Fuel Cell Separator Disassembly via Integrated Breaking Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel cell designs face challenges in efficient disassembly due to the requirement of additional members, such as linear members, which can get stuck or damaged during disassembly, making it difficult to recover and recycle expensive electrode assemblies.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a breaking guide on the separators, such as recesses or different materials with varying physical properties, to facilitate disassembly without additional components, allowing for effective separation while minimizing damage to the electrode assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a linear member is placed between the sealing member and separator to facilitate disassembly, then the sealing member can be peeled off, but the linear member may get stuck or destroyed during pulling, making disassembly ineffective and requiring additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the linear member (additional component) from the system and replaces it with a breaking guide formed directly on the separator. The breaking guide is an integrated feature that enables disassembly through controlled breakage without requiring external pulling members, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The separator's own structure (with the breaking guide) enables its own disassembly function. The breaking guide is formed on the separator itself, allowing the separator to be broken and removed without needing a separate linear member to perform the peeling action, making the system self-sufficient for disassembly.
2Ease of operation
If a linear member is used to peel off the sealing member, then disassembly can be initiated, but the linear member requires tight adhesion to the sealing member which may not be sufficient, leading to failure in moving the linear member outward
Solution Approach 1:
The breaking guide is pre-formed on the separator during manufacturing, creating a predetermined breakage path before disassembly is needed. This preliminary preparation ensures that when disassembly is required, the separator can be reliably broken along the guide without requiring adhesion or tight bonding, eliminating the reliability issue of the linear member approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The breaking guide divides the separator into segments or creates a predetermined fracture path. This segmentation allows the separator to be broken into manageable pieces along the guide, ensuring reliable disassembly without requiring the linear member to maintain tight adhesion throughout the entire peeling process.
3Ease of operation
If the linear member is pulled outward to peel off the sealing member, then disassembly can proceed, but the structure requires an additional member between the sealing member and separator which increases total element count
Solution Approach 1:
The breaking guide function is merged with the separator structure itself. Instead of having a separate linear member placed between the sealing member and separator, the breaking guide is formed directly on the separator (through recesses, protrusions, or material variations), combining the separator's structural function with its disassembly function, thus reducing the total number of elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The separator serves multiple functions: it provides its primary separation function and also contains the breaking guide feature that enables disassembly. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for a dedicated linear member, reducing device complexity while maintaining disassembly capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A disassembly procedure of a fuel cell places a sloped edge of a cracking tool on a bottom of a recess. The bottom of the recess as a point of application, an opening edge of the recess where a flat side of the cracking tool is placed, is a point of support, and force is applied at a base end of the cracking tool. Leverage is applied to the point of application by an external force creating a crack starts in a separator. The crack goes from the point of application toward a position outside electrodes of an MEA (membrane electrode assembly) but inside sealing members. The procedure then removes the broken separator to expose the MEA outside and cuts off an electrolyte membrane along a cut line CL outside the electrodes but inside the sealing members.