JP2010080152A - Fuel cell module and fuel cell device - Google Patents

Abstract

A fuel cell module and a fuel cell device capable of improving power generation efficiency are provided.
A cell stack device 10 in which a plurality of fuel cells 3 are erected on a manifold 4 in a power generation chamber of a storage container 2, a vaporization section 7 and a reforming section 8 for generating fuel gas, The storage container 2 has a double-wall structure having an inner wall 11 and an outer wall 12, and the inner wall 11 has oxygen from the side surface along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3. An oxygen-containing gas introducing member 14 for introducing the containing gas is provided, and the oxygen-containing gas that has flowed into the oxygen-containing gas introducing member 14 is drifted to a portion facing the vaporizing section 7 inside the oxygen-containing gas introducing member 14. Since the drift member 20 is provided, the temperature distribution of the cell stack 5 can be made uniform, and the power generation efficiency can be improved.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell module in which a plurality of columnar fuel cells are accommodated in a storage container, and a fuel cell device including the fuel cell module.

  In recent years, as a next-generation energy, a plurality of fuel cells that can obtain electric power using a hydrogen-containing gas (fuel gas) and an oxygen-containing gas (air, etc.) are installed and electrically connected in series. A fuel cell module and a fuel cell module in which a cell stack device having a cell stack and a fuel cell constituting the cell stack and having a manifold for supplying fuel gas to the fuel cell is housed in a container Various fuel cell devices in which the battery is housed have been proposed.

As such a fuel cell module, for example, a plurality of fuel cell cells arranged in parallel in a power generation chamber provided in a rectangular parallelepiped storage container, electrically connected in series, and fixed to a manifold A fuel cell module containing a stack device has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the fuel cell module described in Patent Document 1, a rectangular parallelepiped storage container is constituted by an outer wall and an inner wall, and an oxygen-containing gas channel is formed between the outer wall and the inner wall. An oxygen-containing gas introduction member that is connected to the flow path and supplies oxygen-containing gas to the fuel cells is provided so as to hang down in the power generation chamber. A reformer including a vaporization unit and a reforming unit for generating fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell is disposed above the cell stack device (fuel cell).
JP 2007-59377 A

  Here, when performing steam reforming that can efficiently generate fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell in the reformer (reforming unit), water is vaporized in the vaporizing unit provided in the reforming unit. It is necessary to let

  However, since the vaporization of water in the vaporization part is an endothermic reaction, as the water is vaporized in the vaporization part, the temperature around the vaporization part decreases, and in particular the fuel cell located below the vaporization part. The temperature may decrease. As a result, the temperature distribution in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells becomes non-uniform, and the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack may become non-uniform.

  In the case where the temperature of the cell stack has a non-uniform temperature distribution, the flow of fuel gas supplied from the manifold to each fuel cell constituting the cell stack varies, and the cell stack (fuel cell) There is a possibility that the amount of power generation is reduced or the cell stack (fuel cell constituting the cell stack) is damaged.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell module capable of making the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack close to uniform, and a fuel cell device including the fuel cell module.

  The fuel cell module of the present invention has a plurality of columnar fuel cells that have gas passages for circulating gas therein and are electrically connected in series in a power generation chamber provided in a storage container. A cell stack device including a cell stack, a manifold for fixing the fuel cell constituting the cell stack, and supplying fuel gas to the fuel cell, and disposed above the cell stack device. A reformer having a vaporization section and a reforming section for generating fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel battery cell, and the storage container has a double wall structure having an inner wall and an outer wall. An oxygen-containing gas flow path is formed between the inner wall and the outer wall, and between the inner wall along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells and an inner wall for exhaust gas provided at a predetermined interval inside the inner wall. The The exhaust gas flow path through which the exhaust gas in the power generation chamber flows, and the inner wall has a width corresponding to the width of the cell stack in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells, and is connected to the oxygen-containing gas flow path and the fuel In a fuel cell module comprising an oxygen-containing gas introduction member for introducing oxygen-containing gas into the fuel cell stack from a side surface along the arrangement direction of the battery cells, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member includes An oxygen-containing gas that has flowed into the oxygen-containing gas introduction member is provided with a drift member for causing the oxygen-containing gas to drift to a portion facing the vaporizing section.

  In such a fuel cell module, the oxygen-containing gas flowing in the oxygen-containing gas flow path between the inner wall and the outer wall, and the exhaust gas flowing in the exhaust gas flow path provided at a predetermined interval inside the inner wall and the inner wall Then, heat exchange is performed, and the oxygen-containing gas whose temperature has increased flows to the oxygen-containing gas introduction member connected to the inner wall.

  Then, the oxygen-containing gas whose temperature has flowed to the oxygen-containing gas introduction member flows to the portion facing the vaporization portion by the drift member, so that the temperature around the vaporization portion can be increased, and accordingly, the vaporization portion is vaporized. The temperature of the fuel cell located below the part can be raised.

  Thereby, the temperature distribution in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells, that is, the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack can be made closer to uniform. Thereby, it can suppress that the electric power generation amount of a cell stack falls, and can improve the electric power generation efficiency of a cell stack. Furthermore, the cell stack can be prevented from being damaged.

  In the fuel cell module of the present invention, it is preferable that the drift member is a plate-like body arranged so as to partition the inside of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member vertically.

  In such a fuel cell module, since the drift member is a plate-like body arranged so as to divide the inside of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member vertically, the oxygen-containing gas introduced into the oxygen-containing gas introduction member Will flow efficiently to the part facing the vaporizing part.

  Thereby, the temperature around the vaporization part can be raised, and accordingly, the temperature of the fuel cell located below the vaporization part can be raised.

  In the fuel cell module of the present invention, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member is disposed so as to hang down in the power generation chamber, and the drift member is disposed on the upper side of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member. It is preferable.

  In such a fuel cell module, since the drift member is arranged on the upper side of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member arranged to hang down in the power generation chamber, the oxygen-containing gas introduced into the oxygen-containing gas introduction member The gas will efficiently flow to the portion facing the vaporizing section.

  Thereby, the temperature around the vaporization part can be raised, and accordingly, the temperature of the fuel cell located below the vaporization part can be raised.

  The fuel cell device of the present invention is characterized in that any one of the above fuel cell modules is housed in an outer case.

  In such a fuel cell device, since any one of the fuel cell modules described above is housed in the housing case, the fuel cell device can be improved in power generation efficiency and reliability. .

  The fuel cell module of the present invention has a plurality of columnar fuel cells that have gas passages for circulating gas therein and are electrically connected in series in a power generation chamber provided in a storage container. A cell stack device including a cell stack, a manifold for fixing the fuel cell constituting the cell stack, and supplying fuel gas to the fuel cell, and disposed above the cell stack device. A reformer having a vaporization section and a reforming section for generating fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel battery cell, and the storage container has a double wall structure having an inner wall and an outer wall. An oxygen-containing gas flow path is formed between the inner wall and the outer wall, and between the inner wall along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells and an inner wall for exhaust gas provided at a predetermined interval inside the inner wall. The The exhaust gas flow path through which the exhaust gas in the power generation chamber flows, and the inner wall has a width corresponding to the width of the cell stack in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells, and is connected to the oxygen-containing gas flow path and the fuel In a fuel cell module comprising an oxygen-containing gas introduction member for introducing oxygen-containing gas into the fuel cell stack from a side surface along the arrangement direction of the battery cells, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member includes Since there is a drift member for causing the oxygen-containing gas flowing in the oxygen-containing gas introduction member to drift to the portion facing the vaporization section, the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack can be made closer to the uniform cell stack. It is possible to improve the power generation efficiency. Furthermore, the cell stack can be prevented from being damaged.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a fuel cell module 1 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a module) of the present invention. In the following drawings, the same numbers are assigned to the same members.

  The module 1 is arranged in a state where a plurality of columnar fuel cells 3 each having a gas flow path are provided upright with a predetermined interval therebetween, and a current collecting member (not shown) is disposed between adjacent fuel cells 3. ) To form a cell stack 5 and the lower end of the fuel cell 3 is made of an insulating bonding material (not shown) such as a glass sealing material, and the fuel cell 3 contains hydrogen. A cell stack device 10 fixed to a manifold 4 for supplying gas (fuel gas) is housed in a power generation chamber of a rectangular parallelepiped storage container 2. In addition, the structure of the storage container 2 shall be demonstrated using FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the fuel battery cell 3 is a hollow flat plate type having a gas flow path through which a hydrogen-containing gas (fuel gas) flows in the longitudinal direction. The solid oxide fuel cell 3 in which an electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and an oxygen-side electrode layer are sequentially laminated is illustrated.

  In FIG. 1, in order to obtain a fuel gas used in power generation of the fuel cell 3, a reformer 6 for generating a fuel gas by reforming raw fuel such as natural gas or kerosene is provided as a cell stack 5. It is arranged above (fuel cell 3). The reformer 6 preferably has a structure capable of performing steam reforming, which is an efficient reforming reaction. The reformer 6 reforms the raw fuel into fuel gas, and a vaporizer 7 for vaporizing water. And a reforming unit 8 in which a reforming catalyst (not shown) is disposed. The fuel gas generated by the reformer 6 is supplied to the manifold 4 through the gas flow pipe 9 and supplied to the gas flow path provided inside the fuel battery cell 3 via the manifold 4. Note that the cell stack device 10 may include the reformer 6.

  Further, FIG. 1 shows a state in which a part (front and rear surfaces) of the storage container 2 is removed and the cell stack device 10 stored inside is taken out rearward. Here, in the module 1 shown in FIG. 1, the cell stack device 10 can be slid and stored in the storage container 2.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the module 1 shown in FIG. The storage container 2 constituting the module 1 has a double structure having an inner wall 11 and an outer wall 12, and an outer frame of the storage container 2 is formed by the outer wall 12, and the cell stack 5 (cell stack device 10) is formed by the inner wall 11. Is formed. Further, in the module 1 (storage container 2), an oxygen-containing gas flow path through which the oxygen-containing gas introduced into the fuel cell 3 flows is provided between the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12.

  Here, the oxygen-containing gas formed on the inner wall 11 extends from the upper surface of the inner wall 11 to the side surface side of the cell stack 5, has a width corresponding to the width in the arrangement direction of the cell stack 5, and is formed by the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12. An oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 for introducing an oxygen-containing gas into the cell stack 5 through the flow path is provided. Depending on the configuration of the reaction gas introduction member 14, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 may extend from the inner wall 11 to the side surface side of the cell stack 5. Further, an oxygen-containing gas for supplying the oxygen-containing gas to the fuel cell 3 on the lower end side of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 (a region facing the lower end side of the fuel cell 3 standing on the manifold 4). An introduction port 15 is provided.

  In FIG. 2, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 is disposed so as to be positioned between two cell stacks 5 (cell stack device 10) arranged side by side inside the storage container 2. Depending on the number of (cell stack devices 10), for example, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 may be disposed so as to be sandwiched from both side surfaces of the cell stack 5. Specifically, when only one cell stack 5 (cell stack device 10) is stored, two oxygen-containing gas introduction members 14 are provided, and the cell stack 5 may be disposed so as to be sandwiched from both side surfaces. it can. The oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 will be described in detail later.

  Also, in the power generation chamber 13, the temperature in the module 1 is maintained at a high temperature so that the heat in the module 1 is extremely dissipated and the temperature of the fuel cell 3 (cell stack 5) decreases and the power generation amount does not decrease. A heat insulating material 17 is appropriately provided.

  The heat insulating material 17 is preferably disposed in the vicinity of the cell stack 5, and in particular, disposed on the side surface side of the cell stack 5 along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3, and is equivalent to the outer shape of the side surface of the cell stack 5. Or it is preferable to arrange | position the heat insulating material 17 which has a magnitude | size beyond it. In addition, it is preferable that the heat insulating material 17 is disposed on both side surfaces of the cell stack 5. Thereby, it can suppress effectively that the temperature of the cell stack 5 falls. Furthermore, the oxygen-containing gas supplied from the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 can be suppressed from being discharged from the side surface side of the cell stack 5, and the flow of the oxygen-containing gas between the fuel cells 3 constituting the cell stack 5. Can be promoted.

  Note that the lower end side of the heat insulating material 17 arranged close to the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 has a notch for supplying the oxygen-containing gas to the lower end side of the fuel cell 3. preferable.

  Further, an exhaust gas inner wall 18 is provided inside the inner wall 11 along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3, and the exhaust gas in the power generation chamber 13 extends from above to below between the inner wall 11 and the exhaust gas inner wall 18. It is considered as an exhaust gas flow channel that flows toward. The exhaust gas passage communicates with an exhaust hole 19 provided in the bottom of the storage container 2.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B show the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 extracted, and FIG. 3A is an external perspective view, and FIG. 3B is an exploded perspective view with a part removed.

  When water is vaporized in the vaporizer 7 in order to perform steam reforming, which is an efficient reforming reaction, using the reformer 6 including the vaporizer 7 and the reformer 8 shown in FIG. Since the vaporization is an endothermic reaction, the temperature around the vaporization part 7 is lowered, and in particular, the temperature of the fuel cell 3 located below the vaporization part 7 may be lowered. And since the temperature of the fuel cell 3 located below the vaporization part 7 falls, the temperature of the whole cell stack becomes non-uniform temperature distribution, the fuel gas flow varies, and the cell stack There is a risk that the amount of power generation will decrease.

  Therefore, in the module 1 of the present invention, the drift member for causing the oxygen-containing gas flowing in the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 to drift to the portion facing the vaporization section 7 inside the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14. 20 is provided. In FIG. 3, the right side is the vaporization unit 7 side.

  Here, while the oxygen-containing gas flows between the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12 from below to above, the exhaust gas in the power generation chamber 13 flows between the adjacent inner wall 11 and the exhaust gas inner wall 18 from above to below. After the heat exchange and the temperature rises, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 is supplied. Then, the oxygen-containing gas supplied into the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 is supplied to the fuel cell 3 from the oxygen-containing gas introduction port 15 after flowing to the portion facing the vaporization section 7 by the drift member 20.

  That is, since the oxygen-containing gas having a high temperature flows to the portion facing the vaporization unit 7, the temperature around the vaporization unit 7 can be increased, and accordingly, the fuel battery cell 3 positioned below the vaporization unit 7. The temperature can be increased.

  As a result, the temperature distribution in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3, that is, the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack 5 can be made closer to the uniform, so that the power generation amount of the cell stack 5 can be suppressed from decreasing, and the power generation of the cell stack 5 can be suppressed. Efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, the cell stack 5 can be prevented from being damaged.

  Here, the drift member 20 has a structure in which the entire amount of the oxygen-containing gas that flows between the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12 and is supplied to the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 flows to a portion that faces the vaporizing section 7. Is preferred.

  Therefore, the drift member 20 is preferably a plate-like body arranged so as to partition the inside of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 vertically. Specifically, the drift member 20 is composed of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14. It is preferable to use a plate-like body having a width corresponding to the width in the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3 in the cross section along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3. That is, a plate-like body having the same width as the inner diameter of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 is preferable.

  As a result, the entire amount of the oxygen-containing gas that flows between the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12 and is supplied to the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 efficiently flows to the portion facing the vaporizing section 7. The temperature of the can be increased efficiently. 3B is a plate-like body having the same width as the inner diameter of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14.

  Further, the length of the drift member 20 along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3 can be appropriately set based on the size of the vaporization section 7, the size of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14, and the like. The length from one end portion of the introduction member 14 to one end portion of the vaporization portion 7 (one end portion on the central portion side in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3) can be set. In addition, depending on the size of the vaporizing unit 7, the length up to a portion located below the vaporizing unit 7 can be used.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 is arranged so as to be connected to the inner wall 11 and hang down in the power generation chamber 13, the drift member 20 is made to contain the oxygen-containing gas. It is preferable to arrange on the upper side of the introduction member 14. Thereby, oxygen-containing gas with high temperature can be flowed toward the site | part facing the vaporization part 7, and the temperature around the vaporization part 7 can be raised efficiently. Accordingly, the temperature of the fuel cell 3 located below the vaporization unit 7 can be increased, and the temperature distribution of the entire cell stack 5 can be made to be uniform, thereby improving the power generation efficiency of the cell stack 5. Can do. Furthermore, the cell stack 5 can be prevented from being damaged.

  In addition, it is preferable to provide a plurality of oxygen-containing gas inlets 15 provided in the oxygen-containing gas introduction member 14 at predetermined intervals along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3. In FIG. 3, the interval between the oxygen-containing gas introduction ports 15 on the center side in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3 is reduced, and the oxygen-containing gas introduction ports 15 on the end side in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3 are narrowed. An example in which the interval is widened is shown. In addition, it can also be set as the fixed space | interval along the sequence direction of the fuel cell 3. FIG.

  FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the fuel cell device 26 of the present invention. In FIG. 4, a part of the configuration is omitted.

  The fuel cell device 21 shown in FIG. 4 divides the inside of an exterior case composed of a support column 22 and an exterior plate 23 into upper and lower portions by a partition plate 24, and a module storage chamber 25 for storing the above-described fuel cell module 1 on the upper side. The lower side is configured as an auxiliary equipment storage chamber 26 for storing auxiliary equipment for operating the fuel cell module 1. It should be noted that auxiliary equipment stored in the auxiliary equipment storage chamber 26 is omitted.

  In addition, the partition plate 24 is provided with an air circulation port 27 for allowing the air in the auxiliary machine storage chamber 26 to flow to the module storage chamber 25 side, and a module is formed in a part of the exterior plate 23 constituting the module storage chamber 25. An exhaust port 28 for exhausting the air in the storage chamber 25 is provided.

  In such a fuel cell device 21, as described above, the fuel cell module 1 with improved power generation efficiency is configured by storing the fuel cell module 1 in the module storage chamber 25, thereby improving the power generation efficiency. can do.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, when the oxygen-containing gas that has flowed to the portion facing the vaporization unit 7 by the drift member 20 is supplied from the oxygen-containing gas inlet 15 to the fuel cell 3, the size of the oxygen-containing gas inlet 15 is large. A larger amount of oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the oxygen-containing gas introduction port 15 at the site facing the vaporization unit 7 and a smaller amount of oxygen-containing gas is supplied from the oxygen-containing gas introduction port 15 located at a site far from the vaporization unit 7. May be supplied.

  Therefore, for example, a plurality of columnar members along the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 3 are arranged below the drift member 20 so as to increase the arrangement interval of the members in order from the vaporization unit 7 side toward the one end side. Can be arranged. As a result, the arrangement interval is narrow on the vaporization unit 7 side and the arrangement interval is wide on the one end side, so that the oxygen-containing gas is efficiently supplied to the fuel cell 3 from each oxygen-containing gas inlet 15. .

  Further, for example, a plate-like (columnar) member for partitioning the inside of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member in the vertical direction along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells 3 is arranged below the drift member 20, and the plate-like member A plurality of slits for flowing the oxygen-containing gas flowing in the upper space to the lower space (oxygen-containing gas inlet 15 side) can be provided. At this time, the size (diameter) of the slit on the vaporization unit 7 side is reduced, the size (diameter) of the slit located at a site far from the vaporization unit 7 is increased, and the size (diameter) of the slit is increased. As the same, it is possible to arrange the slits so that the arrangement interval of the members is increased in order from the vaporization unit 7 side toward the one end side. As a result, the oxygen-containing gas is efficiently supplied to the fuel cell 3 from each oxygen-containing gas inlet 15.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows an example of the fuel cell module of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the fuel cell module shown in FIG. The oxygen-containing gas introduction member is extracted and shown, (a) is an external perspective view, and (b) is an exploded perspective view with a part removed. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an example of the fuel cell apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Fuel cell module 3: Fuel cell 4: Manifold 5: Cell stack 11: Inner wall 12: Outer wall 14: Oxygen-containing gas introduction member 18: Exhaust gas inner wall 20: Drift member 21: Fuel cell device

Claims (4)

  A cell stack in which a plurality of columnar fuel cells each having a gas flow path for allowing gas to flow therein are erected and electrically connected in series in a power generation chamber provided in a storage container; A cell stack device comprising a manifold for fixing the fuel cell constituting the cell stack and supplying fuel gas to the fuel cell, and a fuel cell disposed above the cell stack device and supplying the fuel cell And a reformer having a vaporization section and a reforming section for generating fuel gas, and the storage container is a double wall structure having an inner wall and an outer wall, and the inner wall and the outer wall An oxygen-containing gas flow path is provided between the inner wall along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells and the inner wall for exhaust gas provided at a predetermined interval inside the inner wall. Flowing waste The inner wall has a width corresponding to the width of the cell stack in the arrangement direction of the fuel cells, and is connected to the oxygen-containing gas passage along the arrangement direction of the fuel cells. In the fuel cell module comprising an oxygen-containing gas introduction member for introducing an oxygen-containing gas into the fuel cell stack from the side surface, the oxygen-containing gas introduction member is provided inside the oxygen-containing gas introduction member. A fuel cell module comprising a drift member for causing the flowing oxygen-containing gas to drift to a portion facing the vaporization section.   2. The fuel cell module according to claim 1, wherein the drift member is a plate-like body arranged so as to divide the inside of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member vertically.   The oxygen-containing gas introduction member is disposed so as to hang down in the power generation chamber, and the drift member is disposed on an upper side of the oxygen-containing gas introduction member. Fuel cell module. A fuel cell device comprising the fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 3 housed in an outer case.

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