U.S. patent application number 10/806455 was filed with the patent office on 2004-09-16 for hydrogen producing apparatus and power generating system using it.
Invention is credited to Higashiyama, Kazutoshi, Hiyama, Kiyoshi, Imada, Noriyuki, Kaku, Hiroyuki, Kamo, Tomoichi, Komachiya, Masahiro, Okano, Tetsurou.
Application Number | 20040180247 10/806455 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26618121 |
Filed Date | 2004-09-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040180247 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Higashiyama, Kazutoshi ; et
al. |
September 16, 2004 |
Hydrogen producing apparatus and power generating system using
it
Abstract
For the stabilization of the reaction, especially, for
maintaining reaction temperature, the feedback control by the
feedback unit is performed for to the supply of air (, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent), whereas other materials are supplied by the
open-loop control according to the instruction of the flow
selection unit which indicates a preset value depending on the
required hydrogen production volume. In addition, the continuous
flow setting unit capable of changing the flow continuously is
employed for the supply system of the air, whereas the flow control
of the other materials is performed by use of the discrete flow
setting units each of which provides the discretized flow by use of
the on-off combination of two or more on-off valves.
Inventors: |
Higashiyama, Kazutoshi;
(Hitachi, JP) ; Komachiya, Masahiro; (Hitachinaka,
JP) ; Hiyama, Kiyoshi; (Hitachi, JP) ; Kamo,
Tomoichi; (Tokai, JP) ; Imada, Noriyuki;
(Kure, JP) ; Okano, Tetsurou; (Hiroshima, JP)
; Kaku, Hiroyuki; (Hiroshima, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO MORIN & OSHINSKY LLP
2101 L STREET NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20037-1526
US
|
Family ID: |
26618121 |
Appl. No.: |
10/806455 |
Filed: |
March 23, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10806455 |
Mar 23, 2004 |
|
|
|
10068837 |
Feb 11, 2002 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
429/424 ;
422/105; 429/416; 429/440; 429/442; 429/444; 429/492; 429/505 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C01B 2203/1064 20130101;
C01B 2203/169 20130101; C01B 2203/1288 20130101; C01B 2203/0833
20130101; C01B 2203/085 20130101; C01B 2203/141 20130101; C01B
2203/82 20130101; B01J 2219/00198 20130101; C01B 2203/0233
20130101; C01B 2203/16 20130101; C01B 2203/066 20130101; C01B
2203/1619 20130101; C01B 3/382 20130101; C01B 2203/142 20130101;
C01B 2203/047 20130101; C01B 2203/1258 20130101; B01J 2219/00164
20130101; C01B 3/323 20130101; C01B 2203/0811 20130101; C01B
2203/1052 20130101; C01B 2203/127 20130101; C01B 2203/0261
20130101; Y02E 60/50 20130101; B01J 2219/00063 20130101; C01B
2203/0844 20130101; G05B 5/01 20130101; C01B 2203/1604 20130101;
H01M 8/0612 20130101; C01B 3/34 20130101; C01B 3/386 20130101; C01B
2203/0283 20130101; B01J 2219/00202 20130101; C01B 3/32 20130101;
C01B 2203/1223 20130101; H01M 8/0662 20130101; B01J 2219/00231
20130101; C01B 2203/044 20130101; C01B 2203/1276 20130101; C01B
2203/1628 20130101; C01B 2203/1685 20130101; C01B 2203/1695
20130101; B01J 19/0013 20130101; B01J 2219/00213 20130101; C01B
2203/0244 20130101; C01B 2203/1241 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
429/019 ;
429/026; 422/105 |
International
Class: |
H01M 008/06; H01M
008/04; G05D 023/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 4, 2001 |
JP |
2001-203429 |
Sep 11, 2001 |
JP |
2001-274920 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by selecting one from two or more
set values which are previously determined corresponding to
required hydrogen production volumes; and for the air, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent, supply amount of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent is varied and controlled so that a temperature of the
reaction part is within a preset temperature range.
2. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by on/off combination of two or more
valves each of which is capable of providing a preset flow; and for
the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent, supply amount of the air,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent is set by controlling opening of a
variable-flow valve so that temperature of the reaction part is
within a preset temperature range.
3. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by on/of combination of two or more
valves each of which is capable of providing a preset flow; and for
the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent, supply amount is set by
controlling a supply pressure of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent so that temperature of the reaction part is within a preset
temperature range.
4. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by on-off combination of two or more
valves each of which is capable of providing a preset flow; and for
the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent, supply amount of the air,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent is set by controlling discharge of a
discharge-controllable blower so that temperature of the reaction
part is within a preset temperature range.
5. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by selecting one from n1 set values
which are previously determined corresponding to required hydrogen
production volumes; and for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent,
supply amount of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is set by
selecting one from predetermined n2 set values, n1 being smaller
than n2.
6. A hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one type of
material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or an
oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: each of supply systems for the air, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent and the at least one type of material is provided
with flow setting means; and flow setting is performed so that at
least one of the flow setting means opens the supply system during
a second time period in a preset first time period and an average
supply flow in the first time period becomes a desired value.
7. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
second time period is varied depending on status of hydrogen
production operation such as alteration of a required hydrogen
production volume.
8. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in any one of claims 1-6,
wherein the at least one type of material includes two types of
materials which are water and methane.
9. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in any one of claims 1-6,
wherein the at least one type of material includes two types of
materials which are water and methanol.
10. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in any one of claims
1-6, wherein the at least one type of material includes one type of
material which is an aqueous solution of methanol.
11. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in any one of claims
1-6, wherein the hydrogen producing device produces the hydrogen by
a combined reforming method in which a combination of an exothermic
reaction and an endothermic reaction is employed.
12. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in claim 1, 5 or 6,
wherein at least one of the flow setting means provided to the
supply systems for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent and the at
least one type of material includes on-off valves connected in
parallel.
13. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in claim 12, wherein at
least one of the on-off valves is provided with a constant-flow
valve connected in series with the on-off valves.
14. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in claim 12, wherein at
least one of the on-off valves is provided with a governor
connected in series with the on-off valves.
15. A hydrogen producing device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
flow setting means for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is a
discharge-controllable blower.
16. A fuel cell electric power generation system comprising a
hydrogen producing device, for generating electric power using
hydrogen produced by the hydrogen producing device as a raw
material, wherein the hydrogen producing device is implemented by
the hydrogen producing device claimed in any one of claims
1-15.
17. A fuel cell electric power generation system as claimed in
claim 16, wherein hydrogen storage means is provided after an
outlet of the hydrogen producing device.
18. A distributed power source for home use or for buildings,
comprising a hydrogen producing device and a fuel cell for
generating electric power by use of hydrogen produced by the
hydrogen producing device, wherein the hydrogen producing device is
implemented by the hydrogen producing device claimed in any one of
claims 1-15; and the fuel cell is implemented by a polymer
electrolyte fuel cell.
19. A distributed power source as claimed in claim 18, further
comprising means for recovering exhaust heat, which is generated in
the fuel cell, by use of coolant, and using the recovered exhaust
heat as hot water.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a hydrogen producing device
(reforming device) for producing gas containing hydrogen by use of
air (, oxygen, or an oxidizing agent) and materials such as
hydrocarbons and water, and a fuel cell power generation system
using the hydrogen producing device.
[0002] As production processes for industrially producing hydrogen,
various techniques are known. On page 221 of a document: Hiroo
Tominaga and Masakazu Tamaki (supervision) "Chemical Reaction and
Reactor Design" (Maruzen Co., Ltd. 1996), various processes or
techniques such as: {circle over (1)} electrolysis of water;
{circle over (2)} gasification of coal/coke; {circle over (3)}
steam reforming of hydrocarbons; {circle over (4)} partial
oxidation of hydrocarbons; and {circle over (5)} dehydrogenation of
hydrocarbons, are shown. Historically, processes {circle over (1)}
and {circle over (2)} are precursory, and processes {circle over
(3)} and {circle over (4)} using petroleum hydrocarbons or natural
gas hydrocarbons are becoming the mainstream at present.
[0003] Such processes have been developed mainly for producing
hydrogen for ammonia synthesis, however, the processes are also
being investigated as basic processes for hydrogen production for
the application to fuel cell power generation systems. In fuel cell
power generation systems, electric power is generated using
hydrogen as a main material.
[0004] For example, in JP-A-2000-53403, a control method for a
hydrogen production process, using an aqueous solution of methanol
as a material and combining a steam reforming reaction with a
partial oxidation reaction, has been disclosed. In the control
method, the temperature of a reaction part is monitored and thereby
the amount of oxygen to be supplied to the reaction part is
calculated and determined in real time based on a theoretical
reaction model considering the reaction heat. Generally, if the
amount of the supplied material is controlled based on the
theoretical reaction model, fine and precise reaction control
(above all, stabilization of reaction temperature) becomes
easier.
[0005] The stabilization of reaction temperature is especially
important when a hydrogen production method called "combined
reforming method (autothermal reforming method)" is employed.
[0006] The key feature of the combined reforming method is that a
steam reforming reaction (endothermic reaction) is combined with a
partial oxidation reaction (exothermic reaction) and suitable
reaction temperature is maintained by keeping a proper balance
between the two reactions. The proper balance between the reactions
is realized by controlling the amounts of the supplied materials.
Heat necessary for the reactions is autonomously supplied, and thus
external heating means becomes unnecessary and consequently,
simplification of the hydrogen producing device becomes possible
and it is possible to make full use of the feature of the steam
reforming reaction having high hydrogen production efficiency.
[0007] On the other hand, in order to make full use of the features
of the combined reforming method, a method for controlling the
amounts of the supplied materials capable of maintaining the proper
reaction temperature under various practical environments where
external perturbation is expected becomes necessary. Of course, it
is needless to say that the stabilization of reaction is
practically essential even when methods other than the combined
reforming method are employed.
[0008] However, according to the control methods shown in the above
references, the hardware necessary for the control inherently
becomes sophisticated. Because, the sophisticated flow detection
device and the sophisticated flow control devices become necessary
in order to detect the flows of various materials and to carry out
the fine and precise control based on the detected result. As a
result, the cost for the whole system adds up, so that the
application of the techniques is necessitated to be limited.
[0009] On the other hand, if the simple and easy flow detection and
control of the supply amount and the simple and easy hardware
associated therewith are employed for all the materials for the
hydrogen production in order to reduce the cost, the stabilization
of reaction becomes difficult in practical use. Especially, in the
case where the combined reforming method is employed, the
maintenance of the proper reaction temperature becomes
difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In consideration of the above problems, an object of the
present invention is to provide a hydrogen producing device by
which the maintenance of the reaction temperature is possible and
the control can be carried out easily, and a fuel cell electric
power generation system using the hydrogen producing device.
[0011] In consideration of the above problems, the present
invention proposes a system which executes feedback control for
only the supply of a specific material that is essential for the
stabilization of the react on (especially, the maintenance of the
proper reaction temperature), and supplies other materials by means
of open-loop control according to set values which have previously
been determined corresponding to various required hydrogen
production volumes.
[0012] Differently from a method of calculating a supply volume in
real-time based on the theoretical reaction model, the controlling
load becomes light in feedback control based on the deviation of an
observed temperature from a target temperature. Further, there is
no danger of improper control that is caused by the difference
between an assumed reaction model and the actual reaction.
Furthermore, sophisticated devices for flow detection/control
becomes unnecessary for materials other than the specific material
which is the target of feedback, since the flow of each of the
other materials can be set by selecting a proper flow corresponding
to the required hydrogen production volume.
[0013] It varies depending on the application fields how many
production volumes should be assumed and prepared as the required
hydrogen production volume. For a fuel cell power generation system
as a home-use distributed power source for example, at most several
values (including "stop") are enough for practical use.
[0014] As the aforementioned specific supplied material that is
essential for maintaining the reaction temperature, the present
inventors focus attention on air, oxygen, or oxidizing agents
capable of functioning equivalently to air or oxygen.
[0015] When catalytic agents which are used for accelerating
oxidation reaction is put out of a hermetic container after the
reaction, sometimes the catalytic agents restart heating up
intensely. Such phenomenon occurs due to acceleration of oxidation
reaction which is caused by exposure of materials remaining on the
surfaces of the catalytic agents to oxygen in the air. Therefore,
the control of temperature can be carried out quickly and securely
by controlling the amount of air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent)
which is supplied to the reaction part. Incidentally, in the
following, the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is handled specially
and distinguished from other materials. When term "each material"
is used, the term mainly denotes each material other than the air,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent among the supplied materials.
[0016] The present invention for resolving the above problems is as
in the following.
[0017] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a hydrogen producing device for supplying at least one
type of material to a reaction part together with air, oxygen, or
an oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific chemical
reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material, supply
amount of each material is set by selecting one from two or more
set values which are previously determined corresponding to
required hydrogen production volumes; and for the air, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent, supply amount of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent is varied and controlled so that a temperature of the
reaction part is within a preset temperature range.
[0018] In the above description, term "two or more set values"
denotes the supply volumes of materials that are capable of
attaining corresponding the required hydrogen production volumes
stably in an ordinary environment with relatively small external
perturbation. With regard to variation or fluctuation of the
chemical reaction (especially, temperature variation or
fluctuation) occurring temporarily or abruptly in practical
environments, necessary control is carried out by conducting
feedback control to the supply volume of the air, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent.
[0019] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a hydrogen producing device for supplying at
least one type of material to a reaction part together with air,
oxygen, or an oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific
chemical reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material,
supply amount of each material is set by on/off combination of two
or more valves each of which is capable of providing a preset flow;
and for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent, supply amount of the
air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is set by controlling at least one
of opening of a variable-flow valve, a supply pressure of the air,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent, and blower discharge amount so that
temperature of the reaction part is within a preset temperature
range.
[0020] The aforementioned "valves" that are only required on-off
action (hereafter, referred to as "on-off valves") are relatively
cheap and easy to control in comparison with control valves which
are generally used for flow control. Therefore, a combination of
such on-off valves (cheap and easy to control) are used for the
control of each material other than air, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent, and flow control of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is
carried out by employing control of a variable-flow valve (control
valve which is generally used for flow control), air supply
pressure control, and/or blower revolving speed control.
[0021] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a hydrogen producing device for supplying at
least one type of material to a reaction part together with air,
oxygen, or an oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific
chemical reaction, wherein: for the at least one type of material,
supply amount of each material is set by selecting one from n1 set
values which are previously determined corresponding to required
hydrogen production volumes; and for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent, supply amount of the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent is set
by selecting one from predetermined n2 set values, n1 being smaller
than n2.
[0022] In the above aspect, although the flow (the quantity of
flow) is discretized with regard to both the other materials and
the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent, flow control with finer steps
can be carried out for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent by
satisfying condition "n1<n2".
[0023] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a hydrogen producing device for supplying at
least one type of material to a reaction part together with air,
oxygen, or an oxidizing agent to produce hydrogen by a specific
chemical reaction, wherein: each of supply systems for the air,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent and the at least one type of material is
provided with flow setting means; and flow setting is performed so
that at least one of the flow setting means opens the supply system
during a time period T2 in a preset time period T1 and an average
supply flow in the time period T1 becomes a desired value. Further,
the time period T2 is varied depending on status of hydrogen
production operation such as alteration of a required hydrogen
production volume.
[0024] In the above aspect, on-off valves whose on-off time is
controlled can be employed as the above flow setting means. The
time period T2 which corresponds to a valve opening time is varied
depending on the required hydrogen production volume. With regard
to the flow setting means for the air, oxygen, or oxidizing agent,
the time period T2 is varied for feedback amount with respect to
reaction temperature etc.
[0025] According to any one of the above hydrogen producing
devices, the use of control requiring relatively sophisticated
hardware is limited to the flow control of the air, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent, and the flow control for the other materials is
conducted by use of relatively simple hardware which sets only
values which are previously stored corresponding to the required
hydrogen production volumes. Accordingly, the hydrogen producing
device capable of realizing the stability of the temperature
control in practical use while reducing the total cost can be
provided.
[0026] Further, as an application of the hydrogen producing device
in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a fuel
cell electric power generation system which employs the hydrogen
producing device of the present invention as an internal source of
hydrogen.
[0027] In consideration of the application of the hydrogen
producing device to a fuel cell, the step-like variation occurring
on the switching or alteration of the hydrogen production volume,
or pulsation of the supplied hydrogen volume occurring due to the
time control of the on-off valves has ill effects on the fuel
cell.
[0028] In order to resolve the above problem, another fuel cell
electric power generation system is provided, in which hydrogen
storage means (buffer tank) is provided after the outlet of the
hydrogen producing device in accordance with the present invention.
The step-like variation and pulsation can be absorbed and reduced
by the hydrogen storage means (buffer tank).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hydrogen producing device in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, and a
fuel cell power generation system employing the hydrogen producing
device;
[0030] FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory drawings of a discrete flow
setting unit in the first embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 3 is an explanatory drawing of another discrete flow
setting unit in the first embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 4 is an explanatory drawing of a continuous flow
setting unit in the first embodiment;
[0033] FIG. 5 is an explanatory drawing of another continuous flow
setting unit in the first embodiment;
[0034] FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining an example of a
control method of a feedback means in the first embodiment;
[0035] FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of a feedback
control method combining P-control and I-control.
[0036] FIG. 8 is a graph for explaining a method for calculating
correction values .DELTA.Q when control is carried out so as to
maintain reaction temperature within a preset temperature
range;
[0037] FIG. 9 is an explanatory drawing of a material reforming
unit and a power generation unit in the first embodiment;
[0038] FIGS. 10A and 10B are explanatory drawings of a flow setting
unit in a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0039] FIG. 11 is an explanatory drawing of a flow setting unit in
a third embodiment of the present invention;
[0040] FIGS. 12A and 12B are explanatory drawings for explaining a
supplied material flow control method in the third embodiment;
[0041] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a hydrogen producing
device in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present
invention, and a fuel cell power generation system employing the
hydrogen producing device; and
[0042] FIG. 14 is an explanatory drawing showing an example of a
home-use distributed power source employing the hydrogen producing
device and the fuel cell power generation system in accordance with
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0043] Referring now to the drawings, a description will be given
in detail of preferred embodiments in accordance with the present
invention, wherein like reference characters designate like or
equivalent elements throughout the views.
[0044] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hydrogen producing
device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present
invention, and a fuel cell power generation system employing the
hydrogen producing device. In the drawing, reference numerals
starting from "1" denote materials which are supplied to the
hydrogen producing device, in which reference numeral 1c denotes
air, oxygen, or an oxidizing agent capable of functioning
equivalently to air or oxygen, and reference numerals 1a and 1b
denote other materials. In this embodiment, the other materials
include two materials. For example, the material #1 (1a) is methane
and the material #2 (1b) is water.
[0045] Reference numerals 2 (2a, 2b) and 3 denote flow setting
units for setting the flow (the quantity of flow) of each supplied
material (1a, 1b and 1c). While explanations on concrete examples
of the flow setting units will be given later one by one referring
to figures, a key structural feature of this embodiment is that the
flow setting units suitable for discrete flow setting are employed
as the flow setting units 2a and 2b for the materials 1a and 1b,
and a flow setting unit suitable for continuous flow setting is
employed as the flow setting unit 3 for the material 1c.
[0046] Term "discrete" means that the flow as the target of setting
is determined discretely as in, for example, the open/close of a
valve. Term "continuous" means that the flow as the target of
setting is determined continuously as in, for example, a control
valve whose valve opening can be controlled and adjusted.
[0047] As for the flow setting unit 3, even if the continuous flow
setting is impossible, the effects of the present invention are not
impaired much if multilevel flow setting finer than the flow
setting units 2a and b is possible. For example, if the flow
setting unit 3 is capable of successively switching and setting the
flow in a step-like manner in flow feedback control, such control
can also be regarded as continuous flow setting although the
precision of flow setting is lower.
[0048] As for the flow setting units 2a and b, it is also possible
to select and use only the limited and discrete flow set values
while using a continuous flow setting unit which is capable of
setting the flow continuously. For example, when the supply flow of
gaseous fuel such as methane is controlled by means of revolving
speed control of a blower, fan, etc., the discrete flow setting can
be realized by setting discretized revolving speeds. Also when the
supply flow is controlled by controlling the opening of a valve,
the discrete flow setting can be realized by selecting specific
discrete values for the opening.
[0049] The following explanation on the embodiments will be given
taking a combination of on-off valves as an example of the flow
setting unit suitable for discrete flow setting, and a blower and
the aforementioned control valve as examples of the flow setting
unit suitable for continuous flow setting, in order to clarify the
combination of the different flow setting methods.
[0050] Reference numeral 4 denotes a material reforming unit for
producing hydrogen from the supplied materials by means of a
specific chemical reaction. Reference numeral 5 denotes a power
generation unit for generating electric power by use of
hydrogen-rich gas 13 which is produced by the material reforming
unit 4. Concretely, the power generation unit 5 is implemented by a
fuel cell. Especially, when a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC)
is employed as the fuel cell, the construction of a small-sized
power generation system capable of operating at comparatively low
temperature (approximately 80.degree. C.) becomes possible.
[0051] In some types of fuel cells, specific gases (carbon
monoxide, for example) have ill effects on the power generation,
therefore, such gases have to be preliminarily removed or reduced.
Further, sometimes it is preferable that specific ingredients such
as sulfur, which is included in the supplied materials, should be
removed from the supplied materials before the reforming reaction.
The material reforming unit 4 also performs such gas composition
adjustment.
[0052] Reference numeral 6 denotes a flow selection unit for giving
flow set values to the flow setting units 2 and 3 according to an
instruction value 101 concerning a required hydrogen production
volume. Reference numeral 7 denotes a storage unit for previously
storing the flow set values of the flow setting units 2 and 3 to be
set depending on the required hydrogen production volume. Reference
numeral 8 denotes a feedback unit for measuring values concerning
the operation status of the material reforming unit 4 such as a
representative temperature of the reforming reaction part and
thereby conducting feedback control to the flow setting unit 3.
[0053] Incidentally, reference numerals 11a, 11b and 11c in FIG. 1
denote the flow of each-supplied material. Reference numerals 12a,
12b and 12c denote the flow of each material which is supplied to
the material reforming unit 4 after the flow setting. Reference
numeral 13 denotes hydrogen-rich gas which is obtained as the
result of a specific chemical reaction in the material reforming
unit 4, and reference numeral 14 denotes electric power which is
obtained by the power generation carried out by the power
generation unit 5.
[0054] In the following, the operation of the hydrogen producing
device in accordance with the first embodiment will be explained.
First, the required hydrogen production volume instruction 101 is
given to the hydrogen producing device. The instruction 101 is
given from outside by a user, or is automatically given in an
internal sequence. The instruction 101 can be, for example,
numerical information designating a hydrogen production volume per
unit time under the standard conditions, or can be an instruction
designating the operation mode of the hydrogen producing device
(such as low-load operation).
[0055] The flow selection unit 6 reads out a set of flow set values
102b from the storage unit 7 depending on the instruction 101
(102a), and outputs flow setting signals 103a, 103b and 103c to the
flow setting unit 2a, 2b and 3 respectively based on the obtained
information (flow set values 102b). Thereby, a preset and
appropriate flow is set with regard to each supplied material, so
that the materials of the appropriate flows are supplied to the
material reforming unit 4.
[0056] In the material reforming unit 4, the hydrogen-rich gas 13
containing a certain amount of hydrogen corresponding to the
required hydrogen production volume is produced through a specific
chemical reaction, and the hydrogen-rich gas 13 is supplied to the
power generation unit 5 such as a fuel cell. If the chemical
reaction in the material reforming unit 4 is ideally stable, no
further control is necessary. However, in practical environments,
the chemical reaction sometimes becomes unstable due to unexpected
internal/external factors.
[0057] As feedback control for coping with the instability,
reaction temperature 104 of the specific chemical reaction is
detected, and when the reaction temperature 104 deviates from a
predetermined temperature or temperature range, the flow set value
of the continuous flow setting unit 3 is corrected depending on the
deviation (105).
[0058] In order to calculate the corrected flow set value, the
feedback unit 8 shown in FIG. 1 also refers to the output 103c of
the flow selection unit 6. Here, the flow setting unit 3 controls
and adjusts the amount of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent),
which is capable of changing the reaction temperature most quickly
and certainly. In order to let the result of the feedback control
be correctly reflected in the flow correction, the flow setting
unit 3 should be implemented by a flow setting unit suitable for
continuous flow setting such as a control valve.
[0059] Meanwhile, the flow setting for the other materials is
conducted with no feedback control, simply based on the required
hydrogen production volume. Therefore, flow setting units suitable
for discrete flow setting (such as solenoid valves), which are
relatively cheap and easy to control, can be employed as the flow
setting units 2a and 2b.
[0060] As above, the control according to the present invention is
characterized by the combination of the temperature feedback
control which is executed for the flow setting unit 3 for the air
(, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) 1c, and the open-loop control in
which flow setting simply based on the required hydrogen production
volume 101 and which is executed for the flow setting units 2a and
2b for the other materials 1a and 1b.
[0061] Incidentally, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the storage
unit (memory) 7 is shown separately from the flow selection unit 6
and the feedback unit 8 for clarifying each function. However, the
storage unit 7 can also be incorporated in at least one of the flow
selection unit 6 and the feedback unit 8. The flow selection unit
6, the storage unit 7 and the feedback unit 8 can be integrated in
one control-unit box, for example, in the form of a
micro-computer-based control-unit board.
[0062] In addition, when the chemical reaction for hydrogen
production is stopped, gas inside the device to which no material
is being supplied is sometimes forcibly circulated continuously in
order to maintain the material reforming unit 4 in a proper
condition. A unit for driving such gas flow for the re-circulation
can also be provided inside the material reforming unit 4,
independently of the flow setting unit 2a, 2b and 3 for the
material supply. It is also possible to add a bypass pipe for
returning the output gas 13 of the material reforming unit 4 to the
inlets of the flow setting unit, and valves for changing gas flow,
and thereby carry out the re-circulation by supplying the gas to
one or more of the flow setting unit 2a, 2b and 3.
[0063] Further, the instruction 101 is not limited to the required
hydrogen production volume instruction itself, and may be an
instruction value corresponding to another volume which correlates
with the required hydrogen production volume. For example, by using
an instruction value concerning the output 14 of the fuel cell 5,
system configuration based on the operation of the cell can be done
easily. As such an instruction value, a numeral value concerning
the current, voltage or output power (wattage) of the output 14, or
an the output mode of the fuel cell which indicates the low-load,
middle-load or high-load can be used.
[0064] As another example, a fuel utilization ratio which indicates
how much hydrogen is supplied for the ratio of hydrogen consumption
necessary for obtaining a preset power generation output can also
be used as the instruction 101. In general, when the fuel
utilization ratio gets high, the load on the cell for generating
the preset power becomes heavy. On the other hand, when the fuel
utilization ratio is made low, the rate of wastefully supplied
hydrogen gets higher. Therefore, when the fuel utilization ratio is
used as the instruction 101, a desired fuel utilization ratio can
be realized easily.
[0065] According to this embodiment, temporarily or abruptly
occurring instability of reaction which is caused by
internal/external factors can properly be coped with. Term
"properly" means the following meanings.
[0066] If the total combination of the supplied materials is
controlled in order to maintain the proper reaction temperature
against the temporary or abrupt instability, the amounts of the
supplied materials after the control are necessitated to be
different from those for stably attaining the required hydrogen
production volume when no factor causing instability exists. In
consideration of response delay accompanying the reaction, such
control itself might become the cause of additional external
disturbance. In order to change and control the reaction against
the temporary or abrupt fluctuation and thereafter let the reaction
converge into the stable state after recovery from the fluctuation
while avoiding the above problem, fine and minute control of the
amounts of the supplied materials becomes essential. Consequently,
sophisticated and intelligent hardware (flow setting unit) becomes
necessary for the fine and minute flow control.
[0067] On the other hand, in the present invention, the
stabilization of the reaction against the temporary or abrupt
instability is attained by maintaining the reaction temperature by
controlling and adjusting the amount of the supplied air (, oxygen,
or oxidizing agent), while keeping the amounts of the other
materials at those that are required when the reaction is stable.
Therefore, faster control response against external disturbance can
be obtained, and further, there is almost no danger that the
control itself causes additional disturbance.
[0068] Further, as for the flow setting unit which tends to require
complex structure and control, the fine and minute flow control is
not required of the flow setting unit for materials other than the
air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent). Therefore, the easily
controlled flow setting unit having relatively simple structure can
be employed for the other materials. Consequently, the whole system
can be provided at a low cost, from the viewpoints of both hardware
and software.
[0069] Incidentally, the information stored in the storage unit 7
shown in FIG. 1 can be either a map in which a set of flow set
values are assigned to each required hydrogen production volume, or
functions for calculating flow set values based on the required
hydrogen production volume. The flow selection unit 6 may use the
information stored in the storage unit 7 directly, or may calculate
each of the flow set values after executing some operation such as
interpolation, based on various information. However, simpler
setting is better for extracting and obtaining the effects of the
present invention most.
[0070] In the following, the structure of the flow setting unit and
the flow setting method therefor will be explained. FIGS. 2A and 2B
are explanatory drawings for explaining an example of the discrete
flow setting unit in accordance with the first embodiment. In FIG.
2A, reference numeral 21a denotes a branching unit for branching
the supplied material flow 11a. The branching unit 21a can be
implemented by combining branching pipes each of which has desired
channel resistance. The channel resistance can be given by changing
the shape or dimensions of each pipe, or by providing internal
channel structure in the branching unit 21a.
[0071] Reference numerals 22a and 23a denote on-off valves which
can be opened and closed by being triggered with a specific signal.
Although it is also possible to let control valves capable of
continuously changing the flow such as globe valves or pinch valves
perform on-off action, as the on-off valves 22a and 23a in this
embodiment, valves designed exclusively for on-off action such as
solenoid valves are preferable in order to attain simple and easy
control. The on-off valves 22a and 23a are placed in parallel with
respect to the input, in order to carry out the flow control
explained later.
[0072] Reference numeral 24a denotes a combining unit for combining
flows. The combining unit 24a can be implemented by simply joining
two upstream pipes together. However, it is also possible to reduce
backward material flow by joining the two pipes together after
making a double pipe structure, or by employing a liquid non-return
structure.
[0073] As explained above, the discrete flow setting unit 2a (2b)
shown in FIG. 1 is constructed by use of the flow branching unit
21a, the flow combining unit 24a and the parallelly connected
on-off valves 22a and 23a.
[0074] In the following, the operation of the flow setting unit
shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B will be explained. Reference numeral 103a
shown in the drawings denotes a flow setting signal which is
outputted by the flow selection unit 6. The flow setting signal
103a is composed of two on-off signals for the on-off valves #1
(22a) and #2 (23a). By the combination of the two on-off signals,
four levels of flows including "stop" can be set. Since any flows
other than the four flow set values are not regarded as targets of
flow setting, it is called "discrete flow setting unit".
[0075] By setting the branching unit 21a so that the total flow of
the opened on-off valve #1 (22a) is smaller than that of the opened
on-off valve #2 (23a), the relation between the valve statuses and
the flow of the supplied material #1 (11a) can be set as a table
shown in FIG. 2B.
[0076] When both the on-off valves #1 and #2 are closed, the
supplied material flow becomes "0". The status corresponds to a
case where the reaction in the material reforming unit 4 is stopped
and no hydrogen is newly produced. When one of the on-off valves #1
and #2 are opened, the material is supplied with low flow and
medium flow. When both the on-off valves #1 and #2 are opened, the
material supply with high flow, which is approximately the sum of
the low flow and the medium flow, is realized.
[0077] By appropriately setting the branching flows of the
branching unit 21a so as to supply the material corresponding to
the hydrogen production volume, the above four flow set values can
properly be associated with the stop of hydrogen production,
low-flow operation (initial operation), middle-flow operation, and
high-flow operation (rated power operation), respectively.
[0078] For example, when an instruction for low-flow operation
(initial operation) is supplied as the required hydrogen production
volume instruction 101, the flow selection unit 6 outputs a signal
103a for opening the valve #1 and closing the valve #2 as the
information from the storage unit 7. Also for the material #2 (11b)
shown in FIG. 1, flow setting can be carried out in the same way
according to the required hydrogen production volume instruction
101.
[0079] Incidentally, it is also possible to let the material
reforming unit 4 perform self-check by use of the combination of
the on-off valves #1 and #2. When the hydrogen production reaction
is progressing normally, the hydrogen production volume increases
at a proper rate according to the increase of the supplied
material. On the other hand, when the reaction deviates from a
proper state due to deterioration of catalytic agents etc., the
hydrogen production volume does not increase according to the
increase of the supplied material. Alternately, behavior
differently from the initial or ordinary state is found.
[0080] Therefore, aged deterioration or failure of the system can
be detected by monitoring the correlation between the on-off
combination of the on-off valves #1 and #2 and, for example, the
hydrogen production volume or the power output of the fuel cell.
Further, degradation or abnormality of the system can be forecasted
by obtaining the-rate of the correlation to extrapolate its
tendency. As a result, the operation mode of the system can be
switched into "degradation mode" or "failure mode", or an
appropriate alarm signal can be issued. A modification value of the
supplied material necessary for the change of the operation mode
can previously be stored in the storage unit 7 shown in FIG. 1.
[0081] The self-check can be executed by sampling data during the
normal operation of the system, or in a predetermined diagnosis
mode. The diagnosis mode can be activated when the device is
started up or in the nighttime when the power load is low.
[0082] Further, the number of on-off valves is not limited to two.
Finer flow control becomes possible if a larger number of on-off
valves are connected in parallel and the on-off combination of the
valves are controlled properly. The number of on-off combinations
increases by "the power of 2", therefore, a sufficient number of
combinations can be obtained by adding only a few on-off
valves.
[0083] According to the discrete flow setting unit shown in FIGS.
2A and 2B in accordance with the first embodiment, the practical
four-stage hydrogen production operation including "reaction stop"
can be realized by the combination of only two parallelly connected
on-off valves #1 and #2 which are simply structured and easily
controlled, such as solenoid valves.
[0084] The proper operation of the discrete flow setting unit can
be attained by the relatively simple and easy control by the on-off
combination of the on-off valves. Therefore, error in the control
or operation of the discrete flow setting unit hardly occurs in
practical environment, thereby reliability in practical use can be
improved.
[0085] Another example of the discrete flow setting unit will be
explained referring to FIG. 3. The flow branching unit 21a, the
on-off valves #1 and #2 (22a and 23a), and the flow combining unit
24a are the same as those of the discrete flow setting unit shown
in FIGS. 2A and 2B. In the discrete flow setting unit shown in FIG.
3, flow adjustment unit #1 and #2 (25a and 26a) are provided after
the on-off valves #1 and #2 (22a and 23a), respectively.
[0086] As the flow adjustment unit, a constant-flow valve or a
governor can be employed for example. The constant-flow valve means
a valve capable of maintaining a preset constant flow even if
primary pressure (upstream flow pressure) or secondary pressure
(downstream flow pressure) varied. In a known technique for
maintaining a preset constant flow, a mechanism for controlling
pressure difference between the primary pressure and the secondary
pressure is provided inside the constant-flow valve, and the
channel cross section is maintained constant under the condition
that the pressure difference is constant. By providing a
constant-flow valve after an on-off valve, a preset flow can be set
and maintained independently of the branching flow of the flow
branching unit 21a.
[0087] The governor means a device for adjusting the pressure of
the flow to a preset pressure. In a known technique, a mechanism
for controlling pressure loss such as a perforated plate whose
channel cross section can be varied is provided inside the
governor, and the pressure loss is controlled by reference to exit
pressure, thereby a preset exit pressure is maintained. By
providing a governor after an on-off valve, a preset pressure can
be set independently of the branching flow of the flow branching
unit 21a, thereby a preset flow can be set properly according to
flow resistance which is peculiar to the channel.
[0088] In the following, the operation of the flow setting unit
shown in FIG. 3 will be explained. As an example, the flow
branching unit 21a is assumed to branch and supply the material
flow evenly to the on-off valves #1 and #2 (22a and 23a). The flows
of the on-off valves #1 and #2 (22a and 23a) when they are opened
are set independently by use of the flow adjustment units #1 and #2
(25a and 26a). Since the flow adjustment units for exclusive use
are provided to the on-off valves, the flows of the on-off valves
#1 and #2 (22a and 23a) can be set more precisely. The other
components are the same as those shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.
[0089] Incidentally, both the on-off valves #1 and #2 (22a and 23a)
are provided with their exclusive flow adjustment units #1 and #2
(25a and 26a) in the example shown in FIG. 3. However, if precise
flow setting is unnecessary, one of the on-off valves #1 and #2 can
be serially provided with the flow adjustment unit. For example,
when only the flow adjustment unit #1 (25a) is employed, the flow
of the on-off valve #1 (22a) is determined by the flow adjustment
unit #1 (25a), whereas the flow of the on-off valve #2 (23a) is
determined by the branching flow of the flow branching unit
21a.
[0090] Since the discrete flow setting unit shown in FIG. 3 in
accordance with the first embodiment employs the flow adjustment
unit for the flow setting of each on-off valve, correct flow
setting can be maintained constantly even if flow status on the
upstream side (primary side) or downstream side (secondary side) of
the on-off valve changed and thereby the primary pressure or
secondary pressure varied, for example.
[0091] Further, the flow branching unit 21a is not required to have
the flow setting function, therefore, the structure of the flow
branching unit 21a can be simplified.
[0092] Referring to FIG. 4, an example of the continuous flow
setting unit in accordance with the first embodiment will be
explained. In the drawing, reference numeral 1c denotes air (,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent) used for the hydrogen production
reaction. Although a high-pressure gas bomb containing air or
oxygen can be used as the source, FIG. 4 assumes a case where air
in the atmosphere is used directly, for the simpler purpose.
[0093] Reference numeral 31 denotes a blower. For feedback control
which will be explained later, the blower 31 whose revolving speed
can be varied by an external control signal is used. The revolving
speed of the blower 31 can be changed continuously, differently
from the combination of the on-off valves (FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3).
Here, a flow setting unit capable of changing its flow set value
continuously is generally called a "continuous flow setting unit".
The other components shown in FIG. 4 are the same as those shown in
FIG. 1.
[0094] In the following, the operation of the flow setting unit
shown in FIG. 4 will be explained. The blower 31 receives air
supply 11c from the atmosphere to supply the air 12c to the
material reforming unit 4. The amount of the supplied air has
correlation with the revolving speed of the blower 31. Therefore,
the amount of the supplied air is adjusted by controlling the
revolving speed.
[0095] The feedback unit 8 detects the temperature 104 of the
hydrogen production reaction part in the material reforming unit 4.
A thermocouple or various types of temperature sensors can be
employed for the temperature detection. It is also possible to
detect the temperature using an electrical resistance wire of a
specific length such as a platinum wire to measure the resistance
change of the resistance wire.
[0096] In the temperature detection, the temperature can be
detected at a representative point of the reaction, or the average
temperature can be detected. If a point at the highest temperature
at which oxidation progresses most is selected as the
representative point, feedback control maintaining the highest
temperature below a preset temperature can be carried out easier.
For the detection of the average temperature, a temperature sensor
of a distributed type such as the aforementioned electrical
resistance wire can be used, or it is also possible to let two or
more temperature sensors detect temperatures in parallel and let
the feedback unit 8 calculate the average temperature. In the
latter case, reference numeral 104 denotes a set of temperature
signals from the temperature sensors.
[0097] The feedback unit 8 refers to air flow information 103c
which has been set depending on the required hydrogen production
volume. The feedback unit 8 refers to the original air flow
information 103c to execute a correction process for it. In the
case shown in FIG. 4, information concerning the revolving speed of
the blower 31 which realizes the air flow can also be used directly
as the air flow information 103c. When the detected temperature 104
deviated from a preset target temperature or temperature range, the
feedback unit 8 increases or decreases the flow set value of the
continuous flow setting unit 3 according to the deviation.
[0098] The increase/decreases of the flow set value is carried out
by increasing/decreasing the revolving speed of the blower 31. In
FIG. 4, the signal 105 for the flow correction which the feedback
unit 8 outputs to the blower 31 is a revolving speed control signal
after correction.
[0099] Incidentally, it is also possible to provide a filter unit
for air purification in front of the blower 31 or after the blower
31. Thereby, stable operation of the system is realized even in
dusty environments. A dehumidifier can be provided. Thereby, it is
possible to remove water from air, so that water the amount of
which is more than a preset amount is not supplied to the material
reforming unit 4. It is also possible to provide a structure such
as a throttling structure after the blower 31 so as to control the
output flow of the blower 31.
[0100] In the continuous flow setting unit shown in FIG. 4 in
accordance with the first embodiment, the amount of the supplied
air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) can be controlled continuously
by the revolving speed control of the blower 31, so that it is
possible to carry out the flow correction to increase or decrease
the flow a little bit. Therefore, such fine flow correction can be
executed by relatively simple methods in comparison with the
discrete flow setting unit (FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3). Meanwhile, there
are cases where keeping a constant and designated flow by use of
the blower 31 is more difficult in comparison with the discrete
flow setting unit (FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3) due to turbulence etc.
However, such fluctuation and variation in accuracy can be
compensated for by the combination with the feedback unit 8.
[0101] Referring to FIG. 5, another example of the continuous flow
setting unit in accordance with the first embodiment will be
explained. In the drawing, reference numeral 32 denotes an air
compression unit for boosting air to a desired pressure. An
ordinary compressor can be used as the air compression unit 32.
There are various types of compressors such as a centrifugal
compressor which discharges air to its peripheral part by use of
centrifugal force and thereby compresses air, a rotary compressor
using a screw or rotor blades, and a reciprocating compressor using
a to-and-fro motion of a piston.
[0102] The control of discharge pressure can be done by controlling
the opening of the inlet valve or delivery valve of the compressor,
or by controlling air flow so as to decrease the air flow when the
pressure rises and to increase the air flow when the pressure
falls. The compressor may be provided with a tank at its rear end
for holding the pressure. It is also possible to use the compressor
for the purpose of increasing the air pressure to a preset pressure
and thereafter adjust the supplied air pressure by reducing outlet
pressure by, for example, changing the open-close cycle of a
blow-off valve.
[0103] Reference numeral 33 denotes a throttle provided to a pipe
after the air compression unit 32. By the provision of the throttle
33, pressure control such as boosting can be made easier for a
small-sized compression unit. The other components are the same as
those shown in FIG. 4.
[0104] In the following, the operation of the flow setting unit
shown in FIG. 5 will be explained. Air compressed by the air
compression unit 32 flows out of the throttle 33 at a preset flow
rate. The outflow of air, which is determined by pressure
difference between upstream pressure and downstream pressure of the
throttle 33, does not vary much since the downstream pressure is
opened to the reaction system.
[0105] Therefore, the downstream outflow of the throttle 33 is
almost determined by the upstream pressure of the throttle 33 (that
is, outlet pressure of the air compression unit 32). Thus, the
supplied air flow 12c to the material reforming unit 4 can be
adjusted by, for example, controlling the discharge pressure of the
compressor. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the signal 105 for the
flow correction which the feedback unit 8 outputs is a discharge
pressure control signal for the compressor. In the case where the
open-close cycle of the blow-off valve is changed for the pressure
control, the signal 105 is a signal for controlling the open-close
cycle of the blow-off valve. In both cases, the supplied air flow
is varied by varying the upstream pressure of the throttle 33.
[0106] Incidentally, even if a relatively large variation occurred
to the downstream pressure of the throttle 33, the feedback unit 8
automatically corrects the discharge pressure of the compressor,
for example, so as to maintain an air flow necessary for a preset
temperature. That is, no problem occurs in the feedback control
unless the variation of downstream pressure exceeds compression
capacity of the air compression unit 32.
[0107] According to the continuous flow setting unit shown in FIG.
5 in accordance with the first embodiment, the supply flow is
controlled through pressure, therefore, pressure drift or variation
occurring to a material supply line during the material supply can
be suppressed naturally.
[0108] For example, if the flow control is carried out so as to
maintain a preset flow, there is a possibility that in-pipe
pressure gradually increases due to compressibility of the supplied
fluid, exceeds permissible pressure of the flow setting unit, and
causes a failure. Or, disturbance such as in-pipe temperature
variation or fluctuation can cause pulsation in the in-pipe
pressure and exert ill effects on the flow setting. In the method
of this embodiment carrying out the flow control through pressure,
such phenomena can be avoided by means of ordinary control.
[0109] Referring to FIG. 6, an example of a control method of the
feedback unit in accordance with the first embodiment will be
explained. First, a flow set value (Q) is read out based on the
flow setting signal 103c supplied from the flow selection unit 6
(FIG. 1).
[0110] Subsequently, the flow set value (Q) is compared with an
initial value or a previously read flow set value to judge whether
or not there is alteration in the flow set value (process "A"). If
there is alteration in the flow set value, a preset standby time is
waited for in consideration of time necessary for stabilization of
reaction. If there is no alteration in the flow set value, it
proceeds to the next process.
[0111] Subsequently, the temperature T of the material reforming
unit 4 is read out as the signal 104. Thereafter, a correction
value concerning the blower revolving speed, the compressor
discharge pressure, etc. for the continuous flow setting unit 3 is
calculated based on the flow set value (Q) and the observed
temperature (T) (process "B").
[0112] The basic operation contents of the process "B" include the
following steps. First, a target temperature T* of the reaction is
determined depending on the flow set value (Q). The target
temperature T* can be set to a constant regardless of Q, or can be
calculated as a function of Q. If the target temperature T* varies
in a complex manner depending on Q, an additional storage unit can
be provided outside to store it.
[0113] Subsequently, a temperature difference .DELTA.T=T*-T between
the target temperature T* and the observed temperature T is
calculated. Then, a correction value .DELTA.Q of the air flow which
is necessary for compensating for the temperature difference
.DELTA.T is obtained. The correction values .DELTA.Q are
preliminarily determined for each temperature difference .DELTA.T,
based on experiments with various .DELTA.T, for example. Storage of
the correction values .DELTA.Q can be done employing a function, a
map, interpolation, etc. If necessary, an additional storage unit
can also be used.
[0114] Subsequently, a correction value concerning the blower
revolving speed, the compressor discharge pressure, etc.
corresponding to the correction value .DELTA.Q is obtained. The
correction values are preliminarily determined for each correction
value .DELTA.Q, based on experiments with various .DELTA.Q, for
example. Storage of the correction values can be done similarly to
the storage of the correction values .DELTA.Q.
[0115] At the end of the process "B", the obtained correction value
is added to the value before correction, and thereby a value after
correction (105) is obtained. At the end of the whole control
process, the value after correction (105) is outputted to the
continuous flow setting unit 3 as a new blower revolving speed, a
new compressor discharge pressure, etc. Thereafter, the above
control process is executed repeatedly.
[0116] The example shown in FIG. 6 has the features of the integral
control (I-control) in which the correction value is calculated
based on the temperature difference .DELTA.T and the addition of
the correction values is repeated. However, it is of course
possible to employ other control methods as the process "B".
[0117] For example, when it has the features of the proportional
control (P-control), the corrected flow set value (Q) is calculated
based on the temperature difference .DELTA.T, and thereby a value
of the corresponding blower revolving speed, compressor discharge
pressure, or the like is obtained as the instruction value. In this
case, the successive addition of the correction values is not
executed.
[0118] As an example, the correction value .DELTA.Q for the flow
set value Q can be set proportionally to the temperature difference
.DELTA.T. By this method, the correction value .DELTA.Q
(.varies..DELTA.T) is added to the flow set value Q while .DELTA.T
is not zero. However, when .DELTA.T is zero, .DELTA.Q also becomes
zero. Thereby, the flow set value can be restored to the initial
value Q of the case where there's no external perturbation or
fluctuation.
[0119] When reaction fluctuation due to external perturbation etc.
is small, the proportional control, which can be carried out
easily, is desirable. On the other hand, when reaction fluctuation
due to external perturbation exists, a steady-state deviation might
occur to the supply flow value for realizing the preset
temperature. In order to eliminate the steady-state deviation, the
integral control is preferable. When the hydrogen production
reaction is relatively stable but external perturbation can not be
neglected, it is also possible to combine the P-control and the
I-control.
[0120] In FIG. 7, an example of a feedback control flow in which
the P-control and the I-control are combined is shown. Relative
variations in the supplied air volume and the temperature in the
case where the operation mode of the hydrogen producing device is
switched according to FIG. 6 are also shown. While switching from a
middle-load mode to a high-load mode is shown in the example shown
in FIG. 7, the feedback control can also be applied to switching
between other modes.
[0121] The supplied air volume changes in a step-like manner by the
mode switching. Thereafter, feedback control is started after
waiting for a certain standby time for the stabilization of
reaction. At the point in time, if the representative temperature
of the reactor has not reached a target temperature, the supplied
air volume is corrected by dQair as shown in FIG. 7 as the effect
of the feedback control. By the temporary increase of the air flow,
the temperature rise is accelerated. Thereby, the time necessary
for the mode switching can be shortened. Thereafter, when the
representative temperature of the reactor approaches the target
temperature, the correction value dQair diminishes gradually.
[0122] In the above feedback control, the temperature difference
.DELTA.T between the target temperature T*, which has previously
been determined corresponding to each operation mode, and the
observed temperature T (representative temperature of the reactor)
is normalized with respect to the target temperature T*, and a
multiplication by a feedback gain "Gain 1" which corresponds to the
proportional control, and a multiplication of an integrated value
by a feedback gain "Gain 2" which corresponds to the integral
control are carried out in parallel, and thereafter, the correction
value dQair is obtained by adding the multiplication results
together. The correction value dQair is added to an air flow Qair
before correction to determine the supplied air volume. The above
process is repeated at preset control time intervals.
[0123] Here, even if the temperature started fluctuating due to
fluctuation in the supplied material flows etc., the temperature
can be restored stably by increasing/decreasing the supplied air
flow so as to cancel out the fluctuation. If the reaction is
relatively stable, the correction can be carried out using the
proportional control and the integral control as main control and
auxiliary correction control, respectively. Concretely, Gain
1>Gain 2. On the other hand, if the reactor is very unstable, it
can be carried out mainly using the integral control.
[0124] In the case where the integral control is used mainly, if
the deviation to be corrected by the control is too large, the
change in the supplied air flow might become too large, so that the
reaction might get into an unstable state. For such cases, it is
also possible to set upper/lower limits to the correction value
dQair and neglect variations outside the range, thereby the control
can be carried out in a stable reaction range only. Such
upper/lower limits can be selected previously by conducting
experiments, simulations, etc. so as to reflect the characteristics
of the reactor.
[0125] As another method for carrying out the control in a stable
reaction range only, it is also possible to reset the supply flow
at preset time intervals or each time when a predetermined
temperature condition etc. is satisfied. According to this method,
the ill effects due to error accumulation in the flow correction
calculation can be avoided even in long-term continuous operation.
In addition to the PI-control, if there's enough processing power
in reserve, a general PID control or other control methods can also
be employed.
[0126] Incidentally, the process "A" shown in FIG. 6 can also be
omitted depending on the characteristics of the material reforming
unit 4. While the flow set value (Q) and the observed temperature
(T) can also be read out simultaneously at some appropriate point
in time.
[0127] While the process "B" shown in FIG. 6 has been described as
being composed of several individual steps in order to clarify
basic contents of the control, all or part of the process "B" can
also be executed at one time by, for example, preparing a function
or map data to be used for obtaining and outputting a corrected
value depending on the flow set value (Q) and the observed
temperature (T), directly obtaining a corrected value from .DELTA.T
not via .DELTA.Q, etc.
[0128] In addition, the observed value which is indicated by the
signal 104 is not limited to the temperature of the material
reforming unit 4, but can also be other information such as the
output of a specific gas sensor, that characterizes the status of
hydrogen production.
[0129] Further, the feedback unit 8 does not necessarily have to
output the corrected value in every control cycle shown in FIG. 6.
As one method, the result can also be outputted after repeating the
correction operation for a preset number of times. In this case,
since the correction result is outputted after being added together
for the preset number of times, alteration of the flow set value
can be done correctly even when small correction results are
rounded down and omitted due to coarse resolution of the continuous
flow setting unit. It is also possible to adjust the time interval
of the flow set value outputs to the continuous flow setting unit 3
by adjusting the number of the repeated correction operations.
[0130] As another method, it is also possible to output the flow
set value every preset time interval, independently of the
repetition of the correction process. In this case, the result of
each correction process is stored and updated in each execution of
the correction process. When the set value is outputted, the result
of the correction process stored at the point in time is read out
and outputted, thereby the alteration of the flow can be carried
out at fixed time intervals independently of time necessary for
each correction process.
[0131] As a still other method, the control method of the feedback
unit can be carried out in a hardware-like manner other than in the
software-like manner described above. As an example, the valve
opening of the air supply system can be controlled by use of
deformation of a material that changes its shape depending on
temperature, such as a bimetal. In other words, by letting the air
supply channel be opened/closed according to the rise/fall of the
temperature, the feedback control can be carried out by the flow
correction using hardware so as to reduce the temperature
variation.
[0132] According to the control method shown in FIG. 6 in
accordance with the first embodiment, the feedback control can be
carried out with relatively simple operations since the control
method basically employs the control based on the difference
between the observed value and the target value. Further, since the
control method features the integral control in which the
correction value is added up successively, steady-state deviation
can be avoided after temporary or abrupt fluctuations. Therefore,
the original control value can be regained stably.
[0133] The flow set values of the discrete flow setting unit in
accordance with the present invention are set to the optimum values
regardless of the presence or absence of fluctuations, and the flow
set value of the continuous flow setting unit can stably be
restored to the original control value after temporary or abrupt
fluctuation by means of the above control method. Therefore, by the
combination of the discrete flow setting unit and the continuous
flow setting unit, instability of the reaction occurring
temporarily or abruptly due to internal/external factors can be
coped with properly and correctly.
[0134] Incidentally, while the control method for attaining and
maintaining the preset target temperature has been explained in the
example shown in FIG. 6, it is also possible to give a certain
width to the target temperature. That is, the control method can
also be carried out so as to maintain the reaction temperature
within a preset temperature range.
[0135] Referring to FIG. 8, a method for calculating .DELTA.Q in
the case where the control is carried out so as to maintain the
reaction temperature within a preset temperature range will be
explained. In the drawing, straight line {circle over (1)}
corresponds to the control method explained referring to FIG.
6.
[0136] According to straight line {circle over (1)}, when the
temperature difference (.DELTA.T=T*-T) between the target
temperature T* and the observed temperature T is positive
(.DELTA.T>0), the air flow is increased (.DELTA.Q>0) so as to
raise the temperature. Thereby, the oxidation reaction in the
material reforming unit 4 is accelerated. On the other hand, when
the temperature difference .DELTA.T is decreased (.DELTA.T<0),
the air flow is decreased (.DELTA.Q<0) so as to lower the
temperature. Thereby, the oxidation reaction is decelerated. The
relationship of line {circle over (1)} is of course not necessarily
required to be linear.
[0137] Meanwhile, in the case of polygonal line {circle over (2)},
.DELTA.Q is set to "0" and no correction is executed in a preset
temperature range T.sub.b. For the positive or negative temperature
difference .DELTA.T out of the temperature range T.sub.b, .DELTA.Q
is increased or decreased to control the temperature similarly to
the case of line {circle over (1)}. When temperature fluctuation
easily occurs at a part as the target of temperature control, fine
and minute control becomes necessary in order to attain and
maintain the preset target temperature precisely. Further, the
temperature control might become difficult when there's a serious
delay in the reaction. However, by giving the target temperature a
certain width, the difficulty in the control is relieved, so that
stable control can be realized with a relatively simple method.
[0138] According to the control method shown in FIG. 8 in
accordance with the first embodiment, the temperature control can
be carried out giving a certain width to the preset target
temperature. Thereby, stable temperature control can be carried out
for an exothermic reaction part etc. where the temperature easily
becomes unstable.
[0139] An example of the material reforming unit and the power
generation unit in accordance with the first embodiment will be
explained referring to FIG. 9. In the drawing, reference numeral 41
denotes a pretreatment unit for conducting the pretreatment of
materials necessary for the hydrogen production. For mixing water,
which is supplied in a state of liquid, with methane and air which
are supplied in states of gas, the water can be sprayed directly
into the high-temperature reaction environment, however, the mixing
sometimes gets easier by previously vaporizing the water. In some
cases, the catalytic oxidation reaction of methane is accelerated
by preheating and rising the temperature of the methane. The
pretreatment unit 41 adjusts the statuses of such materials if
necessary.
[0140] When methane containing a sulfuric compound as odorant, air
containing a high concentration of car exhaust gas, etc. are used
as the materials, it is preferable that the sulfur content in the
odorant or the exhaust gas should be removed by the pretreatment
unit 41. Therefore, the pretreatment unit 41 performs
desulfurization of the supplied materials by maintaining a
desulfurizing catalyst in a reactive state, for example. Although
not shown in FIG. 8, the vaporization of a liquid material, the
preheating of a material, the desulfurization of methane containing
odorant, and the desulfurization of air containing exhaust gas can
be carried out separately and independent in the pretreatment unit
41. Components for conducting such processes are put together in
the pretreatment unit 41.
[0141] Reference numeral 42 denotes a reforming unit which causes a
specific chemical reaction by use of the pretreated supplied
materials to produce hydrogen-rich gas. When methane, water and
oxygen are used as the materials, the aforementioned specific
chemical reaction includes two reactions: a steam reforming
reaction shown in Formula (1) and an oxidation reaction shown in
Formula (2).
[0142] Although the steam reforming reaction (Formula (1)) is a
reaction for generating hydrogen from methane, it is an endothermic
reaction. Therefore, the steam reforming reaction requires another
exothermic reaction or heating from outside. The oxidation reaction
(Formula (2)) is an exothermic reaction using methane as a
material, and can be used as a heat source for maintaining the
reaction temperature. The concentration of hydrogen produced by the
reaction varies depending on equilibrium gas composition of the
reaction. The equilibrium gas composition varies depending on
temperature. High reaction temperature is desirable for obtaining
high hydrogen concentration.
CH.sub.4+H.sub.2O.fwdarw.3H.sub.2+CO-205 kJ/mol (1)
CH.sub.4+2O.sub.2.fwdarw.CO.sub.2+2H.sub.2O+802 kJ/mol (2)
[0143] The reaction temperature in the case where methane, water
and air are used as the materials should be set at 600.degree.
C.-800.degree. C., for example. The heat of reaction shown in
Formulas (1) and (2) changes depending on conditions such as the
reaction temperature. Standard values are shown in the Formulas. It
is the same in the following formulas.
[0144] The oxidation reaction progresses faster than the steam
reforming reaction. Therefore, by controlling the amount of the
supplied air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent), the oxidation reaction
can be controlled quickly, and consequently, the heating value can
be controlled.
[0145] In the combined reforming method (autothermal reforming
method), the two reactions are thermally balanced with each other
and the temperature necessary for the reactions is maintained
autonomously, therefore, the aforementioned temperature control is
especially important. The two reactions are not necessarily
required to progress at the same place. There are cases where
interaction between the reactions can properly be reduced and each
reaction can be carried out stably by positionally separating the
two reactions from each other.
[0146] For example, it is possible to let the methane oxidation
reaction generate heat at the front part of reaction (the upstream
side in the material flow) and let the heat be transferred to the
rear part of reaction (the downstream side in the material flow) so
as to cause a specific endothermic reaction. The heat transfer
includes convection heat transfer by mass transfer, and conduction
heat transfer through the catalytic agent. For improving the
efficiency of the heat transfer, the exothermic reaction part and
the endothermic reaction part can be placed adjacent to each other
via a wall having high heat transfer efficiency such as a metal
wall. Incidentally, the reactions of Formulas (1) and (2) are
representative reaction paths, and thus actual reactions may
include other reactions.
[0147] Reference numeral 43 denotes a post-treatment unit for
reducing or removing harmful gas, which is harmful to the operation
of the system, from gas that is inevitably generated as the result
of the specific chemical reaction. For example, carbon monoxide
generated in the specific chemical reaction sometimes deteriorates
an electrode catalyst of the power generation unit 5 such as a fuel
cell. Therefore, the concentration of the carbon monoxide is
reduced by use of an equilibrium reaction (shift reaction) shown in
Formula (3), or the carbon monoxide is removed by adding air (,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent) again and causing oxidation reaction.
Each of such reactions can be caused by a catalytic reaction in
practical use. 1
[0148] In each of the pretreatment unit 41, the reforming unit 42
and the post-treatment unit 43, a catalytic agent suitable for each
specific reaction is installed. For example, in the reforming-unit
42, noble metal catalysts such as platinum-based catalysts and
palladium-based catalysts can be used for the exothermic reaction
by oxidation, and nickel-based catalysts can be used for the
endothermic reaction by steam reforming. In the post-treatment unit
43, copper-zinc-based catalysts can be used for the reduction or
removal of carbon monoxide. For the use of such catalysts, the
catalysts can be formed in the shape of pellets by kneading, or can
be held in pellets, or can be applied on a honeycomb or metal
plate.
[0149] Reference numeral 44 denotes a thermal-control unit for
transferring heat among the parts of the material reforming unit 4
and improving thermal efficiency. Reference numeral 15 denotes dump
hydrogen from the power generation unit 5 or off gas including the
dump hydrogen, which is supplied as a heat source of the
thermal-control unit 44. Reference numeral 16 denotes materials or
thermal energy which is supplied from outside and is also used as a
heat source of the thermal-control unit 44.
[0150] The materials or thermal energy 16 supplied from outside can
be new fuel for a burner such as methane for combustion only, water
vapor supplied from outside or inside the system for recovering and
outputting heat by use of a heat exchanger, or electric energy for
driving an easily controlled electric heater. They can be changed
depending on-the type of the thermal-control unit 44.
[0151] As the thermal-control unit 44, a burner, a heat exchanger,
an electric heater, etc. can be used. Metallic materials having
high thermal conductivity or heat pipes can also be employed for
equalizing the heat of reaction. Of course, it is also possible to
combine the above various types.
[0152] The material reforming unit 4 is constructed by combining
the pretreatment unit 41, the reforming unit 42, the post-treatment
unit 43 and the thermal-control unit 44. Especially, by the
provision of the thermal-control unit 44 capable of controlling the
components of the material reforming unit 4 transversely,
temperature control for each component is made easier and thermal
efficiency is improved.
[0153] Reference numeral 51 denotes a DC-to-AC conversion unit for
converting the electrical output 14 generated by the power
generation unit 5 from a direct current into an alternating
current. An inverter can be used as the DC-to-AC conversion unit
51. Reference numeral 17 denotes the alternating output obtained by
the DC-to-AC conversion, and 52 denotes an electric power storage
unit. A lithium-based secondary cell etc. capable of storing and
discharging electricity can be used as the electric power storage
unit 52. Reference numeral 18 denotes dump electric power from the
power generation unit 5.
[0154] While no means or position for the temperature detection is
specified in FIG. 9, the aforementioned thermocouple or various
temperature sensors are provided, for example, in the vicinity of
the exothermic reaction part of the reforming unit 42.
[0155] In the following, the operation of the material reforming
unit and the power generation unit in accordance with the first
embodiment will be explained. The materials 12 supplied to the
material reforming unit 4 are first pretreated by the pretreatment
unit 41. In the pretreatment unit 41, vaporization of liquid
material is conducted if necessary, preheating of material is
conducted if necessary for accelerating the methane oxidation
reaction etc., and pretreatment such as desulfurization is
conducted if harmful elements have to be removed.
[0156] Subsequently, the materials are reformed by the reforming
unit 42 into hydrogen-rich gas by use of a specific chemical
reaction such as the reactions represented by Formulas (1) and (2).
Thereafter, harmful gas such as carbon monoxide that is harmful to
the system is reduced or removed by the post-treatment unit 43 by
use of catalytic reactions.
[0157] Meanwhile, the thermal-control unit 44 supplies with heat
necessary for the reactions of the pretreatment unit 41, the
reforming unit 42 and the post-treatment unit 43, or auxiliary
heat, and carries out the heat recovery and heat redistribution if
necessary. For example, the thermal-control unit 44 supplies
auxiliary heat to the endothermic reaction part of the reforming
unit 42, recovers a part of heat emitted from the exothermic
reaction part, and thereby prevents local temperature rise.
Thereby, the local temperature rise is prevented, so that a desired
reaction temperature profile is obtained.
[0158] The output gas 13 from the material reforming unit 4 is
supplied to the power generation unit 5 such as a fuel cell. The
output 14 of the power generation unit 5 is converted by the
DC-to-AC conversion unit 51 into an alternating form which is
generally easy to use, and is outputted as the electrical output
17. If there is dump electric power 18 (an excess of electric
power) as a result of the power generation, the dump electric power
18 is stored in the electric power storage unit 52. The electric
power stored in the electric power storage unit 52 is outputted and
used when the power generation unit 5 is started up, when the
demand for electric power rapidly increased, etc.
[0159] While the combination of methane, water and air has been
shown as the supplied materials in the first embodiment, the
supplied materials can be altered depending on a hydrogen
production method employed by the material reforming unit 4. For
example, when methanol, water and oxygen are used as the supplied
materials, the specific chemical reaction employed by the reforming
unit 42 includes a steam reforming reaction (endothermic reaction)
shown in Formula (4) and a partial oxidation reaction (exothermic
reaction) shown in Formula (5).
CH.sub.3OH+H.sub.2O.fwdarw.3H.sub.2+CO.sub.2-61 kJ/mol (4)
CH.sub.3OH+1/2 O.sub.2.fwdarw.2H.sub.2+CO.sub.2+184 kJ/mol (5)
[0160] According to the combined reforming method (autothermal
reforming method) which balances the two reactions, temperature
necessary for the reactions can be maintained autonomously.
[0161] In this case, if an aqueous solution (water solution) of
methanol of a specific concentration is directly used as the
materials other than the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent), the
supply of liquid materials can be equalized and thus it is
desirable for the reaction. The methanol water solution can be
produced by mixing methanol and water, which are supplied in preset
flows, together when the methanol water solution becomes necessary
in the material reforming unit 4, or it is also possible to prepare
a methanol water solution of a specific concentration and to store
the solution previously. In the latter case, adaptation to various
hydrogen production conditions becomes difficult since the mixture
ratio between methanol and water can not be changed. However, one
of the material supply lines can be omitted, so that the
construction of the device can be simplified.
[0162] Incidentally, in reaction statuses where oxidation reaction
for generating heat is weak, the thermal-control unit 44 can be
used as an auxiliary heat source. The thermal-control unit 44 is
capable of supplying necessary heat to the reforming unit 42 in
order to support the temperature control being carried out by means
of the flow correction of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent).
[0163] In this case, the feedback control for the flow of the air
(, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) which has been explained referring
to FIG. 1 is only required adjustment or control of the amount of
heat that can not be afforded by the heat supply. In this heat
supply, it is also possible to change the supply amount of heat by
referring to the signal 103c from the flow selection unit 6 and the
signal 105 from the feedback unit 8.
[0164] According to the material reforming unit and the power
generation unit shown in FIG. 9 in accordance with the first
embodiment, both hardware and software necessary for the material
supply system can be simplified while correctly maintaining desired
reaction temperature, thereby a low-cost fuel cell power generation
system can be provided.
[0165] This fuel cell power generation system is applicable to a
distributed power source for home use; a distributed industrial
power source for a hotel, a convenience store, etc.; a car-mounted
power source; a portable power source to be used in disaster
situations; etc., depending on power generation performance of the
system. Since costs can be cut down while maintaining necessary
features for practical use, a wide propagation of the technique is
expected.
[0166] By combining the discrete flow setting unit explained
referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3, the continuous flow setting unit
explained referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the control method for the
feedback unit explained referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, and the
material reforming unit and the power generation unit explained
referring to FIG. 9, the first embodiment of the present invention
can be operated efficiently. Thereby, device cost reduction in the
material supply system and maintenance/stabilizatio- n of the
hydrogen production accuracy can both be attained.
[0167] In the following, a second embodiment of the present
invention will be described. FIGS. 10A and 10B are explanatory
drawings of a hydrogen producing device in accordance with the
second embodiment. FIG. 10A shows a discrete flow setting unit
capable of executing n1-step flow setting. The discrete flow
setting unit employs the same structure as that shown in FIG. 3,
that is, a case where n1=4 is shown.
[0168] FIG. 10B shows a continuous flow setting unit capable of
setting the flow in at least n2 levels. In the drawing, reference
numeral 34 denotes a blower used under a constant revolving speed.
The blower 34 supplies atmospheric air 1c to the following stages.
Reference numeral 35 denotes a flow control valve, in which the
opening angle of a butterfly valve can be controlled, for example.
The flow control valve 35 is placed after the
constant-revolving-speed blower 34 and executes the multilevel flow
control.
[0169] Such structure combining a blower and a valve in series is
not necessarily new as cited in JP-A-11-317234. However, in this
embodiment, the flow control valve 35 is provided in order to carry
out the multiple-level flow setting instead of the aforementioned
continuous control such as the continuous blower revolving speed
control.
[0170] In the second embodiment, the signal 105 for flow correction
is a signal for controlling the valve opening of the flow control
valve 35. It is assumed that the opening of the flow control valve
35 is controlled in n2 steps, as mentioned above. The other
components are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1-9.
[0171] In the following, the operation of the hydrogen producing
device in accordance with the second embodiment will be explained.
It is similar to the example in accordance with the first
embodiment shown in FIG. 3 in that an n1-step discrete flow setting
unit, especially, the flow setting unit in which two on-off valves
are placed in parallel is used for each supplied material other
than the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent).
[0172] The second embodiment is characterized by the flow setting
unit for the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) whose flow setting
is discretized into n2 steps. The flow of the supplied air (,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent) is varied and controlled by switching
the flow set value among the n2 steps.
[0173] For the flow correction control by the feedback unit 8 for
the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent), it is preferable that n2
should be set at least larger than n1. If the condition n2>n1 is
not satisfied, the precision of the feedback flow correction
becomes the same as the original precision by flow switching,
thereby proper correction against temporary or abrupt temperature
fluctuation etc. becomes difficult.
[0174] If n2 is set as n2=n1 for example, the number of the steps
of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) supply volume becomes as
small as the number of steps of the operation mode switching.
Therefore, the air supply volume can not be increased over an air
supply volume necessary for an operation mode in which the air (,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent) supply volume becomes maximum. In other
words, if the temperature dropped due to external perturbation in
the operation mode, the temperature can not be regained by
increasing the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) supply volume. By
setting n2 as n2=n1+1 so that the air supply volume can be
increased over the air supply volume necessary for the operation
mode in which-the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) supply volume
becomes maximum, the above problem can be resolved.
[0175] Of course, if the influence of the temperature variation in
the operation mode is very small because of remarkable stability of
the target hydrogen producing device in the high-temperature range,
ill effects of the setting n2=n1 are small. The number of the steps
of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) supply volume can be
varied depending on the characteristics and required precision of
the reactor. However, the condition n2>n1 can be regarded as a
proper condition for ordinary hydrogen producing devices.
[0176] Incidentally, when the temperature has to be dropped in the
above operation mode and if we assume that n1=4, the air (, oxygen,
or oxidizing agent) supply volume may be temporarily reduced by
switching to another air supply volume for a lower operation mode
which requires one or more steps smaller air supply volume. Such
control corresponds to a case where the continuous flow setting is
approximately applied.
[0177] The flow setting for the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent)
is executed as follows. The blower 34 maintains a constant
revolving speed and supplies an almost constant amount of air (,
oxygen, or oxidizing agent) to the flow control valve 35. The flow
control valve 35 controls the flow by varying the butterfly valve
opening. That is, when the valve opening is changed from the valve
opening "1" shown in the drawing to the valve opening "n2", the
flow can be changed from approximately zero to a maximum flow (full
throttle).
[0178] The flow changes in a step-like manner due to the step-like
valve opening control. While valve opening increment between each
adjacent two steps are set constant in the example of FIG. 10B for
the sake of simple explanation, it is also possible to actually
measure the relationship between the valve opening and real flow to
determine a proper opening angle for each step. Thereby, influence
of pressure variation at upstream side of the control valve can be
absorbed, for example.
[0179] When the supply of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) is
stopped, it is desirable that the revolving speed of the blower 34
should be set to zero. A leak in the stopping state easily occurs
in the butterfly valve, however, the supply of air 11c can be
reduced to zero almost perfectly by closing the valve (setting to
position "1" shown in FIG. 10B) along with setting the revolving
speed of the blower 34 to zero.
[0180] In FIGS. 10A and 10B, it is shown the case where the opening
angle of the continuously controlled valve is discretely set.
However, it is also possible to employ a valve in which the valve
opening inherently changes only in the step-like manner, or an
open/close mechanism that implements the step-like change.
[0181] In addition, the flow control valve employing the butterfly
valve can also be replaced with other means. For example, when a
pinch valve or a needle valve is used, the n2-step discrete flow
setting is realized by changing effective channel cross section of
the valve. When a governor is used, the n2-step discrete flow
setting can be realized by changing the reference pressure for the
pressure control of the governor, or by changing effective channel
cross section of an internal decompression unit.
[0182] According to the second embodiment described above, the flow
setting of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) which requires
the feedback control is discretized into n2 steps, thereby flow
setting by use of a digital control unit such as a microcomputer
can be made simpler and easier. Digitization generally enables the
construction of a high-performance system at a low cost.
[0183] The precision of the feedback control explained in the first
embodiment is not impaired much by setting the number n2 at least
larger than or preferably, sufficiently larger than the flow
setting step number n1 of the discrete flow setting unit (n1=4 in
the practical example).
[0184] FIG. 11 is an explanatory drawing of a hydrogen producing
device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present
invention. The third embodiment is characterized in that each of
the supplied materials 12a, 12b and 12c is supplied in-pulse-like
patterns. That is, each material is supplied for time T2a, T2b or
T2c every supply period T1.
[0185] In FIG. 11, the signal 105 for the flow correction outputted
by the feedback unit 8 is a signal for controlling the flow pulse
width T2c concerning the supply of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent). The other composition is the same as that shown in FIG.
1.
[0186] In the following, the operation of the hydrogen producing
device in accordance with the third embodiment will be explained.
The pulse-like material supply is realized by, for example,
controlling on-off time of an on-off valve. As an example, on-off
valves are provided to the supply lines for the air (, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent) and other materials, and the supply lines are
opened by the on-off valves for time T2a, T2b and T2c every supply
period T1, respectively.
[0187] The heights of the pulses (flow set values) are set so that
average flows of the supplied materials during time T1 matches with
a set of set values given by the flow selection unit 6 (FIG. 1).
When the set values are changed due to alteration of the required
hydrogen production volume, the pulse widths T2a, T2b and T2c are
changed without changing the pulse heights. Therefore, it is not
necessary to combine two or more on-off valves, and only the on-off
time of the on-off valve may be controlled. Especially, for the
pulse width T2c for the supply of the air (, oxygen, or oxidizing
agent), the on-off time can be changed continuously according to
the signal 105, thereby the temperature correction control can be
carried out similarly to the first embodiment.
[0188] Incidentally, if the supply period T1 can be shortened
enough, switching control that is substantially the same as the
continuous supply control can be realized. However, in
consideration of mechanical properties or the operating life of the
on-off valve, the supply period T1 can not be shortened like that
in some cases. In such cases, pulsation or fluctuation might occur
in the amount of the output gas from the material reforming unit 4.
However, such pulsation or fluctuation can be absorbed and reduced
by providing a hydrogen storage unit (buffer tank) after the
material reforming unit 4, as will be explained later in an
embodiment shown in FIG. 13.
[0189] In addition, while the common supply period T1 is set for
all the supplied materials and pulse phases for the materials are
synchronized in FIG. 11, they can also be varied for each material.
By the adjustment of the pulse phases, the supply timing for each
material can be adjusted so as to realize optimum mixing of the
materials for the reaction. Of course, efficiency of the reaction
deteriorates if the supply timing for each material is shifted too
much.
[0190] Furthermore, it is also possible to simultaneously change
the flow of each on-off valve in addition to the change of on-off
time of each on-off valve. Such control corresponds to the change
of both the pulse width and the pulse height. Such control can be
implemented by, for example, controlling the on-off time of each of
the on-off valves connected in parallel. Thereby, finer flow
control becomes possible.
[0191] According to the third embodiment explained above, the flow
setting/correction can be carried out only by changing the on-off
time of the on-off valve such as a solenoid valve, which is
provided to each supply system, without the need of combining the
on-off valves as a discrete flow setting unit or providing an
additional continuous flow setting unit. Therefore, it has a
significant effect with regard to the simplification of
hardware.
[0192] Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, another control method for
the hydrogen producing device in accordance with the third
embodiment will be explained. In FIG. 12A, an ordinary
material-supply state is shown. In the ordinary material-supply
state, a preset average flow is set by use of the material supply
period T1 and the flow pulse width T2.
[0193] In FIG. 12B, the pulse width correction conducted in a
transient response state is shown. For example, when the hydrogen
production volume is increased, the pulse width is increased from
T2 to T3 in order to increase the supplied material volume
according to the output of the flow select-ion unit 6.
[0194] The flow is temporarily increased up to T2' (>T3) in
response to the change of the required hydrogen production volume.
Thereby, fast convergence to the target hydrogen production volume
is realized. On the other hand, when the flow is decreased, T2' is
temporarily set smaller than T3.
[0195] The correction values for calculating T2' can previously be
stored in the storage unit 7 (FIG. 1) depending on the pulse widths
before and after the pulse width alteration. In the case shown in
FIGS. 12A and 12B, the correction value can be obtained based on
the original pulse width T2 and the pulse width T3 after the
alteration. The series of processes for altering the pulse width
according to the required hydrogen production volume alteration
instruction can be carried out by the flow selection unit 6.
[0196] Incidentally, while the correction process shown in FIGS.
12A and 12B is conducted for only one supply period, the correction
can also be done for two or more supply periods. It is also
possible to change the correction value minutely during the two or
more supply periods. The number of supply periods for executing the
correction can previously be stored in the storage unit 7. The
settings for the alteration can be carried out by the flow
selection unit 6.
[0197] In addition, the correction value can also be varied
depending on the supply period T1. It is also possible to change a
plurality of supply periods T1 previously stored to the storage
unit 7. Furthermore, the transient material supply method shown in
FIGS. 12A and 12B can be applied not only to air (, oxygen, or
oxidizing agent) but also to the other materials.
[0198] According to the control method shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B
in accordance with the third embodiment, the material-supply time
is controlled depending on the alteration of the required hydrogen
production volume. Thereby, the transient response and the
compliance with the alteration of the required hydrogen production
volume can be improved.
[0199] Referring to FIG. 13, an example of a material reforming
unit and a power generation unit in accordance with a fourth
embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In the
drawing, reference numeral 4a and 4b both denote material reforming
units. The material reforming units are discriminated by reference
characters "#1" and "#2". The number of the material reforming
units can be more than two, however, two material reforming units
are shown in FIG. 13 as representatives.
[0200] Reference numeral 9 denotes a hydrogen storage unit (buffer
tank). The hydrogen storage unit 9 is a container in which
hydrogen-rich gas is packed. The hydrogen storage unit 9 can be
formed by simply spreading the capacity of a pipe, connecting a
tank to a pipe in series, etc. It is also possible to add a
compressor and an on-off valve to the tank for the temporary
storage of the output gas. As for the storage of the output gas,
gas inflow/outflow to/from the hydrogen storage unit 9 can be
controlled by monitoring the internal pressure of the hydrogen
storage unit (buffer tank) 9 or monitoring the load on the power
generation unit 5. It is important that the hydrogen storage unit 9
is capable of functioning as a passive or active lowpass filter for
the flow.
[0201] Reference numeral 91 denotes an auxiliary hydrogen supply
unit for the hydrogen storage unit 9. For hydrogen storage by the
hydrogen supply unit 91, hydrogen storage materials such as
hydrogen storage alloy or carbon nanotubes can be used. When such
hydrogen storage materials are used, a unit for outputting and
inputting hydrogen such as a heating unit for releasing hydrogen
stored in the carbon nanotubes is provided as part of the hydrogen
supply unit 91. The hydrogen supply unit 91 itself can be the
hydrogen producing device.
[0202] Reference numeral 92 denotes a hydrogen selection unit for
purifying dump hydrogen which is outputted from the power
generation unit 5 after the power generation. For example,
palladium-based membranes are known to be selectively permeable by
hydrogen. The other components are the same as those shown in FIG.
9.
[0203] In the following, the operation of the material reforming
unit and the power generation unit in accordance with the fourth
embodiment will be explained. First, at least one of the material
reforming units 4a and 4b receives supplied materials 121 and 122
to produce hydrogen-rich gas.
[0204] The plurality of material reforming units can be controlled
their operation separately or in the same way. In the former case,
it is possible to let one of the material reforming units perform
the base load operation constantly and let a necessary number of
other material reforming units start operating when the required
hydrogen production volume increases. By such control, the
operation of the hydrogen producing device minimizing waste can be
realized while widening the dynamic range of the hydrogen
production volume. In the latter case, the amounts of the supplied
materials 121 and 122 are controlled in the same way. Thereby, the
control can be executed easier while widening the dynamic range of
the hydrogen production volume.
[0205] The hydrogen-rich gas is first led to the hydrogen storage
unit (buffer tank) 9 before being supplied to the power generation
unit 5 such as a fuel cell. The hydrogen supply unit 91 supplies
hydrogen in an auxiliary manner when failure occurred to the
material reforming unit 4a or 4b, when the hydrogen production
volume is too short, when the hydrogen producing device is started
up, etc.
[0206] When a tank structure is employed for the hydrogen storage
unit (buffer tank) 9, the tank structure itself functions as a
passive lowpass filter for the flow. When gas inflow/outflow is
controlled by feedback control as explained above, the tank
structure also functions as an active lowpass filter for canceling
out flow pulsation. In short, by the provision of the hydrogen
storage unit (buffer tank) 9, the effect of flow pulsation can be
reduced even when the pulsation occurred in the gas flow. The
hydrogen supply unit 91 is an auxiliary means and thus can be
omitted if unnecessary.
[0207] The power generation unit 5 such as a fuel cell receives the
hydrogen-rich gas 13 from the hydrogen storage unit 9 to perform
the power generation. Generally, off-gas after power generation
contains residual hydrogen, therefore, the off-gas is returned to
the hydrogen storage unit 9 through the hydrogen selection unit 92.
By use of the hydrogen selection unit 92, gas containing a high
concentration of hydrogen can be returned to the hydrogen storage
unit 9. The off-gas can of course be used for other purposes,
therefore, the reflux of the off-gas to the hydrogen storage unit 9
can also be omitted. The electrical output obtained as the result
of the power generation is converted similarly to the case shown in
FIG. 9 to be used.
[0208] Incidentally, it is also possible to provide the hydrogen
storage unit (buffer tank) 9 in parallel with the output gas flow
of the material reforming units 4a and 4b. By connecting a boosting
unit such as a compressor, an on-off valve, a buffer tank, and an
outlet on-off valve to the parallel piping section one by one, the
increase of the hydrogen storage capacity can be attained without
disturbing the main stream of output gas.
[0209] It is also possible to further provide hydrogen storage
materials such as hydrogen storage alloy or carbon nanotubes inside
the buffer tank, and add a unit (heating unit, for example) for
outputting/inputting hydrogen from/to the hydrogen storage
materials.
[0210] The on-off control of the inlet/outlet on-off valves of the
parallel piping section can be executed effectively by, for
example, monitoring the load on the power generation unit 5,
releasing hydrogen when the load increased, and storing hydrogen
when the load is stable and low. The pulsation reduction effect for
the output gas from the material reforming unit is not impaired if
a structure functioning as a lowpass filter for the flow such as an
in-pipe space or a tank is provided in the main stream of the
output gas.
[0211] According to the fourth embodiment, time variability of the
amount of the output gas from the material reforming unit can be
absorbed and relieved by the provision of the hydrogen storage unit
(buffer tank) 9 between the material reforming unit 4 and the power
generation unit 5.
[0212] For instance, there are cases where the amount of hydrogen
produced by the hydrogen producing device in accordance with the
third embodiment (FIGS. 11, 12A and 12B) pulsates due to the
pulse-like material supply. However, the pulsation can be reduced
by providing the hydrogen storage unit (buffer tank) 9 after the
material reforming unit 4 of the hydrogen producing device.
Consequently, the power generation by the power generation unit 5
can be carried out with stability.
[0213] Further, in the case where a plurality of material reforming
units are provided, temporary variation might occur in the amount
of gas produced by each material reforming unit. However, these
variations can be absorbed and reduced by the hydrogen storage unit
(buffer tank) 9. Therefore, the construction of a system including
a combination of the plurality of material reforming units becomes
easier.
[0214] In FIG. 14, an example in a case where the hydrogen
producing device in accordance with the present invention and the
electric power generation system employing the hydrogen producing
device are applied to a stationary distributed power source
installed in a house is shown.
[0215] In FIG. 14, reference numeral 200 denotes a stationary
distributed power source, which includes a hydrogen producing
device and a fuel cell as an electric power generation system in
accordance with the present invention. The hydrogen producing
device produces hydrogen using gas and air which are supplied from
outside, and pure water which is generated as a result of the fuel
cell power generation, as raw materials. As the gas as the raw
material, natural gas containing methane as the main component can
be used, for example.
[0216] The use of a fuel cell for a power generation system has a
strong point other than power generation in that hot water heated
by exhaust heat of the fuel cell can be obtained and used. In the
case of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, the temperature during
power generation becomes approximately 80.degree. C., and thus the
temperature in the cell is controlled by use of coolant etc. By
recovering the excess heat due to internal resistance of the cell
etc. by cooling, the hot water is obtained.
[0217] However, if water supplied from outside is directly used for
cooling the fuel cell, there are cases where impurities in the
water exert ill effects on the fuel cell. In such cases, the
heating of the water supplied from outside can be done indirectly
by use of a unit having a heat exchange function. The temperature
of the heated water reaches approximately 60.degree. C., therefore,
by storing the hot water in a tank, hot water for the kitchen, bath
or washroom can be supplied from the tank without the need of a
water heater or water boiler.
[0218] Further, electric power obtained by the power generation can
be used together with commercial power supplied from outside for
driving a variety of household electrical appliances, thereby the
electric energy supplied from outside can be saved. Of course, if
the fuel cell has enough power generating capacity, all the
necessary electric energy can be covered without the need of the
commercial power.
[0219] When the heating of water is insufficient due to cold water
supplied from outside or when the temperature of hot water in the
tank tends to drop, a heating unit may be provided to the
inlet/outlet of the tank. The heating unit heats the hot water by
burning part of material gas supplied from outside. If feedback
control detecting temperature is also employed, the temperature of
the supplied hot water can be raised and maintained properly by
controlling heating value, flow velocity of the hot water, etc.
[0220] In cases where the electric power generated by the fuel cell
fluctuates, an auxiliary electric power storage unit may be added
to the fuel cell. A secondary cell capable of storing and
discharging electricity can be used as the electric power storage
unit.
[0221] Compactness is one of conditions required of the distributed
power source for home use. In the hydrogen producing device in
accordance with the present invention, the feedback control is
carried out for air only among all the supplied materials.
Therefore, the composition of the device naturally gets simpler in
comparison with cases where feedback control is carried out for all
the materials. Thereby, the size of the whole device can easily be
reduced.
[0222] In addition, for spreading the distributed power sources to
households, the price has to be reasonable. The hydrogen producing
device in accordance with the present invention does not need
sophisticated hardware as the flow control unit, and thus cost can
be reduced mainly in the material supply systems.
[0223] Further, device reliability is important for the distributed
power source to be used in households. The hydrogen producing
device in accordance with the present invention does not need
complicated control in the supply flow control, and the operation
of the hardware can be made simple. Thereby, the failure rate of
the whole system can be lowered. Of course, such features are much
effective not only for the home-use distributed power sources but
also for the realization and widespread use of the small-sized
hydrogen producing devices and the electric power generation
systems generating power using hydrogen produced by the hydrogen
producing devices as fuel.
[0224] According to the hydrogen producing device in accordance
with the present invention and the electric power generation system
employing the hydrogen producing device, it is possible to provide
the electric power generation systems suitable for the
establishment and maintenance of a public system constructed by
rapid and short-term spread of a large number of electric power
generation systems, such as distributed power sources expected to
be used for households, buildings, portable/emergency use in
disaster situations, etc.
[0225] According to the present invention, the amount of each
supplied material is set by selecting one from two or more set
values which have previously been determined corresponding to the
required hydrogen production volumes, and the amount of supplied
air (, oxygen, or oxidizing agent) (hereafter, referred to as the
"air") is varied and controlled so that the temperature of the
reaction part will be within a preset temperature range. Therefore,
stabilization of the chemical reaction against instability
occurring in various practical environments can be attained, while
avoiding the danger of causing additional external disturbance by
the control itself.
[0226] For the flow setting for materials other than the air, fine
and minute flow control is not required, and thus the flow setting
units that has the simple structure and are easy to control can be
employed. Thereby, the whole system can be provided at a low
cost.
[0227] The amount of each supplied material is set by the on-off
combination of two or more valves each of which is capable of
providing a preset flow, and the amount of the air is set by
controlling at least one selected from the opening of a valve, the
supply pressure of the air and the discharge of a blower so that
the temperature of the reaction part will be within a preset
temperature range. Therefore, the probability of error in the
control or operation in practical environments becomes low, thereby
high reliability in practical use can be attained.
[0228] The amount of each supplied material is set by selecting one
from n1 set values which have previously been determined
corresponding to the required hydrogen production volumes, and the
amount of the air is set by selecting one from predetermined n2
(n2>n1) set values. Therefore, flow setting by use of the
digital control unit such as a microcomputer can be carried out
easily.
[0229] Each of the supply systems for the air and the materials is
provided with the flow setting unit, and at least one of the flow
setting units opens the supply system during the predetermined time
T2 in each predetermined time T1 and the average supply flow in the
time T1 will be a desired value. The flow setting can be carried
out only by changing the on-off time of the valve, therefore the
hardware can be simplified much.
[0230] In the fuel cell electric power generation system employing
the hydrogen producing device in accordance with the present
invention as an internal source of hydrogen, control needing
relatively sophisticated hardware is limited to the flow control of
the air only. Therefore, the fuel cell electric power generation
systems capable of reducing cost mainly in their material supply
systems while realizing practical stability of temperature control
can be presented.
[0231] In addition, by providing the hydrogen storage unit (buffer
tank) after the outlet of the hydrogen producing device in
accordance with the present invention, the pulsation of the output
gas volume caused by the hydrogen producing device and the
fluctuation of the output gas volume when two or more hydrogen
producing devices are combined can be absorbed and reduced by the
hydrogen storage unit (buffer tank).
[0232] It will be further understood by those skilled in the art
that the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the
invention and that various changes and modifications may be made in
the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention
and scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *