Air cut-off valve module and control method thereof
AssigneeHyundai Kefico Corporation
InventorsMyoung Jin Kim, Dong Bin Shin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air cut-off valve module and a control method thereof is provided. The air cut-off valve module has a structure in which valve plates and driving mechanisms thereof are formed as one module, and is mounted in a stack. Thus, components related to the air cut-off valve are constructed as a compact module. Furthermore, a bypass flow path is formed to dilute exhaust gas of the stack, thereby reducing the concentration of hydrogen.
Claims13
An air cut-off valve module of a vehicle fuel cell system having a fuel cell stack disposed therein, comprising:
- a sub housing having an air inlet and an air outlet separated from each other, and mounted in the stack to position the air inlet and the air outlet of the sub housing to align with an air inlet and the air outlet of the stack;
- a main housing coupled to the sub housing, having an inlet pipe-side cavity in communication with the air inlet and an outlet pipe-side cavity to provide communication with the outlet of the sub housing, respectively, and including an inlet pipe and outlet pipe in communication with the respective cavities;
- a housing cover mounted on the main housing, and having a bypass flow path that connects the inlet pipe-side cavity and the outlet pipe-side cavity;
- and
- a plurality of valve plates disposed in the inlet pipe-side cavity and the outlet pipe-side cavity of the main housing, respectively, and opening and closing the inlet and outlet of the sub housing and an inlet and outlet of the bypass flow path,
- wherein when the stack is stopped, the inlet and outlet of the sub housing are obstructed by the valve plates, and
- wherein when the stack is started, the valve plates are partially opened, and the inlet and outlet of the sub housing and the inlet and outlet of the bypass flow path are opened.
A control method of an air cut-off valve module of a vehicle fuel cell system having a fuel cell stack installed therein, comprising:
- obstructing an air inlet and an air outlet when a motor is driven to control valve plates to obstruct an inlet and outlet of a sub housing, when the stack is stopped;
- and
- partially opening a valve when the motor is driven to partially open the valve plates when the stack is started, and the inlet and outlet of the sub housing and a bypass flow path are opened to bypass a portion of air introduced from an exterior to mix the bypassed air with air discharged from the outlet of the sub housing and reduces the hydrogen concentration of exhaust gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.