A steam-water separation device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a steam-water separation device, comprising a body, an air inlet pipe, a water outlet, an exhaust pipe, a guide plate, a partition, a filter screen, a reflux outlet and an exhaust port, wherein the reflux outlet and the exhaust port are located outside the top of the body, the inlet of the exhaust pipe is located at the top of the steam-water separation chamber, the exhaust pipe extends from the inside of the steam-water separation chamber to the outside of the top of the body, and is connected with the reflux outlet and the exhaust port; the water outlet is located at the bottom of the body, and is connected with the steam-water separation chamber. The inner wall of the air inlet pipe is tangent to the circumference of the side wall of the steam-water separation chamber, and the air inlet pipe is close to the top of the steam-water separation chamber. The present invention utilizes centrifugal force to improve the steam-water separation efficiency of the steam-water separation device, effectively controls the pressure loss range within 10KPa, and improves the stability of the performance of the fuel cell using the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of tail gas treatment devices, and in particular relates to a hydrogen gas-water separation device for a fuel cell. Background Art

[0002] Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are a type of power generation device currently used in new energy vehicles. Proper humidification of hydrogen can significantly improve the performance and life of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, but excessive water content near the anode of the battery will also lead to a decrease in battery performance and durability. When the fuel cell is running, the water generated at the cathode will diffuse to the anode. After a period of operation, the water around the anode will accumulate and increase, so it is necessary to separate the excess water in the hydrogen near the anode of the battery through a steam-water separation device.

[0003] The prior art steam-water separation device is generally a volumetric or filtering type, and its shortcomings are: usually only an inlet for the gas to be separated, a reflux outlet and an exhaust port are provided, and the exhaust port is used for the discharge of wastewater and waste gas at the same time. The discharge of waste gas can only be carried out after the liquid water gathered at the exhaust port in the steam-water separation device is discharged, and when the tail gas exhaust valve is opened, the drain valve must be kept in an open state at the same time, which is very inconvenient to operate; the volumetric steam-water separation device is large in size and has a low water separation efficiency; the filtering steam-water separation device has a complex structure and a large pressure drop, and the recovered gas needs to pass through an ejector to enter the reflux channel of the fuel cell again to participate in the circulation; the water content of some gases after separation by the steam-water separation device is too low, which cannot well guarantee the stable performance of the fuel cell and shortens the service life of the fuel cell. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize and improve the prior art steam-water separation device. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention proposes a steam-water separation device, wherein the top of the steam-water separation device is provided with an exhaust port, and the bottom is provided with a drain port, and the exhaust gas and wastewater after separation are discharged independently and do not affect each other, thereby improving the working efficiency and convenience of the steam-water separation device. The steam-water separation device comprises a steam-water separation chamber and a filtering device, and has both volume separation and filtering separation structures, which can further separate water droplets with smaller particle sizes, thereby making the water vapor separation more thorough. .

[0005] To achieve this object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A steam-water separation device, characterized in that it comprises a body, an exhaust pipe and a filter device; a steam-water separation chamber is provided inside the body;

[0007] An air inlet pipe communicating with the steam-water separation chamber is provided on the top of the side wall of the body;

[0008] The exhaust pipe of the steam-water separation chamber is a T-shaped three-way pipe composed of a vertical section and a horizontal section. The exhaust pipe is arranged above the body. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is inserted into the steam-water separation chamber of the body and extends to the bottom of the body. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is a closed end. The other end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is connected to the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe. One end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe is a reflux outlet, and the other end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe is an exhaust port.

[0009] The main body is provided with a partition at the top of the steam-water separation chamber, the partition surrounds the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, a filter chamber is formed between the partition and the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, and the bottom end of the partition is suspended and located above one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe;

[0010] The filter device is installed in the vertical section of the exhaust pipe and close to the top of the filter chamber, and the exhaust pipe is connected to the filter chamber through the filter device;

[0011] The drain port is located at the bottom of the body and communicates with the steam-water separation chamber.

[0012] Furthermore, the main body steam-water separation chamber is cylindrical, the partition is cylindrical, and the air intake direction of the air intake pipe is tangent to the circumference of the side wall of the steam-water separation chamber.

[0013] Furthermore, a conical guide plate with a diameter increasing from top to bottom is formed at one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, the diameter of the bottom surface of the conical guide plate is larger than the diameter of the partition, and the conical guide plate is located below the partition.

[0014] Furthermore, the filtering device is a plurality of filtering holes formed on the exhaust pipe.

[0015] Furthermore, the filtering device is a filter net, and the filter net is sleeved on the vertical section of the exhaust pipe.

[0016] Furthermore, the pore size of the filter holes of the filter device is 3 μm.

[0017] Furthermore, a water storage chamber is provided between the bottom surface of the conical guide plate of the exhaust pipe and the bottom of the main body.

[0018] Furthermore, the bottom of the body is funnel-shaped, and the drain outlet is located at the lowest point of the bottom of the body.

[0019] Furthermore, the central axes of the reflux outlet and the exhaust port overlap to form a straight line, and the diameter of the reflux outlet is larger than the diameter of the exhaust port.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0021] The steam-water separation device of the present invention is provided with the exhaust port at the top and the drain port at the bottom, and the exhaust gas and wastewater after separation are discharged independently and do not affect each other, thereby improving the working efficiency and convenience of use of the steam-water separation device. The air inlet pipe enters the steam-water separation chamber along the tangential direction, better utilizing the original initial velocity of the gas to be separated, improving the separation effect of the steam-water separation device through centrifugal force, and improving the steam-water separation efficiency of the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

[0022] The steam-water separation device of the present invention has two steam-water separation chambers, and has high efficiency in separating large-particle water. The guide plate has the functions of guiding and draining, and the internal overall structure is simple and the airflow channel is smooth. The steam-water separation device of the present invention is provided with the filter screen with a mesh diameter of 3 μm, which can also achieve a relatively ideal separation effect on small-particle water with a particle size greater than 3 μm, and can effectively control the pressure loss range within 10 KPa. Small-particle water droplets with a particle size less than 3 μm can follow the separated gas into the exhaust pipe, thereby retaining some small-particle water droplets in the gas to be separated to flow back into the circulation system of the fuel cell, which is more conducive to maintaining the stable operating power of the fuel cell and can increase the service life of the fuel cell. Because a certain humidity is required in the circulating hydrogen, when the humidity is too low, the performance and life of the fuel cell will be reduced.

[0023] Due to the small pressure loss, the reflux gas discharged from the steam-water separation device of the present invention does not need to be introduced through an ejector, but can be directly introduced into the circulation channel under the action of the original circulation pump of the fuel cell circulation channel, maintaining synchronous and stable operation with the fuel cell, reducing unnecessary energy and efficiency losses, saving the cost of adding an ejector, and having a simpler and more effective structure, thereby improving the stability of the performance of the fuel cell using the steam-water separation device of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 It is a schematic plan view of the internal structure of a gas-water separation device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A top view of the steam-water separation device in FIG.

[0026] Among them: main body 1; air inlet pipe 2; water outlet 3; exhaust pipe 4; reflux outlet 5; exhaust outlet 6; guide plate 7; partition plate 8; filter device 9; steam-water separation chamber 11; filter chamber 12; water storage chamber 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following is combined with Figure 1-2 And specific implementation methods further illustrate the technical solution of the present invention.

[0028] A steam-water separation device comprises a body 1, an exhaust pipe 4 and a filter device 9; a steam-water separation chamber 11 is provided inside the body 1;

[0029] An air inlet pipe 2 communicating with the steam-water separation chamber 11 is provided at the top of the side wall of the body 1;

[0030] The exhaust pipe 4 in the steam-water separation chamber 11 is a T-shaped three-way pipe composed of a vertical section and a horizontal section. The exhaust pipe 4 is arranged above the body 1. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4 is inserted into the steam-water separation chamber 11 of the body 1 and extends to the bottom of the body 1. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4 is a closed end. The other end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4 is connected to the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4. One end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4 is a reflux outlet 5, and the other end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4 is an exhaust port 6.

[0031] The body 1 is provided with a partition 8 at the top of the steam-water separation chamber 11, the partition 8 surrounds the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4, a filter chamber 12 is formed between the partition 8 and the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4, and the bottom end of the partition 8 is suspended and located above one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4;

[0032] The filter device 9 is installed in the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4 and close to the top of the filter chamber 12. The exhaust pipe 4 is connected to the filter chamber 12 through the filter device 9.

[0033] The drain port 3 is located at the bottom of the body 1 and communicates with the steam-water separation chamber 11 .

[0034] The steam-water separation device of the present invention comprises a steam-water separation chamber 11 and a filtering device 9, and has both volume separation and filtering separation structures.

[0035] In the steam-water separation device of the present invention, the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4 is located above the main body 1, so that the reflux outlet 5 and the exhaust port 6 are connected and located outside the top of the main body 1, and the drain port 3 is located at the bottom of the main body 1, and the exhaust port 6 and the drain port 3 are independent of each other. After the separated gas is separated and condensed by the liquid water vapor through the steam-water separation device, it enters the reflux circulation channel of the fuel cell through the reflux outlet 5 located in the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4, or is discharged from the exhaust port 6 in the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe 4; there will be no inconvenient phenomenon that the discharge of waste tail gas must wait for the liquid water in the steam-water separation device to be discharged before it can be carried out, and the operations of discharging the separated waste gas and the waste water are independent of each other and do not affect each other, thereby improving the working efficiency and convenience of use of the steam-water separation device.

[0036] The partition 8 divides the gas-water separation chamber 11 of the body 1 into two layers of separation structure. The first layer of separation structure is composed of the partition 8 and the side wall of the body 1, and the second layer of separation structure is composed of the partition 8 and the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4. The gas to be separated with a certain initial velocity first enters the first layer of separation structure from the intake pipe 2. In this structure, the water droplets mixed in the gas to be separated also rotate and generate centrifugal force. Under the action of centrifugal force, the water droplets move outward, hit the side wall of the body 1 and hang on the wall. The water droplets fall due to gravity and then gather and grow larger to separate from the gas. However, the water droplets with smaller particle size move toward the central axis in a negative pressure state under the action of gas pressure, achieving preliminary Separation, as the relatively dry gas to be separated enters the filter chamber 12, i.e., the second layer of separation structure, along the gap between the bottom end of the partition 8 and the exhaust pipe 4. Because the partition 8 is arranged at the top of the gas-water separation chamber 11, the position of the second layer of separation structure has a certain height, and the filtering device 9 is close to the top of the filtering chamber 12, those water droplets with smaller particle sizes that cannot be separated by the first layer of separation structure will fall on the inner side of the partition 8 and the outer side of the exhaust pipe 4 due to the action of gravity during the rising process of the airflow, and the gas to be separated needs to pass through the filtering device 9 before entering the exhaust pipe 4, so as to filter the gas to be separated and further separate the water droplets with smaller particle sizes, so as to make the water vapor separation more thorough.

[0037] The air inlet pipe 2, the water outlet 3, the reflux outlet 5 and the exhaust port 6 are all equipped with control valves. When starting the gas-water separation device, it can operate normally only by opening the control valves of the air inlet pipe 2 and the exhaust port 6. The gas to be separated passes through the gas-water separation chamber 11 and the filter device 9 to separate the liquid water contained therein and is discharged from the reflux outlet 5. Since the air flow channel is smooth, the reflux gas does not need to be introduced through the ejector, but can be directly introduced into the circulation channel under the action of the original circulation pump of the fuel cell circulation channel. The gas-water separation device and the fuel cell maintain continuous and stable operation synchronously, reducing unnecessary energy and efficiency losses. The gas-water separation device of the present invention saves the cost of adding an ejector, has a simpler and more effective structure, and improves the stability of the performance of the fuel cell using the gas-water separation device of the present invention.

[0038] Furthermore, the steam-water separation chamber 11 of the main body 1 is cylindrical, the partition plate 8 is cylindrical, and the air intake direction of the air intake pipe 2 is tangent to the circumference of the side wall of the steam-water separation chamber 11 .

[0039] The gas to be separated contains a lot of water vapor, and enters the steam-water separation chamber 11 from the air inlet pipe 2 along the tangential direction, and rotates at the original initial velocity. Under the action of centrifugal force and gravity, large-diameter water droplets in the gas to be separated are adsorbed on the inner wall of the steam-water separation chamber 11, slide down along the inner wall and gather at the drain port 3 at the bottom of the body 1. The design of the air inlet pipe 2 that allows the gas to enter the steam-water separation chamber 11 along the tangential direction makes better use of the original initial velocity of the gas to be separated, improves the effectiveness of the steam-water separation device through centrifugal force, and improves the steam-water separation efficiency of the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

[0040] Furthermore, a conical guide plate 7 with a diameter increasing from top to bottom is formed at one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4 , the diameter of the bottom surface of the conical guide plate 7 is larger than the diameter of the partition 8 , and the conical guide plate 7 is located below the partition 8 .

[0041] The liquid water separated in the steam-water separation chamber 11 flows from the gap between the bottom edge of the conical guide plate 7 and the side wall of the steam-water separation chamber 11 to the drain port 3, preventing the separated liquid water from being carried by the gas into the exhaust pipe 4. Therefore, the conical guide plate 7 has the function of guiding and draining, thereby improving the separation efficiency of the steam-water separation device. The gas to be separated enters the filter chamber 12, rises along the conical guide plate 7, passes through the filter device 9, and is discharged from the exhaust pipe 4. The path passed by the gas is in accordance with the natural characteristics of the gas rising movement, thereby reducing the pressure drop loss of the gas to be separated. Therefore, the internal structure of the steam-water separation device of the present invention is simple and the pressure loss is small.

[0042] Furthermore, the filtering device 9 is a plurality of filtering holes formed on the exhaust pipe 4 .

[0043] A plurality of filter holes are directly arranged on the exhaust pipe 4, so that the structure is simpler and more compact.

[0044] Furthermore, the filtering device 9 is a filter net, and the filter net is sleeved on the vertical section of the exhaust pipe 4.

[0045] The filter screen is arranged in the gas-water separation chamber 11 and the filter chamber 12. Before the gas to be separated enters the exhaust pipe 4, the filter screen can separate the small-sized water droplets that are not completely separated in the gas to be separated.

[0046] Furthermore, the pore size of the filter holes of the filter device 9 is 3 μm.

[0047] If the diameter of the filter hole of the filter device 9 is too large, the effect of filtering small-particle water is not ideal. If it is too small, it will have the adverse effect of increasing the airflow pressure loss. After experimental verification, when the diameter of the filter hole of the filter device 9 is set to 3μm, it can not only achieve a relatively ideal effect of separating small-particle water droplets, but also ensure that the pressure loss of the gas-water separation device is less than 10KPa. Small-particle water droplets with a particle size of less than 3μm can follow the separated gas into the exhaust pipe 4, thereby retaining some small-particle water droplets in the gas to be separated to flow back into the circulation system of the fuel cell, which is more conducive to maintaining the stable operating power of the fuel cell and can increase the service life of the fuel cell. Because a certain humidity is required in the circulating hydrogen, when the humidity is too low, the performance and life of the fuel cell will be reduced.

[0048] The pressure loss is controlled within the range of 10KPa, and there is no need for the introduction of an ejector. The reflux gas directly enters the circulation channel to maintain the stable operation of the fuel cell, thereby reducing unnecessary energy and efficiency losses and saving the cost of adding an ejector. The structure is simpler and more effective, and the stability of the fuel cell using the steam-water separation device of the present invention is improved.

[0049] Furthermore, a water storage chamber 13 is provided between the bottom surface of the conical guide plate 7 of the exhaust pipe 4 and the bottom of the main body 1 .

[0050] The steam-water separation device of the present invention is provided with the water storage chamber 13, which avoids the defect of needing to keep the drain valve connected to the steam-water separation device in a normally open state, and also reduces the adverse effect of increased pressure loss during the operation of the steam-water separation device, which is more helpful to improve the performance of the fuel cell using the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

[0051] Furthermore, the bottom of the main body 1 is funnel-shaped, and the drain port 3 is located at the lowest point of the bottom of the main body 1 .

[0052] The bottom of the body 1 is funnel-shaped, which is conducive to guiding the separated water to flow toward the drain port 3.

[0053] Furthermore, the central axes of the reflux outlet 5 and the exhaust outlet 6 overlap to form a straight line, and the diameter of the reflux outlet 5 is larger than the diameter of the exhaust outlet 6 .

[0054] The diameter of the reflux outlet 5 is larger than that of the exhaust port 6, and the pressure of the gas discharged through the exhaust port 6 is greater than the pressure of the gas discharged through the reflux outlet 5. Therefore, the gas discharged from the exhaust pipe 4 will preferentially choose to enter the reflux outlet 5. The preferential drainage effect of the reflux gas is more conducive to improving the gas recovery rate of the steam-water separation device.

[0055] In summary, the steam-water separation device of the present invention is provided with the exhaust port 6 at the top and the drain port 3 at the bottom, and the exhaust gas and waste water after separation are discharged independently and do not affect each other, thereby improving the working efficiency and convenience of use of the steam-water separation device. The air inlet pipe 2 enters the steam-water separation chamber 11 along the tangential direction, making better use of the original initial velocity of the gas to be separated, utilizing centrifugal force to improve the effectiveness of the steam-water separation device, and improving the steam-water separation efficiency of the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

[0056] The steam-water separation device of the present invention has two steam-water separation chambers 11 and has high separation efficiency for water with large particle size.

[0057] The guide plate 7 has the function of guiding and draining, the internal overall structure is simple and the air flow channel is smooth. The steam-water separation device of the present invention is provided with the filter screen 9 with a mesh diameter of 3μm, which has a relatively ideal effect of separating small-particle water with a particle size greater than 3μm, and can effectively control the pressure loss range within 10KPa. Due to the small pressure loss, the reflux gas discharged by the steam-water separation device of the present invention does not need to be introduced into the battery circulation channel through an ejector, and can be directly introduced into the circulation channel under the action of the original circulation pump of the fuel cell circulation channel, thereby maintaining the stable operation of the fuel cell, reducing unnecessary energy and efficiency losses, saving the cost of adding ejectors, and having a simpler and more effective structure, thereby improving the stability of the performance of the fuel cell using the steam-water separation device of the present invention.

[0058] The technical principle of the present invention is described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. These descriptions are only for explaining the principle of the present invention and cannot be interpreted as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention in any way. Based on the explanations herein, those skilled in the art can associate other specific implementations of the present invention without paying creative labor, and these methods will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A steam-water separation device, characterized in that: It includes a body, an exhaust pipe and a filter device; a steam-water separation chamber is provided inside the body; An air inlet pipe communicating with the steam-water separation chamber is provided on the top of the side wall of the body; The exhaust pipe is a T-shaped three-way pipe consisting of a vertical section and a horizontal section. The exhaust pipe is arranged above the body. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is inserted into the steam-water separation chamber from the top of the body and extends to the bottom of the body. One end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is a closed end. The other end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe is connected to the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe. One end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe is a reflux outlet, and the other end of the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe is an exhaust port. The main body is provided with a partition plate at the top of the steam-water separation chamber, the partition plate surrounds the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, a filter chamber is formed between the partition plate and the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, and the bottom end of the partition plate is suspended and located above one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe; The filter device is installed in the vertical section of the exhaust pipe and close to the top of the filter chamber, and the exhaust pipe is connected to the filter chamber through the filter device; The drain port is located at the bottom of the body and communicates with the steam-water separation chamber; A conical guide plate with a diameter increasing from top to bottom is formed at one end of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe, the bottom surface of the conical guide plate has a diameter greater than the diameter of the partition, and the conical guide plate is located below the partition; The filtering device is a filter net, and the filter net is sleeved on the vertical section of the exhaust pipe.

2. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main body steam-water separation chamber is cylindrical, the partition is cylindrical, and the air intake direction of the air intake pipe is tangent to the circumference of the side wall of the steam-water separation chamber.

3. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The filtering device is a plurality of filtering holes formed on the exhaust pipe.

4. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pore size of the filter holes of the filter device is 3 μm.

5. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A water storage chamber is provided between the bottom surface of the conical guide plate of the exhaust pipe and the bottom of the body.

6. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the body is funnel-shaped, and the drain port is located at the lowest point of the bottom of the body.

7. The steam-water separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The central axes of the reflux outlet and the exhaust port overlap to form a straight line, and the diameter of the reflux outlet is larger than the diameter of the exhaust port.

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