JPH024156A - Fan heater employing fuel battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a noxious material from being contained in combustion gas discharged from a fuel battery through utilization of the fuel battery serving as a heat source and a power source by a method wherein the fuel battery having an electrolytic wall by which a combustion chamber is partitioned from an air chamber is provided, while hydrocarbon, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide in combustion gas flowing from the combustion chamber are reburnt, gas is fed, and gas flowing from a recombustion device is used as hot air gas. CONSTITUTION:A fuel battery 1 comprises a combustion chamber 11, an air chamber 12, and an electrolytic wall 13 by which the combustion chamber 11 and the air chamber 12 are partitioned from each other. A recombustion device 8 comprises an air mixer to forcibly mix air in combustion gas exhausted from the fuel battery 1, an ignition device 82 to ignite combustion gas mixed with air, and a forced combustion chamber 83 to perform forced combustion. By means of the fuel battery 1, combustion gas is caused to pass the recombustion device 8, and is discharged through a vent port 161 of a heat insulating case 16 together with warmed air around the fuel battery 1 after passing through a CO gas sensor part 4. The combustion gas is fed as hot air to the interior of a room with the aid of a fan 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a fan heater using a fuel cell that can be used as an indoor hot air heater.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as indoor hot air heaters, there have been oil fan heaters that use oil as fuel, gas fan heaters that use gas as fuel, and the like. These devices directly ignite and burn fuel such as oil or gas. Furthermore, electric fan heaters and the like that utilize heat generated by electricity are also used.

On the other hand, fuel cells have attracted attention as a new power generation method, and research and development of various types have been progressing. Fuel cells are broadly classified into 441 types: alkaline type, phosphoric acid type, molten carbonate type, and solid electrolyte type. Currently, the phosphoric acid type is most in practical use and has been developed for industrial use such as power generation plants.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Incidentally, in the conventional fan heater described above, electricity used for driving the fan and other operations of the fan heater body must be supplied from the outside.

Therefore, the places where conventional fan heaters can be installed are limited to places where power distribution facilities are available or places where power can be supplied.

Therefore, the present invention aims to realize a fan heater that is easy to install by using a fuel cell as a heat source and a power source for the fan heater.

As a fuel cell to be used in a fan heater, a high-temperature solid electrolyte fuel cell is most suitable because of its compact size, ease of handling, heat generation temperature, etc. Therefore, it is very advantageous from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost or economy to use this type of fuel cell and adopt a structure in which the combustion gas generated by combustion in the fuel cell is directly used as hot air.

However, when this structure is adopted, it is necessary for safety reasons that the combustion gas discharged as tmfll= does not contain harmful substances.

Unlike industrial fuel cells, it is difficult to use special fuels such as hydrogen when using fuel cells for general or household use, so fuels such as city gas and propane gas are used.

Therefore, if incomplete combustion occurs during combustion in a fuel cell, the combustion gas will contain many harmful substances. This contaminates the indoor air, necessitating ventilation, leading to a decrease in thermal efficiency, and causing serious safety problems.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to utilize fuel cells as a heat source and an electric power source, and in addition,
The objective is to prevent harmful substances from being contained in the combustion gas of the fuel cell that is blown as hot air.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a fan heater using a fuel cell of the present invention includes a combustion chamber, an air chamber, and an electrolyte wall separating the combustion chamber and the air chamber. It consists of a fuel cell, a re-combustion device that re-combusts hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide in the combustion gas emitted from the combustion chamber, and a fan that blows the gas. It is configured to be used as Uffl gas.

[Function] In the fan heater using a fuel cell of the present invention, since the fuel cell is used as a heat source and a power source, an external power supply is not required, and the installation ease of the fan heater can be improved. A fuel cell also includes an air chamber, a fuel chamber, and an electrolyte wall separating the air chamber and the fuel chamber. This fuel cell reacts the supplied fuel with air, and the generated electricity and reaction heat can be used as a power source and a heat source for the present fan heater. During this reaction, if the fuel supplied to the fuel cell is incompletely combusted due to lack of oxygen, the combustion gas may contain hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, etc. be. Therefore, this combustion gas is re-combusted by a re-combustion device. Hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon oxides, etc. in the combustion gas are forcibly combusted by this re-combustion device and used as hot air after complete combustion. Therefore, this hot air is blown in a clean state.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged main part thereof.

In this embodiment, a high-temperature fuel cell 1 is used as a heat source and an electric power source.
, a battery 2 used for power supply during startup and storage of surplus power, a temperature sensor 3 for detecting the temperature of the fuel cell 1, and a CO2 for detecting the concentration of carbon monoxide contained in the combustion gas emitted from the fuel cell 1. A gas sensor unit 4, a fuel supply device 5 that supplies fuel to the fuel cell 1, a fuel supply device 6 that supplies air to the fuel cell 1, and a preheating device that heats the fuel cell 1 to a state where it can be operated at the time of startup. 7, a reburning device 8 for reburning hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, etc. in the combustion gas, a ventilation fan 9, and a control device 10 for comprehensively controlling these.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fuel cell 1 includes a combustion chamber 11 and an air chamber 12, and an electrolyte that isolates the combustion chamber 11 and the air chamber 12!
J! It consists of 13. Arrow △ is air flow, arrow B
represents the flow of fuel.

The electrolyte wall 13 uses yttria-stabilized zirconia (Z'rOz-Y203) as the electrolyte material 13a, and a pair of electrodes 13b and 13c are formed on both sides by chemical plating or the like. , are laminated with a separator 15 made of a heat-resistant metal material having concavities and convexities formed in directions intersecting each other on opposing surfaces to form a large-capacity fuel cell 1. A groove-shaped space defined by the disposed electrolyte walls 13 forms a combustion chamber 11 and an air chamber 12, respectively.The fuel and air supplied to the fuel cell 1 are fed to the separator 15 in directions perpendicular to each other. The fuel and air flow through the fuel chamber 11 and air chamber 12, which are formed by grooves.When viewed from the electrolyte wall 13, fuel and air flow across the electrolyte wall 13, and burn in response to the flowing darkness. Co
A gas sensor section 4 is arranged.

The reburning device 8 includes an air mixer (circuit) that forcibly mixes air with the combustion gas discharged from the fuel cell 1, an ignition device 82 that ignites the combustion gas mixed with the air, and an ignition device 82 that ignites the combustion gas mixed with the air. It consists of a combustion chamber 83.

As shown in FIG. 4, the Co gas sensor section 4 is equipped with a pair of electrodes 42 with a solid electrolyte material 41 sandwiched between them, and one standard electrode 42a is covered with a CO oxidation catalyst 43. However, the other electrodes used as measurement electrodes 42b remain as they are. This utilizes the non-equilibrium adsorption phenomenon of Co on the PT electrode, and detects the degree of CO'a by the electromotive force generated at both ends of the solid electrolyte material 41.

Further, a temperature sensor 3 is attached to the fuel cell 1 and constantly detects the temperature of the fuel cell 1.

A fuel supply device [5] that supplies fuel to the fuel cell 1 takes in city gas or propane gas as a fuel from the outside through a fuel pipe 51, adjusts the inflow amount with a solenoid valve 52, and supplies the fuel to the fuel chamber of the fuel cell 1. 11. The inflow amount of this electromagnetic valve 52 is controlled by the control device 10.

The air supply device 6 that supplies air to the fuel cell 1 sucks air from inside the room with an intake fan 61, passes it through the air introduction vibro 2, and passes through an electromagnetic valve 63 whose inflow amount is adjusted by IIJ III of control B unit N1o. II 3! is supplied to the air chamber 12 of the fuel cell 1. ! [It has become.

Furthermore, since this fuel cell 1 is of a high temperature type, its operating temperature is high and it does not operate at room temperature.

Therefore, during startup, the fuel cell 1, especially the electrolyte wall 13
It becomes necessary to heat the The heating temperature is 500~1 for the ittria-stabilized zirconia used in this example.
The temperature is about 000°C.

In order to achieve this high temperature in a short time, a preheating device N7 is provided in contact with the fuel cell 1. This preheating device 7 has a structure in which fuel and air are introduced into the preheating combustion chamber 72 from each of the fuel supply device 5 and the air supply device 6 through an electromagnetically pressed bypass pipe (circuit), and are ignited and combusted by an ignition device W173. There is. All of these operations are also performed in steps a and II according to the control table W110.

The fuel cell 1, temperature sensor 3, CO gas sensor section 4, preheating section device 7, and re-combustion W18 are all housed in a heat insulating case 16 in which a vent hole 161 is formed at the location where the combustion gas is discharged. There is. It is housed in a main body case 17 equipped with a fan heater, together with a food container 9.

Next, the use of this embodiment will be explained in order.

First, when you turn on the activation switch (circuit), battery 2
Is the electricity stored in ? The temperature sensor 3 is supplied to each part of the heater, and the control table @10 and temperature sensor 3 operate first. The fuel cell 1 detected by the temperature sensor 3
The control device 10 activates the preheating device 7 depending on the temperature. At this time, the solenoid valve (circuit) of the bypass pipe leading from the fuel supply device W5 to the preheating combustion chamber 72 opens, and the fuel flows into the preheating combustion chamber 72. Similarly, air also flows into the preheating combustion chamber 72 from the air supply device 6 and mixes with the fuel. Then, it is ignited by the ignition device 73 and combusts. When the temperature sensor 3 detects that the temperature of the fuel cell 1 rises due to this combustion and reaches the operating temperature, the control device 1
0 closes the solenoid valve of the bypass pipe supplying fuel and air.

The combustion in the preheating combustion chamber 72 is then extinguished. after that,
Supply of fuel and air to the fuel cell 1 is started, and the fuel cell begins to operate. At this time, the fuel and air supply hot water is set at room temperature, the temperature of the fuel cell 1, and the temperature of the Co gas sensor section 4.
The v control device 10 comprehensively controls based on the detected concentration, etc.
! ! Adjust iPulp 52.63.

The combustion gas from the fuel cell 1 passes through the re-combustion device 8 and becomes C.
It passes through the O gas sensor section 4, is discharged from the vent 161 of the heat insulating case 16 together with the warmed air around the fuel cell 1, and is blown indoors as warm air by the blower fan 9.

In this embodiment, a fuel cell in which yttoria-stabilized zirconia (ZrOz-Y2O2) is used as the electrolyte material is used as the fuel cell 1, but the present invention does not need to be limited to this, and other stabilized zirconia may be used. It is also possible to use solid electrolyte fuel cells that utilize ceramics such as strontium cesate or other types of high-temperature fuel cells.

By using cassette type propane gas as fuel, fuel can be built into the fan heater. By doing so, it becomes possible to improve the ease of installing the -S fan heater.

It is also possible to use a heating wire as a preheating device.

In addition, as a further embodiment, the arrangement of the CO gas sensor section 4 and the reburning device 8 is reversed, and the electrolyte material 1.3a formed of ittria-stabilized zirconia of the fuel cell 1 is extended as shown in FIG. A pair of electrodes 42 for the CO gas sensor on the top
By sandwiching a and 42b, the CO gas sensor section 4
It is also possible to do this.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, since the fan heater using a fuel cell of the present invention uses a fuel cell as a heat source and a power source, it can be installed regardless of the presence or absence of power distribution equipment. be able to. In particular, if you use a built-in fuel type, you can put the head in almost any location. Further, when a fuel cell is used, the presence of harmful substances due to incomplete combustion such as oxygen deficiency in the exhaust combustion gas poses a problem. In the present invention, this problem can be solved by providing a reburning device. In general, by controlling combustion according to the installation conditions using a control device, unnecessary combustion is suppressed and oxygen deficiency is prevented, the generation of harmful substances is suppressed, and ventilation is not required, making it more efficient. I was able to use it well.

In this way, the fan heater using the fuel cell of the present invention has greatly contributed to improving the convenience of the fan heater.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main parts thereof. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a fuel cell, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a CO gas sensor section, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a CO gas sensor section in another embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Fuel cell 2... Battery 3... Temperature sensor 4... CO gas sensor part 5... Fuel supply device 6... Air supply device 7... Preheating device
8... Reburning device 9... Ventilation fan 1
0...Control device 11...Combustion chamber 12...
Air chamber 13... Electrolytic trade wall Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A fuel cell having a combustion chamber, an air chamber, and an electrolyte wall separating the combustion chamber and the air chamber, and regenerating hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide in the combustion gas discharged from the combustion chamber. What is claimed is: 1. A fan heater using a fuel cell, comprising a reburning device for combustion and a fan for blowing gas, the fan mainly blowing gas emitted from the afterburning device and using it as hot air gas.