CN112018413A - Fuel cell system and method of operating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a fuel cell system and an operating method thereof, which avoid the stop of the power generation of the whole system in the fuel cell system with a plurality of fuel cells. A fuel cell system of an embodiment includes: a plurality of fuel cells that generate electric power when supplied with a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas; and a plurality of control devices that control the plurality of fuel cells, respectively. Each of the plurality of control devices includes: a command unit that integrates commands relating to the power generation outputs of the plurality of fuel cells; and an adjusting unit that adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on a command input from any one of the plurality of control devices.

Description

Fuel cell system and method of operating the same

technical field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a fuel cell system and a method of operating the same.

Background technique

The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell that generates power by supplying a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas. In the fuel cell system, there are cases where a plurality of fuel cells are connected to the power system. In this case, in the conventional fuel cell system, the power generation output of each fuel cell is controlled by a command unit provided outside the fuel cell system. Therefore, if the command unit fails, there is a possibility that power generation in the entire system may be stopped.

As such a document, there are Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-320149 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem to be solved by the invention

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to avoid stopping the power generation of the entire system in a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cells and a method for operating the same.

means to solve the problem

A fuel cell system according to an embodiment includes: a plurality of fuel cells that generate electricity when a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas are supplied; and a plurality of control devices that control the plurality of fuel cells, respectively. Each of the plurality of control devices includes a command unit that collectively includes commands related to power generation outputs of the plurality of fuel cells, and an adjustment unit that adjusts the fuel cell to be controlled based on a command input from one of the plurality of control devices. power output.

Invention effect

According to the present embodiment, in a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cells, it is possible to avoid stop of power generation of the entire system.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fuel cell system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a method of supplying gas to a fuel cell.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (flowchart) explaining an operating method of the fuel cell system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another operation method of the fuel cell system according to the embodiment.

Description of reference numerals

1: Fuel cell system, 10: Fuel cell, 20: Control device, 21: Command unit, 22: Adjustment unit, 23: Failure detection unit

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment does not limit the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fuel cell system according to an embodiment. The fuel cell system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of fuel cells 10 connected in parallel with the power system 100 , and a plurality of control devices 20 that control the plurality of fuel cells 10 , respectively.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a manner of supplying gas to each fuel cell 10 . As shown in FIG. 2 , fuel gas 101 containing hydrogen is supplied to each fuel cell 10 through piping 11 , and oxidant gas 102 containing oxygen is supplied to each fuel cell 10 via piping 12 . Each fuel cell 10 generates power by supplying the fuel gas 101 and the oxidant gas 102 . The electric power generated by each fuel cell 10 is supplied to the electric power system 100 .

A valve 13 and a pump 14 are provided in the piping 11 . The valve 13 and the pump 14 operate under the control of the control device 20 . In addition, a valve 15 and a pump 16 are provided in the piping 12 . The valve 15 and the pump 16 also operate under the control of the control device 20 .

Returning to FIG. 1 , each of the plurality of control devices 20 includes a command unit 21 , an adjustment unit 22 , and a failure detection unit 23 . The command unit 21 includes commands related to the power generation output of each fuel cell 10 . This command indicates, for example, the output power value of each fuel cell 10 . Each of the command units 21 and the other control devices 20 are connected to each other, and one of them outputs the above-mentioned command to the adjustment unit 22 of each of the control devices 20 together.

The adjustment unit 22 adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 to be controlled based on the command from the command unit 21 . For example, the adjustment unit 22 starts or stops the fuel cell 10 by adjusting the opening and closing operations of the valve 13 and the valve 15 . In addition, the adjustment unit 22 controls the pump 14 and the pump 16 to adjust the supply amounts of the fuel gas 101 and the oxidant gas 102 . Thereby, the power generation amount of the fuel cell 10 is adjusted. In addition, the operation|movement of the adjustment part 22 is not limited to the adjustment of the valves 13 and 15 and the pumps 14 and 16 mentioned above.

The failure detection unit 23 detects a failure of the command unit 21 that outputs the above-mentioned command. The failure detection unit 23 detects that the command unit 21 has a failure, for example, when the above-mentioned command is not input from the command unit 21 for a predetermined time. In addition, the failure detection unit 23 may detect that the command unit 21 has a failure when a notification indicating its own failure is input from the command unit 21 . In addition, the failure detection method by the instruction|command part 21 of the failure detection part 23 is not limited to the content mentioned above.

Next, an operation method of the above-described fuel cell system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of the fuel cell system 1 according to an embodiment.

First, one command unit 21 designated in advance among the plurality of command units 21 provided in each control device 20 outputs a command related to the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 to each adjustment unit 22 (step S1 ). At this time, the remaining command units 21 are stopped.

Next, each adjustment unit 22 adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 to be controlled based on the command input from the command unit 21 (step S2 ). The power generated at this time is supplied to the power system 100 .

During power generation of the fuel cell 10, the plurality of failure detection units 23 provided in each control device 20 detect whether or not a failure has occurred in the command unit 21 that outputs the command (step S3). When at least one of the plurality of failure detection units 23 detects a failure of the command unit 21, the command unit 21 that outputs the command is switched (step S4).

In step S4, the method of selecting the command unit 21 that outputs the command is not particularly limited. For example, the priority of outputting the above-mentioned command can be set in advance, and among the remaining command units 21 excluding the failed command unit 21, the command unit 21 with the highest priority can be selected. In addition, the command unit 21 that received the notification indicating the failure earliest may be selected as the command unit that outputs the command.

In step S4, when the command unit 21 that outputs the command is switched to another command unit 21, the other command unit 21 newly outputs commands to the plurality of control devices 20 (step S5).

Next, another operation method of the fuel cell system 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another operation method of the fuel cell system 1 according to the embodiment. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 includes, in addition to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 , a procedure when periodic maintenance is determined in the switching conditions of the command unit 21 . In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 , the operation contents of steps S11 to S15 are the same as the operation contents of steps S1 to S5 shown in FIG. 3 , so the description is omitted.

In a fuel cell system, in general, regular maintenance of components such as pumps is required. During this periodic maintenance, it is necessary to turn off the power of the control device 20 , the valve 13 , and the pump 14 of the fuel cell system 1 .

On the other hand, during periodic maintenance, if the power supply of the control device 20, the valve 13, and the pump 14 related to one of the fuel cells 10 is turned off, and the remaining fuel cells 10 are kept in the operating state, the power generation output can be maintained without stopping. Carry out maintenance. At this time, when the command unit 21 related to the fuel cell 10 to be maintained is the command unit 21 for command output, switching of the command unit 21 for outputting commands is performed before maintenance (step S16 ).

According to the above-described present embodiment, the command units 21 for summarizing the power generation outputs of the plurality of fuel cells 10 are provided in each of the plurality of control devices 20 . That is, the command unit 21 is redundantly provided. Therefore, even if the command unit 21 that is outputting the command fails, the command output can be switched to another command unit 21 . Thereby, since the command is continuously output, it is possible to avoid a situation in which power generation is stopped in the entire system.

In addition, by setting the priority for the output of the above-mentioned command in advance, when the command unit 21 fails, the switching of the command unit 21 can be performed smoothly. As a result, the stop of the power generation of the whole system can be prevented more reliably.

As mentioned above, although several embodiment and a modification were demonstrated, these embodiment is shown only as an example, Comprising: It does not intend to limit the scope of the invention. The new system described in this specification can be implemented in various other ways. In addition, various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made to the form of the system described in this specification without departing from the gist of the invention. The appended claims and their equivalents are intended to include such aspects and modifications included in the scope of the invention and the gist of the invention.

Claims (6)

1. A fuel cell system, comprising: a plurality of fuel cells that generate electricity when supplied with hydrogen-containing fuel gas and oxidant gas; and a plurality of control devices, respectively controlling the plurality of fuel cells, Each of the plurality of control devices has: an instruction section that collectively includes instructions related to the power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells; and The adjustment unit adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on the command input from the command unit of any one of the plurality of control devices. 2. The fuel cell system of claim 1, wherein, Each of the plurality of control devices further includes a failure detection unit that detects a failure of the command unit that outputs the command, and the other command units transmit the command in accordance with the detection of the failure detection unit. output to the adjustment unit of each of the plurality of control devices. 3. The fuel cell system of claim 2, wherein, The priority regarding the output of the command is preset, and when the failure detection unit detects the failure, the command unit with the highest priority outputs the command. 4. The fuel cell system of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The failure detection unit detects that the command unit has a failure when the command has not been input from the command unit for a predetermined time. 5. The fuel cell system of claim 2 or 3, wherein, The failure detection unit detects that the command unit has a failure when a notification indicating a failure is input from the command unit. 6. A method of operating a fuel cell system comprising a plurality of fuel cells that generate power when a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas are supplied, wherein: one of a plurality of control devices that individually control the plurality of fuel cells outputs a command related to the power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells, Based on the command, the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled is adjusted.

Images