JPH06196194A - Fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rationalize supply and discharge pipes for reaction gas supplied to/discharged from a cell stack of a fuel cell housed in a package. CONSTITUTION:Pillars 12, 12a, 12b and 12c erected in the four corners of a base stand 11 on which a fuel cell body 1 is loaded, are made hollow, and a reaction gas passage is formed. A branch pipe connected to this passage and respective manifolds, for example, a branch pipe 25 connected to a fuel gas passage in the pillar 12 and a fuel gas supply manifold 5, is provided, and the pillar inside passage is substituted for a supply and discharge pipe in which reaction gas is made to flow.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel cell housed in a package, and more particularly to a piping structure for supplying / discharging a reaction gas to / from a manifold attached to a cell stack of the fuel cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fuel cell body consisting of a cell stack formed by stacking single cells and a manifold attached to the cell stack for supplying and discharging the reaction gas to and from the cell stack has a high reaction gas supply pressure to the cell stack. In that case, it is stored in a pressure vessel. For such pressure vessels
As shown in 0-145553, the upper end plate of the cell stack is supported by the supporting means on the upper wall of the pressure vessel through the support columns, and the cell stack is bent and damaged by vibration during transportation of the fuel cell or during earthquake. Is being prevented.

By the way, in a large-sized atmospheric pressure fuel cell in which the reaction gas has a low pressure, the fuel cell body is housed in a package instead of being housed in a pressure vessel. In this case, the fuel cell body was placed on the base of the package, a plurality of pillars were provided upright from the base, and a roofing material was further provided over the tops of the pillars to project from the upper end plate of the cell stack. The support pillars are supported on the roof material by supporting means.

The piping for the reaction gas to be supplied to and discharged from the manifold is provided so as to be connected to the manifold from the outside through the inside of the manifold.

[0005]

In the large-sized atmospheric pressure type fuel cell housed in the above-mentioned package, the pipe for supplying / discharging the reaction gas to / from the manifold of the fuel cell body is arranged together with the column, so that the fuel cell However, there is a problem that the space for arranging is large. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell in which a piping for supplying / discharging a reaction gas to / from a manifold of a fuel cell main body can be rationalized and an arrangement space can be reduced.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a base, a plurality of pillars provided upright on the base, and a roof material provided over the tops between the pillars are provided. A fuel cell main body, which is housed in a package including a cell stack formed by stacking single cells and a manifold that supplies and discharges a reaction gas to and from the cell stack, is installed on the base, and a pillar protruding from the top of the cell stack is installed. In a fuel cell supported by a roof material, the pillar is hollowed to form a reaction gas flow passage, and a pipe through which the reaction gas flows is connected to the flow passage and the manifold.

[0007]

The package for housing the fuel cell has a plurality of columns. Therefore, by hollowing this column to form a flow path for the reaction gas, and providing a pipe through which the reaction gas flows by connecting to this flow path and a manifold for supplying and discharging the reaction gas attached to the fuel cell main body, Since the supply / discharge pipe is replaced by the pillar, the space for disposing the fuel cell can be reduced.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a side view of a fuel cell housed in a package according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 and 2, the fuel cell main body 1 is formed by stacking rectangular unit cells, and upper end plates 2 are provided on upper and lower surfaces thereof, respectively.
And a lower end plate 3 and a cell stack 4, a plurality of fuel gas supply manifolds 5 attached to opposite side surfaces of the cell stack 4 for supplying fuel gas to the cell stack 4, and fuel gas exhausted from the cell stack 4. A plurality of fuel gas discharge manifolds 6 that collect and discharge the gas to the outside, and a plurality of oxidant gas supply manifolds 7 and cell stacks that are attached to opposite side surfaces different from the opposite side surfaces and that supply oxidant gas to the cell stack 4. 4 and a plurality of oxidant gas discharge manifolds 8 that collect and discharge the oxidant gas discharged from the exhaust gas to the outside.

The package comprises a base 11, a pillar 12, 12a, 12b, 12c standing upright at the four corners of the base, and a roofing member 13 connected to the top of the pillar 12, 12a, 12b, 12c. , The fuel cell body 1 is the base 11
It is mounted via the support base 14. Further, the column 15 is provided on the upper end plate 2 of the cell stack 4, and the column 15
Is inserted into and supported by a hole 16 provided in the roof material 13, and prevents the cell stack 4 from being bent due to transportation or an earthquake.

Here, the pillars 12, 12a, 12b, 12c are hollow to form the reaction gas passages according to the present invention.
2, a fuel gas supply pipe 18 connected to the upper part of the flow path for supplying the fuel gas, a fuel gas discharge pipe 19 for discharging the fuel gas to the lower part of the flow path of the pillar 12b, and an upper part of the flow path of the pillar 12a. The oxidant gas supply pipe 20 for supplying the oxidant gas to the column 1
An oxidant gas discharge pipe 21 for discharging the oxidant gas is provided below the flow path 2c.

A branch pipe 25, which is connected to the flow path of the pillar 12 and each fuel gas supply manifold 5 and has a flexible hose 24, is connected to the flow path of the pillar 12b and each fuel gas discharge manifold 6. A branch pipe 26 including a flexible hose 24 is connected to the flow path of the column 12a and each oxidant gas supply manifold 7 to connect the flexible hose 24.
A branch pipe 27 provided with is connected to the flow path of the column 12c and each oxidant gas discharge manifold 8, and a flexible hose 24 is provided, and a branch pipe 28 is provided.

With such a configuration, the fuel gas supply pipe 1
The fuel gas supplied via 8 is supplied from the fuel gas supply manifold 5 to the cell stack 4 via the flow path of the column 12 and the branch pipe 25. On the other hand, the oxidant gas supplied through the oxidant gas supply pipe 20 is passed through the flow path of the column 12a and the branch pipe 27 from the oxidant gas supply manifold 7 to the cell stack 4
Is supplied to. The supplied fuel gas and oxidant gas cause a cell reaction in the cell stack 4 to generate power.

The fuel gas that has reacted with the cell is discharged from the cell stack 4, collected in the fuel gas discharge manifold 6, and passed through the flow path of the branch pipe 26 and the column 12b to discharge the fuel gas discharge pipe 1.
9, the oxidant gas is discharged from the cell stack 4, collected in the oxidant gas discharge manifold 8, and discharged to the outside from the oxidant gas discharge pipe 21 through the branch pipe 28 and the flow path of the column 12c.

[0014]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the reaction gas flows through the flow path in which the inside of the plurality of columns provided in the package having the above-described structure is hollow, and the flow path and the manifold are connected to each other. Since the reaction gas is supplied to and discharged from the cell stack through the pipe connecting the above, the reaction gas supply and discharge pipe is replaced by a column, and therefore the space for disposing the fuel cell housed in the package can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a fuel cell housed in a package according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Fuel Cell Main Body 4 Cell Stack 5 Fuel Gas Supply Manifold 6 Fuel Gas Exhaust Manifold 7 Oxidizing Gas Supply Manifold 8 Oxidizing Gas Exhaust Manifold 11 Foundation 12 Pillar 12a Pillar 12b Pillar 12c Pillar 25 Branch Pipe 26 Branch Pipe 27 Branch Pipe 28 Branch pipe

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cell stack which is housed in a package including a base, a plurality of pillars provided upright on the base, and a roofing material provided over the tops of the pillars, and in which unit cells are stacked, and A fuel cell main body having a manifold for supplying and exhausting reaction gas to and from the cell stack is installed on the base stand, and a pillar provided to project from an upper portion of the cell stack is supported by the roof material. A fuel cell characterized in that a hollow is used as a flow path for a reaction gas to be supplied to and discharged from a manifold, and a pipe is provided which is connected to the flow path and the manifold and through which the reaction gas flows.