CN1194436C - Improved fuel cell - Google Patents
Improved fuel cell Download PDFInfo
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- CN1194436C CN1194436C CNB011128631A CN01112863A CN1194436C CN 1194436 C CN1194436 C CN 1194436C CN B011128631 A CNB011128631 A CN B011128631A CN 01112863 A CN01112863 A CN 01112863A CN 1194436 C CN1194436 C CN 1194436C
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- fuel cell
- membrane electrode
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- flow guide
- improved fuel
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- Y—GENERAL 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
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
- Y02E60/30—Hydrogen technology
- Y02E60/50—Fuel cells
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Abstract
The present invention relates to an improved fuel battery which comprises at least one membrane electrode, at least two diversion polar plates, at least one peripheral flow channel, at least one branch tube, at least one connecting link, a cooling unit and a monitoring unit, wherein one membrane electrode is clamped by two diversion polar plates to form a battery unit; all the battery units are connected in series through the connecting links; the fuel battery is formed by connecting the cooling unit and the monitoring unit. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the advantages of large useful area of the polar plates and the membrane electrodes, small resistance of flow transmission, low production cost and convenient installation.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention relates to electrochemical fuel cells, and more particularly to an improved fuel cell.
Background
An electrochemical fuel cell is a device that is capable of converting hydrogen fuel and an oxidant into electrical energy and reaction products. The inner core component of the device is a Membrane Electrode (MEA), which is composed of a proton exchange Membrane and two porous conductive materials sandwiched between two surfaces of the Membrane, such as carbon paper. The membrane contains a uniform and finely dispersed catalyst, such as a platinum metal catalyst, for initiating an electrochemical reaction at the interface between the membrane and the carbon paper. The electrons generated in the electrochemical reaction process can be led out by conductive objects at two sides of the membrane electrode through an external circuit to form a current loop.
At the anode end of the membrane electrode, fuel can permeate through a porous diffusion material (carbon paper) and undergo electrochemical reaction on the surface of a catalyst to lose electrons to form positive ions, and the positive ions can pass through a proton exchange membrane through migration to reach the cathode end at the other end of the membrane electrode. At the cathode end of the membrane electrode, a gas containing an oxidant (e.g., oxygen), such as air, forms negative ions by permeating through a porous diffusion material (carbon paper) and electrochemically reacting on the surface of the catalyst to give electrons. The anions formed at the cathode end react with the positive ions transferred from the anode end to form reaction products.
In a pem fuel cell using hydrogen as the fuel and oxygen-containing air as the oxidant (or pure oxygen as the oxidant), the catalytic electrochemical reaction of the fuel hydrogen in the anode region produces hydrogen cations (or protons). The proton exchange membrane assists the migration of positive hydrogen ions from the anode region to the cathode region. In addition, the proton exchange membrane separates the hydrogen-containing fuel gas stream from the oxygen-containing gas stream so that they do not mix with each other to cause explosive reactions.
In the cathode region, oxygen gains electrons on the catalyst surface, forming negative ions, which react with the hydrogen positive ions transported from the anode region to produce water as a reaction product. In a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using hydrogen, air (oxygen), the anode reaction and the cathode reaction can be expressed by the following equations:
and (3) anode reaction:
and (3) cathode reaction:
in a typical pem fuel cell, a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) is typically placed between two conductive plates, and the surface of each conductive plate in contact with the MEA is die-cast, stamped, or mechanically milled to form at least one or more channels. The conductive plates can be plates made of metal materials or plates made of graphite materials. The flow guide pore canals and the flow guide grooves on the conductive polar plates respectively guide the fuel and the oxidant into the anode area and the cathode area on two sides of the membrane electrode. In the structure of a single proton exchange membrane fuel cell, only one membrane electrode is arranged, and a flow guide polar plate of anode fuel and a flow guide polar plate of cathode oxidant are respectively arranged on two sides of the membrane electrode. The flow guide polar plates are used as current collector plates andmechanical supports at two sides of the membrane electrode, and the flow guide grooves on the flow guide polar plates are also used as channels for fuel and oxidant to enter the surfaces of the anode and the cathode and as channels for taking away water generated in the operation process of the fuel cell.
In order to increase the total power of the whole proton exchange membrane fuel cell, two or more single cells can be connected in series to form a battery pack in a straight-stacked manner or connected in a flat-laid manner to form a battery pack. In the direct-stacking and serial-type battery pack, two surfaces of one polar plate can be provided with flow guide grooves, wherein one surface can be used as an anode flow guide surface of one membrane electrode, and the other surface can be used as a cathode flow guide surface of another adjacent membrane electrode, and the polar plate is called a bipolar plate. A series of cells are connected together in a manner to form a battery pack. The battery pack is generally fastened together into one body by a front end plate, a rear end plate and a tie rod.
A typical battery pack generally includes: (1) the fuel (such as hydrogen, methanol or hydrogen-rich gas obtained by reforming methanol, natural gas and gasoline) and the oxidant (mainly oxygen or air) are uniformly distributed in the diversion trenches of the anode surface and the cathode surface; (2) cooling fluid (such as water) is uniformly distributed into cooling channels in each battery pack through an inlet and an outlet of the cooling fluid and a flow guide channel, and heat generated by electrochemical exothermic reaction of hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell is absorbed and taken out of the battery pack for heat dissipation; (3) the outlets of the fuel gas and the oxidant gas and the corresponding flow guide channels can carry out liquid and vapor water generated in the fuel cell when the fuel gas and the oxidant gas are discharged. Typically, all fuel, oxidant, and cooling fluid inlets and outlets are provided in one or both end plates of the fuel cell stack.
The positive hydrogen ions in the anode region migrate through the proton exchange membrane and usually need to carry a large number of water molecules to pass through together, so that the water molecules must be kept on the two side surfaces of the membrane to ensure that the migration conductance of the positive hydrogen ions is not affected. Therefore, the fuel and oxidant gases must be humidified before they enter the active region of the fuel cell to react in order to ensure that the membrane in the membrane electrode is saturated with water.
At present, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell usually uses the effective utilization area of the sacrificial plate in the design of each fluid channel, and the same position of each membrane electrode and the plate is provided with a fluid hole, and each membrane electrode and the plate are overlapped to form each fluid channel. That is, each membrane electrode and polar plate is provided with holes for fuel inlet, fuel outlet, oxidant inlet, oxidant outlet, cooling fluid inlet and cooling fluid outlet, the membrane electrodes and polar plates are overlapped in a certain way to form fluid channels for fuel inlet and outlet, oxidant inlet and outlet and cooling fluid inlet and outlet inside the fuel cell set, and the fluid channels are integrated on the front end plate and the rear end plate of the fuel cell set to form a fuel inlet, a fuel outlet, an oxidant inlet, an oxidant outlet, a cooling fluid inlet and a cooling fluid outlet. Almost all pem fuel cell stacks so far have adopted such a structure as described above. The above-described generic structure suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. each fluid channel occupies a very large area of the plate or membrane electrode, which greatly reduces the effective area of the plate or membrane electrode in the fuel cell, generally using less than 70% of the area.
2. Both the plate material and the membrane electrode material are generally expensive, and a large number of fluid passage holes must be punched in the processing, so that a large amount of raw materials are wasted.
3. The surface of a part of a fluid channel of the fuel cell stack is not smooth due to the processing precision and the expansion caused by heat and the contraction caused by cold of different materials, so that resistance is increased for the transmission of each fluid, and transmission energy is wasted.
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and providing an improved fuel cell having a large effective area of the plate and the membrane electrode, a small fluid transfer resistance, and a low cost.
The purpose of the invention can be realized by the following technical scheme: an improved fuel cell comprises at least one membrane electrode, at least two flow guide polar plates, at least one connecting rod, a cooling unit and a monitoring unit, wherein each membrane electrode is formed by attaching catalysts and porous carbon paper to two sides of a proton exchange membrane; and clamping a membrane electrode by the two flow guide polar plates to form a battery unit, connecting the battery units together in series through connecting rods, and connecting the battery units into the cooling unit and the monitoring unit to form the fuel cell.
The peripheral fluid passage comprises a peripheral inlet fluid passage.
The external fluid passage also comprises an external fluid passage which is communicated with the outflow hole through a branch pipe.
The peripheral fluid passage comprises a peripheral fuel hydrogen passage.
The peripheral fluid passage further comprises a peripheral oxidant passage.
The peripheral fluid passage further comprises a peripheral cooling water passage.
The external fluid channel is made of engineering plastics or stainless steel pipes.
The invention adopts the technical scheme that various fluids respectively flow through the outer channel structure of the fuel cell, any fluid inlet or outlet adopts a uniform outer channel pipe, the channel pipe can adopt an engineering plastic pipe or a stainless steel pipe with a smooth surface, a plurality of branch pipes are branched from the uniform outer channel pipe to be connected with each polar plate, and the fluid can flow through the inlet hole of the polar plate from the channel pipe and flow into the diversion trench or flow through the outlet hole of the polar plate from the diversion trench and flow into the channel pipe. Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:
1. the effective area of the polar plate and the membrane electrode is greatly increased, thereby improving the working efficiency of the fuel cell.
2. The fluid is uniformly distributed outside the channel, the channel pipe can be made of a cheaper engineering plastic pipe, and the surface can be smooth, so that the flow resistance of the fluid can be greatly reduced, the energy is saved, and the cost is reduced.
3. The polar plate and the membrane electrode are simple to process, and the battery is convenient to assemble.
Drawings
The invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and specific embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a baffle plate for directing oxidant in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a flow guide plate for guiding fuel hydrogen according to the present invention;
fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Example 1
As shown in fig. 1, 2 and 3, an improved fuel cell includes six membrane electrodes 1, seven flow guide plates 2, four external fluid channels 3, four connecting rods (not shown), a set of cooling unit (not shown), and a set of monitoring unit (not shown), wherein each membrane electrode 1 is formed by attaching catalysts and porous carbon paper to two sides of a proton exchange membrane, each flow guide plate 2 is provided with a flow guide groove 21, each external fluid channel 3 includes two external fluid inlet channels 31 and two external fluid outlet channels 32, one end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an inlet hole 22, one end of the inlet hole is communicated with the external fluid inlet channel 31 through a branch pipe 23, the other end of the inlet hole is communicated with the flow guide groove 21, the other end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an outlet hole 24, one end of the outlet hole is communicated with the external fluid outlet channel 32 through the branch pipe 23, the other end is communicated with the diversion trench 21; two guide polar plates 2 clamp a membrane electrode 1 to form a cell unit, and the cell units are connected in series through connecting rods and are connected into a cooling unit and a monitoring unit to form the fuel cell. In this embodiment, the two external inlet fluid channels 31 are respectively an external inlet fuel hydrogen channel and an external inlet oxidant air channel; the two external fluid outlet channels 32 are respectively an external fuel hydrogen outlet channel and an external oxidant air outlet channel; the external fluid channel is made of engineering plastic pipes. The cooling water passage of this embodiment is provided inside the battery (not shown).
Example 2
Referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, an improved fuel cell includes six membrane electrodes 1, seven flow guide plates 2, six external fluid channels 3 (two not shown), four connecting rods (not shown), a set of cooling unit (not shown), and a set of monitoring unit (not shown), each membrane electrode 1 is formed by attaching catalyst and porous carbon paper to both sides of a proton exchange membrane, each flow guide plate 2 is provided with a flow guide slot 21, each external fluid channel 3 includes three external fluid channels 31 and three external fluid channels 32, one end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an inflow hole 22, one end of the inflow hole is communicated with the external fluid channels 31 through a branch pipe 23, the other end of the inflow hole is communicated with the flow guide slot 21, the other end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an outflow hole 24, one end of the outflow hole is communicated with the external fluid channels 32 through the branch pipe 23, the other end is communicated with the diversion trench 21; two guide polar plates 2 clamp a membrane electrode 1 to form a cell unit, and the cell units are connected in series through connecting rods and are connected into a cooling unit and a monitoring unit to form the fuel cell. In this embodiment, the three external inlet fluid channels 31 are respectively an external inlet fuel hydrogen channel, an external inlet oxidant air channel and an external inlet cooling water channel; the three external fluid outlet channels 32 are respectively an external fuel hydrogen outlet channel, an external oxidant air outlet channel and an external cooling water outlet channel; the external fluid channel is made of stainless steel pipes.
Example 3
Referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, an improved fuel cell includes a membrane electrode 1, two flow guide plates 2, six external fluid channels 3 (two not shown), two connecting rods (not shown), a set of cooling unit (not shown), and a set of monitoring unit (not shown), wherein each membrane electrode 1 is formed by attaching catalysts and porous carbon paper to two sides of a proton exchange membrane, each flow guide plate 2 is provided with a flow guide slot 21, each external fluid channel 3 includes three external fluid channels 31 and three external fluid channels 32, one end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an inflow hole 22, one end of the inflow hole is communicated with the external fluid channels 31 through a branch pipe 23, the other end of the inflow hole is communicated with the flow guide slot 21, the other end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an outflow hole 24, one end of the outflow hole is communicated with the external fluid channels 32 through the branch pipe 23, the other end is communicated with the diversion trench 21; two guide polar plates 2 clamp a membrane electrode 1 and are connected in series through a connecting rod, and then the membrane electrode is connected with a cooling unit and a monitoring unit to form the fuel cell. In this embodiment, the three external inlet fluid channels 31 are respectively an external inlet fuel hydrogen channel, an external inlet oxidant air channel and an external inlet cooling water channel; the three external fluid outlet channels 32 are respectively an external fuel hydrogen outlet channel, an external oxidant air outlet channel and an external cooling water outlet channel; the external fluid channel is made of engineering plastic pipes.
Example 4
Referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, an improved fuel cell includes six membrane electrodes 1, seven flow guide plates 2, an external fluid channel 3, four connecting rods (not shown), a set of cooling unit (not shown), and a set of monitoring unit (not shown), wherein each membrane electrode 1 is formed by attaching catalysts and porous carbon paper to two sides of a proton exchange membrane, each flow guide plate 2 is provided with a flow guide groove 21, one external fluid channel 3 is an external oxidant inlet channel 31, the external oxidant inlet channel is made of stainless steel pipe, one end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an inflow hole 22, one end of the inflow hole is communicated with the external oxidant inlet channel 31 through a branch pipe 23, the other end of the inflow hole is communicated with the flow guide groove 21, the other end surface of each flow guide plate 2 is provided with an outflow hole 24, one end of the outflow hole is communicated with the flow guide groove 21, the other end is communicated with the atmosphere through a branch pipe 23; two guide polar plates 2 clamp a membrane electrode 1 to form a cell unit, and the cell units are connected in series through connecting rods and are connected into a cooling unit and a monitoring unit to form the fuel cell. In the present embodiment, the fuel hydrogen passage and the cooling water passage are provided inside the cell.
Claims (6)
1. An improved fuel cell comprises at least one membrane electrode, at least two flow guide polar plates, at least one connecting rod, a cooling unit and a monitoring unit, wherein each membrane electrode is formed by attaching catalysts and porous carbon paper to two sides of a proton exchange membrane; and clamping a membrane electrode by the two flow guide polar plates to form a battery unit, connecting the battery units together in series through connecting rods, and connecting the battery units into the cooling unit and the monitoring unit to form the fuel cell.
2. An improved fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein said external inlet fluid passageways comprise external inlet fluid passageways.
3. An improved fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein said external fluid passageways further comprise external outlet fluid passageways communicating with the outlet port via a manifold.
4. An improved fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein said peripheral fluid passageways comprise peripheral fuel hydrogen passageways.
5. An improved fuel cell according to claim 1 or 4, wherein said peripheral fluid passages further comprise peripheral oxidant passages.
6. An improved fuel cell according to claim 5, wherein said peripheral fluid passageways further comprise peripheral cooling water passageways.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNB011128631A CN1194436C (en) | 2001-05-11 | 2001-05-11 | Improved fuel cell |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNB011128631A CN1194436C (en) | 2001-05-11 | 2001-05-11 | Improved fuel cell |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN1385917A CN1385917A (en) | 2002-12-18 |
| CN1194436C true CN1194436C (en) | 2005-03-23 |
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Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNB011128631A Expired - Fee Related CN1194436C (en) | 2001-05-11 | 2001-05-11 | Improved fuel cell |
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| Country | Link |
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| CN (1) | CN1194436C (en) |
Families Citing this family (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2006519468A (en) * | 2003-02-27 | 2006-08-24 | プロトネクス テクノロジー コーポレーション | Electrochemical cell stack based on externally manifolded membrane |
| US9140501B2 (en) | 2008-06-30 | 2015-09-22 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery module having a rubber cooling manifold |
| US9306199B2 (en) | 2012-08-16 | 2016-04-05 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery module and method for assembling the battery module |
| US9184424B2 (en) | 2013-07-08 | 2015-11-10 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery assembly |
| US10084218B2 (en) | 2014-05-09 | 2018-09-25 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery pack and method of assembling the battery pack |
| US10770762B2 (en) | 2014-05-09 | 2020-09-08 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery module and method of assembling the battery module |
| US9960465B2 (en) | 2015-07-30 | 2018-05-01 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery pack |
| US9755198B2 (en) | 2015-10-07 | 2017-09-05 | Lg Chem, Ltd. | Battery cell assembly |
| CN106784932B (en) * | 2016-12-30 | 2023-06-09 | 浙江省能源与核技术应用研究院 | Fuel cell stack |
-
2001
- 2001-05-11 CN CNB011128631A patent/CN1194436C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CN1385917A (en) | 2002-12-18 |
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Granted publication date: 20050323 Termination date: 20130511 |