JPS62211869A - Cooling gas supply deice for fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniformly distribute a cooling gas and to make a system compact by mounting a cross flow fan extending to the whole height of a manifold inside an inlet side manifold mounted on the surroundings of a cell stack. CONSTITUTION:Unit cells and gas separating plates are mutually stacked, and cooling plates having cooling gas passage are arranged every several cells to form a cell stack S, and manifolds 1, 1' are mounted in the surroundings of the cell stack. A cross flow type fan 10 extending to the whole height in a stacking direction of the stack S is mounted inside an inlet manifold 1 of a cooling gas. The cooling gas is circulated for cooling through a pipeline in which a heat exchanger HX is arranged. The pipeline is simplified and the space volume of a system is reduced and the gas distribution in an upper and lower direction inside the manifold is made uniform, and a flow straightener is eliminated to simplify the structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION B) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a cooling gas supply device for a fuel cell.

(b) Conventional technology Since the temperature of a fuel cell rises due to reaction heat during operation, it is necessary to cool the fuel cell in order to maintain it at a specified operating temperature.

Conventionally, as shown in Fig. 6, two blowers (BW) for supplying cooling gas are placed outside the pond stack [51], and these, including the heat exchanger (HX), are interconnected by piping (2). connected to. As a result, the piping system becomes longer and the space volume of the battery system increases, and the blower power increases due to pressure loss, resulting in problems such as a decrease in the efficiency of the system as a whole.

In addition, the cooling gas supplied by the blower (BW) spreads rapidly at the inlet side manifold (1) circle, so it is not evenly supplied to the battery stack surface, so a rectifier plate (3) is installed inside the manifold (11). There was a problem that the configuration was complicated.

1"! Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and realizes a compact system and uniform distribution of cooling gas with a relatively simple configuration.

B)) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention includes a cross-flow type fan installed in the manifold on the cooling gas inlet side of the battery stack.

E) Function According to this invention, there is no need for piping between the fan and the cooling gas inlet side manifold, which reduces the space volume of the system, and since the a flow type fan is present over the entire length of the manifold, it is not necessary to install a rectifier plate, etc. By using this method, cooling gas can be uniformly supplied to the NAC battery stack surface.

(f)) Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings, and the same symbols as in FIG. 6 are given to the relevant parts.

The battery stack fsl consists of a unit cell (4) and a gas separation plate (
5) are stacked alternately, and a cooling gas passage (
61 with a cooling plate (7) interposed therebetween.

If this battery stack fsl is of a separate cooling type in which cooling gas is supplied independently, as shown in FIG. Inlet and outlet manifold 111 +
11 is installed. The other opposing circumferential surface of the stack is divided into surfaces in which a fuel gas supply groove (8) and an air supply groove (9) are respectively opened, and fuel gas and air inlet and outlet manifolds (not shown) are attached to each side. It will be done.

On the other hand, in the battery stack +51 which supplies cooling gas as a reaction gas, as shown in FIG. A fuel gas supply groove (81) is open on the other circumferential surface.

In the present invention, a flow type fan fiG is installed in the cooling gas inlet manifold (1) in the stacking direction and over almost the entire height of the manifold. It passes through the manifold (1) and is directly connected to the motor +12 located outside.

The rotation of the cross-flow type fan IIG sucks gas from the vertical inlet pipe (131) of the manifold (1), and the distribution of the gas flow in the vertical direction becomes almost completely uniform, and the top view of FIGS. 2 and 3 As shown by the arrow, it is distributed uniformly on the stack circumferential surface.

Therefore, in the case of the stack shown in Fig. 4, each passage of the cooling plate (7) (
6) Cool the stack by uniformly flowing cooling gas,
The cooling gas that has taken away the heat from the stack and has risen in temperature is transferred to the heat exchanger ()L.
X) and sent to the stack again. In this case, since the cooling gas is circulated and supplied to the independent 97, helium gas or the like can be used in addition to air as the cooling gas.

In addition, in the case of the stack shown in Figure 5, a cross-flow type fan (
A part of the gas (air) sucked in at 101 is divided into the reaction air supply groove (9), and most of the other part is divided into the cooling passage 16+, where a cell reaction occurs with the fuel gas at the counter electrode, and the stack to cool down. The air that takes away the stack heat and rises in temperature,
The damper (14) distributes the external discharge flow (151) and the circulation flow, and this end circulation flow is sent to the stack again together with the fresh air flow (171) introduced from the outside in proportion to the external discharge 1. Partial evacuation and introduction of fresh air reduce the temperature of the supply air to the stack and compensate for the reduction in oxygen partial pressure in the air.

(G1) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, since a cross-flow type fan is installed in the manifold on the inlet side of the battery stack, there is no need for piping between them, making it possible to reduce the space volume of the system. At the same time, due to the characteristics of the cross-flow type fan, the vertical distribution of the gas sucked into the manifold is not only uniform, but also the horizontal distribution, so there is no need for a conventional rectifying plate. It exhibits an excellent function as a cooling gas supply device that also serves as a cooling gas or a reaction gas.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the main part of a fuel cell system equipped with the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view of the main part of the same as above, FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of main parts according to the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the battery stack according to another embodiment of FIG. 3. Moreover, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part of a battery system equipped with a conventional device. . +S+...Battery stack, ()IX)...Heat exchanger, (1)...Inlet side manifold, (6)...Cooling gas passage, (81...Fuel gas supply groove, (9 )...Reaction air supply groove, tl(D...Cross flow type fan, (
l...Shaft seal, 1121...Motor, +131...
...Manifold inlet pipe, +141...Damper.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Cooling gas supply for a fuel cell, characterized in that a cross-flow type fan is installed over substantially the entire height of the manifold in an inlet side manifold attached to the circumferential surface of a battery stack where at least a cooling gas passage is opened. Device. (2) The cooling gas supply device for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the cooling gas is air. (3) The cooling gas supply device for a fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein a reaction air supply groove is opened in the circumferential surface of the cell stack in addition to the cooling gas passage. (4) The cooling gas supply device for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft of the cross-flow type fan is directly connected to a motor disposed outside the manifold.