A fuel cell stack assembly structure

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack assembly structure, comprising an upper end plate, an upper insulating plate, an upper current collecting plate, a core module, a lower current collecting plate, a lower insulating plate and a lower end plate stacked in sequence, wherein the side of the core module is provided with a vertically arranged columnar elastic molded body, the elastic molded body is formed by plastic casting, the top end of the elastic molded body is connected to the upper current collecting plate, and the bottom end of the elastic molded body is connected to the lower current collecting plate. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the advantages of high safety, convenient operation and installation, etc.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of fuel cells, and in particular to a fuel cell stack assembly structure. Background Art

[0002] Fuel cells are devices that convert input air and hydrogen into water and output electrical energy. As the power of fuel cells increases, the number of repeated metal separators and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) in the fuel cell increases accordingly. Under mechanical and thermal vibration conditions, resonance and displacement between the metal separators and MEAs are prone to occur, resulting in seal failure and the battery cannot work properly.

[0003] The existing method is to set multiple through metal rods in the metal separator and MEA, and set plastic sleeves on the metal rods to suppress resonance and displacement. However, the existing method has the following problems: 1. The friction resistance and cutting performance of the plastic sleeve are very high, otherwise it is easy to break and affect safety. 2. The plastic sleeve cannot effectively suppress resonance and displacement. 3. The installation of the metal rod and the plastic sleeve is complicated, and the cross section of the metal sleeve needs to be specially designed. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell stack assembly structure in order to overcome the defects of the above-mentioned prior art.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention can be achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0006] A fuel cell stack assembly structure comprises an upper end plate, an upper insulating plate, an upper current collecting plate, a core module, a lower current collecting plate, a lower insulating plate and a lower end plate which are stacked in sequence, wherein the side of the core module is provided with a vertically arranged columnar elastic molded body, the elastic molded body is formed by plastic casting, the top end of the elastic molded body is connected to the upper current collecting plate, and the bottom end of the elastic molded body is connected to the lower current collecting plate.

[0007] Furthermore, the core module comprises a plurality of stacked membrane electrode assemblies and a plurality of metal separators, and an extended edge is provided on the side wall of the elastic molded body, and the extended edge is inserted into the gap between the membrane electrode assemblies and the metal separators.

[0008] Furthermore, the length of the extended edge is at least 0.2 to 5 cm.

[0009] Furthermore, the membrane electrode assembly and the metal separator are packaged by a sealing ring.

[0010] Furthermore, an even number of elastic formed bodies are distributed on the sides of the core module and are distributed in a symmetrical manner.

[0011] Furthermore, the elastic molded body has a width of at least 2 cm on the side of the core module.

[0012] Furthermore, the thickness of the elastic molded body is not less than 1 mm, and the thickness is the distance between the outer edge of the side wall of the elastic molded body that is in contact with the metal partition and the outer edge of the side wall that is away from the metal partition.

[0013] Furthermore, a reinforcing plate is provided on the non-fitting surface of the elastic molded body.

[0014] Furthermore, the Shore hardness of the elastic molded body is 20A-90A.

[0015] Furthermore, the molding method of the elastic molded body is: compressing and fixing the upper end plate, the upper insulating plate, the upper current collecting plate, the core module, the lower current collecting plate, the lower insulating plate and the lower end plate, and then pouring the liquid raw material of the elastic molded body in the designated area on the side of the core module, and curing it to obtain the elastic molded body.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0017] 1. The columnar elastic molded body formed by plastic casting in the present invention is arranged on the side of the core module, replacing the traditional metal rod structure arranged inside, and will not cause problems such as plastic sleeve rupture, and has high safety; at the same time, the elastic molded body can be installed by casting and curing, and the operation method is simple and efficient.

[0018] 2. The elastic molded body has an extended edge, which effectively fills the gap between the metal separator and the membrane electrode assembly. The steric hindrance and large contact area greatly enhance the ability of the elastic molded body to suppress resonance and relative displacement.

[0019] 3. A reinforcing plate is provided on the elastic formed body to increase its strength and improve structural stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 It is a partial enlarged side view of the elastic molded body.

[0022] Figure numerals: 1. upper end plate, 2. upper insulating plate, 3. upper current collecting plate, 4. core module, 41. membrane electrode assembly, 42. metal partition, 43. sealing ring, 44. supporting frame, 5. lower current collecting plate, 6. lower insulating plate, 7. lower end plate, 8. elastic formed body, 81. extension edge. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. This embodiment is implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention, and provides a detailed implementation method and specific operation process, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0024] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment provides a fuel cell stack assembly structure, including an upper end plate 1, an upper insulating plate 2, an upper current collecting plate 3, a core module 4, a lower current collecting plate 5, a lower insulating plate 6 and a lower end plate 7 stacked in sequence. A vertically arranged columnar elastic molded body 8 formed by plastic casting is distributed on the side of the core module 4. The top of the elastic molded body 8 is connected to the upper current collecting plate 3, and the bottom is connected to the lower current collecting plate 5. This embodiment can effectively suppress the resonance and displacement of the membrane electrode assembly 41 and the metal partition 42 in the core module 4 through the arrangement of the elastic molded body 8, thereby improving the stability of the structure.

[0025] The core module 4 includes a stacked metal separator 42 and a membrane electrode assembly 41, and the membrane electrode assembly 41 and the metal separator 42 are sealed by a sealing ring 43. The details are as follows:

[0026] The metal separator 42 may be two isolated separators, namely an anode plate and a cathode plate; or it may be a bipolar plate in which the anode and cathode plates are combined together by welding or bonding.

[0027] The membrane electrode assembly 41 (MEA, abbreviation of Membrane Electrode Assembly) includes CCM (abbreviation of catalyst coated membrane), a diffusion membrane and a support frame 44. Among them, CCM includes a proton membrane and a catalyst layer arranged on the surface of the proton membrane. The diffusion membrane is made of carbon paper or carbon fiber cloth material, and a microporous layer MPL is arranged on the surface of the carbon paper or carbon fiber cloth. The support frame 44 is a rectangular plastic molding with a certain thickness, and the middle area is removed by cutting or punching to obtain a component with only the edge material around. The material of the support frame 44 is selected from one or more of polyester, polyamide, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, and polyimide plastics. The thickness of the support material is generally 12.5 to 350um. The support frame 44 is not in direct contact with the metal partition 42, and is generally isolated by a sealing ring 43. The elastic structure of the sealing ring 43 can, on the one hand, supplement the dimensional tolerance of the frame and the metal partition 42, and on the other hand, limit the flow and leakage of air, hydrogen, and water by setting the structural dimensions of the sealing ring 43. The sealing ring 43 can be fixed to the edge area of ​​the metal partition 42, or to the upper and lower surfaces of the supporting frame 44. The outer side of the sealing ring 43 is generally 0.2 to 5 cm away from the outer edge of the metal partition 42 or the outer edge of the supporting frame 44.

[0028] The thickness d of the elastic molded body 8 itself is not less than 1 mm, and the thickness is specifically the distance between the outer edge of the side wall of the elastic molded body 8 that is attached to the metal partition 42 and the outer edge of the side wall that is away from the metal partition 42. An extended edge 81 is provided on the side wall of the elastic molded body 8, and the extended edge 81 is embedded between the membrane electrode assembly 41 and the metal partition 42. The embedded depth of the extended edge of the elastic molded body 8 can reach the outside of the sealing ring 43, that is, the embedded depth is 0.2 to 5 cm. The width of the elastic molded body 8 on the side of the core module is at least 2 cm. The extended edge 81 on the elastic molded body 8 effectively fills the gap between the metal partition 42 and the membrane electrode assembly 41, which is beneficial to suppress the resonance of the stack and the relative displacement of each partition and the MEA frame.

[0029] The elastic molded body 8 has a hardness of 20A-90A. This hardness range ensures that the elastic molded body 8 has a certain compression modulus but is not too hard to damage the metal separator 42 and the membrane electrode assembly 41.

[0030] The specific material of the elastic molded body 8 can be one of epoxy resin, silicone resin, EPDM rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, fluororubber, fluorosilicone rubber, natural rubber, or any combination of two or more thereof, preferably the above-mentioned liquid resin with low bonding strength with the metal partition 42 and the support frame 44, and / or rubber. In this embodiment, room temperature moisture-curing silicone rubber is specifically used. Silicone rubber can withstand high and low temperature environments, and is resistant to water and moisture. Room temperature moisture-curing silicone rubber is cured at room temperature after pouring, which is beneficial to saving heating equipment, simplifying the process flow, and not damaging plastic parts such as the proton membrane in the core module 4. At the same time, the elastic molded body 8 is selected from low bonding strength, and the bonding strength between the glue and the metal plate, and between the glue and the support frame 44 will not be too strong. When disassembling and repairing, the metal partition 42 and the support frame 44 can be easily removed without causing deformation or damage to the metal partition 42 and the support frame 44.

[0031] The elastic molded bodies 8 are an even number and are symmetrically distributed on the core module 4. In this embodiment, there are four elastic molded bodies 8, which are symmetrically distributed in pairs on the front and rear sides of the core module 4. In this embodiment, a reinforcing plate can also be provided on the non-fitting surface of the elastic molded body 8 to improve its strength. The reinforcing plate is made of engineering plastic or metal.

[0032] The installation process of this embodiment is as follows: compress and install the upper end plate 1, the upper insulating plate 2, the upper current collecting plate 3, the staggered metal separators 42 and the membrane electrode assembly 41, the lower current collecting plate 5, the lower insulating plate 6 and the lower end plate 7. After the compression and installation, the liquid raw material constituting the elastic molded body 8 is poured into the installation groove formed by the side groove and solidified to complete the installation.

[0033] The preferred specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above. It should be understood that a person skilled in the art can make many modifications and changes based on the concept of the present invention without creative work. Therefore, any technical solution that can be obtained by a person skilled in the art through logical analysis, reasoning or limited experiments based on the concept of the present invention on the basis of the prior art should be within the scope of protection determined by the claims.

Claims

1. A fuel cell stack assembly structure, characterized in that: The invention comprises an upper end plate (1), an upper insulating plate (2), an upper current collecting plate (3), a core module (4), a lower current collecting plate (5), a lower insulating plate (6) and a lower end plate (7) which are stacked in sequence, wherein a vertically arranged columnar elastic molded body (8) is distributed on the side of the core module (4), and the elastic molded body (8) is formed by plastic casting, the top end of the elastic molded body (8) is connected to the upper current collecting plate (3), and the bottom end of the elastic molded body (8) is connected to the lower current collecting plate (5); The core module (4) comprises a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies (41) and a plurality of metal separators (42) which are stacked, and an extended edge (81) is provided on the side wall of the elastic molded body (8), and the extended edge (81) is inserted between the gaps between the membrane electrode assemblies (41) and the metal separators (42); The Shore hardness of the elastic molded body (8) is 20A-90A.

2. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the extended edge (81) is at least 0.2 to 5 cm.

3. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The membrane electrode assembly (41) and the metal separator (42) are packaged via a sealing ring (43).

4. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: An even number of elastic molded bodies (8) are distributed on the sides of the core module (4) in a symmetrical arrangement.

5. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastic molded body (8) has a width of at least 2 cm on the side of the core module (4).

6. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the elastic molded body (8) is not less than 1 mm, and the thickness is the distance between the outer edge of the side wall of the elastic molded body (8) that is in contact with the metal partition (42) and the outer edge of the side wall that is away from the metal partition (42).

7. A fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: A reinforcing plate is provided on the non-fitting surface of the elastic molded body (8).

8. The fuel cell stack assembly structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The molding method of the elastic molded body (8) comprises: compressing and fixing an upper end plate (1), an upper insulating plate (2), an upper current collecting plate (3), a core module (4), a lower current collecting plate (5), a lower insulating plate (6) and a lower end plate (7), and then pouring a liquid raw material of the elastic molded body into a designated area on the side of the core module (4), and curing the liquid raw material to obtain the elastic molded body (8).

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