CN118198415A - Marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system which is respectively connected with a fuel cell stack and a marine heating system, and comprises a first circulating water pump, a first thermostat, a second thermostat, a first heat exchanger and a thermal management controller, wherein the thermal management controller comprises: the data acquisition and storage unit is used for acquiring ship navigation target power, heat supply power requirements of a ship heating system, operation condition data of each part in the thermal management system and refrigerant medium temperature in real time in the ship navigation process; the data processing control unit is used for generating control feedforward of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the second thermostat, generating new control signals based on the control feedforward by corresponding original PID control values, and regulating and controlling the running states of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the second thermostat in real time. Compared with the prior art, the invention realizes the reliability of the thermal management control of the fuel cell during the navigation of the ship and reduces the navigation energy consumption of the ship.

Description

A thermal management system for marine hydrogen fuel cells

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of fuel cells, and in particular relates to a marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system.

Background technique

With the increase in carbon emission requirements, the electrification and clean operation of ships are accelerating. Hydrogen energy, as a new energy source with a wide range of sources and clean and environmentally friendly, is the best choice for the shipping industry to achieve large-scale deep decarbonization. Hydrogen fuel cells are one of the ideal solutions for the application of hydrogen energy on ships, with the advantages of high energy conversion efficiency, zero emissions, and no pollution.

The hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system has the functions of controlling the operating temperature of the stack and improving the water and heat management of the stack. Among the existing fuel cell thermal management systems, there are many studies on the field of road traffic vehicles, and the heat dissipation of the fuel cell is mainly achieved through air-cooled heat dissipation devices, but the research on the special adaptation of the field of ship and shipping has not yet been carried out. The existing technology does not take into account the special problems of fuel cells when applied to the ship field, compared with other vehicles, fixed power sources and other land operation scenarios. When used in the ship field, there are still deficiencies such as poor heat dissipation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system that can not only meet the stable control of the water and heat management of the stack, but also effectively utilize the seawater environment to achieve heat exchange and reduce the system operation power consumption.

Summary of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system in order to overcome the problem that the existing hydrogen fuel cell thermal management technology in the transportation field has high energy consumption and cannot be efficiently matched with the ship shipping field.

The purpose of the present invention can be achieved by the following technical solutions:

A marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system is connected to a fuel cell stack and a ship heating system respectively, comprising a first circulating water pump, a first thermostat, a second thermostat, a first heat exchanger and a thermal management controller, wherein the thermal management controller is connected to the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system, the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the second thermostat respectively, the fuel cell stack, the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, the second thermostat, the ship heating system and the fuel cell stack are connected in sequence, the first heat exchanger is connected between the fuel cell stack and the second thermostat, the primary side flow medium and the secondary side flow medium of the first heat exchanger are both refrigerant mediums, wherein,

The thermal management controller comprises:

A data acquisition storage unit is used to obtain the ship's navigation target power, the heating power demand of the ship's heating system, the operating condition data of each component in the thermal management system, and the refrigerant medium temperature in real time during the ship's navigation;

A data processing control unit is used to generate control feedforwards of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat according to the data stored in the data acquisition storage unit, generate new control signals based on each control feedforward with the corresponding original PID control value, and adjust the operating status of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat in real time.

Furthermore, the step of generating control feedforward of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat includes:

Determining the heating power of the fuel cell based on the target navigation power of the ship;

Based on the difference between the heating power and the heating power requirement, determining a refrigerant medium flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger that can effectively dissipate heat for the fuel cell stack;

Taking the temperature of the refrigerant entering the stack as the control target, determining the opening of the first thermostat based on the refrigerant flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger, and then generating a control feedforward of the first thermostat;

Based on the refrigerant medium flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger and the opening degree of the first thermostat, a control feedforward of the first circulating water pump is generated;

Based on the heating power demand of the ship heating system, the opening degree of the second thermostat is determined, and a control feedforward of the second thermostat is generated.

Furthermore, the data acquisition and storage unit includes a plurality of temperature sensors and pressure sensors.

Furthermore, the system also includes an expansion water tank and a deionizer. The expansion water tank is connected to the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the deionizer respectively, and the deionizer is connected to the fuel cell stack.

Furthermore, a conductivity sensor connected to the thermal management controller is installed in the expansion water tank for real-time monitoring of the conductivity of the refrigerant medium.

Furthermore, the inlet and outlet pipelines of the deionizer are detachably installed pipelines.

Furthermore, the system also includes an electric heater, which is respectively connected to the thermal management controller, the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system, the first heat exchanger and the first thermostat. When the temperature of the refrigerant entering the stack is lower than the optimal operating temperature of the stack, the thermal management controller controls the electric heater to start, thereby realizing auxiliary heating of the stack.

Furthermore, the system also includes a secondary circulation module, which includes a second circulating water pump and a second heat exchanger. The second circulating water pump, the second heat exchanger, the first heat exchanger, and the second circulating water pump are connected in sequence. The second circulating water pump is connected to the thermal management controller and is started or shut down under the control of the thermal management controller. The primary side circulation medium of the second heat exchanger is a refrigerant medium, and the secondary side circulation medium is the actual operating environment medium of the ship.

Furthermore, the thermal management controller controls the start or stop of the second circulating water pump based on a preset speed.

Furthermore, the actual operating environment medium of the ship includes seawater.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. The present invention obtains the control feedforward of the first thermostat, the second thermostat and the first circulating water pump according to the target power and the heating power of the ship, thereby realizing the adaptive adjustment of the control parameters according to the operating state of the ship, avoiding the problems of incompatible control response speed and control error caused by relying solely on PID control, improving the reliability and safety of the fuel cell on the ship, and saving the energy consumption of the ship operation.

2. The present invention is provided with an electric heater. When the actual operating temperature of the battery stack is lower than the target temperature, the electric heater is started, the first thermostat is opened through the flow path inlet of the electric heater, and the first thermostat is closed through the flow path inlet of the second thermostat. The electric heater is used to heat the circulating flow path medium to achieve rapid preheating of the battery stack.

2. The expansion water tank of the present invention is equipped with a conductivity sensor connected to the thermal management controller, which can detect the conductivity of the coolant in real time. The deionizer and the inlet and outlet pipes are detachably installed, so that the deionizer can be quickly replaced when the conductivity does not meet the requirements.

3. In the secondary circulation module of the present invention, the secondary side flow medium of the second heat exchanger is the actual operating environment medium of the ship, such as seawater, etc. The final heat sink can be discharged through seawater, effectively saving the energy consumption of ship operation.

4. The second circulating water pump is controlled by a thermal management controller, with a constant operating state and simple control, which improves system reliability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

Reference numerals:

200- fuel cell stack; 300- ship heating system; 101- first circulating water pump; 102- first thermostat; 103- second thermostat; 104- first heat exchanger; 105- expansion tank; 106- deionizer; 108- second circulating water pump; 109- second heat exchanger; T- temperature sensor; P- pressure sensor; S- conductivity sensor.

Detailed ways

The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. This embodiment is implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention, and provides a detailed implementation method and specific operation process, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

As used herein, the term "including" and its variations mean open inclusion, i.e., "including but not limited to". Unless otherwise stated, the term "or" means "and/or". The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The terms "an example embodiment" and "an embodiment" mean "at least one example embodiment". The term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

Example 1

Referring to FIG. 1 , this embodiment provides a marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system, which is connected to a fuel cell stack 200 and a ship heating system 300, respectively, and includes a first circulating water pump 101, a first thermostat 102, a second thermostat 103, a first heat exchanger 104, and a thermal management controller. The thermal management controller is connected to the fuel cell stack 200, the ship heating system 300, the first circulating water pump 101, the first thermostat 102, and the second thermostat 103, respectively. The fuel cell stack 200, the first circulating water pump 101, the first thermostat 102, the second thermostat 103, the ship heating system 300, and the fuel cell stack 200 are connected in sequence. The first heat exchanger 104 is connected between the fuel cell stack 200 and the second thermostat 103. The primary side flow medium and the secondary side flow medium of the first heat exchanger 104 are both cold medium. In this embodiment, the cold medium is a coolant.

The thermal management controller is used to control the various components of the thermal management system during the navigation of the ship to realize the heating and heat dissipation control of the fuel cell stack and the ship heating system. In this embodiment, the thermal management controller includes a data acquisition storage unit and a data processing control unit, wherein the data acquisition storage unit is used to obtain the ship's navigation target power, the heating power demand of the ship's heating system, the operating condition data of each component in the thermal management system and the refrigerant medium temperature in real time during the navigation of the ship, and realize periodic storage to support the analysis of the operation data of the fuel cell thermal management system; the data processing control unit is used to generate the control feedforward of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat according to the data stored in the data acquisition storage unit, and generate a new control signal based on each control feedforward with the corresponding original PID control value, specifically, the control feedforward and the original PID control value are superimposed to generate a new control signal, so as to real-time control the operating state of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat, so as to make full use of the waste heat of the fuel cell to realize the heating of the ship heating system.

In this embodiment, the step of generating control feedforward of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat includes:

S1. Determine the heating power of the fuel cell based on the target power of the ship's navigation;

S2. determining a coolant flow rate through the first heat exchanger that can effectively dissipate heat for the fuel cell stack based on the difference between the heating power and the heating power demand;

S3, taking the refrigerant temperature entering the stack as the control target, determining the small circulation coolant flow rate flowing through the first path input end of the first thermostat based on the refrigerant flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger, and then determining the opening of the first thermostat, and then generating the control feedforward of the first thermostat through a preset feedforward model of the first thermostat opening;

S4. The total amount of coolant flowing through the stack is obtained based on the coolant flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger and the small circulation coolant flow rate, and the control feedforward of the first circulation water pump is obtained through a preset feedforward model of the speed of the first circulation water pump, so as to regulate the working state of the first circulation water pump in real time;

S5. Based on the heating power of the ship heating system, determine the coolant flow rate flowing through the ship heating system, and then determine the opening of the second thermostat. Then, through the preset feedforward model of the opening of the second thermostat, obtain the control feedforward of the second thermostat, and adjust the working state of the second thermostat in real time.

In this embodiment, the data acquisition storage unit includes a plurality of temperature sensors and pressure sensors, which are used to collect various temperature and pressure data in real time, including:

A first temperature sensor is provided at the coolant inlet of the fuel cell stack and is used to obtain the temperature of the coolant entering the stack;

A second temperature sensor is provided at the coolant outlet of the fuel cell stack to obtain the coolant temperature out of the stack;

A third temperature sensor is provided on the inner wall of the output end pipe of the first heat exchanger and is used to obtain the temperature of the coolant flowing through the heat exchanger;

The pressure sensor is arranged on the inner wall of the output pipe of the first circulating water pump and is used to obtain the pressure at the output end of the first circulating water pump, so as to monitor the operating pressure of the stack cooling circuit and whether there is any abnormality in the water pump pressure output.

In a preferred embodiment, the system further comprises an expansion water tank 105 and a deionizer 106. The expansion water tank is connected to the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the deionizer respectively, and the deionizer is connected to the fuel cell stack.

In a preferred embodiment, the system also includes an electric heater 107, which is respectively connected to the thermal management controller, the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system, the first heat exchanger and the first thermostat. When the inlet temperature of the fuel cell stack is lower than the optimal operating temperature of the fuel cell stack, the thermal management controller controls the electric heater to start, thereby realizing auxiliary heating of the fuel cell stack.

In a preferred embodiment, the system further includes a secondary circulation module, which includes a second circulating water pump 108 and a second heat exchanger 109. The second circulating water pump 108, the second heat exchanger 109, the first heat exchanger 104, and the second circulating water pump 108 are connected in sequence. The second circulating water pump 108 is connected to a thermal management controller and is started or shut down under the control of the thermal management controller. The primary side circulation medium of the second heat exchanger 109 is a refrigerant medium, and the secondary side circulation medium is a medium of the actual operating environment of the ship, such as seawater. The thermal management controller controls the start or shut down of the second circulating water pump based on a preset speed. The control feedforward of the second circulating water pump can be obtained based on the required heat exchange power of the first heat exchanger, thereby controlling the speed of the second circulating water pump and the corresponding coolant flow rate.

In a preferred embodiment, the second circulating water pump is started and shut down by a thermal management controller, and the secondary circulation system is controlled by presetting a speed of a specific value.

As shown in FIG1 , the connection relationship between the components of the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system and the thermal management system of this embodiment is specifically as follows:

The input end of the fuel cell stack is connected to the output end of the first circulating water pump, and the primary output end of the stack is connected to the input end of the electric heater, the input end of the ship heating system and the input end of the first heat exchanger.

The input end of the first circulating water pump is connected to the input end of the expansion water tank and the output end of the first thermostat, and the output end of the first circulating water pump is connected to the input end of the battery stack.

The first path input end of the first thermostat is connected to the output end of the second thermostat, the second path input end is connected to the output end of the electric heater, and the output end of the first thermostat is connected to the input end of the expansion water tank and the input end of the first circulating water pump.

The first path input end of the second thermostat is connected to the primary side output end of the first heat exchanger, the second path input end is connected to the output end of the ship heating system, and the output end of the first thermostat is connected to the input end of the first thermostat.

The input end of the electric heater is connected to the first path output end of the battery stack, the input end of the ship heating system and the input end of the first heat exchanger, and the output end of the electric heater is connected to the second path input end of the first thermostat.

The input end of the ship heating system is connected to the output end of the battery stack, the input end of the electric heater and the primary side input end of the first heat exchanger, and the output end of the ship heating system is connected to the second path input end of the second thermostat.

The primary side input end of the first heat exchanger is connected to the first path output end of the stack, the electric heater input end and the ship heating system input end, and the primary side output end of the first heat exchanger is connected to the first path input end of the second thermostat. The secondary side input end of the primary heat exchanger is connected to the primary side output end of the second heat exchanger, and the secondary side output end of the first heat exchanger is connected to the primary side input end of the second heat exchanger.

The primary side input end of the second heat exchanger is connected to the secondary side output end of the first heat exchanger, the primary side output end of the second heat exchanger is connected to the secondary side input end of the first heat exchanger, and the secondary side of the second heat exchanger is seawater for ship navigation.

The input end of the second circulating water pump is connected to the primary side output end of the second heat exchanger, and the output end of the second circulating water pump is connected to the secondary side input end of the first heat exchanger.

The input end of the expansion water tank is connected to the output end of the deionizer, the output end of the expansion water tank is connected to the output end of the first thermostat and the input end of the first circulating water pump, and the expansion water tank is provided with a water replenishment and exhaust port.

The input end of the deionizer is connected to the output end of the second path of the battery stack, and the output end of the deionizer is connected to the input end of the expansion water tank.

The above-mentioned marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system is suitable for existing water-cooled hydrogen fuel cells within any power range. When implemented, the thermal management system includes a first circulation subsystem flowing through the electric heater, a second circulation subsystem flowing through the ship heating system, and a third circulation subsystem flowing through the first heat exchanger. When the stack inlet temperature sensor detects that the stack operating temperature is lower than the optimal operating temperature point, the electric heater is started, and the flow ratio flowing through the first circulation subsystem can be adjusted by the thermal management controller to quickly heat the coolant; after the stack reaches the optimal operating temperature, when the power request of the ship heating system is monitored, the flow through the second circulation subsystem can be adjusted by the thermal management controller to achieve auxiliary heating of the ship and heat dissipation of the stack.

The above fuel cell thermal management system realizes a scheme of utilizing seawater as the ultimate heat sink to realize efficient heat dissipation of fuel cells, and fully utilizing the waste heat of fuel cells to realize heating of the ship heating system. This embodiment obtains the control feedforward of the first thermostat, the second thermostat, the first circulating water pump, and the second circulating water pump according to the target power of the ship and the heating power, thereby realizing the adaptive adjustment of control parameters according to the operating state of the ship, avoiding the problems of incompatible control response speed and control error caused by relying solely on PID control, improving the reliability and safety of fuel cells on ships, and saving energy consumption of ship operation.

Example 2

Based on the improvement of Example 1, in the marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system of this embodiment, a conductivity sensor connected to the thermal management controller is installed inside the expansion water tank to monitor the conductivity of the refrigerant in real time. The deionizer and the inlet and outlet pipelines are detachably installed, and when the collected conductivity sensor value is too high, the deionizer can be replaced manually.

The preferred specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above. It should be understood that a person skilled in the art can make many modifications and changes based on the concept of the present invention without creative work. Therefore, any technical solution that can be obtained by a person skilled in the art through logical analysis, reasoning or limited experiments based on the concept of the present invention on the basis of the prior art should be within the scope of protection determined by the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system, connected to a fuel cell stack and a ship heating system respectively, characterized in that it comprises a first circulating water pump, a first thermostat, a second thermostat, a first heat exchanger and a thermal management controller, wherein the thermal management controller is connected to the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system, the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the second thermostat respectively, the fuel cell stack, the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, the second thermostat, the ship heating system and the fuel cell stack are connected in sequence, the first heat exchanger is connected between the fuel cell stack and the second thermostat, the primary side flow medium and the secondary side flow medium of the first heat exchanger are both refrigerant medium, wherein, The thermal management controller comprises: A data acquisition storage unit is used to obtain the ship's navigation target power, the heating power demand of the ship's heating system, the operating condition data of each component in the thermal management system, and the refrigerant medium temperature in real time during the ship's navigation; A data processing control unit is used to generate control feedforwards of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat according to the data stored in the data acquisition storage unit, generate new control signals based on each control feedforward with the corresponding original PID control value, and adjust the operating status of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat in real time. 2. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of generating control feedforward of the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat, and the second thermostat comprises: Determining the heating power of the fuel cell based on the target navigation power of the ship; Based on the difference between the heating power and the heating power requirement, determining a refrigerant medium flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger that can effectively dissipate heat for the fuel cell stack; Taking the temperature of the refrigerant entering the stack as the control target, determining the opening of the first thermostat based on the refrigerant flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger, and then generating a control feedforward of the first thermostat; Based on the refrigerant medium flow rate flowing through the first heat exchanger and the opening degree of the first thermostat, a control feedforward of the first circulating water pump is generated; Based on the heating power demand of the ship heating system, the opening degree of the second thermostat is determined, and a control feedforward of the second thermostat is generated. 3. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the data acquisition and storage unit includes a plurality of temperature sensors and pressure sensors. 4. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 1 is characterized in that the system also includes an expansion water tank and a deionizer, the expansion water tank is respectively connected to the first circulating water pump, the first thermostat and the deionizer, and the deionizer is connected to the fuel cell stack. 5. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 4, characterized in that a conductivity sensor connected to the thermal management controller is installed in the expansion water tank for real-time monitoring of the conductivity of the refrigerant medium. 6. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 4, characterized in that the inlet and outlet pipelines of the deionizer are detachable and installable pipelines. 7. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 1 is characterized in that the system also includes an electric heater, which is respectively connected to the thermal management controller, the fuel cell stack, the ship heating system, the first heat exchanger and the first thermostat. When the temperature of the refrigerant entering the stack is lower than the optimal operating temperature of the stack, the thermal management controller controls the electric heater to start to achieve auxiliary heating of the stack. 8. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 1 is characterized in that the system also includes a secondary circulation module, the secondary circulation module includes a second circulating water pump and a second heat exchanger, the second circulating water pump, the second heat exchanger, the first heat exchanger, and the second circulating water pump are connected in sequence, the second circulating water pump is connected to the thermal management controller, and is started or shut down under the control of the thermal management controller, the primary side circulation medium of the second heat exchanger is a refrigerant medium, and the secondary side circulation medium is the actual operating environment medium of the ship. 9 . The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 8 , wherein the thermal management controller controls the start or shut down of the second circulating water pump based on a preset speed. 10. The marine hydrogen fuel cell thermal management system according to claim 8, characterized in that the actual operating environment medium of the ship includes seawater.