JPS6310868B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a temperature control device for a fuel cell that circulates a heat medium to transport heat between the fuel cell body and the outside to heat and cool the fuel cell.

A conventional device of this type is shown in FIG.

In the figure, 1 is a cooling plate a having a reactive gas passage a2 on one side, and 3 is a cooling plate b having another reactive gas passage b4 on one side. A cooling pipe 5 is provided between these two cooling plates 1 and 3, and this cooling pipe 5 is connected to a pump 6 that sends cooling water to the cooling pipe 5 and a radiator 7 outside the cooling plates 1 and 3. . The two cooling plates 1 and 3 are used by being inserted between the fuel cell bodies 8a and 8b which are closely stacked.

Next, the operation will be explained. Heat generated in the stacked fuel cell bodies 8a and 8b is transmitted from above and below to the cooling plates a1 and b3, and further to the cooling pipe 5 sandwiched between the two cooling plates 1 and 3. Since cooling water is flowed into this cooling pipe by an external pump 6, the generated heat is transferred to the cooling water and is transferred from the cooling plates 1 and 3 to the radiator 7 via the cooling water.
The temperature is approximately 190℃ at steady state.
is maintained. Furthermore, at startup, it is necessary to raise the temperature to 190° C. to allow the electrochemical reaction to occur smoothly, and this is accomplished by heating with a heater or the like that is separately incorporated into the fuel cell main body.

Since the conventional device is configured as described above, a pump is required to circulate the cooling water, and therefore auxiliary power is required to circulate the cooling water, and heating,
This has disadvantages such as requiring a separate cooling system and making the fuel cell structure structurally complex.

This invention was made in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional ones as described above, and the first flow path that is thermally connected to the fuel cell main body and the fuel cell main body are connected to a second flow path that has different thermal conditions. A closed-loop heat medium flow path is formed including the flow path, and a heat medium flow path between the first flow path and the second flow path is formed of a flexible member, and the second flow path is formed with a flexible member. By moving the position of the flow path, a height difference is created between the flow path and the first flow path, and this relative height difference circulates a heat medium within the flow path to heat and cool the fuel cell main body. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a temperature adjustment device for a fuel cell that can control the temperature of a fuel cell.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2, a cooling pipe 5 forming a first flow path is connected between a cooling plate a1 and a cooling plate b3 provided between fuel cell bodies 8a and 8b via a flexible pipe 5a. The fuel cell main body 8a, 8b is connected to a heat radiator 7 which forms a second flow path having different thermal conditions, and forms a sealed closed loop heat medium flow path. This closed-loop heat medium flow path is evacuated and then filled with a heat medium such as water or fluorocarbon. In FIG. 2, the radiator 7 forming the second flow path is located relatively higher than the cooling pipe 5 forming the first flow path.

Next, the operation will be explained. Heat generated in the stacked fuel cell bodies 8a and 8b is transmitted from above and below to the cooling plates a1 and b3, and further to the cooling pipe 5 sandwiched between the two cooling plates 1 and 3. This heat evaporates the heat medium sealed in the cooling pipe, and this heat medium vapor flows through the heat medium flow path.
Heat is radiated to the outside in a radiator 7 placed higher than the cooling pipe 5. This vapor condenses and returns to liquid, and returns to the cooling pipes 5 in the cooling plates 1 and 3 due to its own weight. As described above, the heat medium can be circulated without using auxiliary power.

In the above embodiment, the material of the connecting pipe between the cooling pipe and the heat dissipation pipe was not particularly mentioned, but by making this connection with a pipe made of an electrically insulating material, the heat dissipator can be lifted from the potential of the battery. This avoids the need to electrically insulate the heat sink.

The above operation has been explained for the case where the temperature adjustment device is used for cooling, but when it is used for heating, the position of the radiator 7 is changed to the position of the cooling pipe 5 as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
By lowering the battery, it is possible to heat the battery using an external heat source.

Furthermore, since the radiator 7 is connected to the cooling pipe 5 via the flexible pipe 5a, the circulating amount of the heat medium, that is, the heating and cooling capacity, can be varied by freely adjusting its position. Needless to say.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the temperature adjustment device for a fuel cell, the first flow path that is thermally coupled to the fuel cell main body and the second flow path that have different thermal conditions from the fuel cell main body are A closed-loop heat medium flow path is formed including the flow path, and a heat medium flow path between the first flow path and the second flow path is formed of a flexible member, and the second flow path is formed with a flexible member. By moving the position of the flow path, a height difference is created between the flow path and the first flow path, and this relative height difference allows the heat medium to circulate within the flow path. This eliminates the need for a heat medium circulation pump for heat transfer between the heat medium and the outside, eliminates the need for auxiliary power for heat medium circulation, and provides a fuel cell temperature control device that can not only be cooled but also heated by an external heat source. can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional example, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a system perspective view of the heat medium flow path of the embodiment shown in FIG. In the figure, 5 is a first flow path, 5a is a flexible member, 7 is a second flow path, and 8a and 8b are fuel cell bodies. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A closed-loop heat medium flow path is formed by including a first flow path thermally coupled to the fuel cell main body and a second flow path having different thermal conditions from the fuel cell main body, and the above-mentioned A heat medium flow path between the first flow path and the second flow path is formed by a flexible member, and the second flow path is formed by a flexible member.
Temperature adjustment of the fuel cell by moving the position of the flow path to create a relative height difference between the flow path and the first flow path, and circulating a heat medium in the flow path using this relative height difference. Device.