Power generation system

Abstract

To reduce burden on the environment when utilizing emergency power generation equipment at times of tight electric power demand.SOLUTION: A power generation system 1 comprises: a power generation device 10 that operates an internal combustion engine capable of using hydrogen fuel and liquid fuel, which is a fuel for internal combustion engines other than hydrogen fuel, as fuel to generate electric power and outputs the electric power to a load system 80; a fuel supply device 20 that supplies liquid fuel to the power generation device; a hydrogen fuel supply device 30 that supplies hydrogen fuel to the power generation device; a control device 40 that controls switching the source of fuel supply to the power generation device between the fuel supply device and the hydrogen fuel supply device; a renewable energy power generation device 50 that generates electric power using renewable energy; and a water electrolysis device 60 that uses the electric power supplied from the renewable energy power generation device to electrolyze water to generate hydrogen fuel to be supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a power generation system. [Background technology]

[0002] Emergency power generation equipment is known as equipment used by consumers in emergencies such as power outages caused by disasters. In an emergency in which power is not supplied from the power system to the load system, the consumer supplies power to its facilities by switching the power supply source from the commercial power system to the emergency power generation equipment. The need for emergency power generation equipment is increasing with the increase in natural disasters.

[0003] As a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) measure, emergency power generation equipment is required to generate power in emergencies regardless of weather conditions. For this reason, emergency power generation equipment generally uses an internal combustion engine as its power source. Existing liquid fuels for internal combustion engines (hereinafter referred to as "liquid fuel") such as gasoline, diesel, or heavy oil are usually used as fuel for emergency power generation equipment. These liquid fuels provide fuel efficiency that ensures sufficient operating time for the emergency power generation equipment, and are easy to secure.

[0004] There is known technology relating to fuel supply and ignition for internal combustion engines, specifically, technology relating to sparkless ignition of the main charge by the combustion gases of a pilot charge that is compression ignited in a pre-chamber (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 1,107,826 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As described above, emergency power generation equipment is used in emergencies, and therefore generally has a low operating rate. On the other hand, in recent years, there has been concern that the supply and demand of electricity will become tight due to sudden climate change, etc. Therefore, when the supply and demand of electricity is tight, it is required to operate the emergency power generation equipment to effectively utilize the power generation capacity of the emergency power generation equipment and reduce the amount of electricity demand from consumers to the power grid.

[0007] However, as described above, emergency power generating equipment generally runs on liquid fuel. Therefore, when the emergency power generating equipment is used during times of tight power supply, the operating time of the emergency power generating equipment increases, and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the operation of the emergency power generating equipment increases. For this reason, it is required to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when using not only emergency power generating equipment but also power generating equipment using an internal combustion engine as a power source during times of tight power supply.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a power generation system that reduces the environmental load when utilizing an emergency power generation device at times of tight power supply and demand. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A power generation system according to a representative embodiment of the present invention includes a power generation device that operates an internal combustion engine that can use hydrogen fuel and liquid fuel other than the hydrogen fuel as fuel to generate power and output the power to a load system, a fuel supply device that supplies the liquid fuel to the power generation device, a hydrogen fuel supply device that supplies the hydrogen fuel to the power generation device, a control device that controls switching the source of supply of the liquid fuel to the power generation device between the fuel supply device and the hydrogen fuel supply device, a renewable energy power generation device that generates power using renewable energy, and a water electrolysis device that uses electricity supplied from the renewable energy power generation device to electrolyze water to generate the hydrogen fuel supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the environmental load when utilizing an emergency power generating device at times of tight power supply and demand. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of a power generation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the power generation system according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of a power generation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a power generation system according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] 1. Overview of the embodiment First, a typical embodiment of the invention disclosed in this application will be outlined. In the following description, as an example, reference numerals in the drawings corresponding to components of the invention are given in parentheses.

[0013] [1] A power generation system (1) comprising: a power generation device (10) that operates an internal combustion engine that can use hydrogen fuel and liquid fuel other than the hydrogen fuel as fuel to generate power and output the power to a load system (80); a fuel supply device (20) that supplies the liquid fuel to the power generation device; a hydrogen fuel supply device (30) that supplies the hydrogen fuel to the power generation device; a control device (40) that controls switching of a fuel supply source to the power generation device between the fuel supply device and the hydrogen fuel supply device; a renewable energy power generation device (50) that generates power using renewable energy; and a water electrolysis device (60) that generates the hydrogen fuel supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device by electrolysis of water using electricity supplied from the renewable energy power generation device.

[0014] [2] The power generation system described in [1], wherein the control device supplies the hydrogen fuel to the power generation device when power is supplied from the power system (70) to the load system, and supplies the liquid fuel to the power generation device when power is not supplied from the power system to the load system.

[0015] [3] The power generation system described in [1] or [2], wherein the power generation device supplies the generated electricity when the hydrogen fuel is supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device to the load system in order to reduce the amount of electricity supplied from the power system to the load system in response to a request from the power system when the power supply and demand are tight.

[0016] [4] The power generation system according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the hydrogen fuel supply device supplies the hydrogen fuel in an amount corresponding to an amount of electric power supplied to the load system.

[0017] [5] The power generation system according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the renewable energy power generation device supplies surplus power of the power supplied to the water electrolysis device to the load system.

[0018] [6] A power generation system as described in any one of [1] to [5], comprising a plurality of power generation devices, wherein the control device supplies the hydrogen fuel to a number of the power generation devices corresponding to the amount of power supplied to the load system when power is supplied from the power system to the load system, and supplies the liquid fuel to the plurality of power generation devices when power is not supplied from the power system to the load system.

[0019] [7] The power generation system according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the renewable energy power generation device is a solar power generation device.

[0020] 2. Specific examples of embodiments Hereinafter, specific examples of the embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are used to designate components common to the embodiments, and repeated description will be omitted. The drawings are schematic, and the dimensional relationships between the elements, the ratios between the elements, etc. may differ from the actual objects.

[0021] [First embodiment] Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of a power generation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the power generation system 1 includes a power generation device 10, a fuel supply device 20, a hydrogen fuel supply device 30, a control device 40, a solar power generation device 50 as an example of a renewable energy power generation device, and a water electrolysis device 60.

[0022] The power generation system 1 is provided at a consumer such as a data center. In an emergency such as when a power system 70 such as a commercial power transmission network experiences a power outage, the power generation system 1 supplies power from a power generation device 10 to a load system 80 of the consumer as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1. In addition, during normal operation when power is supplied from the power system 70 to the load system 80, the power generation system 1 performs a so-called downward demand response (DR) operation in which, in addition to supplying power from the power system 70 to the load system 80 as indicated by an arrow B, the power generation system 1 supplies power to the load system 80 as indicated by an arrow A in response to a request from the power system 70 to reduce the demand for the commercial power source. In the following description, the term "demand response" or "DR" refers to the downward DR operation.

[0023] The power generation device 10 operates an internal combustion engine to generate power and output it to a load system 80. In the power generation device 10, the internal combustion engine can use hydrogen fuel supplied from a hydrogen fuel supply device 30 and liquid fuel other than hydrogen fuel supplied from a fuel supply device 20 as fuel. The hydrogen fuel is gaseous hydrogen. In the power generation system 1, the type of liquid fuel is not particularly limited as long as it is fuel for internal combustion engines. Note that 1 cubic meter (approximately 90 g) of hydrogen is required to obtain the same energy as 1 liter (approximately 750 g) of gasoline.

[0024] When the power generation device 10 is in a state where it can perform DR operation, it generates electricity by combusting hydrogen fuel supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 in response to instructions from a control device 40, which will be described later. On the other hand, when the power generation device 10 is in a state where it can perform emergency operation, it generates electricity by combusting liquid fuel supplied from the fuel supply device 20 in response to instructions from the control device 40.

[0025] The control device 40 is a device that controls the operation of each component in the power generation system 1.

[0026] The control device 40 performs control to switch the source of fuel supply to the power generation device 10 depending on whether or not power is supplied from the power system 70 to the load system 80. The determination of whether or not power is supplied from the external power system 70 to the load system 80 is, for example, specifically a determination of whether or not the power generation device 10 is in a state to perform emergency operation. When performing emergency operation, the control device 40 performs control to switch the device that supplies fuel to the power generation device 10 to the fuel supply device 20, which is a device that supplies liquid fuel.

[0027] When power is supplied from the external power system 70 to the load system 80, that is, during normal operation, the control device 40 judges whether the power generation device 10 is in a state in which it can perform a demand response (DR) operation for the load system 80, depending on the state of power supply from the external power system 70 to the load system 80. In this case, the control device 40 causes the power generation device 10 to generate power using hydrogen fuel. For this reason, the control device 40 controls the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 to supply hydrogen fuel to the power generation device 10. The control device 40 specifies the time during which the power generation device 10 performs the DR operation, and specifies the amount of hydrogen fuel required for the DR operation. The control device 40 instructs the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 to supply the specified amount of hydrogen fuel. In addition, when the amount of hydrogen in the tank of the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 falls below the specified amount of hydrogen fuel, the control device 40 controls the operation of the water electrolysis device 60 by instructing the water electrolysis device 60 to produce hydrogen fuel.

[0028] When DR operation is possible, the control device 40 controls the power generation device 10 to supply the power generated by the power generation device 10 using hydrogen fuel to the load system 80, depending on the status of power supply from the external power system 70 to the load system 80.

[0029] The control device 40 specifies the amount of power required to operate the water electrolyzer 60. The control device 40 controls the amount of power supplied from the solar power generation device 50 by instructing the solar power generation device 50, which supplies the power required to operate the water electrolyzer 60, of the specified amount of power. Furthermore, when the amount of power generated by the solar power generation device 50 exceeds the amount of power required to operate the water electrolyzer 60, the control device 40 switches the supply destination of the power from the water electrolyzer 60 to the load system 80, as indicated by arrow C in FIG. 1 .

[0030] The fuel supply device 20 supplies liquid fuel to the power generation device 10. Specifically, the fuel supply device 20 is composed of a tank for storing liquid fuel, piping for transporting the liquid fuel from the tank to the power generation device 10, and the like.

[0031] The hydrogen fuel supply device 30 supplies hydrogen fuel to the power generation device 10. The hydrogen fuel supply device 30 is composed of a tank for storing hydrogen fuel, and piping for transporting hydrogen fuel from the tank to the power generation device 10. Hydrogen fuel is a gas and therefore has a larger volume than gasoline, but it can be compressed to reduce its volume and stored in the tank. The hydrogen fuel supply device 30 stores the hydrogen fuel sent from the water electrolysis device 60. Specifically, the tank of the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 stores an amount of hydrogen fuel corresponding to the amount of electricity to be supplied to the load system 80.

[0032] The solar power generation device 50 is an example of a renewable energy power generation device. The solar power generation device 50 generates power from sunlight, which is a renewable energy source. The solar power generation device 50 supplies power to a water electrolysis device 60 for use in generating hydrogen fuel. The solar power generation device 50 supplies surplus power to the water electrolysis device 60 to a load system 80.

[0033] The water electrolysis device 60 generates hydrogen fuel by electrolysis of water using power supplied from the solar power generation device 50. In the power generation system 1, the method of generating hydrogen fuel by the water electrolysis device 60 is not particularly limited, and for example, methods such as solid polymer water electrolysis, alkaline water electrolysis, and high-temperature steam water decomposition can be used.

[0034] The water electrolyzer 60 generates hydrogen fuel in an amount corresponding to the amount of electric power supplied from the power generation device 10 to the load system 80. The hydrogen fuel generated by the water electrolyzer 60 is sent to the hydrogen fuel supply device 30.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the power generation system according to the first embodiment.

[0036] The control device 40 determines whether it is in a state where DR operation can be performed or whether it is in a state where emergency operation should be performed, depending on the power supply status from the power system 70 (step S101).

[0037] When the control device 40 is in a state in which the DR operation can be performed (S101: DR operation), the control device 40 specifies the time to perform the DR operation according to the state of power supply from the power system 70 to the load system 80 (step S102).

[0038] The control device 40 specifies the amount of hydrogen required for the DR operation according to the specified time for performing the DR operation (step S103).

[0039] The control device 40 determines whether or not hydrogen fuel needs to be produced by the water electrolysis device 60 based on the identified amount of hydrogen fuel and the amount of hydrogen fuel stored in the tank of the hydrogen fuel supply device 30 (step S104).

[0040] When it is necessary to produce hydrogen fuel by the water electrolyzer 60 (S104: YES), the control device 40 instructs the solar power generation device 50 to supply power to the water electrolyzer 60 (step S105). The control device 40 also instructs the water electrolyzer 60 to produce hydrogen fuel. In response to the instruction from the control device 40, the water electrolyzer 60 produces hydrogen fuel using the power supplied from the solar power generation device 50 (step S106).

[0041] When there is no need to produce hydrogen fuel by the water electrolyzer 60 (S104: NO), the control device 40 determines that the power generated by the solar power generation device 50 becomes surplus power that is not used by the water electrolyzer 60. Therefore, the solar power generation device 50 supplies the surplus power to the load system 80 (step S107).

[0042] The hydrogen fuel supply device 30 supplies hydrogen fuel to the power generation device 10 in response to an instruction from the control device 40 (step S108). The power generation device 10 generates power for DR using the hydrogen fuel (step S109). The power generation device 10 supplies the generated power as power for DR (step S110).

[0043] When the control device 40 is in a state to perform emergency operation (S101: emergency operation), it instructs the fuel supply device 20 to supply liquid fuel. In response to the instruction, the fuel supply device 20 supplies liquid fuel to the power generation device 10 (step S111).

[0044] The power generating device 10 generates electric power for emergency use using liquid fuel (step S112). The power generating device 10 supplies the generated electric power as emergency electric power (step S113).

[0045] In the power generation system 1, by switching the type of fuel used by the power generation device 10 as described above, when the power supply and demand is tight, hydrogen fuel, which is a fuel with clean exhaust gas, can be used to perform DR operation of the power generation device 10 according to the power supply situation of the power grid 70. In addition, in the power generation system 1, by switching the type of fuel used by the power generation device 10 as described above, in the event of an emergency such as a power outage, the power generation device 10 can be operated as an emergency power generation device using liquid fuel, which is more fuel efficient than hydrogen fuel and therefore allows for long-term operation and a stable supply of fuel.

[0046] In the power generation system 1, the solar power generation device 50 supplies the power used to generate hydrogen fuel to the water electrolysis device 60. Therefore, according to the power generation system 1, it is possible to perform DR operation by generating hydrogen fuel using clean renewable energy.

[0047] In the power generation system 1, the water electrolyzer 60 generates an amount of hydrogen fuel corresponding to the amount of power supplied from the power generation device 10 to the load system 80. The solar power generation device 50 supplies surplus power of the power supplied to the water electrolyzer 60 to the load system 80. Therefore, the power generation system 1 can supply power by utilizing surplus renewable energy not used for DR operation.

[0048] [Second embodiment] Next, a power generation system 1B according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Only the configuration different from the power generation system 1 according to the above-mentioned first embodiment will be described below.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of a power generation system 1B according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] 3, a power generation system 1B according to the second embodiment differs from the previously described power generation system 1 in that the power generation system 1B includes a plurality of, for example, three, power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C. The power generation system 1B also differs from the previously described power generation system 1 in that power is supplied to a load system 80 from the plurality of power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C.

[0051] In the power generation system 1B as described above, in DR operation performed with power being supplied from the power system 70 to the load system 80, among the multiple power generation devices 10A, 10B, 10C, a number corresponding to the amount of power to be supplied to the load system 80 generate power using hydrogen fuel. The power generated by the power generation system 1B is supplied together with the power from the power system 70 according to the state of power supply from the power system 70, as in the power generation system 1 described above.

[0052] Meanwhile, in the power generation system 1B, in emergency operation in which power is not supplied from the power system 70 to the load system 80, the power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C performing DR operation are disconnected (disconnected) from the DR operation. Then, in emergency operation of the power generation system 1B, the power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C, the number of which corresponds to the amount of power required by the load system 80, including those performing DR operation and those not performing DR operation, generate power using liquid fuel and supply the power to the load system 80.

[0053] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of the power generation system 1B according to the second embodiment. In Fig. 4, the processes of steps S201, S202, and S203 are different from those in the flowchart showing the example of the process of the power generation system 1 described above with reference to Fig. 2. Therefore, in the following description, the processes of steps S201, S202, and S203 will be mainly described.

[0054] When the DR operation can be performed (S101: YES), the control device 40 specifies the number of power generation devices 10A, 10B, 10C that will perform the DR operation in accordance with the state of power supply from the power system 70 to the load system 80 (step S201). After specifying the number of power generation devices 10A, 10B, 10C that will perform the DR operation, the control device 40 specifies the time for performing the DR operation in S102.

[0055] When the emergency operation is to be performed (S101: NO), the control device 40 disconnects the power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C that are performing the DR operation from the DR operation (step S202).

[0056] The control device 40 identifies the number of the power generating devices 10A, 10B, and 10C that will perform emergency operation (step S202). After identifying the number of the power generating devices 10A, 10B, and 10C that will perform emergency operation, the control device 40 instructs the fuel supply device 20 to supply liquid fuel, and the fuel supply device 20 supplies liquid fuel to the power generating devices 10 in response to the instruction in S111.

[0057] As described above, the power generation system 1B is equipped with multiple power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C, and when the supply and demand of power is tight, hydrogen fuel, which is a fuel with clean exhaust gas, is used to perform DR operation of the required number of multiple power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C depending on the power supply situation of the power system 70, and power can be supplied to the load system 80.

[0058] Furthermore, in the power generation system 1B, when emergency operation is performed as described above, the power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C performing DR operation and the other power generation units 10A, 10B, and 10C not operating for DR operation are used for emergency operation to ensure an amount of power generation corresponding to the amount of power required by the load system 80. In this way, the power generation system 1B can supply power corresponding to the amount of power required by the load system 80 using liquid fuel in an emergency.

[0059] [Extended embodiment] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0060] The renewable energy power generation device in the present invention is a device that generates power from an energy resource that is constantly replenished from nature. In other words, the renewable energy power generation device in the present invention is not limited to the solar power generation device 50 in the power generation system 1, 1B, but may be a power generation device that uses various other renewable energies as energy resources, such as a hydroelectric power generation device or a wind power generation device.

[0061] For example, in the power generation system 1B, the number of power generation devices 10A, 10B, 10C is not limited to the number illustrated, and may be two or more. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1, 1B: power generation system, 10, 10A, 10B, 10C: power generation device, 20: fuel supply device, 30: hydrogen fuel supply device, 40: control device, 50: solar power generation device (renewable energy power generation device), 60: water electrolysis device, 70: power system, 80: load system

Claims

1. a power generation device that operates an internal combustion engine that can use hydrogen fuel and liquid fuel other than the hydrogen fuel as fuel to generate power and output the power to a load system; a fuel supply device for supplying the liquid fuel to the power generation device; a hydrogen fuel supply device for supplying the hydrogen fuel to the power generation device; a control device that controls switching of a fuel supply source to the power generation device between the fuel supply device and the hydrogen fuel supply device; A renewable energy power generation device that generates power using renewable energy; a water electrolysis device that generates the hydrogen fuel supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device by electrolysis of water using electric power supplied from the renewable energy power generation device; A power generation system comprising:

2. The control device includes: supplying the hydrogen fuel to the power generation device when power is supplied from the power system to the load system; supplying the liquid fuel to the power generation device when no power is supplied from the power system to the load system; The power generation system according to claim 1 .

3. The power generation device includes: supplying the generated electric power to the load system when the hydrogen fuel is supplied from the hydrogen fuel supply device in order to reduce the amount of electric power supplied from the electric power system to the load system in response to a request from the electric power system when electric power supply and demand are tight; The power generation system according to claim 2 .

4. The hydrogen fuel supply device supplies the hydrogen fuel in an amount corresponding to the amount of electric power supplied to the load system. The power generation system according to claim 2 .

5. The renewable energy power generation device supplies surplus power of the power supplied to the water electrolysis device to the load system. The power generation system according to claim 1 .

6. A plurality of the power generation devices are provided, The control device includes: When power is supplied from a power system to the load system, the hydrogen fuel is supplied to a number of the power generation devices corresponding to an amount of power to be supplied to the load system; supplying the liquid fuel to the plurality of power generation devices when power is not supplied from the power system to the load system; The power generation system according to claim 1 .

7. The power generation system according to claim 1 , wherein the renewable energy power generation device is a solar power generation device.

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