JP4876648B2 - Vaporizer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vaporizer that vaporizes a liquid.

  In recent years, fuel cells have attracted attention as clean power sources with high energy conversion efficiency, and have been widely put into practical use in fuel cell automobiles and electrified houses. Also, in portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook personal computers, which are rapidly researched and developed for miniaturization, practical application of a power source using a fuel cell is being studied.

Fuel cells are classified into, for example, a reforming system and a fuel direct system. The reforming method is a method of supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell after generating hydrogen from the fuel and water in a reformer, for example, steam reforming, and the direct fuel method reforms the fuel and water. This is a method of supplying to the fuel cell. Fuel and water are generally stored in a liquid state, and after the fuel and water are vaporized, a mixture of the fuel and water is supplied to the reformer. Therefore, a vaporizer that vaporizes fuel and water is required, and research and development on such a vaporizer is being conducted in conjunction with the development of fuel cells (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). .
JP 2004-47260 A JP 2001-263649 A

By the way, the smaller the size of such a vaporizer, the smaller the flow rate, and the more easily the fuel and water are overheated. Therefore, when the fuel or water vaporizes, the fuel or water bumps irregularly. Therefore, it is difficult to control the vaporization in a stable manner because liquid droplets are likely to be mixed with the vaporized liquid. In particular, when vaporizing a mixture of a plurality of types of liquids having different boiling points, the effect of bumping is large, making control more difficult.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vaporization apparatus that can suppress bumping of a liquid and can prevent liquid droplets from being mixed with the vaporized gas. To do.

In order to solve the above problems, the vaporizer according to claim 1 is:
An insulation case;
A liquid absorbent having an absorption side end and a discharge side end, and having a porous body that absorbs liquid in contact with the absorption side end and allows the absorbed liquid to permeate into the discharge side end by capillary action And
Have covered the sides of the discharge-side end portion of the liquid absorbing portion, a heater for heating the discharge-side end portion of the porous body,
A material having a thermal conductivity higher than the thermal conductivity of the liquid absorbing part and the thermal conductivity of the heat insulating case, and a heat radiating part provided to be in contact with the absorption side end of the liquid absorbing part,
With
The absorption side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion is disposed outside the heat insulation case, the discharge side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion is accommodated in the heat insulation case,
On the absorption side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion and the discharge side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion, a temperature gradient is generated when the heater is heated by the heat dissipation portion and the heat insulating case,
The liquid is vaporized by being heated by the heater on the discharge side end portion side.

The vaporization device according to claim 2, further comprising a heat conduction portion that conducts heat of the heater to the liquid absorption portion between the heater and the liquid absorption portion in the vaporization device according to claim 1,
The heat insulation case has a lower thermal conductivity than the heat conduction part.

The vaporizer according to claim 3 is the vaporizer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat radiating portion is separated from the heat insulating case so as to cover a side surface of the liquid absorbing portion on the absorption side end portion side. characterized in that it is arranged.

  The vaporizer according to claim 5 is the vaporizer according to claim 4, further comprising a heat conduction part that conducts heat of the heater to the liquid absorption part between the heater and the liquid absorption part. It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, bumping of the liquid can be suppressed by providing a temperature gradient between the discharge side end portion side and the absorption side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, although various technically preferable limitations for implementing the present invention are given to the embodiments described below, the scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the vaporizer 1, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an upper surface, a front surface, and a right side surface, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an upper surface, a back surface, and a left side surface. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the vaporizer 1 includes a liquid absorbing portion 2 that penetrates the liquid therein, a member that contracts when heated, or a double bond to the main chain of the molecular structure. The shrinkable tube 3 including a member having elasticity such as a heat-resistant rubber containing no or little heat, the heat dissipating part 4 provided so as to be in contact with the rear end of the liquid absorbing part 2, and the liquid absorbing part 2 being heated A heat-conducting part 5 that conducts heat, a heat-insulating case 6 that has a lower thermal conductivity than the heat-conducting part 5, and prevents the heat in front of the heated liquid-absorbing part 2 from propagating outside the vaporizer 1; A heating unit 7 for heating the unit 2, a temperature sensor 8 for measuring the temperature of the liquid absorption unit 2 via the heat conducting unit 5, and a discharge unit 9 for discharging the gas released from the liquid absorption unit 2. .

  The liquid absorption part 2 is a rod-like, specifically, a core formed in a columnar shape, and has the property of taking in the liquid in contact with the absorption side end part 2b and sucking it up to the discharge side end part 2a by capillary action. ing. Specifically, the liquid absorption part 2 is a porous body in which a minute space is formed, and can absorb liquid, and is made of a material that does not melt or deteriorate even when heated by the heat generating part 7, For example, inorganic fibers or organic fibers are hardened with a binder (for example, epoxy resin), inorganic powder is sintered, or inorganic powder is hardened with a binder (for example, epoxy resin). Or a porous mixture of graphite and glassy carbon. Moreover, the liquid absorption part 2 may be one in which a large number of yarn materials made of inorganic fibers or organic fibers are bundled and hardened with a binder. For example, as the liquid absorption part 2, an acrylic fiber bundle core can be used.

  The liquid absorption part 2 is inserted into the contractible tube 3 so that the discharge side end 2a and the absorption side end 2b are exposed, and the outer peripheral surface of the central part of the liquid absorption part 2 is the contractible tube 3. Close to. The contractible tube 3 is shorter than the liquid absorbing part 2, and both end portions 2 a and 2 b of the liquid absorbing part 2 are at positions protruding from the respective ends of the contractible tube 3.

  Since the shrinkable tube 3 does not penetrate the liquid taken in by the liquid absorbing part 2, the liquid does not leak from the shrinkable tube 3 to the outside. The shrinkable tube 3 is preferably elastomeric and has shrinkability. In a natural state where the liquid absorbing part 2 is not inserted into the contractible tube 3, the inner diameter of the contractible tube 3 is smaller than the diameter of the liquid absorbing part 2, and the liquid absorbing part 2 is inserted so that the contractible tube 3 is inserted. It is preferable from the viewpoint of adhesion between the liquid absorbing part 2 and the shrinkable tube 3 and prevention of liquid leakage.

  The liquid absorption part 2 is fitted into the tubular heat radiation part 4 from the intermediate part to the absorption side end part 2b, and is fitted to the heat conducting part 5 from the intermediate part to the discharge side end part 2a. There is a space between the heat radiating part 4 and the heat conducting part 5, and they are separated so as not to contact each other.

  A part of the shrinkable tube 3 is also fitted in the heat radiating part 4 with the liquid absorbing part 2 inserted. The outer peripheral surface of the portion protruding from the contractible tube 3 of the liquid absorbing portion 2 is in contact with the inner surface of the heat radiating portion 4. For example, the heat radiating portion 4 is made of gold (thermal conductivity 315 W / m · K), silver (thermal conductivity 427 W / m · K), copper (thermal conductivity 398 W / m · K), aluminum (thermal conductivity 237 W / m). m · K), made of a material having high thermal conductivity such as ceramic or carbon fiber, and the thermal conductivity of the heat radiating part 4 is higher than the thermal conductivity of the liquid absorbing part 2, the shrinkable tube 3 and the thermal conductivity of the heat insulating case 6. Is also expensive. The heat dissipating part 4 has a tube structure, and it is preferable that the apparent volume is not particularly large and the area of the heat dissipating surface is large. For example, it is preferable that a groove is formed on the outer surface.

  The heat conducting part 5 is a cylinder that has a higher thermal conductivity than the liquid absorbing part 2 and is housed in close contact with the discharge side end part 2 a side of the liquid absorbing part 2, and a part thereof is exposed from the heat insulating case 6. The discharge portion 9 and the flange portion 53 protruding from the outer edge of the joint of the heat conduction portion 5 and the discharge portion 9 are integrally formed. The discharge part 9 is a projection protruding from the flange surface of the flange part 53, and the discharge part 9 is provided with a discharge hole 55, and the discharge hole 55 generates heat from the liquid absorption part 2 inserted into the heat conducting part 5. The gas which vaporized the internal liquid with the heat | fever in the part 7 is discharged | emitted. The outer diameter of the discharge part 9 is smaller than the outer diameter of the heat conduction part 5, and the inner diameter of the discharge part 9 (the diameter of the discharge hole 55) is smaller than the inner diameter of the heat conduction part 5. The heat conducting part 5 is a heat generating part such as a metal having a higher thermal conductivity than the shrinkable tube 3, the heat insulating case 6 and the liquid absorbing part 2 (for example, brass Cu 70%, Zn 30% thermal conductivity 106 W / m · K). It is preferable that the heat | fever 7 is efficiently propagated to the liquid absorption part 2, and the material which can accelerate | stimulate vaporization of a liquid is included.

  The liquid absorbing part 2 is inserted into the heat conducting part 5, a part of the shrinkable tube 3 is also inserted into the heat conducting part 5, and the outer peripheral surface of the part protruding from the shrinkable tube 3 of the liquid absorbing part 2 is the heat conducting part 5. It is in contact with the inside.

  A heat generating portion 7 that is a heater such as a heating coil is wound around the outer periphery of the heat conducting portion 5, and the heat generating portion 7 and the heat conducting portion 5 are in contact with each other. The heat generating portion 7 is made of an electrothermal material and generates heat by electricity. For example, a nickel-cobalt wire can be used as the heat generating portion 7. When the heat conducting part 5 is a conductive member and the heat generating part 7 is a heat generating resistor such as an electric heating material, the heat conducting part 5 and the heat generating part 7 are heated so that the applied voltage is efficiently divided and heated. It is preferable to interpose an insulating film (not shown) between the two. However, the heat conduction part 5 may not have such an insulating film as long as the part exposed from the heat insulating case 6 is sufficiently small. The heat generating part 7 is covered with a ceramic adhesive 56, and the heat generating part 7 is fixed to the heat conducting part 5 with the ceramic adhesive 56.

The flange portion 53 is formed with an insertion hole 54 drilled in the radial direction. The insertion hole 54 does not reach the internal space of the heat conducting unit 5 or the discharge unit 9, and the bottom of the insertion hole 54 reaches the vicinity of the end surface of the liquid absorbing unit 2. The insertion hole 54 is filled with an insulating adhesive in a state where the temperature sensor 8 is inserted. Since the temperature sensor 8 is coated with an insulating adhesive around the temperature sensor 8, the heat conducting portion 5 is formed of a conductive member. Even if it is made, it is electrically insulated from the heat conduction part 5. The temperature sensor 8 is positioned in the vicinity of the end face of the liquid absorption part 2, and thereby the temperature sensor 8 is embedded in the flange part 53. The temperature sensor 8 is a thermocouple, a thermistor, or a resistance temperature detector. The temperature sensor 8 detects the temperature according to the heat generation of the heat generating part 7 transmitted through the heat conducting part 5 and the insulating adhesive.
When the heating element 7 is heated, the liquid that has penetrated into the liquid absorbing part 2 by the heat transmitted from the heating element 7 to the heat conducting part 5 is vaporized and discharged from the discharge hole 55.

  The heat insulation case 6 surrounds the heat generating part 7 and the front of the liquid absorbing part 2 so as not to let the heat in front of the heat generating part 7 and the liquid absorbing part 2 heated by the heat generating part 7 to the outside as much as possible. Further, the heat conducting portion 5 and the flange portion 53 are accommodated in the heat insulating case 6, and the heat generating portion 7 is also accommodated in the heat insulating case 6. The heat radiating part 4 is outside the heat insulating case 6.

  If the whole liquid absorption part 2 is heated uniformly, the liquid will be vaporized from the absorption side end part 2b of the liquid absorption part 2. These bubbles become a steric hindrance and impede the permeation of the liquid in the liquid absorption part 2 and make the discharge amount of the gas discharged from the discharge part 9 unstable.

  Since the back of the liquid absorption part 2 is not covered with the heat insulation case 6, it has a structure in which heat is radiated relatively quickly as compared with the part covered with the heat insulation case 6. Since heat is transmitted to the heat radiating part 4 and released from the surface of the heat radiating part 4, the boiling point of the liquid in the liquid absorbing part 2 does not reach behind the liquid absorbing part 2.

  The heat generating part 7 heats the front of the liquid absorbing part 2 so as to reach the boiling point of the liquid that has permeated the liquid absorbing part 2. Therefore, when the gas vaporized in the liquid absorption part 2 is discharged from the discharge side end part 2a, the liquid filled behind the liquid absorption part 2 by the capillary phenomenon of the liquid absorption part 2 is forward of the liquid absorption part 2. Will move spontaneously towards.

  The heat insulating case 6 has a housing space formed inside the heat insulating case 6 by combining the upper case 61 on the upper surface side and the lower case 62 on the lower surface side. The upper case 61 and the lower case 62 are both ceramics sintered with titanium oxide, potassium oxide, calcium oxide, silicon oxide, engineering plastics such as PES (polyethersulfone sun), foamed styrene, foamed urethane, and glass. It consists of a heat insulating material whose heat conductivity is lower than that of the heat conducting part 5.

  A fan-shaped recess is formed on the lower edge of the front surface of the upper case 61 and the upper edge of the front surface of the lower case 62. By connecting the upper case 61 and the lower case 62, the recesses are combined to form a through hole 63. ing. The discharge portion 9 is fitted into the through hole 63, and the discharge portion 9 protrudes from the front surface of the heat insulating case 6. Further, the flange portion 53 of the heat conducting portion 5 is in contact with the inner surface on the front surface side of the heat insulating case 6 in order to fix the position, but the inner surface on the front surface side of the flange portion 53 and the heat insulating case 9 is improved in order to improve heat insulation. A space may be provided between the two. If a groove is provided on the surface of the flange portion 53 that faces the heat insulating case 9, the flange portion 53 and the heat insulating case 9 can be aligned with each other, and a gap having a low thermal conductivity for heat insulation is formed by the groove. The heat insulation effect can be improved.

  Fan-shaped depressions are formed on the lower edge of the back surface of the upper case 61 and the upper edge of the lower surface of the lower case 62, and by joining the upper case 61 and the lower case 62, these depressions are combined to form a through hole 64. Has been. The contractible tube 3 and the liquid absorbing part 2 are fitted into the through hole 64. The shrinkable tube 3 and the wall surface of the through hole 64 are in close contact with each other, and the gap between the wall surface of the through hole 64 and the outer peripheral surface of the liquid absorbing part 2 is sealed by the shrinkable tube 3.

  Wiring through holes 65 to 67 pass through the upper surface of the upper case 61, and grooves 65 a to 67 a extending from the wiring through holes 65 to 67 to the back surface of the upper case 61 are formed on the upper surface of the upper case 61. The wiring 51 of the temperature sensor 8 is passed through the wiring through hole 65, and the wiring 51 is bent and laid in the groove 65a. Similarly, wirings 71 and 72 at both ends of the heat generating portion 7 are passed through the wiring through holes 66 and 67, and the wirings 71 and 72 are bent and laid in the grooves 66a and 67a.

  The temperature sensor 8 is connected to the controller via the wiring 51, and the heat generating part 7 is also connected to the controller via the wirings 71 and 72. A signal representing the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 8 is input to the controller, and the controller sets the temperature on the discharge side end 2a side of the heat conducting unit 5 and the liquid absorbing unit 2 to a desired temperature based on the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 8. The heat generating part 7 is controlled so as to be. Specifically, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8 becomes higher than the upper threshold, the controller lowers the power supplied to the heat generating unit 7 or turns off the power supplied to the heat generating unit 7. When the detected temperature becomes lower than the lower threshold value (however, the lower threshold value <the upper threshold value), the controller increases the power supplied to the heat generating unit 7 or turns on the power supplied to the heat generating unit 7, and the temperature sensor 8 When the detected temperature is not less than the lower threshold and not more than the upper threshold, the controller maintains the power supplied to the heat generating unit 7.

Next, the operation of the vaporizer 1 and the vaporization method using the vaporizer 1 will be described.
When a voltage is applied to the heat generating part 7, the heat generating part 7 generates heat, and the member accommodated in the heat insulating case 6 is heated. In this state, when the liquid is sent by the pump or the like into the heat radiating portion 4 that also serves as a liquid supply pipe, the liquid in the heat radiating portion 4 is absorbed from the absorption side end 2b of the liquid absorbing portion 2 into the liquid absorbing portion 2. Is done. The liquid absorbed by the liquid absorption part 2 moves toward the opposite discharge side end part 2a by capillary action. Here, since the heating temperature decreases as the distance from the heating element 7 increases in the inner part of the heating element 7, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8 is not lower than the lower threshold and not higher than the upper threshold, the liquid absorbing part 2 is discharged. Although the boiling point of the liquid is reached on the side end 2a side, the temperature is set to be lower than the boiling point of the liquid on the absorption side end 2b. For this reason, the liquid is vaporized mainly in the discharge side end portion 2a side of the liquid absorption portion 2. Then, the gas is discharged from the discharge side end portion 2 a of the liquid absorption portion 2 through the discharge hole 55 of the discharge portion 9. When the liquid is vaporized and discharged at the discharge side end 2a of the liquid absorption part 2, the liquid is continuously filled from the absorption side end 2b side by capillary action, and the liquid is continuously vaporized.

  When the liquid is vaporized, the controller feedback-controls the heat generating part 7 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8, so that the temperature on the discharge side end 2a side of the heat conducting part 5 and the liquid absorbing part 2 is sequentially managed. And can be kept in a desired temperature range over time.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the discharge side end of the liquid absorption part 2, the heat conduction part 5, the flange part 53, and the heat generation part 7 are accommodated in the heat insulating case 6, there is little heat loss, The thermal energy of the heat generating part 7 is effectively used for vaporizing the liquid. Also, if the temperature in front of the liquid absorption part 2 becomes unstable due to an external factor and the liquid absorption part 2 is overheated, the vaporization is excessively promoted in the liquid absorption part 2 and causes bumping. However, in this embodiment, since the front of the liquid absorption part 2 is stored by the heat insulating case 6, the heat retention is high, and the influence of the environment such as the temperature outside the vaporizer 1 is small, so that stable liquid vaporization is possible. Therefore, the temperature can be easily controlled, and overheating is easily suppressed.
On the other hand, since the absorption side end of the liquid absorption part 2 is outside the heat insulation case 6, a temperature gradient is generated from the absorption side end 2b of the liquid absorption part 2 to the discharge side end 2a, so that the absorption side of the liquid absorption part 2 is absorbed. The temperature of the end portion 2b is lower than the temperature of the discharge side end portion 2a. In particular, since the absorption side end of the liquid absorption part 2 is in contact with the heat radiating part 4 having high thermal conductivity and the heat dissipation part 4 is outside the heat insulating case 6, the heat at the absorption side end of the liquid absorption part 2 is dissipated. 4 is easy to radiate naturally.

If a part of the gas excessively generated in the liquid absorption part 2 due to factors such as overheating is not completely discharged from the discharge side end part 2a and is discharged from the absorption side end face 2b into the heat dissipation part 4, the liquid absorption part 2 is localized as a bubble covering at least a part of the absorption-side end portion 2b by the capillary force of 2 or driving of the pump that sends the liquid to the liquid-absorbing part 2, and the air bubble becomes a three-dimensional obstacle and the liquid-absorbing part The absorption area (contact area) of the liquid at the second absorption side end 2b is reduced. For this reason, the permeation amount of the liquid in the liquid absorption part 2 is at least temporarily reduced and becomes unstable. At this time, the amount of liquid in the liquid absorption part 2 is reduced, and the liquid absorption part 2 is overheated. Immediately after this, bubbles again enter the liquid absorption part 2 from the absorption side end face 2b. When the bubbles flow in the liquid absorption part 2, since the bubbles are gas and have a lower viscosity than the liquid, the flow rate temporarily rises, and the liquid that has flowed in at a stroke bumps in the liquid absorption part 2.
However, in this embodiment, the rear of the liquid absorption part 2 is less likely to be overheated because the heat radiating part 4 efficiently releases heat so that it can be maintained at a lower temperature than the front. Since it is remarkably small, the gas generated in the liquid absorption part 2 flows backward and hardly releases the gas from the absorption side end part 2b toward the heat radiation part 4 side. For this reason, since it can suppress that the back of the liquid absorption part 2 is overheated, the permeation | transmission amount of the liquid in the liquid absorption part 2 can be stabilized, and the discharge amount of the gas from the discharge part 9 can be stabilized by extension. If a sufficient amount of liquid continues to be supplied into the liquid absorption part 2, even if a small amount of bubbles are generated at the absorption side end part 2b, the liquid is cooled and liquefied by the cooler liquid or the heat radiation part 4, so that steric hindrance occurs. Can be eliminated quickly, and the change in flow rate due to bumping can be reduced.
Further, since the heat radiating unit 4 can effectively radiate heat, it is not necessary to increase the length of the liquid absorbing unit 2 in the longitudinal direction to increase the heat radiating area in order to suppress the backflow of gas. Can be achieved.

  Further, since the temperature sensor 8 is embedded in the flange portion 53, the temperature in the vicinity of the discharge side end surface of the liquid absorbing portion 2 can be accurately measured. In addition, since the temperature control by the controller is performed according to the accurate detected temperature, the temperature in the vicinity of the discharge side end face of the liquid absorption part 2 can be kept constant between the lower threshold value and the upper threshold value, and stable vaporization is performed. be able to. In addition, since the heat insulating case 6 has an upper and lower divided structure of the upper case 61 and the lower case 62, the work by visual observation is possible and the assembly workability of the vaporizer 1 is improved.

  Further, since the shrinkable tube 3 is heated, the shrinkage occurs, so that the close contact between the outer peripheral surface of the liquid absorbing portion 2 and the inner peripheral surface of the shrinkable tube 3 is improved. Therefore, gas does not protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the liquid absorption part 2.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and design changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the heat radiating portion 4 may be cooled by causing forced convection around the heat radiating portion 4 with a fan or the like, and the heat at the absorption side end of the liquid absorbing portion 2 may be radiated from the heat radiating portion 4. Moreover, you may water-cool the thermal radiation part 4. FIG. In any case of natural cooling, air cooling, and water cooling, the surface area of the heat radiating part 4 is increased by providing irregularities on the outer surface of the heat radiating part 4 or projecting fins to improve the heat radiating efficiency of the heat radiating part 4. You may let them.

  Further, the heating unit 7 may be a ceramic heater instead of the heating coil, or the heating coil and the ceramic heater may be used in combination.

  Further, if the liquid or gas does not ooze out from the outer peripheral surface of the liquid absorbing part 2 by applying a film or the like on the outer peripheral surface of the liquid absorbing part 2, the contractible tube 3 may be omitted. Moreover, you may insert the liquid absorption part 2 in the double tube of a rubber elastic tube and a heat-shrinkable tube as the shrinkable tube 3. FIG.

  Moreover, it is not necessary to provide the temperature sensor 8 like the vaporizer 1A of the modified example shown in FIG. Since the temperature sensor 8 is not provided in the vaporizer 1 </ b> A, the insertion hole 54 is not formed in the flange portion 53, and the wiring through hole 65 and the groove 65 a may not be formed in the upper case 61. The vaporizer 1A shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the same manner as the vaporizer 1 of FIG. 1 except that the temperature sensor 8, the insertion hole 54, and the wiring through hole 65 are not provided. Therefore, the vaporizer 1A is vaporized. Parts corresponding to the device 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the vaporizer 1A having such a structure, the heat generating portion 7 may serve as a temperature sensor as a heat generating resistor whose resistance characteristics change depending on the temperature. The heating resistor has a sufficiently large resistance displacement with respect to temperature displacement, and is preferably an alloy containing gold (Au) or gold in terms of resistance to deterioration such as oxidation or corrosion, and includes a heating resistor containing gold and other conductive films. The laminated structure may be used. When the heat conducting portion 5 is conductive, an insulating film may be coated on the heat conducting portion 5 and a heating resistor layer may be coated on the insulating film. In particular, if the heating resistor layer contains gold, an underlayer such as titanium (Ti) or tantalum (Ta) for improving the adhesion to the insulating film, tungsten (W for suppressing the thermal diffusion) A thermal diffusion prevention layer made of a refractory metal such as) may be laminated in this order between the insulating film and the heating resistor layer.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the vaporizer 1 (or vaporizer 1A) together with the cartridge 101, the reformer 103, the carbon monoxide remover 104, the fuel cell 105, and the combustor 106.

  A pump 102 is connected to the heat radiating section 4, and this pump 102 is further connected to the cartridge 101. In this cartridge 101, liquid fuel (for example, methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether) and water are mixed or stored separately, and a liquid mixture of liquid fuel and water is sent to the heat radiating unit 4 by the pump 102. A syringe pump or an electro-osmotic pump may be used as the pump 102. A reformer 103 is connected to the discharge unit 9, and a mixture of fuel and water discharged from the vaporizer 1 is supplied to the reformer 103.

The reformer 103 generates hydrogen gas or the like by causing a catalytic reaction of the fuel / water mixture supplied from the vaporizer 1. The reformer 103 also generates a small amount of carbon monoxide. When the liquid fuel stored in the cartridge 101 is methanol, the reformer 103 undergoes reactions as shown in the following equations (1) and (2).
CH ₃ OH + H ₂ O → 3H ₂ + CO ₂ (1)
2CH ₃ OH + H ₂ O → 5H ₂ + CO + CO ₂ (2)

  The mixture of the products generated in the reformer 103 is supplied to the carbon monoxide remover 104, and air is further supplied to the carbon monoxide remover 104 by an air pump. In the carbon monoxide remover 104, carbon monoxide in the air-fuel mixture is selected by the catalyst, so that carbon monoxide is preferentially oxidized and hydrogen is not oxidized.

The fuel cell 105 includes a fuel electrode 105a carrying catalyst fine particles, an air electrode 105b carrying catalyst fine particles, and an electrolyte membrane 105c interposed between the fuel electrode 105a and the air electrode 105b. An air-fuel mixture is supplied from the carbon monoxide remover 104 to the fuel electrode 105a, and air is supplied to the air electrode 105b by an air pump. Ions are generated at one electrode of the fuel electrode 105a and the air electrode 105b, the ions pass through the electrolyte membrane 105c, and water is generated at the other electrode, whereby electric power is generated between the fuel electrode 105a and the air electrode 105b. Occurs. When the electrolyte membrane 105c is a hydrogen ion permeable electrolyte membrane (for example, a solid polymer electrolyte membrane), a reaction such as the following equation (3) occurs at the fuel electrode 105a, and the following equation (3) occurs at the air electrode 105b: Reaction such as 4) occurs.
H ₂ → 2H ⁺ + 2e ⁻ (3)
2H ⁺ + 1 / 2O ₂ + 2e ⁻ → H ₂ O (4)

  Off-gas containing surplus hydrogen gas that has not reacted at the fuel electrode 105a is supplied to the combustor 106, and air is supplied to the combustor 106 by an air pump. In the combustor 106, oxygen in the air and unreacted hydrogen react with each other by a catalyst, and combustion heat is generated. The combustion heat is used for the reaction of the reformer 103 and the carbon monoxide remover 104.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically by giving examples and comparative examples.
In the Example, the vaporizer 1 as shown in FIGS. 1-3 was used. Here, the conditions of the liquid absorption part 2, the heat radiation part 4, the heat conduction part 5 (molded integrally with the discharge part 9 and the flange part 53), and the heat insulation case 6 were as follows.

(A) Liquid absorbing part 2: silicon carbide, diameter 1.5 mm, length 10 mm
(B) Heat radiation part 4: Aluminum (A1080), inner diameter 1.5mm, outer diameter 2.5mm, length 15mm
(C) Heat conduction part 5: brass, the length of the part of the liquid absorption part 2 that overlaps the heat generation part 7 in the longitudinal direction is 2 mm, the inner diameter is 1.5 mm, the outer diameter is 2.5 mm
(D) Thermal insulation case 6: PEEK (polyetheretherketone), lower diameter 7mm

  In the comparative example, the heat radiation part 4 of the vaporizer 1 was replaced with an elastic tube material such as a silicon tube with low thermal conductivity. Other conditions are the same as in the example.

  In both the examples and comparative examples, a 60 wt% aqueous methanol solution was sent to the heat radiating section 4 (low thermal conductivity material tube in the case of the comparative example) through a flowmeter by an electroosmotic pump, and methanol was flown by the flowmeter. While measuring the flow volume of aqueous solution with the flowmeter, the temperature of the absorption side end surface 2b vicinity of the liquid absorption part 2 was measured with the K-type sheath thermocouple. Here, the Example and the comparative example supplied methanol aqueous solution, maintaining the state heated with the heat generating part 7. FIG. In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the flow rate drops and the temperature rises just before the measured flow rate significantly increases. This is because air bubbles are generated on the absorption side end 2b side, resulting in a steric hindrance and the flow to the liquid absorption part 2 stagnating and the liquid absorption part 2 is temporarily overheated. Immediately after that, when the bubbles enter the liquid absorption part 2, the flow rate temporarily rises due to the low viscosity of the bubbles, and the liquid flowing into the liquid absorption part 2 is vaporized and bumped. Show.

  The result of the comparative example is shown in FIG. 6, and the result of the example is shown in FIG. As is clear from FIGS. 6 and 7, the temperature in the vicinity of the absorption side end face of the liquid absorbing part 2 is suppressed lower in the example than in the comparative example.

  For this reason, in the comparative example, a large pulsation (approximately 30 μl / min when the flow rate changes) easily occurs in the supplied liquid, and the peak of the flow rate of the supplied liquid occurs about three times in about 400 seconds.

  On the other hand, in the embodiment, no significant increase in temperature is observed, pulsation hardly occurs in the supplied liquid, the peak of the flow rate of the supplied liquid occurs only once in about 780 seconds, and the bumping interval ( Change in flow rate is less than 15 μl / min), and the change in flow rate is suppressed. As described above, since there is almost no temporary flow rate drop due to air bubbles as in the comparative example, it is possible to prevent liquid from suddenly flowing into the liquid absorbing portion 2 immediately thereafter and causing bumping. Thus, it turned out that the flow of the liquid supplied to the vaporizer 1 and the flow of the gas discharged | emitted from the vaporizer 1 are more stable in the Example than the comparative example.

It is sectional drawing of the vaporization apparatus in the longitudinal cross section along the centerline of a liquid absorption part. It is a disassembled perspective view of a vaporizer. It is a disassembled perspective view of a vaporizer. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vaporization apparatus of a modification. It is the block diagram which showed the vaporization apparatus with the cartridge, the pump, the reformer, the carbon monoxide remover, the fuel cell, and the combustor. It is the graph which showed the measurement result of the comparative example. It is the graph which showed the measurement result of the Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A vaporizer 2 Liquid absorption part 3 Shrinkable tube 4 Heat radiation part 6 Heat insulation case 5 Thermal conduction part 7 Heat generation part 8 Temperature sensor

Claims (3)

An insulation case;
A liquid absorbent having an absorption side end and a discharge side end, and having a porous body that absorbs liquid in contact with the absorption side end and allows the absorbed liquid to permeate into the discharge side end by capillary action And
Have covered the sides of the discharge-side end portion of the liquid absorbing portion, a heater for heating the discharge-side end portion of the porous body,
A material having a thermal conductivity higher than the thermal conductivity of the liquid absorbing part and the thermal conductivity of the heat insulating case, and a heat radiating part provided to be in contact with the absorption side end of the liquid absorbing part,
With
The absorption side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion is disposed outside the heat insulation case, the discharge side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion is accommodated in the heat insulation case,
On the absorption side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion and the discharge side end portion side of the liquid absorption portion, a temperature gradient is generated when the heater is heated by the heat dissipation portion and the heat insulating case,
The liquid is vaporized by being heated by the heater on the discharge side end portion side. The vaporization apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heat conduction part that conducts heat of the heater to the liquid absorption part between the heater and the liquid absorption part,
The heat insulating case has a lower thermal conductivity than the heat conducting unit. In vaporization apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat radiating portion, and said spaced apart from the heat insulating case are disposed so as to cover the side surface of the absorbent side end portion of the liquid absorbing portion Vaporizer.

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