JPH0615408Y2 - Fuel cell - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a fuel cell, and more particularly to improvement of a gas flow path of gas supplied into the fuel cell.

[Prior Art] Generally, in a fuel cell, a cathode, an electrolyte tile, an anode and a separator are sequentially stacked, and a plurality of these four members are made into a set and stacked in multiple stages and fixed, and the separator is placed on the cathode side. Power is generated by supplying the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas to the anode side, respectively. As a means for supplying the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas into the fuel cell, a fuel gas supply manifold and an exhaust manifold, and an oxidizing gas supply manifold and an exhaust manifold are respectively connected to the fuel cell.

That is, Japanese Patent Application No. 61-98113 (JP-A-62-2)
No. 56381), the electrolyte tile and the separator have a larger area than the anode and the cathode, and the electrolyte tile is sandwiched between the anode and the cathode, and the electrolyte tile and the separator are stacked alternately with the separator. A fuel cell is formed by contacting the outer circumferences of the.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas are supplied into the fuel cell at a pressure higher than normal pressure, but the inside and outside of the fuel cell are sealed by the contact portion between the electrolyte tile and the separator ( Since this is referred to as a wet seal), it cannot withstand a large pressure difference between the inside of each gas passage of the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas in the fuel cell and the outside of the fuel cell. For this reason, if the operating pressures of the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas fluctuate, there is a risk that gas leakage may occur unless the external pressure is changed correspondingly.

Further, since the supply manifold and the exhaust manifold of the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas are connected to the fuel cell, there is a problem that the equipment outside the fuel cell becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent a gas leak by eliminating the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the gas passage of the oxidizing gas or the fuel gas in the fuel cell, and to simplify the outer equipment. It is about.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an elongated rectangular cathode and an anode, and an elongated rectangular electrolyte tile and a separator having an area larger than the cathode and the anode. Each of them is formed by stacking a cathode and an anode on the front and back of the electrolyte tile and alternately stacking them with a separator forming a flow path for fuel gas and oxidizing gas, and at the same time, a wet seal is made at the contact portion on the outer periphery of the electrolyte tile and the separator. To form a cell body and form vertical holes for supply and exhaust of the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas in the battery body, and supply the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas to the respective flow passages through the vertical holes for supplying the gas and the flow thereof. In a fuel cell for generating electric power by exhausting gas from a passage through an exhaust vertical hole, the cell body is mounted on a horizontally long base provided with a plurality of rollers. The battery body is clamped and fixed to the base by placing a holding plate on the upper part of the container and the container for accommodating the battery body is formed into a horizontally long cylindrical shape, and a rail is provided at the bottom of one side of the container, On one side, there is provided an openable / closable lid part for inserting and accommodating the cell body by mounting the base roller on the rail, and opening the oxidizing gas supply vertical hole in the container, On the side, a fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical hole and an oxidizing gas exhaust vertical hole are opened, and manifolds connected to the fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical hole and the oxidizing gas exhaust vertical hole are provided in the base, respectively, and the manifold is closed. Further, a manifold for supplying the oxidizing gas is connected to the other side of the container to form a gas passage for the oxidizing gas to be supplied to the battery main body in a gap with the battery main body formed in the container. It is intended.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, by placing the battery main body on the horizontally long base with the roller and providing the rail on the bottom of the container, the battery main body can be easily moved, and the battery main body can be easily opened by releasing the lid. The rail can be used as a guide and the fuel cell body can be accurately positioned and housed in the container.
Further, the fuel cell main body is housed in a container, the gap is used as a gas passage for the oxidizing gas, and the oxidizing gas is directly supplied into the battery main body through an air supply manifold provided in the container. The air supply and exhaust can be performed through independent manifolds provided on the base on which the battery main body is placed. Therefore, the supply / exhaust ports for the fuel gas and the oxidizing gas of the cell body are simplified, and the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the cell body which is greater than the pressure loss in the cell does not occur, so that the wet seal becomes good and the gas leak is prevented. .

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of the fuel cell of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the fuel cell of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fuel cell, and FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the supply and discharge of fuel gas and oxidizing gas in the fuel cell body.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cell body 1 of the fuel cell comprises a cathode 2, an electrolyte tile 3, an anode 4 and a separator 5. These cathode 2, electrolyte tile 3, anode 4
The shape of the separator 5 is formed in an elongated rectangular shape in order to increase the amount of power generation (see FIG. 2). Although not shown in the drawing, the electrolyte tile 3 and the separator 5 have a larger area than the cathode 2 and the anode 4. Anodes 4 and cathodes 2 are superposed on the front and back of the electrolyte tile 3, and the separators 5 are alternately stacked in multiple stages, and the outer peripheries of the electrolyte tiles 3 and the separators 5 are brought into contact with each other to form a wet seal and a fuel cell main body. 1 is configured.

The cell body 1 is provided with supply vertical holes 7 and 8 and exhaust vertical holes 9 and 10 (see FIG. 2) for fuel gas and oxidizing gas, respectively. Then, the fuel gas passes through the fuel gas supply vertical hole 7 as shown by a broken line 11, passes through the gas passage between the separator 5 and the anode 4 at each stage, and passes through the fuel gas exhaust vertical hole 9 to exhaust. To be done. Solid line 1 for oxidizing gas
As shown by 2, the gas passes through the supply vertical hole 8 for the oxidizing gas, the gas passage between the separator 5 of each stage and the cathode 2, and is exhausted through the exhaust vertical hole 10 for the oxidizing gas.

Further, the exhaust gas vertical hole 10 for the oxidizing gas, the supply vertical hole 7 for the fuel gas, and the exhaust vertical hole 9 are opened on the lower side of the cell body 1,
The fuel gas is supplied from the lower side, and the fuel gas and the oxidizing gas are discharged from the lower side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the battery main body 1 configured as described above has a base 1 provided with a plurality of rollers 15.
The base 16 and the holding plate 17 on the upper side of the main body 1 are clamped and fixed by the connecting rod 21. And
The battery main body 1 is housed in a container 20 having a rail 19 provided on a bottom 18 with the rollers 15 mounted on the rail 19.

The exhaust gas vertical hole 9 and the fuel gas supply vertical hole 8 and the exhaust vertical hole 10 on the lower side of the cell body 1 are opened in the base 16, and through the base 16, the fuel gas supply vertical hole 7 is supplied to the fuel gas supply vertical hole 7. A supply manifold 23 that supplies gas is provided, and an exhaust manifold 24 that exhausts the fuel gas from the fuel gas exhaust vertical hole 9 is provided.

Further, the base 16 is provided with an exhaust manifold 25 for exhausting the oxidizing gas in the oxidizing gas exhaust vertical hole 10. And these three manifolds 23, 24, 25 are extended to the outside of the container 20.

The oxidant gas supply vertical hole 8 opens into the container 20,
The gap between the container 20 and the battery body 1 serves as a supply passage (supply manifold) for the oxidizing gas. 28 is a container 20
Is a supply pipe for oxidizing gas provided in the.

Further, the container 20 has a lid portion 29 on one side portion 20a. One side of the battery main body 1 is fixed to the lid portion 29. From the lid portion 29, the three manifolds 23,
24 and 25 extend out of the container 20.

Then, the battery main body 1 to which the lid portion 29 is attached is the container 2
The battery main body 1 is fixed in the container 20 by sliding it on the rail 19 from one side portion 20a of the No. 0 by the rollers 15 and fixing the lid 29 and the container 20 with the flange 30. .

Next, the operation will be described.

First, the fuel cell main body 1 is placed on the base 16, clamped and fixed with the upper holding plate 17, and with the lid 29 of the container 20 opened, the roller 15 of the base 16 is set on the rail of the bottom of the container 20. 19 on the fuel cell body 1 in this state
Is inserted into the container 20, and then the lid 29 is closed to assemble the fuel cell.

The fuel gas is press-fitted into the cell body 1 from the fuel gas supply manifold 23, and sequentially passes through the fuel gas supply vertical hole 7, the gas passage between the separator 5 and the anode 4, and the exhaust vertical hole 9 in the cell main body 1. The air is exhausted from 24 to the outside of the container 20. At this time, the supply manifold 23 serving as a fuel gas passage, the supply vertical hole 7, the gas passage between the separator 5 and the anode 4, the exhaust vertical hole 9, the exhaust manifold 24.
The interior of each of the is kept much higher than atmospheric pressure.

The oxidizing gas is press-fitted into the container 20 through the supply pipe 28, passes through the gap between the container 20 and the battery main body 1 and flows from the oxidizing gas supply vertical hole 8 that opens into the container 20, and is sequentially connected to the separator 5. After passing through the gas passage between the cathodes 2 and the exhaust gas exhaust vertical hole 10, the exhaust gas is exhausted from the oxidizing gas exhaust manifold 25. At this time, the container 20 serving as a passage for the oxidizing gas
The interior of each of the gap between the fuel cell 1 and the cell body 1, the oxidizing gas supply vertical hole 8, the gas passage between the separator 5 and the cathode 2, the oxidizing gas exhaust vertical hole 10, and the oxidizing gas exhaust manifold 25 is the same as in the case of the fuel gas. It is kept at a moderate pressure.

As described above, the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas flow in the cell body 1 to generate power.

As described above, by accommodating the battery main body 1 in the container 20 and using the gap between the container 20 and the battery main body 1 as the passage of the oxidizing gas, the internal pressure of the oxidizing gas passage in the battery main body 1 and the battery There is almost no pressure difference between the pressure outside the main body 1 and the pressure is balanced, and the wet seal is also maintained well, so there is no risk of gas leak.

Oxidizing gas supply manifold is omitted, and appearance equipment can be simplified.

When the battery body 1 is further heated and expands, the battery body 1
The roller 15 attached to the side and the rail 19 fixed to the container 20 absorb the expansion of the battery body 1.

Further, since the battery main body 1 is housed in the container 20 and one side thereof is fixed and the other side is free so that the roller 15 and the rail 19 can expand and contract, the battery main body can be increased in order to increase the amount of power generation. Even when 1 is enlarged or a plurality of battery main bodies 1 are connected, the risk of breakage due to external impact or expansion / contraction of itself is greatly reduced.

[Effect of Invention] In short, according to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited.

(1) The fuel cell body is housed in a container, and the gap between them serves as a gas passage for the oxidizing gas.Therefore, there is almost no pressure difference greater than the pressure loss in the cell inside and outside the cell body, and the pressure is balanced. As a result, the wet seal becomes good and there is no risk of causing gas leakage.

(2) Place the battery body on a horizontally long base with rollers and provide rails on the bottom of the container to easily move the battery body, and open the lid to easily insert and remove the battery body. In addition, the rail serves as a guide and can be accurately positioned in the container.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of the fuel cell of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the fuel cell of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the cell body of the fuel cell of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a battery main body, 2 is a cathode, 3 is an electrolyte tile, 4 is an anode, 5 is a separator, 7 and 9 are fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical holes, 8 and 10 are oxidizing gas supply / exhaust vertical holes, 15
Is a roller, 16 is a base, 17 is a holding plate, 19 is a rail, 20 is a container, 23, 24, 25 and 28 are manifolds, and 29 is a lid.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An elongated rectangular cathode and an anode, and an elongated rectangular electrolyte tile and separator each having a larger area than the cathode and the anode are formed, and the cathode and the anode are formed on the front and back of the electrolyte tile. The fuel cells and the separators that form the flow paths for the oxidizing gas are alternately superposed, and a wet seal is formed at the contact portion of the outer periphery of the electrolyte tile and the separator to form the battery main body and the oxidizing gas on the battery main body. And fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical holes are formed, and the oxidizing gas and the fuel gas are supplied to the respective flow passages from the respective supply air vertical holes, and the fuel gas is exhausted from the flow passages through the exhaust vertical holes to generate electricity. In a battery, the battery body is placed on a horizontally long base provided with a plurality of rollers, and a holding plate is provided on the upper part of the battery body to attach the battery body. On the other hand, a container for accommodating the battery body is formed into a horizontally long cylindrical shape, and a rail is provided at the bottom of one side of the container, and a base roller is placed on the rail on one side of the container. An openable and closable lid for inserting and accommodating the cell body is provided, and the oxidizing gas supply vertical hole is opened in the container, and the fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical hole and the oxidizing gas exhaust are provided below the fuel cell body. A vertical hole is opened, and a manifold connected to the fuel gas supply / exhaust vertical hole and the oxidizing gas exhaust vertical hole is provided in the base, and the manifold is extended from the closed lid portion, and the oxidizing gas is supplied to the other side of the container. A fuel cell characterized in that a gas passage for oxidizing gas supplied to the cell body is formed in a gap between the cell body and a cell body formed in the container by connecting the manifold.