Separator having a plurality of riblet elements connected by a plurality of connecting bars, and fuel cell stack comprising the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10714780-B2
Application number	US-201615741864-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2016
Priority date	Jul 31, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

The present invention relates to a separator and a fuel cell stack comprising the same, and according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a separator comprising: a plurality of riblet elements arranged to be spaced apart at a predetermined interval; and a plurality of connecting bars connecting two adjacent riblet elements, wherein each of the riblet elements comprises a contact portion having a predetermined area, and a first partition wall and a second partition wall each extended from both sides of the contact portion, the space formed by the first partition wall, the contact portion and the second partition wall is opened along the connection direction of the connecting bar, and at least two riblet elements are provided such that each of the contact portions has a different area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A separator comprising:
a plurality of riblet elements arranged to be spaced apart at a predetermined interval; and
a plurality of connecting bars connecting two adjacent riblet elements at opposite ends of each riblet element,
wherein each of the riblet elements comprises a contact portion for contacting a gas diffusion layer, the contact portion having a predetermined area, and a first partition wall and a second partition wall each extended from both sides of said contact portion,
wherein the space formed by the first partition wall, the contact portion and the second partition wall is opened along the connection direction of the connecting bar, and
wherein at least two riblet elements are provided such that each of the contact portions has a different area,
wherein the plurality of connecting bars connect riblet elements adjacent along a first direction, and
wherein some adjacent connecting bars are connected intermittently along a first continuous line in the first direction.

2. The separator according to claim 1 ,
wherein the connecting bar is provided so as to connect two adjacent first partition walls or two adjacent second partition walls.

3. The separator according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first partition wall and the second partition wall are each formed to have different inclination angles with respect to the connecting bar from each other.

4. The separator according to claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of riblet elements are arranged coaxially along the first direction.

5. The separator according to claim 4 ,
wherein the riblet elements are arranged along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction so that the centers of the first partition wall and the second partition wall of each riblet element do not coincide with each other.

6. The separator according to claim 4 ,
wherein the plurality of riblet elements are arranged along the first direction so that the contact portions have different areas from each other alternately.

7. The separator according to claim 6 ,
wherein the plurality of riblet elements are arranged along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction so that the contact portions have different areas from each other alternately.

8. The separator according to claim 1 ,
wherein some adjacent connecting bars are all connected continuously along a second line in the first direction.

9. A fuel cell stack comprising:
a membrane-electrode assembly;
a gas diffusion layer provided on one side of the membrane-electrode assembly;
the separator according to claim 1 , each riblet element of the separator being in contact with the gas diffusion layer; and
a plate provided to surround the separator in contact with the plurality of connection bars,
wherein the first partition wall and the second partition wall of each riblet element is extended from both sides of the contact portion toward the plate.

10. The fuel cell stack according to claim 9 ,
wherein the connecting bar is provided so as to connect two adjacent first partition walls or two adjacent second partition walls along the first direction.

11. The fuel cell stack according to claim 10 ,
wherein the plurality of riblet elements are arranged coaxially along the first direction,
each of the riblet elements is arranged along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction so that the centers of the first partition wall and the second partition wall do not coincide with each other, and
a reaction gas is supplied to the first partition wall side to flow along said second direction.

12. The fuel cell stack according to claim 11 ,
wherein said separator is divided into a first half flow channel and a second half flow channel through which the reaction gas flows at a specific position along the second direction, and
the second half flow channel is provided so that the generated water can flow continuously in the direction opposite to the flow direction of the reaction gas through the space between the connecting bars.

13. The fuel cell stack according to claim 12 ,
wherein in the second half flow channel, some adjacent connecting bars are connected intermittently along the first direction so as to provide a flow passage of the generated water.

14. The fuel cell stack according to claim 12 ,
wherein in the first half flow channel, adjacent connecting bars are all connected continuously along the first direction.

15. The fuel cell stack according to claim 12 ,
wherein the length of the second half flow channel along the second direction is formed to be longer than the length of the first half flow channel along the second direction.

16. The fuel cell stack according to claim 12 ,
wherein in the first half flow channel, the contact portions of the plurality of riblet elements are arranged along the second direction to have the same area.

17. The fuel cell stack according to claim 12 ,
wherein in the second half flow channel, the plurality of riblet elements are arranged along the second direction so that the contact portions have different areas from each other alternately.

18. A fuel cell stack comprising:
a membrane-electrode assembly;
a gas diffusion layer provided on one side of the membrane-electrode assembly;
the separator according to claim 1 , each riblet element of the separator being in contact with the gas diffusion layer; and
a plate provided to surround the separator in contact with the plurality of connection bars,
wherein the first partition wall and the second partition wall of each riblet element is extended from both sides of said contact portion toward the plate, and
wherein the inclination of the first partition wall with respect to the contact portion and the inclination of the second partition wall with respect to the contact portion are set to be different from each other.

19. The fuel cell stack according to claim 18 ,
wherein a reaction gas is provided to be supplied to the first partition wall side.

20. The fuel cell stack according to claim 19 ,
wherein the first partition wall is inclined so that a velocity component toward the gas diffusion layer can be imparted to the flow of the reaction gas.

21. The fuel cell stack according to claim 19 , wherein the first partition wall has an inclination angle less than that of the second partition wall.

Assignees

• Lg Chemical Ltd

Inventors

• Jung Hye Mi
• Yang Jae Choon
• Jeong Jee Hoon

Classifications

• H01M8/1004 Primary

  characterised by membrane-electrode assemblies [MEA] (H01M8/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M8/0263

  having meandering or serpentine paths · CPC title

• H01M8/0297

  Arrangements for joining electrodes, reservoir layers, heat exchange units or bipolar separators to each other (H01M8/0271 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M8/026

  characterised by grooves, e.g. their pitch or depth · CPC title