JPH11185785A - Fuel cell system of solid highpolymer type - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel cell system of solid highpolymer type which can control stably the supply of oxidizing agent to the body of a fuel cell and can perform the supplying operation uniformly. SOLUTION: A fuel cell system of solid highpolymer type has a case accommodating a fuel gas cylinder, a power supply part furnished with a fuel cell body to generate electric power upon receiving a fuel gas from the cylinder and an oxidizing agent such as the air, and a control device, wherein a sirocco fan 42 is furnished to send the oxidizing agent to the fuel cell body 3, and a pressure equalizing plate 76 to straighten uniformly the flow of oxidizing agent sent from the sirocco fan 42 is installed between the sirocco fan 42 and fuel cell body 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a polymer electrolyte fuel cell system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fuel cell body, a storage battery, a fuel supply source, a controller and the like are provided, and surplus power after supplying power generated in the fuel cell body to an external load is stored in the storage battery. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a fuel cell which supplements electric power from a storage battery and supplies it to an external load when generated electric power is insufficient.

[0003] Among such fuel cells, there is also known a mobile fuel cell in which the above-described fuel cell main body, storage battery, fuel supply source, various controllers and the like are mounted inside a case (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-1994). -310166, JP-A-9-1718
42 publication). Such fuel cells are expected to be used as a power source for civil engineering and construction work, a power source for remote facilities, a home emergency power source, and the like.

The characteristics of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, which is one of the acidic fuel cells, will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 4, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell uses a polymer ion exchange membrane (for example, a fluororesin type ion exchange membrane having a sulfonic acid group) as an electrolyte 01 and catalyst electrodes (both sides) on both sides thereof. For example, the electrode assembly 06 includes platinum (02 or 03) and current collectors 04 and 05.

[0006] Then, the hydrogen in the humidified fuel supplied to the anode electrode side is hydrogen-ionized on the catalyst electrode (anode electrode) 02, and the hydrogen ions pass through the electrolyte 01 with H ions x As water, it moves with the water to the cathode electrode side. The transferred hydrogen ions react with oxygen in the oxidant (for example, air) on the catalyst electrode (cathode electrode) 03 and the electrons flowing through the external circuit 07 to generate water.

[0007] The produced water is conveyed to the remaining oxidizing agent from the cathodes 03 and 05 and discharged out of the fuel cell. At this time, the flow of electrons flowing through the external circuit 07 can be used as DC electric energy.

In order to realize the above-mentioned hydrogen ion permeability in the polymer ion exchange membrane serving as the electrolyte 01, it is necessary to keep the polymer ion exchange membrane in a sufficiently water-retaining state at all times. is there.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell 110 of this kind. In each of the drawings, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell 110 has a case
12 has a structure divided into a front part A and a rear part B. Two fuel gas cylinders 101 are stored in the front part a in an upright state. The rear part is upper 113, middle 114, lower 1
A power supply unit, a water tank 119, an auxiliary water tank 117, and the like are accommodated in the power supply unit 15. That is, upper stage 11
A control device 116 having a secondary battery 144 and a DC / DC converter 146 and an auxiliary water tank 117 are accommodated in the fuel cell 3, and fuel and air as an oxidant are supplied to the middle stage 114 to perform an electrochemical reaction. The fuel cell main body 3 that generates electric power is stored in the lower stage 115 and the DC /
A water tank 119 connected to the AC inverter 118 and the auxiliary water tank 117 is housed.

Reference numeral 120 denotes a movable wheel, and reference numeral 121 denotes a handle used when moving. The fuel cell 110 can be easily moved alone by using the movable wheel 120 and the handle 121. The case 112 includes an L-shaped door 123 and an operation panel 124 on the front surface. Reference numeral 131 denotes an exhaust port provided above the door 123.

Here, the height of the case 112 is set slightly higher than the height of the fuel gas cylinder 101. The width of the front part a is set slightly larger than the sum of the two diameters of the fuel gas cylinder 101, the width of the exhaust duct 133, and the width of the operation panel 124, and the depth of the front part a is set slightly larger than the diameter of the fuel gas cylinder 1. ing. The width and the depth of the rear part B are set slightly larger than the width and the depth of each member to be arranged. In this way, even if the case 112 is installed outdoors, water hardly penetrates, and the case 112 can be made compact.

As the fuel gas cylinder 101, for example, a commercially available one (10-liter container, hydrogen amount 1.5 cubic meters) can be used. A hydrogen delivery valve 134 is provided at the upper end of each fuel gas cylinder 101, and the hydrogen delivery valve 134 and the fuel cell main body 103 are connected by a hydrogen supply pipe (fuel gas supply pipe) 135. I have. Further, at a predetermined position of the hydrogen supply pipe 135, a pressure gauge 151 for displaying the pressure in the fuel gas cylinder 101, a pressure reducing valve 147, and an electromagnetic valve 148 are provided.

The pressure reducing valve 147 allows the fuel cell body 10
The fuel gas supply amount to the fuel cell main body 103 is controlled while automatically maintaining the pressure in the fuel cell 3 at a predetermined pressure (for example, 500 mm water column).

In the front part a, the fuel cell main body 10 is provided.
An exhaust duct 133 is provided for discharging the exhaust air coming out of the case 3 to the outside of the case 112. One end of the exhaust duct 133 is connected to an exhaust air outlet 160 on the front of the fuel cell main body 103.
And is fixedly attached to the partition wall 111 in the vicinity of the exhaust air outlet 160, and the other end is in close contact with an exhaust port 131 provided in the door 123 via a packing provided at the tip thereof, for example. To communicate. Therefore, the exhaust air does not leak into the front part a. The position of the exhaust duct 133 in the front part a is not particularly limited,
It is preferable to provide it as close as possible to the fuel cell main body 103.

A plurality of baffle plates 161 are provided inside the exhaust duct 133, and the high-temperature exhaust air flowing as shown by white arrows comes into contact with the baffle plates 161 and the contained moisture ( (Including a part of the generated water and the circulating water) condenses on the inner surface of the exhaust duct 133 and the surface of the baffle plate 161,
The discharged air from which the water has been separated is discharged to the outside of the case 112. The separated water is discharged into the exhaust duct 1
Due to the gradient provided at 33, the water is collected in a drain pipe 162 provided at the lower part, and is temporarily stored in a drain tank 141 provided connected to the drain pipe 162. The lower part of the drain pipe 162 is used as a part of the drain tank 141.

The drain tank 141 and the drain pipe 162
When the lower part of the tank is full of water, for example, drain tank 141
By manually opening the on-off valve 163 provided at the end of the case, the water is drained out of the case 112, or the drain is discharged by a sensor (not shown), and a signal is sent to the control device 116. By opening the valve 163, the water can be drained out of the case 112. If the produced water is purified, it can be recycled without draining.

Reference numeral 140 denotes a water tank 1 as shown in FIG.
This is a circulation pump for pumping water from 19 and supplying it to the polymer ion exchange membrane of the fuel cell main body 103 to keep it constantly in a water-retaining state, and to cool the fuel cell main body 103. It has become.

Just by directly supplying the water in the water tank 119 to the polymer ion exchange membrane on the anode electrode side, the entire polymer ion exchange membrane can be easily kept in a water-retaining state.
The fuel cell main body 103 can be cooled. By doing so, the whole is simplified and the size can be further reduced.

The auxiliary water tank 1 is provided in the water tank 119.
The auxiliary water tank 117 is for replenishing water when the amount of water in the water tank 119 falls below a predetermined amount. For example, the auxiliary water tank 117 detects a water level provided in the water tank 119. The lower limit water level is detected by a sensor (not shown) for
6 sends a signal to the solenoid valve 149 to open the solenoid valve 149 and transfer the water in the auxiliary water tank 117 to the water tank 119.

Reference numeral 142 denotes a propeller fan which takes in the reaction air into the case 112 and sends it to the fuel cell main body 103. The propeller fan 142 is attached to the rear surface of the battery main body 103 at the rear side of the reaction air intake 164, and sucks air from the rear and blows out the air to the front battery main body 103.

As shown in FIG. 10, the fuel gas cylinder 10
The hydrogen gas supplied from 1 through the pressure reducing valve 147 and the solenoid valve 148 to the anode electrode of the fuel cell main body 3 is taken into the case 112 from the outside through the reaction air suction port 143 by the propeller fan 142, and is supplied to the fuel cell main body 103. The air sent to the cathode and the electrochemical reaction in the fuel cell main body 103 generate electric power in the fuel cell main body 103, and a small amount of unreacted residual hydrogen and exhaust air pass through the mixer 150 to the outside of the case 112 as described above. Is discharged.

The fuel cell 110 is a fuel cell main body 1
Numeral 03 is located in the vicinity of the reaction air suction port 143 of the case 112 so that air from outside can be smoothly taken in.

Then, the output current of the fuel cell main body 103 is detected by a detector (not shown), and a signal is sent to the control device 116.
The controller 116 accordingly sends a signal to the propeller fan 142 to automatically control the amount of air intake.

The temperature of the fuel cell main body 103 is detected by a detector (not shown), and a signal is sent to the control device 116. In response, a signal is sent from the control device 116 to the circulation pump 140 to adjust the circulation amount of water. I have to do it.

The secondary battery 144 is, for example, a Ni—Cd2 battery using a nickel electrode for the positive electrode and a cadmium electrode for the negative electrode.
The secondary battery (12V-40Ah) is installed in the control device 116 in this example.

Normally, the secondary battery 144 is automatically charged by the surplus power of the fuel cell 110. However, the secondary battery 144 is connected to a charging input terminal 145 provided at a power extraction terminal (not shown). By connecting to an AC power supply (AC 100 V), the battery can be forcibly charged from the outside. The DC / DC converter 146 converts a voltage of DC power (24 to 50 V DC) from the fuel cell 110 to a predetermined voltage (for example, 100 V DC).
V) to an alternating current (AC100V).

The control device 116 is responsible for various controls other than those described above, such as ON / OFF of an external output, signal processing from a combustible gas sensor (not shown), transmission of an open / close signal to the solenoid valve 149, and the fuel cell main body. Receiving abnormal signal from 103 and ON / OFF to DC / AC inverter 118
It performs signal transmission and the like.

Hydrogen supply pipe (fuel gas supply pipe) 135
Are arranged to connect the fuel gas cylinder 101 and the fuel cell main body 103. Further, the pressure reducing valve 147 and the solenoid valve 148 are inserted between the fuel gas cylinder 101 and the fuel cell main body 103 as described above, and the opening / closing of the solenoid valve 148 turns on / off the delivery of hydrogen gas from the fuel gas cylinder 101. Is made.

The control device 116 controls the fuel cell main body 103,
Secondary battery 144, DC / DC converter 146, DC /
It is connected to the AC inverter 118, the solenoid valve 148, the propeller fan 142, the circulation pump 140, the combustible gas sensor and the main water tank water level gauge (not shown), the charging input terminal 145, the auxiliary water tank solenoid valve 149, and the like. It sends and receives signals. For example, when a combustible gas sensor (not shown) detects hydrogen gas having a concentration equal to or higher than a specified concentration, the signal is received, the electromagnetic valve 148 is closed, supply of hydrogen gas is stopped, and operation of the fuel cell main body 103 is stopped. An alarm is issued by alarm lamps (not shown) or the operation of the entire fuel cell 110 is stopped.

The fuel cell body 103 and the secondary battery 144
Are electrically connected in parallel with each other, and the fuel cells 10
At the time of startup when the power from the battery 3 is not sufficient, the secondary battery 1
By supplementing the electric power from 44, constant electric power can be supplied to auxiliary equipment such as the control device 116 and the water pump 140.

[0031]

As described above, in the conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell 110, the reaction air (oxidizing agent) is supplied to the fuel cell main body 103 by using the propeller fan 142. According to the propeller fan 142, by arranging a plurality of the fans in parallel, it is possible to uniformly supply air to the entire fuel cell body 103. However, static pressure cannot be obtained by the propeller fan 142, and when the state of the air passage such as exhaust gas and intake air changes, the air volume tends to fluctuate, making it difficult to control the amount of air taken into the cathode of the fuel cell body 103. Become.

Therefore, if a sirocco fan is used in place of the propeller fan, the static pressure can be easily obtained, but it becomes difficult to uniformly supply air to the entire fuel cell body 103, and the power generation efficiency is reduced. there were.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional technical problem, and can stably control the supply of the oxidizing agent to the fuel cell main body and can supply the oxidizing agent uniformly. An object is to provide a polymer electrolyte fuel cell system.

[0034]

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises a fuel gas cylinder in a case and a fuel cell which generates electric power by receiving a blow of an oxidant such as a fuel gas and air from the fuel gas cylinder. A power supply unit having a main body, a control device and the like are housed, and a sirocco fan for blowing an oxidant to the fuel cell main body is provided, and between the sirocco fan and the fuel cell main body,
A pressure equalizing plate for uniformly rectifying the oxidant sent from the sirocco fan is provided.

According to the present invention, a fuel gas cylinder, a power supply unit having a fuel cell main body for generating electricity by blowing air of an oxidant such as fuel gas and air from the fuel gas cylinder, a control device, and the like are provided. In the stored polymer electrolyte fuel cell system, a sirocco fan for blowing the oxidant to the fuel cell body is provided, so that the air volume and static pressure of the oxidant such as air supplied to the fuel cell body can be obtained. Thus, the supply amount can be controlled accurately, and power generation can be performed stably.

Since a pressure equalizing plate is provided between the sirocco fan and the fuel cell main body to uniformly rectify the oxidant blown from the sirocco fan, the oxidant is uniformly supplied to the entire fuel cell main body. It is possible to improve the power generation efficiency.

In the polymer electrolyte fuel cell system according to the second aspect of the present invention, a manifold having a predetermined volume is mounted in communication with the oxidant intake side of the fuel cell body, and a pressure equalizing plate is mounted in the manifold. The oxidant is blown by a sirocco fan from the side facing the inside of the manifold partitioned by the equalizing plate of the fuel cell body to the opposite side.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, a manifold having a predetermined volume is mounted in communication with the oxidant intake side of the fuel cell body, and a pressure equalizing plate is mounted in the manifold, and the oxidant is supplied to the manifold. The sirocco fan blows air from the side facing the inside of the manifold partitioned by the pressure equalizing plate of the fuel cell body to the opposite side, so the static pressure is more effectively secured and a more stable oxidant supply Can be achieved.

In the polymer electrolyte fuel cell system according to the third aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, the pressure equalizing plate is made of a plate having a plurality of through holes.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above inventions, the pressure equalizing plate is formed of a plate having a plurality of through-holes. Can be made uniform.

[0041]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of one embodiment of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell 10 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view showing the inside of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell 10 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an electric signal path, a hydrogen gas path, an air path, an electric power path, and a water path between the components of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell 10 shown in FIG.

1 to 3, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell 10 according to the present invention has a structure in which a case 12 having an integral structure is partitioned into a front part A and a rear part B by a partition wall 11. Two fuel gas cylinders 1 are stored in the front part a in an upright state. The rear part B is divided into an upper part 13, a middle part 14, and a lower part 15, and a power supply part and a main water tank 19 and an auxiliary water tank 17 are provided.
Are stored. That is, in the upper stage 13, the control device 16 including the secondary battery 44 and the DC / DC converter 46 shown in FIG.
The fuel cell main body 3 is configured to generate power by performing an electrochemical reaction by supplying fuel and air as an oxidant to the middle stage 14.
(Constituting the power supply section), and a DC / AC inverter 18 and the auxiliary water tank 17
And a main water tank 19 connected to the main water tank.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a movable wheel. Reference numeral 21 denotes a handle to be used when moving, and reference numerals 22 and 22 denote rotatable auxiliary arm rods. The fuel cell 10 can be easily moved alone by using the movable wheel 20, the handle 21, and the like.

The case 12 is provided with an L-shaped door 23 and an operation panel 24 on the front, and has both sides 25 and 26, a back 27, and a bottom 2
8, an upper surface 29, and a lid main body 30 that can be freely opened and closed to cover the front part A. Reference numeral 31 denotes an exhaust port provided at an upper portion of the door 23, and 32 denotes a side exhaust port for exhausting air or the like in the rear part B.

Here, the height of the case 12 is set slightly higher than the height of the fuel gas cylinder 1. The width of the front part a is set slightly larger than the sum of the two diameters of the fuel gas cylinder 1, the width of the exhaust duct 33, and the width of the operation panel 24, and the depth of the front part a is set slightly larger than the diameter of the fuel gas cylinder 1. ing.
The width and the depth of the rear part B are set slightly larger than the width and the depth of each member to be arranged. In this way, even if the case 12 is installed outdoors, water hardly penetrates, and the case 12 can be made compact.

As the fuel gas cylinder 1, for example, a commercially available one (10-liter container, hydrogen amount 1.5 cubic meters) can be used. A hydrogen delivery valve 34 is provided at the upper end of each fuel gas cylinder 1, and the hydrogen delivery valve 34 and the fuel cell main body 3 are connected by a hydrogen supply pipe 35. Furthermore, this hydrogen supply pipe 3
5, a pressure sensor 51 for displaying the pressure in the fuel gas cylinder 1, pressure reducing valves 47A and 47B, and solenoid valves 48A and 48B are installed (FIG. 3).

The pressure in the fuel cell body 3 is automatically increased to a predetermined pressure (for example, 50 V) by the pressure reducing valves 47A and 47B.
The amount of fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell main body 3 is controlled while maintaining the pressure at 0 mm water column).

The operation panel 24 has a digital display 3
6. A start / stop button 37, a display switching button 38, and the like are provided. By pressing the start / stop button 37, the operation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell 10 can be started or stopped. By pressing the display switching button 38, the content displayed on the digital display unit 36 can be switched to, for example, an AC output, a fuel pressure, or another display.
Reference numeral 39 denotes a water-resistant outlet. The operation panel 24 may be provided with alarm lamps for warning of an overload state, replacement of the fuel gas cylinder 1, and the like, and a display unit for displaying an error or the like.

An exhaust duct 33 for discharging exhaust air from the fuel cell body 3 to the outside of the case 12 is provided in the front part A. One end of the exhaust duct 33 is fixed to the exhaust air outlet 60 side of the fuel cell main body 3, and is fixedly attached to the partition 11 in the vicinity of the exhaust air outlet 60, and the other end is, for example, at the tip thereof. It is in close contact with an exhaust port 31 provided on the door 23 via a packing provided.

Therefore, the exhaust air does not leak into the front part A. Although the position of the exhaust duct 33 in the front part A is not particularly limited, it is preferable to provide the exhaust duct 33 as close to the fuel cell body 3 as possible.

A plurality of baffles 61 are disposed inside the exhaust duct 33, and the high-temperature exhaust air is
1, the contained water (including a part of the generated water and the circulating water) is condensed on the inner surface of the exhaust duct 33 and the surface of the baffle plate 61. Is to be discharged. The separated water collects in a drain pipe 62 provided at a lower portion by a gradient provided in the exhaust duct 33, and is temporarily stored in a drain tank 41 provided in connection with the drain pipe 62. This drain pipe 62
Is used as a part of the drainage tank 41.

When the lower portions of the drainage tank 41 and the drainage pipe 62 are full of water, the drainage is drained out of the case 12 by manually opening an on-off valve (not shown) provided at the end of the drainage tank 41, for example. Alternatively, the water can be discharged to the outside of the case 12 by detecting this with a sensor (not shown), sending a signal to the control device 16, and opening the on-off valve by a signal from the control device 16. If the produced water is purified, it can be recycled without draining.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a circulation pump, which is a main water tank 19
From the fuel cell body 3 via the water pipe 66
The polymer ion exchange membrane is supplied to and returned from the water pipe 67, so that the polymer ion exchange membrane is always kept in a water-retaining state,
In addition, the fuel cell body 3 is cooled and water is circulated for use.

The water in the main water tank 19 can be easily maintained at all times by simply supplying water directly to the polymer ion exchange membrane on the anode side.
The fuel cell body 3 can be cooled. By doing so, the whole is simplified and the size can be further reduced.

The main water tank 19 includes the auxiliary water tank 1
The auxiliary water tank 17 is for replenishing water when the amount of water in the main water tank 19 falls below a predetermined amount. For example, the water level provided in the main water tank 19 is A lower limit water level is detected by a sensor (not shown) for detection, and a signal is sent to the controller 16. A signal is sent from the controller 16 to the solenoid valve 49, the solenoid valve 49 is opened, and the water in the auxiliary water tank 17 is Transfer to tank 19.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a sirocco fan which takes in the reaction air into the case 12 and sends it to the fuel cell body 3. In this case, the reaction air inlet 63 on the rear surface of the battery
As shown in FIG. 8, a rectangular container-shaped air manifold 64 having a predetermined volume is attached. The front surface of the air manifold 64 faces the reaction air inlet 63 of the battery main body 3 and communicates therewith. The sirocco fan 42 is attached to a window hole 64A formed on the side surface of the air manifold 64 so as to communicate therewith. ing.

The air manifold 64 and the sirocco fan 42 are closed except for the front portion and the communicating portion of the sirocco fan 42. A pressure equalizing plate 76 is attached in the air manifold 64, and the reaction air of the fuel cell body 3 is passed through the air manifold 64. It is partitioned back and forth between the intake 63 side and the opposite side.

The equalizing plate 76 is formed of a rectangular metal plate, and has a plurality of through holes 77. Then, the sirocco fan 42 sucks air from behind and blows out the air into the air manifold 64 opposite to the reaction air intake 63 partitioned by the equalizing plate 76.
The blown air in the air manifold 64 is supplied to the front battery body 3 through each through hole 77 of the pressure equalizing plate 76.

As shown in FIG. 3, hydrogen gas supplied from the fuel gas cylinder 1 to the anode of the fuel cell body 3 through the pressure reducing valves 47A and 47B and the solenoid valves 48A and 48B is supplied to the reaction air from the outside by the sirocco fan 42. The air which was taken into the case 12 through the suction port 43 and sent to the cathode of the fuel cell main body 3 and the electrochemical reaction was performed in the fuel cell main body 3 to generate power, and a small amount of unreacted residual hydrogen was hydrogen. After entering the main water tank 19 via the pipe 68, it reaches the mixer 50 via a hydrogen pipe 69 provided with a valve device 74 including needle valves 71 and 72 and an electromagnetic valve 73.

The exhaust air from the fuel cell main body 3 comes to the mixer 50, but before the exhaust air is supplied to the blower 72.
The air in the case 12 is mixed (not shown in FIG. 2). The residual hydrogen is mixed with the air in the mixer 50 and then discharged to the outside of the case 12 as described above.

In the fuel cell 10, the fuel cell main body 3 is located near the reactive air suction port 43 of the case 12, so that the intake from the outside can be smoothly performed.

Then, the output current of the fuel cell main body 3 is detected by a detector (not shown), and a signal is sent to the control device 16. In response, a signal is sent from the control device 16 to the sirocco fan 42 to automatically determine the amount of air intake. To control.

At this time, since the air is once blown out from the sirocco fan 42 to the air manifold 64 and then supplied to the fuel cell body 3, the static pressure in the air manifold 64 rises to about 20 mm water column.

Therefore, the flow rate and the static pressure of the air as the oxidant supplied to the fuel cell main body 3 can be obtained, and the power generation can be stably performed while controlling the supply amount accurately. Further, since the sirocco fan 42 is attached to the side of the air manifold 64, the size of the air manifold 64 and the sirocco fan 42 attached to the fuel cell body 3 and the size of the sirocco fan 42 projecting rearward are reduced. Can be achieved.

Here, since the sirocco fan 42 is used and the air manifold 64 is mounted so that air is blown out from the side surface, the air toward the reaction air inlet 63 is inevitably increased at the window hole 64A side. A pressure equalizing plate 76 is provided in the manifold 64, and the air passes through the plurality of through holes 77... And is rectified toward the reaction air intake 63. Air will flow uniformly into the air. Therefore, the electrochemical reaction is performed in the entire fuel cell body 3, and the power generation efficiency is improved.

Further, the temperature of the fuel cell body 3 is detected by a detector (not shown), and a signal is sent to the control device 16, and a signal is sent from the control device 16 to the circulation pump 40 to adjust the circulation amount of water. It is like that.

The secondary battery 44 is, for example, a Ni-Cd secondary battery (12V-40Ah) using a nickel electrode for the positive electrode and a cadmium electrode for the negative electrode, and is installed in the control device 16 in this example.

It should be noted that the secondary battery 44 is usually
0 is automatically charged with surplus power, but the charging input terminal 4 provided in the power extraction terminal portion
5 and an external AC power supply (AC 100 V), it is possible to forcibly charge the battery from the outside. D
The C / DC converter 46 converts a voltage of DC power (24 to 50 V DC) from the fuel cell 10 to a predetermined voltage (for example, D
C280V), and the DC / AC inverter 18 converts the direct current (DC280V) to the alternating current (AC10V).
0V).

The control device 16 is responsible for various controls other than the above, such as ON / OFF of an external output, signal processing from a combustible gas sensor, transmission of an open / close signal to the solenoid valve 49, and Of abnormal signal and DC / A
Transmission of an ON / OFF signal to the C inverter 18 and the like are performed. Further, the primary pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 51 can be taken in, converted into a hydrogen gas remaining amount, transmitted to the digital display unit 36 and displayed. In addition, the digital display unit 36 displays power data output to the outside and 2
It is also possible to send data on the amount of charge of the next battery 44 and display it.

The hydrogen supply pipe 35 is connected to the fuel gas cylinder 1,
It is arranged to connect with the fuel cell body 3. Further, between the fuel gas cylinder 1 and the fuel cell main body 3, the pressure reducing valves (regulators) 47A and 47B and the solenoid valves 48A and 48B are inserted as described above.
By opening and closing A and 48B, ON / OFF of the hydrogen gas delivery from the fuel gas cylinder 1 is performed.

The control device 16 includes a fuel cell main body 3, a secondary battery 44, a DC / DC converter 46, a DC / AC inverter 18, solenoid valves 48A and 48B, and a sirocco fan 4.
2. It is connected to the circulation pump 40, the flammable gas sensor, the main water tank water level gauge, the charging input terminal 45, the auxiliary water tank electromagnetic valve 49, and the like, and exchanges electric signals with these. For example, when the flammable gas sensor detects hydrogen gas having a concentration equal to or higher than the specified concentration, the signal is received, the electromagnetic valves 48A and 48B are closed, the supply of hydrogen gas is stopped, and the operation of the fuel cell body 3 is stopped. An alarm is issued by alarm lamps (not shown) or the operation of the entire fuel cell 10 is stopped.

The fuel cell main body 3 and the secondary battery 44 are electrically connected in parallel to each other. When the power from the fuel cell 3 is not sufficient, the control device supplies electric power from the secondary battery 44 when starting up. A constant electric power can be supplied to auxiliary equipment such as the water pump 16 and the water pump 40.

Since the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

[0074]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a power supply having a fuel gas cylinder in a case and a fuel cell main body for generating electricity by receiving a blast of oxidant such as fuel gas and air from the fuel gas cylinder. And a control device, etc., a polymer electrolyte fuel cell system, which is provided with a sirocco fan for blowing the oxidant to the fuel cell body. The air volume and the static pressure can be obtained, whereby the supply amount can be accurately controlled, and the power generation can be performed stably.

Since a pressure equalizing plate is provided between the sirocco fan and the fuel cell body to uniformly rectify the oxidant blown from the sirocco fan, the oxidant is uniformly supplied to the entire fuel cell body. It is possible to improve the power generation efficiency.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, a manifold having a predetermined volume is mounted in communication with the oxidant intake side of the fuel cell body, and a pressure equalizing plate is mounted in the manifold, and the oxidant is supplied to the manifold. The sirocco fan blows air from the side facing the inside of the manifold partitioned by the pressure equalizing plate of the fuel cell body to the opposite side, so the static pressure is more effectively secured and a more stable oxidant supply Can be achieved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned inventions, the equalizing plate is formed of a plate having a plurality of through-holes. Can be made uniform.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view showing the inside of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an electric signal path, a hydrogen gas path, an air path, a power path, and a water path between components of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing characteristics of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of a fuel cell main body of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged rear view of a fuel cell main body of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a fuel cell body of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of a fuel cell main body of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory side view showing the inside of a conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an electric signal path, a hydrogen gas path, an air path, a power path, and a water path between components of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel gas cylinder 3 Fuel cell main body 10 Solid polymer fuel cell 12 Case 16 Control device 17 Auxiliary water tank 19 Main water tank 35 Hydrogen supply pipe 40 Circulation pump 42 Sirocco fan 64 Air manifold 76 Equalizing plate 77 Through-hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A power supply unit including a fuel gas cylinder in a case, a fuel cell main body for generating power by receiving air from an oxidant such as fuel gas and air from the fuel gas cylinder, and a solid height housing containing a control device and the like. In the molecular fuel cell system, a sirocco fan for blowing the oxidant to the fuel cell body is provided, and an oxidant blown from the sirocco fan is provided between the sirocco fan and the fuel cell body. A polymer electrolyte fuel cell system, comprising a pressure equalizing plate for evenly rectifying. 2. A manifold having a predetermined volume is installed in communication with the oxidant intake side of the fuel cell main body, and a pressure equalizing plate is mounted in the manifold, and the oxidant is partitioned by the pressure equalizing plate of the fuel cell main body. 2. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein air is sent from a side facing the inside of the manifold to an opposite side by a sirocco fan. 3. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein the pressure equalizing plate is made of a plate having a plurality of through holes.