专利汇可以提供Fuel cell专利检索,专利查询,专利分析的服务。并且A fuel cell includes a membrane-electrode assembly and a separator. The membrane-electrode assembly has an electrolyte and a pair of electrodes that are disposed on respective sides of the electrolyte. The membrane-electrode assembly and the separator are stacked in a stacking direction. A reaction surface of the membrane-electrode assembly is in a vertical direction along a direction of gravity and has a shape having a longer dimension in a horizontal direction. The fuel cell is provided with a reactant gas passage to allow a reactant gas to flow along a longitudinal direction of the reaction surface. The reactant gas is an oxidant gas or a fuel gas. A drain channel to allow product water from the reactant gas passage to be drained away is disposed between the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator and under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity.,下面是Fuel cell专利的具体信息内容。
What is claimed is:
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. $119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-004161, filed Jan. 12, 2011, entitled “Fuel Cell.” The contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell.
2. Discussion of the Background
For example, in a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) is sandwiched between a pair of separators, the membrane-electrode assembly including a polymer electrolyte membrane formed of a polymer ion exchange membrane, and the anode and cathode electrodes that are disposed on the respective sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane. In general, a plurality of fuel cells is stacked together to form a fuel cell stack, and in addition to stationary use, the fuel cell stack is incorporated into a fuel cell vehicle to be used as an in-vehicle fuel cell system.
The above-mentioned fuel cell is provided with a fuel gas passage for passing a fuel gas to the anode electrode (hereinafter, referred to as a reactant gas passage), and an oxidant gas passage for passing an oxidant gas to the cathode electrode (hereinafter, also referred to as a reactant gas passage), within the respective surfaces of the separators. In addition, a cooling medium passage for passing therethrough a cooling medium is provided in the longitudinal direction of the separators, for each power generation cell or for each set of a plurality of power generation cells.
In this type of fuel cell, in order to secure a favorable ionic conduction property, the electrolyte membrane needs to be maintained at a certain water content. For this reason, a system is employed, in which an oxidant gas (for example, air) and a fuel gas (for example, hydrogen gas) as reactant gases are humidified and supplied to the fuel cells.
When the reactant gases are humidified, water contained in the reaction gases used for the humidification may be liquefied without being absorbed in the electrolyte membrane, and may stay in the reactant gas passages. On the other hand, in the fuel cell, water is produced in the cathode electrode by the power generation reaction, while the product water diffuses back into the anode electrode via the electrolyte membrane. Consequently, at the lower end, in the direction of gravity, of the reactant gas passage, water content tends to condense and remain due to the effect of gravity, and thus flooding of the condensed water may occur.
As a fuel cell configured to efficiently drain product water while effectively discharging exhausted gas, there is known, for example, the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3123992. As shown in
The cell 2 includes a solid polymer electrolyte 2a which is sandwiched between a cathode 2b and an anode 2c. In the cathode-side passage substrate 3, a plurality of cathode-side passages 3a are formed, while in the anode-side passage substrate 4, a plurality of anode-side passages 4a are formed.
On the upstream side of the frame 1, there are formed a pair of water supply manifold holes 5a, a groove hole 5b through which the water supply manifold holes 5a communicate with the anode-side passages 4a, a pair of fuel gas supply manifold holes 6a, and a groove hole 6b through which the fuel gas supply manifold holes 6a communicate with the anode-side passages 4a. On the downstream side of the frame 1, there are formed a pair of fuel gas discharge manifold holes 7a, a groove hole 7b through which the fuel gas discharge manifold holes 7a communicate with the anode-side passages 4a, a pair of water discharge manifold holes 8a, and a groove hole 8b through which the water discharge manifold holes 8a communicate with the anode-side passages 4a.
Then unreacted fuel gas which has passed through the anode-side passages 4a is discharged from the groove hole 7b to the outside of the battery through the fuel gas discharge manifold holes 7a, while the water which has passed through the anode-side passages 4a is discharged from the groove hole 8b to the outside of the battery through the water discharge manifold holes 8a.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a fuel cell includes a membrane-electrode assembly and a separator. The membrane-electrode assembly has an electrolyte and a pair of electrodes that are disposed on respective sides of the electrolyte. The membrane-electrode assembly and the separator are stacked in a stacking direction. A reaction surface of the membrane-electrode assembly is in a vertical direction along a direction of gravity and has a shape having a longer dimension in a horizontal direction. The fuel cell is provided with a reactant gas passage to allow a reactant gas to flow along a longitudinal direction of the reaction surface. The reactant gas is an oxidant gas or a fuel gas. A drain channel to allow product water from the reactant gas passage to be drained away is disposed between the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator and under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a fuel cell includes a first separator and a membrane-electrode assembly. The membrane-electrode assembly has an electrolyte and a pair of electrodes disposed on respective sides of the electrolyte. The membrane-electrode assembly and the first separator are stacked in a stacking direction. The reaction surface of the membrane-electrode assembly is in a vertical direction along a direction of gravity and has a shape having a longer dimension in a horizontal direction. The reactant gas passage is to allow a reactant gas to flow along a longitudinal direction of the reaction surface. The first drain channel is provided between the membrane-electrode assembly and the first separator to allow product water from the reactant gas passage to be drained away. The first drain channel is disposed under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding or identical elements throughout the various drawings.
As shown in
The fuel cell stack 14 is formed by stacking a plurality of fuel cells 10. As shown in
The cathode electrode 24 and the anode electrode 26 have a gas diffusion layer which is formed of carbon paper or the like, and an electrode catalyst layer which is formed by uniformly coating the surface of the gas diffusion layer with porous carbon particles which carry platinum alloy (or Ru) on the surfaces thereof. The electrode catalyst layer is formed on the both sides of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22.
The membrane-electrode assembly 28 includes a picture-frame-shaped frame member 29 which surrounds the outer periphery of the cathode electrode 24 and the anode electrode 26. As shown in
The membrane-electrode assembly 28 is arranged in an upright position so as to be parallel to the vertical direction (the direction of an arrow C), while the cathode electrode 24 and the anode electrode 26 have a vertical reaction surface, and are formed in a shape having a longer dimension in the horizontal direction (the direction of an arrow B).
The membrane-electrode assembly 28 is sandwiched between a cathode-side separator 30 and an anode-side separator 32 that have a horizontally long shape, and is stacked in the horizontal direction (the direction of an arrow A). The cathode-side separator 30 and the anode-side separator 32 are formed of, for example, a carbon separator or a metal separator.
An oxidant gas passage (reactant gas passage) 34 is provided between the cathode side separator 30 and the membrane-electrode assembly 28, while a fuel gas passage (reactant gas passage) 36 is provided between the anode-side separator 32 and the membrane-electrode assembly 28. A cooling medium passage 38 is provided between the cathode-side separator 30 and the anode-side separator 32.
As shown in
As shown in
The oxidant gas supply communication hole 40a is disposed at the upper corner of one end side in the longitudinal direction (the direction of the arrow B) of the fuel cell 10, while the fuel gas supply communication hole 42a is disposed at the upper corner of the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10. The oxidant gas discharge communication hole 40b is disposed at the lower corner of the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10, while the fuel gas discharge communication hole 42b is disposed at the lower corner of one end side in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10. The cooling medium supply communication hole 44a is disposed in the middle of the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10, while the cooling medium discharge communication hole 44b is disposed in the middle of one end side in the longitudinal direction of the fuel cell 10.
As shown in
The cathode-side drain channel 46 is disposed in the surface of the cathode-side separator 30 so as to extend in the longer side direction (the direction of the arrow B), and the cathode-side drain channel 46 and the oxidant gas discharge communication hole 40b are connected via a drain passage 48. The bottom surface of the oxidant gas discharge communication hole 40b is disposed lower than the cathode-side drain channel 46 by a distance h. By inclining the bottom surface of the cathode-side drain channel 46 so as to have a downward slope toward the drain passage 48 (see the chain double-dashed line in
In the cathode-side separator 30, a plurality of communication grooves 50 are formed by cutting out portions of a connection region 49 where a passage groove 34a that is located lowest in the direction of gravity, and the cathode-side drain channel 46 are connected to each other. In the membrane-electrode assembly 28, the frame member 29 is disposed at least part of the connection region 49.
As shown in
The anode-side drain channel 52 is disposed in the surface of the anode-side separator 32 so as to extend in the longer side direction (the direction of the arrow B), and the anode-side drain channel 52 and the fuel gas discharge communication hole 42b are connected via a drain passage 54. By inclining the bottom face of the anode-side drain channel 52 so as to have a downward slope toward the drain passage 54 (see the chain double-dashed line in
In the anode-side separator 32, a plurality of communication grooves 56 are formed by cutting out portions of a connection region 55 where a passage groove 36a that is located lowest in the direction of gravity, and the anode-side drain channel 52 are connected to each other. In the membrane-electrode assembly 28, the frame member 29 is disposed at least part of the connection region 55.
As shown in
As shown in
The oxidant gas supply unit 16 is provided with an air discharge passage 70 that communicates with the oxidant gas discharge communication hole 40b. The air discharge passage 70 communicates with the humidifying medium passage (not shown) of the humidifier 68, and is provided with an opening ratio-adjustable back pressure control valve 72 to adjust the pressure of the air supplied from the air pump 64 to the fuel cell stack 14 through the air supply passage 66.
The fuel gas supply unit 18 is provided with a hydrogen tank (not shown) that stores high pressure hydrogen. The fuel gas supply unit 18 supplies hydrogen from the hydrogen tank to the fuel cell stack 14, and circulates a discharge gas and supplies it again as a fuel gas to the fuel cell stack 14, the discharge gas including the hydrogen gas that has not been used in the fuel cell stack 14 power generations.
The cooling medium supply unit 20 includes a coolant pump and a radiator (not shown) to circulate a cooling medium through the fuel cell stack 14.
The operation of the fuel cell 10 configured in this manner is described below.
As shown in
As shown in
On the other hand, the hydrogen gas supplied from the fuel gas supply unit 18 is supplied to the fuel gas supply communication hole 42a of the fuel cell stack 14. The hydrogen gas supplied into the fuel cell stack 14 is supplied to the anode electrode 26 while being moved horizontally along the fuel gas passage 36 of each fuel cell 10 (see
Exhausted hydrogen gas is discharged from the fuel gas discharge communication hole 42b, while water on the cathode electrode 24 side permeates to the anode electrode 26 side via the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22, and the fuel gas humidified by the water is supplied again to the fuel cell stack 14. Consequently, the air supplied to the cathode electrode 24 reacts with the hydrogen gas supplied to the anode electrode 26, and thus electric power is generated.
In addition, a cooling medium is introduced into the fuel cell stack 14 by the cooling medium supply unit 20. The cooling medium cools the fuel cell 10 while moving horizontally along the cooling medium passage 38, and then returns from the cooling medium discharge communication hole 44b.
When power is generated by each fuel cell 10 in the fuel cell stack 14 in the above manner, water is produced in the oxidant gas passage 34 by the power generation reaction. The oxidant gas passage 34 is formed with the longer side in the horizontal direction, and the product water moves in the direction of gravity on the way through the oxidant gas passage 34, and thus tends to remain in the vertically lower portion of the reaction surface.
To prevent such a case, in the first embodiment, as shown in
Thus, in the first embodiment, with a simple configuration, the product water which tends to remain in the lower portion of the reaction surface in the direction of gravity may be easily and securely discharged from the reaction surface. Consequently, the fuel cell 10 provides the effect that the most suitable environment for power generation may be favorably maintained.
On the other hand, there is produced water in the fuel gas passage 36, that is diffused back from the oxidant gas passage 34 through the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22. The product water moves in the direction of gravity on the way through the fuel gas passage 36, and thus tends to remain in the vertically lower portion of the reaction surface.
Here, as shown in
The same components as those of the fuel cell 10 according to the first embodiment are labeled with the same reference symbols, and detailed description is omitted. Similarly, in a third embodiment described below, detailed description is omitted.
In the fuel cell 80, a membrane-electrode assembly 82 is sandwiched between a cathode-side separator 84 and an anode-side separator 86. The fuel cell 80 is provided with a cathode-side drain communication hole 88 which is adjacent to the lower side of the oxidant gas discharge communication hole 40b, and is formed as a through hole in the stacking direction (the direction of the arrow A) as well as an anode-side drain communication hole 90 which is adjacent to the lower side of the fuel gas discharge communication hole 42b, and is formed as a through hole in the stacking direction.
As shown in
As shown in
In the second embodiment configured in this manner, the dedicated cathode-side drain communication hole 88 is provided to drain water from the oxidant gas passage 34, and the dedicated anode-side drain communication hole 90 is provided to drain water from the fuel gas passage 36. Accordingly, the effect that drain treatment is performed separately on each side is obtained along with similar effects to those of the first embodiment.
In the fuel cell 100, a membrane-electrode assembly 102 is sandwiched between a cathode-side separator 104 and an anode-side separator 106. As shown in
The outer peripheral edge of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 22a is provided with a protective film (frame member) 108 by overlapping with the respective portion of the outer peripheral edges of the cathode-side separator 104 and the anode-side separator 106.
The cathode-side separator 104 and the anode-side separator 106 are provided with connection regions 49 and 55, respectively, which are not provided with a communication groove. In the membrane-electrode assembly 102, the cathode electrode 24 and the anode electrode 26 each having a porous gas diffusion layer are arranged in the connection regions 49, 55, and thus product water may be discharged via the porous gas diffusion layer without having a communication groove.
In the third embodiment configured in this manner, the connection regions 49, 55 are not each provided with a communication groove, and thus the effect that the configuration is further simplified is obtained along with similar effects to those of the first embodiment.
A fuel cell according to the embodiment includes a membrane-electrode assembly having an electrolyte and a pair of electrodes that are disposed on respective sides of the electrolyte, and a separator, where the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator are stacked in the horizontal direction, the reaction surface is in the vertical direction in the direction of gravity and is in a shape having its longer dimension in the horizontal direction, and the fuel cell is provided with a reactant gas passage configured to allow a reactant gas to flow along the longitudinal direction of the reaction surface, the reactant gas being an oxidant gas or a fuel gas.
The fuel cell is provided with a drain channel configured to allow product water from the reactant gas passage to drain is disposed between the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator and under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity. The water that has moved under the reaction surface in the direction of gravity is stored in the discharge groove and is discharged to the outside of the fuel cell. Accordingly, with a simple configuration, the product water which tends to remain in the lower portion of the reaction surface in the direction of gravity may be easily and securely discharged from the reaction surface. Consequently, the fuel cell can favorably maintain the most suitable power generating environment.
In addition, in the fuel cell, an oxidant gas passage and one drain channel are preferably formed between one separator and one surface of the membrane-electrode assembly, the oxidant gas passage being the reactant gas passage configured to allow the oxidant gas to flow in the longitudinal direction of the reaction surface, and the one drain channel being located under the oxidant gas passage in the direction of gravity, and configured to allow product water to discharge from the oxidant gas passage, while a fuel gas passage and the other drain channel are preferably formed between the other separator and the other surface of the membrane-electrode assembly, the fuel gas passage being the reactant gas passage configured to allow the fuel gas to flow in the longitudinal direction of the reaction surface, and the other drain channel being located under the fuel gas passage in the direction of gravity, and configured to allow product water to discharge from the fuel gas passage.
Furthermore, in the fuel cell, the membrane-electrode assembly preferably includes a picture-frame-shaped frame member that surrounds an outer periphery of the electrode, the end of the frame member on the electrode side is preferably disposed at a connection region between the lower end of the reactant gas passage and the drain channel, and a communication groove is preferably formed in the separator by cutting out the connection region, the communication groove allowing the reactant gas passage to communicate with the drain channel.
Furthermore, in the fuel cell, the fuel cell preferably includes a reactant gas outlet communication hole which communicates with an outlet of the reactant gas passage, and is formed as a through hole in the stacking direction of the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator, and a drain passage is preferably disposed, via which the drain channel and the reactant gas outlet communication hole communicate with each other.
Furthermore, in the fuel cell, the fuel cell preferably includes a reactant gas outlet communication hole which communicates with an outlet of the reactant gas passage, and is formed as a through hole in the stacking direction of the membrane-electrode assembly and the separator, and a drain communication hole which is adjacent to the lower side of the reactant gas outlet communication hole and is preferably formed as a through hole in the stacking direction, and communicates with the drain channel.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
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