32 to produce hydrogen by, for example, steam reforming the raw material gas.

  An air supply pipe (not shown) and a circulation return flow path 34 to be described later are connected to the burner 12B of the fuel processing device 12. The burner 12B burns a mixed gas of air supplied through the air supply pipe and burner gas (off gas described later) supplied through the circulation return flow path 34 to heat the catalyst 12A.

  As described above, in the fuel processing apparatus 12, fuel gas containing hydrogen gas is generated from the raw material gas. In addition to hydrogen, the fuel gas includes, for example, water vapor and carbon dioxide. The fuel gas is supplied to the anode 14A of the hydrogen compressor 14 and the anode 18A of the fuel cell 18 through a fuel gas pipe 36 that is a fuel gas flow path. Since the fuel cell 18 and the hydrogen compressor 14 are arranged in parallel to the fuel gas pipe 36, the fuel gas pipe 36 branches off in the middle and is connected to the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18, respectively.

  The hydrogen compressor 14 is an apparatus in which an anode 14A and a cathode 14C, which are gas diffusion electrodes provided with a catalyst, are provided on both sides of the ion conductor 14B, respectively, and can purify and compress hydrogen electrochemically. This is an apparatus (EHC: Electric Hydrogen Compressor). The ion conductor 14B is, for example, an ion conductive solid electrolyte body. When a predetermined potential is applied to the anode 14A and the cathode 14C, hydrogen in the fuel gas is ionized on one gas diffusion electrode (anode 14A) and moves as ions in the ion conductor 14B, and the other gas diffusion By returning to the gas on the electrode, compressed hydrogen purified and compressed on the other gas diffusion electrode (cathode 14C) side can be obtained. The electric power supplied to the anode 14A and the cathode 14C in the hydrogen compressor 14 is supplied from the fuel cell 18. A flow path 40 for discharging off gas containing hydrogen that has not been used in the hydrogen compressor 14 is connected to the anode 14A.

  The first water supplier 16 is a device that removes water from the compressed hydrogen and supplies the removed water to the fuel processor 12, and is connected to the cathode 14 </ b> C of the hydrogen compressor 14 through a gas pipe 28. The compressed hydrogen from which moisture has been removed by the first water supplier 16 can be supplied to a fuel cell vehicle, a gas tank, a gas cylinder, a gas cartridge, etc. (all not shown) through the gas pipe 38 and the pressure controller 50. The first water supplier 16 is connected to the fuel processor 12 by a water supply pipe 30. The water removed by the first water supplier 16 is supplied to the fuel processor 12 through the water supply pipe 30.

  The fuel cell 18 generates power using the fuel gas supplied from the fuel processor 12 and supplies at least a part of the generated power to the hydrogen compressor 14. The fuel cell 18 includes an electrolyte layer 18B, and an anode 18A and a cathode 18C that are respectively stacked on the front and back surfaces of the electrolyte layer 18B. The anode 18A is a fuel electrode, and the cathode 18C is an air electrode.

  Fuel gas is supplied from the fuel processing device 12 to the anode 18A through the fuel gas pipe. At the anode 18A, hydrogen in the fuel gas is decomposed into hydrogen ions and electrons. The hydrogen ions generated at the anode 18A move to the cathode 18C through the electrolyte layer 18B, and the electrons generated at the anode 18A move to the cathode 18C through an external circuit.

  On the other hand, the oxidizing gas (air) is supplied to the cathode 18C through the gas pipe 52. In the cathode 18C, hydrogen ions that have passed through the electrolyte layer 18B and electrons that have passed through the external circuit react with oxygen in the oxidizing gas to generate water.

  Then, the electrons move from the anode 18A to the cathode 18C in this way, thereby generating power in the fuel cell 18. At the cathode 18C, water generated by the reaction or water vapor is discharged.

  A flow path 42 for discharging off gas containing hydrogen that has not been used in the fuel cell 18 is connected to the anode 18A. The flow path 42 and the off-gas flow path 40 discharged from the hydrogen compressor 14 merge into one circulation return flow path 34. A circulation blower 24 is disposed in the circulation return channel 34. The circulation blower 24 is a blower that sends off-gas out of fuel gas that is not used in the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18 to the burner 12B of the fuel processing apparatus 12 as burner gas.

  The second water supply unit 22 supplies water discharged from the fuel cell 18 to the fuel processing device 12, and is, for example, a condenser that condenses water vapor contained in the cathode offgas discharged from the fuel cell 18. . A second water supplier 22 is connected to the cathode 18 </ b> C of the fuel cell 18 through a gas pipe 44. The second water supplier 22 is connected to the fuel processor 12 via the water supply pipe 32. The water supply pipe 32 is provided with a water pump 46 as an example of means for feeding water. The water condensed in the second water supplier 22 is supplied to the fuel processor 12 by the water pump 46. The means for sending water is not limited to the water pump 46, and supply by gravity (water head) applied to water may be used, for example. The cathode off gas from which moisture has been removed by the second water supplier 22 is discharged through the gas pipe 54.

(Function)
This embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation thereof will be described below. In FIG. 1, in the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, in the fuel processing apparatus 12, by heating the catalyst 12 </ b> A with the burner 12 </ b> B, the raw material gas is steam-reformed, for example, and a fuel gas containing hydrogen is generated. Is done. This fuel gas is supplied to the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18 through the fuel gas pipe 36. Steam reformed hydrogen contains a lot of steam and has a high dew point. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately install a humidifier or the like, and the system is simplified.

  In the hydrogen compressor 14, by applying a predetermined potential to the anode 14A and the cathode 14C that are gas diffusion electrodes, it is possible to obtain compressed hydrogen purified electrochemically from the fuel gas. Specifically, the hydrogen compressor 14 causes the anode 14A to generate electricity from hydrogen gas by flowing electricity to the anode 14A and the cathode 14C, as in water electrolysis. The hydrogen ions are reduced to generate hydrogen gas, and the hydrogen is purified and compressed. As long as electricity continues to flow through the anode 14A and the cathode 14C, hydrogen moves from the anode 14A to the cathode 14C, and the compressed back pressure can be obtained by controlling the outlet back pressure by the compression controller 50 of the cathode 14C.

  The water contained in the compressed hydrogen is removed by the first water supplier 16. The compressed hydrogen from which moisture has been removed can be supplied to a fuel cell vehicle, a gas tank, a gas cylinder, a gas cartridge, and the like (all not shown) through the gas pipe 38 and the pressure controller 50. On the other hand, the water removed by the first water supplier 16 is sent out to the water supply pipe 30 by the pressure of compressed hydrogen and supplied to the fuel processor 12 through the water supply pipe 30 to produce hydrogen from the raw material gas. Used.

  In the fuel cell 18, power generation is performed using fuel gas. At least a part of the electric power obtained by the fuel cell 18 is supplied to the hydrogen compressor 14. Thereby, a potential can be applied to the gas diffusion electrodes (the anode 14A and the cathode 14C) of the hydrogen compressor 14. The water vapor discharged from the fuel cell 18 is condensed by the second water supplier 22. The water obtained by the condensation is supplied to the fuel processor 12 and used for producing hydrogen from the raw material gas.

  Of the fuel gas, off-gas discharged without being used in the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18 is sent to the burner 12B of the fuel processing device 12 by the circulation blower 24, and used as fuel for the burner 12B. In this embodiment, the off gas flow path from the hydrogen compressor 14, the off gas flow path from the fuel cell 18, and the circulation blower 24 are separately provided. The collection line can be reduced.

  As described above, in this compressed hydrogen supply apparatus, hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, hydrogen compression, and power generation can be performed independently in one system by supplying the raw material gas necessary for hydrogen production. Further, since the fuel cell 18 and the hydrogen compressor 14 are arranged in parallel in the fuel gas flow path, the same quality fuel gas is supplied to the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18, respectively. For this reason, the operating efficiency of the hydrogen compressor 14 and the fuel cell 18 can be increased.

  In a conventional power generation device (ENEFARM (registered trademark)) that combines a fuel processing device and a fuel cell, there is a problem that the efficiency of the fuel processing device is greatly reduced at low output, and the overall power generation efficiency is reduced. In the daily operation of this power generation device, power generation is stopped or low output operation is performed when the power demand is low such as at night. When the number of start / stops of the apparatus increases, resistance to start / stop of the catalyst or structural metal of the fuel processing apparatus, the membrane or catalyst of the fuel cell is also required.

  In the case of this embodiment, by performing hydrogen compression at low power demand such as at night, the efficiency of the fuel processing device 12 can be kept high, and surplus generated power of the fuel cell 18 is also used for the hydrogen compressor 14. Can be used. Considering that hydrogen compression is performed with the electric power of the fuel cell 18, it is not necessary to stop the fuel processing device 12 and the fuel cell 18, and it is not necessary to consider the start / stop tolerance.

  In hydrogen compression in which the fuel processing device 12 and the hydrogen compressor 14 are combined, the fuel gas generated by the fuel processing device 12 contains a large amount of water vapor, and water supply equipment to the hydrogen compressor 14 becomes unnecessary. Further, since the off gas from the anode 14A of the hydrogen compressor 14 can be used as the fuel for the burner 12B, the influence of concentration polarization is reduced in the anode 14A, and hydrogen compression can be performed with high efficiency. Furthermore, the compression ratio of hydrogen compression in this embodiment is as large as, for example, 82 MPa / 0.75 = 1093 times, but compression in the hydrogen compressor 14 is isothermal compression, and a volumetric compressor (5 stage compression) of adiabatic compression. ), The theoretical power required for compression is about 20% lower (see FIG. 2). Therefore, a system that combines the fuel processor 12 and the hydrogen compressor 14 is also useful from the viewpoint of efficiency.

  As described above, in the compressed hydrogen supply device 10 in which the fuel processing device 12, the hydrogen compressor 14, and the fuel cell 18 are combined, the power supply to the hydrogen compressor 14 can be provided only within the present device. Further, not only the fuel cell 18 but also water or off-gas (unused hydrogen) of the hydrogen compressor 14 can be used in the fuel processing device 12. As a result, the compressed hydrogen supply device 10 can achieve water self-supporting that does not require new water supply and heat self-supporting that does not require the supply of new burner fuel to the fuel processing device 12. The compressed hydrogen supply apparatus 10 can be used as a small hydrogen stand for filling a fuel cell vehicle with hydrogen at a high pressure in a home or a parking lot.

  The amount of hydrogen compression in the hydrogen compressor 14 depends on the electrode area and current. For this reason, the compression amount of hydrogen can be easily controlled by controlling the electrode area and the current. It is also possible to provide a valve (not shown) in the fuel gas pipe 36 and stop the supply of fuel gas to the hydrogen compressor 14 by closing this valve when hydrogen compression is not performed. Thereby, the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus 10 can also be operated centering on the power generation by the fuel cell 18 in the time zone when the power demand is large.

[Second Embodiment]
In FIG. 3, in the compressed hydrogen supply apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, the fuel cell 18 and the hydrogen compressor 14 are arranged in series in the fuel gas flow path. Specifically, the anode 18 </ b> A of the fuel cell 18 is connected to a flow path 48 for discharging off gas containing hydrogen that has not been used in the fuel cell 18, and the flow path 48 is connected to the anode 14 </ b> A of the hydrogen compressor 14. It is connected to the. That is, the hydrogen compressor 14 is disposed downstream of the fuel cell 18 in the fuel gas flow path.

(Function)
This embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation thereof will be described below. In FIG. 3, in the compressed hydrogen supply device 20 according to the present embodiment, the hydrogen compressor 14 purifies and compresses hydrogen from off-gas containing hydrogen that has not been used in the fuel cell 18 to obtain compressed hydrogen. it can.

  In the present embodiment, since the fuel cell 18 and the hydrogen compressor 14 are arranged in series in the fuel gas flow path, the number of the flow paths can be reduced to further reduce the size of the apparatus. Further, the shutoff valves at the inlets of the anodes 18A and 14A are not necessary. Necessary control is only electric power control for hydrogen compression and load control for power generation, and no flow control of fuel gas is necessary.

  Since other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof is omitted.

[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although an example of the present invention has been described, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above, and it can be implemented with various modifications within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

  The fuel cell 18 is, for example, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), but may be another type of fuel cell such as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). When the fuel cell 18 is a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), it can be manufactured with the same material as the hydrogen compressor 14, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

  Water may be supplied by heating water with heat generated by the hydrogen compressor 14 or the fuel cell 18. In this case, hydrogen production, hydrogen purification, hydrogen compression, power generation, and hot water supply can be performed independently in one system.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the burner 12 </ b> B of the fuel processing apparatus 12 does not join the off-gas flow path 40 discharged from the hydrogen compressor 14 and the off-gas flow path 42 discharged from the fuel cell 18. May be sent separately. In this case, the circulation blower 24 is disposed in each flow path.

  Although the circulation blower 24 has been described as an example of the off gas supply unit, the off gas supply unit is not limited to this, and any unit that can send off gas to the burner 12B, such as supply by a pressure difference, may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Compressed hydrogen supply apparatus, 12 ... Fuel processing apparatus, 12A ... Catalyst, 12B ... Burner, 14 ... Hydrogen compressor, 14A ... Anode (gas diffusion electrode), 14B ... Ion conductor, 14C ... Cathode (gas diffusion electrode) , 16 ... 1st water supply device, 18 ... Fuel cell, 20 ... Compressed hydrogen supply device, 22 ... 2nd water supply device, 24 ... Circulation blower (off-gas supply means), 28 ... Gas pipe, 34 ... Circulation return flow path 36 ... Fuel gas pipe (fuel gas flow path), 40 ... Off gas flow path, 42 ... Off gas flow path

Claims (4)

A fuel processor that produces a fuel gas containing hydrogen, comprising a catalyst that produces hydrogen from a raw material gas, and a burner that heats the catalyst;
Gas diffusion electrodes provided with a catalyst are provided on both sides of the ionic conductor, and the hydrogen in the fuel gas is ionized on one of the gas diffusion electrodes to move the ionic conductor as ions, A hydrogen compressor that obtains compressed hydrogen purified and compressed on the other gas diffusion electrode side by returning to gas on the gas diffusion electrode;
A first water supplier for removing water from the compressed hydrogen and supplying the removed water to the fuel processor;
A fuel cell that generates power using the fuel gas supplied from the fuel processing device and supplies at least a part of the generated power to the hydrogen compressor;
A second water supplier for supplying water discharged from the fuel cell to the fuel processor;
Of the fuel gas, off gas supply means for sending off gas discharged without being used in the hydrogen compressor and the fuel cell to the burner;
Compressed hydrogen supply apparatus.   The compressed hydrogen supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in parallel in the flow path of the fuel gas. The flow path of the off gas discharged from the hydrogen compressor and the flow path of the off gas discharged from the fuel cell are joined to one circulation return flow path,
The compressed hydrogen supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the off-gas supply means is disposed in the circulation return flow path.   The compressed hydrogen supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell and the hydrogen compressor are arranged in series in a flow path of the fuel gas.

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