Separator Plate Sealing Structure Against Mechanical Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrochemical systems face challenges in withstanding mechanical loads without irreversible deformation of sealing elements, which can lead to efficiency reduction and safety risks, especially when handling flammable media.
Innovation Solution
The electrochemical arrangement features metallic separator plates with embossed sealing elements and support elements designed to absorb mechanical forces, allowing for elastic compression and preventing irreversible deformation, while maintaining the system's efficiency and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separator plates are designed with sealing elements for sealing electrochemical cells, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but the sealing elements are susceptible to irreversible plastic deformation under mechanical loads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cushioning element positioned between the separator plate and the sealing element. This cushioning element absorbs mechanical loads before they reach the sealing element, preventing irreversible plastic deformation. The cushioning element acts as a protective buffer that maintains sealing effectiveness while withstanding mechanical stresses, thereby resolving the contradiction between sealing reliability and resistance to mechanical deformation.
2Reliability
If protective measures are added to protect sealing elements from mechanical deformation, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a cushioning element that can be designed as a flexible component with simplified geometry. This flexible cushioning structure provides protection against mechanical deformation without requiring complex rigid protective housings or additional fastening mechanisms. The flexible nature of the cushioning element allows it to conform to the separator plate geometry, reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining protective functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively protects the sealing elements from irreversible deformation under mechanical stress, ensuring the electrochemical system's operational integrity and safety, even under impact conditions, without significant increase in spatial requirements or weight.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing elements of the separator plates are elastically deformable in the stack direction, so that a distance z of the plate planes of the separator plates to one another is reversibly reducible at least to a distance z2 by way of an elastic compression of at least one of the sealing elements of the separator plates
Data Source
AI summary
An electrochemical arrangement with two metallic separator plates which each define a plate plane and which are stacked in a stack direction perpendicular to the plate planes. The separator plates comprise sealing elements which are embossed into the separator plate and which are supported against one another for sealing the electrochemical cell which is arranged between the separator plates and which are reversibly deformable in the stack direction up to a distance z2. The arrangement further comprises at least one support element which is arranged between the separator plates and which is distanced to the sealing elements of the separator plates in a direction parallel to the plate planes.