JP5233387B2 - Inspection method of fuel cell - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a fuel cell, and in particular, in a fuel cell in which a plurality of unit cells are stacked, a fuel cell for inspecting a shift between stacked unit cells (hereinafter referred to as “stacked shift”). It relates to the inspection method.

Conventionally, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-77503, when an impact is applied to a fuel cell, it is possible to detect whether or not a part of the module of the fuel cell has failed An anomaly detection device is known. In this abnormality detection device, a first motion sensor for detecting the motion state of the entire fuel cell is attached to the support plate of the fuel cell, and the fuel cell module in the vicinity of the support plate is attached to the fuel cell module. A second motion sensor for detecting the motion state is attached. Then, when the difference between the motion states detected by these motion sensors exceeds a predetermined threshold, it is detected that an abnormality has occurred in the fuel cell.

JP 2003-77503 A JP 2007-157419 A JP 2007-149413 A JP 2006-339014 A

  As an abnormality that occurs when an impact is applied to the fuel cell, an abnormality due to stacking deviation can be considered. When stacking misalignment occurs, there is a risk that the performance of the fuel cell will be degraded due to leakage of a reaction gas, short circuit, or the like. For this reason, it is preferable that an abnormality is detected at an early stage when an abnormality due to stacking deviation occurs.

  However, in the above-described conventional abnormality detection device, stacking misalignment can be reliably detected for a unit battery provided with a motion sensor, but stacking misalignment can be reliably detected for a unit battery not provided with the motion sensor. Cannot be detected. As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to attach the motion sensor to a plurality of unit batteries. In this case, however, the detection signals of the plurality of motion sensors must be processed, so that the control becomes complicated. For this reason, there has been a demand for a method of detecting a stacking deviation generated in the fuel cell with a simple configuration.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in a fuel cell in which a plurality of unit cells are stacked, the fuel cell can be inspected for occurrence of stacking misalignment with a simple configuration. It aims to provide a method.

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a fuel cell in which a plurality of unit cells are stacked and both ends in the stacking direction are sandwiched between a pair of end plates. an inspection method of a fuel cell for inspecting the occurrence or non-occurrence of a laminated's Les is,
A first preparation step of preparing a fuel cell having an inspection hole penetrating the end plate and each unit cell at one end of the fuel cell in a straight line along a stacking direction;
A second preparation step of preparing an inspection rod having a smaller diameter than the inspection hole;
An insertion step of inserting the inspection rod to a position where it can be inserted into the inspection hole;
An inspection step for inspecting whether or not the stacking deviation has occurred, based on the amount of the inspection rod that can be inserted into the inspection hole,
It comprising: a.

According to a second invention, in the first invention,
The inspection step is characterized in that occurrence of the stacking deviation is determined when the insertable amount is smaller than a length from an entrance portion of the inspection hole to a stacking end of the unit cell.

According to a third invention, in the first or second invention,
The inspection bar is provided with a scale for specifying the insertable amount.

According to a fourth invention, in the third invention,
4. The fuel cell inspection method according to claim 3, wherein the scale has a correlation with a stacking pitch of the unit cells.

According to a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions,
In the second preparation step, the inspection rod having a larger diameter is prepared as the occurrence of a small stacking deviation is determined.

  According to the first invention, the fuel cell is formed with the inspection hole extending from one end of the fuel cell along the stacking direction. In such a fuel cell, when stacking misalignment is inspected, the inspection rod is inserted into the inspection hole to a position where it can be inserted. When stacking misalignment occurs in the fuel cell, the inspection hole is blocked by the unit cell in which the misalignment occurs. For this reason, according to the present invention, it is possible to inspect whether or not stacking deviation has occurred in the fuel cell based on the amount of the inspection rod that can be inserted.

  When stacking misalignment occurs in the fuel cell, the inspection hole is blocked by the unit cell in which the misalignment occurs. For this reason, according to the second invention, it is possible to determine the occurrence of stacking misalignment of the fuel cell when the insertable amount of the testing rod is smaller than the length from the entrance of the testing hole to the stacking end of the unit cell. it can.

  According to the third aspect, since the scale is provided on the inspection rod, the amount that can be inserted into the inspection hole can be specified with high accuracy.

  According to 4th invention, the scale provided in the test | inspection rod has a correlation with the lamination | stacking pitch of a unit cell. For this reason, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately identify a unit battery that prevents the inspection rod from passing, that is, a unit battery in which a stacking error occurs.

  According to the fifth invention, the larger the diameter of the inspection rod, the smaller the clearance between the inspection hole and the inspection rod. For this reason, according to this invention, the threshold value of the deviation | shift amount for determining lamination | stacking deviation | shift can be made small, so that the diameter of a test | inspection rod is enlarged.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element which is common in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiment.
[Configuration of the embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a fuel cell inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. The fuel cell 10 is used as a fuel cell system that supplies electric power generated by a power generation reaction to a load device such as a motor. The fuel cell 10 is configured by stacking a plurality of unit cells 12 and sandwiching both ends in the stacking direction between a pair of end plates 14a and 14b. Although not shown, the unit battery 12 has a configuration in which a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is sandwiched between a pair of current collector plates. In MEA, a catalyst is integrated on both sides of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and a gas diffusion layer made of a carbon sheet or the like is further integrated on each side. The current collector plate also functions as a separator that partitions between adjacent MEAs. Each unit cell 12 receives fuel gas (for example, hydrogen gas) supplied to the anode and receives air supply to the cathode to generate power. In the present embodiment, the configuration of the fuel gas supply / exhaust system and the configuration of the air supply / exhaust system are not limited, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell 10 has an inspection hole 16. The inspection hole 16 is a hole that penetrates the end plate 14a and the stacked unit cells 12 in a straight line along the stacking direction. The inspection hole 16 has a structure in which the periphery is sealed in order to prevent leakage of reaction gas, short circuit, and the like. The fuel cell 10 is housed in a case 18. The opposite surface of the case 18 to the end plate 14 a has a through hole at a position that is in line with the inspection hole 16.

  The inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an inspection rod 20. The inspection bar 20 is a round bar having a diameter smaller than that of the inspection hole 16. A scale having a correlation with the stacking pitch of the unit cells 12 is provided on the side surface in the length direction of the inspection rod 20. The inspection bar 20 is preferably made of an insulating material.

[Fuel cell stacking deviation inspection method]
Next, a method for inspecting the stacking deviation of the fuel cell 10 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the fuel cell 10 has a structure in which a plurality of unit cells 12 are stacked. For this reason, when a vehicle equipped with the fuel cell 10 causes a collision or the like, an inertial force acts on the fuel cell 10, and there is a possibility that slip (lamination misalignment) may occur between the stacked unit cells 12. Lamination misalignment causes poor performance such as reaction gas leakage and short circuit. For this reason, it is preferable to detect the abnormality due to the stacking error as soon as possible.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a method for inspecting whether or not an abnormality has occurred due to stacking deviation of the fuel cell 10 with a simple configuration is proposed. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the inspection method of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, in order to determine whether or not the fuel cell 10 is misaligned, the inspection rod 20 is inserted from the through hole provided in the case 18 into the inspection hole 16 in the fuel cell 10.

  FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the inspection rod 20 is inserted into the inspection hole 16 in the normal fuel cell 10. As shown in this figure, in a normal fuel cell 10 in which stacking misalignment has not occurred, the inspection rod 20 can be inserted to the end of the inspection hole 16, that is, the end plate 14b. On the other hand, FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a state in which the inspection rod 20 is inserted into the inspection hole 16 in the fuel cell 10 in which the stacking deviation has occurred. As shown in this figure, when stacking misalignment occurs in a part of the unit battery 12, the center of the inspection hole 16 is shifted in the unit cell 12 causing the stacking misalignment. For this reason, the inspection rod 20 can be inserted only up to the front of the unit battery 12 in which the stacking deviation has occurred.

  On the side surface in the length direction of the inspection rod 20, a scale for determining the amount of insertion of the inspection rod 20 into the inspection hole 16 is provided. Therefore, since it can be determined based on the scale whether the inspection rod 20 has been normally inserted up to the end of the inspection hole 16, it is possible to easily inspect whether the fuel cell 10 is misaligned. it can.

  Note that the amount of deviation for determining the stacking deviation can be adjusted by changing the clearance between the diameter of the inspection rod 20 and the inspection hole 16. That is, when the diameter of the inspection rod 20 is increased, the clearance between the diameter of the inspection rod 20 and the inspection hole 16 is reduced. Therefore, the deviation amount serving as the abnormality determination threshold can be set to a smaller value. On the other hand, if the diameter of the inspection rod 20 is reduced, the clearance between the diameter of the inspection rod 20 and the inspection hole 16 is increased. Therefore, it is possible to set a larger amount of deviation as a threshold value for abnormality determination.

  The scale provided on the inspection rod 20 can also identify the unit battery 12 in which the stacking deviation has occurred. That is, since the test bar 20 is provided with a scale having a correlation with the stacking pitch of the unit cells 12, the unit cell in which stacking misalignment is generated can be accurately identified based on the insertion amount of the test bar 20. Can do.

  By the way, in the embodiment described above, the inspection hole 16 is provided so as to penetrate the end plate 14a and the unit battery 12, but the configuration of the inspection hole 16 is not limited thereto. That is, it is good also as a hole which penetrates the fuel cell 10 by penetrating the end plate 14b.

It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the inspection apparatus of the fuel cell of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the inspection method of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Fuel Cell 12 Unit Battery 14 End Plate 16 Inspection Hole 18 Case 20 Inspection Rod

Claims (5)

A plurality of unit cells are stacked, in a fuel cell constructed both ends of the stacking direction with the pair of end plates, the fuel cell for inspecting the occurrence or non-occurrence of a laminated's Les is a deviation between the unit cells adjacent An inspection method,
A first preparation step of preparing a fuel cell having an inspection hole penetrating the end plate and each unit cell at one end of the fuel cell in a straight line along a stacking direction;
A second preparation step of preparing an inspection rod having a smaller diameter than the inspection hole;
An insertion step of inserting the inspection rod to a position where it can be inserted into the inspection hole;
An inspection step for inspecting whether or not the stacking deviation has occurred, based on the amount of the inspection rod that can be inserted into the inspection hole,
An inspection method for a fuel cell, comprising:   The said inspection step determines generation | occurrence | production of the said lamination | stacking deviation, when the said insertion possible amount is smaller than the length from the inlet_port | entrance part of the said inspection hole to the lamination | stacking end of the said unit cell. Fuel cell inspection method.   The fuel cell inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the inspection rod is provided with a scale for specifying the insertable amount.   4. The fuel cell inspection method according to claim 3, wherein the scale has a correlation with a stacking pitch of the unit cells.   5. The fuel cell inspection method according to claim 1, wherein in the second preparation step, the inspection rod having a larger diameter is prepared as the occurrence of a small stacking deviation is determined. .

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