A modular structure for a fuel cell test bench and a replacement and testing method thereof

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of fuel cell production line detection technology, and discloses a modular structure for a fuel cell test bench and its replacement and testing method. It includes a control module, a cathode air module, an anode hydrogen module, and a cooling module. The test system of the present technology is separated into a control module, an anode hydrogen module, a cathode air module, and a circulating cooling module. The difficulty of its design, assembly, commissioning, transportation, installation and commissioning is greatly reduced compared with the related difficulty of the device assembled in one body. In some environments, the load-bearing limit of the floor can be reduced due to dispersion; the control system does not need to be changed, so the training and application work of the operator are simplified, and the efficiency and reliability of operation management are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of fuel cell production line detection, and in particular relates to a modular structure of a fuel cell test bench and a replacement and testing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] On the fuel cell production line, the testing of fuel cells requires a large number of test equipment of the same model. When the specifications of the fuel cell stack change, such as when the rated power changes significantly, it may be necessary to replace the equipment of the same model on the entire production line. Usually, the entire set of test equipment is very expensive, and the replacement requires a lot of manpower and power. Therefore, it is necessary to consider reducing the amount of replacement of related equipment to speed up production connection and reduce costs.

[0003] Generally speaking, depending on the specific stack design and testing requirements, the cathode air flow of the fuel cell is 4 to 10 times the low flow of the anode hydrogen. For example, the cathode air module of a test bench for testing a 50kw fuel cell may be suitable for anode hydrogen humidification of a 100kw or 200kw fuel cell test bench. Currently, different fuel cell test benches are required for different power stacks, and there is still a lack of a method for disassembling and partially replacing the test bench. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a modular structure for a fuel cell test bench and a replacement and testing method thereof, wherein the cathode gas module of a low-power test system can be used for the anode gas module of a high-power test system, or similarly, the anode gas module of a high-power test system can be used for the cathode gas module of a low-power test system. By establishing a matching method for module reuse in different test power changes, the associated design of each module of a single test bench is realized, the key design of matching between each module is specified in a single set of design, and a structural design basis for a test bench component unit that is adapted to different interface orientations and directional characteristics to be observed is provided, as well as a test system that organizes related functional modules together for different purposes.

[0005] The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions: a modular structure for a fuel cell test bench, comprising a control module, a cathode air module, an anode hydrogen module, and a cooling module, wherein the cathode air module contains a cathode air module electrical control box, the anode hydrogen module contains an anode hydrogen module electrical control box, and the cooling module contains a cooling module electrical control box. The control module, the cathode air module electrical control box, the anode hydrogen module electrical control box, and the cooling module electrical control box are connected through a communication cable. The control module is connected to the tested stack through the communication cable. The cathode air module, the anode hydrogen module, and the cooling module are connected to the tested stack through a cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group, an anode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group, and a cooling fluid inlet and outlet pipe group, respectively.

[0006] Furthermore, the cathode air module includes a cathode air module electric control box, a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electric control valve, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

[0007] Furthermore, the anode hydrogen module includes an anode hydrogen module electrical control box, a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electrical control valve, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

[0008] Furthermore, the cooling module includes a heat exchanger, a cooling module electrical control box, a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electrical control valve, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

[0009] Furthermore, a conversion structure is provided in the cathode air module, the anode hydrogen module and the cooling module, and the conversion structure consists of an internal module joint group, a 135° elbow group, an external module joint group b, a module foot frame column and an external module joint group a. The fluid inlet and outlet pipe group is connected to the internal module joint group, the 135° elbow group and the external module joint group b in the conversion structure in sequence.

[0010] Furthermore, the width of the swing doors of the anode hydrogen module, cathode air module and cooling module boxes is 0.5-0.8m.

[0011] Furthermore, the distance between the cathode air module and the anode hydrogen module, and between the anode hydrogen module and the cooling module is 0.6-1.5m.

[0012] In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the cathode air module and the anode hydrogen module, and the distance between the anode hydrogen module and the cooling module is 0.7-1.0 m.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to protect the above-mentioned replacement method for the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench, specifically: when the rated power of the tested fuel cell stack increases by 1-6 times, the control module is retained, the original cathode air module is changed to an anode hydrogen module, a new cathode air module is added, a new cooling module is replaced, and the air flow detection controller in the original cathode air module is changed to a hydrogen flow detection controller; when the rated power of the tested fuel cell stack is reduced to 1 / 6-1 / 2 times, the control module is retained, the original anode hydrogen module is changed to a cathode air module, a new anode hydrogen module is added, a new cooling module is replaced, and the hydrogen flow detection controller in the original anode hydrogen module is changed to an air flow detection controller.

[0014] Furthermore, the replacement method for the modular structure of the fuel cell test bench is specifically as follows: when the rated power of the tested stack increases by 1-3 times, the control module is retained, the original cathode air module is changed to an anode hydrogen module, a new cathode air module is added, a new cooling module is replaced, and the air flow detection controller in the original cathode air module is changed to a hydrogen flow detection controller; when the rated power of the tested stack is reduced to 1 / 3-1 / 2 times, the control module is retained, the original anode hydrogen module is changed to a cathode air module, a new anode hydrogen module is added, a new cooling module is replaced, and the hydrogen flow detection controller in the original anode hydrogen module is changed to an air flow detection controller.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to protect the above-mentioned test method for the modular structure of the fuel cell test bench, specifically: the tested stack is installed, the control module sends instructions to the cathode air module electric control box through the communication cable d to control the equipment in the cathode air module and the cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group to exchange fluid with the tested stack, and then the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensor in the cathode air module is transmitted back to the control module; the communication cable b connects the cathode air module electric control box and the anode hydrogen module electric control box, the control module sends instructions to the anode hydrogen module electric control box through the communication cable d and the communication cable b to control the equipment in the anode hydrogen module and the anode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group to exchange fluid with the tested stack, and then the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensor in the anode hydrogen module is transmitted back to the control module; the communication cable a connects the anode hydrogen module electric control box and the cooling module electric control box, the control module sends instructions to the cooling module electric control box through the communication cable d, the communication cable b, and the communication cable a to control the equipment in the cooling module and the cooling fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group to exchange fluid with the tested stack, and then the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensor in the cooling module is transmitted back to the control module.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are:

[0017] 1) For general production, the power of the battery stack to be tested is gradually increased, so some replacement modules are used to solve the construction of a multi-power specification test system, which is simple and effective and saves the total amount of equipment;

[0018] 2) The test system of this technology is separated into control, anode hydrogen module, cathode air module and circulating cooling module. The difficulty of design, assembly, commissioning, transportation, installation and commissioning is greatly reduced compared with the related difficulty of the device assembled in one. In some environments, the load-bearing limit of the floor can be reduced due to the dispersion;

[0019] 3) The control system does not need to be changed, so the training and application of operators are simplified, improving the efficiency and reliability of operation management;

[0020] 4) For the detection of engines with the same power, the control system and cooling system modules of the stack detection system can be directly selected. The composition and management are simple, which is convenient for standardization, reduces the specifications of accessories, is conducive to the summary of maintenance technology, and reduces the number of experimental verification models;

[0021] 5) The module layout can be flexibly changed according to the specific interfaces of different battery stacks, which is conducive to reducing the connection difficulty, increasing the connection speed, facilitating observation, facilitating use, and improving test efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench used in the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the mutual positions of the modular structure of the fuel cell test bench for changing the direction of the pipe connection according to the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a partial structural schematic diagram of the connection steering method of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of changing the position of a control module of a modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the connection structure of the modular structure test bench of the fuel cell test bench of the present invention for measuring the hydrogen flow rate of the engine system under test;

[0028] Figure 6 Schematic diagram a of changing relative positions of the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to the present invention;

[0029] Figure 7 Schematic diagram b of the relative position change of the modular structure of the fuel cell test bench according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram c of changing the relative position of the modular structure of the fuel cell test bench used in the present invention.

[0031] In the figure: 1. Control module; 2. Cathode air module electric control box; 3. Cathode air module; 4. Anode hydrogen module electric control box; 5. Anode hydrogen module; 6. Coolant module electric control box; 7. Cooling module; 8. Cooling fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group; 9. Anode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group; 10. Cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group; 11. Tested battery stack; 12. Communication cable a; 13. Communication cable b; 14. Communication cable c; 15. Communication cable d; 16. Fluid pipeline group; 1 7. Module internal joint group; 18. Module wall panel A; 19. 135° elbow group; 20. Module external joint group b; 21. Module corner frame column; 22. Module external joint group a; 23. Module wall panel B; 24. Cathode air module with increased power; 25. Cooling module with increased power; 26. Test stack with increased rated power; 27. Lateral anode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group; 28. Lateral cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group; 29. ​​Fuel cell engine system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The present invention is described in detail below by specific examples, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited. Unless otherwise specified, the experimental methods used in the present invention are all conventional methods, and the experimental equipment, materials, reagents, etc. used can be obtained from commercial channels.

[0033] Example 1

[0034] See also Figure 1 , this figure is used to illustrate the basic structure of the present invention.

[0035] The test system consists of a control module 1, a cathode air module 3, an anode hydrogen module 5, a cooling module 7, and an electronic load not shown. The cooling module 7 has a heat exchanger, through which the heat of the stack is brought to an external heat sink to remove the heat.

[0036] The designed spacing between modules is 0.8m, and the width of each swing door of the module box is 0.6m.

[0037] The cathode air module 3 has a cathode air module electrical control box 2, which has fluid temperature, pressure, humidity, flow detectors, a liquid level meter, an electrical control valve for fluid flow, flow direction, and on / off, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, a water tank, and pipes, pipe fittings and other components connecting various components. The control module 1 is connected to the cathode air module electrical control box 2 via a communication cable d15 connected to the cathode air module electrical control box 2. The cathode air module electrical control box 2 controls the equipment in the cathode air module 3 according to the instructions of the control module 1, and transmits the data obtained by the detection sensor in the cathode air module 3 back to the control module 1; the cathode air module 3 has a compressed air pipeline sent from the connection workshop away from the tested battery stack 11, and has a cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group 10 for conveying and returning cathode air to the tested battery stack 11; the cathode air module 3 also has a combustible gas concentration detector, which is used when the cathode air module 3 is used as the anode hydrogen module 5 of the present invention for combining larger battery stack detection.

[0038] The anode hydrogen module 5 has an anode hydrogen module electric control box 4, a fluid temperature, pressure, humidity, flow detector, a liquid level meter, an electrical control valve for fluid flow, flow direction, on and off, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, a water tank, and pipes, pipe fittings and other components connecting various components. The control module 1 is connected to the anode hydrogen module electric control box 4 through a communication cable 13 connected to the anode hydrogen module electric control box. The anode hydrogen module electric control box 4 controls the equipment in the anode hydrogen module 5 according to the instructions of the control module 1, and transmits the data obtained by the detection sensor in the anode hydrogen module 5 back to the control system 1; the anode hydrogen module 5 has a compressed hydrogen pipeline sent from the connection workshop away from the tested battery stack 11, and has an anode gas supply inlet and outlet pipeline group 9 for conveying and returning anode hydrogen to the tested battery stack 11; it also has a combustible gas concentration detector.

[0039] The cooling module 7 has a coolant module electrical control box 6, a fluid temperature, pressure, flow detector, a liquid level meter, an electrical control valve for fluid flow, flow direction, and on / off, a heat exchanger, a water pump, a fan, a water tank, and pipes, pipe fittings and other components connecting the various components. The control module 1 is connected to the coolant module electrical control box 6 via a communication cable 12 connected to the cooling module electrical control box. The coolant module electrical control box 6 controls the equipment in the cooling module 7 according to the instructions of the control module 1, and transmits the data obtained by the detection sensor in the cooling module 7 back to the control system 1; the cooling module 7 has a cooling water pipeline group connected to the workshop cold water common pipeline away from the tested battery stack 11, and has an inlet and outlet pipeline group 8 for transporting and returning coolant to the tested battery stack 11.

[0040] The control module 1 is connected to the tested fuel cell 11 via a communication cable c14 connected to the fuel cell, and obtains the detector data of the tested fuel cell 11 and / or the data transmitted by the controller of the fuel cell itself.

[0041] The cooling circulating water unit requires much less manual observation frequency than the cathode air unit and the anode hydrogen unit, so this unit is set at the position that is farthest away from the control unit as a whole.

[0042] Example 2

[0043] See also Figure 2 and Figure 3 .

[0044] Compared with Example 1, this example is used for a tested fuel cell stack 26 with an increased rated power. The cathode air required for the stack detection exceeds the processing capacity of the cathode air module 3 of Example 1, but the processing capacity of the cathode air module 3 can meet the anode hydrogen processing of the tested fuel cell stack 26.

[0045] The test system consists of the original control module 1, a newly added cathode air module 24 for increasing the power of the fuel cell stack, a cooling module 25 for increasing the power of the fuel cell stack, and a cathode air module 3 for increasing the power of the fuel cell stack transferred from the original relatively low-power test system.

[0046] The original air flow meter of cathode air module 3 is replaced with a hydrogen flow meter, and the rest remains unchanged.

[0047] As the processed power increases, the air flow increases accordingly. The length of the newly added cathode air module 24 for increasing the power of the fuel cell stack exceeds the original cathode air module 3, and a side-lead cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group 28 is used.

[0048] The side lead cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group 28 has Figure 3 The solution of the local features shown is that the direction of the cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipe group 10 originally facing one side of the stack is switched to the pipe on the opposite side. Inside the cathode air module 24 with increased power, there is a module-outward fluid pipe group 16 facing the module corner frame column 21, and the module internal joint group 17 of the module-outward fluid pipe group 16 is connected to the 135° elbow group 19. The 135° elbow group 19 has two connection angles, one is facing the module wall plate A18, passing through the module wall plate A18, and connecting to the module external joint group a22, and the other is facing the module wall plate B23, passing through the module wall plate B23, and connecting to the module external joint group b20. This method can simply straighten the connection direction, reduce the rigidity formed by the bending of the pipe, and can easily adapt to the change of the connection direction. In particular, it can reduce the required working operation time and reduce the damage to the pipe caused by bending and reduce the damage caused by frequent bending of the pipe when there is a heater in continuous production.

[0049] Example 3

[0050] See also Figure 4The control module 1 itself can be a conventional desktop computer or a mobile computer, an industrial computer or other host computer. The control system itself does not have a power module and is very small, so it is easy to place at the location required by the operator.

[0051] Compared with Embodiment 2, the control module is placed at the short end of the cathode air module 24 with increased power, changing the observation angle, direction and operating distance.

[0052] Example 4

[0053] See also Figure 5 .

[0054] The test system is used in an outdoor testing environment to measure the performance of the fuel cell engine system. The test system consists of a control module 1, an anode hydrogen module 5, a cooling module 7 and an electronic load, which is not shown in the figure. This method can be easily assembled and moved, wherein the cooling module 7 is directly air-cooled. The detector in which the test system is placed in the tested battery stack or engine system does not affect the module layout and is not shown in the figure.

[0055] The fuel cell engine system 29 itself has a cathode air supply system and an automatic control system for anode hydrogen flow and pressure. The test system uses a cathode hydrogen module 5 to measure the hydrogen flow, obtains the operating data output by the fuel cell engine system 29 under test through the communication cable c14 connected to the fuel cell stack, and controls the air-cooled cooling module 7 to ensure that the temperature difference of the coolant entering and leaving the fuel cell stack provided to the fuel cell engine system 29 is within the required range of the engine system under test.

[0056] Example 5

[0057] See also Figures 6 to 8 .

[0058] The detection system is used in an outdoor testing environment to measure the performance of the fuel cell engine system. The detection system consists of a control module 1, a cooling module 7 and an electronic load, which is not shown in the figure. This method can be easily assembled and moved, wherein the cooling module 7 adopts direct air cooling.

[0059] The fuel cell engine system 29 itself has a cathode air supply system and an anode hydrogen flow and pressure control system. The test system obtains the operating data output by the fuel cell engine system 29 under test through the communication cable c14 connected to the fuel cell stack, and controls the air-cooled cooling module 7 to ensure that the temperature difference of the coolant entering and leaving the fuel cell stack provided to the fuel cell engine system 29 is within the required range of the fuel cell engine system 29 under test.

[0060] The above-described embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, but not all feasible embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, any obvious changes made thereto without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention should be considered to be included in the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for replacing a modular structure of a fuel cell test bench, characterized in that: The modular structure of a fuel cell test bench comprises a control module (1), a cathode air module (3), an anode hydrogen module (5), and a cooling module (7), wherein the cathode air module (3) comprises a cathode air module electric control box (2), the anode hydrogen module (5) comprises an anode hydrogen module electric control box (4), and the cooling module (7) comprises a cooling module electric control box (6). The control module (1), the cathode air module electric control box (2), the anode hydrogen module electric control box (4), and the cooling module electric control box (6) are connected via a communication cable, the control module (1) is connected to a tested fuel cell stack (11) via a communication cable, and the cathode air module (3), the anode hydrogen module (5), and the cooling module (7) are connected via a cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group (10) and an anode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group (9) respectively. ), the cooling fluid inlet and outlet pipe group (8) is connected to the tested stack (11); the replacement method is specifically as follows: when the rated power of the tested stack (11) increases by 1-6 times, the control module (1) is retained, the original cathode air module (3) is changed to an anode hydrogen module (5), a new cathode air module (3) is added, a new cooling module (7) is replaced, and the air flow detection controller in the original cathode air module (3) is changed to a hydrogen flow detection controller; when the rated power of the tested stack (11) is reduced to 1 / 6-1 / 2 times, the control module (1) is retained, the original anode hydrogen module (5) is changed to a cathode air module (3), a new anode hydrogen module (5) is added, a new cooling module (7) is replaced, and the hydrogen flow detection controller in the original anode hydrogen module (5) is changed to an air flow detection controller.

2. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cathode air module (3) comprises a cathode air module electric control box (2), a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electric control valve, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

3. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The anode hydrogen module (5) comprises an anode hydrogen module electric control box (4), a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electric control valve, a heater, a humidifier, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

4. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cooling module (7) comprises a heat exchanger, a cooling module electric control box (6), a fluid parameter detector, a liquid level meter, an electric control valve, a water pump, a fan, and a water tank.

5. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cathode air module (3), the anode hydrogen module (5), and the cooling module (7) are provided with a conversion structure, which is composed of an internal module joint group (17), a 135° elbow group (19), an external module joint group b (20), a module corner frame column (21), and an external module joint group a (22). The fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group is sequentially connected to the internal module joint group (17), the 135° elbow group (19), and the external module joint group b (20) in the conversion structure.

6. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The width of the swing doors of the anode hydrogen module (5), cathode air module (3) and cooling module (7) boxes is 0.5-0.8 m.

7. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distance between the cathode air module (3) and the anode hydrogen module (5), and between the anode hydrogen module (5) and the cooling module (7) is 0.6-1.5 m.

8. The method for replacing the modular structure of a fuel cell test bench according to claim 7, characterized in that: The distance between the cathode air module (3) and the anode hydrogen module (5), and between the anode hydrogen module (5) and the cooling module (7) is 0.7-1.0 m.

9. A test method for a modular structure of a fuel cell test bench, characterized in that: The modular structure of the fuel cell test bench is as described in claim 5, and the specific test method is as follows: the tested stack (11) is installed, and the control module (1) sends instructions to the cathode air module electric control box (2) through the communication cable d (15) to control the equipment in the cathode air module (3) and control the cathode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group (10) to exchange fluid with the tested stack (11), and then the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensor in the cathode air module (3) is returned to the control module (1); the communication cable b (13) connects the cathode air module electric control box (2) and the anode hydrogen module electric control box (4), and the control module (1) sends instructions to the anode hydrogen module electric control box (4) through the communication cable d (15) and the communication cable b (13) to control The equipment in the anode hydrogen module (5) and the control anode fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group (9) perform fluid exchange with the tested stack (11), and then transmit the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensors in the anode hydrogen module (5) back to the control module (1); the communication cable a (12) connects the anode hydrogen module electric control box (4) and the cooling module electric control box (6), and the control module (1) sends instructions to the cooling module electric control box (6) through the communication cable d (15), the communication cable b (13), and the communication cable a (12), thereby controlling the equipment in the cooling module (7) and the control cooling fluid inlet and outlet pipeline group (8) to perform fluid exchange with the tested stack (11), and then transmit the data obtained by the fluid parameter detection sensors in the cooling module (7) back to the control module (1).

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