Fuel cell runner partition flow control system and fuel cell

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of direct sodium borohydride fuel cells, and particularly discloses a fuel cell flow channel zoning flow control system and a fuel cell, the flow channel zoning flow control system comprises a flow channel structure, a flow regulating valve, an acquisition part and a control part, and the flow channel structure comprises a bipolar plate and a flow channel unit. A flow control area is arranged on the side surface of the bipolar plate and is divided into N flow control subareas; the flow channel unit comprises N sub-flow channels, each sub-flow channel is of an S-shaped flow channel structure and is distributed on the N flow control subareas in a one-to-one correspondence mode, the flow regulating valve is used for controlling the flow of media entering the sub-flow channels, the collecting part is used for collecting temperature data of the flow control subareas, and the control part is connected with the collecting part and the flow regulating valve. The flow channel structure provided by the invention is provided with the plurality of flow control subareas, the temperature of each flow control subarea is acquired through the acquisition part, and the flow of the sub-flow channels on each flow control subarea is regulated and controlled through the flow regulating valve, so that the flow of each area is independently adjustable, and the local reaction requirement is met.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of direct sodium borohydride fuel cells, and particularly relates to a fuel cell flow channel partitioned flow control system and a fuel cell. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the increasingly severe energy crisis and environmental problems, developing efficient and clean new energy technologies has become a global focus. As a highly potential new fuel cell, direct sodium borohydride fuel cell has the advantages of high energy density and clean reaction products, and shows a broad application prospect in the fields of portable power sources and distributed power generation.

[0003] In the direct sodium borohydride fuel cell, the flow distribution of the anode sodium borohydride solution and the cathode hydrogen peroxide solution directly affects the performance of the cell. At present, the existing technology cannot accurately regulate the solution flow according to the real-time reaction requirements of each region of the cell, which limits the further improvement of the performance of the cell.

[0004] In the research and development field of direct sodium borohydride fuel cells, the existing technical solutions mostly use simple parallel flow channels, serpentine flow channels, bionic flow channels and structures with added baffles to realize the delivery of anode and cathode solutions.

[0005] Among them, the serpentine flow channel improves the flow distribution to some extent by lengthening the fluid path and increasing the fluid disturbance, so that the uniformity of the reactant concentration distribution on the electrode surface is improved by about 10%-15%. However, the limitation of this structure is also obvious, as the overall structure is fixed and cannot be dynamically adjusted according to the actual needs of the cell under different working conditions. SUMMARY

[0006] In view of the above problems, the purpose of the present application is to provide a fuel cell flow channel partitioned flow control system and a fuel cell.

[0007] The technical solution of the present application is: a fuel cell flow channel partitioned flow control system, comprising a flow channel structure, a flow regulating valve, an acquisition part and a control part.

[0008] The flow channel structure comprises a bipolar plate and a flow channel unit. The side surface of the bipolar plate has a flow control area, and the flow control area is divided into N flow control partitions, N≥2, and N is an integer; the flow channel unit comprises N sub-flow channels, each sub-flow channel is distributed in one-to-one correspondence on the N flow control partitions in a serpentine flow channel structure.

[0009] The flow regulating valve has N, which is respectively set in one-to-one correspondence at the inlet of each sub-flow channel, for controlling the flow of the medium entering the sub-flow channel.

[0010] The acquisition part has N acquisition ends, and the acquisition ends are respectively used to acquire the temperature data of the flow control partitions.

[0011] The control part is connected with the collecting part and the flow regulating valve respectively, and is used for receiving temperature data, analyzing and processing the temperature data, and sending control instructions to each flow regulating valve to control the valve opening degree of each flow regulating valve.

[0012] Further, the bipolar plate is in a rectangular structure.

[0013] Further, the bipolar plate is in a square structure, N=M 2 , M≥2, and M is an integer.

[0014] Further, the M=2 n , n≥1, and n is an integer.

[0015] Further, the flow control sub-area is in a square structure.

[0016] Further, the width of the flow channel is 0.4mm~0.6mm, and the depth of the flow channel is 0.8mm~1.2mm.

[0017] Further, the flow control sub-area is in a square structure of 2.5cm×2.5cm.

[0018] A fuel cell has the flow channel sub-area flow control system, and the flow channel structure serves as an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects: The flow channel structure has a plurality of flow control sub-areas, the collecting part collects the temperature of each flow control sub-area, and the flow regulating valve regulates the flow of the sub-flow channel on each flow control sub-area, so that the flow of each region is independently adjustable and matches the local reaction demand.

[0020] After the flow channel sub-area flow control system is applied to the fuel cell, the flow of the medium in the sub-flow channel can be quickly adjusted according to the real-time working state of the battery, so that the battery can maintain stable output power under different loads and environmental conditions, improve the stability and reliability of the battery. Moreover, the precise flow control makes the reactions in each region of the fuel cell more sufficient and uniform, effectively improves the energy conversion efficiency of the battery, increases the output power of the battery, and improves the overall performance of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of embodiment 1 of the present application; Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of embodiment 2 of the present application; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the structure of embodiment 4 of the present application; Figure 4 is an exploded view of the structure of embodiment 5 of the present application.

[0022] Wherein, 1-flow channel structure, 11-bipolar plate, 12-flow channel unit, 2-catalyst layer, 3-proton exchange membrane. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 to the accompanying drawings Figure 4 The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] The terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second", etc. can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features; in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0025] It should be noted that the circuit connections involved in the present application all adopt conventional circuit connection methods and do not involve any innovation.

[0026] Embodiment 1 A fuel cell flow channel partition flow control system, comprising a flow channel structure 1, a flow regulating valve, a collection part and a control part.

[0027] As shown in the figure, the flow channel structure 1 comprises a bipolar plate 11 and a flow channel unit 12. The side surface of the bipolar plate 11 has a flow control area, which is divided into N flow control partitions, N≥2, and N is an integer; the flow channel unit 12 comprises N sub-flow channels, each of which is a serpentine flow channel structure and is correspondingly distributed on the N flow control partitions. Figure 1 The flow regulating valve has N, which is respectively and correspondingly arranged at the inlet of each sub-flow channel, for controlling the flow of the medium into the sub-flow channel.

[0028] The collection part has N collection ends, which are respectively and correspondingly used to collect temperature data of the flow control partitions.

[0029] The control part is connected with the collection part and the flow regulating valve respectively, for receiving the temperature data, analyzing and processing the temperature data, and issuing control instructions to each flow regulating valve to control the valve opening degree of each flow regulating valve.

[0030]

[0031] ​The flow control valve in this embodiment adopts a Kammer miniature electromagnetic flow control valve with model number KVE23PL12FP3Q201, the collection part is a K-type thermocouple wire, and the control part is a PLC.

[0032] Preferably, the bipolar plate 11 has a rectangular structure.

[0033] Preferably, the bipolar plate 11 is a square structure, N=M 2 , M≥2, and M is an integer.

[0034] Preferably, M=2 n , n≥1, and n is an integer.

[0035] Preferably, the flow control partition is a square structure.

[0036] Preferably, the width of the flow channel is 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm, and the depth of the flow channel is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm. In this embodiment, the width of the flow channel is 0.5 mm, and the depth of the flow channel is 1.0 mm.

[0037] Preferably, the flow control partition is a square structure of 2.5 cm×2.5 cm.

[0038] It should be noted that: Figure 1 As shown, the bipolar plate 11 of this embodiment is a 5cm x 5cm square plate structure, with its flow control area divided into four flow control zones. The serpentine flow channel has a straight section length of 20.35mm, an inner diameter of 0.5mm at the elbow, and an outer diameter of 1.5mm. The serpentine flow channel bends 22 times within each independent flow control zone. This flow channel structure 1 has four sub-channel inlets, and the outlets of the four sub-channels are combined to discharge waste liquid uniformly.

[0039] The working principle of this embodiment is as follows: during use, each acquisition terminal collects temperature data from the flow control zone respectively. When the control unit receives abnormal temperature data from a flow control zone, it issues a control instruction to the flow control valve corresponding to the flow control zone to control the valve opening of each flow control valve. For example: when the temperature reaches 55°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 10%; when the temperature reaches 60°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 20%; when the temperature reaches 70°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 40%; when the temperature reaches 80°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 60%; when the temperature reaches 90°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 80%; when the temperature reaches 100°C, the flow control valve opening is reduced by 90%.

[0040] Example 2 The difference from Example 1 is that: like Figure 2 As shown, the serpentine flow channel structure of the flow channel is a regular wavy structure.

[0041] Example 3 Different from the embodiment 1, the bipolar plate 11 of the flow channel structure 1 is a square plate structure with a size of 10 cm x 10 cm, and the flow control area is divided into 16 flow control sub-zones.

[0042] It should be noted that the bipolar plate 11 can also have a square plate structure with a size of 15 cm x 15 cm, and the flow control area is divided into 36 flow control sub-zones. The bipolar plate 11 can also have a square plate structure with a size of 20 cm x 20 cm, and the flow control area is divided into 64 flow control sub-zones. Similarly, in practice, the arrangement can be made according to actual needs.

[0043] Embodiment 4 As shown in Figure 3 A fuel cell has the flow channel sub-zone flow control system proposed in the embodiment 1 or the embodiment 2, and further includes a catalyst layer 2 and a proton exchange membrane 3. The catalyst layer 2 has two layers, and the two layers of the catalyst layer 2 are distributed on both sides of the proton exchange membrane 3. Two flow channel structures 1 serve as an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell, and are respectively distributed on both sides of the two layers of the catalyst layer 2, and form a fuel cell unit together with the two layers of the catalyst layer 2 and the proton exchange membrane 3.

[0044] Embodiment 5 As shown in Figure 4 In practice, a single fuel cell unit cannot meet the power requirement, and therefore multiple fuel cell units are required to be connected in series. It should be noted that when multiple fuel cell units are connected in series, the side surfaces of the bipolar plate 11 located in the middle section are provided with flow channel units 12, which respectively serve as a cathode of one fuel cell unit and an anode of another fuel cell unit.

[0045] The specific models of the above electronic components are not specially specified, and ordinary products available on the market can be selected as long as they can meet the use requirements of the present application.

[0046] The above-described specific embodiments further illustrate the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application, and it should be understood that the above-described specific embodiments are only specific embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application is included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A fuel cell flow channel partition flow control system, characterized in that: include: A flow channel structure (1) includes: a bipolar plate (11) having a flow control region on a side thereof, the flow control region being divided into N flow control partitions, N ≥ 2, and N being an integer; a flow channel unit (12) including N sub-flow channels, each sub-flow channel having a serpentine flow channel structure and being distributed one-to-one on the N flow control partitions; There are N flow control valves, which are respectively arranged at the entrance of each sub-channel and used to control the flow of the medium entering the sub-channel; The acquisition part has N acquisition terminals, each of which is applied to collect temperature data of the flow control partitions; The control unit is connected to the acquisition unit and the flow control valve respectively, and is used to receive temperature data, analyze and process the temperature data, and issue control instructions to each flow control valve to control the valve opening of each flow control valve.

2. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bipolar plate (11) has a rectangular structure.

3. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The bipolar plate (11) is a square structure, N=M 2 , M≥2, and M is an integer.

4. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 3, characterized in that: M=2 n , n≥1, and n is an integer.

5. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The flow control partition is a square structure.

6. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The width of the flow channel is 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm, and the depth of the flow channel is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm.

7. A fuel cell flow channel partitioning flow control system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The flow control partition is a square structure of 2.5 cm×2.5 cm.

8. A fuel cell, characterized in that: A flow channel partitioning flow control system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is provided, wherein the flow channel structure (1) serves as the anode and cathode of a fuel cell.

Images