JPS6047719A - Heater for car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accelerate starting-up of warming by providing a heater which uses metal hydride and feeding hydrogen on engine start and carrying-out heating with engine cooling water and releasing and recovering hydrogen during normal driving. CONSTITUTION:When an engine is started, hydrogen gas is introduced into a heater 1 from a hydrogen storage cylinder 6 through a hydrogen communication pipe 5 by opening a hydrogen flowing valve 4. Hydrogen is occluded onto the metal hydride filled in the heater 1, and heat is generated, and warming air is heated by said heat. When the engine temp. rises, and normal driving is realized, engine cooling water is introduced into the heater 1, and the metal hydride is heated to release the occluded hydrogen, and said hydrogen is recovered into the hydrogen storage cylinder 6 and stored. Therefore, starting-up of warming on engine start can be accelerated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a heating system for a vehicle that operates quickly when an engine is started.

In cold regions or early in the morning in winter, when the outside air temperature is below freezing, conventional automotive heating systems that use engine cooling water are unable to operate until the engine reaches normal operating conditions and the engine cooling water reaches a predetermined high temperature. The heating function will not work until the However, current batteries do not have enough capacity to heat the air with an electric heater, and if the heater is made larger, it will become extremely heavy.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is intended for use in automobiles that can operate at the same time as the engine starts and heat the air even in cold regions or when the outside temperature is low early in the morning in winter. The purpose is to provide heating equipment.

The heating device for an automobile according to the present invention comprises fa) a heater in which a metal hydride is filled in a closed container equipped with a heat transfer surface that exchanges heat with air and a heat transfer surface that exchanges heat with engine cooling water; (b) ) a hydrogen storage container, and (C) a communication pipe that connects the heater and the hydrogen storage container so that they can communicate through a hydrogen flow valve, and which moves hydrogen from the hydrogen storage container to the heater when the engine is started. There is a heating process in which the metal hydride is absorbed and generates heat, and a preparation process in which the metal hydride in the heater is heated with engine cooling water during normal operation of the engine to release hydrogen and returned to the hydrogen storage container. It is characterized by

The present invention will be described below based on drawings showing examples.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing an example of a heater in a heating device according to the present invention. The heater 1 has a double tube structure, in which the gap between the inner tube 2 and the outer tube 3 is filled with metal hydride, the outer wall surface 4 of the outer tube constitutes a heat transfer surface with the air, and the inner tube Engine cooling water is passed through the inner tube, and the inner wall surface 5 of the inner tube constitutes a heat transfer surface with the engine cooling water. This heater is connected to a hydrogen storage container 6 by a communication pipe 5 having a hydrogen flow valve 4, and is communicated with the hydrogen storage container during the heating step and the preparation step, as will be described later. The hydrogen storage container may be a container filled with hydrogen gas (or a container filled with a metal hydride), but the heater is filled with the first metal hydride (hereinafter referred to as MH1). When the hydrogen storage container is filled with a second metal hydride (hereinafter referred to as MH2), preferably, MH2 has a hydrogen equilibrium decomposition pressure higher than MHI, and MH2 is exposed to outside air during normal engine operation. Heat is exchanged appropriately with the vehicle body and other parts, and M
It is selected so that the hydrogen equilibrium decomposition pressure is lower than that of HI.

Furthermore, for example, a manual valve or a solenoid valve is used as the hydrogen flow valve.

FIG. 3 is a front view of main parts showing one embodiment of the heating device according to the present invention, in which a cooling water branch pipe 8 branched from an engine cooling water pipe 7 is connected to one or more heaters 1, and the heater After crossing a large number of parallel fins 9, it is connected to the cooling water branch pipe 8 again. Each heater is connected to a hydrogen storage container 6 via a communication pipe 5 at an appropriate position. By connecting the engine cooling water pipe 7 and its branch pipe 8 using a suitable connector 10 that can be easily disconnected, this can be easily removed during periods when the heating device is not in use.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an automobile heating circuit including the heating device of the present invention, in which a conventional heating device 3 using cooling water of an engine 12 equipped with a radiator 11 is disposed in front of a fan 14, and further in front of the fan 14. A heating device 15 of the present invention is disposed in the vehicle, and when the heater generates heat, air heated by a fan from the rear of the vehicle is introduced into the vehicle interior to perform heating. After the engine has reached normal operating conditions, a conventional heating system is activated, and heated air is also pumped into the passenger compartment by a fan.

FIG. 5 is a cycle diagram for explaining the operation of the heating device of the present invention in which the heater is filled with MHI and the hydrogen storage container is filled with MH2 having a higher hydrogen equilibrium decomposition pressure in the operating temperature range, The horizontal axis shows the reciprocal of the absolute temperature T, and the vertical axis shows the logarithm of the hydrogen equilibrium decomposition pressure P of the metal hydride.

The heating device of the present invention performs a heating process and a preparation process. In the heating process, when the hydrogen flow valve is opened when the engine is started, MH2 releases hydrogen at a temperature Tc (point C), this hydrogen flows into the heater through the hydrogen flow pipe, and the MHI releases this hydrogen at a temperature Td. It absorbs heat and generates heat (point D), heating the air.

After the engine has reached normal operating conditions, the engine coolant will typically reach a high temperature of 80°C or higher, and the coolant at this temperature will be hotter than the heater, causing the heater to reverse. Since it will be heated to , the built-in MH of the heater
I releases hydrogen endothermically at temperature Ta and point A),
This hydrogen returns to the hydrogen storage container again through the communication pipe, and the MH
2 exothermically occludes it (point B). That is, a preparation process is performed. After that, if you close the hydrogen flow valve, you can prepare for heating the next time you start the engine.

In addition, if the hydrogen flow valve is composed of a solenoid valve, and it opens at the same time as the engine starts and closes at the same time as the engine stops,
The heating device of the present invention can be easily operated without requiring any other control equipment.

Below, the operation of the device of the present invention will be specifically explained by giving numerical examples when the outside air temperature is -25°C and the amount of air blown by the fan is 3 kg of MmNf (Mm is Mitshu Metal) as the MH2 of the hydrogen storage container. do.

In the heating step - for example, the MH in the hydrogen storage container
2 removes heat from the -25℃ outside air and the car body, while reducing the temperature to about -35℃.
Hydrogen was released at a temperature of 0.degree. C., and the MHI in the heater absorbed this hydrogen and reached a temperature of about 20.degree. Therefore, even if the outside temperature was 125° C. when the engine was started, the air blown by the fan was raised to about 10° C. within a few seconds, and this heating was continued for about 10 minutes.

In the preparation process, the engine cooling water temperature has reached 80 to 90°C due to normal operation of the engine, so the MH2 in the heater is heated and releases hydrogen, and this hydrogen is transferred to the MH2 in the hydrogen storage container. I was able to absorb it.

As described above, the device of the present invention causes hydrogen from the hydrogen storage container to be stored in the metal hydride in the heater to generate heat and heat the air, so that it quickly exhibits the heating function when the engine is started. Further, the preparation process can be performed during normal operation of the engine to prepare for heating when the engine is started next time. −

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the heater in the heating device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an embodiment of the heating device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram of an automobile heating circuit including the device of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a metal hydride cycle diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Heater, 2... Heater inner tube, 3... Heater outer tube, 4... Hydrogen distribution valve, 5... Communication pipe, 6...
Hydrogen storage container, 7... Engine cooling water pipe, 8... Cooling water branch pipe, 10... Connector, 12... Engine,
14...Fan. Patent applicant Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. Representative Mototoshi Fujinuma Figure 1 Figure 2! Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] (11(al) A heater comprising a metal hydride filled in a closed container equipped with a heat transfer surface that exchanges heat with air and a heat transfer surface that exchanges heat with engine cooling water; (bl. Hydrogen It has a storage container and a communication pipe that connects the heater and the hydrogen storage container through a valve so that they can communicate with each other, and when the engine is started, hydrogen is transferred from the hydrogen storage container to the heater and stored in the metal hydride. An automobile characterized by performing a heating step of generating heat, and a preparatory step of heating a metal hydride in a heater with engine cooling water during normal operation of the engine to release hydrogen and returning it to a hydrogen storage container. heating equipment.