Fuel Cell Separator Gasket Layout for Uniform Surface Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fuel cell separator assemblies face challenges in uniformly maintaining surface pressure across reaction gas flow regions during stack assembly due to uneven gasket line heights and shapes, leading to inconsistent airtightness and performance.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves adjusting the height and shape of gasket lines on the cathode separator to match the anode separator's forming units, with specific low and high regions on the reaction surface gasket lines and wider cooling surface gasket lines to ensure uniform surface pressure and airtightness by using a sub-gasket that contacts both surfaces, maintaining a constant distance and securing gas flow paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a gasket line is formed by injecting rubber gasket at predetermined thickness, then airtightness is achieved, but surface pressure becomes uneven across different regions
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket line is designed with varying thickness across different regions: thicker in the cooling surface region and thinner in the reaction surface region. This local variation in gasket thickness compensates for the uneven surface profiles caused by forming units, ensuring uniform surface pressure distribution while maintaining airtightness throughout the separator assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameter of gasket thickness from a uniform predetermined value to a variable value that depends on the regional requirements. By adjusting the gasket thickness parameter locally, the system achieves both airtightness and uniform surface pressure distribution across regions with different surface elevations.
2Ease of operation
If forming units with support protrusions are created on the anode separator, then stacking alignment is improved, but surface pressure distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket line is designed with different thickness characteristics in different regions: the cooling surface gasket line is thicker to compensate for the elevated surface caused by forming units, while the reaction surface gasket line is thinner. This local differentiation ensures that the thicker gasket material fills the gaps created by support protrusions, maintaining uniform surface pressure without compromising stacking alignment.
3Ease of manufacture
If gasket line height is uniform across all regions, then manufacturing is simplified, but airtightness and surface pressure uniformity cannot be simultaneously achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket line manufacturing process is designed to create different thickness profiles in different regions. The cooling surface gasket line is formed with greater thickness to accommodate the elevated surface from forming units, while the reaction surface gasket line has reduced thickness. This local quality differentiation ensures both airtightness and uniform pressure distribution are achieved despite increased manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A separator assembly for a fuel cell and a fuel cell stack including the same, is uniformly capable of forming a surface pressure of a region where a reaction gas flows when a stack is stacked by adjusting a height and shape of a gasket line for each region in which the reaction gas flows.