Electrochemical cell carrier seal and processes for manufacturing and fitting said seal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10651482-B2
Application number	US-201415037158-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2014
Priority date	Dec 4, 2013
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

A seal is mountable in contact with two metal carriers of an electrochemical device, in particular a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) or a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyser cell (SOEC) for electrolysis of water vapour. This seal comprises a means for making the seal impermeable, comprising at least one vitreous material; and an electrically insulating supporting means that supports the impermeable means and that has two parallel main faces, an external peripheral edge and an internal peripheral edge, the seal being able to be mounted against these carriers via these main faces, which are covered with the impermeable means. The impermeable means partitions the supporting means between these internal and external edges while extending continuously from one of the main faces to the other through the supporting means, so that the impermeable means directly connects these carriers to each other.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electrochemical device comprising: two metal spans;
a seal gasket comprising:
a support electrically insulating comprising a one-piece frame in a porous material selected from the group formed by porous ceramics and porous minerals, which has two main parallel faces respectively facing the two metal spans, an external peripheral edge and an internal peripheral edge,
wherein the support is machined so as to define perforated surfaces through the frame forming at least one through-channel extending from one of the main faces to the other, with a predetermined geometry, wherein the gasket is mounted against these spans through these main faces,
a seal supported by the support and comprising at least one material of the glass or vitroceramic type, wherein two external portions of the seal cover at least partly respectively the two main faces, wherein an internal portion of the seal fills the at least one through-channel and connects the two external portions so that the seal continuously extends from one of said main faces to the other through the support, for forming at least one sealed partition continuously extending from one of said metal spans to the other so that the seal partitions the support between said internal peripheral edge and said external peripheral edge by, directly connecting these spans to each other,
wherein the two main parallel faces are spaced from the two metal spans by the at least one material of the glass or vitroceramic type.

2. The electrochemical device according to claim 1 , wherein said surfaces of said at least one channel are globally perpendicular to said main faces and extend in a peripheral direction globally concentric with said internal and external peripheral edges, continuously or discontinuously along said peripheral direction, tabs consisting of said frame being formed on either side of said at least one channel for connecting the latter to the remainder of the frame or to another adjacent channel, each tab having a volume of less than the one of said at least one channel.

3. The electrochemical device according to claim 2 , wherein said tabs are angularly shifted radially on either side of said at least one channel to maximize the length of the path of gases distributed by interconnectors formed by said spans and/or the pressure drops for these gases through said porous material of said frame.

4. The electrochemical device according to claim 2 , wherein said at least one sealed partition extends continuously in said peripheral direction, said tabs extending on either side of said at least one channel respectively towards said external peripheral edge and towards said internal peripheral edge.

5. The electrochemical device according to claim 4 , wherein the gasket comprises at least two said concentric seal partitions which are connected pairwise to each other through said radial tabs.

6. The electrochemical device according to claim 2 , wherein said at least one sealed partition extends discontinuously in said at least one peripheral direction while forming a plurality of partitioning portions.

7. The electrochemical device according to claim 6 , wherein the gasket comprises at least two sealed partitions each formed with said plurality of partitioning portions accommodated in said channels crossing said frame which are machined according to curvilinear, rectilinear, undulated geometries and/or as broken lines and which are filled with the seal, these partitioning portions being connected pair wise with each other in the peripheral direction through said tabs.

8. The electrochemical device according to claim 6 , wherein the gasket comprises a multitude of said sealed partitions which are respectively formed with a multitude of holes crossing said frame, which form said channels machined at regular intervals between said internal peripheral edge and said external peripheral edge and which are filled with the seal.

9. The electrochemical device according to claim 1 , wherein the seal is based on glass or vitroceramic, and in that the support consist of a machined sheet in the porous material selected from the group formed by porous ceramics and porous minerals including mica.

10. A method for manufacturing and assembling a gasket in an electrochemical device, wherein the method comprises:
(a) machining of a support electrically insulating comprising a one-piece frame in a porous material selected from the group formed by porous ceramics and porous minerals, which has two main parallel faces respectively facing two metal spans, an external peripheral edge and an internal peripheral edge, for perforating at least one through-channel from one of said main faces to the other through the support,
(b) depositing a seal, such as a glass or vitroceramic paste, onto said main faces and in said at least one through-channel for obtaining a blank of the gasket before assembling; and
(c) assembling the gasket within a stack of at least one cell of the device, comprising two metal spans, at a temperature comprised between 600° C. and 900° C. and under an applied pressure in order to melt the seal while setting the seal into place, so that two external portions of the seal cover at least partly respectively the two main faces of the support, wherein an internal portion of the seal fills the at least one through-channel and connects the two external portions so that the seal continuously extends from one of said metal spans to the other through the support, for forming at least one sealed partition continuously extending from one of said main faces to the other so that the seal partitions the support between said internal peripheral edge and said external peripheral edge by, directly connecting these spans to each other,
wherein the two main parallel faces are spaced, respectively, from the two metal spans.

11. An electrochemical device of the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) type or solid oxide high temperature steam electrolyzer (SOEC) type, the device comprising:
at least one cell which comprises a hydrogen electrode-electrolyte-oxygen electrode assembly and which delimits two chambers,
at least two electric contact elements with said at least one cell respectively positioned in contact with said electrodes,
at least two metal spans forming interconnectors which distribute into said at least one cell an electric current and gases; and
seal gaskets which are each mounted in contact with a pair of said interconnectors,
wherein at least one of said gaskets is a gasket comprising:
a support electrically insulating comprising a one-piece frame in a porous material selected from the group formed by porous ceramics and porous minerals, which has two main parallel faces respectively facing the two metal spans, an external peripheral edge and an internal peripheral edge, wherein the support is machined so as to define perforated surfaces through the frame forming at least one through-channel extending from one of the main faces to the other, with a predetermined geometry, wherein the gasket is mounted against these spans through these main faces,
a seal supported by the support and comprising at least one material of the glass or vitroceramic type, wherein two external portions of the seal cover at least partly respectively the two main faces, wherein an internal portion of the seal fills the at least one through-channel and connects the two external portions so that the seal continuously extends from one of said metal spans to the other through the support, for forming at least one sealed partition continuously extending from one of said main faces to the other so that the seal partitions the support between said internal peripheral edge and said externa

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Di Iorio Stéphane
• Oresic Bruno
• Petit Julien
• Reytier Magali

Classifications

• H01M8/0286

  Processes for forming seals · CPC title

• H01M8/0282

  Inorganic material · CPC title

• H01M8/0258

  characterised by the configuration of channels, e.g. by the flow field of the reactant or coolant · CPC title

• H01M8/0273 Primary

  with sealing or supporting means in the form of a frame · CPC title

• H01M8/1213

  characterised by the electrode/electrolyte combination or the supporting material · CPC title