Mounting structure of upper insulating plate, upper collector plate and reactor core assembly

Abstract

The invention relates to a mounting structure of an upper insulating plate, an upper collector plate and a reactor core assembly, the mounting structure comprises the upper insulating plate, the upper collector plate and the reactor core assembly, the upper insulating plate is concavely provided with an embedded groove from bottom to top, the upper collector plate is embedded in the embedded groove, the upper insulating plate is provided with medium flow channels around the embedded groove, and the medium flow channels are communicated with the embedded groove. The medium flow channel on the upper insulating plate is communicated with the medium channel on the reactor core assembly after avoiding the upper collector plate, the lower surface of the upper insulating plate is attached to the upper surface of the reactor core assembly, and a sealing piece is arranged between the upper insulating plate and the reactor core assembly, so that the medium can be effectively prevented from being in direct contact with the upper collector plate.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electrolytic cells, and more particularly to an installation structure for an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector, and a core assembly. [Background Technology]

[0002] The PEM electrolyzer uses a solid proton exchange membrane (PEM) as the electrolyte and pure water as the reactant. Because PEM electrolyte has low hydrogen permeability, the produced hydrogen is of high purity, requiring only the removal of water vapor. The process is simple and highly safe.

[0003] The PEM electrolyzer structure mainly consists of an upper end plate, an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector, a core assembly, a lower current collector, a lower insulating plate, and a lower end plate. In traditional PEM electrolyzer designs, the upper insulating plate and the upper current collector are both single flat plates. The upper current collector is sandwiched between the upper insulating plate and the core assembly, forming a sandwich structure (i.e., a three-layer stacked structure). Please refer to existing technology (ZL202410188847.0), which discloses this structure. Figure 1 , Figure 1 This structure is also revealed. In this structure, the lower surface of the upper insulating plate 1' is closely attached to the upper surface of the upper current collector 2', and the lower surface of the upper current collector 2' is closely attached to the upper surface of the core assembly 3'. Medium flow channels 10' and 20' are respectively provided on the upper insulating plate 1' and the upper current collector 2'. The medium flow channels 10' and 20' penetrate the upper insulating plate 1' and the upper current collector 2' longitudinally. Therefore, this three-layer stacked structure of the upper insulating plate 1', the upper current collector 2', and the core assembly 3' means that the medium must flow through the upper current collector 2'. The drawback is that since the upper current collector is made of copper, if the copper comes into direct contact with the medium, electrochemical corrosion will occur on the copper surface. After local corrosion of the upper current collector, the resistivity increases, resulting in an imbalance in the current density distribution inside the electrolyzer and affecting the overall hydrogen production efficiency. In addition, copper ions can contaminate the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) after entering the core assembly with the dielectric, greatly reducing the MEA's lifespan. Therefore, the current industry solutions are as follows: one is to plate the copper material of the upper current collector with gold or platinum to enhance the copper's corrosion resistance and alleviate the problem of copper corrosion to some extent. However, gold and platinum are expensive, which increases the manufacturing cost. In addition, the gold plating process has high requirements. Once the process fails, the plating will peel off. The second method is to directly replace the material of the upper current collector with a more corrosion-resistant stainless steel or titanium plate.

[0004] Therefore, we considered whether we could solve the technical problem of copper corrosion on the upper current collector by improving the installation structure of the upper insulation plate, upper current collector, and core assembly. [Summary of the Invention]

[0005] To address the aforementioned problems, the present invention aims to provide an upper insulating plate and an installation structure for the upper current collector and core assembly that avoids direct contact between the upper current collector and the medium.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: an installation structure of an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector, and a core assembly, comprising: an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector, and a core assembly. The upper insulating plate is recessed from bottom to top with an embedded groove, and the upper current collector is embedded in the embedded groove. The upper insulating plate has a medium flow channel around the embedded groove. The medium flow channel on the upper insulating plate is connected to the medium channel on the core assembly after avoiding the upper current collector. The lower surface of the upper insulating plate is in contact with the upper surface of the core assembly, and a sealing element is provided between the two.

[0007] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that the area of ​​the upper current collector plate matches the area of ​​the reaction zone of the core assembly.

[0008] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that the depth of the embedded groove is the thickness of the upper current collector plate plus 0.1 mm.

[0009] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that carbon paper is provided between the upper current collector plate and the core assembly.

[0010] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in this invention is further configured such that the thickness of the carbon paper is 0.2 mm.

[0011] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that: after the upper current collector plate is embedded in the inner groove of the upper insulating plate, the lower surface of the upper current collector plate is flush with the lower surface of the upper insulating plate.

[0012] Preferably, the mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that: after the upper current collector plate is embedded in the inner groove of the upper insulating plate, the lower surface of the upper insulating plate protrudes from the lower surface of the upper current collector plate.

[0013] Preferably, the installation structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention is further configured such that the upper current collector plate is chamfered before being installed with the upper insulating plate.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The present invention improves the three-layer stacking structure between the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the prior art into a structure in which the upper current collector plate is embedded in the upper insulating plate, so that the lower surface of the upper insulating plate fits the upper surface of the core assembly. Furthermore, the dielectric flow channel on the upper insulating plate is connected to the dielectric channel on the core assembly after avoiding the upper current collector plate. Through the above improvement, it can effectively prevent the dielectric from directly contacting the upper current collector plate, thus solving the technical problem of copper corrosion in the prior art. In addition, it can also prevent copper ions from entering the core assembly along with the dielectric and contaminating the membrane electrode, thereby ensuring the performance and lifespan of the electrolytic cell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the three-layer stacking installation structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the prior art.

[0016] Figure 2 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the embedded installation structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention.

[0017] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional structure schematic diagram along the Figure 2 shown A-A line.

[0018] Figure 4 FIG. is an exploded structure schematic diagram of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate and the core assembly in the present invention.

[0019] Figure 1 In the figure: 1`, upper insulating plate; 2`, upper current collector plate; 3`, core assembly; 10`, 20`, dielectric flow channel.

[0020] Figures 2 to 4 In the figure: 1, upper insulating plate; 10, embedded groove; 11, dielectric flow channel; 2, upper current collector plate; 3, core assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The following further describes in detail the installation structure of an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector plate and a core assembly according to the present invention through specific embodiments.

[0022] Refer to Figures 2 to 4As shown, a connection structure for an upper insulating plate 1, an upper current collector 2, and a core assembly 3 includes: an upper insulating plate 1, an upper current collector 2, and a core assembly 3. The upper insulating plate 1 has an recessed groove 10 from bottom to top, and the upper current collector 2 is embedded in the recessed groove 10. The depth of the recessed groove 10 is the thickness of the upper current collector 2 plus 0.1 mm (for example, when the thickness of the upper current collector 2 is 15 ± 0.05 mm, the depth of the recessed groove 10 is 15.1 ± 0.05 mm). The advantage of this design is to ensure that after the upper current collector 2 is embedded in the recessed groove 10 of the upper insulating plate 1, the lower surface of the upper current collector 2 never protrudes from the lower surface of the upper insulating plate 1, because if it protrudes, there is a possibility of medium leakage to the upper current collector 2. The area of ​​the upper current collector 2 matches the area of ​​the reaction zone of the core assembly 3. The upper insulating plate 1 has a medium flow channel 11 around the embedded groove. The medium flow channel 11 on the upper insulating plate 1 is connected to the medium channel (not shown) on the core assembly 3 after avoiding the upper current collector plate 2. The lower surface of the upper insulating plate 1 is in contact with the upper surface of the core assembly 3 and a sealing element is provided between them. In this embodiment, after the upper current collector 2 is embedded in the inner groove 10 of the upper insulating plate 1, the lower surface of the upper insulating plate 1 protrudes from the lower surface of the upper current collector 2. A carbon paper (not shown) with a thickness of 0.2 mm is provided between the upper current collector 2 and the core assembly 3. The carbon paper ensures a tight fit between the upper current collector 2 and the core assembly 3, solving the problem of compensation in case of processing errors and guaranteeing good conductivity between them. In other embodiments, after the upper current collector 2 is embedded in the inner groove 10 of the upper insulating plate 1, the lower surface of the upper current collector 2 is flush with the lower surface of the upper insulating plate 1, in which case the carbon paper is not required. A 0.1 mm assembly gap is reserved around the upper current collector 2. The upper current collector 2 is chamfered before being embedded in the inner groove of the upper insulating plate 1, which reduces installation difficulty.

[0023] In summary, this invention improves the existing three-layer stacked structure of the upper insulating plate, upper current collector, and core assembly by embedding the upper current collector within the upper insulating plate. This allows the lower surface of the upper insulating plate to be in contact with the upper surface of the core assembly, thereby enabling the dielectric channels on the upper insulating plate to bypass the upper current collector and connect with the dielectric channels on the core assembly. This improvement effectively prevents the dielectric from directly contacting the upper current collector, thus solving the technical problem of copper corrosion in the prior art. Furthermore, it prevents copper ions from entering the core assembly with the dielectric and contaminating the membrane electrode, thereby ensuring the performance and lifespan of the electrolytic cell.

[0024] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention, as well as some examples of its application, and are not intended to limit the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements are all within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An installation structure for an upper insulating plate, an upper current collector plate, and a core assembly, comprising: The upper insulating plate, the upper current collector, and the core assembly are characterized in that: the upper insulating plate is recessed from bottom to top with an embedded groove, the upper current collector is embedded in the embedded groove, the upper insulating plate has a medium flow channel around the embedded groove, the medium flow channel on the upper insulating plate is connected to the medium channel on the core assembly after avoiding the upper current collector, and the lower surface of the upper insulating plate is in contact with the upper surface of the core assembly and a sealing element is provided between them.

2. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The area of ​​the upper current collector plate is matched with the area of ​​the reactor core assembly reaction zone.

3. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The depth of the embedded groove is the thickness of the upper collector plate plus 0.1 mm.

4. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Carbon paper is provided between the upper current collector plate and the core assembly.

5. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 4, characterized in that: The thickness of the carbon paper is 0.2 mm.

6. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: After the upper current collector is embedded in the inner groove of the upper insulating plate, the lower surface of the upper current collector is flush with the lower surface of the upper insulating plate.

7. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: After the upper current collector plate is embedded in the inner groove of the upper insulating plate, the lower surface of the upper insulating plate protrudes from the lower surface of the upper current collector plate.

8. The mounting structure of the upper insulating plate, the upper current collector plate, and the core assembly as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The upper current collector is chamfered before being installed with the upper insulating plate.

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