Fuel Cell Separator Projecting Section Seal Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fuel cell separators suffer from seal member contraction and deformation due to fluid pressure fluctuations, impairing their sealing function.
Innovation Solution
The separator design features inverted projections and recesses on its surfaces, with a manifold and projecting sections that act as spacers to prevent seal member deformation, ensuring effective fluid sealing without obstructing fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal member is provided around the manifold to seal the fluid, then the sealing function is improved, but the seal member contracts and deforms due to fluid pressure fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
A projecting section is introduced as an intermediary element between the seal member and the separator edge. This projecting section absorbs the fluid pressure fluctuations and prevents them from directly acting on the seal member, thereby maintaining the seal member's shape stability while preserving the sealing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The projecting section is pre-formed on the separator before assembly, creating a predetermined structural feature that proactively protects the seal member from pressure-induced deformation. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures the seal member maintains its integrity throughout operation.
2Length of stationary object
If ribs are formed as spacers outside the seal member to maintain spacing, then the spacing function is improved, but the seal member still contracts and deforms
Solution Approach 1:
The projecting section serves as a dual-function intermediary: it maintains the necessary spacing between separators while simultaneously protecting the seal member from fluid pressure. This single element replaces the need for separate ribs and resolves the conflict between spacing and sealing reliability.
3Reliability
If the separator structure is modified to protect the seal member, then the sealing reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The projecting section integrates multiple functions into a single structural element: it serves as both a spacer to maintain separator spacing and a protective feature to prevent seal member deformation. This merging of functions reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving improved sealing reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The contraction and deformation of a seal member are inhibited. To realize this, in a separator in which the shapes of projections and recesses forming at least fluid passages are inverted from each other on the front surface and the back surface of the separator and which is provided with a manifold for supplying and discharging a fluid, the separator, when a seal member for sealing the fluid is provided along the edge side of the separator forming the contour of the manifold, a projecting section capable of functioning as a spacer between the separator and another member adjacent to the separator is provided between the seal member and the edge side.