Vehicle having a fuel cell, and method for operating same

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle having at least one fuel cell, a cooling system having at least one cooler (5) for cooling the fuel cell, a container (7) for collecting water produced in the fuel cell, a plurality of nozzles (6) arranged upstream of the cooler (5) in the direction of travel (F) for conducting or spraying water from the container (7) onto the cooler (5) or into an air stream flowing through the cooler (5), a pump for conveying the water from the container (7) to the nozzles (6), and a controller, which is configured to control and / or regulate the pump with regard to the amount of water conveyed, depending on the outside temperature and a temperature of the cooling system, wherein the vehicle is designed as a commercial vehicle (1), wherein the cooler (5) is arranged on a roof or in the region of the roof of the vehicle, wherein the container (7) is arranged in a lower region of the vehicle.

Description

[0001] Fuel cell vehicle and method for its operation

[0002] The invention relates to a vehicle with a fuel cell according to the preamble of claim 1 and a method for its operation according to the preamble of claim 6.

[0003] JP 2019-075254 A2 describes a fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell in which hydrogen and oxygen are electrochemically reacted and water is generated by the electrochemical reaction, water storage parts for storing water collected in the fuel cell, a heat exchanger that releases heat from the exchange of a heat exchange medium that absorbs heat from the fuel cell, a spray part for spraying water from the water storage parts onto the heat exchanger to cool the heat exchanger using latent heat of vaporization, and an abnormality determination part for determining an abnormality related to the water spraying of the spray part.The anomaly determination part performs anomaly determination based on the difference between the theoretical heat release of the heat exchanger when no water is sprayed on the heat exchanger and an actually measured heat release of the heat exchanger when water is sprayed on the heat exchanger.

[0004] The invention is based on the object of providing a novel vehicle with a fuel cell and a novel method for its operation.

[0005] The object is achieved according to the invention by a vehicle with a fuel cell having the features of claim 1 and by a method for operating a vehicle with a fuel cell having the features of claim 6.

[0006] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims. A vehicle according to the invention comprises at least one fuel cell, a cooling system with at least one cooler for cooling the fuel cell, a container for collecting water generated in the fuel cell, a plurality of nozzles arranged in front of the cooler in the direction of travel for directing or spraying water from the container onto the cooler or into an air stream flowing through the cooler, a pump for conveying the water from the container to the nozzles, and a controller configured to control and / or regulate the pump with regard to the amount of water conveyed depending on the outside temperature and a temperature of the cooling system. According to the invention, the vehicle is designed as a commercial vehicle, wherein the cooler is arranged on a roof or in the region of the roof of the vehicle, wherein the container is arranged in a lower region of the vehicle.

[0007] Spraying water onto a warm and / or hot radiator improves cooling performance. Cooling performance is achieved through the evaporation of the water. This results in energy savings, improved radiator efficiency, and thus greater efficiency of the overall system, including the fuel cell. This results in a reduction in the ecological footprint, as greater range is achieved with the same amount of primary energy.

[0008] Embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to a drawing.

[0009] It shows:

[0010] Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a commercial vehicle with fuel cell drive.

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic view of a commercial vehicle 1, in particular a tractor unit for a semi-trailer truck. The commercial vehicle 1 has a drive system based on one or more fuel cells. For this purpose, a technology tower 3 is arranged behind a cabin 2 of the commercial vehicle 1, in which, in particular, one or more hydrogen tanks 4 are arranged. A radiator 5 is arranged on a roof of the cabin 2 or on the technology tower 3 in the roof area.

[0012] A fuel cell vehicle generates a lot of waste heat. This is further increased by the cooling power required when the vehicle decelerates. If recuperation is not possible, electrical energy must be converted into heat, which must be dissipated via cooler 5.

[0013] Arranged in the direction of travel F in front of the radiator 5 are one or more nozzles 6 from which water can be sprayed onto the radiator 5. The water is generated as a spray mist by the fuel cell, discharged from the fuel cell, and collected in a container 7. In a commercial vehicle 1, for example, approximately 50 liters of water can be generated per hour. The water is introduced via the nozzles 6 as a water flow or as a spray mist into an air stream that flows through the radiator 5, or is sprayed directly onto the radiator 5.

[0014] The radiator 5 is blown by the airflow, for example, the airstream FW while driving. Nozzles 6, which can be designed similarly to the nozzles for windshield cleaning water, are arranged in this airflow. The nozzles 6 are supplied with water from the container 7. In particular, the entire radiator 5 is wetted, and the radiator 5 is additionally cooled due to evaporation enthalpy, for example, by approximately two to three degrees more than without spraying.

[0015] The container 7 for collecting the water from the fuel cell is located, for example, in a lower area of ​​the commercial vehicle 1. The water is pumped from the container 7 to the nozzles 6 by means of a pump (not shown). Alternatively, the spray mist generated by the fuel cell can also be applied directly to the radiator 5.

[0016] Furthermore, a control (not shown) can be provided which decides when and how much water is sprayed depending on at least one temperature, for example the outside temperature and / or a temperature of the cooling system of the commercial vehicle 1.

[0017] Furthermore, a collecting device (not shown), for example a tray or gutter, can be provided behind the cooler 5 in the direction of travel F to collect a portion of the sprayed water that may not have evaporated. An outlet from this collecting device, for example toward the container 7, can be routed along an ascending and thus warmer line to the cooler 5 and wet it. In this way, this line is also additionally cooled due to evaporation enthalpy, increasing the cooling effect. List of Reference Symbols

[0018] 1 commercial vehicle cabin technical tower hydrogen tank

[0019] 5 coolers

[0020] 6 nozzle

[0021] 7 containers

[0022] F Direction of travel

[0023] FW Fahrtwind

Claims

Patent claims Vehicle with at least one fuel cell, a cooling system with at least one cooler (5) for cooling the fuel cell, a container (7) for collecting water generated in the fuel cell, a plurality of nozzles (6) arranged in front of the cooler (5) in the direction of travel (F) for directing or spraying water from the container (7) onto the cooler (5) or into an air stream flowing through the cooler (5), a pump for conveying the water from the container (7) to the nozzles (6), and a controller which is configured to control and / or regulate the pump with regard to the amount of water conveyed depending on the outside temperature and a temperature of the cooling system, characterized in that the vehicle is designed as a commercial vehicle (1), wherein the cooler (5) is arranged on a roof or in the region of the roof of the vehicle, wherein the container (7) is arranged in a lower region of the vehicle.Vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the air flow can be generated by airstream (FW). Vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the nozzles (6) are arranged to wet the entire radiator (5). Vehicle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a collecting device for collecting a non-evaporated part of the water sprayed onto the radiator (5) is arranged behind the radiator (5) in the direction of travel (F), wherein the collecting device has a drain. which is guided along an ascending line to the cooler (5) and is designed to wet the cooler with the collected water. Vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the vehicle further comprises a cabin (2) and a technical tower (3) arranged behind the cabin (2), in which hydrogen tanks (4) are arranged, wherein the cooler (5) is arranged in the region of the roof of the cabin (2) on the technical tower (3).Method for operating a vehicle with at least one fuel cell and a cooling system with at least one cooler (5) for cooling the fuel cell, wherein water generated in the fuel cell is collected in a container (7) and conveyed by means of a pump to a plurality of nozzles (6) arranged in front of the cooler (5) in the direction of travel (F), and is directed or sprayed by the nozzles (6) onto the cooler (5) or into an air stream flowing through the cooler (5), wherein the pump is controlled and / or regulated with regard to the amount of water conveyed by means of a controller depending on the outside temperature and a temperature of the cooling system, characterized in that the vehicle is designed as a commercial vehicle (1), wherein the cooler (5) is arranged on a roof or in the region of the roof of the vehicle, wherein the container (7) is arranged in a lower region of the vehicle.

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