阅读说明：本技术 能量管理系统 (Energy management system ) 是由 中牟田庆 水谷英司 菊地圭介 折桥信行 山中富夫 中岛敦士 八束真一 铃木雅幸 卡宗 于 2020-10-15 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供能够使能量效率提高的能量管理系统。能量管理系统具备：燃料电池,其供给在设施中使用的能量；第1氢供给部,其通过使用了可再生能量的发电装置来进行水电解,并向燃料电池供给氢；第2氢供给部,其对经由管道供给的天然气进行改性,并向燃料电池供给氢；以及控制部,其决定对燃料电池供给的氢中的、从第1氢供给部供给的氢与从第2氢供给部供给的氢的比率。控制部根据在设施中使用的能量中的热能与热能以外的能量的比例来决定上述比率。(The invention provides an energy management system capable of improving energy efficiency. The energy management system is provided with: a fuel cell that supplies energy used in a facility; a 1 st hydrogen supply unit that electrolyzes water using a power generation device using renewable energy and supplies hydrogen to a fuel cell; a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit that reforms the natural gas supplied via the pipeline and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell; and a control unit that determines a ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell. The control unit determines the ratio based on a ratio of thermal energy to energy other than thermal energy in energy used in the facility.)

1. An energy management system, wherein,

the energy management system is provided with:

a fuel cell that supplies energy used in a facility;

a 1 st hydrogen supply unit that electrolyzes water using a power generation device using renewable energy and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell;

a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit that reforms natural gas supplied via a pipeline and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell; and

a control unit that determines a ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell,

the control unit determines the ratio based on a ratio of thermal energy to energy other than the thermal energy among energy used in the facility.

2. The energy management system of claim 1,

in the case where a large amount of thermal energy is required, the control unit increases the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell.

3. The energy management system of claim 1 or 2,

further comprises an acquisition unit for acquiring information on weather and disaster,

the control unit determines whether or not the supply of the natural gas is stopped based on the information on the weather and the disaster acquired by the acquisition unit, and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell only from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit when determining that the supply of the natural gas is stopped.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to energy management systems.

Background

In facilities such as airports, introduction of a system for supplying energy using a fuel cell is studied in order to reduce the isothermal effect gas such as carbon dioxide. Jp 2009-224114 a discloses a method for operating a reformer for reforming a hydrocarbon-based Fuel and an SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) system for generating electricity using a reformed gas, that is, a method for supplying hydrocarbons to an SOFC without passing through the reformer when generating electricity using an SOFC.

The hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell is produced by electrolysis of water (electrolysis of water) or modification of methane contained in natural gas. Electric energy is required to generate hydrogen by water electrolysis, and it has been studied to supply the electric energy by a power generation device using renewable energy such as solar power generation. The power generation apparatus using renewable energy varies in power generation timing, and therefore, the timing of hydrogen generation by water electrolysis cannot be controlled. Therefore, in a system for supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell by electrolyzing water using a power generation device using renewable energy, the generated hydrogen is temporarily stored in a hydrogen storage tank, and hydrogen is supplied from the hydrogen storage tank to the fuel cell when necessary.

In a system for supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell by reforming methane contained in natural gas, a large amount of heat is generated in the reforming step. The heat generated in the reforming step can be used as heat for heating, hot water supply, and the like. Energy used in facilities is classified into energy other than thermal energy, such as thermal energy and electric energy. It is assumed that a facility is provided with only a system for electrolyzing water by a power generation device using renewable energy and supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell (case 1). In case 1, the thermal energy used in the facility must be supplied entirely by conversion into electric energy generated by the fuel cell. On the other hand, it is assumed that a facility is provided with only a system for reforming methane contained in natural gas and supplying hydrogen to a fuel cell (case 2). In case 2, the heat released in the modification step can be used as thermal energy used in facilities. However, when the demand of heat energy is small in the facility, the heat released in the reforming process is discharged without being utilized. That is, in both case 1 and case 2, there is room for improvement in energy efficiency in facilities.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to provide an energy management system capable of improving energy efficiency in a facility having an energy supply apparatus using a fuel cell.

An energy management system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a fuel cell that supplies energy used in a facility; a 1 st hydrogen supply unit that electrolyzes water using a power generation device using renewable energy and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell; a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit configured to reform a natural gas supplied through a pipeline and supply hydrogen to the fuel cell; and a control unit that determines a ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell, wherein the control unit determines the ratio based on a ratio of thermal energy to energy other than the thermal energy among energy used in the facility.

In the 2 nd hydrogen supply portion, a large amount of heat is released in the process of generating hydrogen. In contrast, the 1 st hydrogen supply unit releases less heat during the hydrogen generation process than the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit. On the other hand, if the heat released during the hydrogen generation is not taken into consideration, the energy efficiency is better in the case of generating power by supplying hydrogen from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit to the fuel cell than in the case of generating power by supplying hydrogen from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit to the fuel cell. Therefore, the ratio is determined according to the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility. That is, when the proportion of the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility is relatively high, the proportion of the hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell is increased, compared to when the proportion of the thermal energy is relatively low. This can improve energy efficiency in a facility having an energy supply facility using a fuel cell.

In addition, when the required thermal energy is large, the control unit increases the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell. This enables a large amount of heat released when the natural gas is reformed in the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit to be reused.

Further, the following may be configured: the control unit determines whether or not the supply of the natural gas is stopped based on the information on the weather and the disaster acquired by the acquisition unit, and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell only from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit when it is determined that the supply of the natural gas is stopped. This enables coping with a situation where the supply of natural gas is stopped due to a disaster or the like.

According to the present disclosure, in a facility having an energy supply apparatus using a fuel cell, energy efficiency can be improved.

Drawings

The above objects and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and thus should not be taken as limiting the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an energy management system according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fuel cell of the energy management system according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the energy management system according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an energy management system according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the energy management system according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an energy management system according to the reference method.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will be described below with reference to embodiments thereof, but the disclosure relating to the scope of the patent claims is not limited to the following embodiments. The configurations described in the embodiments are not necessarily all necessary as means for solving the problems. For clarity of description, the following description and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted as necessary.

[ embodiment 1]

First, the configuration of the energy management system according to embodiment 1 will be described. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an energy management system 1 according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 1, the energy management system 1 includes a 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2, a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, a fuel cell 4, and a control unit 5.

The fuel cell 4 supplies energy used in the facility. The Fuel Cell 4 is, for example, a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the fuel cell 4. As shown in fig. 2, the fuel cell 4 is configured by stacking a plurality of fuel cells 40, for example, and the fuel cells 40 are formed by sandwiching an electrolyte membrane such as a solid polymer ion exchange membrane between an anode electrode (fuel electrode) and a cathode electrode (oxidant electrode) from both sides.

The fuel cell 4 is provided with a fuel air inlet 4a, a fuel air outlet 4b, a cooling gas inlet 4c, a cooling gas outlet 4d, a fuel hydrogen inlet 4e, and a fuel hydrogen outlet 4 f. A fuel air supply pipe and an exhaust pipe are connected to the fuel air inlet 4a and the fuel air outlet 4b, respectively. A fuel hydrogen supply pipe and an exhaust pipe are connected to the fuel hydrogen inlet 4e and the fuel hydrogen outlet 4f, respectively. A supply pipe and an exhaust pipe for the cooling gas are connected to the cooling gas inlet 4c and the cooling gas outlet 4d, respectively. The cooling gas for cooling the fuel cell 4 is, for example, air.

When the anode gas containing hydrogen is supplied to the anode electrode and the air containing oxygen is supplied to the cathode electrode, the fuel cell 4 generates electricity by allowing hydrogen ions generated at the anode electrode by the catalytic reaction to move to the cathode electrode through the electrolyte membrane and causing a chemical reaction between the hydrogen ions and oxygen at the cathode electrode. In the fuel cell 4, hydrogen is introduced via the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 or the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, and oxygen is introduced from the atmosphere.

Referring again to fig. 1, the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 performs water electrolysis by a power generation device using renewable energy, and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell 4. Here, renewable energy refers to energy that is always present in nature, such as sunlight, wind power, and a part of the earth resources such as geothermal heat. Examples of power generation devices using renewable energy include solar power generation devices, wind power generation devices, geothermal power generation devices, hydroelectric power generation devices, and biological power generation devices. Since the power generation device using renewable energy is installed in a facility, when the facility is an airport, it is considered that the solar power generation device is suitable as a power generation device using renewable energy. The 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 includes a hydrogen generator 2a that generates hydrogen by electrolysis of water, and a hydrogen storage tank 2b that stores the hydrogen generated by the hydrogen generator 2 a.

The 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 reforms natural gas (city gas) supplied from a natural gas supply company 10 via a pipeline 11 and supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell 4. The 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 includes a hydrogen reformer 3a that produces hydrogen by steam reforming of methane contained in natural gas.

The control unit 5 determines the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4. The control unit 5 determines the ratio based on the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy among the energies used in the facility.

As described above, hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of methane in the hydrogen reformer 3a of the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3. The method for producing hydrogen by steam modification of methane comprises reacting methane (CH) contained in natural gas₄) The hydrogen reformer 3a is mixed with water (H)₂O) to produce hydrogen (H) by chemical reaction₂) The method (3) is currently most widely used as an industrial hydrogen production method. In order to improve the conversion rate of hydrocarbons in this chemical reaction, it is necessary to perform the chemical reaction in an atmosphere of relatively high temperature (for example, about 800 ℃). Therefore, in the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, a large amount of heat is released in the process of generating hydrogen. In contrast, in the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2, the heat released in the process of generating hydrogen is less than that in the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3.

When the heat released during the hydrogen generation is not taken into consideration, the energy efficiency is better in the case where hydrogen is supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 to the fuel cell 4 to generate electricity than in the case where hydrogen is supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 to the fuel cell 4 to generate electricity.

In the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, heat released in the process of generating hydrogen can be effectively utilized as heat used in facilities for heating, hot water supply, and the like. Therefore, when a large amount of thermal energy is required, the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4 is increased. That is, when the proportion of the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility is relatively high, the proportion of the hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 in the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4 is increased, compared to when the proportion of the thermal energy is relatively low. In this way, the control unit 5 determines the ratio based on the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility. This can improve energy efficiency in a facility having an energy supply facility using the fuel cell 4.

Next, the flow of processing of the energy management system 1 will be described below. In the following description, reference is also made to fig. 1 as appropriate.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the energy management system 1. As shown in fig. 3, first, the control unit 5 derives the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility, based on a power usage plan in the facility prepared in advance (step S101). Next, the control unit 5 determines the ratio of the hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 to the hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4, based on the above ratio (step S102).

Thus, in the energy management system 1 according to embodiment 1, when the energy supplied from the fuel cell 4 is used as the thermal energy, the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 having a large amount of heat generation is selected, and when the energy is used as energy other than the thermal energy such as the electric energy, the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 having a small amount of heat generation is selected. This can improve energy efficiency in a facility having an energy supply facility using the fuel cell 4.

[ embodiment 2]

First, the configuration of the energy management system according to embodiment 2 will be described. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the energy management system 101 according to embodiment 2. As shown in fig. 4, the energy management system 101 includes a 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2, a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, a fuel cell 4, a control unit 105, and an acquisition unit 6. That is, the configuration of the energy management system 101 is different from the configuration of the energy management system 1 in that the energy management system further includes the acquisition unit 6, and in that the control unit 5 (see fig. 1) is replaced with the control unit 105. The configuration of the energy management system 101 other than these is the same as that of the energy management system 1 according to embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 1.

The acquisition unit 6 acquires information on weather and disaster. The control unit 105 switches between two operation modes (normal time mode and disaster time mode) based on the information on weather and disaster acquired by the acquisition unit 6. That is, when operating in the normal mode, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the supply of natural gas from the natural gas supply company 10 is stopped based on the weather and disaster information, and switches to the disaster mode when determining that the supply is stopped. On the other hand, when operating in the disaster-time mode, the control unit 5 switches to the normal-time mode if it is determined that the supply of natural gas from the natural gas supply company 10 has not been stopped (supply is resumed) based on the weather and disaster information.

When the operation mode is the normal time mode, the control unit 105 determines the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4, as in the control unit 5 according to embodiment 1. That is, the control unit 105 determines the ratio based on the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy among the energy used in the facility. On the other hand, when the operation mode is the disaster mode, the controller 105 supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell 4 only from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2.

Next, the flow of processing of the energy management system 101 will be described below. In the following description, reference is also made to fig. 4 as appropriate.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the energy management system 101. As shown in fig. 5, first, the acquisition unit 6 acquires information on weather and disaster (step S201). Next, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the supply of the natural gas from the natural gas supply company 10 is stopped (step S202).

When it is determined in step S202 that the supply of natural gas has not been stopped, the control unit 105 derives the ratio of the thermal energy to the energy other than the thermal energy in the energy used in the facility, based on the power usage plan in the facility (step S203). Next, in step S203, the control unit 105 determines the ratio of hydrogen supplied from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 to hydrogen supplied from the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 among the hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 4, based on the above ratio (step S204), and returns the process to step S201.

When it is determined in step S202 that the supply of the natural gas is to be stopped, the control unit 105 supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell 4 only from the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 (step S205), and returns the process to step S201.

As described above, even when the supply of natural gas is stopped due to a disaster or the like, the natural gas supply system can cope with the disaster.

[ reference mode ]

When the power generation device using renewable energy is a solar power generation device, a reference mode described below can be considered.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the energy management system 201 according to the reference method. As shown in fig. 6, the energy management system 201 includes a 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2, a 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3, a fuel cell 4, a control unit 205, and an acquisition unit 106. That is, the configuration of the energy management system 201 is different from the configuration of the energy management system 1 according to embodiment 1 in that the energy management system further includes the acquisition unit 106, and in that the control unit 5 (see fig. 1) is replaced with the control unit 205. The acquisition unit 106 acquires information on the amount of power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device. The control unit 205 selects the 1 st hydrogen supply unit 2 in a time zone where the amount of power generation of the solar power generation device is sufficient, such as when the day is sunny, and selects the 2 nd hydrogen supply unit 3 in a time zone where the amount of power generation is small, such as at night or during cloudy days. In this way, the hydrogen supply unit can be selected in consideration of the power generation condition of the photovoltaic power generation device.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, in the above-described embodiments, the energy management system of the present disclosure has been described as a hardware configuration, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The present disclosure can also realize arbitrary Processing of an energy management system by reading and executing a computer program stored in a memory by a processor such as a cpu (central Processing unit).

In the above-described examples, the program can be stored and supplied to the computer using various types of non-transitory computer readable media. The non-transitory computer readable medium includes various types of tangible storage media. Examples of the non-transitory computer readable medium include magnetic recording media (e.g., floppy disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only memories), CD-Rs (CD-Recordable), CD-Rs/Ws (CD-ReWritable), semiconductor memories (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs (Random Access memories)). In addition, the program may also be supplied to the computer through various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The transitory computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

It will be apparent that the embodiments of the disclosure can be varied in many ways in light of the above disclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.