Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an optimized structure of a split cathode runner of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, wherein a split guide plate structure is arranged in the runner, so that water generated by cathode reaction is promoted to be discharged from the runner, oxygen participating in the reaction enters an electrode from the runner, and the performance of the fuel cell is improved.
The invention is realized by the following technical scheme: the split cathode flow channel optimizing structure for proton exchange membrane fuel cell includes the flow channel divided into two areas of cathode and anode by proton exchange membrane, the cathode plate with notch to constitute the cathode flow channel, and gas diffusion layer below the cathode flow channel. The arrangement structure of the battery cathode flow channel guide plate is split type assembly
The technical scheme is as follows: gas shield, side water board, middle water board are gone up as guide plate components of a whole that can function independently setting in the cathode flow way, wherein: the gas baffle plates are inclined clockwise by 30 degrees and are contacted with the side wall surface of the cathode flow channel, and a side water plate and a middle water feeding plate which are inclined clockwise by 150 degrees are arranged at the middle positions of every three and four gas baffle plates in the cathode flow channel. The cathode flow channel is characterized in that the gas baffle plates are combined into a group by 6 gas baffle plates, 1 side edge water plate and 1 middle water plate, N groups are arranged according to the total length of the cathode flow channel, the middle water plate is of a T-shaped structure, the side edge water plate and the middle water plate guide liquid water to flow out along the upper wall surface of the cathode flow channel, and the distance between the gas baffle plates is set to be 6 mm.
The overall structure of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is shown in fig. 1. The flow channel of the fuel cell is divided into a cathode region and an anode region by a proton exchange membrane, the structures of the cathode region and the anode region are correspondingly the same, and the cathode region and the anode region both comprise a polar plate, the flow channel, a Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL), a Catalytic Layer (CL) and the like. When the fuel cell works, humidified air and hydrogen respectively enter the flow channel from the inlets of the cathode and the anode, and then pass through the gas diffusion layer to reach the catalytic layer to participate in reaction. In the reaction process, the anode catalyst layer consumes hydrogen, the generated hydrogen ions can directly penetrate through the proton exchange membrane to reach the cathode catalyst layer, the generated electrons can only reach the cathode catalyst layer through an external circuit, so that a communicated circuit is formed, and the hydrogen ions and the electrons reaching the cathode catalyst layer react with the oxygen at the cathode to generate water. The split type is characterized in that different guide plates are assembled in the flow channel in a split manner, so that two functions of liquid water discharge and oxygen transmission can be enhanced.
The invention has the characteristics and beneficial effects that: the cathode runner of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell has simple structure, is easy to process and can be conveniently placed in the cathode runner. The structure can promote the discharge of liquid water in the cathode flow channel on one hand, prevent the liquid water from blocking a channel for transmitting reaction gas, promote the oxygen in the flow channel to enter the electrode through enhancing the convection effect of the gas, prevent the phenomenon of insufficient oxygen in a reaction area in the electrode, and improve the performance of the fuel cell.
Detailed Description
The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the present embodiments are illustrative rather than limiting and do not limit the scope of the invention.
The specific structure that the cathode runner guide plate is arranged in a split manner is as follows: gas shield 1, side water board 2, the middle water board 3 of going up set up in the cathode flow way as the guide plate components of a whole that can function independently on the side, wherein: the gas baffle is inclined clockwise by 30 degrees and contacts with the side wall surface of the cathode flow channel. And a side water feeding plate and a middle water feeding plate which are inclined clockwise by 150 degrees are arranged at the middle positions of three and four gas baffle plates at intervals in the cathode flow channel. The cathode flow channel is composed of 6 gas baffle plates, 1 side edge water plate and 1 middle water plate, wherein the two water plates are combined into a group, N groups are arranged according to the total length of the cathode flow channel, the middle water plate is of a T-shaped structure, and the side edge water plates are double-strip-shaped. The side water plates and the middle water plate guide liquid water to flow out along the upper wall surface of the cathode flow channel, and the distance between the gas baffles is set to be 6 mm.
In the example, the length of the cathode flow channel is 90mm, and the length of each group of flow guide plates in the cathode flow channel is 30mm, so 3 groups of flow guide plates are arranged in the flow channel of the example.
The width and height of the cathode flow channel are both 1.0 mm. The width of the gas baffle is 1.0mm, the thickness of the gas baffle is 0.1mm, the distance between the upper end face of the gas baffle and the upper wall face of the cathode flow channel is 0.2mm, and the distance between the lower end face of the gas baffle and the lower wall face of the cathode flow channel is 0.1 mm. The end surfaces of the two sides of the gas baffle plate are contacted with the side wall of the cathode flow channel, the included angle between the gas baffle plate and the flowing direction of liquid water is 30 degrees, the cathode flow channel is used as a guide plate which is arranged in a split way, and the distance from the lower end surface of the first gas baffle plate to the inlet of the cathode flow channel is 4.3mm (as shown in figure 2).
The width of the water plate on the side edge is 0.3mm, the length is 1.4mm, and the thickness is 0.1 mm. The lower end face of the side water plate is in contact with the lower wall face of the cathode runner, the end faces on the two sides are in contact with the side wall of the cathode runner, and the included angle between the side water plate and the flowing direction of liquid water is 30 degrees.
The width of the upper end of the middle water feeding plate is 1.0mm, the length of the middle water feeding plate is 0.3mm, the thickness of the middle water feeding plate is 0.1mm, the width of the lower end of the middle water feeding plate is 0.4mm, and the length of the middle water feeding plate is 1.1 mm. The lower end face of the middle water feeding plate is contacted with the lower wall face of the flow channel, and the included angle between the middle water feeding plate and the flowing direction of the liquid water is 30 degrees.
The split type guide plates are fixed in grooves of the pole plates beside the cathode flow channel by an embedding method, and the integral type structure is fixed in the cathode flow channel by interference assembly of the two sides of the plates.
The cathode flow channel structure optimization mainly designs two flow guide plates with different functional structures, wherein the gas baffle plate has the function of promoting oxygen in the flow channel to enter an electrode to participate in reaction, and the side edge and middle water feeding plates have the function of guiding liquid water to leave the contact surface of the flow channel and a gas diffusion layer (the lower wall surface of the flow channel) and enable the liquid water to flow out along the upper wall surface of the flow channel (the upper wall surface of the flow channel has stronger hydrophilicity) so as to prevent the liquid water from blocking the channel of gas entering the electrode.
In this example, the flow path lengths are all 90mm, only 1/3(30mm) being shown.
In the integral arrangement of the cathode flow channel guide plate, the gas baffle block has the function of promoting oxygen in the flow channel to enter the electrode to participate in reaction, the upper gas baffle plate has the function of introducing gas in the upper channel into the lower channel as much as possible, the side and middle water feeding plates also have the function of guiding liquid water to leave the contact surface between the flow channel and the gas diffusion layer (the lower wall surface of the flow channel) and allow the liquid water to flow out along the upper channel of the flow channel to prevent the liquid water from blocking the channel of the gas entering the electrode, and the water baffle plate has the function of preventing the liquid water in the upper channel from flowing to the lower channel.
In this embodiment, two fuel cells are used, wherein the cathode flow channel of the first cell is a conventional flow channel that is not optimized, and the cathode flow channel of the second cell adopts a split structure optimization design. The two cells have the same structure and the same material except the structure of the cathode flow channel. The two cells were tested under the same operating conditions, the cells were operated in constant voltage mode, the operating temperature was 80 ℃, humidified air was introduced to the cathode at 80%, the humidification degree was 80%, and the inlet flow (not containing water vapor) was 1.50 × 10-6kg/s, humidified hydrogen was introduced into the anode at a humidification level of 90%, and the inlet flow (excluding water vapor) was 1.55X 10-7kg/s, the pressure at the cathode and anode outlets is one atmosphere.
Figure 4 shows a comparison of the polarization curves and net power output (total output power minus inlet pumping loss power) for two cells. As can be seen from the figure, the split optimization structure improves the performance of the fuel cell.
The average oxygen concentration in the cathode catalyst layers of two cells is shown in fig. 5, from which it can be seen that: the optimized structure increases the oxygen concentration in the reaction zone at the same current density. It is worth explaining that the length of the cathode flow channel in the test is only 90mm, the flow channel is longer in an actual single cell, and the end of the cathode flow channel is more seriously anoxic, so that the performance of the single cell is obviously improved by the design.
In order to understand the flowing condition of the liquid water in the flow passage, the present embodiment performs a liquid water flowing simulation test. In the test, a section which can show the flowing condition of the liquid water most in the vicinity of the upper water plate in the cathode flow channel is taken as a simulated area, and the flow speed of the inlet of the flow channel is 12 m/s. Fig. 6a and 6b respectively show the flow conditions (t represents time) of the side and middle liquid drops in the split optimization structure through the upper water plate, and it can be seen from the figure that most of the liquid water on the lower wall surface of the flow channel can move to the upper wall surface of the flow channel through the upper water plate and then is discharged. The optimized structure can effectively reduce the liquid water attached to the lower wall surface of the flow channel and promote the discharge of the liquid water.