Fuel cell system and control device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10693159-B2
Application number	US-201816033611-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2018
Priority date	Jul 26, 2017
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

A fuel cell system includes: a pressure control valve that is disposed in a supply path for supplying hydrogen and decompresses hydrogen to be supplied to a fuel cell stack; an expander that is disposed upstream from the pressure control valve in the supply path and decompresses and expands hydrogen supplied from a hydrogen tank; a second control valve that is disposed upstream from the expander in the supply path and is able to be switched to one of an open state in which hydrogen is supplied to the expander and a closed state in which a supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted or an amount of hydrogen supplied to the expander is less than that in the open state; and a control device including a control unit that controls the second control valve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a first decompression unit that is disposed in a supply path for supplying hydrogen from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell stack and decompresses hydrogen to be supplied to the fuel cell stack;
an expander that is disposed upstream from the first decompression unit in the supply path and decompresses and expands hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen tank;
a flow rate adjusting unit that is disposed upstream from the expander in the supply path and is able to be switched to one of an open state in which hydrogen is supplied to the expander and a closed state in which a supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted or an amount of hydrogen supplied to the expander is less than that in the open state; and
a control unit that performs control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to the closed state when a pressure difference between a first pressure upstream from the expander in the supply path and a second pressure downstream from the expander is less than a first threshold value or when a pressure ratio of the second pressure to the first pressure is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first pressure sensor that measures an internal pressure of the hydrogen tank as the first pressure; and
a second pressure sensor that measures a pressure between the expander and the first decompression unit as the second pressure.

3. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit performs control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to the open state when the pressure difference is equal to or greater than a third threshold value which is greater than the first threshold value or when the pressure ratio is less than a fourth threshold value which is less than the second threshold value.

4. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein a bypass path that bypasses the expander from upstream to downstream is provided in the supply path, and
wherein the flow rate adjusting unit is a three-way valve that is provided in an upstream portion in the supply path connected to a first end of the bypass path, the three-way valve supplying hydrogen to the expander and intercepting supply of hydrogen to the bypass path in the open state and having a first closed state in which the supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted and hydrogen is supplied to the bypass path and a second closed state in which supply of hydrogen to both the expander and the bypass path is intercepted as the closed state.

5. The fuel cell system according to claim 4 , further comprising a heat exchanger that is provided between a downstream portion in the supply path connected to a second end of the bypass path and the expander and performs heat exchange between hydrogen decompressed and expanded by the expander and a coolant for cooling the fuel cell stack.

6. The fuel cell system according to claim 5 , further comprising a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of the coolant,
wherein the control unit performs control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to the first closed state when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature threshold value.

7. The fuel cell system according to claim 4 , wherein the first decompression unit is provided between a downstream portion in the supply path connected to a second end of the bypass path and the expander, and
wherein the fuel cell system further comprises:
a second decompression unit that is provided between the expander and the flow rate adjusting unit and decompresses hydrogen which is supplied from the hydrogen tank;
a third decompression unit that is provided in the bypass path and decompresses hydrogen which is supplied to the fuel cell stack; and
an injector that is provided between the downstream portion and the fuel cell stack.

8. The fuel cell system according to claim 4 , wherein the first decompression unit is provided between a downstream portion in the supply path connected to a second end of the bypass path and the expander, and
wherein the fuel cell system further comprises:
a second decompression unit that is provided between the flow rate adjusting unit and the hydrogen tank and decompresses hydrogen which is supplied from the hydrogen tank; and
an injector that is provided in the bypass path.

9. A control device that controls a decompression unit that is disposed in a supply path for supplying hydrogen from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell stack and decompresses hydrogen to be supplied to the fuel cell stack, an expander that is disposed upstream from the decompression unit in the supply path and decompresses and expands hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen tank, and a flow rate adjusting unit that is disposed upstream from the expander in the supply path and is able to be switched to one of an open state in which hydrogen is supplied to the expander and a closed state in which a supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted or an amount of hydrogen supplied to the expander is less than that in the open state, the control device comprising:
a control unit that performs control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to the closed state when a pressure difference between a first pressure upstream from the expander in the supply path and a second pressure downstream from the expander is less than a first threshold value or when a pressure ratio of the second pressure to the first pressure is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

10. A fuel cell system comprising:
a first decompression unit that is disposed in a supply path for supplying hydrogen from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell stack and is configured to decompress hydrogen to be supplied to the fuel cell stack;
an expander that is disposed upstream from the first decompression unit in the supply path and is configured to decompress and expand hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen tank;
a flow rate adjusting unit that is disposed upstream from the expander in the supply path and is configured to be able to be switched to one of an open state in which hydrogen is supplied to the expander and a closed state in which a supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted or an amount of hydrogen supplied to the expander is less than that in the open state; and
a control unit that is programmed to perform control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to the closed state when a pressure difference between a first pressure upstream from the expander in the supply path and a second pressure downstream from the expander is less than a first threshold value or when a pressure ratio of the second pressure to the first pressure is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

11. A control device that controls a decompression unit that is disposed in a supply path for supplying hydrogen from a hydrogen tank to a fuel cell stack and is configured to decompress hydrogen to be supplied to the fuel cell stack, an expander that is disposed upstream from the decompression unit in the supply path and is configured to decompress and expand hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen tank, and a flow rate adjusting unit that is disposed upstream from the expander in the supply path and is configured to be able to be switched to one of an open state in which hydrogen is supplied to the expander and a closed state in which a supply of hydrogen to the expander is intercepted or an amount of hydrogen supplied to the expander is less than that in the open state, the control device comprising:
a control unit that is programmed to perform control of switching the flow rate adjusting unit to th

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Tsubouchi Masakatsu
• Fukaya Ryosuke

Classifications

• H01M8/06 Primary

  Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues (regenerative fuel cells H01M8/18) · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• Y02T90/40

  Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells · CPC title