JPH0446534A - Uninterruptible power source - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cope with power load to be required for large power momentarily in a short time by providing a hydrogen storage vessel containing hydrogen storage allay, and generating by electrochemical reaction of the stored hydrogen and oxygen gases at the time of discharging. CONSTITUTION:Hydrogen gas is stored as compressed hydrogen gas in a hydrogen storage vessel 11. Part of the hydrogen gas is stored in the state of metal hydrogenide of hydrogen storage alloy 12 contained therein at this time. The hydrogen stored as compressed gas and metal hydrogenide in the vessel 11 is electrochemically reacted with oxygen in the supplied air on an electrode 9 to become water and to simultaneously generate a DC power, which is converted to an AC by an inverter 7, and power is supplied to an AC load 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to an uninterruptible power supply using a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell.

"Prior Art" An example of the configuration of a conventional emergency uninterruptible power supply is shown in FIG. It is constantly charged with DC power obtained through 4.

In an emergency, when the grid power supply 1 is out of power, the emergency prime mover 5 starts up - drives the emergency generator 6 to obtain AC power, and supplies AC load 2.
to supply power.

However, normally after a power outage, the prime mover 5 starts up and the generator 6
A startup time of several tens of seconds is required until power can be supplied, and during this time the DC power from the storage battery 13 is converted to AC by the inverter 7 to supply power to the AC load 2.

"Problem to be solved by the invention" In the conventional technology using such a storage battery, (1)
Instantaneous high power cannot be obtained.

(2) There is energy storage loss due to self-discharge.

(3) It is heavy.

(4) The volume is large compared to the capacity.

There are other problems.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In the present invention, the storage battery section, which conventionally uses lead-acid batteries or alkaline storage batteries, is constructed with a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell having a hydrogen storage container containing a hydrogen-absorbing alloy. (when charging)
The system electrolyzes the electrolyte of the fuel cell using the grid power supply and stores the energy in the form of compressed hydrogen gas and metal hydride.In the event of an emergency (such as a power outage), the stored hydrogen and the air are automatically combined. The configuration is such that oxygen causes an electrochemical reaction to supply electric power.

"Function" According to the present invention, it functions as a small and lightweight uninterruptible power supply that can handle power loads that require instantaneous high power for a short period of time until the start of the emergency generator is completed during a power outage. It becomes possible to accomplish this.

``Example'' An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an uninterruptible power supply using the fuel cell of the present invention. At all times, power is supplied from the system power supply 1 to the AC load 2, and the fuel cell 3 is charged with DC power obtained from the system power supply 1 via the rectifier 4. The charged state in this case refers to a state in which the electrolyte in the fuel cell 3 is electrolyzed by direct current and stored in the form of hydrogen and oxygen.

In an emergency, when the system power supply 1 is out of power, the emergency prime mover 5 is activated and drives the generator 6 to obtain AC output, which is supplied to the AC load 2. Normally, however, by the time the generator is started, Requires startup time of several tens of seconds.

In the present invention, during the power outage during this startup time, the DC output obtained by electrochemically reacting the hydrogen and oxygen stored by electrolysis is converted into AC by the inverter 7, and power is continuously supplied to the AC load 2. It is configured to supply

2 and 3 are a structural diagram and an operational diagram of a fuel cell according to the present invention. Figure 2 shows the state during charging (at all times). When direct current is passed from the grid power supply l through the rectifier 4 to the electrode 9, the electrolyte 10 inside the battery is converted into hydrogen and oxygen by the action of the catalyst. Decomposed. This hydrogen gas is stored in the hydrogen storage container 11 as compressed hydrogen gas, and at this time, a part of the hydrogen gas is stored in the built-in hydrogen storage alloy 12 in the form of metal hydride.

FIG. 3 shows the operation during power generation (emergency), in which hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage container 11 as a compressed gas and metal hydride and oxygen in the supplied air undergo an electrochemical reaction on the electrode 9. It turns into water and at the same time generates DC power.
The inverter 7 converts the AC power to supply the AC load 2 with power.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above with the embodiments, the present invention can be used as a power source for an uninterruptible power supply by electrolyzing an electrolytic solution to generate hydrogen, and storing the hydrogen in a compressed gas and a hydrogen storage alloy. By using hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells that store metal hydrides and generate electricity in emergencies (during power outages), (1) the device can be made smaller and lighter;

(2) Since there is no self-discharge, energy storage and utilization efficiency is high.

(3) A large amount of instantaneous electric power can be extracted.

(4) By storing hydrogen in the form of metal hydride in a hydrogen storage alloy, the hydrogen storage container can be significantly improved, making it possible to downsize the storage container and increase its operating time.

The following effects are expected.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an uninterruptible ITR device configured using the hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows a fuel cell configuration diagram and an operation diagram during charging, and FIG. 3 similarly shows an operation diagram during power generation. Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows a system configuration diagram of a conventional uninterruptible power supply. In the drawing, 1. System power supply, 2. AC load, 3. Fuel cell, 4. Rectifier, 5 Emergency prime mover, 6. Emergency generator, 7.
・ ・Inverter, 8...Fuel cell main body, 9. ・Electrode, 10. ・Electrolyte, l Hydrogen storage container, Hydrogen storage alloy, ・Storage battery.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells that use an aqueous solution such as sulfuric acid or potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte, hydrogen storage has a built-in hydrogen storage alloy to store the hydrogen gas generated by electrolysis of the electrolyte when charging with an external power source. has a container;
An uninterruptible power supply device characterized by using a fuel cell configured to generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction of the stored hydrogen and oxygen gas during discharge.