KR100749257B1 - Voltage measuring module of fuel cell having voltage measuring terminal apply to zebra - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a voltage measuring module having a zebra of a fuel cell for measuring the cell voltage to a plurality of cell batteries of a fuel cell stack which is improved in the contact of a cell battery to a graphite plate and abrasion resistance. A voltage measuring module is provided with a voltage measuring terminal (zebra, 14) for measuring the cell voltage which is prepared by arranging an insulating material(20) and a conductive material(22) alternatively on the printed circuit board (PCB, 12) of a voltage measuring module by the interval narrower than the interval of the plurality of cell batteries, so as to allow the each conductive material to be in contact with the each cell battery.

Description

Voltage Measuring Module of Fuel Cell Having Voltage Measuring Terminal Apply to Zebra}

1 is a view for explaining the principle of a general fuel cell,

2 is a view showing a method of measuring the electrode voltage for a conventional fuel cell stack,

3 is a view showing a configuration of a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell with a voltage measurement terminal to which zebra is applied according to the present invention;

4 is a view showing a side structure of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention;

5 is a view showing the bottom structure of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention;

6 is a view showing in detail the structure of the zebra applied as the voltage measuring terminal of the present invention;

7A and 7B are views illustrating an operating state of a voltage measuring module of a fuel cell having a voltage measuring terminal to which zebra is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8A and 8B are views showing a modification of the shape of the zebra applied as the voltage measuring terminal according to the present invention;

9A and 9B show another modification of the shape of the zebra applied as the voltage measuring terminal according to the present invention;

10 is a view showing an example of the internal circuit configuration of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention,

11 is a view showing another example of the internal circuit configuration of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: cell battery graphite plate, 12: PCB substrate,

14: voltage measurement terminal (zebra), 16, 18: contact support,

20: insulator, 22: conductive material.

The present invention relates to a voltage measuring module of a fuel cell having a zebra applied voltage measuring terminal, and more particularly, to improve the contact reliability of the voltage measuring terminal for measuring the cell voltage of the fuel cell stack between neighboring cells. The present invention relates to a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell having a voltage measurement terminal to which zebra is applied to reduce the possibility of a short circuit.

In general, energy is an indispensable element in our daily lives, and as it is a major driver of industrial and economic development, smooth supply of energy resources is essential for the sustainable growth and development of humankind. It can be seen.

At present, fossil fuels, which occupy most of the energy resources, have limited reserves, which in the long run are expected to lead to difficulties in supplying energy. In 2001, Korea's 198 million toe increased 2.5% from last year. Energy has been used, which should be taken into account in the domestic energy situation, where industrial structure is gradually being converted to low energy consumption in recent years, but more than 97% of energy is dependent on imports.

In addition, energy policies in response to global environmental issues such as acid rain, ozone layer destruction, and global warming due to increased use of fossil fuels have emerged as new tasks.In particular, in the international climate change agreement, the climate change agreement, Considering these constraints, the development of alternative energy technologies and the expansion and use of alternative energy technologies should be considered more actively.

Recently, various attempts have been made to find an energy source having a low environmental burden. Among these attempts, a fuel cell, in particular, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell has an advantage that the emission is only water, and thus is applied to a power source such as an automobile. It is expected to be.

Fuel cells based on hydrogen, the next generation of alternative energy, have a longer lifespan than batteries because they produce electrical energy through direct chemical reactions of hydrogen and oxygen, unlike conventional batteries that store energy. In addition, unlike general combustion engines, the total generation efficiency is very high because of the low mechanical losses.

Fuel cell types include molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) operating at high temperatures, fuel cells for solid oxides (SOFCs), phosphoric acid fuel cells (AFCs) operating at relatively low temperatures, polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs), and direct methanol. Fuel cell (DEMFC);

Among them, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is a fuel cell that operates at around 80 ° C. It can get high power in a short startup time and has high current density. Compared with general gasoline or diesel cars, NOx emissions are 1/500 and SOx. Since the emission is 1 / 10,000, it is an environmentally friendly high efficiency power generation system.

Recently, research is being actively conducted to apply and commercialize many industries such as automobiles, mobile phones and laptops. A rough look at fuel cell configurations includes separator plates, membrane composites, and attachments. The double separator serves as a flow path through which hydrogen and oxygen flow and a pole through which electricity flows, and the price ratio of fuel cell parts is high and affects fuel cell performance.

In addition, there is a need for development to solve important problems in the separation plate, such as a uniform flow field of the separation plate and blockage of the flow path due to condensation of water in the flow path, drainage of water generated by a chemical reaction, and temperature distribution of the separation plate.

The basic concept of a fuel cell using a separator for a fuel cell can be explained by the use of electrons generated by the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. As shown in FIG. 1, hydrogen passes through an anode, i.e., an anode, oxygen passes through an anode, i.e., a cathode, and hydrogen reacts with oxygen electrochemically to produce water to form an electrode. Generates a flow.

In addition, as electric charge is transferred to the load side through the conductor, DC power is generated, and heat is incidentally produced. DC current is used as the power of a DC motor or converted into alternating current by an inverter.

In addition, the heat generated from the fuel cell may generate steam for reforming or may be used as a heating and cooling heat source. Hydrogen, the fuel of a fuel cell, uses pure hydrogen or hydrogen produced through reforming processes using hydrocarbons such as methane or ethanol.

In addition, pure oxygen can increase the efficiency of the fuel cell, but since the cost and weight of oxygen storage are increased, the oxygen contained in the air is directly used.

Overall, electricity, heat and water are generated by the following reactions.

Anode: H ₂ → 2H + + 2e (1)

Cathode: 1/2 O ₂ + 2H + + 2e → H ₂ O (2)

Total: H ₂ + 1/2 O ₂ → H ₂ O + Current + Heat (3)

The electrolyte plays a role in transferring hydrogen ions from one electrode to the other, and the catalyst improves the reaction of the electrode. The unit cell consisting of two electrodes produces about 0.6V to 0.7V.

Most fuel cells produce relatively low voltages. In order to produce enough power for use, fuel cells typically have to form a fuel cell stack, and typically one stack has more than 10, 20, 30, or 100 fuel cells.

In order to measure the voltage of the fuel cell stack, a module for measuring the voltage by connecting the fuel cells is required. In FIG. 2, a voltage measuring method for a conventional fuel cell stack is illustrated.

That is, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of measuring an electrode voltage of a conventional fuel cell stack.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a state where a plurality of fuel cells are configured as one stack 2, in order to measure the cell electrode voltage of the fuel cell stack 2, a circuit between the PCB circuit of the voltage measuring module and each fuel cell is used. Since connecting terminals are needed, these connecting terminals use conductors 4, and the contact terminals 6 of the conductors 4 individually connect the respective fuel cell graphite plates constituting the fuel cell stack. It is supposed to be.

However, such a conventional voltage measurement module is connected to the fuel cell stack as a whole, because the graphite plates of each fuel cell constituting the fuel cell stack are individually connected to each other through the contact terminals 6 of the conductive wires 4. Not only does it take a long time to work, there is a problem that may cause damage to the graphite plate during the terminal connection work.

In addition, when a fuel cell stack is applied to a vehicle, it is difficult to ensure contact reliability of a contact terminal in a vehicle environment with high vibration, and also requires a lot of wiring by a plurality of conductors 4 to measure voltage. However, there is a problem that the voltage measuring structure becomes complicated and the working space must be greatly different.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to apply a terminal for measuring the voltage of a fuel cell as a zebra in which a conductive material and an insulator are alternately coupled to each other. The present invention provides a fuel cell voltage measuring module having a zebra applied voltage measuring terminal which secures high contact reliability by applying pressure to the graphite plate of the fuel cell while reducing the possibility of short circuit between neighboring battery cells. .

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the voltage measurement module for measuring the cell voltage for a plurality of cell cells of the fuel cell stack, the insulating material and the conductive material on the PCB substrate of the voltage measuring module is a plurality of cell cells In the fuel cell having a zebra voltage measurement terminal is arranged alternately at intervals finer than the interval of, the voltage measuring terminal for measuring the cell voltage by contacting each conductive material with each cell cell correspondingly. Provides a voltage measurement module.

Hereinafter, the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

That is, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a voltage measuring module of a fuel cell having a voltage measuring terminal to which zebra is applied according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the voltage measuring module of the fuel cell having the voltage measuring terminal to which the zebra is applied according to the present invention measures the cell voltage of each graphite plate 10 of the plurality of cell electrodes constituting the fuel cell stack. A PCB substrate 12 is formed thereon, and a voltage measuring circuit unit 13 is installed at a lower end of the PCB substrate 12.

The voltage measurement terminal 14, which contacts the respective graphite plates 10 and measures the cell voltage, is fixedly mounted on the PCB substrate 12 by an adhesive on the PCB substrate 12. The measuring terminal 14 is made of zebra in which an insulating material and a conductive material are alternately formed.

Upper contact support 16 for supporting a state where the voltage measuring terminal 14 is in contact with each graphite plate 10 on the upper and lower sides of the voltage measuring terminal 14 made of the zebra on the PCB substrate 12. And a lower contact support 18 are provided.

The upper contact support 16 and the lower contact support 18 are made of a non-conductive material such as synthetic resin, for example.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the voltage measuring terminal 14 formed of the zebra has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the same dimensions as the width of the PCB substrate 12.

As shown in FIG. 6, the zebra shape of the voltage measuring terminal 14 has a shape in which the insulator 20 and the conductive material 22 are alternately coupled to each other, and the insulator 20 is nonconductive. It is made of a resilient material such as rubber or silicon, and the conductive material 22 is made of a metallic material with good conductivity such as silver.

Next, the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention made as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the PCB substrate 12 for measuring the cell voltage for each battery cell corresponds to the graphite plate 10 for the plurality of battery cells installed in the fuel cell stack 100. Is provided with a voltage measuring terminal 14 made of zebra.

As shown in FIG. 7B, when the voltage measuring terminal 14 is contacted with a plurality of graphite plates 10 of the fuel cell stack 100, the conductive material of the voltage measuring terminal 14 made of zebra ( 22) is in one-to-many contact with each of the graphite plates 10 (i.e., conductive material: graphite plate = c: 1), and each conductive material 22 reciprocally arranged with the insulator 20. It is preferable that the arrangement interval of is to be much smaller than the arrangement interval of the graphite plate (10).

8A and 8B are views showing a modification of the shape of the zebra applied as the voltage measuring terminal according to the present invention.

In this figure, a variant of the voltage measuring terminal 30 made of zebra according to the invention is in direct contact with the front end of the conductive material 32, ie, the graphite plate 10, which is alternately coupled with the insulator 34. The contact portion to be formed is formed in a triangular thread shape in order to improve contact with the graphite plate 10.

Although the thread shape of the conductive material 32 according to the modification of the present invention has a smaller contact area with respect to the graphite plate 10 than the shape of the conductive material 22 of FIG. 6, the plurality of graphite plates 10 It is possible to make contact evenly with respect to one-to-many correspondence, and the contact with each graphite plate 10 improves.

9A and 9B are diagrams showing another modified example of the shape of the zebra applied as the voltage measuring terminal according to the present invention.

In the same figure, another modification of the voltage measuring terminal 40 made of zebra according to the present invention is the front end of the conductive material 42 which is alternately coupled with the insulator 44, that is, the graphite plate 10 The shape of the contact portion in direct contact with is formed in a semi-circular semi-cylindrical shape in order to improve contact with the graphite plate 10.

The thread shape of the conductive material 42 according to another modification of the present invention is smaller in contact area with respect to the graphite plate 10 than the shape of the conductive material 22 of FIG. A large number of graphite plates 10 can be contacted evenly in one-to-many correspondence, and the contact with each graphite plate 10 is improved.

10 is a view showing an example of the internal circuit configuration of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the voltage measuring module 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention contacts each of the plurality of cell cells C1 to Cn of the fuel cell stack by contacting the voltage measuring terminal made of zebra with each other. The cell voltage for the cell batteries C1 to Cn can be measured.

The voltage measuring module 50 is provided with a plurality of differential amplifiers A1 to An respectively receiving positive voltages and negative voltages across the respective cell batteries C1 to Cn and outputting the difference voltages. An analog-to-digital converter 52 for converting the differential voltage signal from the differential amplifiers A1 to An into a digital signal is configured.

The voltage measuring module 50 may measure the cell voltage for each cell cell C1 to Cn of the fuel cell stack through a signal obtained by digitally converting the differential voltage output values from the respective differential amplifiers A1 to An. Will be.

11 is a diagram showing another example of the internal circuit configuration of the voltage measuring module according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 11, the voltage measuring module 54 according to another embodiment of the present invention contacts a voltage measuring terminal made of zebra with both ends of the plurality of cell cells C1 to Cn of the fuel cell stack. The cell voltage for each cell battery C1 to Cn can be measured.

The cell voltages from the respective cell batteries C1 to Cn in contact with the voltage measuring terminal are digital values in the analog-to-digital converter 56 through the resistors RA1 to RAn RB1 to RBn connected to the voltage measuring terminals. After conversion to, it is compared with the reference voltage value generated by resistor R1 and zener diode Zd1.

The voltage measuring module 54 compares the cell voltage value from each cell battery C1 to Cn with a reference voltage by the resistor R1 and the zener diode ZD1, thereby enabling normal measurement of each cell voltage. do.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the above-described typical preferred embodiments, but can be carried out in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention, various modifications, alterations, substitutions or additions are common in the art Those who have knowledge will easily understand. If the implementation by such improvement, change, replacement or addition falls within the scope of the appended claims, the technical idea should also be regarded as belonging to the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, as the voltage measuring terminal of the voltage measuring module for measuring the cell voltage for the plurality of cell batteries constituting the fuel cell stack is formed in a zebra form in which the insulator and the conductive material are alternately coupled, The contact resistance with respect to the graphite plate of the cell battery is improved while the wear resistance is improved, and the cell voltage can be accurately measured while occupying a small space.

Claims (9)

A voltage measurement module for measuring cell voltage for a plurality of cell cells of a fuel cell stack, Insulation material and conductive material are alternately arranged on the PCB substrate of the voltage measuring module at intervals finer than that of a plurality of cell batteries, so that each conductive material is in contact with each cell battery to measure cell voltage. Voltage measurement module of a fuel cell having a voltage measurement terminal to which zebra is applied, characterized in that is installed. The method of claim 1, The voltage measurement terminal is a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell having a zebra applied voltage measurement terminal, characterized in that the zebra (Zebra) alternately arranged insulator and conductive material. The method of claim 2, The zebra is a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell having a zebra applied voltage measurement terminal, characterized in that fixedly mounted on the PCB substrate via an adhesive. The method of claim 2, The insulator is made of a synthetic resin material, the conductive material is a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell with a zebra applied voltage measurement terminal, characterized in that the conductive rubber. The method of claim 1, The voltage measuring terminal of the fuel cell having a zebra applied voltage measuring terminal, characterized in that the voltage measuring terminal in which the insulator and the conductive material are alternately arranged in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the same dimensions as the width of the PCB substrate. . The method of claim 1, The conductive material is a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell having a zebra applied voltage measurement terminal, characterized in that the contact portion in direct contact with the graphite plate of the cell battery is formed in the shape of a triangular thread. The method of claim 1, The conductive material is a voltage measurement module of a fuel cell with a zebra applied voltage measurement terminal, characterized in that the contact portion in direct contact with the graphite plate of the cell battery is formed in a semi-circular semi-cylindrical shape. The method of claim 1, Wherein each conductive material has an array spacing so as to correspond one-to-many with the graphite plates of the cell cells. The method of claim 1, The upper and lower contact support portions for supporting the state that the voltage measurement terminal is in contact with each graphite plate on the upper and lower sides of the voltage measurement terminal made of the zebra on the PCB board, respectively, characterized in that zebra Voltage measurement module of fuel cell with applied voltage measurement terminal.

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