JPS58115771A - Fuel cell equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide fuel cell equipment which mounting and dismounting of a reacting fluid guide vessel are easy by installing extending portions in the circumference of a plate which is in contact with the end of the unit cell stack, and installing the connecting holes of cooling pipes in the extending portions. CONSTITUTION:Each side of four sides H of plates 51 which are in contact with both ends of a unit fuel cell stack is extended in a semicircle except the angular point to form extending portions W. Connecting holes 56 which are connected with reaction fluid pipes in the extending portions W of at least one side of the plates 51, and a cooling pipe connecting hole 57 and an instrument wire guide hole 58 are installed in specified extending portions W. By this construction, mounting and dismounting of a reaction fluid guide vessel can be done independently of piping.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a fuel cell device that includes a stacked body formed by stacking a plurality of unit fuel cells.

[Background technology of the invention]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, fuel cells have been widely known that generate DC power by reacting a gas that is easily oxidized, such as hydrogen, with a gas that has oxidizing power, such as oxygen, through an electrochemical reaction process. This fuel cell typically consists of a pair of gas diffusion ta
With an electrolyte matrix placed between them and a load connected between both electrodes, hydrogen-containing gas (fuel) is brought into contact with the outer surface of one electrode, and oxygen-containing gas (fuel) is brought into contact with the outer surface of the other electrode. DC power is supplied to the load by contacting the load with an oxidizer (oxidizing agent). Incidentally, the above-mentioned gas diffusion electrode is usually provided with a catalyst supporting layer carrying platinum or the like in order to facilitate the reaction. When used as a practical power generation device, a method is adopted in which the above-mentioned fuel pond is used as a unit fuel cell and a plurality of unit fuel cells are directly connected.

By the way, the essential parts of a fuel cell device in which unit fuel cells are connected in multiple sections as described above are generally constructed as shown in FIG. That is, catalyst supported III J
a, J l)
An electrolyte matrix 3 is interposed between a and 2b to form a square plate-shaped unit fuel cell 4, and a highly conductive interconnector 5 formed of carbon fiber board is connected between these unit fuel cells i. A square column-shaped product that is interposed and piled up! It is composed of an X. On both sides of each interconnector 5, there are grooves 6 forming passages through which fuel flows, as shown by Tayu mark P in the figure, and passages 8 through which oxidizer flows, as shown by Tayu mark Q in the figure. The ties 7 constituting the are formed in a relationship that is orthogonal to each other.

Moreover, cooling pipes 8 whose outer surfaces are covered with an insulating film are embedded in some of the interconnectors 5.

Conventional fuel cell devices incorporating the above-described stacked body X are generally constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. That is, a thin conductive plate 12 having the same dimensions as the lower end surface of the laminate A thin conductive plate 13 is placed on the upper end surface of the laminated body X using a conductive adhesive, etc. Two support plates 14 are placed thereon. And in the above state,
Two sets of rods 15a with 94 tabs are arranged on the lower surface of the first support plate 11 and the upper surface of the second support plate 14, respectively, facing each other in the vertical direction in the figure, and parallel to the sides of the laminate X. , 15
b and 16a and 16b are arranged in parallel, and bolts 11a, l7b and 18&
, 18b to a constant torque, the laminate X
The unit fuel cells are integrated. The bolts Z7a, Z7b, 1B&, and llIb are made of an insulating material and have an insulating tube fitted into the fitting portion with the rod. However, after assembling as described above, the porcelain teeth of the laminate X are required! ! After air-tightening the parts, openings of reaction fluid guiding devices 20a, 20b, 20c, and 206 formed in the shape of rectangular packets are formed on the peripheral edges of the laminate X on the same plane through packings 19 made of insulating material. These reaction fluid guides 20a, 20
Projections 21 protruding from both wheel edges of b, 20c', and 20d
By inserting bolts 22 into the holes provided in the respective holes and tightening the protrusions 21 of adjacent guides, the opening edges of the six guides are brought into close contact with the peripheral edges of the same plane of the laminate X via the packing 19. As shown in FIG. 2, the device as a whole has an airtight structure. Note that 24 in FIGS. 2 and 3 indicates a lead bar guided to the outside through the shell of the second support plate 14. In addition, each guide 20a,
20b*20c, 20d are connected to a pipe 25 through which fuel and an oxidizer flow, as shown by the Inuyama arrow and the Daikoku arrow in FIG. Furthermore, the upper and lower edges of each guide in the figure are insulated to prevent the battery from being short-circuited through these guides. Also, guide 2
A connection mechanism 26 for connecting the internal cooling pipe 8 and the outside is provided at 0d. Further, although not shown in these figures, measurement lines for measuring the state of each part of the laminate X are provided through the guide device in an airtight manner.

[Problems with background technology]

In the conventional fuel cell device configured as described above, the connection ports to which the pipes 25 for guiding the reaction fluid are connected are connected to the reaction fluid guide devices 20a and 20b.

20c, 20d, and each building measurement line guide port and cooling distribution connection mechanism 26 are also provided in the reaction fluid guide device 20a during assembly and disassembly.

20b, 2. It takes a lot of effort to install and remove Oc, 20a.
There was a problem that required a lot of time. Especially cooling pipe 8 and external piping +2)! Ill! It is necessary to perform this when installing the reaction fluid guide, so even if a flexible pipe is used, the workability is extremely inefficient, and excessive force may be applied to the cooling pipe 8 during the work.
This often results in damage to the interconnector 5.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to enable attachment and detachment of a reaction fluid guide device regardless of the existence of a cooling pipe, and to enable the above-mentioned attachment and detachment. Our objective is to provide a fuel cell system that facilitates work and prevents damage to various parts that may occur during work.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, supporting plates are applied to both end faces of a square columnar laminate formed by stacking a plurality of unit fuel cells, and the laminate is tightened in one direction through these plates to stack the laminate. In the fuel cell device, in which at least one of the plate members is integrated with the unit fuel cell, and the opening edges of the reaction fluid guides are connected to the four surface-measured peripheral edges of the laminate in a gas layer, respectively. Formed into a composite shape of a quadrilateral portion having the same dimensions as the end face perpendicular to the lamination direction and an extended portion in which at least one side of the quadrilateral portion extends in a direction perpendicular to the lamination direction except for the periphery of the top. At the same time, at least one of a reaction fluid pipe connection port, various measurement line guide ports, and a cooling pipe connection port leading into the reaction fluid guide device is formed in the extending portion, and the above-mentioned cooling pipe connection port is formed on the extending portion side. It is characterized in that a part of the opening edge of the reaction fluid guiding device is hermetically connected to the end face of the extending portion.

〔Effect of the invention〕

With the above configuration, since at least the cooling pipe connection port is provided on the plate material used for fastening the laminate, it is possible to connect the cooling pipe independently of the installation of the response body guide. On the other hand, the reaction fluid guiding device can be installed and removed regardless of the existence of cooling piping, and the above-mentioned installation and removal work can be facilitated, as well as the cooling piping and storage space.
It is possible to achieve integrated maintenance. Further, if a reaction fluid piping connection port and various measurement line guide ports are also provided in the extending portion of the plate material, there is an advantage that the work of attaching and removing the reaction fluid guide device can be made much easier.

[Implementation sequence of the invention]

FIG. 5 shows the external appearance of a fuel cell device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this device consists of stacking a plurality of unit fuel cells according to their thickness, as also shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A rectangular columnar laminate υ, first and second supports 11*, 32b applied to both end surfaces of this laminate L1, and these first and second supports 12a, 32b. The bolts 33a, 33b,
33c, 336, and reaction fluid guides 34a, 34 airtightly applied to the four sides of the laminate U, respectively.
b, 34 c.

J4d.

The laminated body is constructed by laminating a plurality of laminated blocks 41 as shown in FIG.

Each laminated block 41 includes a first layer made of a conductive material,
A plurality of unit fuel cells are stacked in a stacked state through interconnectors as shown in FIG. 1 between the second auxiliary supports 42b and the first and second auxiliary supports 42a and 42b. The interposed unit fuel cell pi43 and the protrusions 44a, 44b, 45a, 45bK protruding from the first and second auxiliary supports 42a and 42b are inserted into the holes formed in the first and second auxiliary supports 42a and 42b. Auxiliary support body 42eh,'
By tightening between 42'o and 42'o, the unit fuel cell group 43
It is composed of 64 bolts 46 as a fastening tool for integrating the parts. The first and second auxiliary supports 42a, 4
The planar dimension of the portion of 2b excluding each protrusion is formed to be the same as the upper and lower end surfaces of the unit fuel cell group 43. In addition, a plurality of ribs 41 are provided on the outer surface of the first auxiliary support 42a to increase the strength, and a second
Auxiliary support for! Outer surface of 2b, ÷;:'N j:: :
-゛- is also provided with a plurality of grooves 48 for increasing the strength and degree, and these lips 47 and flj
4B is constructed so that when the laminated blocks 41 are stacked as shown in the figure, the stubs 47 and the monuments 48 of the vertically adjacent auxiliary supports engage with each other to exert a positioning function. has been done. In addition, each auxiliary support body has projections 44a', 44b*45a provided on this auxiliary support body.
* 45, the position of b is formed into two blocks that differ by the width of the protrusion), and as shown in the figure, each laminated block 41
When the blocks are stacked, the bolts 46 of vertically adjacent blocks can be stacked without contacting each other.

Further, the bolt 46 is made of an insulating material, or has an insulating sleeve fitted into the portion of the protrusion that fits into the hole. Then, after the volumetric heavy block 41 constituting the laminate U is tightened with the bolt 4ζ to a specified torque, the extending end face of the bolt 4ζ is subjected to the necessary airtight treatment, and then tested in a preliminary test apparatus. Only those that pass the characteristic test are used.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-115771 (4) Thus, the first and second supports 32a.

32b is specifically constructed as shown in FIG. In other words, a rectangular portion H made of a relatively thick steel plate or the like having the same planar dimensions as the unit fuel cell, and each side of this quadrilateral portion H outside in a semicircle except for the area around the top. On the diagonal line connecting the tops of one surface of the plate material 51, which has a shape including the extended portion W stretched to A rib 52 formed by combining tubes in an X-shape is welded, and a reinforcing plate 53 is welded to the periphery of the welded surface of the lip 52. Note that holes 54 for inserting the aforementioned bolts 33a, 33b, 33c, and 33d are provided in the portions of each rib 62 that protrude outward from the plate 51. ′
A hole 55 is formed in the close-up portion H to allow the lead bar, which will be described later, to protrude outward. Also, in the extended portion W of the plate material 51 constituting the second support 32b, which extended portion is formed. Connecting ports 56 are formed through the W and connected to the reaction fluid piping, respectively.Similarly, cooling piping connecting ports 57 and various measurement line guides 058 are formed in specific extending portions W.
is formed.

Therefore, the laminate U is horizontally Ii# between the first and second supports 32a and 32b as follows.
. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, on the plate material 51 of the first support 32a and on the quadrilateral portion H, a conductive plate 61 formed to have the same dimensions as the quadrilateral portion H is adhered with adhesive. ing. A lead bar (not shown) is provided on the lower surface of the conductive plate 61 in the figure and protrudes outward through the hole 65.
Further, on the lower surface in the figure, a protrusion is formed that can fit into the groove 48 formed in the second auxiliary support 42b of the tfI block 41 described above.

Thus, the laminated blocks 41 shown in FIG. 8 are sequentially laminated on the conductive plate 61 with thin carbon paper interposed therebetween. Then, a thin carbon paper was placed on the upper end surface of the laminated body as described above, and a conductive plate 61 was constructed in the same manner as the conductive plate 61 (however, grooves were provided in place of the protrusions). Board 6
2°, and the quadrilateral portion H of the plate material 6z on the second support 3g'b is placed on this conductive plate 62 via adhesive.
In this state, connect the second support 32b and the first support 32'O with four bolts 33a, 33b,
3'3'c, 3.9d and the nuts screwed onto these are integrated to tighten to the specified torque.

After assembling as described above, the first and second auxiliary supports 42a and 4 of each laminated block 41 constituting the laminated body L1 are assembled.
Remove the bolt 46 tightening between 2b (it is not necessary to remove it if it does not affect the flow of the reaction fluid).

), then the cooling pipes are connected and various measurement wires are placed, and then insulating material is attached to the edges parallel to the stacking direction on the four sides of the product and the end faces of the extended portions W of each plate 51. After applying the packing ε3, as shown in FIG. 10, the reaction fluid guiding device 14a is made up of a metal thin plate 65 and a thick clamping plate 66 fixed to both edges of this thin plate 65.

34b, 34C as shown by the two dots @ line in FIG.
By inserting the bolts 68 into the holes 61 provided in the tightening plates 66 of 4c and 346, respectively, and tightening the bolts 33a, 33b, 3Bc, and 33d between the tightening plates 66 of adjacent guides at the outer positions. The peripheral edge portion of each guide device is brought into close contact with the aforementioned valley edge portion and end surface of the extending portion W of the stacked body through the packing 63.
As shown in the figure, the device as a whole has an airtight structure. Note that 71 in FIGS. 5 and 6 indicates a lead bar that penetrates the second support 32b and is guided to the outside. Further, the upper and lower edges of each guide are insulated so that the battery will not be short-circuited through these guides. Moreover, 72 in the seventh factor from 51zJ shows a tightening belt wound through the notch 13 provided in the tightening plate 66 of each reaction fluid guide 34a, 34b, 34a, 34rl.

With such a configuration, the reaction fluid guiding devices 34a, 34
b, 34c, and 346 can be installed and removed independently of the cooling piping, reaction fluid piping, and various measurement lines, making these operations easier and preventing damage to the cooling piping that is likely to occur during these operations. This can be prevented, and the above-mentioned effects can be obtained after all.

In addition, as shown in the actual Mi column, the 1% second support 32
&, 32b, each plate material 51 is provided with four extended portions W, and a packing 63 is provided between the end face of these extended portions W and the edge parallel to the lamination direction at the periphery of the laminate U to form the structure shown in FIG. reaction fluid, guiding devices 34a, 34b*34c
.

If the method is to attach J4d, the reaction fluid guide device can be separated into the clamping plate 66, which requires rigidity, and the thin plate 65, which can withstand tensile stress, and therefore the weight of the reaction fluid guide device itself can be reduced. I can do it. In addition, with the reaction fluid guiding device having the above structure, the elongation M of the entire laminate can be easily released by sliding between the end face of the elongated portion W and the thin plate 6j, so that the elongation caused by the elongation and contraction can be easily released. It is possible to minimize the deterioration in airtightness that can easily occur.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. That is, the extending portion W is provided on at least one side of at least one of the plate materials in the first and second supports,
A configuration may be adopted in which the extending portion W is simply provided with a cooling pipe connection port. In this case, it goes without saying that the reaction fluid guide provided on the stretching portion side may have a different overall shape from that shown in FIG. 10. Further, in the above embodiment, a plurality of stacked blocks 41 are stacked to form a stacked body, but the structure is not necessarily limited to this. Furthermore, the extending portion provided on the plate material for supporting the laminate may be arranged at a different level from the quadrilateral portion.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a close-up view of only the wall of a typical fuel cell device, and Fig. 2 is an external view of a conventional fuel cell device incorporating the main parts shown in Fig. 31. Figure 3 shows A-Ai! in Figure 2! 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 2, Section 5 is an external view of a fuel cell device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line F--B in FIG.
7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line G-() in FIG. the first and second in
Section 10 is a perspective view of the reaction fluid guide in the simultaneous wfB device. Su... Laminated body, 32a... First support, 32b-
Second support % J Sa @ J J b a J
J.C. 33C1-volt, 34a, 34b, 34c+34d
-・Reaction fluid guide device, 41-・Laminated block, 51-・
Plate material, H...quadrilateral part, W...extended part. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 3 IP 1 Country 6 1? 2 @ 1) t) 3 Figure 3 IP 5 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 3 IP 9 Figure sio diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] Supporting plates are respectively applied to both sides of a rectangular prism-shaped horizontal 1# body formed by stacking unit fuel cells, and the above-mentioned laminate is tightened in the stacking direction via these plates. In a fuel cell device in which a stacked body is integrated and an opening edge of a reaction fluid guide is hermetically connected to each of the four side peripheral edges of the stacked body, at least one of the plate members is arranged in the stacking direction of the unit fuel cell. and a quadrilateral portion having the same dimensions as the end face to be directly fired, and a stretched portion in which at least one side of the quadrilateral portion extends in the m+ direction and the direction to be directly fired, excluding the periphery of the top. At the same time, a reaction fluid piping connection leading into the reaction fluid guide device is connected to the extension portion, and a part of the opening edge of the reaction fluid guide located on the side of the extension portion is hermetically connected to an end surface of the extension portion. A fuel cell device characterized by: