Fuel Cell Purging Device With Intermediate Chamber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel cell purging methods waste hydrogen and oxygen required for reactions and fail to effectively eliminate inert substances, reducing efficiency and service life.
Innovation Solution
A purging device with a series of ducts, including a supply duct, purge duct, recirculation pump, purge valve, shutdown duct, and intermediate chamber, which recirculates unreacted gases back to the fuel cell and uses a depressurized intermediate chamber to ensure all reaction gases react, minimizing waste and efficiently removing inert substances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If purge valves are used to discharge inert substances from fuel cells, then inert matter is removed, but hydrogen and oxygen required for reactions are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes only the inert substances (nitrogen, water condensation) from the fuel cell system while allowing the reactive gases (hydrogen and oxygen) to continue circulating and reacting. This is achieved through selective purging that targets harmful components without sacrificing valuable reactants.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers unreacted hydrogen and oxygen gases that would otherwise be wasted during purging operations. By capturing and recirculating these gases back to the fuel cell, the system prevents loss of valuable substances while maintaining effective removal of inert matter.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution prevents waste of hydrogen and oxygen during purging, ensures complete utilization of reaction gases, and achieves a rapid and deep purge of inert substances, thereby enhancing fuel cell efficiency and longevity.
Implementation Method 1
The anode side also includes outlet and recirculating ducts, which continuously recirculate the hydrogen, for example, by means of recirculation pumps
Implementation Method 2
uses a depressurized intermediate chamber to ensure all reaction gases react
Implementation Method 3
They are used for the manufacture of electricity from chemical reactions of hydrogen, arranged in suitable tanks and in the gaseous state, binding with oxygen
Implementation Method 4
the recirculation ducts comprise purge valves, which, when open, achieve the discharge thereof
Data Source
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Figure 2
AI summary
A method of supplying and purging a fuel cell (2) is provided, the method being implemented by means of a purging device (1) comprising: a supply duct (3) for supplying a reaction gas to the fuel cell (2), a purge duct (4) for purging the reaction gas sent to the fuel cell (2), a purge pump (6) suitable to make the reaction gas circulate in the purge duct (4), a shutdown duct (5) for shutting down the gas from the fuel cell (2), connected to the purge duct (4), a purge valve (7) placed upstream of the purge duct (4) and of the purge pump (6) and downstream of the fuel cell (2), an intermediate chamber (9) connected to the purge duct (4), to the supply duct (3) and to the shutdown duct (5) and positioned downstream of the purge valve (7), the purge pump (6) being suitable to put the intermediate chamber (9) in depression, the method comprising: a supply step (3) for supplying a reaction gas to the fuel cell (2), a purging step (4) for purging, at least in part, the reaction gas sent to the fuel cell (2) through activation of the purge pump (6), a depressurisation step for depressurising the intermediate chamber (9) by means of said purge pump (6) and of the purge valve (7), a second purging step, in which the purge valve (7) is open and the gases at least inside the fuel cell (2) are expelled through the shutdown duct (5) including on account of the intermediate, depressurised chamber (9).