Multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of realizing rapid filling

Abstract

The utility model relates to a multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of realizing rapid filling, which comprises a plurality of sets of fuel cell thermal management systems, each set of fuel cell thermal management system comprises a fuel cell stack, an intercooler, a heater, a three-way valve, a radiator, a circulating pump and a filter, and the three-way valve comprises a first end, a second end and a third end. The inlet end of the circulating pump is respectively connected with the outlet end of the fuel cell stack and the outlet end of the intercooler, the outlet end of the circulating pump is connected with the first end of the three-way valve, the second end of the three-way valve is connected with the inlet end of the heater, and the third end of the three-way valve is connected with the inlet end of the radiator; the outlet end of the water tank is connected with the inlet end of the circulating pump of each set of fuel cell thermal management system through a connecting pipeline, a valve is arranged on the connecting pipeline, and a radiator exhaust port and an electric pile exhaust port of each set of fuel cell thermal management system are respectively connected with the inlet end of the water tank, so that the filling efficiency is greatly improved.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of fuel cells, and in particular to a multi-fuel cell thermal management system that enables rapid refueling. [Background Technology]

[0002] Due to the increasing demand for long-distance and heavy-load applications, the power requirements of fuel cell systems in the fields of ships, energy storage, and rail transportation have reached 400kW, 800kW, or even more than 1MW. Limited by the power of a single fuel cell system (<300kW), multiple fuel cell systems are usually operated in parallel, which has led to the problem of high system maintenance time and cost.

[0003] Taking the thermal management system as an example, when the normal operation of the fuel cell stack is affected by the excessive conductivity of the coolant, it is usually necessary to replace the coolant, that is, to drain the original coolant from the system and then add new coolant to the system. In a multi-fuel cell system, since each fuel cell system is equipped with a separate thermal management system and each separate thermal management system is equipped with a water tank, workers need to add coolant to each thermal management system through the water tank, which greatly reduces work efficiency and increases maintenance costs.

[0004] Therefore, improving the thermal management system of multi-fuel cell systems to enable rapid coolant replenishment will help reduce maintenance costs. [Utility Model Content]

[0005] To address the aforementioned problems, the purpose of this invention is to provide a multi-fuel cell thermal management system that enables rapid refueling.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is as follows: a multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling, comprising: several sets of fuel cell thermal management systems, each set of fuel cell thermal management system comprising: a fuel cell stack, an intercooler, a heater, a three-way valve, a radiator, a circulation pump, and a filter. The three-way valve includes a first end, a second end, and a third end. The inlet end of the circulation pump is connected to the outlet end of the fuel cell stack and the outlet end of the intercooler, respectively. The outlet end of the circulation pump is connected to the first end of the three-way valve, and the second end of the three-way valve is connected to the inlet end of the heater. The third end is connected to the inlet of the radiator. The outlet of the heater is connected to the inlet of the intercooler and the inlet of the filter. The outlet of the radiator is connected to the inlet of the intercooler and the inlet of the filter. The outlet of the filter is connected to the inlet of the fuel cell stack. Several sets of fuel cell thermal management systems share a water tank. The outlet of the water tank is connected to the inlet of the circulation pump of each set of fuel cell thermal management systems through a connecting pipe. A valve is provided on the connecting pipe. The exhaust port of the radiator and the exhaust port of the stack of each set of fuel cell thermal management systems are connected to the inlet of the water tank.

[0007] Preferably, the multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling in this invention is further configured such that the circulation pump is a high-pressure water pump.

[0008] Preferably, the multi-fuel cell thermal management system for rapid refueling in this invention is further configured such that the valve is a manual valve or a solenoid valve.

[0009] Preferably, the multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling in this invention is further configured such that the heater is a high-pressure water heater.

[0010] Preferably, the multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling in this invention is further configured such that the radiator is a high-temperature radiator.

[0011] Preferably, the multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling in this invention is further configured such that the radiator exhaust port is located at the top of the radiator.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the following beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art where the water tank in each fuel cell thermal management system needs to be filled with coolant separately, after improving the structure, the utility model enables multiple fuel cell thermal management systems to share a common water tank, and the common water tank is connected to the inlet end of the circulation pump of each fuel cell system through a connecting pipeline, and a valve is provided on the connecting pipeline. By opening the valve on the connecting pipeline, the coolant in the common water tank can reach the inlet end of the circulation pump of each fuel cell system, thereby realizing the rapid filling of the coolant for multiple fuel cell thermal management systems, greatly improving the filling efficiency, and reducing the filling workload of workers.

Description of the Drawings

[0013] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the multi-fuel cell thermal management system in the utility model.

Specific Embodiments

[0014] The multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid filling described in the utility model will be further described in detail through specific embodiments below.

[0015] Refer Figure 1As shown, a multi-fuel cell thermal management system capable of rapid refueling includes several sets of fuel cell thermal management systems. In this embodiment, there are two sets of fuel cell thermal management systems. However, in other embodiments, there can be three, four, five, or even more sets. Each set of fuel cell thermal management system includes: a fuel cell stack, an intercooler, a heater, a three-way valve, a radiator, a circulation pump, and a filter. The filter's function is to remove impurities from the coolant. In this embodiment, the circulation pump is a high-pressure water pump, the heater is a high-pressure water heater, and the radiator is a high-temperature radiator. The three-way valve includes a first end, a second end, and a third end. The inlet of the circulation pump is connected to the outlet of the fuel cell stack and the outlet of the intercooler, respectively. The outlet of the circulation pump is connected to the first end of the three-way valve. The second end of the three-way valve is connected to the inlet of the heater. The third end of the three-way valve is connected to the inlet of the radiator. The outlet of the heater is connected to the inlet of the intercooler and the inlet of the filter, respectively. The outlet of the radiator is connected to the inlet of the intercooler and the inlet of the filter, respectively. The outlet of the filter is connected to the inlet of the fuel cell stack. The two fuel cell thermal management systems share a water tank. The outlet of the water tank is connected to the inlet of the circulation pump of each fuel cell thermal management system through a connecting pipe. The connecting pipe is equipped with a valve, which can be a manual valve or a solenoid valve. The exhaust port of the radiator and the exhaust port of the fuel cell stack of each fuel cell thermal management system are connected to the inlet of the water tank, respectively. In this embodiment, the radiator vent is located at the top of the radiator. During the coolant filling and venting process, air mixed with some coolant inside the radiator is discharged into the water tank through the radiator vent. Similarly, air mixed with some coolant inside the fuel cell stack is discharged into the water tank through the stack vent. In this embodiment, there are two sets of fuel cell thermal management systems, so two sets of fuel cell thermal management systems share one water tank. In other embodiments, when there are three, four, five, or even more sets of fuel cell thermal management systems, then three, four, five, or even more sets of fuel cell thermal management systems share one water tank.

[0016] The working principle of the multi-fuel cell thermal management system in this invention is as follows: During the fuel cell startup phase, the coolant temperature is low, the third end of the three-way valve is closed, and the first and second ends of the three-way valve are open, allowing the three-way valve to conduct the heater circuit. The coolant enters the fuel cell stack after being heated, causing the fuel cell stack to heat up rapidly. When the fuel cell stack temperature rises to the target temperature, the three-way valve switches to the radiator circuit (i.e., the second end of the three-way valve is closed, and the first and third ends of the three-way valve are open), dissipating heat from the system through the radiator, thereby controlling the coolant temperature within the target temperature range. The filling method of the multi-fuel cell thermal management system in this invention is as follows: When system 1 in this embodiment needs coolant filling and venting, while system 2 in this embodiment does not need coolant filling and venting, valve 1 is opened and valve 2 is closed, allowing for independent filling and venting of system 1 without affecting the coolant in system 2. Conversely, when System 1 in this embodiment does not require coolant filling and venting, but System 2 does, closing valve 1 and opening valve 2 allows for independent filling and venting of System 2, without affecting the coolant in System 1. When both System 1 and System 2 require coolant filling and venting, opening valves 1 and 2 simultaneously allows the water tank to fill both systems with coolant at the same time. In this case, a single filling and venting process using a shared water tank is sufficient, enabling rapid filling. After filling, keeping the valves open allows both systems to operate normally.

[0017] In summary, compared to existing technologies that require separate coolant filling for each fuel cell thermal management system's water tank, this invention, through structural improvements, allows multiple fuel cell thermal management systems to share a single water tank. The shared water tank is connected to the inlet of each fuel cell system's circulation pump via a connecting pipe, with a valve installed on this pipe. By opening the valve, coolant from the shared water tank reaches the inlet of each fuel cell system's circulation pump, enabling rapid coolant filling for multiple fuel cell thermal management systems. This significantly improves filling efficiency and reduces the workload for workers.

[0018] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of this utility model, as well as some of its applications, and are not intended to limit this utility model. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept of this utility model, and these modifications and improvements all fall within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A multi-fuel cell thermal management system that enables fast refueling, comprising: The application discloses a plurality of fuel cell thermal management systems, each of which comprises a fuel cell stack, a middle cooler, a heater, a three-way valve, a radiator, a circulating pump and a filter, the three-way valve comprises a first end, a second end and a third end, the inlet end of the circulating pump is connected with the outlet end of the fuel cell stack and the outlet end of the middle cooler respectively, the outlet end of the circulating pump is connected with the first end of the three-way valve, the second end of the three-way valve is connected with the inlet end of the heater, the third end of the three-way valve is connected with the inlet end of the radiator, the outlet end of the heater is connected with the inlet end of the middle cooler and the inlet end of the filter respectively, the outlet end of the radiator is connected with the inlet end of the middle cooler and the inlet end of the filter respectively, the outlet end of the filter is connected with the inlet end of the fuel cell stack, the plurality of fuel cell thermal management systems share a water tank, the outlet end of the water tank is connected with the inlet end of the circulating pump of each fuel cell thermal management system through a connecting pipeline, a valve is arranged on the connecting pipeline, and the radiator exhaust port and the stack exhaust port of each fuel cell thermal management system are connected with the inlet end of the water tank respectively.

2. The multi-fuel cell thermal management system enabling fast refueling of claim 1, wherein: The circulating pump is a high-pressure water pump.

3. The multi-fuel cell thermal management system enabling fast refueling of claim 1, wherein: The valve is a manual valve or an electromagnetic valve.

4. The multi-fuel cell thermal management system enabling fast refueling of claim 1, wherein: The heater is a high-pressure water heating heater.

5. The multi-fuel cell thermal management system enabling fast refueling of claim 1, wherein: The radiator is a high-temperature radiator.

6. The multi-fuel cell thermal management system enabling fast refueling of claim 1, wherein: The radiator exhaust port is arranged at the top of the radiator.

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