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AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsKazufumi Nishida, Shinya Kosako, Tetsuya Ueda, Makoto Uchida
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An aim of the invention is to provide a fuel cell power generation system which can operate in a reduced space to reduce the initial cost and the running cost without deteriorating the performance. In a fuel cell power generation system comprising a fuel cell having an anode, a cathode and a polymer electrolyte membrane, a fuel gas feed pipe for supplying a fuel gas into the anode, an oxidant gas feed pipe for supplying an oxidant gas into the cathode, a reforming unit connected to the fuel gas feed pipe for reforming a raw material gas, a heating unit for heating the reforming unit, a raw material gas supplying unit for supplying the raw material gas into the reforming unit, a water supplying unit for supplying water into the reforming unit, and an air supplying unit for supplying air into the reforming unit, water is introduced into at least one selected from the fuel gas feed pipe, the oxidant gas feed pipe, the cathode and the anode to purge gases retained in the system.
A fuel cell power generation system comprising;
A method for operation of a fuel cell power generation system comprising a fuel cell having an anode, a cathode and a polymer electrolyte membrane, a fuel gas feed pipe for supplying a fuel gas into said anode, an oxidant gas feed pipe for supplying an oxidant gas into said cathode, a reforming unit connected to said fuel gas feed pipe for reforming a raw material gas, a heating unit for heating said reforming unit, a raw material gas supplying unit for supplying said raw material gas into said reforming unit, a water supplying unit for supplying water into said reforming unit, and an air supplying unit for supplying air into said reforming unit,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Of gaseous reactants: regulation of differential pressures
Collectors; Separators, e.g. bipolar separators; Interconnectors: having heating or cooling means, e.g. heaters or coolant flow channels
Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids: related to heat exchange
Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration: of gaseous reactants
Term end not estimated
The present invention relates to a fuel cell power generation system and a method for operation thereof.
A related art fuel cell power generation system has a configuration as shown in FIG. 5 as disclosed in JP-A-3-257762. In some detail, the fuel cell 1 has an air fan 2 for supplying air into the cathode 1b and a reformer 3 for supplying hydrogen-enriched gas into the anode 1a attached thereto. To a piper 6 through which a raw material gas is supplied into the reformer 3 is connected a nitrogen supplying unit 5 such as nitrogen bottle via nitrogen feed pipes 8a and 8b having shut-off valves 9a and 9b, respectively. The reformer 3 has a burner 3a provided therein as a heating unit for heating the reformer 3. The pipe 6 has a desulfurizer 7 connected thereto. The hydrogen-enriched gas produced in the reformer 3 is then supplied into the anode 1a of the fuel cell 1 via a pipe 4a. The discharge gas is then introduced into the burner 3a via a pipe 4b.
In order to suspend the power generation operation of this type of a fuel cell power generation system, the supply of the raw material gas into the reformer 3 is suspended. During this process, hydrogen-enriched gas is retained in the path from the reformer 3 to the burner 3a via the pipe 4a, the anode 1a and the pipe 4b. It is thus likely that when natural convection causes air to flow into the path having hydrogen-enriched gas retained therein from the burner 3a, which is open to the atmosphere, hydrogen can explode.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a fuel cell according to a first embodiment of implementation of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a fuel cell power generation system according to a second embodiment of implementation of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a fuel cell power generation system according to a third embodiment of implementation of the invention.
The invention concerns a fuel cell power generation system comprising a fuel cell, a unit for supplying a fuel gas into the anode of the fuel cell, a unit for supplying an oxidant gas into the cathode of the fuel cell, and a water supplying unit for supplying water into at least one of the anode and the cathode utilizing the gas feed pipe.
The invention also provides a fuel cell power generation system comprising a reforming unit for reforming a raw material gas, a heating unit for heating the reforming unit, a raw material gas supplying unit for supplying the raw material gas into the reforming unit, a water supplying unit for supplying water into the reforming unit, a unit for supplying air into the reforming unit, and a fuel cell having an anode connected to the reforming unit with a gas feed pipe, which is arranged such that water is supplied from the water supplying unit into the reforming unit to introduce water into the fuel gas feed pipe between the reforming unit and the fuel cell.
The invention further provides a method for operation of a fuel cell power generation system which comprises a step of introducing water into the anode side to replace the retained gases by water after the suspension of the operation of the fuel cell.