Fuel cell system and method of operating the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a fuel cell system and an operation method thereof for avoiding the overall power generation stop of a fuel cell system having multiple fuel cells. A fuel cell system in one embodiment comprises: multiple fuel cells that generate power when supplied with a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas; and multiple control devices that control the multiple fuel cells respectively. Each of the multiple control devices comprises: an instruction unit that summarizes instructions related to the power generation output of the multiple fuel cells; and an adjustment unit that adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on instructions input from one of the instruction units in the multiple control devices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a fuel cell system and a method of operating the same. Background Art

[0002] The fuel cell system has a fuel cell that generates electricity by supplying a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas. In the fuel cell system, there are multiple fuel cells connected to the power system. In this case, in the previous fuel cell system, the power output of each fuel cell is controlled by a command unit provided outside the fuel cell system. Therefore, if the command unit fails, it is possible to stop power generation in the entire system.

[0003] Such a document is Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-320149 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). Summary of the invention

[0004] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] An object of the present invention is to avoid stopping power generation of the entire system in a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cells and an operating method thereof.

[0006] Means used to solve problems

[0007] A fuel cell system according to one embodiment includes: a plurality of fuel cells that generate electricity when supplied with a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas; and a plurality of control devices that control the plurality of fuel cells, respectively. Each of the plurality of control devices includes: a command unit that summarizes commands related to the power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells; and an adjustment unit that adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on a command input from one of the command units in the plurality of control devices.

[0008] Effects of the Invention

[0009] According to the present embodiment, in a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cells, it is possible to avoid stopping power generation in the entire system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 It is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fuel cell system according to one embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a method of supplying gas to a fuel cell.

[0012] Figure 3This is a flowchart for explaining an operating method of a fuel cell system according to an embodiment.

[0013] Figure 4 This is a flowchart for explaining another operation method of the fuel cell system according to one embodiment.

[0014] Description of Reference Numerals

[0015] 1: Fuel cell system, 10: Fuel cell, 20: Control device, 21: Command unit, 22: Adjustment unit, 23: Fault detection unit DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. These embodiments do not limit the present invention.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fuel cell system according to one embodiment. Figure 1 The fuel cell system 1 shown includes: a plurality of fuel cells 10 connected in parallel to an electric power system 100 ; and a plurality of control devices 20 that respectively control the plurality of fuel cells 10 .

[0018] Figure 2 Schematic diagram showing an example of a method of supplying gas to each fuel cell 10. Figure 2 As shown, a fuel gas 101 containing hydrogen is supplied to each fuel cell 10 through a pipe 11, and an oxidant gas 102 containing oxygen is supplied to each fuel cell 10 through a pipe 12. Each fuel cell 10 generates electricity by supplying the fuel gas 101 and the oxidant gas 102. The electricity generated by each fuel cell 10 is supplied to the power system 100.

[0019] The pipe 11 is provided with a valve 13 and a pump 14. The valve 13 and the pump 14 are operated based on the control of the control device 20. In addition, the pipe 12 is provided with a valve 15 and a pump 16. The valve 15 and the pump 16 are also operated based on the control of the control device 20.

[0020] Back to Figure 1 The plurality of control devices 20 each include an instruction unit 21, an adjustment unit 22, and a fault detection unit 23. The instruction unit 21 summarizes instructions related to the power generation output of each fuel cell 10. The instruction indicates, for example, the output power value of each fuel cell 10. Each instruction unit 21 is interconnected with other control devices 20, and one of them outputs the above instructions to the adjustment unit 22 of each control device 20.

[0021] The adjustment unit 22 adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 of the control object based on the command from the command unit 21. For example, the adjustment unit 22 starts or stops the fuel cell 10 by adjusting the opening and closing actions of the valves 13 and 15. In addition, the adjustment unit 22 controls the pumps 14 and 16 to adjust the supply amounts of the fuel gas 101 and the oxidant gas 102. Thus, the power generation amount of the fuel cell 10 is adjusted. In addition, the operation of the adjustment unit 22 is not limited to the adjustment of the valves 13, 15 and the pumps 14, 16 described above.

[0022] The fault detection unit 23 detects a fault in the command unit 21 that outputs the command. For example, when the command has not been input from the command unit 21 for a predetermined time, the fault detection unit 23 detects that the command unit 21 has failed. In addition, the fault detection unit 23 may also detect that the command unit 21 has failed when a notification indicating a fault of the command unit 21 is input from the command unit 21. In addition, the method for detecting a fault in the command unit 21 by the fault detection unit 23 is not limited to the above content.

[0023] Next, refer to Figure 3 A method of operating the above-mentioned fuel cell system 1 will be described. Figure 3 This is a flowchart for explaining a method for operating the fuel cell system 1 according to one embodiment.

[0024] First, one of the plurality of command units 21 provided in each control device 20 that is designated in advance outputs a command related to the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 to each adjustment unit 22 (step S1 ). At this time, the remaining command units 21 are stopped.

[0025] Next, each adjustment unit 22 adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell 10 to be controlled based on the command input from the command unit 21 (step S2 ). The generated power is supplied to the power system 100 .

[0026] During the power generation process of the fuel cell 10, the plurality of fault detection units 23 provided in each control device 20 detect whether the command unit 21 outputting the above-mentioned command has a fault (step S3). When at least one of the plurality of fault detection units 23 detects a fault in the above-mentioned command unit 21, the command unit 21 outputting the above-mentioned command is switched (step S4).

[0027] In step S4, the method of selecting the command unit 21 that outputs the command is not particularly limited. For example, the priority of outputting the above-mentioned command can be set in advance, and the command unit 21 with the highest priority can be selected from the remaining command units 21 excluding the failed command unit 21. In addition, the command unit 21 that receives the notification indicating the failure the earliest can also be selected as the command unit that outputs the command.

[0028] In step S4 , when the instruction unit 21 that outputs the instruction is switched to another instruction unit 21 , the other instruction unit 21 newly outputs an instruction to the plurality of control devices 20 (step S5 ).

[0029] Next, refer to Figure 4 Another operation method of the fuel cell system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0030] Figure 4 This is a flowchart for explaining another operation method of the fuel cell system 1 according to one embodiment. Figure 4 The flowchart shown, except Figure 3 In addition to the flowchart shown in FIG. 1 , there is also a step for determining periodic maintenance in the switching conditions of the instruction unit 21. Figure 4 In the flowchart shown, the actions of steps S11 to S15 are the same as those of Figure 3 The operations of step S1 to step S5 are the same in content, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

[0031] In general, a fuel cell system requires periodic maintenance of components such as a pump, etc. During the periodic maintenance, the control device 20, the valve 13, and the pump 14 of the fuel cell system 1 need to be powered off.

[0032] On the other hand, during the periodic maintenance, if the power supply of the control device 20, valve 13, and pump 14 related to a fuel cell 10 is turned off, and the remaining fuel cells 10 are kept in operation, the maintenance can be performed without stopping the power generation output. At this time, if the command unit 21 related to the fuel cell 10 to be maintained is the command unit 21 for command output, the command unit 21 for outputting the command is switched before the maintenance (step S16).

[0033] According to the present embodiment described above, the command unit 21 that collectively controls the power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells 10 is provided in the plurality of control devices 20. That is, the command unit 21 is provided redundantly. Therefore, even if the command unit 21 that is outputting a command fails, the command output can be switched to another command unit 21. Thus, the command is continuously outputted, thereby preventing the entire system from stopping power generation.

[0034] Furthermore, by setting the priority in advance for the output of the above-mentioned commands, when the command unit 21 fails, the command unit 21 can be switched smoothly. As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent the power generation of the entire system from stopping.

[0035] Several embodiments and variations have been described above, but these embodiments are presented only as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The new system described in this specification can be implemented in various other ways. In addition, various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made to the system described in this specification without departing from the scope of the invention. The attached claims and their equivalents are intended to include such methods and variations contained in the scope and main content of the invention.

Claims

1. A fuel cell system comprising: A plurality of fuel cells that generate electricity when supplied with a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas; and A plurality of control devices respectively control the plurality of fuel cells, The plurality of control devices respectively include: an instruction unit that summarizes instructions related to power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells; and an adjustment unit that adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on the command input from any one of the command units among the plurality of control devices, The plurality of control devices are further provided with a fault detection unit, respectively, the fault detection unit detects a fault in the command unit that outputs the command, each of the plurality of fault detection units provided in the plurality of control devices detects whether a fault occurs in the command unit that outputs the command, and when at least one of the plurality of fault detection units detects a fault in the command unit, along with the detection by the fault detection unit, the other command units output the command to the adjustment unit of each of the plurality of control devices. Priorities related to output of the commands are preset, and when the failure detection unit detects the failure, the command unit with the highest priority outputs the command.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein: The failure detection unit detects that a failure has occurred in the command unit when the command has not been input from the command unit for a predetermined period of time.

3. The fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein: The failure detection unit detects that a failure has occurred in the command unit when a notification indicating a failure is input from the command unit.

4. A method for operating a fuel cell system, comprising a plurality of fuel cells, the fuel cells generating electricity when supplied with a fuel gas containing hydrogen and an oxidant gas, wherein: one of the plurality of control devices that respectively control the plurality of fuel cells, outputs an instruction related to the power generation output of the plurality of fuel cells, and adjusts the power generation output of the fuel cell to be controlled based on the instruction, The plurality of control devices each further include a fault detection unit, the fault detection unit detecting a fault in a command unit that outputs the command, each of the plurality of fault detection units provided in the plurality of control devices detecting whether a fault has occurred in the command unit that outputs the command, and when at least one of the plurality of fault detection units detects a fault in the command unit, along with the detection of the fault, the other command units output the command to each of the plurality of control devices, Priorities related to output of the commands are preset, and when the failure is detected, the command unit with the highest priority outputs the command.

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