KR20230036984A - Two-piece burner housing for fuel reformer and fuel reformer including the burner housing - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a housing for a reformer burner. In one embodiment, provided is a housing for a reformer burner including: a housing body in which a cylindrical side plate defining the side surface of the combustion region of the burner and a disk-shaped upper plate defining the upper part of the combustion region; and a disk-shaped lower plate coupled to the lower end of the side plate, wherein the side plate has a diameter smaller than that of the upper plate and is extended in a predetermined length downward from the lower surface of the upper plate.

Description

Housing for reformer burner of two-piece structure and reformer having same {Two-piece burner housing for fuel reformer and fuel reformer including the burner housing}

The present invention relates to a reformer, and more particularly, to a reformer burner housing having a novel structure and a reformer having the same.

Recently, a fuel cell system is widely used as a new energy generation method due to depletion of energy resources due to large consumption of energy or environmental problems. A fuel cell consists of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte interposed between the anode and the cathode. Fuel is oxidized at the anode and oxygen is reduced at the cathode to produce electricity. At the anode, hydrogen or methanol, gasoline, natural A reformed gas obtained by reforming a fuel such as gas or propane is supplied.

A reaction caused by reformed fuel such as methanol, gasoline, natural gas, and propane in a fuel reformer is an endothermic reaction. Therefore, a combustion device such as a burner is attached to a general reformer as a heat source to promote a reforming reaction of fuel.

In this regard, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary cross-sectional structure of a conventional reformer. A housing defining a combustion region S is formed by side plates 11 and an upper plate 12, and a burner 20 is installed below it. do. One or more partition walls 14 and 15 are installed concentrically on the outer side of the side plate 11 to form a passage through which reformed fuel moves, and the reformed fuel is transported through the passage through the inlet 31 while the burner 20 ) Absorption of thermal energy by combustion and reforming reaction by a catalyst (not shown), and then discharged through the outlet 32.

In general, it is most preferable to process a housing made of the side plate 11, upper plate 12, and lower plate 13 integrally at once, but since integral processing is virtually impossible, the cylindrical side plate 11 and the disk-shaped upper plate (12) and the disc-shaped lower plate 13 are produced respectively, and each member is butt-totted to weld the welding portion (W).

However, the burner 20 burns at a high temperature of about 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius for fuel reforming, and the upper plate 12 and the side plate 11 defining the combustion region S are maintained at such a high temperature. Concentration of heat occurs in the corner region where the side plate 11 and the side plate 11 come into contact with each other, and in the welding region W, which is a corner region where the side plate 11 and the lower plate 13 come into contact with each other. Moreover, in general, the side plate 11 has a thickness of 1 to 2 mm and the upper plate 12 has a thickness of 3 to 6 mm. Although the degree is different, since the reformer is not always operated but repeatedly turned on/off, there is a problem that the welded portion (W) is deformed or cracked due to high temperature heat concentration and repetition of contraction and expansion.

Meanwhile, FIG. 2 shows a manufacturing method of a conventional reformer. First, as shown in FIG. produce At this time, among the top plates 12, a disk-shaped central top plate 12a having the same diameter as the side plate 11 is attached to the side plate 11 first. Next, as shown in Figure 2 (b), one or more partition walls 14 and 15 are installed on the disk-shaped peripheral upper plate 12b, and then the housing manufactured in Figure 2 (a) is inserted, and Figure 2 (c) ), the reformer is fabricated by welding the side plate 11 and the peripheral upper plate 12b again.

That is, in the case of the conventional reformer, since the upper plate 12 is divided into a disk-shaped central upper plate 12a and a disk-shaped peripheral upper plate 12b, the number of welding is large when manufacturing the housing, and the housing manufactured in FIG. There is a problem in that it is difficult to position and install another member such as a diffusion plate between the side plate 11 and the partition walls 14 and 15 because it is later inserted into the partition wall 14 and welded.

Patent Document 1: Korean Patent Publication No. 2011-0074413 (published on June 30, 2011) Patent Document 2: Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1947571 (registered on February 7, 2019)

The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above, and a housing body in which an upper plate and a side plate constituting a housing for a reformer burner are integrally formed by casting and a disk-shaped lower plate are welded to the lower end of the side plate. By manufacturing a two-piece reformer burner housing, the number of parts and welding parts can be reduced to reduce work time and cost. Also, by moving the welding part away from the corner of the reformer burner housing, it is possible to An object of the present invention is to provide a housing for a reformer burner capable of preventing thermal deformation or cracking of corners even when heat concentration is applied.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a reformer burner housing includes: a housing body integrally formed with a cylindrical side plate defining a side surface of a combustion region of a burner and a disk-shaped top plate defining an upper portion of the combustion region; and a disc-shaped lower plate coupled to the lower end of the side plate, wherein the side plate has a diameter smaller than that of the upper plate and extends downward from the lower surface of the upper plate by a predetermined length.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the upper plate and the side plate constituting the reformer burner housing are integrally formed by casting, and the disk-shaped lower plate is welded to the lower end of the side plate to form a two-piece reformer. By manufacturing a housing for a burner, there is a technical effect of reducing the number of parts and welding places, reducing working time and cost, and suppressing cracks by increasing the rigidity of the housing.

In addition, according to the present invention, even if heat concentration is applied to the corner of the housing, thermal deformation or cracking of the corner can be prevented by allowing the welded portion to deviate from the corner of the reformer burner housing.

1 is a view for explaining an exemplary configuration of a conventional reformer;
2 is a view explaining a manufacturing method of a conventional reformer;
3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reformer according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a perspective view of a housing for a reformer burner according to an embodiment;
5 is an exploded perspective view of a housing for a reformer burner according to an embodiment;
6 is a view explaining an upper plate of a housing for a reformer burner according to an embodiment;
7 is a view explaining a lower plate of a housing for a reformer burner according to an embodiment;
8 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing a reformer according to an embodiment.

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be easily understood through the following preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided so that the disclosed content will be thorough and complete and the spirit of the present invention will be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, terms indicating positions or directions, such as 'upper', 'lower', 'left', 'right', 'front', 'rear', etc., to describe the positional relationship between components, are positions or directions as absolute standards. It may not mean, and when the present invention is described with reference to each drawing, it may be a relative expression used for convenience of description based on the drawing or the corresponding component.

In this specification, when an element (A) is referred to as being connected (or coupled, fastened, attached, etc.) to another element (B), it means that the element (A) is directly connected to the other element (B), or It means that they are connected indirectly through a third component between them.

In the drawings of this specification, the length, thickness, or width of components are exaggerated for effective description of technical content, and the relative size of one component and another component may also vary depending on specific embodiments.

In this specification, the singular form of a component also includes the plural form unless otherwise specified in the phrase. The expressions 'comprises', 'consists of', and 'consists of' used in the specification do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the mentioned elements.

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings. In describing the specific embodiments below, various specific details have been prepared to more specifically describe the invention and aid understanding. However, readers who have knowledge in this field to the extent that they can understand the present invention can recognize that it can be used without these various specific details. In some cases, it is mentioned in advance that parts that are commonly known in describing the invention and are not greatly related to the invention are not described in order to prevent confusion in describing the present invention.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reformer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , a reformer according to an embodiment may include a case 10 and a burner 20 installed under the case. The case 10 may include a burner housing and one or more partition walls 140 and 150 surrounding the burner housing therein.

In one embodiment, the burner housing has a two-piece structure of a housing body 100 and a lower plate 130, and the housing body 100 may include an upper plate 120 and a side plate 110. The housing body 100 may define a combustion area S burned by the burner 20, for example, the side plate 110 defines the side of the combustion area S and the top plate 120 is a combustion area ( The upper part of S) can be defined.

The side plate 110 is cylindrical and may be, for example, cylindrical. The upper plate 120 may be a disk-shaped plate material, preferably a disk shape having a larger diameter than the diameter of the side plate 110 . The side plate 110 and the top plate 120 constituting the housing body 100 are integrally formed. For example, the housing body 100 may be manufactured by casting and then turned. Therefore, welding is not required when manufacturing the housing body 100, and since the joint between the side plate 110 and the top plate 120 also has rigidity, deformation or cracks due to heat concentration can be fundamentally prevented.

The lower plate 130 may be a disk-shaped plate material having a through portion formed in the center thereof, or may have a disk shape having a diameter equal to or larger than that of the upper plate 120 .

One or more partition walls 140 and 150 may be installed outside the side plate 110 . In the illustrated embodiment, the first partition wall 140 is a concentric circle-shaped member surrounding the side plate 110, and the second partition wall 150 is a concentric circle-shaped member surrounding the first partition wall 140, and thus A first separation space is formed between the side plate 110 and the first partition wall 140 and a second separation space is formed between the first partition wall 140 and the second partition wall 150 .

In one embodiment, the reformer includes an inlet 101 for injecting reformed fuel into the first separation space and an outlet 102 for discharging reformed fuel from the second separation space, the first separation space and the second separation space. are communicating with each other. Accordingly, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 3 , reformed fuel is introduced into the reformer through the inlet 101 and then discharged through the first and second separation spaces to the outlet 102 .

The first spaced space and/or the second spaced space are at least partially filled with a catalyst. In one embodiment, the catalyst may be composed of a metal catalyst and a carrier or support supporting the metal catalyst, and promotes a reforming reaction of reformed fuel.

According to this configuration, the reformed fuel is introduced into the inlet 101 in a state where the combustion region S is heated to, for example, 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius by the burner 20, and the reformed fuel is separated from the first separation space and the second separation space. As it passes through the space, the reforming reaction by the catalyst is promoted, and after decomposition into hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc., it can be discharged through the outlet 102.

In the illustrated embodiment, the reformer may further include a diffusion plate 170 supported by the first partition wall 140 and the side plate 110 at an upper end of the first partition wall 140 . The diffusion plate 170 is a disk-shaped plate material having a through portion formed in the center, and has a porous structure having a plurality of through holes on the surface. Therefore, when the reformed fuel is transferred from the first separation space to the second separation space, the reformed fuel diffuses and is well mixed with each other as it passes through the porous structure of the diffusion plate 170, thereby promoting a reforming reaction as well as promoting a reforming reaction. It can be prevented from moving to the bulkhead.

Meanwhile, in the illustrated embodiment, it is shown to have two partition walls 140 and 150 outside the side plate 110, and the inlet 101 and the outlet 102 are shown to be located below the case 100, but this is an example of a reformer. Of course, the number or shape of the bulkheads 140 and 150 and the positions of the inlets 101 and outlets 102 may vary depending on specific embodiments.

Now, a reformer burner housing (hereinafter, simply referred to as “housing”) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 .

4 and 5 are a perspective view and an exploded perspective view of a housing for a reformer burner according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are views illustrating upper and lower plates of the housing for a reformer burner, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7 , a reformer burner housing according to an embodiment may include a housing body 100 including a side plate 110 and an upper plate 120 and a lower plate 130 .

The side plate 110 is a cylindrical member defining a side surface of the combustion region S of the reformer, and may preferably have a cylindrical shape. The side plate 110 may be made of a metal or alloy having strong heat resistance, and in one embodiment is made of stainless steel.

The upper plate 120 is a member of a plate material defining the upper portion of the combustion region S, and may preferably have a disk shape. The top plate 120 is integrally formed with the side plate 110 by a casting method and is made of a metal or alloy having strong heat resistance such as stainless steel.

In the illustrated embodiment, the top plate 120 has a larger diameter than the side plate 110 . One or more first through-holes 125 and one or more second through-holes 126 may be formed in the upper plate 120, and the first through-holes 125 are used for injecting a catalyst and the second through-holes are used. 126 may be used for inserting a temperature sensor. Of course, the formation position or number of the first and second through-holes 125 and 126 may vary depending on specific embodiments.

The side plate 110 has an internal space 115 therein, and the internal space 115 becomes the combustion region S. The side of the inner space 115 is defined by the side plate 110 and the lower part is open. The upper part of the inner space 115 is blocked by the top plate 120, but may partially communicate with the outside through the first through hole 125 and/or the second through hole 126 in some cases.

In one embodiment, a corner portion (ie, a bent portion) where the top plate 120 and the side plate 110 meet may be rounded. That is, as shown in Figure 6 (a), the point where the inner upper end of the side plate 110 and the lower surface of the top plate 120 meet and the outer upper end of the side plate 110 and the lower surface of the top plate 120 meet. It can be processed into a gently curved surface to make a round shape (R1), and thus the stiffness between the top plate 120 and the side plate 110 can be increased. The corner where the top plate 120 and the side plate 110 meet is an area with a high possibility of deformation due to heat concentration during the operation of the reformer. It can be prevented.

In addition, in one embodiment, the ease of manufacture of the housing may be improved by forming a stepped portion along the circumference of the top plate 120 . In this regard, FIG. 6 (b) schematically enlarges the area A shown in FIG. . That is, a stepped portion having a horizontal surface 121a and a vertical surface 121b may be formed by processing a thickness of a portion of the lower surface of the upper plate 120 to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the upper region of the upper plate 120 (for example, 1 mm).

By forming the stepped portion in this way, the convenience of the process of bonding the barrier rib to the upper plate 120 can be increased. That is, as shown in FIG. 6(b), for example, when the second partition 150 is to be bonded to the top plate 120, the upper end of the second partition 150 is connected to the horizontal surface 121a and the vertical surface of the stepped portion of the top plate 120. (121b), the position of the second partition wall 150 can be easily fixed, and the second partition wall 150 can be joined to the upper plate 120 by welding this part in a fixed state, so that the bonding process can be expedited. and can be done accurately.

Referring to Figure 7 (a), the lower plate 130 is a member of the plate shape coupled to the lower end of the side plate 110, preferably may be a disk shape with a through portion 135 formed in the center. The lower plate 130 may also be made of a metal or alloy having strong heat resistance such as stainless steel. The through portion 135 of the lower plate 130 may have the same inner diameter as the side plate 110 .

In the illustrated embodiment, the lower plate 130 includes a disk-shaped lower plate body 131 and a protrusion 132 formed integrally with the lower plate body 131 and bent upward from the upper surface of the lower plate body 131 to protrude. It consists of The lower plate body 131 has a diameter equal to or greater than that of the upper plate. The protruding portion 132 protruding upward from the lower plate body 131 has a ring shape. The ring-shaped protrusion 132 is coupled to the lower end of the side plate 110, and therefore, the diameter and thickness of the protrusion 132 are preferably the same as those of the side plate 110, respectively.

The height of the protrusion 132, that is, the height at which the protrusion 132 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the lower plate main body 131 may be, for example, 10 mm, but may vary depending on specific embodiments. When the height of the protrusion 132 is low, since welding is performed close to the corner where the lower plate main body 131 and the protrusion 132 meet, heat concentration occurs at this welding area (W in FIG. 4) during the operation of the reformer, and deformation may occur. In addition, if the height of the protrusion 132 is too high, there is a problem in that the processing time and cost of the lower plate 130 increase.

The upper end of the protrusion 132 of the lower plate 130 and the lower end of the side plate 110 are integrally joined by a known method such as welding. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the side plate 110 and the lower plate 130 are butt together and welded along the welding portion W between the upper end of the protrusion 132 and the lower end of the side plate 110. .

In one embodiment, a corner of the lower plate 130 where the lower plate main body 131 and the protrusion 132 meet (ie, a bent region) may also be rounded. That is, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the round shape R2 can be made by processing the point where the outer lower end of the protrusion 132 and the upper surface of the lower plate body 131 meet into a gently curved surface, and thus the lower plate body 131. Since the rigidity between the 131 and the protruding part 132 can be increased, deformation can be prevented even when heat is concentrated at the corner during the operation of the reformer.

In addition, in one embodiment, the ease of manufacture of the housing may be improved by forming a stepped portion along the circumference of the lower plate 130 . In this regard, FIG. 7 (b) is an enlarged and schematic diagram of the area B shown in FIG. there is. That is, a stepped portion having a horizontal surface 131a and a vertical surface 131b may be formed by processing a thickness of a part of the lower surface of the lower plate body 131 to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the lower plate body 131 (for example, 1 mm).

By forming the stepped portion in this way, the convenience of the process of bonding the barrier rib to the lower plate 130 can be increased. That is, as shown in FIG. 7(b), for example, when an arbitrary partition wall 160 is to be bonded to the lower plate 130, the lower end of the partition wall 160 is connected to the horizontal surface 131a and the vertical surface of the stepped portion of the lower plate 130 ( 131b), the position of the partition wall 160 can be easily fixed, and the partition wall 160 can be joined to the lower plate 130 by welding this part in a fixed state, so that the bonding process can be performed quickly and accurately. there is.

8 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing a reformer according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the housing body 100 is manufactured in FIG. 8(a). That is, after manufacturing the housing body 100 integrally composed of the side plate 110 and the top plate 120 by a casting method, the housing body 100 may be manufactured by turning.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8(b), one or more partition walls surrounding the side plate 110 are attached to the housing body 100. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the first partition wall 140 and the second partition wall 150 may be sequentially attached to and fixed to the housing body 100 . In this case, the second partition wall 150 may be bonded to the top plate 120 by welding or the like as described above, and the first partition wall 140 may also be coupled to the housing by welding or the like. Although a joint between the first partition wall 140 and the housing is not specified in the drawings, the first partition wall 140 may be attached to the housing in a manner such as using an auxiliary member such as a spacer.

In addition, when attaching the barrier ribs to the housing, members to be placed between the barrier ribs, such as the diffusion plate 170, may also be attached at this step. For example, in the case of the diffusion plate 170, the diffusion plate 170 is inserted into the side plate 110 and moved upward to the position shown in FIG. It can be bonded to the outer surface of (110). In addition, members such as the inlet 101 and/or the outlet 102 may also be joined and fixed to the housing at this stage.

After that, as shown in FIG. 8(c), the reformer can be manufactured by welding the lower plate 130 to the lower end of the side plate 110 and welding along the welding portion W. That is, since the diameter of the lower plate 130 is greater than the diameter of the upper plate 120 or the partition walls 140 and 150, the partition wall is installed in the housing and members positioned in the partition wall such as the diffusion plate 170 are installed, and then the lower plate 130 is installed last. attach Therefore, compared to the conventional manufacturing method described in FIG. 2, since the members to be installed in the partition wall, such as the diffusion plate 170, are first installed in the correct position and then the lower plate 130 is covered and joined last, the installation convenience of the members in the partition wall is increased. can

In addition, in the conventional method of FIG. 2 when manufacturing the housing, the primary welding between the side plate 11 and the central upper plate 12a, the secondary welding between the side plate 11 and the lower plate 13, and the side plate 11 and Although tertiary welding was required between the peripheral top plates 12b, according to the present invention, since the side plates 110 and the top plate 120 are integrally formed by casting, welding is not required when manufacturing the housing body 100, and side plates 110 and 120 are integrally formed. Since the reformer burner housing can be manufactured with only one welding of the welding portion W between the plate 110 and the lower plate 130, manufacturing time and cost can be reduced by significantly reducing the number of welding.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to fundamentally prevent the occurrence of cracks in the welding part caused by heat concentration at the corner between the top plate 120 and the side plate 110 of the conventional reformer burner housing. In addition, the durability and stability of the housing body 100 can be increased by mitigating heat concentration by forming a round portion R1 at a corner where the top plate 120 and the side plate 110 meet.

In particular, in the prior art, since the upper plate 120 is made by turning steel bars, the cylindrical side plates 110 are formed by bending and welding plate materials, and then the housing body 100 is formed by welding them, the consumption of raw materials is high and the manufacturing time is reduced. However, in the present invention, since the side plate 110 and the top plate 120 constituting the housing body 100 are integrally formed by a casting method and finished by turning, the consumption of raw materials is reduced to reduce costs and It has the advantage of reducing production time and facilitating mass production compared to conventional methods.

As described above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that various modifications and variations are possible from the description of this specification. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments and should not be defined, but should be defined by not only the claims to be described later, but also those equivalent to these claims.

10: case
20: burner
100: housing body
110: side plate
120: top plate
130: lower plate
140, 150: bulkhead
170: diffusion plate

Claims (5)

As a housing for a reformer burner,
A housing body 100 integrally formed with a cylindrical side plate 110 defining a side surface of a combustion region of a burner and a disk-shaped top plate 120 defining an upper portion of the combustion region; and
A disk-shaped lower plate 130 coupled to the lower end of the side plate 110; includes,
The side plate is a housing for a reformer burner, characterized in that the diameter is smaller than the diameter of the upper plate and extended downward from the lower surface of the upper plate by a predetermined length. The housing for a reformer burner according to claim 1, wherein a through portion (135) having the same inner diameter as that of the side plate is formed at the center of the lower plate (130). The housing for a reformer burner according to claim 1, wherein a connection portion between the upper plate (120) and the side plate (110) is formed in a round shape. The housing for a reformer burner according to claim 1, wherein a stepped portion is formed along the circumference of the lower surface of the upper plate, and a partition wall member surrounding the side plate is attached to the stepped portion. According to claim 1,
In the housing body 100, the side plate 110 and the top plate 120 are integrally formed by a casting method,
A housing for a reformer burner, characterized in that the lower plate 130 is welded to the lower end of the side plate 110.

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