Solid oxide fuel cell system

Abstract

To provide a solid oxide fuel cell system that can be controlled while taking the influence of the volume of water kept in a water tank into consideration and is fully water self-sustainable. The solid oxide fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell (21) provided with a reforming part (22), a gas-water supply system (10) for supplying a plurality of kinds of gases and water to the reforming part (22), and a water tank (50) for storing water. The gas-water supply system (10) comprises a reforming gas supply part (12) for supplying a reforming gas, an oxygen-containing gas supply part (13) for supplying an oxygen-containing gas, and a water supply part (14) for supplying water from the water tank (50). A control unit (15) is further provided for controlling whether, based on a signal from a stored water volume sensor (51) which detects the volume of water kept in the water tank (50) for carrying out a reforming reaction in the reforming part (22), switching between an oxygen-containing gas supply part (13) and the water supply part (14) is carried out, or both the supply parts (13,14) are used in combination.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a solid oxide fuel cell system, and more particularly to a supply control system of gas supplied to a reforming unit of a fuel cell. Background technique [0002] Generally, a fuel cell is known as a device for converting the energy of fuel into electric energy. Generally, a fuel cell has a pair of electrodes arranged to sandwich an electrolyte, a hydrogen reaction gas (fuel gas) is brought into contact with the surface of one of the pair of electrodes, and oxygen-containing air is brought into contact with the other of the pair of electrodes. The surface of the fuel cell produces an electrochemical reaction, and a fuel cell is a battery that uses this electrochemical reaction to extract electrical energy from between electrodes. Patent Document 1 describes an operating method of a fuel cell system equipped with a reformer. The disclosed operating method is to operate steam reforming and partial oxidation reforming in ...

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Problems solved by technology

[0004] However, in the method of operating the fuel cell system of Patent Document 1, since steam reforming and partial oxidation reforming are combined, water for steam reforming is necessary, and if water cannot be supplied to the reformer , the fuel cell system has to be shut down

[0005] In general, in a fuel cell system that undergoes steam reforming, it is difficult to self-supply water (completely supply the water necessary for the fuel cell with condensed water), and it is necessary to install an external water replenishment pipeline. Expends the cost of condensate generation, or in the absence of water, the system must be shut down

Another problem is that the water supply system freezes due to the influence of the outside temperature, the problem of the reduction of condensed water, or the problem of increased power consumption caused by the use of heaters to prevent freezing, etc.

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