A new air intake structure for metal bipolar plates in fuel cells

Abstract

The present invention provides a novel air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell, the metal bipolar plate comprises a top plate and a bottom plate, the top plate comprises an upper inlet plate and an upper flow channel plate, the bottom plate comprises a lower inlet plate and a lower flow channel plate, the middle parts of the upper inlet plate and the lower inlet plate are hollowed out to provide an air intake area, the upper flow channel plate comprises an air intake plate, a bending plate and an air outlet plate, the air intake plate and the lower flow channel plate form an air intake port extending longitudinally, the air outlet plate is provided with a channel outlet running through the upper and lower parts, the channel outlet is in the shape of an elongated strip and is arranged longitudinally; the advantages of the present invention are: the novel air intake structure is a straight-through channel, and there is no groove for placing a sealing strip at the air intake port, and the gas flows directly to the distribution area after flowing into the air intake port without the need to turn the flow up and down, and the straight-through flow channel structure reduces the demand for the plate in the normal space, makes the plate smaller in size, shortens the gas flow path, and reduces the loss during the flow process, which is beneficial to reducing the pressure drop of the gas from the air intake port to the distribution area.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of metal polar plates, and in particular to a novel air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell. Background Art

[0002] A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity through a catalyst reaction. my country's chemical industry produces a large amount of hydrogen byproducts, and vigorously developing fuel cells can play a role in resource utilization. The key components of fuel cells include membrane electrodes and bipolar plates, among which bipolar plates include graphite, metal, and composite plates. Metal plates have great advantages due to their light weight and small size, and the design and manufacture of metal bipolar plates are also receiving more and more attention.

[0003] The structure of the metal plate generally includes the flow field area, the distribution area, and the inlet and outlet areas, among which the inlet and outlet ensure that the gas can flow in the positive field; the distribution area plays a role in distributing gas and coolant to ensure the uniformity of flow between the flow channels; the flow field area provides a reaction place for the fuel. The design of the plate inlet structure is affected by many factors, including the pressure drop of the gas in the flow field area and the uniformity of flow between the flow channels. For different structures, the plate air intake method will also be different. The currently commonly used air intake method is the "layer jump type". After the gas flows into the inlet, it rotates up and down in the channel and then reaches the distribution area. The new air intake method proposed by the present invention is the direct current type. The gas enters from the inlet and directly flows into the distribution area. This method has a shorter gas flow route and smaller flow loss than the currently commonly used air intake method. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a novel air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is:

[0006] A new type of air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell, characterized in that the metal bipolar plate comprises a top plate and a bottom plate arranged up and down, the top plate comprises an upper inlet plate and an upper flow channel plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side in the transverse direction, the bottom plate comprises a lower inlet plate and a lower flow channel plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side in the transverse direction, the upper inlet plate and the lower inlet plate are symmetrically arranged up and down, the middle parts of the upper inlet plate and the lower inlet plate are hollowed out to provide an air intake area, the upper flow channel plate comprises an air intake plate, a bending plate and an air outlet plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side, the air intake plate and the air outlet plate are arranged in the transverse direction, the bending plate is arranged vertically, one side of the air intake plate and the upper end of the lower flow channel plate form an air intake port extending longitudinally, the bending plate starts from the other side of the air intake plate and is bent vertically downward, the air outlet plate is connected to the bottom end of the bending plate, the air outlet plate is penetrated by a channel outlet up and down, the channel outlet is in the shape of a long strip and is arranged longitudinally,

[0007] Among them, the upper inlet plate protrudes upward and is provided with an upper glue containing groove, the lower inlet plate protrudes downward and is provided with a lower glue containing groove, the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove are symmetrically arranged, and a glue strip is filled between the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove.

[0008] Furthermore, the upper end surfaces of the upper flow channel plate and the lower flow channel plate are provided with a plurality of grooves, and the grooves are arranged in parallel in the transverse direction.

[0009] Furthermore, the upper glue containing groove is extended along the outer edge of the upper inlet plate, the lower glue containing groove is extended along the outer edge of the lower inlet plate, and the gap between the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove is connected to the gap between the upper flow channel plate and the lower flow channel plate.

[0010] The advantages of the present invention are: the new air intake structure is a straight-through channel, and there is no groove for placing the sealing strip at the air inlet. After the gas flows in from the air inlet, it flows directly to the distribution area without the need to turn the flow up and down. The straight-through flow channel structure reduces the demand for the normal space of the electrode plate, makes the electrode plate smaller, shortens the gas flow path, and reduces the loss during the flow process, which is beneficial to reducing the pressure drop of the gas from the air inlet to the distribution area; there is only a vertical groove structure on the outside of the bipolar plate, and there is no horizontal groove. There is no need to consider the positive and negative installation of the positive and negative electrodes, and the installation is more convenient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0012] Reference numerals:

[0013] 1 top plate 2 bottom plate 3 upper inlet plate 4 upper flow channel plate 5 lower inlet plate 6 lower flow channel plate 7 air intake area

[0014] 8 air inlet plate 9 bending plate 10 air outlet plate 11 air inlet 12 channel outlet 13 upper glue holding groove 14 lower glue holding groove

[0015] 15 grooves. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The technical solution of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0017] This embodiment discloses a novel air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell, such as Figure 1As shown, the metal bipolar plate includes a top plate 1 and a bottom plate 2 arranged up and down, the top plate 1 includes an upper inlet plate 3 and an upper flow channel plate 4 connected in sequence from one side to the other side along the transverse direction, the bottom plate 2 includes a lower inlet plate 5 and a lower flow channel plate 6 connected in sequence from one side to the other side along the transverse direction, the upper inlet plate 3 and the lower inlet plate 5 are symmetrically arranged up and down, and the middle parts of the upper inlet plate 3 and the lower inlet plate 5 are hollowed out to provide an air intake area 7.

[0018] The upper flow channel plate 4 includes an air inlet plate 8, a bending plate 9 and an air outlet plate 10 which are connected in sequence from one side to the other side. The air inlet plate 8 and the air outlet plate 10 are arranged in the horizontal direction, and the bending plate 9 is arranged in the vertical direction. One side of the air inlet plate 8 and the upper end of the lower flow channel plate 6 form a longitudinally extending air inlet 11. The bending plate 9 starts from the other side of the air inlet plate 8 and is bent vertically downward. The air outlet plate 10 is connected to the bottom end of the bending plate 9. The air outlet plate 10 is provided with a channel outlet 12 running through it from top to bottom. The channel outlet 12 is in the shape of a long strip and is arranged in the longitudinal direction.

[0019] The gas flowing in from the air inlet 11 can flow to the distribution area between the upper flow channel plate 4 and the lower flow channel plate 6. The top plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 are sealed by rubber strip injection molding. There is no need to reserve a glue line placement path on the two plates. In this way, the air inlet 11 and the flow field are connected in a straight-through manner. The straight-through air intake will have a certain improvement in the gas flow loss compared to the traditional layer-jump air intake.

[0020] The upper inlet plate 3 protrudes upward and is provided with an upper glue containing groove 13, and the lower inlet plate 5 protrudes downward and is provided with a lower glue containing groove 14. The upper glue containing groove 13 and the lower glue containing groove 14 are symmetrically arranged, and a rubber strip is filled between the upper glue containing groove 13 and the lower glue containing groove 14. The sealing rubber strip is arranged on the characteristic structure of the plate by injection molding. The sizes of the upper glue containing groove 13 and the lower glue containing groove 14 and the sealing rubber strip are closely matched to prevent glue overflow.

[0021] The upper end surfaces of the upper flow channel plate 4 and the lower flow channel plate 6 are provided with a plurality of grooves 15 , and the grooves 15 are arranged in parallel in the transverse direction.

[0022] The upper glue containing groove 13 is extended along the outer edge of the upper inlet plate 3, and the lower glue containing groove 14 is extended along the outer edge of the lower inlet plate 5. The gap between the upper glue containing groove 13 and the lower glue containing groove 14 is connected to the gap between the upper flow channel plate 4 and the lower flow channel plate 6.

[0023] In the present embodiment, the sealing rubber line groove 15 path is eliminated between the air inlet 11 and the flow field distribution area (the area between the upper flow channel plate 4 and the lower flow channel plate 6), and the gas flows into the straight-through channel after flowing in from the air inlet 11; the traditional layer-jumping air intake gas needs to flow up and down, which affects the air intake efficiency. The use of a straight-through channel is also beneficial to the utilization of the plate space. The height of the injection-molded rubber strip is smaller than that of the traditional rubber strip, which is beneficial to the lightweight and miniaturization of the plate.

[0024] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A novel air intake structure for a metal bipolar plate of a fuel cell, characterized in that: The metal bipolar plate comprises a top plate and a bottom plate arranged up and down, the top plate comprises an upper inlet plate and an upper flow channel plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side in the transverse direction, the bottom plate comprises a lower inlet plate and a lower flow channel plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side in the transverse direction, the upper inlet plate and the lower inlet plate are symmetrically arranged up and down, the middle parts of the upper inlet plate and the lower inlet plate are hollowed out to provide an air intake area, the upper flow channel plate comprises an air intake plate, a bending plate and an air outlet plate connected in sequence from one side to the other side, the air intake plate and the air outlet plate are arranged in the transverse direction, the bending plate is arranged in the vertical direction, one side of the air intake plate and the upper end of the lower flow channel plate form an air intake extending longitudinally, the bending plate starts from the other side of the air intake plate and is bent vertically downward, the air outlet plate is connected to the bottom end of the bending plate, the air outlet plate is penetrated by a channel outlet from top to bottom, the channel outlet is in the shape of an elongated strip and is arranged in the longitudinal direction, the upper end surfaces of the upper flow channel plate and the lower flow channel plate are provided with a plurality of grooves, and the grooves are arranged in parallel in the transverse direction; Among them, the upper inlet plate protrudes upward and is provided with an upper glue containing groove, the lower inlet plate protrudes downward and is provided with a lower glue containing groove, the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove are symmetrically arranged, and a rubber strip is filled between the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove, the upper glue containing groove is extended along the outer edge of the upper inlet plate, and the lower glue containing groove is extended along the outer edge of the lower inlet plate, and the gap between the upper glue containing groove and the lower glue containing groove is connected with the gap between the upper flow channel plate and the lower flow channel plate.

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