JPH08153527A - Portable fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a portable fuel cell in which an entire hydrogen-storage- alloy tank is evenly heated so that the hydrogen of the hydrogen storage alloy tank can be used sufficiently effectively. CONSTITUTION: A damper 47 has a main surface in a direction crossing the flow of exhaust gas expelled from a fuel cell main body 2, is in the form of a circle on a side view, with its center of curvature located upstream of the exhaust gas, and comprises a slide plate that slides along the main surface and a holding plate. When the slide plate is at the top, the exhaust gas from the fuel cell main body 2 is introduced into the lower portion of a hydrogen storage tank 7 through a lower-end cutting 58 and a lower-portion cutting 59. When the slide plate is at the bottom, the exhaust gas from the fuel cell main body 2 is guided along the main surface of the damper 47 and expelled outside through an upper-end cutting and an upper-portion cutting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to portable fuel cells and more particularly to improved dampers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a small portable power source equipped with a fuel cell, it has a battery main body in which phosphoric acid type power generating cells are stacked, an air supply fan, and a hydrogen supply source such as a hydrogen storage alloy tank. Portable fuel cells are being developed. This portable fuel cell can generate power of several hundreds of watts and emits less air pollutants than the portable power source that uses a conventional engine to drive a generator to generate electricity. Is excellent in that there are few.

As a conventional portable fuel cell, for example, one shown in FIG. 11 is known. This portable fuel cell has a fuel cell body 1 at the bottom center of the case.
No. 02 is arranged in the fuel cell main body 102, while air is horizontally flown by a fan (not shown), while hydrogen is supplied from a hydrogen storage device 106 having a plurality of hydrogen storage alloy tanks 107. By doing so, power is generated.

The hydrogen storage alloy tank 107 is mounted on the air discharge side of the fuel cell main body 102 in a vertically stacked state, and between the fuel cell main body 102 and the hydrogen storage device 106. A shutter 140 that opens and closes an air passage by rotating a plurality of strip-shaped plates 150 is provided. And with the shutter 140 open,
The high temperature air discharged from the fuel cell main body 102 is
Hydrogen storage alloy tank 1 guided horizontally along 50
Hydrogen storage alloy tank 1 while passing upward around 07
It is designed to heat 07.

Therefore, the temperature of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 107 is controlled by heating, and the fuel cell body 10 is controlled accordingly.
The amount of hydrogen supplied to 2 can be adjusted.

[0006]

However, in a portable fuel cell provided with a shutter having such a structure, high temperature air passes horizontally through the opened shutter and then moves upward around the hydrogen storage tank. Since it passes through, the high temperature air is hard to hit the lower part of the hydrogen storage tank, especially the lower end.

Therefore, since the lower side of the hydrogen storage alloy tank is less likely to be heated and the upper side thereof is likely to be heated, the entire hydrogen storage alloy tank is not uniformly heated, and the hydrogen in the hydrogen storage alloy tank is sufficiently and effectively utilized. There was a problem that I could not do it. In view of such a problem, the present invention aims to provide a portable fuel cell capable of uniformly heating the entire hydrogen storage alloy tank and sufficiently effectively utilizing hydrogen in the hydrogen storage alloy tank. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a portable fuel cell according to the invention of claim 1 comprises:
A fuel cell body that receives hydrogen and air to generate electricity,
It is arranged on the downstream side of the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body,
It is arranged between the hydrogen storage alloy tank that supplies hydrogen stored internally to the fuel cell main body in accordance with the heat received from the exhaust gas, and between the fuel cell main body and the hydrogen storage alloy tank, and controls the flow rate of the exhaust gas to the hydrogen storage alloy tank. A damper for controlling the damper, the damper having a main surface in a direction intersecting with the exhaust gas flow direction, and comprising a slide plate that slides along the main surface and a holding body that holds the slide plate. The first state in which an opening is formed at a predetermined position on the main surface to guide the exhaust gas to the lower portion of the hydrogen storage alloy tank, and the second state in which the opening is closed to directly discharge the exhaust gas to the outside along the main surface. The feature is that it can be switched to and.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in contrast to the invention according to claim 1, the damper is formed in an arc shape having a center of curvature on the upstream side of the exhaust gas in a side view. . The invention according to claim 3 is different from the invention according to claim 2, in which the damper forms the second opening in the main surface in the second state, and the portable fuel cell is
It is characterized in that it is provided with a passage leading directly to the outside from the second opening.

[0010]

According to the portable fuel cell of the first aspect of the present invention, when the damper is in the first state, the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body passes through the opening of the damper and the hydrogen storage tank. Is guided to the bottom of. Then, as it is, the hydrogen storage tank is heated while rising from the lower part to the upper part of the hydrogen storage tank. Therefore, the entire hydrogen storage tank is uniformly heated by the heat of the exhaust gas.

On the other hand, when the damper is in the second state, the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body is guided directly to the outside along the main surface of the damper, so that the hydrogen storage alloy tank is not heated. In this case, the damper
The slide plate can be slid in the direction intersecting with the flow of exhaust gas from the fuel cell body to switch between the first state and the second state, so the damper can be opened and closed without receiving much air resistance. become.

According to the portable fuel cell of the second aspect, when the damper is in the first state, the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body that hits the upper part of the damper is a circular arc of the damper. Guided from top to bottom along the inside. Then, together with the exhaust gas supplied to the lower part of the damper, it is guided to the lower part of the hydrogen storage tank through the opening. Further, when the damper is in the second state, of the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body, the exhaust gas that hits the lower part of the damper is guided from the bottom to the top along the inside of the arc of the damper. Then, it is directly discharged to the outside together with the exhaust gas supplied to the upper part of the damper.

Exhaust gas is smoothly guided by such a wind guide effect of the damper. Further, according to the portable fuel cell of claim 3, when the damper is in the second state, the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell main body is discharged from the second opening along the main surface of the damper. Guided directly to the passage leading to the outside. Therefore, the exhaust gas is discharged to the outside while reliably avoiding the hydrogen storage alloy tank.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) [Description of Overall Configuration of Portable Fuel Cell] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an X-portion of the portable fuel cell shown in FIG. It is an X-ray sectional view. For the sake of explanation, in FIG. 2, the left direction of the paper is referred to as the front direction, the right direction is referred to as the rear direction, and the front and back directions of the paper are referred to as the left and right directions.

In this portable fuel cell, a phosphoric acid type fuel cell main body 2 for supplying power by supplying hydrogen and air and a flow of exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell main body 2 in a portable size case 1. Damper unit 4 for adjusting
0 and the opening / closing drive device 70 that drives the damper unit 40
And a hydrogen storage device 6 for supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell body 2
And an air supply fan 9 for supplying air to the fuel cell main body 2.
The heater 12 for starting, which heats the air supplied by the air supply fan 9 at the time of starting, the catalytic combustor 13 that processes unreacted hydrogen discharged from the fuel cell main body 2, and the air to the catalytic combustor 13. An air supply fan 15 for supplying,
DC-DC that controls the output voltage to be constant (for example, 12V)
A control device 1 for controlling the converter 16 and the opening / closing drive device 70, the air supply fan 15, the starting heater 12 and the like.
7, a fuse relay box 18 and the like are housed.

The case 1 is made of a light metal such as aluminum or duralumin, and is formed of a rectangular parallelepiped case lower portion 1a and a pyramidal case upper portion 1b.
On the inclined surface of b, an intake hole 21 for taking in air from the outside, an exhaust hole 22 for exhausting exhaust gas to the outside, and several connectors 23 for taking out the electric power generated by the fuel cell main body 2 are provided. In addition, on the upper surface of the case upper portion 1b,
A lamp for displaying the residual hydrogen pressure in the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7, a pressure switch for adjusting the hydrogen pressure in the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7, a valve opening / closing switch for opening and closing the valve, etc. (none of which are shown) are provided. An operation panel 24 is provided.

The case upper portion 1b can be covered with a lid 30 made of the same material as that of the case 1, and the lid 30 and the case 1 can be hermetically fixed by a stopper 31. There is. Here, a packing 32 is attached to a portion where the case 1 and the lid 30 are in contact with each other in order to enhance the airtightness of the case 1. A handle 33 for carrying the portable fuel cell is attached to the upper portion of the lid 30.

The fuel cell main body 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped cell stack 3 formed by stacking phosphoric acid power generation cells, an upper manifold 5a for covering the upper surface of the cell stack 3 and distributing hydrogen to the cell stack 3, and a cell stack. 3 and a lower manifold 5b that covers the lower surface of the battery stack 3 and collects the exhaust gas containing unreacted hydrogen from the battery stack 3, and is arranged in the lower central part of the case 1.

The battery stack 3 is formed by stacking a predetermined number (for example, 30) of rectangular phosphoric acid type power generating cells 4 (not shown) in the left-right direction. This power generation cell 4
Although not shown in the drawing, the battery stack 3 is configured such that an anode and a cathode are arranged on both surfaces of an electrolyte matrix, and the anode and cathode are sandwiched by a bipolar plate having grooves for hydrogen passages and air passages. A large number of air passages running in the front-rear direction and a large number of hydrogen passages running in the up-down direction are formed therein, and air and hydrogen are supplied to each power generation cell 4 through the passages.

The air passing through the battery stack 3 in the rear direction is discharged from the rear side surface of the battery stack 3. Although the configuration of the damper unit 40 will be described in detail later, the damper unit 40 is provided with a damper 47 that covers the rear side surface of the fuel cell main body 2, and the opening / closing drive device 70 opens and closes the damper 47 to discharge the fuel cell main body 2. The exhaust gas is guided to the lower part of the hydrogen storage device 6 or discharged upward.

The hydrogen storage device 6 is provided with a plurality of hydrogen storage alloy tanks 7 (five in the illustrated example) filled with hydrogen storage alloys, and is placed on the rear side surface of the fuel cell body 2 with the damper unit 40 interposed therebetween. It can be installed. The hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is capable of storing 370 liters of hydrogen when a misch metal is filled in a cylindrical container having an outer diameter of about 40 mm formed of a metal plate having heat conductivity and filled with hydrogen. It is a thing. And
When installed, the five hydrogen storage alloy tanks 7 are laid horizontally with their longitudinal directions aligned in the left-right direction so that the heat of the high-temperature exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell body 2 can be efficiently received. , Stacked one above the other. The height from the lower end to the upper end of the five hydrogen storage alloy tanks 7 is
The height of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is set to be slightly higher than the height of the fuel cell body 2, and the length of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is set to be shorter than the width of the fuel cell body 2 in the left-right direction.

When the hydrogen storage device 6 is mounted, the hydrogen released from the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is supplied to the upper manifold 5a through the hydrogen introduction pipe 8 while being adjusted by the hydrogen supply valve (not shown). ing. Note that FIG.
In, the middle part of the hydrogen introducing pipe 8 from the hydrogen storage device 6 to the fuel cell main body 2 is hidden. Air supply fan 9
Is installed above the fuel cell main body 2 on the side opposite to the hydrogen storage device 6, and the above-described intake hole 21 is opened near the air supply fan 9. Further, by providing the partition plate 10 below the air supply fan 9, between the side surface of the fuel cell main body 2 and the partition plate 10,
Air passage 1 from the air supply fan 9 to the fuel cell body 2
1 is formed.

About 200 ml by the air supply fan 9
/ Min of air is supplied to the fuel cell main body 2 through the air passage 11, passes through the inside of the cell stack 3 in the rear direction, and is guided to the damper unit 40 as exhaust gas. The startup heater 12 is installed in the air passage 11 and heats the air supplied to the fuel cell main body 2 until the temperature of the fuel cell main body 2 rises to the temperature of the main operation.

The catalyst combustor 13 is filled with a catalyst such as platinum and is installed in the air passage 11 below the starting heater 12. The unreacted hydrogen in the fuel cell body 2 is
It is guided from the lower manifold 5b through the exhaust gas delivery pipe 14 to the catalytic combustor 13, and catalytically burned by the air supplied from the air supply fan 15. Then, unreacted hydrogen is not released to the outside of the portable fuel cell.

DC-DC converter 16 and controller 1
7 is installed on the side opposite to the air passage 11 with respect to the partition plate 10, and the control device 17 controls the rotation speed of the air supply fan 15 to adjust the amount of air supplied to the catalytic combustor 13. When the fuel cell main body 2 reaches the temperature of the main operation, the starting heater 12 is stopped, and the opening / closing drive device 70
To open and close the damper 47.

The rated output of this portable fuel cell is 250 W, and the air supply fan 9 and the starting heater 1 are used.
2. The air supply fan 15 is driven by the electric power generated by the fuel cell main body 2. 1 and 2, arrow A indicates the flow of air sucked from the outside of the case 1, and arrow B indicates the flow of exhaust gas that accompanies the power generation of the fuel cell main body 2.

Most of the air taken in from the intake hole 21 by driving the air supply fan 9 is directly supplied to the fuel cell main body 2 for power generation, while the remaining air is supplied to the control device 17 and the DC-DC converter. After cooling the control device 17, the DC-DC converter 16 and the like via the periphery of 16 and the like, they are supplied to the fuel cell main body 2. And
As will be described later in detail, the high-temperature exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell main body 2 passes through the opening at the bottom of the damper 47 and passes through the periphery of the hydrogen storage device 6 when the damper 47 is open. After heating the storage device 6, the exhaust port 2
2 is discharged from the case 1 to the outside of the case 1, and when the damper 47 is closed, it is discharged as it is from the exhaust hole 22 through the opening in the upper part of the damper 47.

[Description of Damper Unit 40] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the damper unit 40. A damper 47 is housed in a rectangular parallelepiped frame 41. The damper 47 is formed in an arc shape having a center of curvature forward when viewed from the side. The front side and the lower side of the frame body 41 are open, the rear surface is formed by a rectangular partition plate 42, the side surface is formed by a pair of rectangular side plates 44, and the upper surface is formed by a rectangular wire. The cross 45 is formed.

The partition plate 42 has a height of about 200 mm, for example.
The lateral width is slightly shorter than that of the fuel cell body 2 and is set to be substantially the same as the rear side surface of the fuel cell body 2. Further, a rectangular opening 43 serving as a window for guiding the exhaust gas to the hydrogen storage device 6 is formed in the center of the lower end of the partition plate 42. The width of the opening 43 is set to be slightly larger than the length of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7, and the height of the opening 43 is set to the partition plate 42.
The height is set to about 1/3.

The widths of the side plate 44 and the wire cloth 45 are set according to the height of the peak of the arc of the arc damper 47. With the frame 41, the side plate 44 forms a passage from the fuel cell body 2 to the damper 47 in a state where the damper unit 40 is mounted on the rear surface of the fuel cell body 2. Further, the partition plate 42 and the side plate 44 partition the exhaust gas discharged from the upper part of the damper 47 and directly guide the exhaust gas to the exhaust hole 22, and the exhaust gas discharged from the lower part of the damper 47 to the lower part of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7. A passage leading to the is formed.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the holding plate 50, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view of the holding plate 50 shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the slide plate 60. The damper 47 is a holding plate 5 made of an arc-shaped aluminum plate.
0, and a slide plate 6 made of an arc-shaped aluminum plate held slidably along the arc of the holding plate 50.
0.

The radius of curvature of the arc of the holding plate 50 is about 220 m.
The height of the holding plate 50 is substantially the same as the height of the battery stack 3, and the width of the holding plate 50 is substantially the same as the width of the frame body 41. The holding plate 50 is attached to the central portion of the frame body 41 such that its arc is oriented in the vertical direction and the center of curvature of the arc surface faces forward. Here, the holding plate 50 is fixed to the frame body 41 by fastening the hole 46 formed in the central portion of the partition plate 42 and the hole 55 formed in the central portion of the holding plate 50 with a holding screw. There is. At this time, the front and rear positions of the upper end 50a and the lower end 50b of the holding plate 50 are substantially aligned with the front surface (opening surface) of the frame body 41.

The holding plate 50 includes an inner plate 51 and an outer plate 52, which are made of an arc-shaped aluminum plate (thickness: 1 mm).
The structure is such that they are joined together with a gap of 5 mm. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the inner plate 51 and the outer plate 52 are joined at joint portions 53 having a width of 5 m along the left and right sides of the holding plate 50, and the inner plate 51 and the outer plate 52 are joined together. The arcuate gap 54 surrounded by the portion 53 serves as a passage for the slide plate 60 to slide.

Further, a rectangular upper end cutout 56 and a rectangular upper cutout 57, which serve as windows for guiding the exhaust gas upward, are opened at the upper end center portion and the upper center portion of the holding plate 50. A rectangular lower end cutout 58 and a rectangular lower cutout 59 are provided at the center of the lower end and the center of the lower part to serve as windows for guiding the exhaust gas downward. The upper and lower widths of the four upper cutouts 56, the upper cutouts 57, the lower end cutouts 58, and the lower cutouts 59 are set to the same length (this length is referred to as length W), and the left and right widths of the four cutouts are also the same. Is set to. Also, the upper end cutout 56 and the upper cutout 57
And the distance between the lower cutout 58 and the lower cutout 59 are also set to the length W.

The slide plate 60 is made of an arc-shaped aluminum plate (thickness: 1 mm), and the radius of curvature of the arc is almost the same as that of the holding plate 50. The length of the arc of the slide plate 60 is set shorter than the slide plate 50 by the length W, and the left and right width of the slide plate 60 is set shorter than the left and right width of the slide plate 50 by the joint portion 53. . Also, the slide plate 6
A rectangular upper cutout 61 serving as a window for guiding exhaust gas upward is provided in the upper center part of 0, and a rectangular lower cutout 62 serving as a window for guiding exhaust gas downward is provided in the lower center of the slide plate 60. It has been opened.

Both the upper cutout 61 and the lower cutout 62 have the same size as the cutouts 56 to 59, and the distance from the upper end 60a and the lower end 60b of the slide plate 60 is also set to the length W. When the slide plate 60 slides in the gap 54, the center of the slide plate 60 is long in the up-down direction so as not to be obstructed by the fixing screw. A central cutout 63 has been opened.

The length of the arc of the slide plate 60 is determined by the holding plate 5
Since the length W is shorter than the length of the circular arc of 0, the slide plate 6
0 can slide vertically in the gap 54 of the holding plate 50 over the length W. A drive wire 71 for driving the slide plate 60 is attached to the center of the upper end of the slide plate 60. The drive wire 71 extends in a direction in which the circular arc of the slide plate 60 extends upward.

6A and 6B are schematic cross-sectional views of the damper 47, where FIG. 6A shows the damper 47 in an open state and FIG. 6B shows the damper 47 in a closed state. As shown in the figure, in the damper 47, the slide plate 60 is slid up and down to open and close the opening through which the exhaust gas passes.
In the state of (a), the slide plate 60 is in the upper position, and the upper end 50a of the holding plate 50 and the upper end 6 of the slide plate 60 are
0a matches. In this state, the lower end 60b of the slide plate 60 and the upper end of the lower end cutout 58 are aligned to open the lower end cutout 58, and the lower cutout 59 is also opened to match the lower cutout 62. The upper cutout 56 and the upper cutout 57 are both closed by the slide plate 60.

Therefore, in the exhaust gas discharged rearward from the fuel cell body 2, the exhaust gas (arrow B1) directed to the upper part of the damper 47 is guided downward along the arc of the damper 47, and the lower part of the damper 47. It passes through the lower end cutout 58 and the lower cutout 59 together with the exhaust gas (arrow B2) directed toward.
Then, the passed exhaust gas (arrow B) is guided to the lower portion of the hydrogen storage device 6 through the opening 43 of the damper unit 40 (see FIG. 2).

On the other hand, in the state (b), the slide plate 60 is at the lower position, and the lower end 50b of the holding plate 50 and the lower end 60b of the slide plate 60 are aligned with each other. In this state, the upper end 60a of the slide plate 60 and the upper end cutout 56
The upper cutout 56 is opened so as to coincide with the lower end of the upper cutout 57, and the upper cutout 57 is also opened so as to coincide with the upper cutout 61. The lower cutout 58 and the lower cutout 59 are both closed by a slide plate 60.

Therefore, among the exhaust gas discharged rearward from the fuel cell main body 2, the exhaust gas (arrow B2) directed to the lower part of the damper 47 is guided upward along the arc of the damper 47, and the upper part of the damper 47. It passes through the upper cutout 56 and the upper cutout 57 with the exhaust gas (arrow B1) directed toward.
Then, the passed exhaust gas (arrow B) is discharged upward through the wire cloth 45 of the damper unit 40 and is not guided to the hydrogen storage device 6.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening / closing drive device 7
0 is provided on an upward extension line of the circular arc of the damper 47. The opening / closing drive device 70 drives the slide plate 60 of the damper 47 up and down via a drive wire 71, and includes, for example, a motor and a cam mechanism that converts the rotational movement of the motor into reciprocating movement. Drive wire 71
The upper end of the drive wire 71 is connected to a cam mechanism so that the drive wire 71 can be pulled upward or pushed downward.

In this embodiment, the control device 17
Controls the opening / closing drive device 70 based on the pressure of hydrogen in the hydrogen storage device 6 so that the damper 47 is closed when the pressure is 5 kg / cm 2 or more and opened when the pressure drops to 3 kg / cm 2. [Description of Operation of Portable Fuel Cell] Next, the operation of the portable fuel cell will be described.

First, when the operator removes the lid 30 from the case 1 and operates the valve opening / closing switch of the operation panel 24 provided on the upper surface of the case 1, the hydrogen supply valve of the hydrogen storage device 6 is opened. The remaining air and the hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen storage device 6 cause a reaction to start preliminary power generation. By this preliminary power generation, the air supply fan 9 is activated, the air sucked in through the intake hole 21 is heated by the activation heater 12 and supplied into the fuel cell main body 2, and the temperature of the fuel cell main body 2 gradually rises. Enter the main power generation.

At startup, the damper 47 is open. When the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is continuously supplied with hydrogen, the temperature tends to decrease due to the heat absorption due to the release of hydrogen from the misch metal, but the high temperature exhaust gas discharged along with the power generation of the fuel cell main body 2 is , Damper unit 4
Since the hydrogen storage device 6 passes through 0 and passes from the lower part to the upper part of the hydrogen storage device 6, the entire hydrogen storage device 6 is uniformly heated, and the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 can supply hydrogen necessary for power generation of the fuel cell main body 2. it can.

Further, when the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is heated and the pressure rises to 5 kg / cm 2, the damper 47 is closed. When the damper 47 is closed, the heating of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 is stopped, the temperature of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 drops, and the pressure also drops. And
When the pressure reaches 3 kg / cm 2, the damper 47 is opened again.

By opening and closing the damper 47 in this manner, the pressure of the hydrogen storage device 6 is 3 to 5 kg / c.
It is kept in the m2 range. [Comparative Test] Using the portable fuel cell of this example and the conventional portable fuel cell shown in FIG. 11,
After fully filling the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7, 107 with hydrogen,
The hydrogen storage alloy tanks 7 and 107 were operated at a room temperature of 25 ° C. and a rated output of 250 W, and a test for comparing the temperature difference and the power generation time was conducted.

The conventional portable fuel cell shown in FIG. 11 has the same structure as the portable fuel cell of the present embodiment, but instead of the damper unit 40, the fuel cell main body 1 is used.
A shutter 140 that opens and closes by rotating a plurality of strip-shaped plates 150 is provided at a position where exhaust gas is discharged from 02. Then, during operation, when the shutter 140 is opened, the high temperature exhaust gas from the fuel cell main body 102 is horizontally directed to the hydrogen storage alloy tank 10 of the hydrogen storage device 106.
7, when the shutter 140 is closed, the high temperature exhaust gas from the fuel cell main body 102 is blocked, flows upward, and is discharged from the exhaust hole 122.

The results of the comparative test are shown in Table 1.

[0050]

[Table 1] In Table 1, the temperature difference between the tanks is the hydrogen storage alloy tank 10 of the hydrogen storage device 106 60 minutes after the start of operation.
The value obtained by subtracting the temperature of the lowermost one from the temperature of the uppermost one of 7 and the value of the temperature of the uppermost one of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 of the hydrogen storage device 6 minus the temperature of the lowermost one. The amount of water of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 107
And the weight ratio of the water adhering to the surface of the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 (the conventional one is 100).

In the portable fuel cell of this embodiment, the temperature difference in the tank is smaller and the amount of water in the lower part of the tank is smaller than that in the conventional one. this is,
It shows that the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 of the hydrogen storage device 6 was heated more uniformly. Further, the power generation time is the time during which the rated operation could be continued, and the power generation time is also long in the portable fuel cell of this embodiment. It is considered that this is because the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 was heated more uniformly, so that the hydrogen in the hydrogen storage alloy tank 7 could be used more efficiently.

[Other Matters] In the above embodiment, the damper 47 is composed of a pair of holding plates 50 and a slide plate 60 each having a rectangular plate bent in an arc shape. The shutter in the battery is
Without being limited to this, various modifications as shown in the following (1) to (4) are possible.

(1) Like the circular damper 80 shown in FIG. 7, by sliding two slide plates 82 to the left and right with respect to the holding plate 81, the lower cutout 83 formed in the holding plate 81. And that opens and closes the upper cutout 84. In FIG. 7, (a) shows a state where the slide plate 82 is opened to the left and right to open the lower cutout 83 and closes the upper cutout 84, and (b) is a state where the slide plate 82 is closed at the center and the lower cutout is shown. The state where 83 is closed and the upper cutout 84 is opened is shown.

(2) Like a damper 85 shown in FIG. 8, it comprises an arc-shaped fixed frame body 86 and a slide plate 87 formed by bending a rectangular plate into an arc shape. The slide plate 87 extends along the fixed frame body 86. The window 88 is opened and closed by moving up and down. In FIG. 8, the slide plate 87 is located above,
The window 88 is formed on the lower side of the slide plate 87, but when the slide plate 87 slides downward, the window is formed on the upper side of the slide plate 87.

(3) Like the damper 90 shown in FIG. 9, a slide plate 91 formed by bending a circular plate having a cutout 92 into a spherical shape is rotatable about a center point 93 of the slide plate 91. It is held, and the cutout 92 is moved up and down by the sliding movement of the slide plate 91 (indicated by the arrow in the figure). The periphery of the slide plate 91 is surrounded by a fixed plate 94 for guiding the exhaust gas to the slide plate 91.

(4) Like the damper 95 shown in FIG.
A slide plate 96 obtained by bending a rectangular plate in an arc shape is formed by side plates 97 attached to both left and right ends of the slide plate 96.
It is pivotally supported at the center 98 of curvature of the arc, and the window 99 is opened and closed by moving the slide plate 96 up and down. The side plates 97 are located on both left and right sides of the fuel cell body 2 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 10 (b),
The slide plate 96 is located on the upper side, and the window 99 is formed on the lower side of the slide plate 96, but when the slide plate 96 slides down (arrow in the figure), the window is formed on the upper side of the slide plate 96. .

In the above embodiment, the damper 47 is used.
Can form a rectangular plate in a flat shape without bending it in an arc shape, but it cannot obtain the air guide effect as in the case of forming it in an arc shape. Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the damper 47 is controlled to be opened or closed according to the pressure, but the pressure can be smoothly controlled by adjusting the opening / closing amount of the damper 47 according to the pressure. It is also possible.

[0058]

According to the invention of claim 1, since the entire hydrogen storage alloy tank is heated uniformly, hydrogen in the hydrogen storage alloy tank can be sufficiently and effectively utilized. In addition, since the supply of the exhaust gas to the hydrogen storage alloy tank is controlled by the slide of the slide plate, the opening / closing operation of the damper is light and the operability is high.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the damper is formed in an arc shape, a wind guide effect of the damper can be expected, whereby the exhaust gas is rectified and supplied to the hydrogen storage alloy tank, It can be discharged to the outside. According to the invention of claim 3, when the damper is closed, the exhaust gas is discharged to the outside while reliably avoiding the hydrogen storage alloy tank.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of the portable fuel cell shown in FIG.

3 is a perspective view of a damper unit 40. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a holding plate 50 and a sectional view taken along line YY.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a slide plate 60.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cross section of a damper 47.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an arc-shaped damper 80 according to a modified example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an arc-shaped damper 85 according to a modification.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a damper 90 including a spherical slide plate 91 according to a modification.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view and a side view of an arc-shaped damper 95 according to a modified example.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional portable fuel cell.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Fuel cell body 6 Hydrogen storage device 7 Hydrogen storage alloy tank 40 Damper unit 47 Damper 50 Holding plate 60 Slide plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell main body for generating power by receiving supply of hydrogen and air, and hydrogen stored inside according to heat received from the exhaust gas, which is arranged downstream of the exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell main body. A hydrogen storage alloy tank to be supplied to the fuel cell main body, and a damper arranged between the fuel cell main body and the hydrogen storage alloy tank, for controlling the flow rate of exhaust gas to the hydrogen storage alloy tank, the damper, It has a main surface in a direction intersecting with the exhaust gas flow direction, and comprises a slide plate that slides along the main surface and a holding body that holds the slide plate, and the slide plate slides to a predetermined position on the main surface. A first state in which an opening is formed to guide the exhaust gas to the lower part of the hydrogen storage alloy tank, and a second state in which the opening is closed to discharge the exhaust gas directly to the outside along the main surface. A portable fuel cell having a replaceable structure. 2. The portable fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the damper is formed in an arc shape having a center of curvature on the upstream side of the exhaust gas in a side view. 3. The damper forms a second opening in the main surface in the second state, and the portable fuel cell has a passage communicating directly to the outside from the second opening. The portable fuel cell according to claim 2.