CN116505011A - Method for improving performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate - Google Patents

Method for improving performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate Download PDF

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Publication number
CN116505011A
CN116505011A CN202310577938.9A CN202310577938A CN116505011A CN 116505011 A CN116505011 A CN 116505011A CN 202310577938 A CN202310577938 A CN 202310577938A CN 116505011 A CN116505011 A CN 116505011A
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CN
China
Prior art keywords
flow
corners
bipolar plate
dividing
channels
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CN202310577938.9A
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Chinese (zh)
Inventor
唐军英
杨如山
豆斌林
张华�
王倩倩
崔国民
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University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
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University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
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Priority to CN202310577938.9A priority Critical patent/CN116505011A/en
Publication of CN116505011A publication Critical patent/CN116505011A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/02Details
    • H01M8/0202Collectors; Separators, e.g. bipolar separators; Interconnectors
    • H01M8/0258Collectors; Separators, e.g. bipolar separators; Interconnectors characterised by the configuration of channels, e.g. by the flow field of the reactant or coolant
    • H01M8/0263Collectors; Separators, e.g. bipolar separators; Interconnectors characterised by the configuration of channels, e.g. by the flow field of the reactant or coolant having meandering or serpentine paths
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04082Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration
    • H01M8/04089Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration of gaseous reactants
    • H01M8/04104Regulation of differential pressures
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04082Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration
    • H01M8/04201Reactant storage and supply, e.g. means for feeding, pipes
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/10Fuel cells with solid electrolytes
    • H01M8/1004Fuel cells with solid electrolytes characterised by membrane-electrode assemblies [MEA]
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M4/00Electrodes
    • H01M4/86Inert electrodes with catalytic activity, e.g. for fuel cells
    • H01M2004/8678Inert electrodes with catalytic activity, e.g. for fuel cells characterised by the polarity
    • H01M2004/8694Bipolar electrodes
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02EREDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/30Hydrogen technology
    • Y02E60/50Fuel cells

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Sustainable Energy (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Fuel Cell (AREA)

Abstract

The invention provides a method for improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and a multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate, wherein the method is used for improving the gas flow rate based on a reducing principle, solving the corner flooding phenomenon existing in the traditional multichannel serpentine flow field, improving the mass transfer of reaction gas in the whole flow field by utilizing the pressure difference between adjacent flow channels, and improving the overall working performance and stability of the fuel cell; the bipolar plate designed by the invention has the advantages that the flow distribution ridges are alternately arranged at the corners of the traditional multichannel serpentine flow field, so that the flow velocity of gas at the corners of the flow channels is improved in the simplest and most efficient mode to prevent flooding at the corners of the flow field; the formation of pressure difference between adjacent flow channels is synchronously realized, mass transfer of substances between the adjacent flow channels is promoted, and the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is improved.

Description

Method for improving performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, in particular to a fuel cell performance improving method and a multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate for improving the cell performance.
Background
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are widely applied to the fields of automobiles, ships, unmanned aerial vehicles and the like as renewable energy technologies with great development prospects, and have the advantages of high efficiency, no pollution, rapid charging and the like. The PEMFC mainly comprises a proton exchange membrane, a catalyst layer, a gas diffusion layer, a bipolar plate and an end plate with supporting function, and the main working principle is that hydrogen and oxygen with certain humidity and pressure respectively enter an anode and a cathode, reach the interface of the catalyst layer and the proton exchange membrane through the diffusion layer, respectively undergo oxidation and reduction reactions under the action of the catalyst to generate current and generate water.
The bipolar plate serves as one of core components and has the functions of distributing reaction gas, conducting current, discharging heat and water generated by reaction, supporting a membrane electrode, connecting single cells in series and the like. The general flow field design is to ensure that a stable and uniform fluid flow is created and maintained in the flow field so that the reactants can be sufficiently diffused and reasonably distributed to the catalytic layer reaction. At the same time, heat and water generated by the electrochemical reaction on the catalytic layer can be rapidly discharged to maintain a desired temperature and humidity. The reasonable design of the bipolar plate flow channel of the PEMFC can optimize the whole mass transfer process of the electrochemical reaction, improve the operation efficiency of the fuel cell and reduce the manufacturing cost.
A multichannel serpentine flow field, which is one of the typical fuel cell flow field structures, can be seen as a series of parallel flow channels connected in parallel. The flow channel structure can solve the problem that reactants are unevenly distributed in the parallel straight flow channels, and can also effectively solve the problem of large pressure loss of the single-channel snake-shaped flow field caused by overlarge gas flow. However, due to the reduction of the flow channel pressure, problems such as flooding, uneven gas flow distribution and the like easily occur at the corners of the flow channels of the multichannel serpentine flow field, so that the operation efficiency of the battery is also affected.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a method for improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell by solving corner flooding of a multichannel serpentine flow and synchronously improving flow channel mass transfer, and a multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate with the effects.
In order to achieve the above purpose, the invention provides a method for improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, wherein the proton exchange membrane fuel cell adopts a serpentine flow field bipolar plate with at least two flow channels, and flow dividing ridges are alternately arranged at corners of the serpentine flow field; preventing flooding of the corners of the flow field by improving the flow velocity of the medium at the corners of the flow channel; and the mass transfer of substances between the adjacent flow channels is promoted by utilizing the pressure difference formed between the adjacent flow channels, so that the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is improved.
Further, the flow velocity of the medium at the corners of the flow channels is increased by reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow channels at the corners.
Further, the pressure difference is formed between the adjacent flow channels by changing the sectional areas of the adjacent flow channels at the same corner.
The invention also provides a multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate, which comprises a bipolar plate body and a plurality of split ridges;
at least two adjacent flow channels are arranged on the surface of the bipolar plate body; the flow channels are serpentine flow channels, and each flow channel is provided with at least one U-shaped large corner; one of the major corners includes two sub-corners; adjacent runners are provided with the flow dividing ridges alternately at adjacent dividing corners.
Further, the shape of the diverting ridge is matched with the shape of the diverting corner, and the extending lengths of the diverting ridge to two sides of the diverting corner are the same.
Further, if the number of the runners is greater than two, in one large corner, the edge of the flow dividing ridge of the innermost runner extends to the other side corner dividing position; taking equally dividing positions of the intervals between the two dividing corners as dividing points, and extending the edges of the dividing ridges in the rest flow channels to the dividing points;
if the number of the flow channels is two, in one large corner, the edge of the flow dividing ridge of the inner flow channel extends to the position of the other side corner; the edge of the split ridge in the outer flow channel extends to a position equally spaced between the two split corners.
Further, the height of the flow dividing ridge is the same as the depth of the flow channel, and the width of the flow dividing ridge is smaller than the width of the flow channel; the flow dividing ridge divides the flow channel into two flow dividing channels with the same width.
Further, the surface of the bipolar plate body is provided with an air outlet and an air inlet at two sides of the flow channel respectively; the air inlet and the air outlet are mutually communicated with the two sides of the runner.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the advantages that:
1. the method of the invention provides a method for improving the mass transfer of the reaction gas in the flow field based on the reducing principle, and synchronously utilizes the reducing principle to form the pressure difference between adjacent room flow channels to solve the problem of flooding of the corners of the traditional multichannel serpentine flow field, and solves the problem of the traditional multichannel serpentine flow field in the most economical and most convenient way, so that the overall working performance and stability of the fuel cell are effectively improved.
2. The multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate disclosed by the invention is subtly improved by adding the split ridges, so that the problems of flooding at the corners of the multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate and uneven gas flow distribution are effectively solved.
3. The multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate ensures the gas flow velocity at the corners of the flow channels on the premise of being most economical by limiting the lengths and arrangement modes of the flow dividing ridges, and ensures that pressure differences exist at all positions of the corners of adjacent flow fields, thereby promoting the output of reactants and products on the diffusion layers below the flow channels and enhancing the mass transfer of the whole flow channels.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional multi-channel serpentine flow field;
fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a fourth corner in an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the present invention will be further described below.
As shown in fig. 1, the conventional proton exchange membrane fuel cell mostly adopts a multi-channel serpentine flow field as an example in fig. 1, and due to the reduction of the pressure of the flow channels, problems such as flooding, uneven gas flow distribution and the like easily occur at the corners of the flow channels of the multi-channel serpentine flow field, so that the operation efficiency of the cell is also affected.
Based on the problems, the invention utilizes the principle of reducing to enhance the mass transfer of the reaction gas in the flow channel where the split ridge is positioned by changing the sectional area of the corner of the multichannel serpentine flow field, and utilizes the high-speed gas generated by the reaction gas to drive the discharge of the product water at the corner to solve the flooding problem; meanwhile, based on the difference of the diameters of the adjacent flow channels, pressure difference is generated between the adjacent flow channels, the transmission of reactants and products on a diffusion layer below the flow channels is promoted, the mass transfer of the whole flow channels is enhanced, and the performance of the fuel cell is further improved.
The method for changing the sectional area of the corner of the multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate is quite large, and any method for achieving the flow channel reducing effect through simple modification so as to achieve the technical effect is within the protection scope of the application. However, from the viewpoints of economy and functional effects, the invention realizes the transformation of the multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate through the following embodiments.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, this embodiment proposes a five-channel serpentine flow channel bipolar plate, two sides of the flow channel are mutually communicated and respectively communicated with an air inlet 1 and an air outlet 2, each channel comprises 4 large corners, namely a first large corner 3, a second large corner 4, a third large corner 5 and a fourth large corner 6; each major corner comprises two sub-corners, as in fig. 3, the fourth major corner 6 comprises a first sub-corner 6a and a second sub-corner 6b. It should be noted that the number of large corners and the number of flow channels are not limited to the present embodiment, and the number of flow channels and the number of large corners may be changed according to practical situations, but the number of flow channels is at least two, and the number of large corners is at least one.
In the present embodiment, the adjacent flow channels are alternately provided with the flow dividing ridges 7 at two of the branch corners at one large corner, and as shown in fig. 3, at the fourth large corner 6, the first flow channel 8a, the third flow channel 8c and the fifth flow channel 8e are each provided with the flow dividing ridge at the second branch corner 6b, and the second flow channel 8b and the fourth flow channel 8d are each provided with the flow dividing ridge at the first branch corner 6 a; the arrangement of the flow dividing ridges at the other large corners is similar to that at the fourth large corner 6 and will not be described again here;
based on the structure, the total mass flow of the flow channel is unchanged, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel at the corner is reduced to improve the gas flow velocity, so that the mass transfer of the reaction gas in the whole flow field is effectively enhanced, the high-speed transmission of liquid water in the corner flow channel is ensured, and the overall electrocatalytic performance is improved. The distribution ridges 7 between adjacent channels are staggered again in consideration of the pressure loss generated by the distribution ridges 7 at the corners, so that pressure differences are generated at the corners of the adjacent channels. Under the drive of pressure, the reaction gas generates convection diffusion between adjacent flow channels and promotes the mutual diffusion and permeation of liquid water in the adjacent flow channels, thereby improving the corner flooding phenomenon of the multichannel serpentine flow field and improving the performance and stability of the battery.
In this embodiment, in order to ensure the gas flow rate at each corner position and the formation of the pressure difference between the adjacent flow channels, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the edge of the flow dividing ridge of the innermost flow channel extends to the other side of the corner position; taking the equally divided position of the space between the two dividing corners as a dividing point, and extending the edges of the dividing ridges in the rest flow channels to the position of the dividing point (the dividing point is shown by a broken line dividing line in FIG. 3);
in the embodiment, the width of the main runner is 1mm, the depth of the runner is 1mm, the width of the split ridge 7 is 0.4mm, and the height of the split ridge 7 is 1mm; the flow channel is divided into two flow channels by the flow dividing ridge 7, and the sum of the sectional areas of the two flow channels after the flow is divided is smaller than the sectional area of the main flow channel.
It should be noted that, the shape of the flow dividing ridge 7 is not limited to the rectangular cross-sectional shape in the present embodiment, and may be selected according to actual needs; the shape of the corner is not limited to the right-angled corner in this embodiment, but includes rounded corners and other angled corners, and the diverting ridge 7 may be adapted according to the shape of the corner. The bipolar plate material is not limited to use with metal plates, graphite plates, or composite plates. According to practical requirements, the bipolar plate can also be subjected to hydrophilic and hydrophobic treatment.
The foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way. Any person skilled in the art will make any equivalent substitution or modification to the technical solution and technical content disclosed in the invention without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the invention, and the technical solution of the invention is not departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (8)

1. A method for improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is characterized in that the proton exchange membrane fuel cell adopts a serpentine flow field bipolar plate with at least two flow channels; preventing flooding of the corners of the flow field by improving the flow velocity of the medium at the corners of the flow channel; and the mass transfer of substances between the adjacent flow channels is promoted by utilizing the pressure difference formed between the adjacent flow channels, so that the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is improved.
2. The method of improving proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow velocity of the medium at the corners of the flow channels is improved by reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow channels at the corners.
3. A method of improving proton exchange membrane fuel cell as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressure difference between adjacent flow channels is created by changing the cross-sectional area of adjacent flow channels at the same corner.
4. A multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate for use in a method of improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a bipolar plate body and a plurality of flow dividing ridges;
at least two adjacent flow channels are arranged on the surface of the bipolar plate body; the flow channels are serpentine flow channels, and each flow channel is provided with at least one U-shaped large corner; one of the major corners includes two sub-corners; adjacent runners are provided with the flow dividing ridges alternately at adjacent dividing corners.
5. The multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate of claim 4 wherein said flow dividing ridge has a shape that matches the shape of said split corner and wherein said flow dividing ridge has the same extension to both sides of said split corner.
6. The multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate according to claim 4, wherein if the number of channels is greater than two, the edge of the split ridge of the innermost channel extends to the other side split corner position within one large corner; taking equally dividing positions of the intervals between the two dividing corners as dividing points, and extending the edges of the dividing ridges in the rest flow channels to the dividing points;
if the number of the flow channels is two, in one large corner, the edge of the flow dividing ridge of the inner flow channel extends to the position of the other side corner; the edge of the split ridge in the outer flow channel extends to a position equally spaced between the two split corners.
7. The multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate of claim 4 wherein the height of the flow splitting ridge is the same as the depth of the flow channels and the width of the flow splitting ridge is less than the width of the flow channels; the flow dividing ridge divides the flow channel into two flow dividing channels with the same width.
8. The multi-channel serpentine flow field bipolar plate according to claim 4, wherein the surface of the bipolar plate body is provided with an air outlet and an air inlet on both sides of the flow channel, respectively; the air inlet and the air outlet are mutually communicated with the two sides of the runner.
CN202310577938.9A 2023-05-22 2023-05-22 Method for improving performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate Pending CN116505011A (en)

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CN202310577938.9A CN116505011A (en) 2023-05-22 2023-05-22 Method for improving performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and multichannel serpentine flow field bipolar plate

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN117094047A (en) * 2023-10-18 2023-11-21 佛山市清极能源科技有限公司 Flow channel design method for improving flow distribution uniformity of polar plate

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN117094047A (en) * 2023-10-18 2023-11-21 佛山市清极能源科技有限公司 Flow channel design method for improving flow distribution uniformity of polar plate
CN117094047B (en) * 2023-10-18 2024-03-26 佛山市清极能源科技有限公司 Flow channel design method for improving flow distribution uniformity of polar plate

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