JP2001143736A - Power supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deterioration or break of system caused by freezing and provide a shortened start time and steady start by having an automatic heat insulation function of a fuel cell unit in stop and storage of the system. SOLUTION: A power supply system comprises a fuel cell 11, reformed gas generating/supplying system 12, an air supply system 13, a cooling water system 14, a various kind of an auxiliary unit for supplying/circulating and heating arranged within the systems 12-14 and a fuel unit 1 having a power supply 15 for an auxiliary unit and a battery 2 as a power supply, and further comprises temperature detectors 16-19 and a monitoring/controlling unit 3. In stopping and storage of the system, the temperature detectors 16-19 automatically monitors the temperature of at least of the fuel cell body 11 and the cell cooling water. The monitoring/controlling unit 3 issues instruction into the power supply 15 for the auxiliary unit to operate the necessary auxiliary unit and the heat insulation function in the case where a measuring value obtained from the temperature detectors 16-19 is temperature requiring a heat insulation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a power supply system for supplying electric power, and more particularly, to a power supply system including a fuel cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a power supply system including a fuel cell, a fuel cell and a secondary battery are provided as power supplies, the secondary battery is charged by the fuel cell, and power is supplied from the charged secondary battery to a load. A power supply system of a supply type has been proposed (for example, JP-A-6-124720 and JP-A-10-40931). These power supply systems are configured to charge the secondary battery with the electric power from the fuel cell, and can stably supply the electric power to a load such as a driving motor of an electric vehicle.

As a fuel cell used in a power supply system using the above-described fuel cell and secondary battery as power sources, various power generation type fuel cells have been applied.
Among them, a fuel cell using a reformed gas obtained by reforming a raw fuel such as methanol as a fuel has various advantages such as excellent system efficiency. There is a need for system development.

[0004]

The power supply system including a fuel cell as described above has a temperature corresponding to the temperature of the use environment in the stopped / storage state. If so, the temperature may drop to the freezing temperature of the cooling medium or the like employed in the power supply system. In such a case, the power supply system may be damaged or deteriorated due to freezing of the cooling medium or the like.

[0005] On the other hand, various techniques for keeping the temperature of the fuel cell warm and preventing freezing have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-169475, the temperature inside the fuel cell body is determined by a temperature controller without using an external power supply, and when the temperature drops, the raw fuel is burned by a catalytic combustor. Thus, a method of keeping a fuel cell warm without using an external power supply has been disclosed. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In JP-A-214025, the outside air temperature is determined by a control device, and when the outside air temperature decreases, the fuel cell is automatically started and the cooling water is frozen by utilizing the heat generated during the power generation operation of the fuel cell body. There is disclosed an apparatus employing a method for preventing the above.

However, when such a conventional heat retention technique is applied to a power supply system using a fuel cell using reformed gas as fuel, a sufficient effect cannot be obtained.
First, in a method for keeping a fuel cell warm without using an external power supply as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-169475,
In addition to adding a catalytic combustor for keeping heat, the operation reliability of the heat keeping function is insufficient. In addition, since only the fuel cell body is kept warm, it is difficult to keep the whole fuel cell device warm by this method.

On the other hand, in the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-214025, in which the fuel cell is kept in the operating state to keep the temperature, the balance control of the amount of heat required for keeping the temperature and the amount of generated power becomes complicated. This method relates to a power supply system using a fuel cell using hydrogen gas as a fuel. The system configuration and operating principle of this type of power supply system are based on a power supply using a fuel cell using a reformed gas as a fuel. Completely different from the system. Therefore, it is impossible to apply the method described in this publication to the latter power supply system in a different field.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
By providing an automatic thermal insulation function for the fuel cell device during system shutdown and storage, it is possible to prevent system deterioration and damage due to freezing of the cooling medium, etc., shorten the start-up time, and ensure reliable start-up. It is to provide a highly reliable power supply system.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention automatically monitors the temperature inside a fuel cell device and operates an existing auxiliary device such as a pump or a heating device according to the measured temperature. An automatic warming function during operation stop or storage is realized.

The power supply system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a fuel cell main body, a reformed gas generation / supply system for reforming raw fuel by a reformer using reforming water, an air supply system,
A cooling water system for circulating battery cooling water, auxiliary equipment for supply and circulation provided in each system, and an auxiliary equipment for heating provided in the reformed gas generation and supply system and the cooling water system; A power supply system including a fuel cell device having a power supply for auxiliary equipment and a battery (secondary battery) as a power supply, characterized by including a temperature detector and a monitoring / control device.

Here, the temperature detector is configured to automatically monitor at least the temperatures of the fuel cell main body and the battery cooling water when the power supply system is stopped and stored. Also,
The monitoring / control device receives a signal from the temperature detector, and when the measured value obtained from the signal reaches a temperature that requires heat insulation, the monitoring / control device includes a supply / circulation auxiliary device and a heating auxiliary device. This is a device for issuing a command to an auxiliary device power supply to operate an auxiliary device corresponding to an object requiring heat retention and to activate a heat retention function.

In the power supply system, the monitoring / control device receives a signal from a temperature detector for monitoring the temperature of the fuel cell main body and the cooling water of the fuel cell, which may be frozen, while the system is stopped or stored, When the measured value reaches a preset reference temperature, a command is issued to the auxiliary device power supply. With this command, auxiliary equipment for supply and circulation such as a fuel supply pump, cooling water circulation pump, and air supply blower, and heating auxiliary equipment such as a battery cooling water heating device are started to supply cooling water. The fuel cell body can be heated, and the fuel cell body can be warmed by the heated cooling water.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the fuel cell device with an automatic warming function during operation stop or storage, so that deterioration and breakage of the system due to freezing of cooling water or the like can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system of the first aspect, the reformed gas generation / supply system includes a separate fuel tank for storing raw fuel and a water tank for storing reforming water. And the temperature detector detects the temperature of the reformer and the temperature of the reforming water in addition to the temperature of the fuel cell body and the battery cooling water. Is also configured to be automatically monitored.

[0014] In this power supply system, the monitoring and control device may also freeze in addition to the temperature of the fuel cell main body and its cell cooling water which may freeze during the operation stop or storage of the system. When a signal from a temperature detector that monitors the temperature of the reformer or the reforming water is received and a measured value reaches a preset reference temperature, a command is issued to an auxiliary device power supply. By this command, in addition to the fuel supply pump, the cooling water circulation pump, the air supply blower, the battery cooling water heating device, etc., the heating device of the reformer is started to warm the cooling water and the fuel cell body. At the same time, the reformer and the reforming water can be warmed. Therefore, even when the reformer and the reforming water may be frozen, they can be reliably heated, and the fuel cell device can have a sufficient automatic heat-retaining function.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the power supply system according to the first aspect, wherein the reformed gas generation / supply system integrates means for storing raw fuel and means for storing reforming water. A storage tank for storing heat-retaining fuel for supplying a heating auxiliary device with a storage tank is provided separately from the mixed fuel storage tank.

In this power supply system, a mixed solution of a raw fuel such as methanol and reforming water is used as compared with a case where a fuel tank and a water tank are separately provided. Since the freezing temperature can be made sufficiently low, there is no possibility that the liquid mixture is frozen even in a cold region, and the need for keeping the reformer and the water for reforming warm is unnecessary. On the other hand, since the fuel for heat retention can be supplied to the auxiliary device for heating, the fuel cell main body and the battery cooling water thereof can be reliably warmed. In addition, the fuel cell device can be provided with a sufficient automatic heat retention function.

A power supply system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the power supply system according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a battery is also used as a power supply for auxiliary equipment. In this power supply system, the battery functioning as a power supply for auxiliary equipment can independently realize the heat retaining function without requiring an external power supply.

A power supply system according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the power supply system according to the fourth aspect, further comprising a starting device for automatically starting the power supply system, and a remaining capacity monitor for monitoring the remaining capacity of the battery. The control device is configured as follows. That is,
The monitoring and control device receives the signal from the remaining capacity monitor,
When the remaining capacity obtained from this signal becomes insufficient, a command is issued to the starting device to operate the starting device to put the fuel cell device into a power generation state and charge the battery.

In this power supply system, the fuel cell device is automatically activated when the remaining battery capacity becomes insufficient without the need for an external power supply and without giving a large margin to the battery capacity. To generate electricity to charge the battery. Therefore, the automatic heat retaining function can be maintained for a long time without being limited by the battery capacity.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the power supply system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the monitoring / control device does not operate the heat retaining function when the power supply system is stopped or stored. It is characterized by having a function that can be switched between a stop mode and a heat retention stop mode in which a heat retention function is automatically operated. In this power supply system, when there is no fear of freezing, by setting the normal stop mode, useless operation of the heat retaining function can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent useless power consumption due to useless operation of the heat retaining function.

A power supply system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the power supply system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the cooling water system has a combustion burner as an auxiliary device for heating. Things. In this power supply system, the power consumption required for the operation of the heat retaining function can be reduced as much as possible, so that the heat retaining function can be maintained for a long time with low power consumption.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the cooling water system has an electric heater as a heating auxiliary device. Things. In this power supply system, although the power of the external power supply is consumed as compared with the power supply system of claim 7, the same heat retaining function can be obtained.

A power supply system according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the power supply system according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein a commercial power supply is used as a power supply for auxiliary equipment. In this power supply system, the automatic warming function can be maintained with high reliability over a long period of time by using electric power from a commercial power supply without being limited by the capacity of the battery.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [1. First Embodiment] [1-1. Overall Configuration of Power Supply System] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a hybrid power supply system including a fuel cell device and a battery according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration in which a power supply system including a fuel cell device and a battery as a power supply is connected to a load device such as an electric vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the power supply system according to the present embodiment includes a monitoring / control device 3, a relay 4, a starting device 5, a remaining capacity, in addition to a fuel cell device 1 and a battery 2 serving as power sources. A monitor 6 and a switch 7 are main components, and a load device 8 such as an electric vehicle is connected to the power supply system. Hereinafter, each component and load device of the power supply system will be sequentially described.

The fuel cell device 1 includes a switch 7 and a relay 4
Via a battery (secondary battery) 2 and a load device 8. Depending on the connection state of such a circuit, the fuel cell device 1 charges the battery 2 and drives the load device 8.

The battery 2 is a power supply for supplying power to the load device 8 together with the fuel cell device 1. In the present embodiment, a lithium battery is used, but another type of secondary battery such as a nickel-metal hydride battery or a lead storage battery can be used. Since the battery 2 needs to function as a main power source for driving the load device 8 at the time of starting the power supply system, as described later, the capacity of the battery 2 has a predetermined margin based on expected operating conditions and the like. It has been made.

The load device 8 receives driving power from the fuel cell device 1 and the battery 2 to generate a driving force. This driving force is transmitted to, for example, front wheels and / or rear wheels of a vehicle equipped with a power supply system via an axle, and becomes driving force for running the vehicle.
The load device 8 is controlled by the monitoring / control device 3.
The monitoring / control device 3 operates according to the load command of the operator.
A command is issued to the load device 4 and signals are exchanged for performing the load operation according to the command.

[1-2. Configuration of Fuel Cell Device] FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the fuel cell device 1 of FIG.
First, the fuel cell main body 11 constituting the fuel cell device 1 includes:
The fuel cell is a solid polymer electrolyte type fuel cell, and has a stack structure in which a plurality of unit cells as constituent units are stacked. The fuel cell body 1 receives a supply of a fuel gas containing hydrogen on the negative electrode side and a supply of an oxidizing gas containing oxygen on the positive electrode side so as to obtain an electromotive force by an electrochemical reaction described below. Has become.

H2 → 2H ++ 2e− (1) (1/2) O2 + 2H ++ 2e− → H2O (2) H2 + (1/2) O2 → H2O (3) where ( Equation 1) is an anode electrode reaction on the negative electrode side,
Equation (2) shows the cathode electrode reaction on the positive electrode side, and equation (3) shows the reaction occurring in the entire battery.

The fuel cell device 1 includes, as main components, a fuel cell main body 11, a reformed gas generation / supply system 12 for supplying reformed gas to the fuel cell main body 11, and air supplied to the fuel cell main body 11. Air supply system 1 for supplying air
3. Cooling water system 14 for circulating cooling water for fuel cell body 11, auxiliary equipment such as pumps, and monitoring / control device 3.
And an auxiliary device power supply 15 for supplying power to the power supply.
The fuel cell device 1 includes, in addition to these components, a plurality of temperature detectors 16 arranged according to the present invention.
To 19 are monitored and controlled by the monitoring and control device 3 based on the signals from the temperature detectors 16 to 19. Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be sequentially described.

The fuel cell body 11 includes an anode (negative electrode) 21 having a flow path for supplying a hydrogen-containing gas, a cathode (positive electrode) 22 having a flow path for supplying air containing an oxidizing gas,
And a cooling chamber 23 having a flow path for supplying cooling water having a function of discharging heat generated by the reaction to the outside.

The reformed gas generation / supply system 12 includes a water tank 26 having a fuel tank 24 and a water tank heating device 25.
The raw fuel gas and the water are supplied from the fuel supply pump 27 and the water supply pump 28 via an evaporator (not shown), respectively, and the hydrogen-rich gas is supplied to the reformer 30 having the reformer heating burner 29. A fuel gas is generated, and the hydrogen-rich fuel gas is supplied to the anode 2 of the fuel cell body 11.
1 is supplied. The air supply system 13
A blower 31 is provided, and the blower 31 supplies air to the cathode 22 of the fuel cell main body 11.

The cooling water system 14 includes a cooling water accumulator 32, a cooling water circulation pump 33, and a cooling water heat exchanger 34 in order from the cooling water outlet of the fuel cell main body 11. Here, the cooling water heat exchanger 34 includes a radiator 35 having a function of lowering the temperature and a burner 36 for heating the cooling water having a function of raising the temperature. The radiator 35 and the burner 36 for cooling the water are provided. Using the fuel cell body 11
The temperature of the cooling water supplied to is controlled.
The auxiliary device power supply 15 supplies power to the pumps such as the fuel supply pump 27, the cooling water circulation pump 33, and the blower 31 and the monitoring / control device 3 under the control of the monitoring / control device 3. It has become. The auxiliary device power supply 15 is a commercial power supply.

Among the plurality of temperature detectors 16 to 19, the temperature detector 16 is a cooling water temperature detector for detecting the cooling water temperature of the cooling water accumulator 32.
Is a battery temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the fuel cell main body 11. Further, the temperature detector 18 is a reformer temperature detector that detects the temperature of the reformer 30.
This is a water tank temperature detector that detects the temperature of the water tank 26.

On the other hand, in the reformed gas generation / supply system 12, a first fuel on-off valve 37 is provided on a line for supplying raw fuel gas from the fuel tank 24 to the reformer 30 by the fuel supply pump 27. I have. In addition, a line for supplying raw fuel gas to the cooling water heating burner 36 of the cooling water heat exchanger 34 by the fuel supply pump 27 is also provided, and a second fuel on-off valve 38 is provided on this line. ing.

In the air supply system 13, a first air opening / closing valve 39 is provided on a line for supplying air to the cathode 22 of the fuel cell body 11 by the blower 31. In addition, the cooling water heat exchanger 3
A line for supplying air to the cooling water heating burner 36 is also provided, and a second air opening / closing valve 4 is provided on this line.
0 is provided.

Although not shown from the viewpoint of simplification of the drawing, the reformed gas generation / supply system 12 and the air supply system 13 have the raw fuel gas supplied to the cooling water heating burner 36 as described above. Similarly to the line for supplying fuel and air, a line for supplying raw fuel gas and air to the reformer heating burner 29 is also provided, and each line is provided with a similar on-off valve.

The combustion exhaust gas from the cooling water heating burner 36 and the reformer heating burner 29 is sent to the water tank heating device 25. After the water in 26 is warmed, it is released to the atmosphere.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring / control device 3 has an operation control function, a heat retaining function, an automatic start function, a stop mode switching function, and the like. First, in the fuel cell device 1 shown in FIG. 2, the output can be controlled by adjusting the fuel gas supply amount and the air supply amount as the oxidizing gas according to the magnitude of the connected load. ,
The monitoring / control device 3 has an operation control function for performing such output control. That is, the monitoring / control device 3
A command is issued to the auxiliary device power supply 15 in accordance with the magnitude of the connected load, and the output control of the fuel cell device 1 is performed by starting / stopping or adjusting the output of the fuel supply pump 27 and the blower 31. Has become.

The monitoring / control device 3 includes a temperature detector 1
The measured values obtained in 6 to 19 are compared with a preset reference temperature, and a command is issued to the auxiliary device power supply 15 as necessary, and the pumps 27, 31, 33 and the on-off valves 37 to 4 are output.
By controlling the start / stop of 0, or the output and the degree of opening, a heat retention function is realized.

[1-3. In FIG. 2, methanol is prepared in the fuel tank 24 and the reformer 3
0 is supplied with methanol and water from the fuel tank 24 and the water tank 26. Then, the reformer 30 performs reforming by the steam reforming method using the supplied methanol as a raw fuel to generate a hydrogen-rich fuel gas. Hereinafter, a reforming reaction performed inside the reformer 30 will be described.

CH3OH → CO + 2H2 (4) CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 (5) CH3OH + H2O → CO2 + 3H2 (6)

In the methanol reforming reaction performed in the reformer 30, the decomposition reaction of methanol represented by the formula (4) and the shift reaction of carbon monoxide represented by the formula (5) simultaneously proceed. Then, the reaction of the formula (6) occurs as a whole. Such a reforming reaction is an endothermic reaction as a whole. The hydrogen-rich fuel gas generated in the reformer 30 is supplied to the fuel cell main body 11 through a fuel supply path, supplied to the anode in each single cell, and supplied to the anode electrode reaction shown in the equation (1). Is done.

On the other hand, the blower 31 supplies the air taken in from the outside to the fuel cell main body 11. This air is supplied to the cathode in each single cell in the fuel cell main body 11, and is subjected to the cathode electrode reaction shown in equation (2).

Note that the term "single cell" as used herein refers to a minimum unit of a power generating element in which a solid polymer ion conductive membrane such as "Nafion" membrane manufactured by DuPont is sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode. . The fuel cell main body 11 is configured by laminating a large number of the single cells via separators each having a fuel and air supply path. The cooling chamber is provided for each cell or every several cells. As described above, the fuel cell main body 11 is actually configured by stacking a large number of single cells, but FIG. 2 schematically shows the fuel cell main body 11 from the viewpoint of simplification of the drawing. ing.

As described above, the reforming reaction in the reformer 30 is an endothermic reaction and requires the supply of heat from the outside. A burner 29 is provided. This reformer heating burner 29
Are supplied with the fuel exhaust gas used in the anode electrode reaction in the fuel cell body 11 and the air exhaust gas supplied by the blower 31 and used in the cathode electrode reaction, and used for combustion and reformed. Supply the heat required for the reaction.

[1-4. Operation] The operation of the power supply system according to the present embodiment is as follows. First, when the operation of the power supply system is stopped or stored, the monitoring / control device 3 is always kept in a controlled state by the power from the auxiliary device power supply 15. In this state, a signal of at least one of the cooling water temperature detector 16, the battery temperature detector 17, the reformer temperature detector 18, and the water tank temperature detector 19 is received, and the measured value is set in advance. When the temperature approaches the set reference temperature, the monitoring / control device 3 supplies the auxiliary device power supply 15
To the fuel supply pump 27, the cooling water circulation pump 33, and the blower 31,
Open and close associated on-off valves such as 7-40.

In this case, the first fuel on-off valve 37 is closed,
The second on-off valve 38 for fuel is opened, the first on-off valve 39 for air is closed, and the second on-off valve 40 for air is opened. As a result, fuel and air are supplied to the cooling water heating burner 36, respectively. And is ignited by an automatic ignition device (not shown). Thus, the cooling water supplied to the cooling chamber 23 of the fuel cell main body 11 by the cooling water heat exchanger 34 is warmed, and the cooling water circulation pump 33 is supplied through the cooling water accumulator 32.
As a result, the cooling water is again recycled to the cooling water heat exchanger 34, and the entire cooling water system 14 including the fuel cell main body 11 is warmed.

Similarly, by opening an on-off valve (not shown), fuel and air are also supplied to the reformer heating burner 29, and the reformer 30 is warmed. Further, the combustion exhaust gas from the cooling water heating burner 36 and the reformer heating burner 29 is sent to the water tank heating device 25 to warm the water in the water tank 26, and then discharged to the atmosphere.

When the measured values obtained by the temperature detectors 16 to 19 reach a preset reference temperature, desirably (freezing temperature) + 5 ° C., the monitoring / control device 3 issues a command. Supply pump 27, cooling water circulation pump 3
3. While the blower 31 is stopped, the on-off valve forming the supply line for heat insulation is closed, and the heat insulation function is stopped.

[1-5. Effect] According to the present embodiment,
With the automatic warming function described above, water in the cooling water system 14 including the cooling chamber 23 of the fuel cell main body 11, water in the reformer 30 and the water tank 26 in the reformed gas generation / supply system 12, It is always maintained above the freezing temperature. Therefore, deterioration and breakage of the system due to freezing can be prevented,
In addition, the start-up time can be shortened, and since the temperature is maintained at the freezing temperature or more, specifically, 0 ° C. or more, the power supply system can be reliably started.

[2. Second Embodiment] [2-1. Configuration] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the fuel cell device 1 of FIG. 1 as a second embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the present embodiment is similar to the fuel tank 2 of the first embodiment described above.
4 and the water tank 26 are integrated into one water mixed fuel tank 4
1, the water-mixed fuel tank 41 is configured to store a water-mixed fuel obtained by mixing raw fuel and water in advance, and a heat-insulating fuel tank 42 for storing a heat-insulating fuel is separately provided. is there. In this case, methanol is used as a raw fuel, and a mixture of methanol and water is stored in the water-mixed fuel tank 41. The other parts have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

[2-2. Operation and Effect] The operation of the present embodiment is as follows. First, during normal operation of the power supply system, the water-mixed fuel is supplied from the water-mixed fuel tank 41 to the reformer 30 by the water supply pump 28, and is supplied to the fuel cell body 11 as a hydrogen-rich fuel gas. On the other hand, when the operation of the power supply system is stopped or stored, the cooling water heating burner 3 of the cooling water system 14 is supplied from the heat retaining fuel tank 42.
Fuel is supplied to the fuel cell 6 as needed, and the heat retaining function of the fuel cell main body 11 and the cooling water system 14 works in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the freezing temperature of the mixed solution of methanol and water has a freezing point drop, and when the mixing ratio (weight ratio) of methanol becomes 40% or more, the freezing temperature becomes -40 ° C. or less. Become. Since the methanol mixing weight ratio required for normal methanol reforming is 40% or more, the freezing temperature is -40 ° C or less, and no heat retention is required.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the first
In addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, the water tank 2 further includes the reformer temperature detector 18 and the water tank temperature detector 19 used in the first embodiment.
The temperature detector functions of the sixth and the reformer 30 and the water tank heating device 25 are not required, so that the configuration can be simplified.

[3. Third Embodiment] In a power supply system according to a third embodiment of the present invention, the battery 2 shown in FIG. 1 is also used as the auxiliary device power supply 15 in the above-described first embodiment. In this power supply system, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and further, without requiring an external power supply,
A battery functioning as a power supply for auxiliary equipment can independently realize a heat retaining function.

[4. Fourth Embodiment] [4-1. Configuration] In the power supply system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described third embodiment, the monitoring / control device 3 automatically starts the power supply system according to the remaining capacity of the battery 2. Have a function to make That is, in the present embodiment, the monitoring / control device 3 issues a command to the starting device 5 in response to a signal from the remaining capacity monitor 6 of the battery 2, thereby operating the starting device 5 to operate the fuel cell device 1. Has an automatic start function for setting the power generation state.

[4-2. Operation and Effect] The operation of the present embodiment is as follows. First, in the heat retention operation while the power supply system is stopped, as in the first embodiment, the coolant temperature detector 16, the battery temperature detector 17, the reformer temperature detector 18, and the water tank temperature detector 19 are used. When at least one of the signals has been received and the temperature approaches a preset reference temperature, the monitoring and control device 3 issues a command to the auxiliary device power supply 15 and the fuel supply pump 27 and the cooling water circulation pump. 33 and the blower 31 are operated, and associated on-off valves such as on-off valves 37 to 40 are opened and closed. As a result, fuel and air are supplied to the cooling water heating burner 36 and the reformer heating burner 29, respectively, and the entire cooling water system 14 including the fuel cell body 11 and the reformer 30 are warmed. Further, the combustion exhaust gas from the cooling water heating burner 36 and the reformer heating burner 29 is supplied to the water tank heating device 2.
5 to warm the water in the water tank 26.

When the measured values obtained by the temperature detectors 16 to 19 reach a preset reference temperature, the fuel supply pump 27, the cooling water circulation pump 33, the blower 31 Stops, and the on-off valve forming the heat retaining supply line is closed, thereby stopping the heat retaining function.

On the other hand, when such a heat retention function is activated,
The operation of the monitoring / control device 3, the fuel supply pump 27, the cooling water circulation pump 33, and the blower 31 consumes the power of the battery 2, which is a power supply for the auxiliary device. The monitoring / control device 3 receives a signal from the remaining capacity monitor 6, and when the remaining capacity of the battery 2 decreases and reaches a preset value, the start-up device of the power supply system is automatically activated by its automatic activation function. 5 to activate the starter 5. Thus, the fuel cell device 1 is brought into the starting state as in the case where the operator presses the button for operating the starting device.

That is, the fuel supply pump 27 and the water supply pump 2
8, an on-off valve constituting a supply line for operating auxiliary equipment such as the blower 31 and the cooling water circulation pump 33 and operating the cooling water heating burner 36 and the reformer heating burner 29 To open these burners 36,
29 is burned to raise the temperature of the fuel cell body 11,
Set to power generation state.

In this case, when the auxiliary devices and the load device 8 such as the fuel supply pump 27, the water supply pump 28, the blower 31, and the cooling water circulation pump 33 are disconnected, the power generated by the fuel cell device 1 Are used for charging the battery 2. On the other hand, when the heat retaining function is in operation, the fuel cell device 1 can also be used as a power supply for operating auxiliary devices such as the fuel supply pump 27, the cooling water circulation pump 33, and the blower 31 that maintain the heat retaining function. work.
In this case, the switch 7 between the fuel cell device 1 and the battery 2 is short-circuited, and the fuel cell device 1
By operating the generator at a voltage higher than the preset voltage, a state higher than the voltage of the battery 2 can be maintained. As a result, the battery 2 is charged. Thus, the battery 2 is charged while the fuel in the fuel tank 24 is consumed.

As a result, the battery 2 is always maintained in a charged state with a certain remaining capacity or higher, and the power supply system is maintained at a temperature higher than the freezing temperature, so that a state in which it can be started at any time is ensured. When the charging of the battery 2 is completed, the operation reverse to the above-described operation proceeds, and the fuel cell device 1 automatically stops.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first
In addition to the effects obtained in the embodiment, the remaining capacity of the battery 2 becomes insufficient without the need for an external power supply and without giving a large margin to the capacity of the battery 2. At this point, the fuel cell device 1 can automatically generate power to charge the battery 2. Therefore, the automatic warming function can be maintained for a long time without being limited by the capacity of the battery 2.

[5. Fifth Embodiment] A power supply system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention has two types of stop modes in the above-described first embodiment: a normal stop mode and a heat stop mode. The operation switch can be artificially switched by the changeover switch when the operation is stopped. That is, the heat retention function does not operate in the normal stop mode, and the heat retention function operates only in the heat retention stop mode.

In this power supply system, when there is no fear of freezing, by setting the normal stop mode, useless operation of the heat retaining function can be prevented. Therefore, in addition to obtaining the same effects as the first embodiment, it is possible to further prevent wasteful power consumption due to the useless operation of the heat retaining function, and minimize the power consumption by the monitoring / control device 3. Can be suppressed.

[6. Sixth Embodiment] In a power supply system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, in the first embodiment described above, the cooling water heating burner 36 of the cooling water system 14 uses a commercial power supply. It is configured to be replaced with an electric heater. In this power supply system, although the power of the external power supply is consumed, the same heat retaining function as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[7. Other Embodiments] The present invention
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.
The plurality of embodiments described above can be freely combined. For example, each of the third to sixth embodiments can be combined with the second embodiment, and the same effects can be obtained in such a case.

The specific configurations of the temperature detector and the monitoring / control device, which are important components of the present invention, can be freely selected as long as the above-described automatic heat-retaining function can be realized. Furthermore, the specific configuration of the power supply system including the fuel cell device and the battery, and the specific configuration of each part of the fuel cell device, such as the fuel cell body, reformed gas generation / supply system, air supply system, and cooling water system Can be freely selected. That is, the present invention can be similarly applied to a power supply system generally including a fuel cell device of a type using a reformed gas as a fuel and a battery as a power supply, and similarly excellent effects can be obtained.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, the system can be provided with an automatic warming function of the fuel cell device during shutdown and storage of the system. It is possible to provide a highly reliable power supply system which can prevent the start-up time, shorten the start-up time, and can start reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a power supply system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the fuel cell device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a power supply system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating a freezing temperature with respect to a mixing weight ratio of a mixed fuel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Fuel cell device 2 ... Battery 3 ... Monitoring / control device 4 ... Relay 5 ... Starting device 6 ... Remaining capacity monitor 7 ... Switch 8 ... Load device 11 ... Fuel cell main body 12 ... Reformed gas generation / supply system 13 ... Air Supply system 14 ... Cooling water system 15 ... Power supply for auxiliary equipment 16 ... Cooling water temperature detector 17 ... Battery temperature detector 18 ... Reformer temperature detector 19 ... Water tank temperature detector 21 ... Anode 22 ... Cathode 23 ... Cooling chamber 24 Fuel tank 25 Water tank heating device 26 Water tank 27 Fuel supply pump 28 Water supply pump 29 Reformer heating burner 30 Reformer 31 Blower 32 Cooling water accumulator 33 Cooling water circulation pump 34 Cooling water heat exchanger 35 Radiator 36 Burner for cooling water heating 37 First fuel on-off valve 38 Second fuel on-off valve 39 Air second Close valve 40: second on-off valve 41 ... water mixture fuel tank 42 air ... insulation fuel tank

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Katsunori Sakai 2-1 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Toshiba Hamakawasaki Plant (72) Inventor Tsutomu Aoki No. 2, Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 F-term in Toshiba Hamakawasaki Plant (reference) 5H027 AA06 BA01 BA09 CC06 DD03 KK42 KK46 KK48 KK51 MM01 MM12 MM16 MM21 MM26

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell body, a reformed gas generation / supply system for reforming raw fuel by a reformer using reforming water,
An air supply system, a cooling water system for circulating battery cooling water, an auxiliary device for supply and circulation provided in each system, and a heating and cooling system provided in the reformed gas generation and supply system and the cooling water system. And a battery (secondary battery) having the auxiliary device and a power supply for the auxiliary device as power sources, wherein at least the fuel cell main body is in a stopped and stored state of the power system. And a temperature detector that automatically monitors the temperature of the battery cooling water, and receives a signal from the temperature detector, and when a measured value obtained from the signal becomes a temperature requiring heat retention, the supply / circulation A monitoring and control device that issues a command to the power supply for the auxiliary device so as to operate the auxiliary device corresponding to an object requiring heat retention and to activate a heat retaining function, of the auxiliary device and the heating auxiliary device. Be prepared Power supply system, characterized in that the. 2. The reformed gas generation / supply system has a fuel tank for storing the raw fuel and a water tank for storing the reforming water, and separates the raw fuel and the reforming water into a reformer. The temperature detector is configured to automatically monitor the temperature of the reformer and the reforming water in addition to the temperature of the fuel cell main body and the cell cooling water. The power supply system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The reformed gas generation / supply system has a mixed fuel storage tank in which means for storing the raw fuel and means for storing the reforming water are integrated. The power supply system according to claim 1, wherein a storage tank of the heat-retaining fuel to be supplied is provided separately from the mixed fuel storage tank. 4. The power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the battery is also used as a power supply for the auxiliary device. 5. A starting device for automatically starting the power supply system, and a remaining capacity monitor for monitoring a remaining capacity of the battery, wherein the monitoring / control device receives a signal from the remaining capacity monitor, When the remaining capacity obtained from this signal is in an insufficient state, by issuing a command to the starting device, the starting device is operated to put the fuel cell device into a power generating state and charge the battery. The power supply system according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The monitoring / control device can switch between a normal stop mode in which the heat insulation function does not operate and a heat insulation stop mode in which the heat insulation function automatically operates when the power supply system is stopped or stored. The power supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, having a function. 7. The cooling water system has a combustion burner as the auxiliary device for heating.
The power supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The cooling water system according to claim 1, further comprising an electric heater as the auxiliary device for heating.
The power supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 9. The power supply system according to claim 1, wherein a commercial power supply is used as the power supply for the auxiliary device.