Assembly for thermal management of a fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10347927-B2
Application number	US-201715652331-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2017
Priority date	Jul 18, 2017
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A fuel cell assembly including a plate assembly having an anode inlet, a cathode inlet, a first coolant inlet, and a second coolant inlet is provided. The first coolant inlet is located adjacent the anode inlet on a first plate side. The second coolant inlet is located adjacent the cathode inlet on a second plate side. The inlets are arranged such that coolant influences reactant temperature at the anode and cathode inlets to encourage formation of a membrane uniform hydration distribution during fuel cell operation. The fuel cell assembly may include a hydrogen channel, an oxygen channel, and a coolant channel. The coolant channel may extend between the hydrogen channel and the oxygen channel to draw heat from hydrogen and oxygen flowing therethrough and such that the hydrogen and oxygen are close enough to one another for chemical reaction therebetween.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell assembly comprising:
a plate assembly including an anode inlet, a cathode inlet, a first coolant inlet located adjacent the anode inlet on a first plate side, and a second coolant inlet located adjacent the cathode inlet on a second plate side,
wherein the inlets are arranged such that coolant influences reactant temperature at the anode and cathode inlets to encourage formation of a membrane uniform hydration distribution during fuel cell operation.

2. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
a hydrogen channel extending between the anode inlet and an anode outlet disposed on the second plate side;
an oxygen channel extending between the cathode inlet and a cathode outlet disposed on the first plate side; and
a coolant channel extending between the first coolant inlet and a coolant outlet,
wherein the coolant channel extends between the hydrogen channel and the oxygen channel to draw heat from hydrogen and oxygen flowing therethrough and such that the hydrogen and oxygen are close enough to one another for chemical reaction therebetween.

3. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a first coolant outlet disposed on a third plate side, a second coolant outlet disposed on a fourth plate side, and a coolant flow field fluidly connecting the coolant inlets and outlets, wherein the coolant inlets and the coolant outlets are arranged with one another such that a flow rate of coolant from the coolant inlets to the coolant outlets is uniformly distributed across the coolant flow field.

4. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a first coolant outlet disposed on a third plate side, a second coolant outlet disposed on a fourth plate side, and a coolant flow field fluidly connecting the coolant inlets and outlets, wherein the coolant flow field includes a central region having one or more columns to influence coolant flow turbulence to promote a uniform coolant flow rate from the coolant inlets to the coolant outlets.

5. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plate assembly further includes two plates, each plate including a pair of serpentine walls arranged with one another to form two separate coolant channels between the serpentine walls, a hydrogen channel extending substantially perpendicular to a portion of one of the coolant channels and between the anode inlet and an anode outlet, and an oxygen channel extending substantially perpendicular to a portion of one of the coolant channels and between the cathode inlet and a cathode outlet, and wherein the channels are arranged with one another such that the hydrogen channel and the oxygen channel are adjacent one another to promote chemical reactions therebetween and such that coolant flowing through the coolant channel is in thermal communication with hydrogen and oxygen flowing through the hydrogen channel and the oxygen channel.

6. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
a first pressure regulator for controlling a first coolant flow pressure at the first coolant inlet;
a second pressure regulator for controlling a second coolant flow pressure at the second coolant inlet; and
a third pressure regulator for controlling a third coolant flow pressure at a first coolant outlet,
wherein the pressure regulators are tuned to promote a constant coolant flow from the coolant inlets to the coolant outlets.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the arrangement of the inlets influences reactant temperature at the anode inlet and the cathode inlet to be between sixty degrees Celsius and seventy degrees Celsius.

8. A fuel cell plate assembly comprising:
a hydrogen channel extending from an anode inlet to an anode outlet;
an oxygen channel extending from a cathode inlet to a cathode outlet; and
first and second coolant channel configurations each including a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet,
wherein the anode inlet and the cathode outlet are located on a first plate side, the cathode inlet and the anode outlet are located on a second plate side, each of the coolant inlets are located on a third plate side, and each of the coolant outlets are located on a fourth plate side such that coolant within the first and second coolant channel configurations flows in a direction substantially perpendicular to a portion of hydrogen flowing within the hydrogen channel and oxygen flow within the oxygen channel.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the coolant inlets is located adjacent one of the anode inlet and the cathode inlet such that a reactant passing through the anode inlet or the cathode inlet is in thermal communication with coolant entering one of the coolant inlets.

10. The assembly of claim 8 further comprising three pressure regulators each positioned at one of the coolant inlets and the coolant outlet, wherein the pressure regulators are tuned to promote a substantially constant coolant flow between the coolant inlets and the coolant outlet.

11. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the first and second coolant channel configurations each define a serpentine shape between respective coolant inlets and coolant outlets.

12. The assembly of claim 8 further comprising:
a pressure regulator at each of the coolant inlets and the coolant outlets;
a sensor at each of the anode inlet and the cathode inlet to monitor thermal conditions of an entering reactant; and
a controller in communication with the pressure regulators and the sensor and programmed to adjust a coolant pressure based on the monitored thermal conditions of the anode inlet or the cathode inlet.

13. The assembly of claim 12 , wherein the controller directs the pressure regulators to operate to maintain constant coolant flow rate throughout the first and second coolant channel configurations.

14. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the arrangement of the inlets influences reactant temperature at the anode inlet and the cathode inlet to be between sixty degrees Celsius and seventy degrees Celsius.

15. A fuel cell assembly comprising:
a plate assembly including a first coolant inlet located between an anode inlet and a cathode outlet, a second coolant inlet located between a cathode inlet and an anode outlet, and a third coolant inlet located on a plate assembly first side opposite a coolant outlet located on a plate assembly second side; and
three pressure regulators each for controlling a coolant flow pressure through one of the first coolant inlet, the second coolant inlet, and the third coolant inlet,
wherein the pressure regulators are arranged with one another to tune the coolant flow pressure such that the coolant flow pressure at the coolant outlet is less than the coolant flow pressure at the third coolant inlet which is less than the coolant flow pressure at the first and second coolant inlets.

16. The assembly of claim 15 , wherein the three pressure regulators are tuned to promote a substantially constant coolant flow at a central region of the plate assembly.

17. The assembly of claim 15 , wherein the three pressure regulators are tuned to promote a flow pressure at the first and second coolant inlets of approximately 3.0 atmospheres, and a flow pressure at the third coolant inlet of approximately 1.3 atmospheres.

18. The assembly of claim 15 further comprising a fourth pressure regulator for maintaining a coolant flow pressure through the coolant outlet at a pressure lower than a pressure of the coolant inlets.

19. The assembly of claim 15 further comprising:
a sensor located at each coolant inlet and outlet for measuring a pressure of coolant flow; and
a control

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Pence Benjamin
• Debolt Michael Allen
• Nelson Valerie Anne
• Wilkosz Daniel E

Classifications

• H01M8/04768 Primary

  of the coolant · CPC title

• H01M8/0263

  having meandering or serpentine paths · CPC title

• H01M8/04007

  related to heat exchange · CPC title

• H01M8/04417

  of the coolant · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title