Patent Application
20160268613
The subject matter herein generally relates to a fuel cell system, and particularly to a fuel cell system for use in an industrial electric vehicle such as an electric forklift which can preheat the fuel and the oxidant thereof before they are reacted to generate electricity.
Industrial vehicles such as forklifts may be used in a sub-zero temperature environment to handle frozen goods in a warehouse. When the industrial vehicles which are powered by fuel cells used in the sub-zero temperature environment, problems occur since reactants of the fuel cells need to be at a raised temperature in order to have complete chemical reaction therebetween to effectively generate electricity.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,771,884 B1 to Cacioppo et al. discloses a fuel cell system which preheats fuel by a heat exchange between the fuel and oxidant to prevent formation of liquid water in the fuel before the fuel is fed into the fuel cell.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0070508 A1 to Tanaka et al. discloses a fuel cell system which has a heat exchanger fan for generating an airflow. The airflow flows through a heat exchanger and guided by a guide to blow and diffuse anode purge gas discharged from an exhaust pipe.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present fuel cell system. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features. The description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.
Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented.
The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to the particular dimension, shape or other word that substantially modifies, such that the component need not be exact. For example, substantially cylindrical means that the object resembles a cylinder, but can have one or more deviations from a true cylinder. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like.
Referring to
A coolant pump 40 is in fluid coupling between the heat exchanger 108 and a coolant (preferably water) passage 204 of the fuel cell stack 20 via a coolant pipeline 50; the heat exchanger 108 in turn is in fluid coupling with the auxiliary water tank 113 and a radiator 118 in parallel via two branches 502, 504 of the coolant pipeline 50. Outlets of the auxiliary water tank 113 and the radiator 118 are in fluid coupling with the coolant passage 204 of the fuel cell stack 20 in parallel. By a driving of the coolant pump 40, coolant can circulate through the heat exchanger 108, the auxiliary water tank 113, the radiator 118 and the coolant passage 204 to take heat away from the fuel cell stack 20 which is generated by the chemical reaction between the fuel in the anode 202 and the oxidant in a cathode 206 of the fuel cell stack 20. The chemical reaction between the fuel and the oxidant can generate electricity. The radiator 118 is provided for releasing the heat of the coolant to atmosphere thereby to lower the temperature of the coolant before it enters the coolant passage 204 of the fuel cell stack 20.
The oxidant to react with the fuel is obtained from air in the atmosphere. The air is drawn into the cathode 206 of the fuel cell stack 20 by an air blower 115. The air flows from a filter 116, a resonator 117, the air blower 115 and a second humidifier 119 to reach the cathode 206 of the fuel cell stack 20 via an air pipeline 60. The second humidifier 119 is provided to increase the humidity of the air before it enters the cathode 206. The resonator 117 is provided for lowering noise level produced by the air blower 117 in drawing the air into the cathode 206. Water in the air before it enters the cathode 206 is drained to an exhaust water tank 120 via a third valve 122. Exhaust air from the cathode 206 flows to the first and second humidifiers 110, 119 which are in fluid communication with the exhaust water tank 120.
Now referring to
Referring to
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate rather than limit the disclosure. Variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.
This application is related to co-pending patent application number ______, entitled “HYBRID ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE” and having an attorney docket number “US57957”, and co-pending application number ______, entitled “HYBRID ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF” and having an attorney docket number “US57958.” The two co-pending applications are assigned to the same assignee as the present application and have the same filing date as the present application. The disclosures of the two co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference.
