JP6878230B2 - Hydrogen production equipment and hydrogen production system - Google Patents

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a hydrogen production technique using a high temperature steam electrolysis method.

In recent years, various hydrogen production methods have been studied for the realization of a hydrogen energy society in which hydrogen is used as an energy medium.

One of the hydrogen production methods is a high-temperature steam electrolysis method in which high-temperature steam is electrolyzed by a steam electrolyzer to generate hydrogen gas and oxygen gas.
Conventionally, there has been known a hydrogen production technique in which the energy efficiency of hydrogen production is improved by utilizing the heat generated by the hydrogen storage material during hydrogen storage to generate water vapor as a hydrogen production source.
In the high-temperature steam electrolysis method, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the electrolytic cell to a high temperature of about 600 ° C. to 800 ° C. and maintain it during steam electrolysis.

As a related technology, there is known a hydrogen production technology that uses fluctuating power supply power such as renewable energy to generate hydrogen while changing the number of connected electrolytic cells according to the fluctuation.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-199675 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-126792

At present, there is a demand for the development of a concrete production apparatus for actually realizing efficient hydrogen production by the high temperature steam electrolysis method.
Further, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, there is a problem that heat elongation may occur in the constituent devices of the hydrogen production apparatus due to the temperature rise and fall around the electrolytic unit at the time of starting and stopping, and these constituent devices may deteriorate. was there.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hydrogen production apparatus and a hydrogen production system capable of reducing deterioration of constituent equipment due to temperature rise and fall around the electrolytic part. To do.

The hydrogen production apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a pillar portion fixed so as to stand up on the base, and a heating furnace housing that is in close contact with the pillar portion to form a closed space inside the furnace having the pillar portion on one side surface. , A steam supply pipe that supplies water vapor from the outside of the closed space inside the furnace to the inside of the closed space inside the furnace, and an electrolytic cell that decomposes the water vapor supplied from the water vapor supply pipe to generate hydrogen. It is provided with a hydrogen discharge pipe for taking out the hydrogen to the outside of the closed space in the furnace, and a pedestal on which the electrolytic cell is placed, which is partially fixed to the pillar and has a free end.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention provides a hydrogen production apparatus and a hydrogen production system capable of reducing deterioration of constituent equipment due to temperature rise and fall around the electrolytic unit.

The schematic diagram of the hydrogen production system which concerns on embodiment. Schematic side sectional view of the hydrogen production apparatus according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a hydrogen production system 100 according to an embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the hydrogen production system 100 according to the embodiment is configured by connecting a water supply mechanism 11, a hydrogen recovery mechanism 12, a current supply mechanism 13, and an oxygen recovery mechanism 14 to a hydrogen production apparatus 10. To.

The outer shape of the hydrogen production apparatus 10 is mainly formed by a heating furnace 19 including a heating furnace housing 17 provided with a heater 16 and a pillar portion 18.
The heating furnace housing 17 is in close contact with the pillar portion 18 to form a closed space 20 inside the furnace having the pillar portion 18 on one side surface.
In the closed space 20 in the furnace, an electrolytic unit 25 and a stand 27 for mounting the electrolytic unit 25 are provided.

At the time of electrolysis, the heater 16 raises the temperature of the closed space 20 in the furnace from 600 ° C. to 800 ° C.
Hydrogen is generated by electrolyzing water vapor in the electrolytic unit 25 connected to the water supply mechanism 11 and the current supply mechanism 13.
This hydrogen is recovered by the hydrogen recovery mechanism 12, and is used for energy, for example.
On the other hand, oxygen generated together with hydrogen by electrolysis of water vapor is recovered by the oxygen recovery mechanism 14.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the hydrogen production apparatus 10 according to the embodiment.
In the hydrogen production apparatus 10 according to the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the pillar portion 18 is fixed so as to stand upright on the base 22.
The base 22 may be a base plate provided exclusively for fixing the pillar portion 18, or may be a floor surface.
For example, a heating furnace housing 17 supported by a support pillar 24 provided with a roller 23 so as to be movable in parallel is in close contact with the pillar portion 18 to form a heating furnace 19.

Further, a pedestal 27 on which the electrolytic unit 25 is placed is fixed to the pillar portion 18. The gantry 27 has a free end while being partially fixed to the pillar portion 18.
When thermal stress is generated in the electrolytic section 25, the column section 18, the pipes 26 (26a to 26e) or the gantry 27 itself due to the temperature rise by the heater 16, the gantry 27 is bent by this free end to absorb the heat elongation.

The heating furnace housing 17 may be provided with a support base 28 that supports the free end of the frame 27.
In order to maintain the free deformation of the free end, it is desirable that the support base 28 is provided with an adjusting portion 29 for finely adjusting the support force of the support base 28 by a load cell or the like that senses a load.
By supporting the pedestal 27 whose strength has decreased due to heat elongation, the pedestal 28 can maintain the pedestal 27 horizontally and prevent damage due to deterioration of the pedestal 27.

The electrolysis unit 25 is usually composed of a plurality of electrolysis cells 25a.
A steam supply pipe 26a and a hydrogen discharge pipe 26b are connected to the electrolytic cell 25a through the side surface of the heating furnace 19 via the steam supply tributary pipe 26d and the hydrogen discharge tributary pipe 26e, respectively.
The hydrogen recovery mechanism 12 and the water supply mechanism 11 shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the hydrogen discharge pipe 26b and the steam supply pipe 26a, respectively.

Further, the oxygen discharge pipe 26c to which the oxygen recovery mechanism 14 is connected penetrates the side surface of the heating furnace 19 and is connected to the closed space 20 in the furnace.
Depending on the type of the electrolytic cell 25a or the configuration of the heating furnace 19, the oxygen discharge pipe 26c may be directly connected to the electrolytic cell 25a to positively discharge oxygen.
For example, in order to prevent the generated oxygen from staying in the electrolytic cell 25a or the heating furnace 19, a pipe for supplying another kind of gas such as air or nitrogen is connected to the electrolytic cell 25a, and the generated oxygen is discharged to the oxygen discharge pipe 26c. It may be discharged from.
Further, the hydrogen discharge pipe 26b does not have to be directly connected to the electrolytic cell 25a.

It is desirable that the water vapor supply pipe 26a, the hydrogen discharge pipe 26b, and the oxygen discharge pipe 26c are all integrated and penetrated through the pillar portion 18.
By consolidating the penetrating points of these pipes 26 (26a to 26c) on the pillar portion 18, the sealing portion can be concentrated on the pillar portion 18, and it becomes easy to maintain the closed space 20 in the furnace airtightly. Because.

By increasing the airtightness of the closed space 20 in the furnace, for example, the recovery rate of oxygen generated in the closed space 20 in the furnace by the oxygen recovery mechanism 14 can be improved.
Further, by consolidating the penetrating points of the pipe 26 in the pillar portion 18, it becomes easy to separate the installation or removal work of the electrolytic cell 25a and the connection work of the heating furnace housing 17 to the pillar portion 18. ..

As described above, according to the hydrogen production apparatus 10 and the hydrogen production system 100 according to the embodiment, by making a part of the gantry 27 a free end, the constituent equipment caused by the temperature rise and fall of the closed space 20 in the furnace ( It is possible to reduce the deterioration of 18, 25 to 27).

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, changes, and combinations can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.
The embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention as well as in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

100 ... Hydrogen production system, 10 ... Hydrogen production equipment, 11 ... Water supply mechanism, 12 ... Hydrogen recovery mechanism, 13 ... Current supply mechanism, 14 ... Oxygen recovery mechanism, 16 ... Heater, 17 ... Heating furnace housing, 18 ... Pillar Part, 19 ... Heating furnace, 20 ... Closed space in the furnace, 22 ... Base, 23 ... Roller (parallel movement mechanism), 24 ... Support column, 25 (25a) ... Electrolytic part (electrolytic cell), 26 (26a-26e) ... Pipe, 26a ... Hydrogen discharge pipe, 26b ... Hydrogen discharge pipe, 26c ... Oxygen discharge pipe, 26d ... Steam supply tributary pipe, 26e ... Hydrogen discharge tributary pipe, 27 ... Stand, 28 ... Support stand, 29 ... Adjustment unit.

Claims (6)

The pillars fixed to stand up on the base and
A heating furnace housing in which the bottom surface is arranged away from the base and is in close contact with the pillar portion to form a closed space inside the furnace having the pillar portion on one side surface.
A steam supply pipe that supplies steam from the outside of the closed space inside the furnace to the inside of the closed space inside the furnace.
An electrolytic cell that decomposes the water vapor supplied from the water vapor supply pipe to generate hydrogen, and
A hydrogen discharge pipe that takes out the generated hydrogen to the outside of the closed space in the furnace, and
A pedestal on which the electrolytic cell is placed, which is cantilevered by the pillar and has a free end that allows the pedestal to bend.
A hydrogen production apparatus characterized by comprising. The hydrogen production according to claim 1, further comprising a support base provided in the heating furnace housing and supporting the free end of the frame so as to allow bending due to heat extension of the frame and maintain the frame horizontally. apparatus. According to claim 1 or 2, the steam supply pipe, the hydrogen discharge pipe, and the oxygen discharge pipe for discharging oxygen generated by the decomposition of the steam to the outside of the closed space in the furnace are provided by penetrating the pillar portion. The hydrogen production apparatus described. The hydrogen production apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a moving mechanism for horizontally moving the heating furnace housing. The hydrogen production according to claim 2, further comprising an adjusting unit that adjusts the contact pressure of the support with the frame according to the weight of the frame and the load applied to the frame by the load of the electrolytic cell to adjust the bearing capacity. apparatus. The hydrogen production apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A water supply mechanism connected to the steam supply pipe to supply water that becomes the steam,
A hydrogen production system including a hydrogen recovery mechanism connected to the hydrogen discharge pipe and recovering the hydrogen.

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