JPH02256168A - Cooling device for fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the equal distribution of reactive gas to cell stacks by providing an inlet manifold which is connected to the inlet header of each cooling plate inserted between the cell stacks and an outlet manifold which is connected to an outlet header. CONSTITUTION:An upright inlet manifold 19 which is connected to the inlet header 5 of each cooling plate 3 via a connection pipe 18 is provided to connect an inlet insulated pressure tight hose 9 between the lower portion of the inlet manifold 19 and an inlet pipe 14. Also, an outlet manifold 21 which is connected to an outlet header 6 via a connection pipe 20 is provided to connect an outlet insulated pressure tight hose 10 between the upper portion of the outlet manifold 21 and an outlet pipe 15. In this case, corresponding gas flows from a supply manifold 12 into the side faces of cell stacks 1 and passes through the cell stacks 1 into an exhaust manifold 13, however there is only one insulated pressure tight hose serving for a resistor of flow in front of the supply and exhaust sides of the cell stacks 1. It is thus possible to distribute reactive gas equally.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack in which a cooling plate through which a cooling pipe passes is inserted into a cell stack, and a cooling medium is passed through the cooling pipe to cool the cell stack. This invention relates to a battery cooling device.

[Conventional technology]

A fuel cell is usually made up of a plurality of stacked single cells, and generates electricity by performing a cell reaction. At this time, the fuel cell generates heat due to the cell reaction, so a cooling medium is passed through the cooling pipe of the cooling plate inserted in the cell stack, and the generated heat is removed by the cooling medium, so that the operating temperature of the fuel cell is increased. is held.

Note that the cooling plate is also used for heating or cooling the cell stack using a heating medium or a cooling medium, respectively, to raise the temperature when starting up the fuel cell, and to lower the temperature when stopping the fuel cell.

The prior art will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a cell stack equipped with a conventional fuel cell cooling device, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cooling device of FIG. 3. In FIGS. 3 and 4, l represents a cell stack, and a cooling plate 3 is inserted every time a plurality of single cells 2 are stacked. The cooling plate 3 has a plurality of cooling pipes 4 passing through it, and includes an inlet header 5 connected to one of the cooling pipe parts protruding from opposing end surfaces of the cooling plate 3, and an outlet header 6 connected to the other. ing. 7 is a large mouth manifold that stands upright along the cell stack 1, 8 is an outlet manifold that also stands upright, and each cooling plate 3 inserted in the cell stack 1.
The inlet header 5 and the outlet header 6 are connected to the inlet manifold 7 and the outlet manifold 8 by an inlet insulated pressure hose 9 and an outlet insulated pressure hose 10, respectively.

Note that the inlet manifold 7. Outlet manifold8. The insulated and pressure-resistant hoses 9 and 10 are disposed within a reaction gas supply manifold 12 and a discharge manifold 13 that are provided to cover opposite sides of the cell stack 1, and an inlet pipe 14 and an outlet pipe 15 for cooling water as a cooling medium are provided. Supply manifold 12. It passes through the discharge manifold 13 and is connected to the inlet and outlet manifolds 7.8.
With such a structure, when cooling the cell stack 1 during operation of the fuel cell, cooling water is supplied from the inlet pipe 14 to the inlet manifold 7.

The supplied cooling water flows into each inlet header 5 from the inlet manifold 7 through each insulated pressure hose 9, and then flows into each inlet header 5.
flows into the cooling pipes 4 of each cooling plate 3 in the cell stack,
Flow through the cooling pipe. The flowing cooling water cools the cell stack by removing heat generated in the cell stack by the cell reaction of the fuel cell through each cooling plate 3, and maintains the cell stack at the operating temperature of the fuel cell.

Cooling water that has cooled down the cell stack 1 is collected in the outlet header 6, passes through each outlet insulated pressure hose 10, is collected in the outlet manifold 8, and is discharged to the outside from the outlet pipe 15.

Note that when the temperature of the fuel cell is lowered when the fuel cell is stopped, cooling water is similarly passed through the cooling pipes 4 of the cooling plate 3 to cool the cell stack. Further, when the temperature rises during startup of the fuel cell, a heat medium is passed through the cooling pipe 4 of the cooling plate 3 to heat the cell stack.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The inlet header 5 of the cooling plate 3 as described above. The outlet header 6 is provided with insulated pressure hoses 9 and 10 for each cooling plate. This causes the following problems.

(1) Since the amount of insulated and pressure-resistant hoses used increases, the number of piping connections increases, reliability in airtightness decreases, and costs increase.

(2) Numerous insulation and pressure hoses supply reactive gas.

Since these hoses are provided in the discharge manifold, when the reaction gas is supplied to and discharged from the cell stack, these insulated and pressure-resistant hoses act as a resistance to the flow of the reaction gas, making it impossible to ensure equal distribution of the reaction gas.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device for a fuel cell that has high reliability in terms of airtightness and is low in cost by reducing the number of insulated and pressure-resistant hoses.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a cooling plate through which a cooling pipe passes is inserted every time a plurality of single cells are stacked,
In a fuel cell equipped with a cooling device that cools the cell stack by passing a cooling medium through the cooling pipes through an inlet header and an outlet header connected to the cooling pipes, an inlet manifold connected to the inlet header of each of the cooling plates; , an outlet manifold connected to the outlet header, and an inlet insulated pressure hose and an outlet insulated pressure hose connected to the inlet manifold and the outlet manifold, respectively, for supplying and discharging a cooling medium.

[Effect]

By providing an inlet manifold that connects the inlet header of each cooling plate inserted in the cell stack and an outlet manifold that connects the outlet header, the insulated pressure hose for electrical insulation can be connected to the inlet header side and the outlet header side of the cooling plate. This means that only one of each is required, and there are fewer resistors on the front side of the cell stack when the reactant gas flows, ensuring equal distribution of the reactant gas to the cell stack and improving reliability in terms of airtightness. It also becomes more expensive.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cell stack equipped with a fuel cell cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cooling device of FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2, parts that are the same as those in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 3, 3, and 4 are given the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted. 1 and 2, the difference from the conventional example is that the inlet header 5 of each cooling plate 3 is connected to a pressure-resistant hose 9 via a connecting pipe 18, and the outlet header 6 is connected via a connecting pipe 20. An outlet manifold 21 is provided, and an outlet insulated pressure-resistant hose 10 is connected between the upper part of the outlet manifold and the outlet pipe 15.

With this configuration, cooling water flows from the inlet pipe 14 through the inlet insulated pressure hose 9 to the inlet manifold 19, and from there to the inlet header 5 of each cooling plate 3. The cooling water flows through the cooling pipe 4 of the cooling plate 3, removes heat generated by cell reaction in the cell stack 1 via the cooling plate 3, and maintains the temperature at the operating temperature of the fuel cell. Cooling water that has become high temperature by removing heat on the cooling plates 3 passes through the outlet header 6 of each cooling plate 3, is collected in the outlet manifold 20, passes through the outlet insulated pressure hose 10, and is discharged to the outside from the outlet pipe 15.

Note that the reaction gas flows from the supply manifold 12 to the side surface of the cell stack 1, passes through the cell stack 1, and flows to the discharge manifold 13, but there is a flow resistance on the front surface of the cell stack 1 on the supply and discharge sides as in the conventional case. Since there is only one insulated and pressure-resistant hose, the reaction gas can be evenly distributed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, an inlet manifold connecting the inlet headers of each cooling plate inserted in the cell stack and an outlet manifold connecting the outlet headers are provided, and these inlet and outlet manifolds are connected to each other. By providing one insulated and pressure-resistant hose for each connection, there is only one insulated and pressure-resistant hose for each flow resistance at the front of the cell stack that supplies and discharges the reaction gas, unlike conventional systems, which have multiple insulated and pressure-resistant hoses. Gas can be evenly distributed throughout the cell stack.

In addition, since there is only one insulated and pressure-resistant hose, the number of connections that can potentially leak is reduced compared to the conventional method, resulting in high reliability in airtightness and low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cell tank equipped with a fuel cell cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fuel cell cooling device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a conventional fuel cell tank. FIG. 4 is a front view of a cell stack equipped with a cooling device of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cooling device of the fuel cell of FIG. 1: Cell stack, 3: Cooling plate, 4: Cooling pipe, 5: Inlet header, 6: Outlet header, 7.19: Population manifold, s, zi: Outlet manifold, 9: Inlet insulation pressure-resistant hose, 10: Outlet insulation Pressure resistant hose. ~ ′-l n~

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) Cooling in which a cooling plate through which a cooling pipe passes is inserted every time a plurality of cells are stacked, and a cooling medium is passed through the cooling pipe through an inlet header and an outlet header connected to the cooling pipe to cool the cell stack. an inlet manifold connected to the inlet header of each of the cooling plates, an outlet manifold connected to the outlet header, and connected to the inlet manifold and the outlet manifold, respectively;
A cooling device for a fuel cell, comprising an insulated pressure-resistant inlet hose and an insulated pressure-resistant outlet hose for supplying and discharging a cooling medium.