阅读说明：本技术 金属燃料电池及其运行方法 (Metal fuel cell and method for operating the same ) 是由 李富宇 田大洲 汪云华 胡广来 张战胜 李如飞 孙应销 黄诗冰 田程 于 2020-05-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了金属燃料电池及其运行方法。该金属燃料电池包括：燃料电池堆、电解液工作液箱组、第一分液器和第二分液器,工作液箱组包括多个工作液箱,每个工作液箱均设有电解液入口和电解液出口；第一分液器包括一个电解液入口和多个电解液出口,第一分液器电解液入口与燃料电池堆电解液出口相连、电解液出口与工作液箱电解液入口一对一相连；第二分液器包括多个电解液入口和一个电解液出口,第二分液器电解液入口与工作液箱电解液出口一对一相连、电解液出口与燃料电池堆电解液入口相连。该电池可以将运行周期内所需的全部电解液分批进行使用,使燃料电池堆内使用的电解液尽可能保持在较为新鲜的程度,从而使电池的放电性能更加稳定。(The invention discloses a metal fuel cell and an operation method thereof. The metal fuel cell includes: the fuel cell stack comprises a fuel cell stack, an electrolyte working liquid tank group, a first liquid separator and a second liquid separator, wherein the working liquid tank group comprises a plurality of working liquid tanks, and each working liquid tank is provided with an electrolyte inlet and an electrolyte outlet; the first liquid separator comprises an electrolyte inlet and a plurality of electrolyte outlets, the electrolyte inlet of the first liquid separator is connected with the electrolyte outlet of the fuel cell stack, and the electrolyte outlets are connected with the electrolyte inlet of the working liquid tank in a one-to-one manner; the second liquid separator comprises a plurality of electrolyte inlets and an electrolyte outlet, the electrolyte inlets of the second liquid separator are connected with the electrolyte outlet of the working liquid box in a one-to-one mode, and the electrolyte outlet is connected with the electrolyte inlet of the fuel cell stack. The battery can use all electrolyte required in an operation period in batches, so that the electrolyte used in the fuel cell stack is kept at a fresh degree as much as possible, and the discharge performance of the battery is more stable.)

1. A metal fuel cell, comprising:

a fuel cell stack comprising a first electrolyte inlet and a first electrolyte outlet;

the electrolyte working solution tank set comprises a plurality of working solution tanks, and each working solution tank is respectively and independently provided with a second electrolyte inlet and a second electrolyte outlet;

the first electrolyte inlet is connected with the first electrolyte outlet, and the third electrolyte outlet is connected with the second electrolyte inlet in a one-to-one manner;

and the second liquid separator comprises a second electrolyte channel, a plurality of fourth electrolyte inlets and a fourth electrolyte outlet, the fourth electrolyte inlets are connected with the second electrolyte outlets in a one-to-one manner, and the fourth electrolyte outlets are connected with the first electrolyte inlets.

2. The metal fuel cell as in claim 1, wherein each of the third electrolyte outlets is independently provided with a first valve, and each of the fourth electrolyte inlets is independently provided with a second valve.

3. The metal fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the first liquid separator is provided with a first liquid separation sheet capable of moving along the arrangement direction of the working liquid tank set, the first liquid separation sheet is provided with a first through hole, and the first liquid separation sheet is suitable for enabling the first through hole to be communicated with one of the third electrolyte outlets and blocking the rest of the third electrolyte outlets;

the second liquid separator is provided with a second liquid separation sheet which can move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid box group, a second through hole is formed in the second liquid separation sheet, and the second liquid separation sheet is suitable for enabling the second through hole to be communicated with one of the fourth electrolyte inlets and blocking the rest of the fourth electrolyte inlets.

4. The metal fuel cell according to claim 3, further comprising: the first liquid separation sheet is provided with a first toothed edge which is matched and meshed with the first rotating gear, and the first rotating gear is meshed with the first toothed edge and enables the first liquid separation sheet to move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid tank group under the driving of a motor; and a second toothed edge which is matched and meshed with the second rotating gear is formed on the second liquid distribution sheet, and the second rotating gear is meshed with the second toothed edge and enables the second liquid distribution sheet to move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid box group under the driving of a motor.

5. The metal fuel cell according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by further comprising: and the circulating pump is connected with the fourth electrolyte outlet and the first electrolyte inlet.

6. The metal fuel cell according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of working fluid tanks are arranged side by side, in a ring shape, in an arc shape, or in a centrosymmetric arrangement,

optionally, a plurality of the working liquid tanks are arranged in equal volume,

optionally, each of the working fluid tanks is independently a double-layer structure.

7. The metal fuel cell according to claim 1 or 6, characterized by further comprising: the buffer battery is suitable for providing external output and power consumption for the internal auxiliary system when the working liquid tank is replaced.

8. The metal fuel cell according to claim 7, wherein the metal fuel cell is an aluminum-air fuel cell, and the buffer battery is a nickel-metal hydride battery, a lithium iron phosphate battery, a lithium manganate battery, a lithium cobaltate battery, a lithium ternary battery, a solid-state lithium ion battery, a lead-acid battery, or a supercapacitor.

9. The method of operating a metal fuel cell as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising:

(1) supplying electrolyte to a plurality of the working fluid tanks, respectively;

(2) supplying the electrolyte in one of the working fluid tanks to the fuel cell stack by using the first liquid separator, and returning the electrolyte output by the fuel cell stack to the working fluid tank by using the second liquid separator;

(3) after the electrolyte in the working liquid tank in the step (2) reaches a use threshold, switching the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator to a next working liquid tank;

(4) and (4) repeating the steps (2) to (3) until the electrolytes in all the working liquid tanks reach the use threshold.

10. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein the electrolyte in the working fluid tank is supplied to the fuel cell stack with a circulation pump,

optionally, buffer batteries are used for providing external output and power for internal auxiliary systems when the working fluid tank is replaced.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the field of fuel cells, and particularly relates to a metal fuel cell and an operation method thereof.

Background

The metal fuel cell is a device capable of directly converting chemical energy into electric energy, has the advantages of low manufacturing cost, long shelf life, environmental protection, safety, silence and the like, and has great attention in the fields of new energy automobiles, communication standby, emergency power supplies and the like. The current research on metal fuel cells is mainly focused on the convenience of the base materials and the overall structure, and the like. The liquid path circulation process of the fuel cell mainly adopts continuous operation of a pump, and electrolyte or reaction liquid is pumped into a cell reaction cabin to complete the discharge process; and the reacted electrolyte enters the electrolyte storage tank along the electrolyte return system to prepare for next circulation of the electrolyte. At present, an electrolyte liquid supply system in the structure of an aluminum-air battery product mainly stores all electrolyte in an electrolyte tank, continuously conveys the electrolyte to a galvanic pile through a pump and then returns to the electrolyte tank.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving, at least to some extent, one of the technical problems in the related art. To this end, it is an object of the present invention to propose a metal fuel cell and a method for operating the same. The metal fuel cell can use all electrolyte required in one operation period in batches, so that the electrolyte used in the fuel cell stack is kept at a fresh degree as much as possible, thereby reducing natural attenuation of system output power caused by the increase of concentration of electrolytic waste liquid as much as possible and enabling the discharge performance of a cell product to be more stable.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a metal fuel cell is presented. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal fuel cell includes:

a fuel cell stack comprising a first electrolyte inlet and a first electrolyte outlet;

the electrolyte working solution tank set comprises a plurality of working solution tanks, and each working solution tank is respectively and independently provided with a second electrolyte inlet and a second electrolyte outlet;

the first electrolyte inlet is connected with the first electrolyte outlet, and the third electrolyte outlet is connected with the second electrolyte inlet in a one-to-one manner;

and the second liquid separator comprises a second electrolyte channel, a plurality of fourth electrolyte inlets and a fourth electrolyte outlet, the fourth electrolyte inlets are connected with the second electrolyte outlets in a one-to-one manner, and the fourth electrolyte outlets are connected with the first electrolyte inlets.

According to the metal fuel cell of the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of relatively independent working fluid tanks are arranged, and each working fluid tank can be respectively and independently communicated with the fuel cell stack through the first liquid distributor and the second liquid distributor, so that the electrolyte required in one operation period of the metal fuel cell can be divided into a plurality of parts and supplied to the fuel cell stack in batches for use, namely the electrolyte in one working fluid tank is replaced by fresh electrolyte in the other working fluid tank after the electrolyte in the other working fluid tank is used, and energy output is continuously provided, therefore, the electrolyte used in the fuel cell stack can be kept as fresh as possible, thereby not only reducing natural attenuation of system output power caused by the increase of concentration of the electrolytic waste liquid as much as possible, improving and optimizing the operation performance of the metal fuel cell system, and enabling the discharge performance of the cell product to be more stable, the internal structure of the battery system can be simplified, and an additional fresh electrolyte storage device and an electrolysis waste liquid storage device are omitted.

In addition, the metal fuel cell according to the above embodiment of the present invention may further have the following additional technical features:

in some embodiments of the invention, each of the third electrolyte outlets is independently provided with a first valve, and each of the fourth electrolyte inlets is independently provided with a second valve.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the first liquid separator is provided with a first liquid separation sheet capable of moving along the arrangement direction of the working liquid tank set, the first liquid separation sheet is provided with a first through hole, and the first liquid separation sheet is adapted to communicate the first through hole with one of the third electrolyte outlets and block the remaining third electrolyte outlets; the second liquid separator is provided with a second liquid separation sheet which can move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid box group, a second through hole is formed in the second liquid separation sheet, and the second liquid separation sheet is suitable for enabling the second through hole to be communicated with one of the fourth electrolyte inlets and blocking the rest of the fourth electrolyte inlets.

In some embodiments of the invention, the metal fuel cell further comprises: the first liquid separation sheet is provided with a first toothed edge which is matched and meshed with the first rotating gear, and the first rotating gear is meshed with the first toothed edge and enables the first liquid separation sheet to move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid tank group under the driving of a motor; and a second toothed edge which is matched and meshed with the second rotating gear is formed on the second liquid distribution sheet, and the second rotating gear is meshed with the second toothed edge and enables the second liquid distribution sheet to move along the arrangement direction of the working liquid box group under the driving of a motor.

In some embodiments of the invention, the metal fuel cell further comprises: and the circulating pump is connected with the fourth electrolyte outlet and the first electrolyte inlet.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of working fluid tanks are arranged side by side, in a ring shape, in an arc shape, or in a central symmetry.

In some embodiments of the invention, a plurality of the working fluid tanks are arranged in equal volume.

In some embodiments of the present invention, each of the working fluid tanks is independently a double-layer structure.

In some embodiments of the invention, the metal fuel cell further comprises: the buffer battery is suitable for providing external output and power consumption for the internal auxiliary system when the working liquid tank is replaced.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the metal fuel cell is an aluminum-air fuel cell, and the buffer battery is a nickel-metal hydride battery, a lithium iron phosphate battery, a lithium manganate battery, a lithium cobaltate battery, a lithium ternary battery, a solid-state lithium ion battery, a lead-acid battery, or a super capacitor.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a method of operating the above metal fuel cell. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method of operation comprises:

(1) supplying electrolyte to a plurality of the working fluid tanks, respectively;

(2) supplying the electrolyte in one of the working fluid tanks to the fuel cell stack by using the first liquid separator, and returning the electrolyte output by the fuel cell stack to the working fluid tank by using the second liquid separator;

(3) after the electrolyte in the working liquid tank in the step (2) reaches a use threshold, switching the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator to a next working liquid tank;

(4) and (4) repeating the steps (2) to (3) until the electrolytes in all the working liquid tanks reach the use threshold.

According to the operation method of the metal fuel cell in the embodiment of the invention, the operation mode that all electrolytes required by the metal fuel cell system are used in batches in one operation period is adopted, and the fresh electrolyte and the used electrolyte are replaced in the operation process of the metal fuel cell, so that the system uses the electrolyte with higher freshness as far as possible, thereby reducing the natural attenuation of the output power of the cell system caused by the increase of the concentration of the electrolytic waste liquid as far as possible, improving and optimizing the operation performance of the metal fuel cell system, and enabling the output power of the system to be more stable in the operation process of cell products.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the electrolyte in the working fluid tank is supplied to the fuel cell stack using a circulation pump.

In some embodiments of the invention, a buffer battery is used for providing external output and power for an internal auxiliary system when the working fluid tank is replaced.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a metal fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a first liquid separator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein fig. 2(a) is a plan view of the first liquid separator, and fig. 2(b) is a schematic structural view of a first liquid separation sheet.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a second dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein fig. 3(a) is a plan view of the second dispenser and fig. 3(b) is a schematic structural view of a second liquid separation sheet.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative and intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a metal fuel cell is presented. According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the metal fuel cell includes: a fuel cell stack 100, an electrolyte operating fluid tank group 200, a first dispenser 300, and a second dispenser 400. The metal fuel cell can use all electrolyte required in one operation period in batches, so that the electrolyte used in the fuel cell stack is kept at a fresh degree as much as possible, thereby reducing natural attenuation of system output power caused by the increase of concentration of electrolytic waste liquid as much as possible and enabling the discharge performance of a cell product to be more stable.

The metal fuel cell according to the above embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Fuel cell stack 100

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the fuel cell stack 100 includes a first electrolyte inlet 110 and a first electrolyte outlet 120 through which the input and output of the electrolyte is achieved.

Electrolyte working fluid tank set 200

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the working fluid tank set 200 includes a plurality of working fluid tanks 210, each working fluid tank 210 is independently provided with a second electrolyte inlet 211 and a second electrolyte outlet 212, so that all the electrolytes required in one operation period can be stored in multiple portions in different working fluid tanks, each working fluid tank can independently form electrolyte circulation with the fuel cell stack, the working fluid tank serves as an electrolyte storage tank to store fresh electrolyte before the working fluid tank is communicated with the fuel cell stack, and serves as a working fluid tank to supply electrolyte to the fuel cell stack when the working fluid tank is communicated with the fuel cell stack, and serves as a waste fluid tank to store electrolyte waste liquid when the electrolyte in the working fluid tank reaches a use threshold, and simultaneously other working fluid tanks are switched to be communicated with the fuel cell stack until the electrolytes in all the working fluid tanks reach the use threshold, so that the electrolyte in the fuel cell stack can be kept as fresh as possible, therefore, the natural attenuation of the system output power caused by the rising of the concentration of the electrolytic waste liquid can be reduced as much as possible, the discharge performance of a battery product is more stable, the internal structure of the battery can be simplified, and an electrolyte storage tank and a waste liquid storage tank (bag) do not need to be arranged independently.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the arrangement of the working fluid tanks 200 in the present invention is not particularly limited, and those skilled in the art can select the arrangement according to actual needs, for example, the plurality of working fluid tanks 210 may be arranged side by side, in a ring shape, in an arc shape, or in a central symmetry, and the like, and preferably in a ring shape, so that the overall volume of the entire battery system can be further reduced.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of working fluid tanks 210 may be arranged in an equal volume, so that not only the structural stability of the whole system may be ensured, but also the switching between different working fluid tanks may be facilitated.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, each of the working fluid tanks 210 may be independently formed in a double-layer structure, and preferably, a hollow interlayer is formed between the double-layer structures, so that the working fluid tanks may further have a thermal insulation function, and thus, the discharge performance of the battery product may be more stable.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the material and shape of the working fluid tank 210 are not particularly limited, and those skilled in the art can select the material and shape according to actual needs. For example, the working fluid tank may be made of a metal material or a non-metal material, and specifically, the working fluid tank may be made of a metal material with strong corrosion resistance, such as stainless steel or titanium alloy, or a plastic material, such as Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), nylon, or a mixture of the above plastic materials with auxiliary materials (such as glass fibers); the shape of the working liquid box can be cuboid, cube, cylinder, cone, sphere or other specially-customized irregular shapes.

First and second dispensers 300 and 400

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first dispenser 300 includes a first electrolyte channel 310, a third electrolyte inlet 320 and a plurality of third electrolyte outlets 330, the third electrolyte inlet 320 and the third electrolyte outlets 330 are disposed on the first electrolyte channel 310, the third electrolyte inlet 320 is connected to the first electrolyte outlet 120, and the third electrolyte outlets 330 are connected to the second electrolyte inlet 211 one-to-one; the second dispenser 400 includes a second electrolyte path 410, a plurality of fourth electrolyte inlets 420 and a fourth electrolyte outlet 430, the fourth electrolyte inlets 420 and the fourth electrolyte outlets 430 are formed on the second electrolyte path 410, the fourth electrolyte inlets 420 are connected to the second electrolyte outlets 212 one-to-one, and the fourth electrolyte outlets 430 are connected to the first electrolyte inlet 110. Thus, the switching of different working fluid tanks can be realized by the first liquid distributor and the second liquid distributor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the working fluid tanks 210 may be respectively provided with a second electrolyte inlet 211 and a second electrolyte outlet 212, and the number of the third electrolyte outlets 330 and the number of the fourth electrolyte inlets 420 are respectively the same as the number of the working fluid tanks.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a first valve 340 may be independently provided at each of the third electrolyte outlets 330, and a second valve 440 may be independently provided at each of the fourth electrolyte inlets 420. Therefore, when a single working liquid tank is communicated with the fuel cell stack, as shown in fig. 1, the first valve and the second valve corresponding to the working liquid tank can be opened (the invention corresponding to the first working liquid tank in fig. 1 is opened), the first valves and the second valves corresponding to the rest working liquid tanks can be closed, and when the working liquid tanks need to be switched, the switching can be realized only by controlling the opening and closing of the corresponding first valves and the corresponding second valves, so that the selection of the liquid separation function can be more flexibly controlled, and the switching of different working liquid tanks can be realized. It should be noted that the first valve/the second valve only opens and closes the third electrolyte outlet/the fourth electrolyte inlet, and does not affect the flow of the electrolyte in the electrolyte passage 310/410 of the liquid separator.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2(a) and 2(b), the first liquid separator 300 may be provided with a first liquid separating sheet 350 movable along the arrangement direction of the working fluid tank set 200, the first liquid separating sheet 350 is provided with a first through hole 351, and the first liquid separating sheet 350 is adapted to allow the first through hole 351 to communicate with one of the third electrolyte outlets 330 and block the remaining third electrolyte outlets 330; as shown in fig. 3(a) and 3(b), the second liquid separator 400 may be provided with a second liquid separation sheet 450 movable along the arrangement direction of the working fluid tank assembly 200, the second liquid separation sheet 450 is provided with a second through hole 451, and the second liquid separation sheet 450 is adapted to allow the second through hole 451 to communicate with one of the fourth electrolyte inlets 420 and block the remaining fourth electrolyte inlets 420. Therefore, the first liquid separator has the characteristics of single-aperture inflow and multi-aperture outflow, and the second liquid separator has the characteristics of multi-aperture inflow and single-aperture outflow, so that the selection of liquid separation functions can be realized through the movement of the first liquid separation sheet and the second liquid separation sheet, and the switching of different working liquid tanks is realized.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the metal fuel cell may further include a first rotation gear 360 and a second rotation gear 460, as shown in fig. 2, the first fluid-dividing sheet 350 may be formed with a first toothed edge 352 that is in matching engagement with the first rotation gear 360, and the first rotation gear 360 is engaged with the first toothed edge 352 and moves the first fluid-dividing sheet 350 along the arrangement direction of the working fluid tanks 200 under the driving of the motor 370; as shown in fig. 3, a second toothed edge 452 is formed on the second dispensing sheet 450, and the second toothed edge 452 is engaged with the second rotating gear 460, and the second rotating gear 460 is engaged with the second toothed edge 452 and is driven by the motor 470 to move the second dispensing sheet 460 along the arrangement direction of the working fluid tank set 200. Therefore, the movement of the liquid separation piece can be controlled through gear rotation, and the switching of different working liquid tanks is further realized.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the arrangement of the first and second dispensers 200 and 300 is determined by the arrangement of the working fluid tanks, for example, the first and second dispensers may have a spherical structure, a curved structure, a barrel structure, or a row structure, depending on the arrangement of the working fluid tanks, and the movement path of the first through hole in the first dispenser sheet is consistent with the arrangement track of the third electrolyte outlet, and the movement path of the second through hole in the second dispenser sheet is consistent with the arrangement track of the fourth electrolyte inlet.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first dispenser 300 may be located at an upper portion of the operating fluid tank assembly 200, and the second dispenser 400 may be located at a lower portion of the operating fluid tank assembly 200.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the metal fuel cell may further include a circulation pump 500, the circulation pump 500 being connected to the fourth electrolyte outlet 430 and the first electrolyte inlet 110. Therefore, when the battery works, the electrolyte in one working solution tank is conveyed to the circulating pump through the second liquid separator, conveyed to the fuel cell stack through the circulating pump, and then returned to the original working solution tank from the fuel cell stack through the first liquid separator.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the metal fuel cell may further include a buffer battery (not shown) adapted to provide an external output when the working fluid tank is replaced and power for the internal auxiliary system, wherein the buffer battery and the fuel cell operate together when the battery is discharged externally, and the buffer battery is charged and discharged according to a power variation of the fuel cell to achieve a stable power output.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the types of the metal fuel cell and the buffer cell in the present invention are not particularly limited, and those skilled in the art can select them according to actual needs. For example, the metal fuel cell may be an aluminum-air fuel cell or the like, and the buffer battery may be a nickel hydrogen battery, a lithium iron phosphate battery, a lithium manganate battery, a lithium cobaltate battery, a lithium ternary battery, a solid state lithium ion battery, a lead-acid battery, or a super capacitor.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the working fluid tank set may include a plurality of working fluid tanks having the same volume, and when the battery is operated, the electrolyte is supplied to the fuel cell stack from one of the plurality of working fluid tanks through the second liquid separator located at the lower portion of the working fluid tank and the circulation pump, and then flows back to the first liquid separator located at the upper portion of the working fluid tank from the fuel cell stack and then flows back to the original working fluid tank; and when the use of the electrolyte in the working liquid tank reaches a threshold value, closing the circulating pump, and after all the electrolyte flows back to the working liquid tank, automatically switching the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator to the next working liquid tank and supplying liquid to the fuel cell stack by using the electrolyte in the switched working liquid tank.

In summary, according to the metal fuel cell of the above embodiment of the present invention, by providing a plurality of relatively independent working fluid tanks, and enabling each working fluid tank to be independently communicated with the fuel cell stack through the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator, the electrolyte required by the metal fuel cell in one operation cycle can be divided into a plurality of portions, and the portions are supplied to the fuel cell stack in batches for use, that is, after the electrolyte in one working fluid tank is used, the fresh electrolyte in another working fluid tank is used for replacement and energy output is continuously provided, so that the electrolyte used in the fuel cell stack can be kept as fresh as possible, thereby not only reducing natural attenuation of system output power caused by the increase of concentration of the electrolyte waste liquid as much as possible, improving and optimizing the operation performance of the metal fuel cell system, and making the discharge performance of the cell product more stable, the internal structure of the battery system can be simplified, and an additional fresh electrolyte storage device and an electrolysis waste liquid storage device are omitted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a method of operating the above metal fuel cell. According to an embodiment of the invention, the method of operation comprises: (1) supplying the electrolyte to a plurality of working fluid tanks, respectively; (2) supplying electrolyte in one of the working fluid tanks to the fuel cell stack by using a first liquid separator, and returning the electrolyte output by the fuel cell stack to the working fluid tank by using a second liquid separator; (3) after the electrolyte in the working liquid tank in the step (2) reaches a use threshold, switching the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator to the next working liquid tank; (4) and (4) repeating the steps (2) to (3) until the electrolytes in all the working liquid tanks reach the use threshold. The operation method adopts a working mode of using the electrolyte in batches, so that the battery system can use the electrolyte with higher freshness as much as possible, thereby reducing the influence of the electrolytic waste liquid on the natural attenuation of the output power of the battery system as much as possible and ensuring that the discharge performance of the battery product is more stable.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte in the working fluid tank may be supplied to the fuel cell stack using a circulation pump.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a valve or a liquid separation sheet with a through hole is matched with the first liquid separator and the second liquid separator to realize the switching of different working liquid tanks, so that the battery system can use electrolyte with higher freshness as much as possible. Wherein, the liquid separating piece can be driven by a rotating gear to rotate.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the buffer battery can be used for providing external output and internal auxiliary system power consumption when the working fluid tank is replaced, so that the stability of the system output power in the operation process of the battery product can be further improved.

In summary, according to the operation method of the metal fuel cell in the above embodiment of the present invention, a working mode is adopted in which all electrolytes required by the metal fuel cell system are used in batches in one operation period, and in the operation process of the metal fuel cell, fresh electrolytes and used electrolytes are replaced, so that the system uses electrolytes with a higher freshness as much as possible, thereby reducing natural attenuation of output power of the cell system caused by increase of concentration of the electrolysis waste liquid as much as possible, improving and optimizing the operation performance of the metal fuel cell system, and making the output power of the system more stable in the operation process of the cell product. It should be noted that the features and effects described for the metal fuel cell are also applicable to the operation method of the metal fuel cell, and are not described in detail herein.

The invention will now be described with reference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting in any way.

Example 1

The structure of the metal fuel cell is shown in figure 1, and comprises a fuel cell stack, an electrolyte working solution box group, a first liquid separator, a second liquid separator and a circulating pump, wherein the electrolyte working solution box group comprises N working solution boxes with the same volume, the working solution boxes are made of PE materials and have a double-layer structure, and the single-layer thickness is 0.3 mm; the electrolyte outlet of the first liquid separator and the electrolyte inlet of the second liquid separator are respectively provided with a valve, the electrolyte is conveyed to the upper fuel cell stack through a circulating pump and then flows back to the original working liquid tank through gravity, the volume of each working liquid tank is the amount of 200Ah electricity discharged by the battery, each tank of electrolyte can provide 4h power supply guarantee for 50A electric equipment, and the buffer battery adopts a lithium iron phosphate battery with the electric quantity of 50 Ah. And switching the working liquid tank after the electrolyte reaction of the working liquid tank reaches the set ampere hour.

In the description of the present invention, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying any number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise. Unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "connected" and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection or a removable connection, or as an integral part; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may be directly contacting the first and second features or indirectly contacting the first and second features through an intermediate. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention, and that variations, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the above embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the present invention.