JPH0935734A - Fuel cell starting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a solid polymer fuel cell starting device which does not need hydrogen in starting, does not need making a system large, and reduces power consumption in starting so as to be capable of using a small capacity battery. SOLUTION: A bypass 23 is formed by branching a path 22 for supplying the air to a driving catalyst burner which holds a fuel cell in self-operating state. An ignition device 30 comprising a methanol supply line 25 for supplying methanol which is fuel of the driving catalyst burner, a glow plug 24 for igniting methanol supplied to the methanol supply line 25, and an ignition catalyst burner 27 for completely burning methanol ignited with the glow plug 24 is installed in the bypass 23. The inlet temperature of the driving catalyst burner is raised to methanol ignition temperature with combustion gas generated in the ignition device 30 to start the fuel cell.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a starting device for a power generation system using a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, and more particularly to a fuel cell for starting a fuel cell by igniting a drive catalyst burner using methanol. The present invention relates to a starting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, by utilizing the characteristics of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (hereinafter simply referred to as a fuel cell) which operates at a low temperature and has a very short start-up time of a fuel cell main body, an internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle has recently been utilized. It is considered that the motor is used as a power source for operating instead of the above, and a vehicle or the like is driven by this motor.
In this case, it is important not to use a commercial power source, and since it is for in-vehicle use, there is a limit to the battery capacity, so the startup time is shortened as much as possible and the power consumption at startup is reduced. It is necessary to reduce it.

FIG. 3 shows a system diagram of such a fuel cell power generation system which is being developed as an on-vehicle device for driving a vehicle or the like.

In the figure, 1 is a fuel cell body of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, 2 is a turbocharger, 2a is a turbine of a turbocharger 2, 2b is a compressor attached to the turbocharger 2 in the same manner, and 3 is a raw material gas F. Is a fuel reformer for reforming hydrogen into hydrogen used for power generation of the fuel cell body 1, 4 is a catalyst burner for starting, 5 is a flow rate adjusting valve, 6 is a hydrogen tank, small hydrogen cylinder, or hydrogen storage alloy Hydrogen supply device, 8 is a drive catalyst burner, 9 is a methanol tank, 10 is a pump, 12 is an oil tank, 13 is a lubricating oil cooler, 14 is a lubricating oil pump, 15 is an oil filter, 16 is an air compressor, and 17 is A DC motor, 18 is a battery, 19 is an air filter, 20 is an air filter, and 21 is an automatic opening / closing valve (butterfly valve).

In the power generation system configured as described above,
After controlling the lubricating oil pressure of the cartridge in the turbocharger 2 by controlling the voltage applied to the pump 14, the DC motor 1 is supplied by the power supplied from the battery 18.
7 is started, the air compressor 16 is operated, and the air A is supplied to the starting catalyst burner 4 through the air filter 19 and the compressor 2b.

At the same time, hydrogen is sent from the hydrogen supply device 6 through the flow rate adjusting valve 5 to the starting catalyst burner 4 to react with oxygen in the air to start combustion. By supplying the combustion gas from the starting catalyst burner 4, the inlet temperature of the driving catalyst burner 8 rises, and the methanol ignition temperature (about 120 ° C.)
Then, methanol is supplied from the methanol tank 9 to the drive catalyst burner 8 by the pump 10, and mixed with the air A supplied through the ignition catalyst burner 4 to start combustion.

As the temperature of the combustion gas rises due to the combustion of methanol by the drive catalyst burner 8, the amount of recovery (drive) in the turbine 2a of the turbocharger 2 to which the combustion gas is supplied from the drive catalyst burner 8 increases, resulting in air compression. Machine 16
The turbocharger 2 rotating at a low speed due to the aerodynamic force of the compressed air from passing through the compressor 2b.
, The number of revolutions increases synergistically. When the air compressor 16 is stopped by cutting off the electric power supplied from the battery 18 to the DC motor 17 when the turbocharger 2 reaches the specified rotation speed, the compressor driven at the specified rotation speed of the turbocharger 2. By the suction force of 2b,
The automatic opening / closing valve 21 is instantly opened, the air A is supplied to the compressor 2b through the air filter 20, and the turbocharger 2 starts the self-sustained operation.

At this point, the compressor 2b of the turbocharger 2 has already supplied compressed air to the fuel cell body 1 instead of supplying the air A from the air compressor 16, and the exhaust gas from the turbine 2a has been exhausted. Gas is the fuel reformer 3
Is continuously supplied to the fuel cell main body 1 and becomes a heat source necessary for reforming the raw material gas. It also serves as a heat source for humidifying the fuel cell main body 1 by passing through the humidifier for use, and the starting operation of the fuel cell main body 1 is started.

As described above, in the conventional fuel cell power generation system, when the fuel cell body 1 is started, hydrogen is first catalytically burned by the starting catalyst burner 4 at room temperature, and methanol is used as a fuel for the combustion gas. Start the drive catalyst burner 8,
Further, the combustion gas of the drive catalyst burner 8 increases the rotational speed of the turbocharger 2, and the operation of the turbocharger 2 supplies air and hydrogen to the fuel cell body 1
Since the starting operation is performed, the combustion gas supplied from the starting catalyst burner 4 to the driving catalyst burner 8 is clean, and the burners 4 and 8 are arranged in series to operate. However, on the other hand, the power generation system using the hydrogen supply device 6 composed of a hydrogen tank or a small hydrogen cylinder has a small hydrogen storage capacity and requires frequent start-up of the fuel cell, although it has a characteristic that no trouble occurs. For a vehicle, a large hydrogen tank or hydrogen cylinder is required, and there is a problem that the system becomes large.

Further, in the system using the hydrogen storage alloy, the hydrogen storage capacity is larger than that of the hydrogen supply device described above, and although the above-mentioned problems are slightly solved, heat is supplied by a heater or the like during the process of releasing the stored hydrogen. Since it becomes necessary, from the aspect of increasing the capacity of the start-up battery and hydrogen storage, similar to the above,
There was a problem that the system became large.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional fuel cell, has a limited storage capacity for starting the fuel cell, and has a process of releasing from the storage alloy. It does not require hydrogen, which requires a lot of power consumption, can be started by ignition of methanol, and can be started with a small amount of power consumption, which does not require a large system or a large capacity of start-up battery. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell starter that can be downsized as a whole and that can shorten the start-up time required for vehicle-mounted use such as driving a vehicle.

[0012]

Therefore, the fuel cell starter of the present invention has the following means. The air discharged from the compressor of the turbocharger is provided in a detour provided by branching the air passage that supplies the exhaust air from the fuel cell main body, which is completely supplied to the drive catalyst burner, to (1) the drive catalyst burner. A methanol supply line that supplies methanol from a methanol tank that supplies methanol to a tip portion that is an ignition part of a glow plug, (2) a glow plug that ignites (flame-burns) the methanol supplied through the methanol supply line, (3) ) It consists of an ignition catalyst burner, which is installed immediately after the ignition part of the glow plug and completely burns the combustion gas of methanol ignited by the glow plug.The inlet temperature of the air flowing into the driving catalyst burner is controlled from the methanol tank to the driving catalyst burner. An ignition device for heating to the ignition temperature of the supplied methanol was provided.

According to the combustion cell starter of the present invention, by the above-mentioned means, the methanol supplied from the methanol tank to the tip of the glow plug made of the electrically conductive ceramic in the methanol supply line is ignited by the glow plug (flame combustion). ), And complete combustion by the ignition catalyst burner installed immediately after that, and by this combustion gas, the bypass circuit provided with these ignition devices is branched and provided, and this bypass circuit is further provided in front of the inlet of the drive catalyst burner. The inlet temperature of the drive catalyst burner of the air supplied to the drive catalyst burner through the air passage for supplying air to the drive catalyst burner from the fuel cell main body is supplied to the drive catalyst burner from the methanol tank. It is heated to the ignition temperature of methanol, the drive catalyst burner is started, and the turbocharger is started by the combustion gas of the drive catalyst burner. It is not able to start the fuel cell.

As a result, in the fuel cell starter of the present invention, the time required for ignition is about ten and several seconds, which can be sufficiently used for vehicle installation, and the process of hydrogen release in the conventional power generation system using the hydrogen storage alloy can be performed. At this time, the power consumption is much shorter than the time required to supply heat by the heater and the power consumption is low, so that the power consumption in the startup process can be significantly reduced.

Further, as compared with a system using a hydrogen tank, a small hydrogen cylinder and a hydrogen absorbing alloy, the volume ratio of the ignition device constituting the fuel cell starter of the present invention to the entire power generation system is small, The entire system can be downsized.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a fuel cell starting device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a power generation system including a first embodiment of a fuel cell starter of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the first embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. In the drawings showing the present embodiment, the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 3 are the same as or similar to those described in FIG. 3, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 23 denotes an air passage 22 provided for supplying the air discharged from the fuel cell main body 1 and used for the combustion of methanol in the drive catalyst burner 8.
A detour which is provided by branching from the middle of the path and is reunited with the air passage 22 before the inlet of the drive catalyst burner 8.
Reference numeral 30 is an ignition device installed in the detour 23.

Further, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 24 is a battery 1.
8 or a ceramic glow plug that is supplied with electric power from a battery (not shown) provided separately and heats the tip portion to a high temperature to ignite the methanol supplied to the periphery, and 25 is a methanol tank shown in FIG. The methanol supply line for supplying the methanol in 9 to the tip portion of the glow plug 24 by the pump 26 is a downstream side of the glow plug 24, that is, the bypass 23 provided by branching from the air passage 22 is the air passage again. This is an ignition catalyst burner that is installed in front of joining the fuel cell 22 and that completely burns the combustion gas ignited by the glow plug 24.

As described above, in the fuel cell starting system of this embodiment, the hydrogen in the hydrogen tank 6 shown in FIG.
A methanol supply line for supplying a part of the methanol burned by the driving catalyst burner 8 in place of the starting catalyst burner 4 which is mixed with the air supplied from the fuel cell main body 1 to the driving catalyst burner 8 and ignites at room temperature. An ignition device 30 including a glow plug 24 for igniting the supplied methanol, and an ignition catalyst burner for completely combusting the combustion gas of methanol that is ignited by the glow plug 24 and burned was provided.

The fuel cell starter of this embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, and controls the lubricating oil pressure to the cartridge in the turbocharger 2 by controlling the voltage applied to the oil pump 14, and then turns on the DC motor 17. The air compressor 16 is activated, and air is supplied to the compressor 2b through the air filter 19. At this time, the automatic opening / closing valve (butterfly valve) 21 attached to the air filter 20, which serves as an air supply line after the turbocharger 2 operates independently, is closed.

Simultaneously with the activation of the air compressor 16, the ceramic glow plug 24 in the igniter 30 is energized, and after several tens of seconds, the methanol in the methanol tank 9 is pumped into the igniter 30 by the pump 26. It is supplied to the periphery of the glow plug 24 via the methanol supply line 25. Then, flame combustion of methanol occurs around the tip of the heated glow plug 24, and the ignition catalyst burner 27 installed behind it is directly heated,
The unburned methanol now begins to burn.

The driving catalyst burner 8 is warmed by the inflow of the high temperature combustion gas from the ignition catalyst burner 27, and the driving catalyst burner 8 inlet temperature is set to the methanol ignition temperature (about 120 ° C.).
(° C). Then, when the inlet temperature of the drive catalyst burner 8 reaches the ignition temperature, new methanol is supplied to the catalyst burner 8 from the methanol tank 9 by using the pump 10, and the combustion of all the supply air is started.

Further, the ignition device 30 is turned off at the time when it can be considered that the combustion temperature in the catalyst burner 8 has started to rise stably, for example, when the combustion gas temperature from the catalyst burner 8 reaches 200 ° C. The supply of methanol from the methanol supply line 25 by the pump 26 to the ignition device 30 is stopped, and the combustion is stopped.

After that, as the temperature of the combustion gas in the catalyst burner 8 rises, the amount of energy recovery (driving) in the turbine 2a into which this combustion gas flows increases and the rotation speed increases, whereby the compressor 2b discharges. As the amount of discharged air also increases, the rotational speed of the turbocharger 2 increases synergistically. When the turbocharger 2 reaches the specified rotation speed, the DC motor 17 is turned off and the air compressor 16 is stopped. At this time, since the driving work of the turbine 2a is already equal to or higher than the compressing work of the compressor 2b, the compressor 2b tries to suck in air, the automatic opening / closing valve (butterfly valve) 21 instantly opens, and the air flows into the air filter 20. Through compressor 2
It is supplied to the inlet side of b, and the turbocharger 2 starts an independent operation.

At this point, the compressor 2b of the turbocharger 2 is already in the fuel cell body 1 as described above.
The exhaust gas from the turbine 2b is continuously supplied to the fuel reformer 3 and is a necessary heat source for reforming. And is supplied to the fuel cell main body 1. Further, the exhaust gas from the turbine 2b is supplied to the reaction gas humidifier and is used as a heat source for humidification of the fuel cell main body 1. Thus, the starting operation of the fuel cell main body 1 is started.

[0026]

As described above, according to the fuel cell starter of the present invention, the fuel cell starter according to the claims has the following structure.
The following effects are obtained.

(1) Since hydrogen is not used for starting the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, the volume occupied by the entire power generation system of the starting device is larger than that of a starting device using a conventional hydrogen tank, small hydrogen cylinder or hydrogen storage alloy. The ratio can be reduced, and the fuel cell can be downsized, which is suitable for mounting on a vehicle.

(2) In the conventional ignition device using a hydrogen storage alloy, which has a relatively high hydrogen storage efficiency and can moderate the size increase, it is necessary to supply heat by a heater or the like during the hydrogen release process. It takes time and it is difficult to start it in a short time. On the other hand, a small ignition catalyst burner installed immediately after the ignition (flame combustion) of methanol using a glow plug made of an electric ceramic In the device of the present invention that completely burns and starts the drive catalyst burner, the time required until ignition is about ten and several seconds, and a drive device suitable for vehicle installation that requires a short time start of the fuel cell and can do.

(3) Further, the power consumption in the starting process can be reduced, the battery capacity required for the starting device can be reduced, and the fuel cell can be installed in a vehicle or can be made portable. It can be a device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a power generation system system diagram including one embodiment of a fuel cell starter of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing details of an ignition device in the power generation system system diagram shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a power generation system system diagram including an example of a conventional fuel cell starter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Fuel Cell Main Body 2 Turbocharger 2a Turbocharger Turbine 2b Turbocharger Compressor 3 Fuel Reformer 4 Start Catalyst Burner 5 (Hydrogen) Flow Control Valve 6 Hydrogen Supply Device 8 Drive Catalyst Burner 9 Methanol Tank 10 (For Methanol) Pump 12 (lubrication) oil tank 13 Cooler 14 (lubrication) pump 15 Oil filter 16 Air compressor 17 DC motor 18 Battery 19, 20 Air filter 21 Automatic opening / closing valve (butterfly valve) 22 Air passage 23 Detour 24 Glow plug 25 Methanol supply line 26 Pump 27 Ignition catalyst burner 30 Ignition device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell for generating electricity by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen supplied from a fuel reformer for reforming a raw material gas from a turbine exhaust of a turbocharger and air supplied from a compressor of the turbocharger. A drive catalyst burner was provided in which air supplied from the main body and the fuel cell main body was mixed with methanol supplied from a methanol tank, and the turbocharger was operated by burning combustion gas to bring the turbocharger into an independent operation state. In a fuel cell starter for starting a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, a glow plug arranged in a bypass provided by branching a passage of air supplied from the fuel cell body to the drive catalyst burner. And a methanol supply line for supplying methanol from the methanol tank to the tip of the glow plug,
A fuel cell starter comprising: an ignition catalyst burner installed on the downstream side of the glow plug; and an ignition device for adjusting the inlet temperature of the drive catalyst burner to a methanol ignition temperature.