JP2013125639A - Fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To be able to prevent liquid junction from occurring via a coupling bridge, and securely suppress corrosion of a metal separator itself.SOLUTION: A cell unit 12 constituting a fuel cell 10 includes a first separator 14, a first electrolyte/electrode structure 16a, a second separator 18, a second electrolyte/electrode structure 16b, and a third separator 20. The second separator 18 includes an outlet side coupling bridge 90b communicating with between a first oxidizer gas passage 50 and an oxidizer gas outlet communication hole 30b. In the outlet side coupling bridge 90b, a resin passage member 95 is integrally molded by outsert molding in an opening 91 formed by cutting out a metal part 18P of the second separator 18.

Description

  In the present invention, an electrolyte membrane / electrode structure provided with electrodes on both sides of an electrolyte membrane and a metal separator are laminated, and at least a fluid that is any one of a fuel gas, an oxidant gas, or a cooling medium is supplied to the metal separator. The present invention relates to a fuel cell in which a fluid channel that flows in a plane direction and a fluid communication hole that supplies the fluid in a stacking direction are formed.

  For example, in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, an electrolyte membrane / electrode structure (MEA) in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are disposed on both sides of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane made of a polymer ion exchange membrane is sandwiched between separators. Power generation cells (unit cells). In this type of fuel cell, when used for in-vehicle use, normally, several tens to several hundreds of power generation cells are stacked to form a fuel cell stack.

  In the above fuel cell, a fuel gas channel (fluid channel) for flowing a fuel gas (fluid) facing the anode electrode and an oxidant gas (fluid) facing the cathode electrode in the plane of the separator And an oxidant gas flow path (fluid flow path). Further, a fuel gas inlet communication hole and a fuel gas outlet communication hole that are fluid communication holes that penetrate the separator in the stacking direction and communicate with the fuel gas flow path, and an oxidant gas flow path An oxidant gas inlet communication hole and an oxidant gas outlet communication hole, which are fluid communication holes communicating with each other, are formed.

  A cooling medium flow path (fluid flow path) for cooling the electrolyte membrane / electrode structure is provided between the separators, and a fluid communication hole that penetrates in the stacking direction and communicates with the cooling medium flow path. A cooling medium inlet communication hole and a cooling medium outlet communication hole are formed. That is, an internal manifold type fuel cell is configured.

  In that case, the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole communicate with each other via a connection flow path (connection bridge portion) having parallel grooves and the like in order to flow the fluid smoothly and evenly. For example, a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a separator 1 shown in FIG.

  The separator 1 is configured by disposing a seal member 3 on the outer periphery of the gas passage plate 2. The seal member 3 has a frame shape for accommodating the gas passage plate 2, and an oxidant gas supply passage port 3a1, a cooling water supply passage port 3b1, and a fuel gas supply passage port 3c1 are provided at one end edge portion. Is formed. An oxidant gas discharge passage port 3a2, a cooling water discharge passage port 3b2, and a fuel gas discharge passage port 3c2 are formed at the other end edge of the seal member 3.

  A seal holding metal plate 4 is embedded inside the seal member 3, and the shape of the seal member 3 is held by the seal holding metal plate 4. An oxidant supply member 5 is embedded in the seal member 3 at a site where the one oxidant gas supply passage port 3a1 and the inlet of the oxidant gas passage 2a of the gas passage plate 2 communicate with each other. The oxidant supply member 5 is formed with four oxidant gas supply passage grooves 5a.

JP 2000-12053 A

  By the way, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the seal holding metal plate 4 is embedded in the seal member 3, and the oxidant gas supply passage port 3a1 and the oxidant gas passage 2a are provided in the seal holding metal plate 4. An oxidant supply member 5 that is a communicating bridge portion is provided.

  For this reason, there is a possibility that water is connected between the seal holding metal plate 4 and the oxidant gas supply passage port 3a1. In particular, when an oxidant discharge member (not shown) similar to the oxidant supply member 5 is provided in a bridge portion that connects the oxidant gas discharge passage port 3a2 and the oxidant gas passage 2a, water connection is remarkable. become. As a result, a liquid junction occurs in the seal holding metal plate 4, and the seal holding metal plate 4 itself corrodes.

  The present invention solves this type of problem and provides a fuel cell capable of preventing the occurrence of a liquid junction through a connecting bridge portion and reliably suppressing corrosion of the metal separator itself. The purpose is to do.

  In the present invention, an electrolyte membrane / electrode structure provided with electrodes on both sides of an electrolyte membrane and a metal separator are laminated, and at least a fluid that is any one of a fuel gas, an oxidant gas, or a cooling medium is supplied to the metal separator. The present invention relates to a fuel cell in which a fluid channel that flows in a plane direction and a fluid communication hole that supplies the fluid in a stacking direction are formed.

  The fuel cell includes a connection bridge portion that communicates between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole, and the connection bridge portion includes an outsert molded resin passage member in an opening portion in which a metal portion of a metal separator is cut out. Is integrally molded. The resin passage member is formed with a passage communicating between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole.

  According to the present invention, in the connecting bridge portion that communicates between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole, the resin passage member is integrally formed by the outsert molding in the opening portion in which the metal portion of the metal separator is cut out. . Therefore, since the insulation path between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole is effectively lengthened, the occurrence of liquid junction due to water connection to the fluid communication hole is prevented, and corrosion of the metal separator itself is prevented. It becomes possible to suppress it reliably.

1 is an exploded schematic perspective view of a power generation cell constituting a fuel cell according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of the said electric power generation cell in FIG. It is the III-III sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1 of the said electric power generation cell. It is explanatory drawing of one surface of the 2nd separator which comprises the said fuel cell. It is explanatory drawing of the other surface of the said 2nd separator. It is front explanatory drawing of the 3rd separator which comprises the said fuel cell. It is a disassembled schematic perspective view of the electric power generation cell which comprises the fuel cell which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is front explanatory drawing of the 2nd separator which comprises the said electric power generation cell. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to Patent Document 1. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the fuel cell 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a plurality of cell units (power generation cells) 12 in a horizontal direction (arrow A direction) or a gravity direction (arrow C direction). For example, it is used as an in-vehicle fuel cell stack.

  The cell unit 12 includes a first separator 14, a first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure (MEA) 16 a, a second separator 18, a second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16 b, and a third separator 20.

  The 1st separator 14, the 2nd separator 18, and the 3rd separator 20 are comprised, for example with the steel plate, the stainless steel plate, the aluminum plate, the plating treatment steel plate, or the metal plate which gave the surface treatment for anticorrosion to the metal surface. The 1st separator 14, the 2nd separator 18, and the 3rd separator 20 have cross-sectional uneven | corrugated shape by pressing a metal thin plate into a waveform.

  The first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a and the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b include, for example, a solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22 in which a perfluorosulfonic acid thin film is impregnated with water, and the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22. An anode electrode 24 and a cathode electrode 26 are provided. The second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b is set to have a larger outer dimension than the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a.

  The anode electrode 24 constitutes a so-called stepped MEA having a smaller surface area than the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22 and the cathode electrode 26. The anode electrode 24 and the cathode electrode 26 may have the same surface area, and the anode electrode 24 may have a larger surface area than the cathode electrode 26. The solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22, the anode electrode 24, and the cathode electrode 26 are each provided with cutouts at the upper and lower ends in the direction of arrow B to reduce the surface area.

  The anode electrode 24 and the cathode electrode 26 are formed by uniformly applying a gas diffusion layer (not shown) made of carbon paper or the like and porous carbon particles carrying a platinum alloy on the surface thereof to the surface of the gas diffusion layer. And an electrode catalyst layer (not shown) to be formed. The electrode catalyst layers are formed on both surfaces of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an oxidant gas, for example, an oxygen-containing gas (air or the like) is supplied to the upper edge of the long side direction (arrow C direction) of the cell unit 12 in communication with the arrow A direction. An oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a for supplying the fuel gas, for example, a fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a for supplying a hydrogen-containing gas (hydrogen gas or the like) is provided.

  The lower end edge of the long side direction (arrow C direction) of the cell unit 12 communicates with each other in the arrow A direction, and the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b for discharging the fuel gas and the oxidant gas are discharged. The oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b is provided.

  At one edge of the cell unit 12 in the short side direction (arrow B direction), there is provided a cooling medium inlet communication hole 34a communicating with each other in the arrow A direction for supplying the cooling medium. A cooling medium outlet communication hole 34b for discharging the cooling medium is provided at the other end edge in the short side direction.

  A first fuel gas flow path 36 that connects the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a and the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b is formed on the surface 14a of the first separator 14 facing the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a. The first fuel gas channel 36 has a plurality of wave-shaped channel grooves extending in the direction of arrow C, and in the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and outlet (lower end) of the first fuel gas channel 36, An inlet buffer unit 38 and an outlet buffer unit 40 having a plurality of embosses that alternately protrude on the front side and the back side are provided.

  The embossed shape can be set to various shapes such as a rod shape in addition to a circular shape and a rectangular shape, and is provided on the front and back surfaces of the first separator 14. The same applies to each buffer unit provided in the second separator 18 and the third separator 20 described below.

  Further, the first fuel gas channel 36 may be constituted by a plurality of linear channel grooves extending linearly in the direction of arrow C. The same applies to the first oxidant gas channel 50, the second fuel gas channel 58, the second oxidant gas channel 66, the fuel gas channel 118, and the oxidant gas channel 120 described below.

  The inlet buffer unit 38 and the outlet buffer unit 40 have a function of uniformly distributing the fuel gas in the width direction of the first fuel gas channel 36 from the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32 a and the width direction of the first fuel gas channel 36. The fuel gas flowing through the fuel gas is uniformly gathered in the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b.

  A cooling medium flow path 44 that connects the cooling medium inlet communication hole 34 a and the cooling medium outlet communication hole 34 b is formed on the surface 14 b of the first separator 14. The cooling medium flow path 44 has a back surface shape of the first fuel gas flow path 36.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the surface 18a of the second separator 18 facing the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a is connected to the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b. An agent gas flow path 50 is formed. The first oxidant gas flow channel 50 has a plurality of wavy flow channel grooves extending in the direction of arrow C. In the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and outlet (lower end) of the first oxidant gas flow path 50, an inlet buffer portion 52 and an outlet buffer portion 54 having a plurality of embosses protruding alternately on the front side and the back side are provided. It is done.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the second fuel gas flow that communicates the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a and the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b to the surface 18b of the second separator 18 facing the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b. A path 58 is formed. The second fuel gas channel 58 has a plurality of wavy channel grooves extending in the direction of arrow C, and in the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and outlet (lower end) of the second fuel gas channel 58, An inlet buffer unit 60 and an outlet buffer unit 62 having a plurality of embosses that alternately protrude on the front side and the back side are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the surface 20a of the third separator 20 facing the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b is connected to the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b. An agent gas channel 66 is formed.

  The second oxidant gas flow channel 66 has a plurality of wavy flow channel grooves extending in the direction of arrow C. In the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and outlet (lower end) of the second oxidant gas channel 66, an inlet buffer 68 and an outlet buffer 70 having a plurality of embosses protruding alternately on the front side and the back side are provided. It is done.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a cooling medium flow path 44 that connects the cooling medium inlet communication hole 34 a and the cooling medium outlet communication hole 34 b is formed on the surface 20 b of the third separator 20. The cooling medium flow path 44 is formed by overlapping the back surface shapes (wave shapes) of the first fuel gas flow path 36 and the second oxidant gas flow path 66.

  A first seal member 74 is integrally formed on the surfaces 14 a and 14 b of the first separator 14 around the outer peripheral edge of the first separator 14. On the surfaces 18a and 18b of the second separator 18, a second seal member 76 is integrally formed around the outer peripheral edge of the second separator 18, and on the surfaces 20a and 20b of the third separator 20, A third seal member 78 is integrally formed around the outer peripheral edge of the third separator 20.

  As the first to third seal members 74, 76 and 78, for example, EPDM, NBR, fluorine rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, butyl rubber, natural rubber, styrene rubber, chloroprene or acrylic rubber or the like, cushion A material or packing material is used.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first separator 14 has an inlet-side first connection channel 80 a that communicates the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32 a and the first fuel gas channel 36, a fuel gas outlet communication hole 32 b, An outlet-side first connection channel 80 b that communicates with the first fuel gas channel 36 is provided. The inlet-side first connection channel 80a has a plurality of outer supply holes 82a and a plurality of inner supply holes 82b.

  On the surface 14a side, a plurality of passages 84a are provided for communicating the fuel gas inlet communication holes 32a and the respective outer supply hole portions 82a. On the surface 14b side, a plurality of passages 84b communicating the outer supply hole portion 82a and the inner supply hole portion 82b are formed. Similarly, the outlet-side first connection flow path 80b includes a plurality of outer discharge holes 86a and a plurality of inner discharge holes 86b.

  On the surface 14a side, a plurality of passages 88a communicating the fuel gas outlet communication holes 32b and the respective outer discharge hole portions 86a are formed. On the surface 14b side, a plurality of passages 88b communicating the outer discharge hole portion 86a and the inner discharge hole portion 86b are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30 a, the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30 b, and the first oxidant gas flow path 50 are connected to the inlet side connection bridge portion 90 a and the outlet side connection bridge portion. 90b is provided. A plurality of inlet-side second connection channels (passages) 92a and a plurality of outlet-side second connection channels (channels) 92b are formed in the inlet-side connection bridge portion 90a and the outlet-side connection bridge portion 90b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outlet-side connecting bridge portion 90 b has an opening 91 formed by cutting out the metal portion 18 </ b> P of the second separator 18, and a resin-made passage member 95 having an overlap portion 95 a with the opening 91 is outsert. It is formed by integral molding by molding.

  In the passage member 95, a plurality of outlet-side second connection channels 92b are formed between the convex portions 92bt (see FIG. 3). 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along passage members 95 and 106 (described later) in FIG.

  In addition, you may comprise the entrance side connection bridge part 90a similarly to said exit side connection bridge part 90b.

  The passage member 95 is made of, for example, PPS (polyphenylene sulfide), LCP (liquid crystal polymer), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), PA (polyamide), PEN (polyether nitrile), or PEEK (polyether ether ketone). The

  As shown in FIG. 5, the second separator 18 has an inlet-side second connection channel 92 a that communicates the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32 a and the second fuel gas channel 58, a fuel gas outlet communication hole 32 b, and the aforementioned An outlet-side second connection channel 92 b that communicates with the second fuel gas channel 58 is provided. The inlet-side second connection channel 92 a has a supply hole 94. On the surface 18a side, a passage 96a that connects the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a and the supply hole portion 94 is formed.

  Similarly, the outlet-side second connection channel 92b has a plurality of discharge holes 98. On the surface 18a side, a plurality of passages 96b that connect the discharge hole portion 98 to the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b are formed. The inlet-side second connection channel 92a and the outlet-side second connection channel 92b may be configured in the same manner as the inlet-side connection bridge portion 90a and the outlet-side connection bridge portion 90b.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the third separator 20 has an oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a, an oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b, and a communication part of the second oxidant gas flow channel 66 with an inlet side connection bridge part 100a. And the exit side connection bridge part 100b is provided. A plurality of inlet side connection channels (passages) 102a and a plurality of outlet side connection channels (channels) 102b are formed in the inlet side connection bridge portion 100a and the outlet side connection bridge portion 100b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outlet-side connecting bridge portion 100 b has an outsert of a resin passage member 106 having an opening portion 106 a overlapping the opening portion 104 in the opening portion 104 where the metal portion 20 </ b> P of the third separator 20 is notched. It is formed by integral molding by molding.

  In the passage member 106, a plurality of outlet side connection channels 102b are formed between the convex portions 102bt (see FIG. 3). The outlet-side connecting channel 102b is set at a position (a position that does not overlap) that is offset from the outlet-side second connecting channel 92b by a distance h with respect to the stacking direction (arrow A direction).

  The operation of the fuel cell 10 configured as described above will be described below.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, an oxidant gas such as an oxygen-containing gas is supplied to the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a, and a fuel gas such as a hydrogen-containing gas is supplied to the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a. Further, a cooling medium such as pure water, ethylene glycol, or oil is supplied to the cooling medium inlet communication hole 34a.

  Therefore, the oxidant gas is introduced from the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a into the first oxidant gas channel 50 of the second separator 18 and the second oxidant gas channel 66 of the third separator 20 (FIG. 4). And FIG. 6). This oxidant gas moves in the direction of arrow C (the direction of gravity) along the first oxidant gas flow path 50, and is supplied to the cathode electrode 26 of the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a, and also the second oxidant gas. It moves in the direction of arrow C along the agent gas flow channel 66 and is supplied to the cathode electrode 26 of the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b (see FIG. 1).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the fuel gas is introduced into the passages 84 a and 96 a formed between the first separator 14 and the second separator 18 from the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32 a. The fuel gas introduced into the passage 84a moves to the surface 14b side of the first separator 14 through the outer supply hole 82a. Further, the fuel gas is introduced from the inner supply hole 82b to the surface 14a side through the passage 84b.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the fuel gas moves along the first fuel gas flow path 36 in the direction of gravity (arrow C direction) and is supplied to the anode electrode 24 of the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a. Is done. The fuel gas introduced into the passage 96a moves to the surface 18b side of the second separator 18 through the supply hole 94 as shown in FIG. Therefore, after the fuel gas is supplied to the inlet buffer 60 on the surface 18b side, the fuel gas moves in the direction of arrow C along the second fuel gas flow path 58, and the anode electrode of the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16b. 24 (see FIGS. 1 and 5).

  Therefore, in the first and second electrolyte membrane / electrode structures 16a and 16b, the oxidant gas supplied to the cathode electrode 26 and the fuel gas supplied to the anode electrode 24 undergo an electrochemical reaction in the electrode catalyst layer. To generate electricity.

  Next, the oxidant gas supplied to and consumed by the cathode electrodes 26 of the first and second electrolyte membrane / electrode structures 16a and 16b is discharged in the direction of arrow A along the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel gas consumed by being supplied to the anode electrode 24 of the first electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16a passes through the inner discharge hole portion 86b from the outlet buffer portion 40 to the surface of the first separator 14. 14b is derived.

  The fuel gas led out to the surface 14b side is introduced into the outer discharge hole 86a and again moves to the surface 14a side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the fuel gas is discharged from the outer discharge hole 86a through the passage 88a to the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b.

  Further, the fuel gas consumed by being supplied to the anode electrode 24 of the second electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16 b moves from the outlet buffer portion 62 through the discharge hole portion 98 to the surface 18 a side. As shown in FIG. 5, the fuel gas passes through the passage 96b and is discharged to the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b.

  On the other hand, after the cooling medium supplied to the cooling medium inlet communication hole 34a is introduced into the cooling medium flow path 44 formed between the first separator 14 and the third separator 20, as shown in FIG. Circulate in the direction of arrow B. The cooling medium cools the first and second electrolyte membrane / electrode structures 16a and 16b, and then is discharged into the cooling medium outlet communication hole 34b.

  In this case, in 1st Embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2-4, the exit side connection bridge part which connects between the exit side of the 1st oxidizing gas flow path 50, and the oxidizing gas outlet communication hole 30b. 90b. In the outlet-side connecting bridge portion 90b, a resin-made passage member 95 is integrally formed by an outsert molding in an opening 91 obtained by cutting out the metal portion 18P of the second separator 18.

  For this reason, the insulation path between the first oxidant gas flow path 50 and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b is effectively lengthened. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a liquid junction due to water connection connected to the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b and to surely suppress the corrosion of the second separator 18 itself, which is a metal separator. It is done.

  Further, the outlet side connecting bridge portion 90b is provided with an opening 91 instead of the press forming of the metal portion 18P, and the passage member 95 is integrally formed in the opening 91 by outsert molding. Accordingly, it is not necessary to provide a rubber bridge or the like on the back side of the outlet side connection bridge portion 90b in order to prevent the deformation of the metal portion 18P, and the configuration can be simplified.

  In the third separator 20, the outlet side connecting bridge portion 100 b that connects the outlet side of the second oxidant gas flow channel 66 and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30 b has the above outlet side connecting bridge portion 90 b. Similar effects can be obtained.

  In addition, the same effect can be obtained in each connecting bridge portion provided as necessary.

  In 1st Embodiment, although applied to each bridge part of oxidizing gas, it is not limited to this, It can apply also to each bridge part of fuel gas. Furthermore, the flow paths of the oxidant gas, the fuel gas, and the cooling medium may be configured by straight flow path grooves. The same applies to the following second embodiment.

  FIG. 7 is an exploded schematic perspective view of the power generation cell 112 constituting the fuel cell 110 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those of the fuel cell 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the power generation cell 112, the electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16 is sandwiched between the first separator 114 and the second separator 116. The 1st separator 114 and the 2nd separator 116 are comprised with a metal separator.

  A fuel gas flow path 118 that communicates the fuel gas inlet communication hole 32a and the fuel gas outlet communication hole 32b is formed on the surface 114a of the first separator 114 facing the electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16. The fuel gas flow path 118 has a plurality of wavy (or straight) flow path grooves extending in the direction of arrow C.

  In the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and the outlet (lower end) of the fuel gas channel 118, an inlet buffer unit 60 and an outlet buffer unit 62 having a plurality of embosses protruding alternately on the front side and the back side are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 8, on the surface 116a of the second separator 116 facing the electrolyte membrane / electrode structure 16, an oxidant gas flow path communicating the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b. 120 is formed. The oxidant gas flow channel 120 has a plurality of wavy (or straight) flow channel grooves extending in the direction of arrow C.

  In the vicinity of the inlet (upper end) and outlet (lower end) of the oxidant gas flow path 120, an inlet buffer part 122 and an outlet buffer part 124 having a plurality of embosses protruding alternately on the front side and the back side are provided. An inlet-side connection bridge portion 126a and an outlet-side connection bridge portion 126b are provided at a portion where the oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30a and the oxidant gas outlet communication hole 30b communicate with the oxidant gas flow channel 120.

  A plurality of inlet side connection channels (passages) 128a and a plurality of outlet side connection channels (channels) 128b are formed in the inlet side connection bridge portion 126a and the outlet side connection bridge portion 126b. The inlet-side connecting bridge portion 126a and the outlet-side connecting bridge portion 126b are configured in the same manner as the inlet-side connecting bridge portion 90a (100a) and the outlet-side connecting bridge portion 90b (100b). It has resin passage members 130a and 130b which are subjected to sart molding.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in each power generation cell 112, between the surface 114b of the first separator 114 and the surface 116b of the second separator 116 adjacent to each other, a cooling medium inlet communication hole 34a and a cooling medium outlet communication hole 34b are provided. A cooling medium flow path 44 is formed to communicate with each other.

  In the second embodiment configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 8, an outlet-side connecting bridge portion 126 b is formed in the communicating portion between the oxidizing gas outlet communication hole 30 b and the oxidizing gas channel 120. The outlet side connecting bridge portion 126b includes a resin passage member 130b. For this reason, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, such as preventing liquid junction well and suppressing corrosion of the second separator 116 itself, which is a metal separator.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,110 ... Fuel cell 12 ... Cell unit 14, 18, 20, 114, 116 ... Separator 16, 16a, 16b ... Electrolyte membrane electrode structure 18P, 20P ... Metal part 22 ... Solid polymer electrolyte membrane 24 ... Anode electrode 26 ... Cathode electrode 30a ... Oxidant gas inlet communication hole 30b ... Oxidant gas outlet communication hole 32a ... Fuel gas inlet communication hole 32b ... Fuel gas outlet communication hole 34a ... Cooling medium inlet communication hole 34b ... Cooling medium outlet communication hole 36, 58, 118 ... Fuel gas passage 44 ... Cooling medium passage 50, 66, 120 ... Oxidant gas passage 74, 76, 78 ... Seal members 80a, 80b, 92a, 92b, 102a, 102b, 128a, 128b ... Connection Flow paths 90a, 90b, 100a, 100b, 126a, 126b ... connection bridge parts 91, 104 ... openings 95, 1 6,130a, 130b ... passage member

Claims (1)

An electrolyte membrane / electrode structure provided with electrodes on both sides of the electrolyte membrane and a metal separator are laminated, and at least a fluid that is any one of a fuel gas, an oxidant gas, or a cooling medium is allowed to flow in the surface direction of the metal separator. A fuel cell in which a fluid flow path and a fluid communication hole for supplying the fluid in the stacking direction are formed,
A connection bridge portion communicating between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole;
The connecting bridge portion is integrally formed with an outsert molding of a resin passage member in an opening in which a metal portion of the metal separator is cut out.
The fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the resin passage member is formed with a passage communicating between the fluid flow path and the fluid communication hole.

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