JPS6323621B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to an air-cooled fuel cell, and particularly to a fuel cell in which cooling air is supplied separately from reaction air.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY There are two methods for supplying cooling air to a fuel cell: sending it together with the reaction air to the same manifold, and introducing the reaction air into the passage of the gas separation plate and the cooling air into the passage of the cooling plate, respectively.What is the reaction air? There is a method of separating the air and supplying it to a dedicated cooling air manifold.

The former has the advantage that the pattern of each passage is simple, but since the reaction air and cooling air are not separated, it is impossible to send the required amount of air individually, and the battery reaction and temperature This is unfavorable from the viewpoint of battery characteristics.

On the other hand, in the latter case, cooling air and reaction air are separately supplied using a stacker and a manifold drawer as shown in Figures 1 and 2, but the patterns of cooling air passages and reaction gas (air and fuel gas) passages are complicated. However, there were problems in that it was difficult to fabricate the reaction gas separation plate and the cooling plate, and the flow resistance increased, requiring a large-capacity blower.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes it possible to separately supply cooling air and reaction air by making slight improvements to the stack that commonly supplies cooling air and reaction air. , each cooling plate interposed in the battery stack is airtightly attached to a window of a reaction air manifold attached to the stack so as to protrude from at least the air introduction surface of the stack, and air from the cooling plate is inserted into each window. The passage is exposed and a cooling air manifold is mounted on the reaction air manifold.

Further, communication ports corresponding to the substack between each cooling plate may be provided on one side of the reaction air manifold, and an auxiliary manifold may be attached to cover these communication ports.

Furthermore, it is also possible to simplify the configuration by attaching a common manifold for reaction air and cooling air to the air outlet surface where the cooling plate does not protrude.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

As is well known, the battery stack 1 includes a unit cell 2 in which an electrolyte matrix is inserted between negative and positive gas electrodes;
A large number of carbonaceous gas separation plates 3 each having reaction gas passages arranged in intersecting directions on both sides are stacked alternately,
A carbonaceous cooling plate 5 having an air passage 4 is interposed between every 4 to 5 unit cells, and the upper and lower end plates 6 are tightened together.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling plates 5 of the present invention are respectively protruded from the air flow surface of the stack 1, and these protrusions 5', 5' are connected to each manifold 7 for reaction air attached to the stack 1. The cooling plate 5 is airtightly attached to the window 7', and the air passage 4 of the cooling plate 5 is exposed to each window 7'. Cooling air manifolds 8, 8 are mounted on the reaction air manifolds 7, 7 so as to cover these air passages 4.

On one side of each manifold 7 for reaction air, a communication port 9 is provided corresponding to the substack 1' between each cooling plate, and an auxiliary manifold 10 is attached to cover the communication port 9. There is.
Incidentally, manifolds 11, 11 for reacting hydrogen are attached to the hydrogen flow surface of the stack 1, as in the conventional case.

The cooling air is introduced into the cooling air introduction manifold 8, passes through the air passages 4 of each cooling plate 5 exposed at each window 7' of the reaction air manifold 7, cools the stack 1, and is then transferred to the cooling air delivery manifold 8. It is then discharged to the outside. This discharged air whose temperature has been raised (approximately 180°C) is cooled (approximately 150°C) by a heat exchanger and circulated again through the cooling air path as described above. In this way, the temperature of the stack is maintained at the battery operating temperature (180-190°C) by adjusting the amount of air blown.

On the other hand, the reaction air is introduced into the auxiliary manifold 10, passes through each communication port 9, enters the reaction air introduction manifold 7, passes through the reaction air passage of the gas separation plate 2 forming the substack 1' between the cooling plates 5, and then Contrary to the above, the reaction air is discharged through the manifold 7, the continuous port 9, and the auxiliary manifold 10. This reaction air needs to be supplied at a temperature of about 150°C, which is necessary for the battery reaction, so the exhaust flow of the cooling air described above may be partially used, or the reaction air can be heated between it and the exhaust flow of the reaction air. Preheating may be supplied by exchanging.

The reaction fuel gas supplied from the fuel reformer passes through the fuel gas introduction manifold 11, the fuel gas passage of the gas separation plate 2, and participates in a cell reaction with the reaction air, as in the normal system.

Although the above embodiment shows the case where the air inlet side and the outlet side of the cooling plate 5 are provided protruding from the stack 1, in other embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cooling air inlet side However, on the outlet side, a common manifold 12 is installed as usual without protruding the cooling plate 5, and cooling air and reaction air are combined and discharged after passing through the stack 1.

In other embodiments, the reaction air and the cooling air are each introduced independently and the amount of air blown can be adjusted as in the previous embodiment, and the outlet side is exhausted through the same manifold, so this section The configuration of is simplified. In addition, since the amount of cooling air is significantly larger than the amount of reaction air, the pressure on the outlet side of the reaction air is reduced and the reaction air is pulled, which has the advantage of smoothing the flow of the reaction air.

Effects According to the present invention, a normal stack in which passages for cooling air and reaction air are opened on the same side of the battery stack is used, and a portion protruding from each cooling plate interposed in this stack is used to direct passages for reaction air. Cooling air and reaction air are separately supplied by installing a cooling air manifold on the reaction air manifold so that it airtightly fits into the window of the reaction manifold and covers the cooling air passage exposed through this window. from,
Compared to the conventional separation supply system, the pattern of each air passage is extremely simple, the creation of the gas separation plate and cooling plate is simplified, the circulation of each air is smoother, and the blower capacity can be reduced. There are advantages.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are top views of batteries with conventional separate cooling air paths, and Figures 3 to 5 are
The figures show the fuel cell of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sloped view of the same as above, FIG. 4 is a sloped view of a cell stack, and FIG. 5 is a partially exploded sloped view. Further, FIGS. 6 and 7 show other embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a partially exploded slope view,
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the battery stack. 1...Battery stack, 1'...Sub stack,
2... Unit cell, 3... Gas separation plate, 4... Cooling air passage, 5... Cooling plate, 7... Manifold for reaction air, 7'... Window, 8... Manifold for cooling air, 9... ... Communication port, 10 ... Auxiliary manifold for reaction air, 11 ... Manifold for reaction fuel gas,
12... Output side common manifold.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an air-cooled fuel cell equipped with a cell stack including a cooling plate in which a cooling passage is formed, the cooling plate has a protruding portion in which the cooling passage is opened at least on a reaction air introduction surface. Further, a reaction air manifold having a window opened at a position corresponding to the protruding part, and a cooling air manifold mounted on the manifold are provided, and the protruding part is airtightly connected to the window. An air-cooled fuel cell characterized by being installed in. 2. The first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that communication ports are formed on one side of the reaction air manifold corresponding to the sub-stack between each cooling plate, and an auxiliary manifold is attached to cover these communication ports. The air-cooled fuel cell described in Section 1. 3. The air-cooled fuel cell according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cooling plate has protrusions on the reaction air introduction surface and the reaction air exit surface, respectively. 4. The air-cooled fuel cell according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a common manifold for reaction air and cooling air is attached to the reaction air outlet surface where the cooling plate does not protrude.