JPS60200470A - portable fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of application of the invention] The present invention relates to a portaple type fuel frost pond.

In particular, the present invention relates to a fuel cell that can be operated without discharging products generated by electrode reactions to the outside of the system.

[Background of the invention]

In recent years, as home appliances and industrial equipment become more compact and cordless, the development of new compact, lightweight, and portable power sources has been eagerly awaited. Portable fuel cells are one of the power sources that can meet this demand. A fuel cell is a device that directly converts the chemical reaction between fuel and oxygen in the air, which is an oxidant, into electrical energy. Therefore, it has many advantages compared to other portable power sources, such as less noise and no hassle of charging.

When using fuel cells as a small power source, various problems arise, one of which is the N generated by electrode reactions.
20. There is a problem in that reaction products such as CO2 and N2 are discharged outside the battery system, and along with this, fuel or electrolyte 1 is discharged outside the pond system. For this reason, there is a risk that emissions from the pond system will adhere to equipment that uses fuel cells as a power source and surrounding equipment, causing oxidation and corrosion, and that the emissions may have an adverse effect on the human body. be.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a portable fuel cell that can process reaction products generated during fuel cell operation within the main body of the fuel cell without releasing them to the outside of the cell system.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a means for storing reaction products caused by fuel movement, a means for cutting or absorbing reaction products inside the battery thread, and prevents the reaction products from being discharged outside the battery system. This is what I did.

That is, in the present invention, the electrode reaction generation (the proboscis is processed inside the battery system. As a processing means.

There are means such as installing an absorbent inside the battery system that selectively absorbs the generated substances, and a tank that stores the generated substances inside the battery system without leaking them into the battery cell.

Regarding the treatment of CO2 gas among the reaction products.

Use Co2 absorbent. As a CO2 absorbent, CO2
There is no particular limitation as long as it can selectively absorb and retain gas. Examples include nodalime, caustic alkali, and ethanolamine.

Among these, in the present invention, a solid CO2 absorbent such as calcium hydroxide is particularly preferred from the viewpoint of handling and 002 absorption capacity.The CO2 absorbent is installed in the fuel chamber or fuel supply tank. At that time, in order to prevent the CO2 absorbent from mixing with the liquid fuel, it is necessary to isolate it with a separation membrane that blocks the passage of liquids and solids and allows only gas to pass. The separation membrane used to separate gas and solid-liquid is not particularly limited as long as it is water repellent and gas permeable, such as a porous fluororesin membrane. Membrane i - The constituent material is polytetrafluoroethylene.

Polychlorotrifluoroethylene, etc. 11. There are polymers containing these. Porous films made of these materials can be used.

The CO2 absorber is placed in a container or container that is detachable from the battery body.
Placed in part of the removable fuel supply tank.

If the 002 absorption capacity of the CO2 absorbent decreases due to battery operation, remove the entire container from the battery body or the like.

Replace only the absorbent with a new one.

The water-absorbing agent for produced water is not particularly limited as long as it has a high water-absorbing power and water-holding power, such as crosslinked polymer electrolyte fibers, but it is desirable that the water absorbing rate is 50 to 1000 (g/g). Examples of the material include starch-acrylonitrile hydrolyzate and cellulose grafted product.

Examples include sodium polyacrylate and crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol. Fine powder of these super absorbent resins (average particle size (1.05 to 0.1 rtan) can be used as is, or processed into a sheet form such as sandwiched between pulps or coated on a base material, or fibrous Since the superabsorbent resin gels and swells when it absorbs water, it is easier to use a sheet or fibrous resin than a fine powder.

The water absorbing agent is held in a part of the air chamber outlet fuel supply tank,
It can be installed in a removable container. If the water absorption capacity decreases, either remove the entire container containing the water absorbent from the fuel cell body, or replace only the water absorbent with a new one.

On the other hand, in order to prevent the generated condensed water from being discharged outside the cell system, there is also a method of installing a generated water storage tank in a part of the fuel cell body without using a water absorbing agent. The tank is removable from the battery main body, and is either an independent generated water tank, or a part of the fuel supply tank is a generated water tank. The water that collects in the generated water tank is removed when the battery is out of operation.

Discard all of it outside the battery system.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a battery frame 2 is assembled into a battery stack 1, and a fuel tank 3 for supplying fuel to a fuel chamber in the battery stack 1 is removably provided. There is. A cartridge-type generated water tank 4 is attached in communication with the air electrode in the battery stack 1, and a carbon dioxide gas outlet 5 is provided in communication with the fuel electrode. In the figure, reference numeral 6 denotes an air outlet through which excess air not used in the air electrode is discharged, and this air outlet 6 is lined with a water-repellent porous material. Also, a produced water tank 40 Although not particularly shown in the drawings, a backflow prevention valve is provided at the inlet to prevent backflow of water from the produced water tank to the battery body due to the battery falling over.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a sheet in which electrolyte crosslinked fibers 7 are sandwiched between nonwoven fabrics is packed in the produced water tank 4. It is.

Other components are therefore designated by the same reference numerals as in FIG.

Fig. 3 shows still another embodiment of the present invention, in which the interior of the fuel tank 3 is a cartridge type disposable type, and is divided into three parts, and a carbon dioxide gas outlet communicating with the fuel electrode is provided at the upper part, and the fuel tank 3 is removable. A carbon dioxide absorbent storage chamber 8 having an inlet is provided, and a generated water tank 9 having a removable inlet and an air outlet communicating with the air electrode is provided at the bottom, and the middle part of the tank serves as a compartment for storing fuel. There is.

In addition to methanol-air fuel cells, the present invention can also be applied to alkaline electrolyte type hydrazine-air fuel cells and hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, but from the viewpoint of the vortaple type, methanol-air fuel cells are most effective. .

Test Example 1 In the fuel cell shown in FIG. 1, η1. MILI2O
3 size 150 x 1.50 x 180 (cnl
), the volume of the produced water tank was set to 500 cc (approximately 10 cm of the volume of the pond body), and the water-repellent porous membrane encased was a GOofLE-TEX (manufactured by Kosha) film (with an air flow rate of 2000~ 3000 cc/mtn/=<
) was used.

This battery was operated at a rated output of 50W.

During operation, it was confirmed that only air was discharged from the outlet of the air chamber through the ()ORE-TEX film, and that the produced water condensed and flowed into the produced water tank. There was no outflow of produced water from the air chamber outlet or the battery frame. By providing the produced water condensation tank in this manner, the water produced by the rainbow cathode reaction is not discharged outside the cell system, resulting in a fuel cell that is easy to handle and highly safe.

Test Example 2 In the fuel cell shown in FIG. 2, Sumikagel S-5O (vinyl alcohol/acrylic acid copolymer) was used as the electrolyte crosslinked fiber. The battery has the same output of 50W as Test Q1 Example 1. If you leave the battery in the door,
The produced water flowed into the tank and was absorbed into the water absorbing sea I.

The absorption rate of Sumikagel 5-50 was 450 g/g, and since 0.5 g was used, all the produced water was absorbed during the 8-hour operation, turned into a hydrogel, and was retained in the tank. The generated water could not flow around the battery.

Test Example 3 In the fuel cell shown in FIG. 3, calcium hydroxide pellets (particle size 1 to 2 square meters) were filled in the carbon dioxide absorbent storage chamber 8, and Sumikagel 5-50 was stored in the produced water tank 9.

The carbon dioxide concentration near the gas drain port of the fuel cell was measured and found to be 0.04%. Incidentally, the COz concentration in the waste that was discharged as it was without passing through the charcoal 1W gas absorbent storage chamber 8 was 98.7%.

The carbon dioxide concentration in the air is generally 1)03 to 0.04. As a result of the above, it was found that almost 100% of the CC)g gas produced by reaction 1 was absorbed by the absorbent.

Furthermore, no generated water leaked out of the battery system.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in a vortaple fuel cell used as a small power source, products resulting from electrode reactions are stored within the power generation device during operation of the cell, so that reaction products are not discharged outside the cell system. Therefore, the release of acid or alkaline electrolyte mist, which is considered to accompany the discharge of reaction products, to the outside of the battery thread can be avoided. In addition, when carbon dioxide gas is exposed to water, it becomes acidic and causes corrosion, but now it is now possible to process this within the battery system, and by not letting the generated water out of the battery system, The range of applications as a small power source is expanded.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are schematic sectional views of a vortaple methanol fuel cell showing an embodiment of the present invention, respectively. 1...Battery staff, 2...Battery frame, 3...Fuel tank. (11) 4.9... Produced water tank, 5... Carbon dioxide gas outlet, 6
... Air outlet, 7... Electrolyte crosslinked fiber (water absorbing agent),
8... Carbon dioxide absorbent storage chamber. Agent Patent attorney Tatsuyuki Unuma (12) Kaya Kuchi 2 Figure continued from page 1 Inventor State Hidejibu Hitachi City Saiwai-cho site 0 authors Horiba Tatsuo Hitachi City Saiwai-cho site 0 authors Kuma Teruo Tani Inside Saiwai-cho, Hitachi City0 Inventor 1) Takeshi Mura Inside Saiwai-cho, Hitachi City

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A unit cell having an electrolyte chamber between an oxidizer electrode and a fuel electrode, an oxidizer chamber provided on the oxidizer electrode side, and a fuel chamber provided on the fuel electrode side is formed into one thin plate. A portaple fuel cell stacked above, characterized in that a tank for storing water produced by an electrode reaction is provided at a location communicating with a passage from the oxidizer chamber to a gas outlet in the fuel cell. type fuel cell. 2. Claim 1, wherein the tank contains a cross-linked polymer product. 2. Claim 1, wherein the tank contains a polymer crosslinked product. A portable fuel cell is characterized by being detachably installed in the main body. 4. A portapull type cell that has an electrolyte chamber between the oxidizer electrode and the fuel electrode, an oxidizer chamber on the oxidizer electrode side, and a fuel chamber on the fuel electrode side, stacked on one thin plate. In the fuel cell, there is a 'l! 1. A both-pull fuel cell characterized by being provided with a tank containing an absorbent that selectively absorbs LIC electrode reaction products. 5. The portaple fuel cell according to claim 4, wherein the polar reaction product is carbon dioxide. 6. An electrolyte chamber is provided between the oxidizer chamber and the fuel electrode.17゜Botaple type in which single cells with an oxidizer chamber provided on the oxidizer electrode side and a fuel chamber provided on the fuel electrode side are stacked on one thin plate. In the fuel purification pond, there is a chamber for storing water generated by the electrode reaction in a place communicating with a passage from the oxidizer chamber to the gas outlet of the fuel cell, and a chamber for storing water generated by the electrode reaction from the fuel electrode to the gas outlet in the fuel cell. 1. A both-pull type fuel cell characterized in that a chamber for housing an absorbent that selectively absorbs electrode reaction products is provided integrally with a fuel tank at a location communicating with a passageway between the electrodes.