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Fuel cell

A fuel cell stack and battery technology, which is applied to fuel cell components, solid electrolyte fuel cells, etc., can solve problems such as insufficient humidification of the electrolyte membrane, and performance degradation of the electrolyte membrane fuel cell.

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-02-11
TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This results in insufficient humidification of some parts of the electrolyte membrane
This insufficient humidification can lead to partial drying of the electrolyte membrane and degrade the cell performance of the fuel cell

Method used

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Experimental program
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no. 1 approach

[0077] A1. Structure of fuel cell system

[0078] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the structure of a fuel cell system 1000 including stacked fuel cells or a fuel cell stack 100 in a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0079] The fuel cell stack 100 has a stack structure of multi-cell laminates stacked through separators. Each cell stack generates electricity by the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen and has an anode and a cathode disposed across a proton-conducting electrolyte membrane, as will be described later. A solid polymer membrane is used as the electrolyte membrane in this embodiment. The separator of this embodiment is composed of three metal flat plates which are stacked and bonded together and each have a plurality of through holes. The three metal plates of the separator form a flow path of hydrogen as a fuel gas to be supplied to the anode, a flow path of air as an oxidizing gas to be supplied to the cathode, and a flow path of cooling wa...

no. 2 approach

[0108] The fuel cell system of the second embodiment has a similar structure to the fuel cell system 1000 of the first embodiment except that the fuel cell stack is different from the fuel cell stack 100 of the first embodiment. The following description therefore relates to the structure of the fuel cell stack of the second embodiment.

[0109] Figure 6 It is a plan view showing the structure of a fuel cell module 40A in the fuel cell stack of the second embodiment. Similar to the fuel cell module 40 of the first embodiment, the fuel cell module 40A of the second embodiment is constructed by stacking separators 41A and MEA units 45A. The separator 41A is obtained by sequentially stacking the anode-facing plate 42A, the intermediate plate 43A, and the cathode-facing plate 44A and hot-pressing the laminate of these three plates. In the structure of this embodiment, the anode-facing plate 42A, the intermediate plate 43A, and the cathode-facing plate 44A are stainless steel pl...

no. 3 approach

[0123] FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the structure of a fuel cell system 1000B including a fuel cell stack 100B in the third embodiment. Unlike the fuel cell system 1000 of the first embodiment, the fuel cell system 1000B of the third embodiment includes a discharge pipe 56 to discharge the anode off-gas from the fuel cell stack 100B, and a circulation pipe 54 to recirculate the anode off-gas to hydrogen supply Tube 53. The discharge pipe 56 is equipped with a discharge valve 57 and the circulation pipe 54 is equipped with a pump 55 . The fuel cell stack 100B also has a structure for discharging anode off-gas, as will be described later. The operation of the pump 55 and the purge valve 57 is controlled to switch the flow of the anode exhaust gas between exhausting the fuel cell stack 100B and recirculating to the pipe 53 . Other structural elements of the fuel cell system 1000B of the third embodiment are the same as those of the fuel cell system 1000 of the first embodim...

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Abstract

In a fuel cell stack, each separator is constructed by sequentially stacking and joining an anode-facing plate 42, a middle plate 43, and a cathode-facing plate 44. The anode-facing plate 42 has multiple hydrogen inlets 422i arranged in a two-dimensionally distributed manner on its plate surface. This arrangement effectively prevents a decrease of power generation capacity due to local accumulation of water produced in the course of electrochemical reaction for power generation on the surface of either an anode or a cathode.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to fuel cells, and more particularly to a fuel cell stack having a stack structure of multi-cell stacks stacked through separators, each cell stack having an anode and a cathode formed on opposite sides of a proton-conducting electrolyte membrane. Background technique [0002] Fuel cells, which generate electricity through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, have become efficient energy sources. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-68318, a typical arrangement of such a fuel cell is a stack structure in which membrane electrode assemblies and separators are alternately arranged and each membrane electrode assembly has a Anode (hydrogen electrode) and cathode (oxygen electrode) on opposite sides (a fuel cell in a stacked structure is called a "fuel cell stack"). [0003] Various technologies for the structure of the separator employed in the fuel cell stack have been proposed. For example, a...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(China)
IPC IPC(8): H01M8/02H01M8/10
CPCY02E60/521Y02E60/50
Inventor 柴田和则小川朋宏
Owner TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK