Separator plate comprising an alternating edge in the port region

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023395941-A1
Application number	US-202318328602-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 2, 2023
Priority date	Jun 2, 2022
Publication date	Dec 7, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A separator plate for an electrochemical system, a bipolar plate comprising two such separator plates, an electrochemical cell, and an electrochemical system comprising a multiplicity of such separator plates or bipolar plates are disclosed. By way of example, the electrochemical system may be a fuel cell system, an electrochemical compressor, a redox flow battery or an electrolyzer. The separator plate for an electrochemical system, comprising at least one through-opening and at least one bead arrangement. An edge portion stretches between the at least one bead arrangement and a border of the at least one bead arrangement. The edge portion has recesses and projections starting from the border and alternating successively along a border contour in some portions, wherein the recesses project downwards out of the plate plane and the projections project upwards out of the plate plane.

First claim

1 . A separator plate for an electrochemical system, comprising at least one through-opening, having a border that delimits the through-opening, for the passage of a fluid; and
at least one bead arrangement, which extends around the through-opening at a distance from the border at least in some portions and projects upwards out of a plate plane defined by the separator plate, wherein an edge portion stretches between the at least one bead arrangement and the border, and the edge portion has recesses and projections starting from the border and alternating successively along a border contour in some portions, wherein the recesses project downwards out of the plate plane and the projections project upwards out of the plate plane.

2 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein the projections and the recesses are arranged at a distance from the closest bead arrangement to the border.

3 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein the border is substantially straight along its contour between the projections and recesses and/or the border is straight at least in some portions along its contour in the region of the projections and/or recesses.

4 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein the projections and recesses are formed having different lengths along the border and/or are formed having different widths perpendicularly to the border.

5 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein the projections and recesses each have, on their side remote from the through-opening, a flection border which, in its longitudinal direction, extends in parallel with the border.

6 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein the edge portion between the projections and recesses is located in the plate plane at least in some portions and/or is configured as a planar surface.

7 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , wherein
the at least one bead arrangement has a bead top and/or at least one projection has a projection top and/or at least one recess has a recess base, wherein the bead top, the projection top and/or the recess base is/are each oriented substantially in parallel with the plate plane and/or is/are configured as a planar surface.

8 . The separator plate according to claim 1 , comprising at least one strain-relief bead, spaced apart from the at least one bead arrangement, for relieving the strain on the at least one bead arrangement when the separator plate is in a compressed state, wherein the border has a curved portion at least in a corner region of the through-opening, and the strain-relief bead adjoins the curved portion of the border, or the strain-relief bead is arranged outside the edge portion such that the at least one bead arrangement extends between the strain-relief bead and the curved portion of the border.

9 . A separator plate for an electrochemical system, comprising
at least one through-opening, having a border delimiting the through-opening, for the passage of a fluid, wherein the border has a curved portion at least in a corner region of the through-opening, at least one bead arrangement, which extends around the through-opening at a distance from the border at least in some portions and projects upwards out of a plate plane defined by the separator plate, and at least one strain-relief bead, spaced apart from the at least one bead arrangement, for relieving the strain on the at least one bead arrangement when the separator plate is in a compressed state, wherein the strain-relief bead adjoins the curved portion of the border, or the strain-relief bead is arranged outside an edge portion stretching between the at least one bead arrangement and the curved portion of the border such that the at least one bead arrangement extends between the strain-relief bead and the curved edge portion.

10 . The separator plate according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one strain-relief bead is arranged such that a straight line extending in a longitudinal direction of the strain-relief bead intersects the curved portion of the border.

11 . The separator plate according to claim 9 , wherein at least one strain-relief bead has a cut-out at least in one of its end regions, which cut-out connects the edge region to the raised region of the strain-relief bead, wherein the cut-out is spaced apart from the at least one bead arrangement.

12 . The separator plate according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one bead arrangement, the projections, the recesses and/or the strain-relief bead are stamped into the separator plate.

13 . The separator plate according to claim 9 , wherein a height of the projections, a depth of the recesses and/or a height of the strain-relief bead, measured vertically from the plate plane, is/are different and/or is/are less than a height of the at least one bead arrangement.

14 . A bipolar plate comprising two interconnected separator plates, each according to claim 1 , wherein the separator plates are formed such that:
the through-openings are arranged in alignment with one another or so as to partly overlap, and the bead arrangements of the separator plates point away from one another.

15 . The bipolar plate according to claim 14 , wherein the recesses of one separator plate are in contact with the projections of the other separator plate at least in some portions and/or the recesses of one separator plate engage in the projections of the other separator plate.

16 . The bipolar plate according to claim 14 , wherein the edge portion of one separator plate is in contact with the edge portion of the other separator plate at least in some portions.

17 . The bipolar plate according to claim 16 , wherein the edge portions of the two separator plates are interconnected by means of at least one weld.

18 . A bipolar plate comprising two interconnected separator plates, each according to claim 9 , wherein the separator plates are formed such that:
the through-openings are arranged in alignment with one another or so as to partly overlap, and the bead arrangements of the separator plates point away from one another.

19 . An electrochemical cell comprising two separator plates according to claim 1 and a membrane electrode assembly arranged between the separator plates, wherein the through-openings are arranged in alignment with one another or so as to partly overlap, and the bead arrangements of the separator plates face one another, wherein the projections and/or the at least one strain-relief bead of the separator plates form support surfaces for the membrane electrode assembly.

20 . The electrochemical system comprising a multiplicity of stacked separator plates according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Reinz Dichtungs Gmbh

Inventors

• Speidel Andre
• Gaugler Bernd

Classifications

• H01M50/463 Primary

  Separators, membranes or diaphragms characterised by their shape · CPC title

• C25B1/04 Primary

  by electrolysis of water · CPC title

• C25B9/75

  having bipolar electrodes · CPC title

• C25B9/65

  Means for supplying current; Electrode connections; Electric inter-cell connections · CPC title

• C25B15/08

  Supplying or removing reactants or electrolytes; Regeneration of electrolytes · CPC title