Gas-liquid separator and proton exchange membrane electrolytic cell

Abstract

The utility model provides a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolytic bath. The gas-liquid separator comprises a gas-liquid separator body, a gas-liquid mixture feeding port is formed in the first side face of the gas-liquid separator body, an exhaust port is formed in the position, close to the first side face, of the top of the gas-liquid separator body, and a liquid discharging port is formed in the position, close to the second side face, of the bottom of the gas-liquid separator body; a diffuser pipe is arranged in the gas-liquid separator body, a starting opening of the diffuser pipe is fixedly connected with the gas-liquid mixture feeding opening, and the section size of the diffuser pipe is gradually increased from the starting opening to a tail end opening. According to the gas-liquid separator, the diffuser pipe is arranged in the gas-liquid separator body, and a diffusion speed reduction mode is added on fluid movement, so that the gas-liquid phase separation efficiency is improved, and the size of the gas-liquid separator can be reduced on the basis of ensuring the separation efficiency.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of hydrogen production by water electrolysis, in particular, to a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the process of hydrogen production by a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, the main function of the gas-liquid separator is to separate the mixed fluid of gas and liquid generated by the electrolyzer, for example, to separate the mixed fluid of oxygen and water generated by the electrolyzer. In order to ensure good separation of oxygen and water, the separation efficiency should be greater than 99%.

[0003] In the related art, the method of gravity separation is usually used. Under the action of gravity, oxygen and water are immiscible and have different densities, and oxygen can be separated by floating under the action of the density difference, thereby forming a certain proportion of gas phase and liquid phase.

[0004] Although the method of gravity separation in the related art can realize the separation of gas phase and liquid phase, in order to ensure good gas-liquid phase separation efficiency, the liquid phase should be ensured to have sufficient residence time in the separator. Therefore, the gas-liquid separator in the related art has a large demand for the length direction and diameter direction of the liquid phase movement, which will cause the size of the gas-liquid separator to be large. UTILITY MODEL CONTENT

[0005] The embodiments of the present application at least provide a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. By arranging an expansion pipe inside the gas-liquid separator body, the expansion and deceleration of the fluid movement are increased, thereby improving the separation efficiency of the gas-liquid phase, and further reducing the size of the gas-liquid separator on the basis of ensuring the separation efficiency.

[0006] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a gas-liquid separator. The gas-liquid separator includes a gas-liquid separator body. A gas-liquid mixture inlet is arranged on a first side of the gas-liquid separator body. An exhaust port is arranged on the top of the gas-liquid separator body and close to the first side. A liquid outlet is arranged on the bottom of the gas-liquid separator body and close to the second side.

[0007] An expansion pipe is arranged inside the gas-liquid separator body. A starting port of the expansion pipe is fixedly connected with the gas-liquid mixture inlet. The cross-sectional size of the expansion pipe gradually increases from the starting port to the terminal port.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the gas-liquid mixture inlet is arranged on the first side of the gas-liquid separator body and close to the bottom.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the size of the starting port and the size of the terminal port of the expansion pipe are determined by the inlet flow rate corresponding to the starting port and the outlet flow rate corresponding to the terminal port. The first ratio between the size of the starting port and the size of the terminal port is positively correlated with the second ratio between the outlet flow rate and the inlet flow rate.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the cross-sectional shape of the diffuser is circular.

[0011] In a possible implementation, a baffle is arranged at a position close to the second side face at the top inside the gas-liquid separator body.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the baffle is a sector-shaped baffle, and the arc-shaped edge of the sector-shaped baffle is connected to the inner wall of the gas-liquid separator body.

[0013] In a possible implementation, a sieve pipe is further arranged inside the gas-liquid separator body, and the sieve pipe is fixed to the gas outlet.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the diameters of the sieve holes on the sieve pipe are not greater than 5 mm.

[0015] In a possible implementation, an anti-vortex device is further arranged inside the gas-liquid separator body, and the anti-vortex device is fixed to the liquid outlet.

[0016] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, which comprises the gas-liquid separator as described in the foregoing embodiments, and the anode side of the proton exchange membrane electrolyzer is provided with an oxygen path outlet, and the oxygen path outlet is connected to the gas-liquid mixture inlet of the gas-liquid separator.

[0017] In summary, the present application provides a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. The gas-liquid separator comprises a gas-liquid separator body, the first side face of the gas-liquid separator body is provided with a gas-liquid mixture inlet, a gas outlet is arranged at a position close to the first side face at the top, and a liquid outlet is arranged at a position close to the second side face at the bottom. A diffuser pipe is arranged inside the gas-liquid separator body, the starting port of the diffuser pipe is fixedly connected to the gas-liquid mixture inlet, and the cross-sectional size of the diffuser pipe gradually increases from the starting port to the terminal port. By arranging the diffuser pipe inside the gas-liquid separator body, the diffuser pipe increases the expansion and deceleration of fluid movement, thereby improving the separation efficiency of the gas-liquid phase, and further reducing the size of the gas-liquid separator while ensuring the separation efficiency.

[0018] Other advantages of the present application will be described in more detail in conjunction with the following description and drawings.

[0019] It should be understood that the above description is only a summary of the technical solutions of the present application, so as to enable a general understanding of the technical means of the present application, and then the content of the description is implemented. In order to make the above and other purposes, characteristics and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the following specific embodiments of the present application are described. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced. The drawings herein are incorporated into the description and form a part of the description, which show the embodiments consistent with the present application, and are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application together with the description. It should be understood that the drawings only show some of the embodiments of the present application, and therefore should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope of protection, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can also be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings. Moreover, the same reference numerals are used to represent the same components throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0021] Figure 1 A structural schematic diagram of a gas-liquid separator provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of a gas-liquid separator provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0023] Figure 3 A structural schematic diagram of a diffuser provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0024] Figure 4 A structural schematic diagram of a screen pipe provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0025] In the drawings, the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts.

[0026] Among them, 1-gas-liquid separator body; 101-first side; 102-second side; 11-gas-liquid mixture inlet; 12-exhaust port; 13-liquid discharge port; 2-diffuser; 3-baffle; 4-screen pipe; 401-screen hole; 5-anti-vortex device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The exemplary embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present application can be implemented in various forms, and should not be limited by the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided in order to more thoroughly understand the present application, and to fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0028] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that terms such as "include" or "have" are intended to indicate that the features, numbers, components, parts or combinations thereof disclosed in the specification exist, and do not exclude the possibility of existence of one or more other features, numbers, components, parts or combinations thereof.

[0029] Unless otherwise defined, “or” means any one of the other, for example, A / B can mean A or B. “And / or” as used herein is to be interpreted as any one of the associated listed items, for example, A and / or B is to be interpreted as: A alone, A and B together, or B alone.

[0030] The terms “first”, “second”, and the like are merely intended to distinguish similar objects from one another without the intention to imply or suggest relative importance or quantity thereof. Thus, features defined by “first”, “second”, and the like can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of the term “plurality” is two or more than two.

[0031] In the related art, a method of gravity separation is generally adopted. Under the action of gravity, oxygen and water are immiscible and have different densities, and the oxygen can be separated by floating under the action of the density difference, so as to form a certain proportion of gas phase and liquid phase.

[0032] Although the method of gravity separation in the related art can realize the separation of the gas phase and the liquid phase, in order to ensure good gas-liquid phase separation efficiency, the liquid phase should be ensured to have sufficient residence time in the separator, and therefore the gas-liquid separator in the related art has a large demand in the length direction and the diameter direction of the movement of the liquid phase, which can cause the size of the gas-liquid separator to be large, for example, the diameter of the gas-liquid separator in the related art can be 813 mm, and the length can be 2264 mm.

[0033] In view of this, the present application provides a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolytic cell, by arranging a diffuser pipe inside the gas-liquid separator body, the diffuser pipe increases the expansion and deceleration of the fluid movement, thereby improving the separation efficiency of the gas-liquid phase, and further reducing the size of the gas-liquid separator on the basis of ensuring the separation efficiency.

[0034] The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with embodiments.

[0035] As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The gas-liquid separator can include a gas-liquid separator body 1, a gas-liquid mixture inlet 11 is arranged on a first side surface 101 of the gas-liquid separator body 1, an exhaust port 12 is arranged at a position close to the first side surface 101 at the top, and a liquid discharge port 13 is arranged at a position close to a second side surface 102 at the bottom.

[0036] A diffuser pipe 2 is arranged inside the gas-liquid separator body 1, the starting port of the diffuser pipe 2 is fixedly connected with the gas-liquid mixture inlet 11, and the cross-sectional size of the diffuser pipe 2 gradually increases from the starting port to the terminal port.

[0037] Specifically, the diffuser pipe 2 is arranged in the gas-liquid separator body 1, and the mixed fluid is preliminarily separated when passing through the diffuser pipe 2 after entering the gas-liquid mixing inlet 11. Since the cross-sectional size of the diffuser pipe 2 gradually increases from the starting port to the terminal port, the diffuser pipe 2 can reduce the flow rate of the liquid in the mixed fluid, while the flow rate of the gas does not change significantly. In this way, the liquid and the gas form a speed difference. At this time, the liquid can flow slowly and uniformly into the bottom of the gas-liquid separator body 1 and flow out from the liquid outlet 13, thereby avoiding liquid particles generated by violent collision, and the gas can escape through the gas outlet 12. That is, the diffuser pipe 2 increases the flow rate of the fluid, thereby improving the separation efficiency of the gas-liquid phase, and further reducing the size of the gas-liquid separator while ensuring the separation efficiency. In actual application, the diameter of the gas-liquid separator in the embodiment can be 500 mm, and the length can be 1600 mm, which is about 40% smaller than the size of the gas-liquid separator in the related art while ensuring the separation efficiency of 99.9%.

[0038] In addition, by arranging the diffuser pipe 2 in the gas-liquid separator body 1, the separation time of the gas-liquid can be shortened. In actual application, the separation time is about 1 min, thereby ensuring the response of the liquid level control system of the equipment.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the gas-liquid mixture inlet is arranged at a position close to the bottom of the first side of the gas-liquid separator body, thereby better realizing the separation of the mixed fluid.

[0040] In a possible implementation, in order to ensure the effect of the diffuser pipe 2, the size of the starting port and the size of the terminal port of the diffuser pipe 2 can be determined according to the inlet flow rate corresponding to the starting port and the outlet flow rate corresponding to the terminal port. The first ratio between the size of the starting port and the size of the terminal port is positively correlated with the second ratio between the outlet flow rate and the inlet flow rate. For example, in actual application, the inlet flow rate can be 2 m / s, the outlet flow rate can be 0.1 m / s, the diameter of the starting port can be 114 mm, and the diameter of the terminal port can be 361 mm.

[0041] In a possible implementation, as shown in (a) of FIG. 2, Figure 3 Figure 3 (a) is a side view of the diffuser pipe provided in the embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 (b) is a perspective view of the diffuser pipe provided in the embodiment of the present application, and the cross-sectional shape of the diffuser pipe 2 can be circular.

[0042] In a possible implementation, in order to further ensure the separation effect, a baffle 3 can be arranged at a position close to the second side 102 of the top of the gas-liquid separator body 1. ​

[0043] Specifically, the baffle 3 can further increase the collision in the fluid movement. Since the liquid flowing slowly through the diffuser 2 still has forward kinetic energy, when the liquid approaches the second side 102, it may move along the inner wall of the second side 102 towards the exhaust port 12. By further setting the baffle 3 inside the gas-liquid separator body 1, the liquid particles can be easily thrown towards the inner wall of the second side 102 when the direction of movement changes, so that the liquid particles slide back down to the drain port 13.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the baffle 3 can be a sector-shaped baffle, with its arc-shaped edge connected to the inner wall of the gas-liquid separator body 1, such as... Figure 2 As shown, baffle 3 can be a semi-circular baffle.

[0045] In one possible implementation, in order to further ensure the collision effect of the baffle 3, the diameter of the fan-shaped baffle is not less than the radius of the projected area corresponding to the second side 102.

[0046] In one possible implementation, a screen tube 4 is also provided inside the gas-liquid separator body 1. The screen tube 4 is fixed to the exhaust port 12. The screen tube fixed to the exhaust port 12 can further block larger liquid droplets from passing through, thereby further ensuring gas-liquid separation.

[0047] In one possible implementation, such as Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 (a) is a side view of the sieve tube provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 (b) is a perspective view of the sieve tube provided in the embodiment of this application. In order to ensure the separation effect of the sieve tube, the diameter of a number of sieve holes 401 on the sieve tube 4 can be no greater than 5mm.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the gas-liquid separator body 1 may also be equipped with an anti-vortex device 5. The anti-vortex device 5 is a device that achieves the anti-vortex effect by changing the flow mode and direction of the fluid. For example, the anti-vortex device 5 can reduce the generation of vortices by setting a cross anti-vortex baffle inside.

[0049] The anti-vortex device 5 is fixed on the drain port 13. Since vortices are easily formed at the drain port 13 and some gas is carried out, the anti-vortex device 5 can effectively stabilize the liquid surface and ensure the gas-liquid separation effect.

[0050] This application embodiment also provides a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, including the gas-liquid separator described in the foregoing embodiment. The proton exchange membrane electrolyzer has an oxygen outlet on its anode side, and the oxygen outlet is connected to the gas-liquid mixture inlet 11 of the gas-liquid separator.

[0051] It should be noted that in addition to the oxygen outlet of the proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, the gas-liquid separator in this embodiment can be used for gas-liquid separation of mixed fluid with high liquid content and low gas content and the gas and liquid are not mutually soluble.

[0052] Therefore, the application provides a gas-liquid separator and a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, the gas-liquid separator comprises a gas-liquid separator body, a gas-liquid mixture inlet is arranged on a first side of the gas-liquid separator body, an exhaust outlet is arranged on the top near the first side, and a liquid outlet is arranged on the bottom near a second side; an expansion pipe is arranged in the gas-liquid separator body, a starting port of the expansion pipe is fixedly connected with the gas-liquid mixture inlet, and the cross-sectional size of the expansion pipe gradually increases from the starting port to a terminal port. By arranging the expansion pipe in the gas-liquid separator body, the expansion and deceleration of the fluid is increased, so that the separation efficiency of the gas-liquid phase is improved, and the size of the gas-liquid separator can be reduced on the basis of ensuring the separation efficiency.

[0053] In the description of the present specification, the description referring to the terms "some possible embodiments", "some embodiments", "an example", "a specific example", or "some examples" and the like means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments or examples are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application, and the above terms do not necessarily represent the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described can be combined in any appropriate manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, the person skilled in the art can combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in the specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples without contradiction.

[0054] Although the spirit and principles of the present application have been described above with reference to several specific embodiments, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the disclosed specific embodiments, and the division of aspects does not mean that the features in these aspects cannot be combined. The present application is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A gas-liquid separator, characterized by, The gas-liquid separator comprises a gas-liquid separator body (1), a first side (101) of the gas-liquid separator body (1) is provided with a gas-liquid mixture feeding port (11), a top portion near the first side (101) is provided with a gas outlet (12), and a bottom portion near a second side (102) is provided with a liquid outlet (13); The gas-liquid separator body (1) is internally provided with a diffuser pipe (2), a starting port of the diffuser pipe (2) is fixedly connected with the gas-liquid mixture feeding port (11), and a cross-sectional size of the diffuser pipe (2) gradually increases from the starting port to a terminal port.

2. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, The gas-liquid mixture feeding port (11) is arranged at a position near a bottom portion of the first side (101) of the gas-liquid separator body (1).

3. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, The starting port size and the terminal port size of the diffuser pipe (2) are determined by an inlet flow rate corresponding to the starting port and an outlet flow rate corresponding to the terminal port, a first ratio between the starting port size and the terminal port size is positively correlated with a second ratio between the outlet flow rate and the inlet flow rate.

4. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, The cross-sectional shape of the diffuser pipe (2) is circular.

5. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, A baffle (3) is arranged at a position near the second side (102) of the gas-liquid separator body (1) internally.

6. The gas-liquid separator of claim 5, wherein, The baffle (3) is a fan-shaped baffle, and an arc-shaped side of the fan-shaped baffle is connected with an inner wall of the gas-liquid separator body (1).

7. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, The gas-liquid separator body (1) is internally further provided with a screen pipe (4), and the screen pipe (4) is fixed on the gas outlet (12).

8. The gas-liquid separator of claim 7, wherein, Diameters of a plurality of screen holes (401) on the screen pipe (4) are not greater than 5 mm.

9. The gas-liquid separator of claim 1, wherein, The gas-liquid separator body (1) is internally further provided with a vortex-preventing device (5), and the vortex-preventing device (5) is fixed on the liquid outlet (13).

10. A proton exchange membrane electrolyzer characterized by, The proton exchange membrane electrolytic cell comprises a gas-liquid separator as claimed in any one of claims 1-9, and an oxygen path outlet is arranged on an anode side of the proton exchange membrane electrolytic cell, and the oxygen path outlet is connected with the gas-liquid mixture feeding port (11) of the gas-liquid separator.

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