Multifunctional system for hydrogen preparation, compression, purification and storage

Abstract

The invention discloses a multifunctional system for hydrogen preparation, compression, purification and storage, and relates to the technical field of hydrogen energy. On the premise of high integration and simplification of hydrogen preparation, compression, purification and storage equipment, the problems of noise, vibration, poor economical efficiency, easiness in damage and the like of mechanical compression are solved, simultaneous compression and purification of hydrogen are realized, and independent operation of four functions is also realized. The system comprises a PEM water electrolysis module, an electrochemical hydrogen compression module, a hydrogen storage module and power supply equipment, the PEM electrolyzed water module, the electrochemical hydrogen compression module and the hydrogen storage module are sequentially communicated along the flow direction of fluid; a first stop valve, a second stop valve and a first three-way valve are arranged in the PEM water electrolysis module, and the second stop valve and the first three-way valve are located at an outlet of the PEM water electrolysis module; a third stop valve is arranged at an inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module, and a fourth stop valve and a second three-way valve are arranged at an outlet; and the power supply equipment supplies power to the PEM electrolyzed water module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of hydrogen energy technology, and in particular to a multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen. Background Art

[0002] In the hydrogen energy application industry chain, hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage are all very critical and important technical links. At present, most of the above technical links use relatively independent systems with single functions, especially the water electrolysis hydrogen production system, hydrogen compression system and hydrogen purification system, which are composed of many devices and have very complex structures, which leads to a significant increase in the cost of hydrogen energy application.

[0003] In order to solve the above technical problems, an integrated system that can realize hydrogen production, compression and storage has come into being. Although this system has achieved high integration and simplification of equipment and reduced the cost of hydrogen energy, it still has the following disadvantages:

[0004] 1. Since hydrogen compression in this type of system is still mainly mechanical compression, there are problems such as noise, vibration, poor economy, easy damage, and difficult maintenance.

[0005] 2. At present, the use of hydrogen often requires the purity of hydrogen to reach the level of 99.99% to 99.999%, which also puts extremely high demands on hydrogen purification technology. The mainstream hydrogen purification technology currently used is pressure swing adsorption, cryogenic separation or palladium membrane separation. Pressure swing adsorption is suitable for removing impurities such as CO, CO2, N2 and H2S, but its disadvantage is low efficiency; cryogenic separation is suitable for situations where the hydrogen content in the raw gas is low, but its disadvantage is large scale and high energy consumption; palladium membrane separation is suitable for the production of high-purity hydrogen and ultra-pure hydrogen, but its disadvantage is high operating temperature, high cost and the need to pre-treat the raw gas. In addition, no matter which purification method is used, it is necessary to set up purification equipment separately, which increases the cost of hydrogen treatment.

[0006] 3. Each technical link in this type of system is assembly line-style. Once the system is turned on, the entire process of production, compression and storage will be completed, and it is impossible to realize the independent operation of each link. For example, since the compressed hydrogen is high-pressure hydrogen, in actual use, low-pressure hydrogen may sometimes be required. At this time, this type of system cannot meet this demand. Summary of the invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a multifunctional system for hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage. Under the premise of highly integrating and simplifying the equipment for hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage, it not only solves the problems of noise, vibration, poor economy, easy damage and difficult maintenance of mechanical compression, but also realizes the simultaneous compression and purification of hydrogen, and also realizes the independent operation of the four functions.

[0008] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, an embodiment of the present application provides a multifunctional system for hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage, including a PEM water electrolysis module, an electrochemical hydrogen compression module, a hydrogen storage module and a power supply device; the inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module is connected to the outlet of the PEM water electrolysis module, and the outlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module is connected to the inlet of the hydrogen storage module; a first stop valve, a second stop valve and a first three-way valve are provided in the PEM water electrolysis module, and the second stop valve and the first three-way valve are located at the outlet of the PEM water electrolysis module; a third stop valve is provided at the inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module, and a fourth stop valve and a second three-way valve are provided at the outlet; the output end of the power supply device is respectively connected to the circuit input ends of the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module.

[0009] Furthermore, the PEM water electrolysis module includes a water tank, a pump, a first filter, a first stop valve, a PEM electrolyzer, a second stop valve and a first three-way valve which are sequentially connected along the flow direction of the liquid, and the inlet of the second stop valve is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve.

[0010] Furthermore, the PEM water electrolysis module also includes an air-cooled radiator arranged between the water tank and the PEM electrolysis cell.

[0011] Furthermore, the electrochemical hydrogen compression module includes a second filter, a third stop valve, a flow controller, an electrochemical hydrogen compression device, a fourth stop valve and a second three-way valve which are connected in sequence along the flow direction of the gas; the inlet of the second filter is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve; the outlet of the fourth stop valve is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve.

[0012] Furthermore, a first pressure-temperature sensor is provided between the first three-way valve and the second filter; and a second pressure-temperature sensor is provided between the electrochemical hydrogen compression device and the fourth stop valve.

[0013] Furthermore, the hydrogen storage module includes a fifth stop valve and a solid-state hydrogen storage bottle; the inlet of the fifth stop valve is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve, and the outlet of the fifth stop valve is connected to the inlet of the solid-state hydrogen storage bottle.

[0014] Furthermore, the first stop valve, the second stop valve, the third stop valve, the fourth stop valve and the fifth stop valve are all electric stop valves.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, this application has the following beneficial effects:

[0016] 1. The embodiments of the present application highly integrate and simplify the complicated processes and equipment in the four important links of hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage. At the same time, by setting stop valves and three-way valves in each link, the independent operation of multiple functions is realized through mechanical control methods.

[0017] 2. The embodiment of the present application adopts an electrochemical hydrogen compression method to achieve hydrogen compression. Compared with traditional mechanical compression, the electrochemical hydrogen compression method has higher compression efficiency, lower energy consumption and smaller volume, and also has other advantages such as cleanliness, low noise, and hydrogen purification. In addition, the embodiment of the present application integrates the compression and purification of hydrogen, reducing equipment such as gas-liquid separators and hydrogen purification, thereby greatly reducing costs.

[0018] 3. The working principles and structures of the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module in the embodiments of the present application are highly similar, which provides sufficient feasibility for the integration of hydrogen production and compression. At the same time, since they both require power supply, the same power supply equipment can be used, which reduces the complexity of the equipment and improves the simplicity and integration of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a PEM electrolyzer in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an electrochemical hydrogen compression device in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a mechanical control logic diagram of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0025] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0026] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection. For ordinary technicians in this field, they can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this application according to specific circumstances.

[0027] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more.

[0028] Reference Figure 1 An embodiment of the present application provides a multifunctional system for hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage, including a PEM water electrolysis module, an electrochemical hydrogen compression module, a hydrogen storage module and a power supply device 13.

[0029] The PEM water electrolysis module includes a water tank 1, a pump 2, a first filter 3, a first stop valve 4, a PEM electrolyzer 6, a second stop valve 7 and a first three-way valve 8 which are sequentially connected along the flow direction of the liquid. Among them, the first stop valve 4 and the second stop valve 7 are both electric stop valves, which can prevent the liquid in the pipeline from flowing back and are also easy to operate. The inlet of the second stop valve 7 is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8, the second inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8 is connected to the inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module, and the third inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8 is used for hydrogen in and out.

[0030] The water tank 1 is provided with a water inlet, a water outlet and an oxygen outlet. In order to facilitate real-time temperature monitoring, a temperature sensor is also provided in the water tank 1. In order to cool the PEM electrolyzer 6, the embodiment of the present application adopts a method in which an air-cooled radiator 5 is provided between the water tank 1 and the PEM electrolyzer 6 to reduce the temperature of the water entering the PEM electrolyzer 6.

[0031] The electrochemical hydrogen compression module includes a first pressure and temperature sensor 9, a second filter 10, a third stop valve 11, a flow controller 12, an electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14, a second pressure and temperature sensor 15, a fourth stop valve 16, and a second three-way valve 17, which are sequentially connected along the flow direction of the gas. The inlet of the first pressure and temperature sensor 9 is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8. The outlet of the fourth stop valve 16 is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve 17, and the second inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve 17 are connected to the inlet of the hydrogen storage module. The third inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve 17 are used for the compressed and purified hydrogen to enter and exit. The third stop valve 11 and the fourth stop valve 16 are also electric stop valves.

[0032] The hydrogen storage module includes a fifth stop valve 18 and a solid hydrogen storage bottle 19. The inlet of the fifth stop valve 18 is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve 17, and the outlet of the fifth stop valve 18 is connected to the inlet of the solid hydrogen storage bottle 19. The solid hydrogen storage bottle 19 is provided with a stored hydrogen outlet. The fifth stop valve 18 is also an electric stop valve.

[0033] Reference Figure 2 and Figure 3 The working principle of PEM water electrolysis is similar to that of electrochemical hydrogen compression. The difference is that PEM water electrolysis starts from water entering the anode side and electrolyzes O 2- and H + , O 2- During the anode oxidation, oxygen is generated by aggregation. + The proton exchange membrane is used to reduce and gather hydrogen at the cathode. Electrochemical hydrogen compression is the process where low-pressure hydrogen enters the anode and is oxidized to H + , and then pass through the proton exchange membrane, and be reduced to high-pressure hydrogen at the cathode. Since other gas impurities cannot pass through the proton exchange membrane, the electrochemical hydrogen compression module in the embodiment of the present application integrates the compression and purification of hydrogen, reduces equipment such as gas-liquid separators and hydrogen purification, greatly reduces costs, and also solves the problems of noise, vibration, poor economy, easy damage, and difficult maintenance of mechanical compression in the prior art.

[0034] In addition, in order to maintain the electrical conductivity of the proton exchange membrane in the electrochemical hydrogen compression module, low-pressure hydrogen is required to carry some water. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application lowers the purity standard of the hydrogen entering the system and increases the water content of the hydrogen. That is, compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present application saves a gas-liquid separator and further reduces the system cost.

[0035] Since the principles and equipment used in the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module are highly similar, the integration of hydrogen production and compression provides sufficient feasibility. At the same time, since both require power supply, the same power supply device 13 can be used, which reduces the complexity of the equipment and improves the simplicity and integration of the system. Specifically, the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module are both powered by the power supply device 13. That is, the output end of the power supply device 13 is respectively connected to the circuit input end of the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module.

[0036] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 4 , the working process of the embodiment of the present application is as follows:

[0037] 1. Complete the entire process of hydrogen production, compression, purification and storage:

[0038] All stop valves are in an open state, and the third inlet and outlet of all three-way valves are in a closed state. After the water in the water tank 1 is pumped out by the pump 2, it passes through the first filter 3 and the first stop valve 4 in turn and enters the anode of the PEM electrolyzer 6 for electrolysis. This process is powered by the power supply device 13, and the water before electrolysis is preliminarily filtered through the filter. The low-pressure hydrogen generated by the cathode of the PEM electrolyzer 6 flows through the second stop valve 7, the first three-way valve 8, the second filter 10, the third stop valve 11 and the flow controller 12 in turn and enters the electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14.

[0039] Low-pressure hydrogen enters from the anode of the electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14, is electrochemically compressed into high-pressure hydrogen, and is discharged from the cathode after purification. This process is also powered by the power supply device 13, and the hydrogen before compression is filtered through the second filter 10. The hydrogen generated by the electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14 passes through the fourth stop valve 16, the second three-way valve 17 and the fourth stop valve 16 in turn into the solid-state hydrogen storage bottle 19 for storage. The first pressure and temperature sensor 9 and the second pressure and temperature sensor 15 can monitor the pressure and temperature of the electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14 in real time to ensure the compression performance and safety of the system.

[0040] 2. Complete the hydrogen production process independently:

[0041] The first stop valve 4 and the second stop valve 7 are in an open state, the third stop valve 11 is in a closed state, and the states of the other stop valves are not limited. The third inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8 are in an open state, at which time the isolation of the PEM water electrolysis module can be achieved, and the independent operation of the hydrogen production function can be achieved, and the produced hydrogen is discharged through the third inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8.

[0042] 3. Complete the hydrogen compression and purification process independently:

[0043] The second stop valve 7 and the fifth stop valve 18 are in a closed state, the third stop valve 11 and the fourth stop valve 16 are in an open state, and the states of other stop valves are not limited. The third inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8 and the second three-way valve 17 are both in an open state, at which time, a separate hydrogen compression and purification function can be achieved. Specifically, hydrogen enters the electrochemical hydrogen compression device 14 through the third inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve 8, and the compressed and purified hydrogen is discharged through the third inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve 17.

[0044] 4. Complete the storage and release process of hydrogen independently:

[0045] The fifth stop valve 18 is in a closed state, so that the independent operation of hydrogen storage and release can be realized, and the stored hydrogen can be directly released through the solid-state hydrogen storage bottle 19 .

[0046] In summary, the embodiments of the present application can not only realize the simultaneous operation of multiple functions but also realize the independent operation of each function through the mechanical control method.

[0047] The above are only specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen, characterized in that: It comprises a PEM water electrolysis module, an electrochemical hydrogen compression module, a hydrogen storage module and a power supply device; the inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module is connected to the outlet of the PEM water electrolysis module, and the outlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module is connected to the inlet of the hydrogen storage module; a first stop valve, a second stop valve and a first three-way valve are arranged in the PEM water electrolysis module, and the second stop valve and the first three-way valve are located at the outlet of the PEM water electrolysis module; a third stop valve is arranged at the inlet of the electrochemical hydrogen compression module, and a fourth stop valve and a second three-way valve are arranged at the outlet; the output end of the power supply device is respectively connected to the circuit input ends of the PEM water electrolysis module and the electrochemical hydrogen compression module.

2. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The PEM water electrolysis module includes a water tank, a pump, a first filter, a first stop valve, a PEM electrolyzer, a second stop valve and a first three-way valve which are sequentially connected along the flow direction of the liquid, and the inlet of the second stop valve is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve.

3. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The PEM water electrolysis module also includes an air-cooled radiator arranged between the water tank and the PEM electrolysis cell.

4. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The electrochemical hydrogen compression module includes a second filter, a third stop valve, a flow controller, an electrochemical hydrogen compression device, a fourth stop valve and a second three-way valve which are sequentially connected along the flow direction of the gas; the inlet of the second filter is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the first three-way valve; the outlet of the fourth stop valve is connected to the first inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve.

5. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 4 is characterized in that: A first pressure and temperature sensor is also provided between the first three-way valve and the second filter; and a second pressure and temperature sensor is also provided between the electrochemical hydrogen compression device and the fourth stop valve.

6. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 5 is characterized in that: The hydrogen storage module includes a fifth stop valve and a solid-state hydrogen storage bottle; the inlet of the fifth stop valve is connected to the second inlet and outlet of the second three-way valve, and the outlet of the fifth stop valve is connected to the inlet of the solid-state hydrogen storage bottle.

7. The multifunctional system for producing, compressing, purifying and storing hydrogen according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The first stop valve, the second stop valve, the third stop valve, the fourth stop valve and the fifth stop valve are all electric stop valves.

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