JP2008084564A - Fuel cell device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce noise while securing cooling of an air blower or the like of a fuel cell device. <P>SOLUTION: The fuel cell device has a fuel cell body 71, an enclosure panel 51 housing the fuel cell body 71, an air blower 61 driven by an air blower motor part 611 to lead in air inside from outside of the enclosure panel 51, and a noise insulation box 11 fitted inside the enclosure panel 51 for housing the air blower 61. An air circulation channel 12 is formed so that the air blower motor part 611 is cooled by air when the air is led into the enclosure panel 51 by the air blower 61. The noise insulation box 11 is equipped with an opening 21 where an outside air supplied to the air blower 61 from outside the enclosure panel 15 passes, and the air circulation channel 12 is formed in a bent shape so that the air blower is not to be directly seen through the opening from outside the enclosure panel 51. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell device, and more particularly, to a fuel cell device that reduces noise caused by an air blower or the like.

  In general, a fuel cell main body is one that produces direct-current power by reacting a hydrogen-rich gas with oxygen. Conventional fuel cell devices include a reformer that generates hydrogen-rich gas in the fuel cell body, an inverter that converts direct current to alternating current, a control device, an air blower that supplies reaction air to the fuel cell body, etc. A rotating machine or the like is configured as a package accommodated in an enclosure panel.

The rotating machine includes an electric motor (motor) for driving the rotating machine, and driving noise and intake / exhaust noise are generated and noise becomes a problem. Therefore, noise reduction measures such as attaching a soundproof material to the inner surface of the panel of the fuel cell package are required (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-285427 A

  By the way, in order to reduce noise in the fuel cell package described above, there have been the following problems in order to implement effective noise reduction measures, to simplify the package configuration, and to avoid temperature rise of equipment. .

(First issue)
In order to reduce noise, a sound absorbing material is attached to the inner surface of the enclosure panel of the fuel cell package. In this case, since the sound absorbing material is attached for the purpose of reducing the noise of a plurality of devices housed in the fuel cell package, it is difficult to select a member suitable for each device (noise source). It is. If sound absorbing material matched to a high frequency noise source is attached, low frequency noise cannot be reduced. Conversely, if a sound absorbing material matched to a low frequency noise source is attached, high frequency noise cannot be reduced, so only the sound absorbing material. Then, it is difficult to achieve a sufficient effect.

(Second issue)
In order to reduce the noise of an air blower that is one of the main noise sources, the air blower is covered with a soundproof box and a silencer is attached to the air blower intake. In such a case, when the air blower is completely covered, it is essential to attach a silencer to the intake pipe, and in the case of a fuel cell package having a plurality of rotating machines, the number of parts increases and the configuration becomes complicated.

(Third issue)
If the air blower is completely covered with a soundproof box in order to reduce the noise of the air blower, the heat generated in the air blower motor part is not dissipated and the motor part may rise in temperature and cause a failure.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to reduce noise while ensuring cooling of an air blower or the like of a fuel cell device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a fuel cell device according to the present invention is driven by a fuel cell main body that generates DC power by reacting a hydrogen-rich gas and oxygen, an enclosure panel that houses the fuel cell main body, and an electric motor. And at least one air blower for introducing air from the outside to the inside of the enclosure panel, and a soundproof box inside the enclosure panel for accommodating the air blower, and the enclosure panel by the air blower An air flow path is formed so that the air is cooled by the air when the air is introduced therein.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce noise while ensuring cooling of an air blower or the like of a fuel cell device.

  Embodiments of a fuel cell device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of a fuel cell device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional elevation view of a first embodiment of a fuel cell device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a system diagram showing a configuration example of the fuel cell device according to the present invention.

  The fuel cell device has a configuration shown in FIG. 3, for example. That is, in the enclosure panel 51, a fuel cell main body 71 and a reformer 101 for reforming fuel to supply hydrogen-rich gas to the fuel electrode of the fuel cell main body 71 are arranged. Further, a heat recovery device 106 for recovering exhaust heat from the fuel cell main body 71 and the reformer 101 is disposed. A fuel cell air blower 105 for supplying air to the air electrode of the fuel cell main body 71 is connected. The reformer 101 is connected to a burner air blower 102 for supplying air to the burner, and a reaction section of the reformer 101. A selective oxidation air blower 103 for supplying air to the gas generator, a burner, and a fuel blower 104 for supplying fuel to the reaction section are connected.

  In order to send the cooling water of the fuel cell main body 71 to the heat recovery device 106, a fuel cell water pump 107 is connected. The hot water obtained by the heat recovery device 106 is sent to the heat-utilizing external device 109 by the hot water circulation pump 108. Of the configuration described above, the part other than the heat-utilizing external device 109 is accommodated in the enclosure panel 51.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of (two shown in the figure) soundproof boxes 11 and 11b are formed in the enclosure panel 51, and the soundproof boxes 11 and 11b are formed in the enclosure panel 51. The air blowers 61 and 61b are housed respectively. The soundproof boxes 11 and 11b have substantially the same structure, but soundproofing materials that match the noise characteristics of the air blowers 61 and 61b are used. Here, the air blowers 61 and 61b may be any of the burner air blower 102, the selective oxidation air blower 103, the fuel blower 104, and the fuel cell air blower 105 in FIG. 3, and these are all housed in individual soundproof boxes. You may be made to do.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an opening 21 is provided in the enclosure panel 51 in order to intake air from outside the enclosure panel 51 toward the air blower 61 in the soundproof box 11, and an air flow path 12 extending from the opening 21 to the air blower 61. Is formed in the soundproof box 11. In FIG. 1, an air circulation path 12 is indicated by a dotted line in the drawing, but does not have a so-called piping that is generally used, and means a space in the soundproof box 11. The air blower 61 includes an air blower motor unit (electric motor) 611 and an air blower compression unit 612. The air flow path 12 passes around the air blower motor unit 611, cools this portion, is pressurized through the air blower compression unit 612, and is sent to the fuel cell main body 71 outside the soundproof box 11.

  The air flow path 12 in the soundproof box 11 is bent so that the air blower 61 cannot be seen directly from the opening 21. This is to suppress noise generated by the air blower 61 from being emitted through the opening 21.

  By adopting the structure shown above, the driving sound of the air blower 61 can be suppressed by the soundproof box 11. Further, it is possible to suppress the intake noise without attaching a silencer to the air blower 61 intake section.

  In addition, since the outside air taken into the fuel cell package passes through the air blower motor unit 611 and is sucked into the air blower compression unit 612, the air blower motor unit 611 is cooled by the outside air, and the motor is overheated. It can be avoided.

  In addition to this structure, it is effective to add a sound absorbing material (not shown) to the inner surface of the enclosure panel 51 for the purpose of suppressing noise of other equipment.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of air blowers 61, 61b,. When the noise characteristics of the air blowers 61 and 61b are different, the soundproofing boxes 11 and 11b are made of soundproofing materials according to the noise characteristics. By adopting the structure shown above, even if a plurality of air blowers are provided, it is possible to effectively reduce noise only by changing the same soundproof box or soundproofing material.

[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the fuel cell device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional elevation view of the second embodiment. Here, the same or similar parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the air blower 61, a device that is another noise generation source, for example, a water pump 81 is disposed in the common soundproof box 11. With such a configuration, noise reduction and cooling of devices other than the air blower 61 can be performed together.

1 is a schematic sectional elevation view of a first embodiment of a fuel cell device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. It is a systematic diagram which shows the structural example of the fuel cell apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is typical sectional drawing of 2nd Embodiment of the fuel cell apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11, 11b ... Soundproof box 12 ... Air flow path (air flow path)
51 ... Enclosure panels 61, 61b ... Air blower 611 ... Air blower motor section (electric motor)
612 ... Air blower compressor 71 ... Fuel cell body 81 ... Water pump 101 ... Reformer 102 ... Burner air blower 103 ... Selective oxidation air blower 104 ... Fuel blower 105 ... Fuel cell air blower 106 ... Heat recovery device 107 ... Fuel cell water pump 108 ... Hot water circulation pump 109 ... External equipment using heat

Claims (5)

A fuel cell body that produces direct-current power by reacting hydrogen-rich gas and oxygen;
An enclosure panel for housing the fuel cell body;
At least one air blower driven by an electric motor to introduce air from the outside to the inside of the enclosure panel;
A soundproof box inside the enclosure panel and containing the air blower;
Have
An air flow path is formed so that when the air blower introduces air into the enclosure panel, the motor is cooled by the air.   The soundproof box has an opening through which the outside air supplied to the air blower from the outside of the enclosure panel passes, and the air flow path is bent so that the air blower cannot be directly seen through the opening from the outside of the enclosure panel. The fuel cell device according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell device is formed.   2. A plurality of the air blowers are provided in the common enclosure panel, and each of the air blowers is housed in a separate soundproof box in the common enclosure panel. Alternatively, the fuel cell device according to claim 2.   4. The fuel cell device according to claim 3, wherein a soundproof material suitable for each of the plurality of air blowers is used in each soundproof box. 5.   5. The fuel cell device according to claim 1, wherein a device that is a noise source other than the air blower is housed in the soundproof box.

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