JP6493162B2 - Hydrogen supply device for fuel cell - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hydrogen supply device for a fuel cell.

  The fuel cell performs power generation by causing an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen as a fuel gas and oxygen as an oxidant gas. A fuel cell vehicle travels by driving a traveling motor with electric power supplied from a fuel cell mounted on the vehicle.

  The fuel cell has a stack structure in which a plurality of fuel cells serving as power generation units are stacked, and a method of supplying fuel gas to the fuel cells from an injector attached to an end plate at one end of the stack is known. .

  By the way, when the fuel cell is mounted on the vehicle, although there is no particular restriction on the mounting position, it is desirable to reduce noise during the power generation operation from the viewpoint of ensuring the quietness of the passenger compartment. However, in the fuel cell provided with the injector, there is a possibility that noise may be generated because the injector can be a vibration source for the convenience of repeated gas ejection. For example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, hydrogen gas injected from the injector hits the end plate cover, causing vibration and generating noise.

  For the purpose of taking measures against noise caused by injection from the injector, Patent Document 1 below discloses a configuration in which a net is provided downstream of the injector (injection destination of the injector). It is said that the pressure of hydrogen injected from the injector is reduced by this net, and as a result, generation of noise accompanying vibration of the end plate cover is suppressed.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-088407

  In the above-described prior art, although the generation of noise is suppressed, it is necessary to provide a network for noise countermeasures, and there is a problem that the number of parts increases. Therefore, it has been desired to reduce the noise caused by the injection from the injector while reducing the number of parts.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell hydrogen supply device capable of reducing noise caused by injection from an injector while reducing the number of components. .

  In order to solve the above problems, a hydrogen supply device for a fuel cell according to the present invention is a hydrogen supply device for a fuel cell that supplies hydrogen gas to the fuel cell, and is connected to the fuel cell and has a substantially circular flow in cross section. A delivery pipe having a passage, and an injector provided in the delivery pipe and regulating the hydrogen gas flowing in the delivery pipe and injecting the gas downstream, the injector when viewed in a longitudinal section The central axis of the injection flow path is provided at a position deviating from the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the flow path in the delivery pipe.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress the hydrogen gas injected from the injector from directly hitting the bottom surface of the delivery pipe through the longitudinal central axis of the delivery pipe. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the vibration caused by the hydrogen gas injected from the injector directly hitting the bottom surface of the delivery pipe and the generation of noise due to the vibration. In the conventional configuration, in order to suppress the generation of noise, a configuration in which a net is provided on the downstream side in the injection direction of the injector is known, but in the present invention, such a net member is not required, Noise generation can be suppressed while reducing the number of points.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the hydrogen supply apparatus for fuel cells which can reduce the noise by the injection from an injector can be provided, reducing a number of parts.

It is a figure for demonstrating an example of a structure of a fuel cell. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the hydrogen supply apparatus for fuel cells in this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the AA cross section of FIG. 2, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the injection downstream part of an injector. It is sectional explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the injection downstream part of an injector. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the hydrogen supply apparatus for fuel cells in a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the hydrogen supply apparatus for fuel cells in a modification, Comprising: It is sectional explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the injection downstream part of an injector. It is explanatory drawing explaining the flow of the injection downstream part of the conventional injector.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiment is a suitable application example to the last, Comprising: The application range of this invention is not limited to this.

  First, the configuration of a fuel cell in which the fuel cell hydrogen supply device according to this embodiment is mounted will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a fuel cell. The fuel cell performs power generation by causing an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen as a fuel gas and oxygen as an oxidant gas.

  A fuel cell 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of power generation cells 110, terminal plates 120 and 130, an insulating plate 140, and end plates 150 and 150. The plurality of power generation cells 110 are stacked to form the fuel cell stack 102. Terminal plates 120 and 130 are disposed at both ends of the fuel cell stack 102 in the stacking direction, respectively. The terminal plates 120 and 130 are used for extracting electric power from the fuel cell stack 102. An insulating plate 140 is disposed outside the terminal plate 120 in the stacking direction. There may be no insulating plate on the terminal plate 130 side. End plates 150 and 150 are disposed on the outer side in the stacking direction of the insulating plate 140 and on the outer side in the stacking direction of the terminal plate 130, respectively. The configuration of the fuel cell 100 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1, and other members and the like can be appropriately selected as long as the fuel cell hydrogen supply device described below is provided. is there.

  Next, the configuration of the fuel cell hydrogen supply device for supplying hydrogen to the above-described fuel cell will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the fuel cell hydrogen supply device.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fuel cell hydrogen supply device 1 includes at least an injector 10 and a delivery pipe 20. High-pressure hydrogen gas from a hydrogen tank (not shown) is supplied to the fuel cell 100 via a delivery pipe 20 provided with an injector 10.

  The delivery pipe 20 is a pipe connected to the fuel cell 100, and includes an intermediate pressure side delivery pipe 20a and a low pressure side delivery pipe 20b.

  The medium pressure delivery pipe 20a is a pipe for supplying high pressure hydrogen gas supplied from a hydrogen tank (not shown) to the injector 10. The low pressure side delivery pipe 20 b is a pipe provided between the intermediate pressure side delivery pipe 20 a and the fuel cell 100 and is provided on the downstream side of the injector 10. The low-pressure delivery pipe 20b has a delivery inner passage 201 (see FIG. 3) having a circular cross-sectional view for allowing the hydrogen gas injected from the injector 10 to flow therethrough. The hydrogen gas injected downstream from the injector 10 is supplied to the fuel cell 100 via the delivery passage 201 (see FIG. 3) having a circular cross-sectional view. Note that the upstream side of the injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c, which will be described in detail below, is relatively high pressure (medium pressure), and the downstream side of the injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c is relatively low pressure. The pipes arranged on the upstream side of 10a, 10b, and 10c are referred to as medium pressure side delivery pipes 20a, and the pipes arranged on the downstream side of the injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c are referred to as low pressure side delivery pipes 20b.

  The delivery pipe 20 is provided with injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c. The injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c have a function of regulating the high-pressure hydrogen gas supplied from the intermediate-pressure side delivery pipe 20a and injecting the high-pressure hydrogen gas to the low-pressure side delivery pipe 20b connected to the downstream side. In the present embodiment, for example, three injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c are mounted on the fuel cell 100. However, the number and shape of the injectors are not limited to the example shown in the figure, and may be selected as appropriate. Hereinafter, the three injectors 10a, 10b, and 10c are collectively referred to as an injector 10.

  In order to control the injector 10, an electronic control unit (ECU) (not shown) as a control device or a control unit is provided. The ECU includes a storage device such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM, an A / D converter, an input / output interface, and the like. The storage device stores various programs, data, maps, and the like, and the ECU executes various controls by executing these programs. The configuration and function of the injector 10 will be briefly described. Each injector 10 is provided with a valve body (not shown), and the valve body is driven by energizing a solenoid (not shown), so that the opening state of the internal flow path is determined. Be changed. When the solenoid is not energized, the valve body comes into contact with the valve seat facing the valve body by the urging force of the spring and closes the internal flow path. When the solenoid is energized, the valve element moves against the urging force of the spring and moves away from the valve seat, and the internal flow path is opened. The solenoid is energized by the control signal from the ECU described above, and the gas injection time and gas injection timing of the injector 10 are controlled, whereby the flow rate and pressure of hydrogen gas are controlled with high accuracy.

  By the way, in the conventional configuration (see FIG. 7), when hydrogen gas is injected from the injection flow path 310 of the injector 300 into the delivery inner passage 321 of the low pressure side delivery pipe 320, the hydrogen gas is injected from the injection flow path 310. Hydrogen gas directly hits the bottom surface 321a of the in-delivery passage 321 (arrow A2 shown in FIG. 7). When hydrogen gas is injected into the delivery inner passage 321 as described above, the low-pressure delivery pipe 320 may vibrate, and as a result, noise associated with the vibration may be generated.

  In order to suppress the generation of this noise, for example, a technique has been proposed in which a net (not shown) is provided at the injection destination (injection downstream portion) of the injector, and the hydrogen gas injected from the injector is applied to this net. If the net is provided in this way, the pressure of hydrogen injected from the injector is reduced by the net, and the vibration of the low-pressure delivery pipe and the generation of noise associated with the vibration can be suppressed. However, in the configuration in which the net is provided in this way, there is a problem that a separate member is required and the number of parts increases.

  Therefore, the present inventors have studied to suppress the vibration of the low-pressure delivery pipe and the generation of noise accompanying the vibration while eliminating the need for a separate member. As a result of the examination, it was found that it is preferable to provide the injector 10 in the delivery pipe 20 as follows.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, the injector 10 is disposed in an offset state with respect to the low pressure side delivery pipe 20b. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the central axis F of the injection flow path 11 along the injection direction (lower side in FIG. 3) of the injector 10 in the longitudinal sectional view (hereinafter, “injection axis F of the injector 10”). However, the injector 10 is disposed at a position away from the longitudinal central axis C of the delivery inner passage 201 of the low pressure side delivery pipe 20b. In other words, the injector 10 is disposed so that the central axis F of the injection flow path 11 along the injection direction does not coincide with the central axis C of the in-delivery passage 201 of the low-pressure delivery pipe 20b. In other words, the injector 10 is disposed so that the injection axis F of the injector 10 is positioned on the side surface of the delivery inner passage 201, in other words, the arcuate wall surface 201 b of the delivery inner passage 201 when viewed in a longitudinal section. Has been.

  Note that the arc-shaped wall surface 201b of the above-described delivery inner passage 201 is not limited to the position illustrated in FIG. 3, and may be at least a position away from the bottom surface 201a of the delivery inner passage 201. That is, it is preferable that the injector 10 is disposed at a position where the hydrogen gas injected from the injector 10 is prevented from directly hitting the bottom surface 201a of the delivery inner passage 201, in other words, the hydrogen injected from the injector 10. The injector 10 is preferably arranged so that the energy of the gas is used for the swirling of the flow as shown by the arrow A1 in FIG. By arranging the injector in this manner, noise can be reduced while eliminating the need for a separate member.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, it is preferable to provide an angle between the central axis C of the delivery inner passage 201 of the low pressure side delivery pipe 20 b and the injection axis F of the injector 10. In other words, it is preferable that the injector 10 is disposed so that the injection axis F of the injector 10 is inclined with respect to the central axis C of the delivery inner passage 201 of the low pressure side delivery pipe 20b. Thereby, the flow of the hydrogen gas injected from the injector 10 is easily formed in the traveling direction (right side in FIG. 4).

  As described above, the fuel cell hydrogen supply device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided in the delivery pipe 20 connected to the fuel cell 100 and having the delivery inner passage 201 having a substantially circular cross-sectional view, and the delivery pipe 20. An injector 10 that regulates the hydrogen gas flowing in the delivery pipe 20 and injects it downstream, and the injector 10 has a central axis F of the injection flow path 11 of the injector 10 when viewed in a longitudinal section. 20 at a position away from the central axis C in the longitudinal direction of the delivery inner passage 201.

  In the embodiment described above, the delivery pipe 20 has the medium pressure side delivery pipe 20a and the low pressure side delivery pipe 20b, and the injector 10 is disposed in an offset state with respect to the low pressure side delivery pipe 20b. It is not limited to this example. That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the low pressure side delivery pipe 20 b may not be provided, and the end plate 150 may be connected to the downstream side of the injector 10. In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, the injector 10 is provided in an offset state with respect to the flow path 160 provided in the end plate 150. Specifically, when viewed in a vertical cross section, the injector 10 is provided at a position where the central axis F of the injection flow path deviates from the central axis C of the flow path 160 provided in the end plate 150. In other words, the injector 10 is provided so that the central axis F of the injection flow path 11 of the injector 10 is positioned on the arcuate wall surface 160b of the flow path 160 provided in the end plate 150 when viewed in a longitudinal section. It has been. In other words, the injector 10 is provided so that the energy of the hydrogen gas injected from the injector 10 is used for the swirling of the flow as shown by an arrow A1 in FIG.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples, and those appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the features of the present invention.

1: Hydrogen supply device for fuel cell 10: Injector 11: Injection flow path 20a: Medium pressure side delivery pipe 20b: Low pressure side delivery pipe (delivery pipe)
100: Fuel cell 102: Fuel cell stack 110: Power generation cell 150: End plate 201: Passage in delivery (flow path)
C: Central axis of passage in delivery F: Central axis of injection flow path

Claims (1)

A hydrogen supply device for a fuel cell that supplies hydrogen gas to a fuel cell,
A delivery pipe connected to the fuel cell and having a substantially circular channel in cross-sectional view;
An injector that is provided in the delivery pipe and adjusts the hydrogen gas flowing in the delivery pipe and injects it downstream.
The injector is arranged so that a central axis of an injection flow path of the injector is located on an arcuate wall surface of the flow path in the delivery pipe when viewed in a longitudinal section. Hydrogen supply device for fuel cells.

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