Fuel cell vehicle and fuel cell degradation analysis device

Abstract

To provide a fuel cell vehicle and a fuel cell degradation analysis device that can analyze the degradation of fuel cells for each of operating states the fuel cells.SOLUTION: A fuel cell vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a fuel cell; a gas-liquid separator configured to separate exhaust gas emitted from the fuel cell into gas and liquid; a plurality of wastewater storage tanks to configured to store wastewater separated by the gas-liquid separator; wastewater flow paths configured to connect the gas-liquid separator respectively to the plurality of wastewater storage tanks; flow path switching valves provided respectively in the wastewater flow paths and configured to switch among the plurality of wastewater storage tanks; and a control device configured to control the flow path switching valves. Therein the control device switches the wastewater flow paths via the flow path switching valves on the basis of an operating state of the fuel cell to select one to be used for storing the waste water, of the plurality of wastewater storage tanks the wastewater.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to, for example, a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell, and a fuel cell degradation analysis device capable of performing degradation analysis of this fuel cell. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, a fuel cell system supplies hydrogen gas to one electrode (fuel electrode) and oxygen gas to the other electrode (air electrode), and generates electrical energy through the reaction between these.

[0003] The fuel cells that make up a fuel cell system deteriorate with use. As a result of the reaction in the fuel cell, the gas discharged from the cathode (also called "cathode off-gas") may contain moisture, or moisture may remain on the anode side. Therefore, in order to understand the degree of deterioration in a fuel cell, it is effective to analyze the components of the gas and water emitted from the fuel cell, as exemplified by Patent Document 1. Meanwhile, in recent years, as exemplified by Patent Document 2, a method has been proposed in which an in-line analyzer connected online to a fuel cell vehicle is installed at a hydrogen station or the like, and the content of various impurities in the hydrogen gas supplied to the fuel cell vehicle is analyzed online. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-174922 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-022611 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, current technologies, including those disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents, do not adequately meet market needs, and the following problems exist.

[0006] For example, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the anode drain water stored in the anode drain tank is merged with the cathode drain water stored in the cathode drain tank, and then an analysis of specific chemical species, such as the amount of fluoride ions in the off-gas, is performed. Therefore, Patent Document 1 cannot identify the state or environment in which the fuel cell discharged the drain water, and it can be said that there is much room for improvement in terms of comprehensive degradation analysis of fuel cells, including measures to be taken after degradation diagnosis.

[0007] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, a fuel cell degradation analysis device is placed at a location separate from the fuel cell vehicle, such as a hydrogen station, but there is no mention of analyzing the components of the gas and water emitted from the fuel cell. As described above, the prior art including Patent Documents 1 and 2 does not yet provide a method for analyzing the deterioration of a fuel cell according to its operating state when diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell, and there is still much room for improvement.

[0008] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems as an example, and aims to provide a fuel cell vehicle and a fuel cell degradation analysis device that are capable of performing degradation analysis based on the driving status of the fuel cell when diagnosing the degradation of the fuel cell. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, the fuel cell vehicle of the present disclosure includes a fuel cell, a gas-liquid separator that separates gas and liquid from exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell, a plurality of wastewater storage tanks that store the wastewater separated by the gas-liquid separator, a wastewater flow path that connects the gas-liquid separator to the plurality of wastewater storage tanks, a flow path switching valve provided in the wastewater flow path that switches between the plurality of wastewater storage tanks, and a control device that controls the flow path switching valve, and the control device switches the wastewater flow path via the flow path switching valve based on the operating state of the fuel cell, and selects in which of the plurality of wastewater storage tanks the wastewater will be stored.

[0010] In addition, in order to solve the above problems, the fuel cell degradation analysis device disclosed herein is a fuel cell degradation analysis device that analyzes effluent discharged from a fuel cell mounted on a fuel cell vehicle, and is equipped with an information receiving means that acquires information regarding the operating state of the fuel cell when the effluent is generated, and a degradation diagnosis means that extracts components contained in the effluent based on the acquired information regarding the operating state and performs degradation diagnosis. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present disclosure, when diagnosing the deterioration of a fuel cell, it is possible to perform deterioration analysis according to the operating state of the fuel cell. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing functional blocks of a fuel cell vehicle in a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a drainage water storage mechanism of the fuel cell vehicle in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the periphery of a control device mounted on a fuel cell vehicle in a first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a method for collecting wastewater from a fuel cell in the first embodiment. [Figure 5]10 is an example of table data showing tank management information including the operating state and water storage conditions of the fuel cell, tank priority, water storage tank, and amount of stored wastewater. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a fuel cell vehicle and a fuel cell degradation analysis device that constitute a fuel cell degradation analysis system in a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Next, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present disclosure will be described. Furthermore, configurations other than those detailed below can be implemented by appropriately supplementing elemental technologies and configurations related to known fuel cells, fuel cell systems, or fuel cell degradation analysis methods, including those described in the above-mentioned patent documents.

[0014] [First embodiment] <Fuel cell vehicles 100> First, the configuration of a fuel cell vehicle 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The fuel cell vehicle 100 according to this embodiment can be, for example, a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a known hydrogen tank 70. More specifically, the fuel cell vehicle 100 of this embodiment includes a fuel cell 10, a gas-liquid separator 20, a wastewater storage tank 30, a wastewater flow path 40, a flow path switching valve 50, a control device 60, and the like.

[0015] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the fuel cell vehicle 100 may be configured to include various other known on-board equipment, such as a secondary battery that can be mounted on a fuel cell vehicle, in addition to a known air filter AF that supplies cathode gas (air) to the fuel cell 10 and a known electric turbocharger ET that includes a compressor that compresses the cathode gas that is supplied to the fuel cell.

[0016] The fuel cell 10 is used as a fuel cell stack in which a plurality of fuel cell units are stacked. The fuel cell stack constituting such a fuel cell 10 is configured by stacking several tens to several hundreds of fuel cell units as single cells in the stacking direction. Each fuel cell unit has the function of generating electricity by reacting a fuel gas (hydrogen gas) with an oxidant gas (oxygen in the air). The fuel cell stack may also be equipped with a known voltage sensor capable of measuring the voltage applied to the fuel cell stack and the voltage of each fuel cell unit, and a known current sensor capable of measuring the current flowing through the fuel cell unit. The fuel cell unit is not particularly limited as long as it does not deviate from the spirit of the present disclosure, and a known PEFC (polymer electrolyte fuel cell) or the like is suitable, for example.

[0017] The gas-liquid separator 20 is configured to have the function of performing gas-liquid separation on the exhaust gas (e.g., cathode gas) discharged from the above-mentioned fuel cell 10. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the gas-liquid separator 20 is connected to the cathode of the fuel cell 10 via known piping. Therefore, the off-gas (cathode off-gas) discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell 10 can be supplied to the gas-liquid separator 20 via this piping. There are no particular limitations on such gas-liquid separator 20 as long as it performs the above-mentioned function, and various known gas-liquid separation devices can be used.

[0018] The wastewater storage tank 30 is configured to have the function of storing the wastewater separated by the gas-liquid separator 20. There are no particular limitations on the wastewater storage tank 30 as long as it can be mounted on a vehicle, and a known water storage tank can be used. The wastewater storage tank 30 may be equipped with a known temperature control element such as a heater or Peltier element. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the wastewater storage tank 30 of this embodiment is connected to the gas-liquid separator 20 via known piping.

[0019] The cathode off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 is separated into gas and liquid in the gas-liquid separator 20. The liquid component of the cathode off-gas separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 can then be stored as the above-mentioned effluent in the wastewater storage tank 30 via the above-mentioned piping. On the other hand, the gas component of the cathode off-gas separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 can be discharged outside the vehicle via known piping.

[0020] 2, a plurality of wastewater storage tanks 30 of this embodiment are provided in the fuel cell vehicle 100. The control device 60 can execute control to switch the wastewater storage tank 30 to store the wastewater depending on the operating state of the fuel cell 10 via a flow path switching valve 50 described later. Examples of such "driving state of fuel cell 10" include (a) the state immediately after fuel cell 10 is started or stopped, (b) a state in which fuel cell 10 is operated under high load, such as when climbing a slope or accelerating on a highway, and (c) a state in which fuel cell 10 is operated in a low-temperature environment.

[0021] Therefore, as shown in Figure 2, the wastewater storage tank 30 of this embodiment may be configured to include a first wastewater storage tank 30a that corresponds to the state immediately after the fuel cell 10 is started or stopped, a second wastewater storage tank 30b that corresponds to the state when the fuel cell 10 is operating under high load, and a third wastewater storage tank 30c that corresponds to the state when the fuel cell 10 is operating in a low temperature environment.

[0022] Furthermore, the wastewater storage tank 30 of this embodiment may be configured to further include an emergency wastewater storage tank 30d for use in emergencies other than those (a) to (c) above. An example of a situation in which wastewater is stored in the emergency wastewater storage tank 30d is when a sudden performance degradation occurs, such as a sudden voltage drop in the fuel cell 10. The above-described operating state of the fuel cell 10 is merely an example, and conditions under which the fuel cell 10 may be deteriorated may be determined in advance by experiment or simulation, for example. The capacity of each wastewater storage tank 30 may be, for example, about 200 mL to 500 mL. The capacity of the emergency wastewater storage tank 30d may be larger than that of the non-emergency wastewater storage tanks 30 such as the first wastewater storage tank 30a.

[0023] In this way, the fuel cell vehicle 100 of this embodiment is configured such that the "driving state of the fuel cell 10" is preset for each situation in which the fuel cell 10 may deteriorate, and when the fuel cell 10 is operated under such a situation, the wastewater separated from the cathode off-gas is stored in each of the multiple wastewater storage tanks 30. This makes it possible to perform deterioration analysis for each driving state of the fuel cell 10 when diagnosing deterioration of the fuel cell 10, which can be performed, for example, when filling the fuel cell 10 with hydrogen at a hydrogen station or during regular maintenance.

[0024] As shown in Table 1, the composition of each component of the fuel cell 10 is known, and therefore, decomposition products and impurities can be identified in advance by experiment or simulation. Therefore, if fluorine exceeding a predetermined standard value is detected as a result of analyzing effluent collected while the fuel cell 10 is operating under high load, such as when climbing a slope or accelerating on a highway, it can be determined that the electrolyte membrane of the fuel cell 10 is prone to deterioration during high load operation.

[0025] In this way, by being able to grasp the deterioration tendency of specific components constituting the fuel cell 10 under specific circumstances, it is possible to improve convenience for the user, for example by presenting this as a recommended item during inspection. Note that the method for analyzing the effluent discharged from the fuel cell 10 is not limited to the above example, and various known deterioration diagnosis methods, including, for example, Patent Document 1, may also be applied.

[0026] [Table 1]

[0027] The drainage flow path 40 is configured to have the function of connecting the gas-liquid separator 20 and the multiple wastewater storage tanks 30, and the function of draining unnecessary wastewater from the wastewater storage tanks 30 to the outside. More specifically, the drainage flow path 40 of this embodiment is configured to include a first drainage flow path 40a that connects the gas-liquid separator 20 and the multiple wastewater storage tanks 30, and a second drainage flow path 40b that can drain unnecessary wastewater from the wastewater storage tanks 30 to the outside. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the gas-liquid separator 20 and each wastewater storage tank 30 are connected by the first drainage flow path 40a. A known drainage pipe can be exemplified as a specific example of such a drainage flow path 40.

[0028] The flow path switching valve 50 is provided in the drainage flow path 40. The flow path switching valve 50 of this embodiment includes a first flow path switching valve 50a provided between the gas-liquid separator 20 and the drainage storage tank 30 (first drainage flow path 40a), and a second flow path switching valve 50b provided in the second drainage flow path 40b for draining water from the drainage storage tank 30 to the outside. In this manner, the flow path switching valve 50 is configured to have the function of switching between the multiple drainage storage tanks 30 for the gas-liquid separator 20. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the flow path switching valve 50 of this embodiment is configured to include multiple flow path switching valves 50 corresponding to the multiple drainage storage tanks 30, respectively. Specific examples of such flow path switching valves 50 include various known valve mechanisms, such as solenoid valves and motor-operated valves.

[0029] The control device 60 is configured to have a function of controlling the open / close state of the above-mentioned flow path switching valve 50. The control device 60 can execute control via this flow path switching valve 50 to store the discharged cathode off-gas separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 in any of the wastewater storage tanks 30. A specific example of such a control device 60 is a known computer device that includes one or more processors configured with a known CPU and one or more memories communicably connected to the one or more processors. The control device 60 may be configured as one of various ECUs installed in the fuel cell vehicle 100.

[0030] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the control device 60 of this embodiment includes a current measurement unit 61, a valve control unit 62, a tank management unit 63, and a notification control unit 64. As shown in the figure, the control device 60 of this embodiment may be configured to be connectable to a known network NET, such as the Internet, via a communication device CT. An example of such a communication device CT is a known on-board communication device that has the function of communicating information between the fuel cell vehicle 100 and, for example, an external server. The network NET is not limited to the Internet, but may also include, for example, a known information communication network that allows various types of information to be sent and received between vehicles via wireless communication.

[0031] The control device 60 is also configured to be able to receive various signals from known sensors SR mounted on the fuel cell vehicle 100. Examples of such sensors SR include a known water volume sensor SR1 that is provided in the above-mentioned wastewater storage tank 30 and is capable of detecting the amount of water stored in the tank, a known current sensor SR2 that is capable of detecting the value of a current flowing through the fuel cell vehicle 100, a known outside air temperature sensor SR3 that is capable of measuring the outside air temperature, and various other known on-board sensors, such as a vehicle speed sensor that is capable of measuring the vehicle speed.

[0032] The control device 60 is also configured to be able to communicate with a known notification device PD (such as a known in-vehicle speaker SP and in-vehicle display DP) mounted on the fuel cell vehicle 100. The control device 60 is also electrically connected to a well-known storage device MD mounted on the fuel cell vehicle 100. Such storage device MD may be, for example, a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, or a magnetic tape, an optical recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or Blu-ray (registered trademark), a magneto-optical medium such as a floptical disk, a storage element such as a RAM or a ROM, a flash memory such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or any other medium capable of storing a program.

[0033] The current measurement unit 61 is configured to have the function of measuring the value of the current flowing through the fuel cell 10. More specifically, the current measurement unit 61 of this embodiment can measure the value of the current flowing through the fuel cell 10 (fuel cell stack) via the current sensor SR2.

[0034] The control device 60 of this embodiment includes the current measurement unit 61 described above, but may also include a known voltage measurement function capable of measuring the voltage of the fuel cell 10. In this case, the voltage measurement unit included in the control device 60 may measure the voltage of the fuel cell 10 via a known voltage sensor that can be mounted on a vehicle.

[0035] The valve control unit 62 is configured to have the function of controlling the open / closed state of the flow path switching valve 50. More specifically, the valve control unit 62 of this embodiment can control the open / closed state of the flow path switching valve 50 installed in each drainage flow path 40 so that the wastewater contained in the cathode off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10 under predetermined water storage conditions is stored in the desired drainage storage tank 30.

[0036] The tank management unit 63 is configured to have a function of managing tank information such as the amount of wastewater stored in the wastewater storage tank 30. More specifically, the tank management unit 63 of this embodiment can manage how much wastewater is stored in each of the multiple wastewater storage tanks 30. Note that the tank information that can be managed by the tank management unit 63 may include, in addition to the amount of stored wastewater, as examples, the temperature of the wastewater, the time when the wastewater was stored, and the period for which the wastewater has been stored.

[0037] The notification control unit 64 executes a process of presenting various information such as the tank management information and the power generation state of the fuel cell stack via the notification device PD electrically connected to the control device 60. The notification control unit 25 may also perform control to present the various information to an external terminal such as a smartphone carried by an operator or the like.

[0038] <Fuel cell wastewater collection method> As described above, the control device 60 of this embodiment switches the drainage flow path 40 via the flow path switching valve 50 based on the operating state of the fuel cell 10, and selects in which of the multiple drainage storage tanks 30 the wastewater separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 will be stored. A wastewater collection method for the fuel cell 10 that can be executed by the control device 60 of this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 4 and 5. The wastewater collection method of this embodiment can also be realized in the form of a program. Furthermore, the program can be stored in the above-mentioned storage device MD, or saved on an external server and downloaded to the fuel cell vehicle 100 via the network NET, for example.

[0039] First, in step 11, the control device 60 determines whether or not the fuel cell system including the fuel cell 10 has started up. If the fuel cell system has not yet started up in step 11, this step 11 is repeated. On the other hand, if the fuel cell system has started up in step 11, the process proceeds to step 12.

[0040] Next, in step 12, the control device 60 determines whether or not to store the wastewater contained in the cathode off-gas discharged from the fuel cell 10. More specifically, in step 12, the control device 60 determines whether or not the operating state of the fuel cell 10 satisfies the predetermined water storage condition exemplified in Fig. 5. As an example, the control device 60 determines that the water storage condition is met when the fuel cell 10 has just been started up.

[0041] If the water storage condition is not met in step 12, the control device 60 proceeds to step 17 to determine whether the fuel cell system has been turned off. If the fuel cell system has not yet been turned off in step 17, the control device 60 returns to step 12 and repeats the determination of whether the water storage condition is met.

[0042] If the water storage conditions are met in step 12, the control device 60 proceeds to step 13 and determines the target water storage tank for storing the wastewater. More specifically, the control device 60 selects the wastewater storage tank 30 according to the operating state of the fuel cell 10 based on the tank management information exemplified in Figure 5. As an example, when the fuel cell 10 has just been started up, the operating state of the fuel cell 10 is considered to be "immediately after start / shutdown", and the first wastewater storage tank 30a described above is selected.

[0043] In the following step 14, the control device 60 adjusts the open / close state of the first flow path switching valve 50a so that the wastewater separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 is stored in the first wastewater storage tank 30a. As a result, the wastewater separated in the gas-liquid separator 20 is stored in the first wastewater storage tank 30a via the first wastewater flow path 40a.

[0044] 5, the plurality of wastewater storage tanks 30 in this embodiment may be set with a storage priority according to the operating state of the fuel cell 10. In this case, the control device 60 may select the wastewater storage tank 30 that stores the wastewater by switching the drainage flow path 40 based on the priority.

[0045] That is, since there are a wide variety of conditions for the operation of the fuel cell 10 and the storage conditions for storing the wastewater, it is conceivable that the number of storage conditions will be greater than the number of on-board wastewater storage tanks 30. For example, when the storage condition corresponding to priority "3" is met, all tanks that should store the wastewater may have been used and water cannot be stored.

[0046] At this time, the control device 60 may forcibly drain the drainage storage tank 30 with a relatively low priority, and may also set a new water storage tank corresponding to priority "3" to store the drainage liquid in place of the empty drainage storage tank 30. At this time, the control device 60 may update the tank information after water storage that meets the water storage conditions corresponding to priority "3" has begun, for example.

[0047] Furthermore, depending on the driving state of the fuel cell vehicle 100, it is possible that the target wastewater storage tank 30 may become full due to frequent water storage processes in a particular driving state. In this case, if the control device 60 determines that the wastewater storage tank 30 that should store water is full based on the detection results of the water volume sensor described above, it may forcibly drain other wastewater storage tanks with relatively lower priority, and then store the wastewater in the other wastewater storage tanks in the driving state with higher priority.

[0048] As an example, when the water storage capacity becomes full while the operating state is in a low temperature environment, the control device 60 may forcibly drain the drainage storage tank 30 with a priority of 3 or lower (for example, the lowest set priority), and may set a new drainage storage tank corresponding to a priority of "2" to store the drained liquid in place of the empty drainage storage tank 30. In this case, the control device 60 may update the tank information after setting a new drainage storage tank 30 corresponding to a priority of "2", for example.

[0049] When the first flow path switching valve 50a is opened in step 14 and wastewater is stored in the target wastewater storage tank 30, the control device 60 determines whether a predetermined amount of stored water has been secured in the following step 15. More specifically, the control device 60 may detect the amount of stored water in the wastewater storage tank 30 via the water volume sensor described above. Note that the "predetermined amount of stored water" is not particularly limited as long as it is an amount of water suitable for the fuel cell degradation determination process described below, and may be, for example, a few mL to 100 mL.

[0050] If the predetermined water storage volume is not yet reached in step 15, the water storage process continues, and if the predetermined water storage volume is secured in step 15, the process proceeds to the following step 16. In step 16, the control device 60 closes the first flow path switching valve 50a, which was open, to end the water storage process in the wastewater storage tank 30. Then, the control device 60 proceeds to step 17, and if the fuel cell system is still not turned off, returns to step 12 and repeats the above process.

[0051] According to the fuel cell vehicle 100 including the fuel cell 10 in the first embodiment described above, it is possible to store the wastewater generated from the fuel cell 10 according to the driving status of the fuel cell. This makes it possible to perform degradation analysis according to the driving status in a fuel cell degradation analysis device described below.

[0052] [Second embodiment] A fuel cell degradation diagnosis system 300 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to Figure 6. As shown in the figure, the degradation diagnosis system 300 of this embodiment is configured to include the fuel cell vehicle 100 described above and a fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 that performs degradation analysis of the fuel cell 10 mounted on this fuel cell vehicle 100. Of these, the fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 may be installed, for example, at a hydrogen station HS where the fuel cell vehicle 100 is filled with hydrogen.

[0053] More specifically, the fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 of this embodiment is a fuel cell degradation analysis device that receives the wastewater storage tank 30 from, for example, the fuel cell vehicle 100 shown in the first embodiment and analyzes the effluent, and is equipped with information receiving means 210 and degradation diagnosis means 220. The fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 may further include a storage facility 230 that can store the above-mentioned wastewater storage tank 30.

[0054] The information receiving means 210 is configured to have the function of acquiring information related to the operating state of the fuel cell 10 when the above-mentioned discharged liquid occurs. The information receiving means 210 may receive tank management information as the information related to the above-mentioned operating state. The degradation diagnosis means 220, which will be described later, can analyze the received tank management information to identify the conditions under which the discharged liquid was discharged from the fuel cell 10.

[0055] Therefore, it is preferable that an information tag TG in which the above-mentioned tank management information is stored is attached to the wastewater storage tank 30 of this embodiment. However, it is not essential to attach the information tag TG to the wastewater storage tank 30, and the information receiving means 210 may be configured to receive the above-mentioned tank management information from the fuel cell vehicle 100, for example, via wire or wirelessly.

[0056] The degradation diagnosis means 220 is configured to have the function of extracting components contained in the effluent and performing degradation diagnosis based on the acquired information on the operating state of the fuel cell 10. As an example, the degradation diagnosis means 220 may perform degradation diagnosis of the fuel cell 10 using information on decomposition products and impurities shown in Table 1 above. In this way, the degradation diagnosis means 220 performs degradation diagnosis of the fuel cell using information on the operating state of the fuel cell 10, and therefore can, for example, determine the degradation trend of the fuel cell for each operating state (e.g., the degree of degradation is greater in low-temperature environments). Furthermore, the degradation diagnosis means 220 can also determine the degradation trend in a specific environment (e.g., the degree of degradation is relatively greater in low-temperature environments compared to other conditions) by comparing the degree of degradation of the fuel cell for each operating state. The above-described degradation diagnosis method is an example, and the degradation diagnosis means 220 may apply other known degradation diagnosis methods for fuel cells.

[0057] The storage facility 230 is configured to have the function of storing the wastewater storage tank 30 removed from the fuel cell vehicle 100. The storage facility 230 may be equipped with a known temperature control device or the like that can maintain the quality of the wastewater stored in the wastewater storage tank 30.

[0058] Note that the fuel cell degradation diagnosis in this embodiment may be performed, for example, by receiving the wastewater storage tank 30 from the fuel cell vehicle 100 when the fuel cell vehicle 100 is filling the hydrogen tank 70 with hydrogen via a dispenser DS at a hydrogen station HS. As an example, the user of the fuel cell vehicle 100 may, for example, attach the dispenser DS to the hydrogen filling port 71 and, while filling the hydrogen tank 70 with hydrogen, remove the wastewater storage tank 30 from the fuel cell vehicle 100 and transport it to a storage facility 230 within the hydrogen station HS. The fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 that has received the wastewater storage tank 30 then receives the tank management information via the information receiving means 210 and can perform degradation diagnosis of the fuel cell 10 corresponding to the operating state via the degradation diagnosis means 220.

[0059] The fuel cell degradation analysis device 200 and fuel cell degradation diagnosis system 300 in the second embodiment described above make it possible to perform degradation analysis for each fuel cell operating condition. By collecting effluent from the fuel cell for each operating condition of the fuel cell in this way, even if an abnormality occurs in the fuel cell, the cause of the abnormality can be quickly identified. Furthermore, the effluent collected for each operating condition of the fuel cell will inevitably have a relatively high concentration of impurities and decomposition products, which can also contribute to improving the accuracy of degradation analysis.

[0060] Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art of the present disclosure may attempt further modifications to these embodiments and variations within the scope of the technical ideas set forth in the claims, and it is understood that these modifications also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 100 fuel cell vehicle 10 fuel cell 20 Gas-liquid separator 30 Wastewater storage tank 40 Drainage channel 50 Flow path switching valve 60 Control device 200 Fuel cell deterioration analyzer 300 Fuel Cell Deterioration Diagnostic System

Claims

1. A fuel cell; a gas-liquid separator for separating gas and liquid from exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell; a plurality of wastewater storage tanks for storing the wastewater separated by the gas-liquid separator; a drainage flow path connecting the gas-liquid separator and the plurality of drainage storage tanks; a flow path switching valve provided in the drainage flow path for switching between the plurality of drainage storage tanks; a control device that controls the flow path switching valve, the control device switches the drainage flow path via the flow path switching valve based on the operating state of the fuel cell, and selects in which of the plurality of drainage storage tanks the drainage liquid is to be stored; Fuel cell car.

2. The plurality of wastewater storage tanks are set with a storage priority according to the driving state, The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the control device switches the drainage flow path based on the priority and selects the drainage storage tank that stores the drainage liquid.

3. Further, a water volume sensor is provided to detect the amount of water stored in the plurality of wastewater storage tanks, 3. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 2, wherein when the detection result of the water volume sensor determines that the wastewater storage tank in which the water is to be stored is full, the control device forcibly drains another wastewater storage tank having a relatively lower priority, and then stores the wastewater in the driving state having a higher priority in the other wastewater storage tank.

4. 4. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the driving state is a state immediately after the fuel cell has been started or stopped.

5. 4. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the driving state is a state in which the fuel cell is operated under high load.

6. 4. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the driving state is a state in which the fuel cell is operated in a low-temperature environment.

7. A fuel cell degradation analysis device that analyzes wastewater discharged from a fuel cell mounted on a fuel cell vehicle, an information receiving means for acquiring information regarding the operating state of the fuel cell when the discharged liquid occurs; a deterioration diagnosis means for extracting components contained in the discharged liquid based on the acquired information about the driving state and performing a deterioration diagnosis; A fuel cell deterioration analysis device comprising:

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