JPH02304871A - Fuel cell power source system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent failure of a controller and accessories caused by heating by cooling the outside air whose temperature is elevated during passing through the inside of a power inverter and the outer wall space of an reformer with a coolant in a heat exchanger, then introducing it into a circulation passage from a suction. CONSTITUTION:The outside air whose temperature is elevated during passing through a power inverter INV and the outer wall space 6 of a reformer RF is cooled by heat exchange with a fuel mixed solution supplied to the reformer RF, and introduced into a circulation passage 8 from a suction. Since the power inverter and the reformer are cooled with the outside air, heat radiation is decreased and increase in temperature in a system is prevented. A controller and accessories are stably operated without use of an additional cooling fan, and a power system is made compact.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a portable fuel cell power supply device.

(b) Conventional technology In fuel cells, which serve as small, portable, independent power sources, the power supply components are housed in an outer container. This may cause the equipment to heat up and cause a malfunction. Control unit for such heat To cool the auxiliary equipment, a fan installed on the exterior plate is used to cool the inside of the exterior container, and a dedicated fan is also required to cool the power converter, so the internal power is However, increasing the cooling efficiency requires space between the power supply components, resulting in a large power supply.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention aims to prevent failures due to heating of the control section and auxiliary equipment of a fuel cell power supply device, and to downsize the device.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a methanol reformer and a fuel cell in which the reformed gas produced by the reformer is supplied as fuel gas and air is circulated and supplied as reaction air and cooling air. and a power converter that converts the battery output into alternating current, and has an exhaust damper and an outside air suction port in the air circulation path, and the outside air sequentially flows inside the power converter and the outer wall space of the reformer. The temperature of the outside air that has increased in temperature through the reformer is lowered by heat exchange with the fuel mixture supplied to the reformer, and then introduced into the circulation path through the suction port.

(E) Function In the present invention, the power converter, reformer, etc. are cooled using the outside air sucked into the circulating air path of the fuel cell, so the amount of heat released is reduced and the temperature inside the device is prevented from rising. The control unit and auxiliary equipment can operate stably without using a cooling fan, and the power supply device can be made more compact. In addition, the drawn outside air heated by the power converter, reformer, etc. exchanges heat with the fuel mixture supplied to the reformer, lowers its temperature, and is introduced into the post-circulation air path, which interferes with the cooling of the battery. Fuel efficiency can also be improved by increasing the temperature of the fuel mixture.

(f) Example The drawing is a flow diagram of the fuel cell power supply device of the present invention.

The gas is supplied to the section (4) and the vaporization reforming section (5), respectively. An annular chamber (described later) is placed around the outer wall insulation material of this reformer
6).

The reformed gas generated by the reformer (RF) is supplied as fuel gas to the fuel electrode (N) of the fuel cell (FC). On the other hand, air is circulated and supplied as reaction air and cooling air to the air electrode (P) and the cooling path (C), respectively, and causes a cell reaction with the fuel gas to generate DC power. The DC power of the battery is converted into AC power by a power converter (INV) and then supplied to a load.

A portion of the exhaust air, which has heated up to approximately 180'C due to the battery reaction, is discharged from the exhaust damper (7) to the outside, and at the same time, outside air is introduced into the circulation path (8) in proportion to the amount of exhaust air, thereby cooling the battery. to maintain the specified operating temperature and compensate for the drop in oxygen partial pressure.

In the present invention, outside air introduced into the circulation path (8) is used to cool the inside of the power converter (INV) and to cool the reformer (RF
) to suppress heat radiation.

For example, the outside air (A> at room temperature (approximately 20°C) first passes through the power converter (INV) as shown by the bold line, and then the outside air, which is cooled and heated to approximately 30°C, is sent to the aforementioned reformer. (RF)
The temperature is raised to approximately 40°C through the annular chamber (6) on the outer wall of the pipe.

This heated outside air is then passed from the fuel tank (1) to the reformer (
The temperature is lowered to approximately 30°C by a heat exchanger (9) using the methanol-water mixture supplied to the RF) as a refrigerant, and then the blower (10)
is introduced into the circulation path (8) by the suction force.

Also, by heat exchange with the heated outside air, the temperature of the methanol-water mixture is raised from room temperature to about 35°C, and the amount of heat required for vaporization in the reformer (RF) is reduced accordingly.

(g) Effects of the Invention The fuel cell power supply device according to the present invention has the following features: 1) Since the power converter is cooled by a circulation blower that introduces outside air, the conventional dedicated cooling fan is not required, and the power of auxiliary equipment is reduced by approximately 10%. can.

2) Since the heat dissipation from the methanol reformer is suppressed by cooling with the drawn outside air, failure of the control unit and auxiliary equipment can be prevented without using a fan to cool the inside of the power supply's outer container.
It is possible to downsize the entire device.

3) Heat exchange between the fuel mixture supplied to the reformer and the heated outside air lowers the temperature of the outside air introduced into the circulation path, and at the same time raises the temperature of the fuel mixture, improving fuel efficiency.

With these features, it is extremely effective as an independent power source for small and portable devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a schematic flow diagram of a fuel cell power supply device according to the present invention. RF: methanol reformer, FC: fuel cell, N: fuel electrode, P: air electrode, C: cooling path, A: suction outside air, 1: fuel tank, 6: outer wall annular chamber, 7. Exhaust damper, 8; Circulating air path, 9: Heat exchanger, 10: Circulating blower Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A methanol reformer, a fuel cell in which the reformed gas produced by the reformer is supplied as fuel gas, and air is circulated and supplied as reaction air and cooling air, and a power converter that converts the cell output into alternating current. and an exhaust damper and an outside air suction port in the circulation path by the air blower, and the outside air passes through the power converter and the outer wall space of the reformer in sequence, and the temperature is raised by cooling these. After the outside air is cooled down in a heat exchanger that uses the fuel mixture supplied to the reformer as a refrigerant,
A fuel cell power supply device configured to be introduced into a circulation path through the suction port.