A fuel cell air system and vehicle

Abstract

This application provides a fuel cell air system and vehicle to address the problem of impurities in the gas entering the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell air system includes a fuel cell stack, and a filter installed at the air inlet of the stack. The filter is used to filter impurities in the intake air flowing through an air filter, air compressor, intercooler, and intake throttle valve.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of fuel cells, specifically a fuel cell air system and vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] A fuel cell air system is a device that generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. It mainly consists of an air system, a hydrogen system, a cooling system, a control system, and the fuel cell stack. The primary function of the air system is to draw in air, compress it, and then regulate its temperature and humidity before inputting it into the fuel cell stack, providing a suitable oxygen supply for the electrochemical reactions within the stack. Therefore, the air system is a crucial component of a fuel cell air system. The air system typically comprises an air filter, air compressor, intercooler, membrane humidifier, throttle valve, and sensors. Due to the tiny flow channels and harsh reaction conditions within the fuel cell stack, the internal diameter of impurities in the gas entering the stack must be less than 150µm. However, current manufacturing processes for air system components and piping cannot meet this requirement, making the generation of particulate impurities unavoidable. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a fuel cell air system and vehicle to address the problem of impurities in the gas entering the fuel cell stack.

[0004] The technical solution of this utility model is as follows: This application provides a fuel cell air system, including: a fuel cell stack, and a filter installed at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack, the filter being used to filter impurities in the intake air flowing through an air filter, an air compressor, an intercooler, and an intake throttle valve.

[0005] Preferably, the filter is embedded in the air inlet pipe at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack.

[0006] Preferably, the filter is fixed to the air inlet pipe by a snap-fit ​​connection.

[0007] Preferably, the filter is a filter screen installed at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack.

[0008] Preferably, the filter is a conical filter screen.

[0009] Preferably, the filter is made of stainless steel.

[0010] Preferably, the filter particle size is between 50μm and 100μm.

[0011] Preferably, the fuel cell air system further includes: An air filter, an air compressor, an intercooler, and an intake throttle valve are connected in sequence through pipelines, and the intake throttle valve and the air inlet of the fuel cell stack are connected through pipelines. A temperature and pressure sensor is installed in the pipeline between the intake throttle valve and the filter.

[0012] Preferably, the air compressor is arranged below the fuel cell stack and is fixedly connected to the fuel cell stack.

[0013] This application also provides a vehicle including the aforementioned fuel cell air system.

[0014] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: By adding a filter directly at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack, particulate impurities that remain after passing through the air filter, air compressor, intercooler and intake throttle valve can be captured at the last moment, ensuring that the air quality entering the fuel cell stack meets the stringent requirement of <150μm, significantly reducing the risk of flow channel blockage and catalyst damage, and improving the reliability and lifespan of the fuel cell. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the fuel cell air system in the embodiments of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the filter structure in the air inlet pipe in the embodiments of this application; Figure 3 for Figure 2 A cross-sectional schematic diagram of AA; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the filter structure in an embodiment of this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the filter structure in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0016] Reference Figures 1-5 This application provides a fuel cell air system, including: a fuel cell stack 2, and a filter 7 installed at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2. The filter 7 is used to filter impurities in the intake air flowing through the air filter 1, air compressor 3, intercooler 5 and intake throttle valve 6.

[0017] By directly adding a filter 7 at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2, particulate impurities that remain after passing through the air filter 1, air compressor 3, intercooler 5 and intake throttle valve 6 can be captured at the last moment, ensuring that the air quality entering the fuel cell stack 2 meets the stringent requirement of <150μm, significantly reducing the risk of flow channel blockage and catalyst damage, and improving the reliability and lifespan of the fuel cell.

[0018] Reference Figure 3 The filter 7 is embedded in the air inlet duct 21 at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2. By embedding the filter 7 in the duct at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2, no additional installation space is required, making the entire fuel cell air system structure more compact and the layout more flexible.

[0019] In this embodiment, the filter 7 is fixed to the air inlet pipe 21 by a snap-fit ​​connection. This snap-fit ​​method allows for quick installation and removal of the filter 7 without tools, significantly reducing maintenance / replacement time and downtime costs.

[0020] In this embodiment, the filter 7 is a filter screen installed at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2. The filter screen has uniformly distributed filter pores with a pore size between 50 μm and 100 μm, which can further reduce particulate impurities in the gas entering the fuel cell stack 2 to 50-100 μm, far below the fuel cell stack 2's requirement of <150 μm, thereby significantly reducing the risk of flow channel blockage and catalyst poisoning.

[0021] In this embodiment, the filter 7 is specifically a conical filter screen. The conical filter screen has a tapered structure along the flow direction, which keeps the airflow large at the inlet and then gently narrows into the fuel cell stack 2, avoiding the eddies and separation losses caused by the sudden necking of traditional planar filters.

[0022] In this embodiment, the filter 7 is specifically a conical filter structure with a length of 74 mm and an inlet diameter of 36 mm. The conical surface is provided with filter holes, designed to be 250 mesh with a pore size of 68 µm, which can effectively filter impurities remaining in the air pipe 4 and components, while ensuring airflow and not increasing the air system flow resistance.

[0023] In this embodiment, filter 7 is made of stainless steel. The stainless steel conical filter screen is resistant to high temperature and corrosion, and can maintain its structural strength and filtration accuracy for a long time in environments with high humidity, rich oxygen and trace amounts of acidic condensate. This avoids the sudden increase in resistance caused by aging and deformation of plastic or fiber filter screens, thereby maintaining low flow resistance and reducing maintenance frequency throughout its entire lifespan.

[0024] Reference Figure 1 In this embodiment of the application, the fuel cell air system further includes: The air filter 1, air compressor 3, intercooler 5 and intake throttle 6 are connected in sequence through pipelines. The intake throttle 6 and the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2 are connected through pipelines. A temperature and pressure sensor is installed in the pipeline between the intake throttle valve 6 and the filter 7.

[0025] The air compressor 3 is located below the fuel cell stack 2 and is fixedly connected to the fuel cell stack 2. By placing the air compressor 3 at the bottom of the fuel cell stack 2 and rigidly fixing it to the fuel cell stack 2, the vibration transmission path is lengthened and the energy is attenuated, significantly reducing noise and vibration in the passenger compartment. At the same time, the center of gravity of the whole machine is lowered and the layout is more compact.

[0026] The system comprises several components: an air filter 1 to filter particulate matter and harmful gases from the atmosphere, preventing them from entering the air system and damaging the fuel cell stack 2; an air compressor 3 to draw in and compress air to provide a suitable airflow for the stack 2; an intercooler 5 to regulate air temperature, which is beneficial for the reaction; and an intake throttle 6 to regulate air pressure. Temperature and pressure sensors are integrated at both the air inlet and outlet of the fuel cell stack 2. The sensor at the air inlet monitors whether the temperature and pressure of the air entering the stack meet the reaction conditions; the sensor at the air outlet monitors the internal temperature and pressure of the stack 2 to ensure its normal operation. This highly integrated fuel cell air system occupies minimal space, allows for precise parameter control, and is suitable for fuel cell systems in passenger vehicles with limited space.

[0027] The fuel cell air system described in this application embodiment, by adding a high-precision filter 7 at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack 2, can further reduce particulate impurities in the gas entering the fuel cell stack 2 to 50-100μm, which is far below the fuel cell stack 2's requirement of <150μm, thereby significantly reducing the risk of flow channel blockage and catalyst poisoning; at the same time, the filter 7 is directly embedded in the air intake pipe and adopts a snap-fit ​​conical stainless steel structure, which simplifies installation and maintenance and improves temperature and pressure resistance reliability; by integrating the air compressor 3 below the fuel cell stack 2 and optimizing the sensor arrangement, the pipeline length and pressure drop are further reduced, making the system structure more compact and the response faster, so that the entire vehicle fuel cell air system obtains a more stable and longer-lasting electrochemical reaction environment.

[0028] This utility model embodiment also provides a method for judging the clogging status of filter 7 by real-time monitoring of the air compressor 3 speed and the inlet air pressure. When the fuel cell air system is operating normally and there are no other component failures, if the air compressor 3 speed and air pressure exceed the normal speed range and reach the calibrated threshold, the filter 7 is clogged, reminding the customer to replace the filter 7. By using the air compressor 3 speed and the inlet air pressure to judge the clogging status of filter 7, no additional energy consumption is generated, ensuring the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell air system, and the real-time monitoring accuracy is accurate, ensuring the lifespan of the fuel cell stack 2.

[0029] Furthermore, the term “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as advantageous compared to other aspects or designs. Rather, the use of the term “exemplary” is intended to present the concept in a concrete manner. As used herein, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, “X applies A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive arrangements. That is, “X applies A or B” satisfies any of the foregoing instances if X applies A; X applies B; or both X applies A and B. Additionally, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context to refer to the singular form, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims are generally understood to mean “one or more.”

[0030] Similarly, although this disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification and drawings. This disclosure includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the components described above (e.g., elements, resources, etc.), unless otherwise indicated, the terminology used to describe such components is intended to correspond to any component (functionally equivalent) that performs the specific function of the described component, even if structurally not equivalent to the disclosed structure. Furthermore, although specific features of this disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such features may be combined with one or more other features of other implementations, as may be desired and advantageous to any given or particular application. Moreover, with regard to the terms “comprising,” “owning,” “having,” “having,” or variations thereof as used in the detailed description or claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “including.”

[0031] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the utility models disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0032] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0033] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this disclosure are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of this disclosure described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this disclosure as detailed in the appended claims.

[0034] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiment," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this disclosure. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

Claims

1. A fuel cell air system, characterized in that, include: The fuel cell stack (2) has a filter (7) installed at its air inlet. The filter (7) is used to filter impurities in the intake air that flows through the air filter (1), air compressor (3), intercooler (5) and intake throttle valve (6).

2. The fuel cell air system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filter (7) is embedded in the air inlet pipe (21) at the air inlet of the fuel cell stack (2).

3. The fuel cell air system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The filter (7) is fixed to the air inlet pipe (21) by a snap-fit ​​connection.

4. The fuel cell air system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filter (7) is a filter screen installed at the air conditioning inlet of the fuel cell stack (2).

5. The fuel cell air system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The filter (7) is a cone-shaped filter screen.

6. The fuel cell air system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filter (7) is made of stainless steel.

7. The fuel cell air system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The filter (7) has a filter particle size between 50μm and 100μm.

8. The fuel cell air system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fuel cell air system also includes: An air filter (1), an air compressor (3), an intercooler (5), and an intake throttle valve (6) are connected in sequence through a pipeline. The intake throttle valve (6) and the air inlet of the fuel cell stack (2) are connected through a pipeline. A temperature and pressure sensor is installed in the pipeline between the intake throttle valve (6) and the filter (7).

9. The fuel cell air system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The air compressor (3) is arranged below the fuel cell stack (2) and is fixedly connected to the fuel cell stack (2).

10. A vehicle, characterized in that, Includes the fuel cell air system according to any one of claims 1-9.

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