KR20100075295A - Apparatus and method for testing defects of electrolyte membrane and cell for sofc using fluorescent liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for testing defects of an electrolyte membrane and a cell for a solid oxide fuel cell is provided to rapidly detect the defect of the membrane and the cell effectively, and to improve the reliability of the test. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus for testing defects of an electrolyte membrane and a cell for a solid oxide fuel cell comprises the following: a fluorescent liquid coater coating fluorescent liquid(4) on one surface of a testing object(5); a fluorescent liquid suction device(6) inflowing the coated fluorescent liquid to the other surface of the object; and a defect detector. The defect detector irradiates ultraviolet rays to the one surface of the object, and collects the fluorescent liquid from the defects of the object to detect the defects.

Description

Apparatus and method for testing defects of electrolyte membrane and cell for SOFC using fluorescent liquid}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and an inspection method for inspecting defects of cells and electrolyte membranes used in solid oxide fuel cells (hereinafter, referred to as SOFCs). The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus and an inspection method capable of easily and accurately inspecting whether a microscopic or macroscopic defect is present in the thickness direction of an electrolyte membrane or a cell for SOFC.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical high efficiency and pollution-free power generation device that generates electricity by using ion conduction induced in an electrolyte membrane by supplying fuel gas and air as an oxidant, respectively, to the anode and the cathode, which are two electrode plates located on both sides of a dense electrolyte membrane. to be. Among various types of fuel cells, a fuel cell using a solid oxide as an electrolyte membrane material is called a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Generally, SOFC is classified into cylindrical type, flat plate type, and integral type according to its shape. In particular, active research is being conducted because flat SOFCs are lower in manufacturing cost, higher power density, and easier to fabricate and are suitable for mass production than cylindrical or integrated ones. In the case of a flat SOFC, the manufacture of a dense electrolyte membrane is important because there is a crack or a hole in the electrolyte membrane, which greatly degrades the performance and life of the stack when a crossover of fuel gas and air occurs.

For example, there are significant levels of microscopic or macroscopic defects in the thickness direction of electrolyte membranes in anode supported cells (also called ASCs) or electrolyte supported cells (also referred to as 'ESCs'). In this case, a crossover in which fuel gas and air are allowed to penetrate the cell may occur, which may make it impossible to operate the SOFC. The cathode and anode of the SOFC cell have a porous structure to allow fuel gas and air to pass through, but the electrolyte membrane should have a compact structure to prevent crossover. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the reliability of the SOFC stack by inspecting for the presence of cracks or holes penetrating the electrolyte membrane in advance.

As a defect inspection method of a ceramic sheet, such as an electrolyte membrane for SOFC, generally, air permeability inspection method using gas permeation, permeability inspection method using water absorption, bubble inspection method using alcohol solution, inspection method using light transmission, and the like are known. Although the above methods are widely used as defect inspection methods for SOFC electrolyte membranes, the qualitative inspection methods are still largely used, and the inspection methods are complicated and require a long time.

Moreover, the technique which applied the defect measuring method by ultraviolet irradiation after apply | coating a fluorescent liquid to a ceramic sheet was proposed. In this case, after a certain period of time by applying a fluorescent solution to the inspection site, the fluorescent solution is removed and defects are inspected on the coated surface. However, in such a method, an organic solvent is used so that the fluorescent solution can be easily penetrated by pinholes or cracks. There are disadvantages of using and delay of defect inspection time. In addition, in the case of a test object having a multi-layered structure, such as a cell for SOFC, there is a limit in penetrating the fluorescent liquid by capillary force.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus and an inspection method which can easily and effectively inspect a thickness direction defect of an electrolyte membrane or a cell for a solid oxide fuel cell in a short time and can increase inspection reliability.

An electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection device for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) according to an aspect of the present invention, a fluorescent liquid coating device for applying a fluorescent solution on one surface of the test object; A fluorescent liquid suction device for sucking the coated fluorescent liquid onto an opposite surface of a test object having a fluorescent liquid applied to the one surface; And irradiating ultraviolet light to an opposite surface of the test object, receiving fluorescence by a fluorescence solution in a defect of the test object, from the opposite surface of the test object, It includes a defect inspection unit for measuring the defect of the test object.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte membrane and cell inspection device for SOFC, may further include a fluorescent solution automatic removal filter for automatically removing the fluorescent solution remaining on one surface of the test object passed through the fluorescent solution suction device. have.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the defect inspection unit may include: an ultraviolet lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays to an opposite surface of the test object to the test object that has passed through the fluorescent liquid suction device; A camera acquiring an image of an opposite surface of the test object irradiated with the ultraviolet rays; And a defect information processing unit for detecting a defect from an image of the opposite surface of the inspection object acquired by the camera. The defect information processor may measure a defect zone, a defect position, and a number of defects of the test object.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection method for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) may include applying a fluorescent solution on one surface of a test object and sucking the applied fluorescent solution on an opposite surface of the test object. Fluorescent liquid application and inhalation step; And irradiating ultraviolet rays to an opposite surface of the test object, receiving fluorescence by a fluorescent solution in a defect of the test object on the opposite surface, and receiving a defect of the test object from the received fluorescence. It includes a defect inspection step of measuring.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte membrane and cell inspection method for SOFC, the fluorescent solution remaining on one surface of the test object subjected to the suction step, between the fluorescent solution application and suction step and the defect inspection step, It may further include a fluorescent solution removal step of automatically removing. The applying and inhaling the fluorescent solution may include applying a water-soluble fluorescent dye on one surface of the test object.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the defect inspection step may include: irradiating ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface of the test object with respect to the test object that has undergone the suction step; Acquiring an image of an opposite surface of the test object irradiated with the ultraviolet rays; And detecting a defect from an image of an opposite surface of the acquired test object. In the detecting of the defect, the defect zone, the defect position, and the number of defects of the test object may be measured.

According to the present invention, a defect in the thickness direction of an electrolyte membrane or a cell for SOFC can be inspected easily and accurately regardless of the thickness, shape, or shape of the test object. In addition, not only the defect area of the test object, but also the defect position and the number of defects can be accurately inspected in real time on the entire area of the test object. Furthermore, by easily penetrating the fluorescent liquid into the defect on the opposite side of the fluorescent coating surface through the fluorescent liquid suction device and performing the defect inspection through ultraviolet irradiation on the opposite side of the coating surface, it is possible to reduce the inspection time and increase the inspection accuracy. Moreover, the kind of fluorescent solution available is also wide and does not require the use of an organic solvent.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art.

1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of an electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection apparatus for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrolyte membrane and cell inspection apparatus for SOFC includes a fluorescent liquid coating system unit 2, an automatic fluorescent liquid removing unit 8, and a defect inspection unit 10. The fluorescent liquid coating system unit 2 includes a fluorescent liquid coating device 3 for applying a fluorescent liquid to one surface of an electrolyte membrane or a cell for an SOFC (for example, a flat SOFC) that is the test object 5. And a fluorescent liquid suction device 6 on which the test object 5 is placed. In order to start the inspection process, the test object 5 may be moved to the phosphor application system 2 through the automatic transfer device 1. The fluorescent liquid applying apparatus 3 may apply the fluorescent liquid 4 onto one surface of the test object 5 through a spray nozzle or the like. The fluorescent liquid suction device 6 disposed opposite the coating surface of the fluorescent liquid 4 of the test object 5 is connected to, for example, the rotary pump 7 to perform a vacuum suction action on the opposite surface of the test object. As a result, the fluorescent liquid can effectively penetrate into the pinholes, holes or cracks of the test object. By facilitating the penetration of the fluorescent liquid in the defect through the fluorescent liquid suction device 6, there is no need to use an organic solvent in the fluorescent liquid, and a water-soluble fluorescent dye can be used as the fluorescent liquid. In particular, the use of water-soluble fluorescent dyes approved by the FDA ensures the stability of the user and can respond appropriately to environmental problems.

The next stage of the phosphor coating system unit 2 is provided with an automatic phosphor removal unit 8. The automatic fluorescence removal unit 8 is equipped with a fluorescence auto removal filter 9, and the test object 5 (excitation and application of the fluorescence solution from the previous stage) is performed using the auto fluorescence removal filter 9. The fluorescent solution remaining on one surface of the object) is automatically removed.

The defect inspection part 10 is provided in the next stage of the fluorescent liquid automatic removal filter 8. The defect inspection unit 10 includes an ultraviolet lamp 12 that irradiates ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface of the test object 5 (hereinafter, the opposite surface of the fluorescent liquid applying surface is referred to as an “opposite surface”). Accordingly, the ultraviolet lamp 12 is disposed on the opposite side of the fluorescent liquid coating surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) of the test object 5. In addition, the CCD camera 13 is disposed on the opposite side of the phosphor coating surface so as to receive fluorescence by the fluorescence in the defect of the inspection object 5 from the opposite surface of the inspection object 5 so as to receive an image of the opposite surface of the inspection object 5. Get. The CCD camera 13 is connected to the defect information processor 14, and the defect information processor 14 receives the image data acquired by the CCD camera 13, analyzes the image data, and receives the fluorescence received by the CCD camera 13. The defect of the test subject 5 is detected and measured from. The defect information processor 14 may measure a defect zone, a defect position, and the number of defects of the test object. The defect information processor 14 may include a microprocessor capable of processing image data.

The automatic transfer chuck 11 may be used to move and fix the test object 5 from the fluorescent solution automatic removal unit 10 to the ultraviolet irradiation position. As described above, the defect inspection unit 10 arranges the ultraviolet lamp 12 and the CCD camera 13 on the opposite side of the phosphor coating surface of the inspection object 5 so that the defect inspection portion is the opposite surface of the phosphor coating surface. The movement of the object 5 may be simplified. Ultraviolet radiation from the defect inspection unit 10 may be appropriately used to the multi-lamps to be evenly irradiated on the front surface of the inspection object (5). Through the above-described configuration, the fluorescent liquid is easily penetrated into the defect of the test object in a short time, so that the defect of penetration of the electrolyte membrane or the cell for SOFC is not limited to the thickness, shape, and camber of the test object. Can be checked almost completely.

Hereinafter, a process of inspecting a defect of an electrolyte membrane or a cell using the above-described SOFC electrolyte membrane and cell inspection apparatus will be described.

First, for example, the electrolyte membrane or the cell test object 5 for the plate type SOFC is moved to the fluorescent liquid coating system unit 2 through the automatic transfer device 1, and the fluorescent liquid 4 is transferred through the fluorescent liquid coating device 3. ), For example, a water-soluble fluorescent dye is applied to one surface (top) of the test object (5). At this time, the fluorescent liquid suction device 6 and the rotary pump 7 connected thereto are operated to suck the applied fluorescent liquid 4 onto the opposite surface (lower surface) of the test object 5. By this suction or vacuum suction process, the fluorescent liquid 4 applied on one surface of the test object 5 effectively penetrates into the hole or the crack of the test object 5 quickly and at a subsequent opposite surface. Improves the reliability of defect inspection by the fluorescent light receiving. Not only the electrolyte membrane but also a cell having a multilayer structure including the electrolyte membrane can effectively penetrate the fluorescent liquid into the through defect of the test object (cell).

Next, after the application and suction of the fluorescent solution is completed, the fluorescent solution remaining on one surface of the test object 5 is automatically removed by using the automatic removal solution of the fluorescent solution 9.

Next, the automatic transfer chuck 11 is used to move and fix the test object 5 to the ultraviolet irradiation position of the defect inspection unit 10. The defect inspection unit 10 irradiates ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface (lower surface) of the inspection object 5 using the ultraviolet lamp 13, and acquires an image of the opposite surface through the CCD camera 13 to obtain the inspection object ( 5) Receive fluorescence by the fluorescent liquid in the defect. The defect information processor 14 receives image data of the opposite surface of the test object 5 acquired by the CCD camera 13 to detect and measure a defect of the test object 5. In this case, the test object 5 may measure the presence, the defect location, and the number of defects of the defect of the test object 5 through image processing.

Before stacking the SOFC electrolyte membrane or forming the cell stack through the above-described inspection apparatus and inspection method, the presence of through cracks, holes, etc. of the electrolyte membrane or the cell is inspected in advance, whereby the position of the defect in real time in the entire area of the inspection object is examined. The number, size, and size can be measured accurately.

Example

FIG. 2 is a photograph of an electrolyte membrane surface showing a result of inspecting an electrolyte membrane for a flat SOFC using the test apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (a) is a photograph of an electrolyte membrane surface before inspection, and FIG. b) is a photograph of the surface of the electrolyte membrane after the test. As shown, the above-described inspection clearly confirmed that defects of various sizes exist.

FIG. 3 is a photograph of a cell surface showing a result of inspecting a flat type SOFC cell using the inspection apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 3 (a) is a photograph of a cell surface before inspection, and FIG. Is a cell surface photograph after inspection. The cell was provided with a fuel electrode, an electrolyte membrane and an air electrode, the fluorescent liquid was applied to the surface of the fuel electrode side, and defect inspection was performed on the surface of the air electrode side. As a result of this experiment, the defect site in the air cathode part could be clearly confirmed. Such a result overcomes the difficulty of not accurately determining a defect because a defect site is covered by an air electrode when a method of infiltrating the fluorescent liquid with a capillary force of the fluorescent liquid without using an inhalation device is used. Therefore, it can be seen that the defects of the test object can be evaluated with high reliability regardless of the shape of the electrolyte or cell for SOFC by the above-described test apparatus and test method.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, but is intended to be limited by the appended claims, and that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention described in the claims. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of an electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection device for a solid oxide fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a photograph showing a result of inspecting a defect of an electrolyte membrane for a solid oxide fuel cell using a test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (a) is a photograph of the surface of an electrolyte membrane before inspection and FIG. 2 (b). Is a photograph of the surface of the electrolyte membrane after inspection.

FIG. 3 is a photograph showing a result of inspecting a defect of a cell for a solid oxide fuel cell using an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 (a) is a photograph of the surface of the cell before inspection, and FIG. Photograph of cell surface after inspection.

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

1: Inspection object automatic transfer device 2: Fluorescent liquid application system part

3: fluorescent liquid coating device 4: fluorescent liquid

5: test object 6: fluorescent liquid suction device

7: Rotary Pump 8: Fluorescent Solution Automatic Removal Section

9: fluorescent solution automatic removal filter 10: defect inspection unit

11: Moving and fixing the test object 12: UV lamp

13: CCD camera 14: defect information processing unit

Claims (9)

A fluorescent liquid applying device for applying a fluorescent liquid on one surface of the test object; A fluorescent liquid suction device for sucking the coated fluorescent liquid onto an opposite surface of a test object having a fluorescent liquid applied to the one surface; And The test object passed through the fluorescence inhalation device is irradiated with ultraviolet light to the opposite surface of the test object and receives fluorescence by the fluorescence in the defect of the test object from the opposite surface of the test object and from the received fluorescence An electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection device for a solid oxide fuel cell including a defect inspection unit for measuring a defect of a test object. The method of claim 1, The electrolyte membrane and cell inspection device for a solid oxide fuel cell, characterized in that it further comprises a fluorescent liquid automatic removal filter for automatically removing the fluorescent liquid remaining on one surface of the test object passed through the fluorescent liquid suction device. The method of claim 1, The defect inspection unit, An ultraviolet lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface of the test object to the test object that has passed through the fluorescent liquid suction device; A camera acquiring an image of an opposite surface of the test object irradiated with the ultraviolet rays; And And a defect information processor for detecting a defect from an image of the opposite surface of the test object acquired by the camera. The method of claim 3, And the defect information processor measures a defect zone, a defect position, and a number of defects of the test object. Applying and inhaling a fluorescent solution on one surface of a test object and sucking the applied fluorescent solution onto an opposite surface of the test object; And The test object which has undergone the inhalation step is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface of the test object, receives fluorescence by the fluorescence in the defect of the test object at the opposite surface, and detects the defect of the test object from the received fluorescence. An electrolyte membrane and a cell inspection method for a solid oxide fuel cell, characterized in that it comprises a defect inspection step of measuring. The method of claim 5, Solid oxide fuel, characterized in that further comprising a fluorescent liquid removing step of automatically removing the fluorescent liquid remaining on one surface of the test object subjected to the suction step, between the fluorescent liquid application and suction step and the defect inspection step. Battery electrolyte membrane and cell inspection method. The method of claim 5, The coating and suctioning of the fluorescent solution may include applying a water-soluble fluorescent dye on one surface of the test body. The method of claim 5, The defect inspection step, Irradiating ultraviolet rays to the opposite surface of the test object with respect to the test object that has undergone the suction step; Acquiring an image of an opposite surface of the test object irradiated with the ultraviolet rays; And And detecting a defect from an image of the opposite surface of the acquired test object. The method of claim 8, In the step of detecting the defect, the defect zone, the defect position and the number of defects of the test object is measured, characterized in that the electrolyte membrane and cell inspection method for a solid oxide fuel cell.

Images