CN115275297A

CN115275297A - Fuel cell module and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN115275297A
Application number: CN202210857482.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 覃博文; 蒋文彬; 张迪; 母宝生; 李洪涛
Original assignee: Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-20
Filing date: 2022-07-20
Publication date: 2022-11-01

Abstract

The application discloses a fuel cell module and a vehicle, which can reduce electromagnetic interference and improve the reliability of a fuel cell. The fuel cell module comprises a shell, a galvanic pile, a high-voltage component and a low-voltage component, wherein the shell is provided with an installation cavity; the electric pile is arranged in the mounting cavity and comprises a reactor core, the reactor core comprises more than two single cells which are stacked, and the single cells comprise bipolar plates and membrane electrodes; the high-voltage assembly comprises a copper bar assembly and an output terminal electrically connected with the copper bar assembly, the copper bar assembly is arranged in the mounting cavity, and the output terminal is mounted on the shell in a penetrating manner; the low-voltage assembly is arranged in the installation cavity and is electrically connected with the reactor core; the copper bar assembly and the low-voltage assembly are distributed on two opposite sides of the reactor core, so that the distance between the copper bar assembly and the low-voltage assembly is maximized, the electromagnetic interference between the copper bar assembly and the low-voltage assembly is reduced to the maximum extent, and the reliability of the fuel cell module is improved.

Description

Fuel cell module and vehicle

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of fuel cells, and particularly relates to a fuel cell module and a vehicle.

Background

The fuel cell electric automobile is considered to be one of the most important development technical routes of new energy automobiles due to the advantages of long driving range, convenient fuel filling, performance similar to that of the traditional automobile and the like.

The electric pile is a place where electrochemical reaction occurs, is also a core part of a fuel cell power system, and is formed by stacking and combining a plurality of single cells in series. The bipolar plates and the membrane electrode are alternately superposed, sealing elements are embedded among the monomers, and the monomers are tightly pressed by the air inlet end plate and the blind end plate and then are fastened and fastened by a fastening component to form the fuel cell stack. In the fuel cell stack structure, the single cell is an essential component thereof. The unit cell is generally composed of a membrane electrode, a bipolar plate, and a seal member. A plurality of single cells are connected in series, and then an end plate assembly for providing fastening and packaging force, a current collecting plate assembly for collecting and outputting electric energy and an insulation plate assembly for isolating the current collecting plate and the end plate are arranged at two ends of the single cells, so that a bare pile can be formed. The fuel cell module comprises a bare stack, a corresponding packaging structure, a high-voltage output structure, a low-voltage monitoring structure, a corresponding sealing structure and a fuel cell module, wherein the bare stack is externally wrapped with the corresponding packaging structure for fixing and protecting internal and external parts, and the high-voltage output structure is arranged between the bare stack and an outer shell, such as a high-voltage copper bar, an insulating plate and a through terminal, and the low-voltage monitoring structure is a voltage patrol detector, a hydrogen concentration sensor, a low-voltage plug wire harness and the like.

Current fuel cell modules, for convenient arrangement, usually have high voltage components and low voltage components disposed on two adjacent sides of the stack, for example, in the utility model "a high integration fuel cell module" (application No. CN 202121427656.3), but the low voltage components may be interfered by the electromagnetic interference of the high voltage components during operation, which in turn affects the reliability of the fuel cell. This effect is even more severe as the technology evolves and the stack volumetric power density increases progressively.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the technical problem, the application provides a fuel cell module and a vehicle, through setting up low pressure subassembly and high pressure subassembly relatively, reduce electromagnetic interference, improve fuel cell's reliability.

The technical solution adopted to achieve the object of the present application is a fuel cell module, including:

a housing provided with a mounting cavity;

the electric pile is arranged in the mounting cavity and comprises a reactor core, the reactor core comprises more than two single cells which are stacked, and the single cells comprise bipolar plates and membrane electrodes;

the high-voltage component comprises a copper bar component and an output terminal electrically connected with the copper bar component, the copper bar component is arranged in the mounting cavity, and the output terminal is mounted on the shell in a penetrating manner;

the low-voltage assembly is arranged in the installation cavity and is electrically connected with the reactor core;

the copper bar assemblies and the low-pressure assemblies are distributed on two opposite sides of the reactor core.

In some embodiments, the housing comprises a housing end plate and a housing body connected, the housing end plate and the housing body enclosing the mounting cavity;

the electric pile also comprises an air inlet end plate, an air inlet end insulating plate and an air inlet end current collecting plate which are positioned on the air inlet end side of the reactor core, a blind end current collecting plate, a blind end insulating plate and a blind end plate assembly which are positioned on the blind end side of the reactor core, and a fastening assembly which is connected with the air inlet end plate and the blind end plate assembly;

the shell end plate is parallel to the air inlet end plate; the air inlet end plate and/or the blind end plate assembly is provided with a positioning structure, and the air inlet end plate and/or the blind end plate assembly is connected with the shell body in a positioning mode through the positioning structure.

In certain embodiments, the casing end plate is integrated with the intake end plate or the blind end plate assembly; the gas inlet end plate or the dead end plate assembly is fixedly connected with the shell body through a first connecting piece, and the first connecting piece is parallel to the stacking direction of the reactor core.

In some embodiments, the inlet end plate is integrated with the casing end plate, the inlet end plate comprises an end plate body and a lap edge continuously arranged on the peripheral surface of the end plate body, the lap edge forms a limiting surface for positioning contact and fixed connection with the casing main body, and the end plate body is provided with a mounting position for mounting the fastening assembly.

In some embodiments, the gas inlet end plate further comprises a boss and an insulating table matched with the shape of the bipolar plate of the reactor core, and the boss is arranged at one end of the end plate body far away from the lap edge; the insulating table comprises an insulating sleeve and a fluid channel, the insulating sleeve is connected with the fluid channel, fluid media flow through the fluid channel, the insulating sleeve covers the outer surface of the boss to form the air inlet end insulating plate, and the fluid channel penetrates through the end plate body.

In certain embodiments, the housing body comprises a first housing and a second housing connected; the second shell is a flat plate, the first shell is a cover body, and the first shell is covered on the second shell; or the second shell and the first shell are both cover bodies.

In certain embodiments, the fastening assembly comprises at least two fastening units; the fastening unit comprises a fastening piece and fastening joints connected to two ends of the fastening piece, and the fastening joints are connected to the air inlet end plate and the dead end plate assembly; alternatively, the fastening unit includes an insulating support disposed between the core and the fastener, and the fastening joint.

In certain embodiments, the fastener is a tie rod, the tie rod and the fastening joint being a unitary structure; and/or the fastener is a steel belt, and the steel belt is welded to the fastening joint.

In certain embodiments, the fastening joint is connected to the air inlet end plate and the blind end plate assembly by a second connection piece that is parallel to or perpendicular to the stacking direction of the core.

In some embodiments, at least two fluid through holes are arranged on the bipolar plate, and the at least two fluid through holes are symmetrically distributed at two ends of the bipolar plate in the long side direction; the fluid fields of the anode plate and the cathode plate respectively comprise a distribution area, an active area and a confluence area which are sequentially distributed along the long side direction;

the width dimension h1 of the bipolar plate in the area of the fluid port is greater than the width dimension h2 of the bipolar plate in the area of the active region;

the fastening assembly comprises at least three fastening units, the at least three fastening units are distributed in the middle and the end parts of the air inlet end plate, and the thickness of the fastening units connected to the middle part is larger than that of the fastening units connected to the end parts.

In certain embodiments, the stack further includes a regulating assembly located at least one side of the core in the stacking direction, the regulating assembly including at least one regulating plate interposed in the stack to regulate a fastening force of the stack.

In some embodiments, the regulating plate is an insulator, and the regulating plate is arranged on one side of the air inlet end collecting plate and/or the blind end collecting plate, which is far away from the core; and/or the adjusting plate is a conductive piece and is arranged on one side, close to the reactor core, of the air inlet end collector plate and/or the blind end collector plate.

In some embodiments, the stack is disposed in a posture in which long sides of bipolar plates of the core are parallel to a horizontal direction, short sides are parallel to a vertical direction, and the stacking direction is parallel to a horizontal direction;

the output terminal is positioned above the electric pile; the copper bar assembly and the low-voltage assembly are respectively arranged at two ends of the galvanic pile along the long edge direction of the bipolar plate.

In some embodiments, the oxidizing medium inlet and the reducing medium outlet of the stack are located at an upper portion, and the oxidizing medium outlet and the reducing medium inlet of the stack are located at a lower portion; the cooling medium outlet and the cooling medium inlet of the electric pile are positioned in the middle;

and the shell is provided with a switching distribution joint communicated with the galvanic pile.

In some embodiments, the active area of the membrane electrode is 280 to 320 square centimeters; the thickness of the gas diffusion layer of the membrane electrode is 170-180 um, the thickness of the anode catalyst layer is 2-6 um, the thickness of the cathode catalyst layer is 12-16 um, and the thickness of the proton exchange membrane is 8-15 um.

In some embodiments, the flow channels of the bipolar plate comprise flow channel segments with different shapes and/or characteristic parameters, which are alternately distributed along the extension direction of the flow channels, and at least one of the flow channel segments is a linear flow channel.

In some embodiments, the substrate thickness of the bipolar plate is 0.075 to 0.1mm; the number of the flow passages is 60-150; the length of the flow channel is 200-250 mm; the total width of the 60-150 flow channels is 120-150 mm; the runner period of the runner is 0.8-1.5 mm; the depth is 0.25-0.55 mm; the inclination angle of the flow channel is 10-20 degrees; the ridge-groove ratio is 0.8-1.2; the fillet of the flow channel is not more than 0.2mm.

In some embodiments, the number of single cells in the core is 300 to 460; the distance between the polar plates of two adjacent monocells is 1.07-1.09 mm.

In certain embodiments, the low voltage assembly includes a voltage inspection device, a low voltage wire harness, and a connector assembly electrically connected in series with the tabs of the bipolar plate.

In some embodiments, the odd-numbered and/or even-numbered single cells in the core are provided with tabs, and each tab constitutes the tab row; the connector assemblies are connected to tabs of odd-numbered and/or even-numbered single cells in the core, and at least one of the connector assemblies is electrically connected to the low voltage harness.

In certain embodiments, at least one end of the core in the stacking direction is provided with a sealing structure; the sealing structure comprises at least one false membrane electrode and at least one polar plate unit which are alternately stacked; the false membrane electrode is of a membrane electrode structure which is provided with a sealing ring and cannot perform electrochemical reaction, and the polar plate unit is provided with a polar lug; and the connector assembly is electrically connected with the pole lug of the reactor core and the pole lug of the sealing structure.

In certain embodiments, the fuel cell module further comprises a low voltage receptacle mounted on the housing; the low-voltage component further comprises a hydrogen concentration sensor, and the hydrogen concentration sensor and the voltage inspection device are electrically connected with the low-voltage socket.

Based on the same inventive concept, the invention also provides a vehicle comprising the fuel cell module.

According to the technical scheme, the fuel cell module comprises a shell, a stack, a high-voltage assembly and a low-voltage assembly, wherein the stack, the high-voltage assembly and the low-voltage assembly are arranged in an installation cavity of the shell, the core part of the stack is a reactor core, the reactor core comprises a plurality of stacked monocells, each monocell comprises a bipolar plate and a membrane electrode, a reaction medium and a cooling medium are provided by the bipolar plates, and the reaction medium generates electrochemical reaction on the cathode side and the anode side of the membrane electrode to generate voltage. High-voltage component is including the copper bar subassembly that is used for connecting the pile and be connected with the copper bar subassembly electricity and be used for exporting highly compressed output terminal, the copper bar subassembly encapsulates in the installation cavity, output terminal runs through this casing, in high-voltage component, the copper bar subassembly can produce great electromagnetic interference to low-voltage component's normal work, therefore, in the fuel cell module that this application provided, copper bar subassembly and low-voltage component distribute in the double-phase offside of reactor core, the reactor core is located between copper bar subassembly and the low-voltage component promptly, make the interval between copper bar subassembly and the low-voltage component reach the biggest from this, thereby furthest reduces the electromagnetic interference between copper bar subassembly and the low-voltage component, improve the reliability of this fuel cell module.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a fuel cell module in example 1 of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a front view of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a left side view of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a right side view of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top view of fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the structure of a stack in the fuel cell module of fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural view of an inlet end plate in the stack of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural view of a core in the stack of fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a bipolar plate in the core of fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of the membrane electrode in the core of fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a structural view illustrating a sealing structure in the stack of fig. 6.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural view of a fastening unit in the stack of fig. 6.

Fig. 13 is a schematic view of the structure of the fuel cell module of fig. 1 in which a high-voltage assembly is connected to a current collecting plate.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural view of a low-pressure assembly in the fuel cell module of fig. 1.

Fig. 15 is a first wiring diagram of the core and low voltage components of the fuel cell module of fig. 1.

Fig. 16 is a second wiring diagram of the core and low voltage assembly of the fuel cell module of fig. 1.

Fig. 17 is a block diagram of a vehicle in embodiment 2 of the present application.

Description of reference numerals: 1000-fuel cell module.

100-a housing; 110-a housing body, 111-a first housing, 112-a second housing; 120-a shell end plate; 130-a first connector; 140-switching distribution joint.

200-electric pile; 210-inlet end plate, 211-end plate body, 2111-mounting position, 212-overlapping edge, 2121-limiting surface, 213-boss, 214-insulating table, 2141-insulating sleeve, 2142-fluid channel; 220-inlet end insulating plate; 230-an intake end collector plate; 240-reactor core, 241-bipolar plate, 242-membrane electrode, 243-tab row, 244-tab, 245-fluid port, 2451-oxidation medium inlet, 2452-reduction medium outlet, 2453-oxidation medium outlet, 2454-reduction medium inlet, 2455-cooling medium outlet, 2456-cooling medium inlet, 246-distribution region, 247-active region, 248-confluence region, 249-flow channel and 2491-flow channel section; 250-a blind end collector plate; 260-a dead end insulating plate; 270-blind end plate assembly, 271-blind end plate, 272-disc spring support plate; 280-fastening component, 281-fastening unit, 282-fastening component, 283-fastening joint, 284-insulating support, 285-second connecting component; 290-sealing structure, 291-false membrane electrode, 292-polar plate unit; 201-sealing ring.

300-a high voltage component; 310-a copper bar assembly; 320-output terminal.

400-a low voltage component; 410-voltage inspection device; 420-connector component, 421-connector, 422-connection bit; 430-low voltage wiring harness; 440-hydrogen concentration sensor.

500-low voltage socket.

Detailed Description

In order to make the present application more clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present application pertains, the following detailed description of the present application is made with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of specific embodiments.

In the related art, the number of unit cells of a fuel cell stack is generally 100 or less, the power of a unit stack is 50KW or less, and the overall power is low, so that the development requirements for a fuel cell module are relatively low, for example, requirements for electromagnetic interference of high-voltage components and low-voltage components, an end-side effect of a core, a problem of distribution uniformity of a fluid medium, and the like are low. But with the upgrading of technology, the market demand for high power fuel cells is gradually increasing. The output power of a high-power fuel cell is generally more than 100KW, the number of single cells in a reactor core is more than 200, and due to the obvious increase of the volume, some negligible problems exist in a low-power fuel cell, and the reliability and the output condition of the whole stack can be obviously influenced in the case of the high-power fuel cell. The specific problem analysis is as follows: 1) The gas distribution is uneven, so that the last batteries are not fully utilized, and the single-low phenomenon occurs; 2) The single battery is inconsistent, so that the voltage deviation of the single battery is overlarge; 3) The heat dissipation is not uniform, resulting in overheating of the middle monolithic cell. 4) The water drainage is difficult, and the water drainage is difficult under high current density, so that the pressure difference of an inlet and an outlet fluctuates, and the service life of the galvanic pile is influenced. 5) The electromagnetic interference generated by the high-voltage component is large, and the normal work of the low-voltage component is influenced. 6) The fastening force is increased due to the inconsistency of the monocells, the fastening force is unevenly distributed on the end plate, the sealing and positioning accuracy is poor, and the whole stack is difficult to assemble.

To this end, embodiments of the present application provide a fuel cell module and a vehicle that can solve the above-described technical problems of the related art to some extent and can form a high-power fuel cell with a power output of 120KW or more. The present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments by taking a hydrogen fuel cell as an example, and it should be noted that, for the hydrogen fuel cell, reaction media are hydrogen and air, the hydrogen is a reducing medium, the air is an oxidizing medium, and water is a cooling medium. Hereinafter, therefore, "hydrogen" is equivalent to "reducing medium", "air" is equivalent to "oxidizing medium", "water" and "cooling water" are all equivalent to "cooling medium":

example 1:

referring to fig. 1 to 5, the present embodiment provides a fuel cell module 1000, which includes a housing 100, a stack 200, a high voltage assembly 300, and a low voltage assembly 400, wherein the housing 100 is provided with a mounting cavity, and the stack 200, the high voltage assembly 300, and the low voltage assembly 400 are all provided in the mounting cavity of the housing 100, and may be all located in the mounting cavity, or may be partially located in the mounting cavity. The core 240 is a core component of the stack 200, and the core 240 is formed by repeatedly stacking a plurality of unit cells, each unit cell includes a bipolar plate 241 and a membrane electrode 242, the bipolar plates 241 provide a reaction medium and a cooling medium, and the reaction medium electrochemically reacts on the cathode side and the anode side of the membrane electrode 242 to generate a voltage. Referring to fig. 13, the high voltage assembly 300 includes a copper bar assembly 310 for connecting the stack 200 and an output terminal 320 electrically connected to the copper bar assembly 310 for outputting a high voltage, the copper bar assembly 310 is enclosed in the installation cavity, and the output terminal 320 penetrates through the housing 100.

In high-voltage component 300, copper bar subassembly 310 can produce great electromagnetic interference to low-voltage component 400's normal work, therefore, among the fuel cell module 1000 that the application provided, copper bar subassembly 310 and low-voltage component 400 distribute in the double-phase offside of reactor core 240, because the inlet end and the blind end of reactor core 200 all are provided with the end plate, be unfavorable for arranging electrical equipment, consequently, copper bar subassembly 310 and low-voltage component 400 arrange in the side of reactor core 200 usually, be on a parallel with the side of piling up the direction, specifically, copper bar subassembly 310 and low-voltage component 400 can be close to respectively in two long limits of bipolar plate 241 of reactor core 240, or be close to respectively in two minor faces of bipolar plate 241 of reactor core 240. Through the above arrangement, the core 240 is located between the copper bar assembly 310 and the low voltage assembly 400, thereby maximizing the distance between the copper bar assembly 310 and the low voltage assembly 400, thereby minimizing the electromagnetic interference between the copper bar assembly 310 and the low voltage assembly 400 and improving the reliability of the fuel cell module 1000.

In a certain fuel cell module 1000, the stack 200 is configured to be supplied with air in two modes, i.e., a U-type air supply mode and a Z-type air supply mode. Wherein, the U-shaped air inlet mode is that the air inlet and the air outlet of the galvanic pile 200 are positioned at the same side, and the Z-shaped air inlet mode is that the air inlet and the air outlet of the galvanic pile 200 are positioned at two sides. Generally, for a U-shaped air inlet type stack module, an end close to the input end of the reaction medium is defined as an air inlet end, and an end far away from the input end of the reaction medium is defined as a blind end. In the present embodiment, the electric pile 200 adopts a U-shaped air inlet manner, and therefore, the "air inlet end" and the "dead end" are explained as above.

Referring to fig. 6, a core 240 of the stack 200 is formed by stacking a plurality of single cells, a sealing member is disposed between a membrane electrode 242 and a bipolar plate 241 of the single cells, parts such as stack end plates, collector plates, and insulating plates are disposed at two ends of the core 240 for providing fastening force, collecting output energy, isolating high voltage, and the like, and the stack end plates are fastened and connected by strapping, tie rods, screws, and the like. Meanwhile, the positive and negative electrode currents of the stack 200 are output to the positive and negative electrode output terminals 320 through the high-voltage copper bar, are connected with the fuel cell DCDC in a connection mode, and transmit electric energy to the outside. Meanwhile, in order to monitor the voltage state of each single cell inside the stack 200, the low voltage wiring harness 430 is connected with the voltage inspection device 410, and a low voltage signal is output to the outside through the low voltage socket 500, thereby playing a role in monitoring the operation state of the stack 200. Meanwhile, in order to prevent the core 240 of the stack 200 from being interfered by the external environment, the core 240 of the stack 200 is encapsulated by the shell 100, so that the waterproof and dustproof effects are realized, and the core structure of the stack 200 is prevented from being damaged by external vibration and impact. In this embodiment, except for the distribution of the copper bar assemblies 310 and the low pressure assemblies 400 on two opposite sides of the core 240, the other contents of the fuel cell module 1000 are not modified, so that more detailed contents can be referred to the related disclosure of the prior art and will not be described herein.

The overall arrangement type of the cell stack 200 is divided into two arrangement modes of horizontal arrangement and vertical arrangement, wherein the horizontal arrangement is defined in such a manner that the planes of the membrane electrodes 242, the bipolar plates 241 and other parts are arranged perpendicular to the ground, and the vertical arrangement is defined in such a manner that the planes of the membrane electrodes 242, the bipolar plates 241 and other parts are arranged parallel to the ground. Considering that the bipolar plate 241 generally has long sides and short sides, the lateral arrangement is split into a horizontal arrangement and a lateral arrangement, wherein the horizontal arrangement is defined as the bipolar plate 241 with the long sides arranged parallel to the ground and the short sides arranged perpendicular to the ground; the lateral arrangement is defined as the arrangement of the short sides of the bipolar plate 241 parallel to the ground and the long sides perpendicular to the ground.

In some embodiments, the stack 200 is disposed in a horizontal arrangement, and the stack 200 is disposed in a posture in which long sides of the bipolar plates 241 of the core 240 are parallel to a horizontal direction, short sides are parallel to a vertical direction, and a stacking direction is parallel to the horizontal direction. In other words, each repeating unit (bipolar plate 241+ membrane electrode 242) of the stack 200 has long sides arranged parallel to the ground and short sides arranged perpendicular to the ground. In order to facilitate high-voltage output, the output terminal 320 is located above the stack 200, and the copper bar assembly 310 and the low-voltage assembly 400 are respectively disposed at two ends of the stack 200 along the long side direction of the bipolar plate 241, that is, the copper bar assembly 310 and the low-voltage assembly 400 are respectively close to two short sides of the bipolar plate 241.

The fluid ports 245 on the bipolar plates 241 assume different states based on the horizontal arrangement of the stack 200. Referring to fig. 9, in some embodiments, the oxidizing medium inlet 2451 and the reducing medium outlet 2452 of the bipolar plate 241 are located at the upper portion, i.e., the air flow channel arrangement satisfies the design principle of "inlet-outlet", and air flows in from the upper portion and is discharged from the lower portion, which facilitates the discharge of gas and liquid. The oxidizing medium outlet 2453 and the reducing medium inlet 2454 of the bipolar plate 241 are positioned at the lower part, namely, the hydrogen flow channel arrangement meets the design principle of 'bottom-in and top-out', hydrogen flows in from the lower part and is discharged from the upper part, and the self-humidification at the hydrogen side (anode) is facilitated. The cooling medium outlet 2455 and the cooling medium inlet 2456 of the bipolar plate 241 are located in the middle, that is, the arrangement of the cooling liquid flow channels meets the design principle of 'in-in and out-of-middle', the cooling liquid flows in from the middle and is discharged from the middle, which is beneficial to the flow of the cooling liquid, reduces the flow resistance loss of the cooling cavity pipeline, facilitates the model selection of the system cooling water pump under high cooling liquid flow, and reduces the difficulty in matching the system.

To facilitate the interfacing of the fuel cell module 1000 with external auxiliary systems, in some embodiments, the housing 100 is provided with a switching distribution connector 140 in communication with the stack 200. The adapter distribution adapter 140 is fabricated from a non-metallic material, such as plastic, and may be injection molded directly. The adapter distribution connector 140 is fastened to the end face of the outer casing of the stack 200 by means of screws, so that subsequent test verifications of the stack 200 can be carried out or external auxiliary systems can be docked during the loading of the entire vehicle.

In some embodiments, the housing 100 specifically includes a housing end plate 120 and a housing body 110 connected, and the housing end plate 120 and the housing body 110 enclose a mounting cavity. The case end plate 120 is parallel to the intake end plate 210, and taking the conventional rectangular parallelepiped case 100 as an example, the case end plate 120 is one side surface of the hexahedron, and the case main body 110 is the other five side surfaces of the hexahedron. Referring to fig. 6, the stack 200 specifically includes an inlet end plate 210, an inlet end insulating plate 220, and an inlet end current collecting plate 230 located at an inlet end side of a core 240, a blind end current collecting plate 250, a blind end insulating plate 260, and a blind end plate assembly 270 located at a blind end side of the core 240, and a fastening assembly 280 connected to the inlet end plate 210 and the blind end plate assembly 270, the inlet end plate 210, the inlet end insulating plate 220, the inlet end current collecting plate 230, the core 240, the blind end current collecting plate 250, the blind end insulating plate 260, and the blind end plate assembly 270 being sequentially stacked. The dead end plate assembly 270 may be an independent dead end plate 271, and may also include a dead end plate 271, a disc spring support plate 272 and a disc spring located between the dead end plate 271 and the disc spring support plate 272, and the stress compensation is performed through the disc spring on the dead end side, so as to avoid the hydrogen leakage risk due to the relaxation phenomenon occurring between the cells of the stack 200 during the operation process.

In consideration of the problem that the position accuracy between the intake end plate 210 and/or the blind end plate 271 and the case 100 is not guaranteed when the number of the single cells is large, in some embodiments, a positioning structure (not shown) is provided on the intake end plate 210 and/or the blind end plate assembly 270, and the intake end plate 210 and/or the blind end plate assembly 270 is connected to the case main body 110 in a positioning manner through the positioning structure. The positioning structure may be a positioning pin and a pin hole separately arranged, or a positioning column and a positioning hole arranged on the end plate or the housing 100, and the specific structure is not limited in this application. Make the end plate of inlet end plate 210 and casing keep higher position accuracy through setting up location structure, can guarantee the sealing performance of the sealing member between the end plate of inlet end plate 210 and casing, avoid offering the through-hole on the end plate of casing and be used for the screw of fastening plate fastener with the installation, reduce the leak source on the casing to improve the sealing performance of casing.

In some embodiments, in order to facilitate assembly and manufacturing of the housing 100, the housing main body 110 is a split structure, and the housing main body 110 includes a first housing 111 and a second housing 112 connected together; the second shell 112 is a flat plate, the first shell 111 is a cover body, and the first shell 111 is covered on the second shell 112; or both the second housing 112 and the first housing 111 are casings. Specifically, as an embodiment, the second shell 112 is a flat plate, the first shell 111 is a cover body having four faces, the first side face of the shell end plate 120 and the second shell 112 are positioned by 2 positioning pins and are connected and fixed by 6 connecting pieces, and the connecting pieces are bolts; a total of 8 holes are formed in the first side of the housing end plate 120, including 6 bolt holes of M6, a 6.2mm diameter dowel hole for receiving a dowel pin of M6, and a kidney-shaped hole for receiving a dowel pin. The case end plate 120 is connected to the first case 111 by 12M 6 bolts. Specifically, as another embodiment, the second housing 112 and the first housing 111 are both cover bodies having four faces, and the second housing 112 and the first housing 111 may have the same shape and size, or the same shape and different heights.

In order to improve the integration of the fuel cell module 1000, in some embodiments, the housing end plate 120 is integrated with the inlet end plate 210 or the dead end plate assembly 270, and the inlet end plate 210 or the dead end plate assembly 270 is fixedly connected with the housing body 110 by a first connection member 130, and the first connection member 130 is parallel to the stacking direction of the core 240. Specifically, the shell end plate 120 may be integrated with the inlet end plate 210, or the shell end plate 120 may be integrated with the outermost end plate of the dead end plate assembly 270. By connecting the integrated end plate and the housing body 110 by the first connection member 130 parallel to the stacking direction of the core 240, it is possible to avoid forming a through hole in the housing body 110, reduce the leakage point position, and improve the sealing property of the housing 100.

In view of the operability of the stacking process, in certain embodiments, the inlet end plate 210 is integrated with the housing end plate 120. Referring to fig. 7, the inlet endplate 210 includes an endplate body 211 and a lap edge 212 continuously disposed on the peripheral surface of the endplate body 211, the lap edge 212 forms a limiting surface 2121 for positioning contact and fixed connection with the housing main body 110, and the endplate body 211 is provided with a mounting position 2111 for mounting the fastening assembly 280. The distribution of the overlapping edges 212 may be adaptively changed according to the structure of the shell main body 110, for example, the overlapping edges 212 are extending edges disposed around the periphery of the end plate body 211, or extending edges disposed at part of the side edges of the end plate body 211. When the intake end plate 210 is assembled with the case body 110, the overlapping edge 212 overlaps the end surface of the case body 110, and the first connection member 130 is mounted on the overlapping edge 212. In order to ensure the sealing of the inlet end plate 210 with the casing main body 110, the overlapping edge 212 is used to contact the mounting groove of the casing main body 110, and the mounting groove is provided with a sealing member.

Further, in some embodiments, the inlet end plate 210 further includes a boss 213 and an insulating block 214 adapted to the shape of the bipolar plate 241 of the core 240, the boss 213 being disposed at an end of the end plate body 211 remote from the overlap edge 212; the insulating block 214 includes an insulating sleeve 2141 and a fluid channel 2142 for fluid medium to flow, the insulating sleeve 2141 covers the outer surface of the boss 213 to form the inlet end insulating plate 220, that is, the inlet end plate 210 also integrates the function of the inlet end insulating plate 220, so that the inlet end insulating plate 220 can be eliminated.

The fluid passage 2142 of the insulation block 214 penetrates the end plate body 211 to achieve physical isolation from the end plate body 211 by the insulated fluid passage 2142, ensuring insulation resistance of the stack 200. Because the rigidity of the insulating structure is relatively weak, the boss 213 of the air inlet end plate 210 can provide stable support for the insulating table 214, and meanwhile, the position is ensured to be fixed, and the insulating table 214 is fixedly positioned through the end plate body 211 with high rigidity. In this embodiment, the material of the intake end plate 210 is not particularly limited as long as the rigidity can be satisfied by the end plate body 211 at the same time, and the insulation can be ensured by the insulation block 214. In some embodiments, the inlet end plate 210 may be an aluminum plate and the insulating block 214 may be made of a plastic material as required to form an aluminum-plastic integrated end plate structure.

The fastening assembly 280 provides a fastening force for the stack 200, and in some embodiments, the fastening assembly 280 includes at least two fastening units 281; referring to fig. 12, the fastening unit 281 includes a fastener 282 and fastening joints 283 connected to both ends of the fastener 282, the fastening joints 283 being connected to the intake endplate 210 and the dead-end endplate assembly 270. Specifically, the intake endplate 210 and the blind endplate assembly 270 are each provided with a mounting location 2111 on a side thereof, and the fastening tab 283 is disposed in the mounting location 2111 and is connected to the intake endplate 210 and/or the blind endplate assembly 270 by a second connecting member 285 having a projection component of the stacking direction.

The fasteners 282 may be tie rods or steel strips, and the tie rods have high strength and can prevent the core 240 from collapsing. When the fastener 282 is a pull rod, the pull rod and the fastening joint 283 are of an integral structure; when fastener 282 is a steel band, the steel band is welded to fastener joint 283. Through the structure, on one hand, the fastening joint 283 is universally used for the fuel cell stack 200 adopting pull rod type fastening and/or steel strip welding type fastening, so that the application of the pull rod and the steel strip can be switched conveniently, the redesign and verification of fastening part parts after the fastening scheme is switched are avoided, and the universality of the stack 200 structural member adopting two fastening modes in design is realized. On the other hand, the second connecting member 285 connects the fastening joint 283 and the end plate in a direction having a projection component of the stacking direction, which is advantageous for improving the volumetric power ratio of the fuel cell module 1000.

Preferably, the fastening joints 283 are connected to the intake end plate 210 and the blind end plate assembly 270 by second connection members 285, the second connection members 285 are parallel to the stacking direction of the core 240 or perpendicular to the stacking direction of the core, and fig. 6 shows a state in which the second connection members 285 are disposed perpendicular to the stacking direction of the core 240. The fastening tab 283 is generally T-shaped. Specifically, the second connecting member 285 is a screw, the head of the screw is close to one side of the reactor core 240, and the rod of the screw is in threaded connection with the end plate; the second connecting member 285 may also be a bolt, and a through hole is correspondingly formed in the end plate for a rod of the bolt to pass through, and then the bolt is screwed down by a nut.

In other embodiments, the fastening unit 281 further includes an insulating support 284, the insulating support 284 being disposed between the core 240 and the fasteners 282, the insulating layer may be completely conformed to the core 240, prevent the core 240 from collapsing, and improve insulation between the core 240 and the fastening assemblies 280. The insulating support 284 can increase the rigidity of the steel strip to some extent due to the weak strength of the steel strip. To prevent relative movement between the insulating support 284 and the fastener 282, a locating feature may be provided on the insulating support 284 and/or the fastener 282.

It has been found through research that in order to maximize the power generation capability of the core 240 and ensure the application of the optimal fastening force, a fixed pressure fastening scheme is generally adopted, and a part with threads, such as a screw or a screw, is generally used for fastening the stack 200 at a high level. Or a theoretical calculated sizing fastening scheme, the sizing will not generally apply threads in the fastening direction of the height of the stack 200. The advantage of constant pressure is that the structure is simple, and the optimal fastening force can be guaranteed to be applied, but the disadvantage is that the control of the high consistency of the electric pile 200 is lost, and the inconsistent fastening force can cause the pressure on the reactor core 240 to be uneven, thereby affecting the performance of the electric pile 200; if the electric pile 200 is assembled by using the screw rod with constant pressure, the screw rod is fixed on the end plate through the nut, the nut and the head of the screw rod occupy larger volume, and the power density of the whole pile volume is reduced; if the stack 200 is assembled in a bolt-and-band joint manner, it is difficult to ensure insulation between the core 240 and the steel band and support of the core 240 against collapse.

In order to achieve the fastening force adjustment under the sizing fastening, in some embodiments, the stack 200 further includes an adjustment assembly (not visible in the drawings) located at least one side of the core 240 in the stacking direction, and the adjustment assembly includes at least one adjustment plate interposed in the stack to adjust the fastening force of the stack 200. Since the thicknesses of the parts of the stack 200 are subject to tolerance and errors exist in the stacking of the core 240, the sizing fastening in the prior art is difficult to achieve a predetermined fastening force, so that the actual performance of the fuel cell stack 200 deviates from the design performance. Realize the scaling-off fastening through the pull rod subassembly, the height of fuel cell pile 200 has been guaranteed, and on the basis of scaling-off fastening, through the regulating plate that satisfies the thickness that predetermines the fastening force requirement at the in-process increase of piling, the regulation of 240 fastening forces of reactor core can be realized through the gross thickness of adjustment adjusting part, satisfy the requirement of scaling-off fastening force when making the actual height of pile 200 and the theoretical altitude matching when designing, guarantee that pile 200 has contact resistance as little as possible, stably compress gas diffusion layer, the performance of pile 200 has been guaranteed.

In order to make the fastening force of the stack 200 with the adjusting assembly closer to the preset fastening force, in some embodiments, the adjusting plate may include a flexible layer that can withstand compression, and the application does not specifically limit the adjusting plate and the flexible layer, such as a flexible material that can withstand compression, such as rubber (EPDM), or the adjusting plate may be provided as a rigid structure, such as a flexible layer.

Due to the difference of stacking of the stacks, in order to meet the requirements of different electric stacks, the adjusting plates can be set to be in various optional thicknesses, so that various combination adjustments can be carried out to adjust the total thickness to be optimal and further match and adjust the fastening force. In this embodiment, the optional adjustment plate may have a thickness of 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.5mm, or 1mm; the range adjustment of 0-1 mm can be realized through the combination of a plurality of adjusting plates, and the number of the adjusting plates which are finally added into the adjusting assemblies in the stack body and the thickness combination mode of the adjusting plates are selected according to the press mounting result in the press mounting process.

The number and the setting position of the adjusting plates are not specifically limited, and the total thickness of the adjusting assembly is enabled to meet the design requirements so as to adjust the fastening force for the size-fixing of the pull rod assembly. Specifically, the setting schemes of the adjusting assembly are divided into the following two schemes:

in some embodiments, the conditioning plates may be conductive and shaped to match the bipolar plates 241 of the core 240, with at least one conditioning plate disposed on the side of the inlet and/or blind collector plates 250 adjacent to the core 240 for delivering an output voltage between the core 240 and the inlet/blind collector plates 250. The arrangement positions of the adjusting components are not particularly limited, and optionally, when the number of the adjusting plates is more than two, the more than two adjusting plates may be grouped and respectively arranged on the air inlet side and the blind end side of the reactor core 240, or may be simultaneously arranged on the air inlet side or the blind end side of the reactor core 240.

In some embodiments, the tuning plates may also be insulators, at least one tuning plate is disposed on a side of the inlet collector plate and/or the blind collector plate 250 away from the core 240, and each tuning plate may be selectively disposed between the blind end plate assembly 270 and the blind end insulation plate 260 or between the blind end insulation plate 260 and then the blind end collector plate 250 or between the inlet end collector plate 230 and the inlet end insulation plate 220 or between the inlet end insulation plate 220 and the inlet end plate 210.

In the above two solutions, since the sequence from the inlet end to the blind end is generally adopted when stacking the bare stacks, in order to take into account the operability of the assembly and facilitate the test to determine or adjust the thickness of the adjusting assembly meeting the requirements of the sizing fastening force, the adjusting assembly is preferably disposed on the blind end side of the core 240.

Referring to fig. 8 to 10, the core 240 is a core component of the stack 200, and the shape of the current collecting plate, the insulating plate and the end plate generally conforms to the shape of the bipolar plate 241 of the core 240, for example, if the bipolar plate 241 is a rectangular bipolar plate 241, the current collecting plate, the insulating plate and the end plate are also generally rectangular, and the area of the end plate is generally larger than the current collecting plate, the insulating plate and the bipolar plate 241, so as to meet the installation requirement of the fastening assembly 280. The bipolar plate 241 is provided with at least two fluid through holes 245, and the at least two fluid through holes 245 are symmetrically distributed at two ends of the bipolar plate 241 in the long side direction; such as the bipolar plate 241 of a hydrogen fuel cell, six fluid ports 245 are provided, namely an oxidizing medium inlet 2451, a reducing medium inlet 2454, a reducing medium outlet 2452, a cooling medium inlet 2456, and a cooling medium outlet 2455. The fluid fields of the anode plate and the cathode plate respectively comprise a distribution region 246, an active region 247 and a confluence region 248 which are distributed along the long side direction, and the medium inlet and distribution regions 246, the active region 247, the confluence region 248 and the medium outlet are communicated in sequence.

In some embodiments, to increase the opening size of the fluid ports 245 of the bipolar plate 241, the width dimension h1 of the bipolar plate 241 in the area of the fluid ports 245 is greater than the width dimension h2 of the bipolar plate 241 in the area of the active region 247. That is, the width of the bipolar plate 241 is increased after being decreased along the longitudinal direction of the bipolar plate 241, so that the bipolar plate 241 has an i-shape or a dumbbell-shape as a whole. Because the width of the bipolar plate 241 in the area of the fluid port 245 is large, the size of the fluid port 245 can be effectively increased, the pressure loss at the inlet of the fluid port 245 is reduced, the flow rate is increased, and the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell is improved.

Accordingly, the fastening assembly 280 of the stack 200 includes at least three fastening units 281, the at least three fastening units 281 are distributed at the middle portion and the end portion of the inlet end plate 210, and the thickness of the fastening unit 281 connected to the middle portion is greater than that of the fastening unit 281 connected to the end portion. The thickness of the fastening unit 281 connected to the middle part is designed to be greater than that of the fastening unit 281 connected to the end part by using the depressed space in the middle part of the end plate assembly, the fastening unit 281 having a greater thickness and a higher strength provides the most important fastening force, the fastening unit 281 of the end part assists in providing the fastening force and is used for sealing the reactor core 240, and different fastening forces are provided through different fastening schemes according to the stress requirements of the reactor core 240, so that the stress condition of the reaction zone is balanced as much as possible. The thickness difference of the fastening unit 281 may be a thickness difference of the fastening member 282 and/or a thickness difference of the insulating support 284.

The single cell is generally composed of a membrane electrode 242, a bipolar plate 241 and a sealing ring 201 in series, wherein the membrane electrode 242 is a power generation part, the bipolar plate 241 provides a reaction flow channel 249, and the sealing ring 201 plays a sealing role. The membrane electrode 242 is generally formed by laminating a proton membrane, an anode catalyst layer, a cathode catalyst layer, an anode gas diffusion layer, a cathode gas diffusion layer, and a frame, and the bipolar plate 241 is formed by welding and assembling a unipolar plate formed by punching and molding a metal plate, wherein hydrogen is transferred to one side of the bipolar plate and uniformly distributed on the anode diffusion layer, then the gas is diffused to the anode catalyst layer to generate an oxidation reaction, air is transferred to the other side of the bipolar plate and uniformly distributed on the cathode diffusion layer, and then the gas is diffused to the cathode catalyst layer to generate a reduction reaction. The electrons do work through an external circuit, wherein the bipolar plate 241 plays a role of connecting monocells in series, and meanwhile, a cooling channel in the middle of the bipolar plate 241 cools the cells through distributed cooling liquid to remove redundant waste heat.

In certain embodiments, to meet the design requirements of the high power stack 200, the core 240 is designed with high performance single cells. The technical emphasis of the high-performance single cell is as follows: the membrane electrode 242 adopts an ultrathin gas diffusion layer, a high-performance catalyst layer and an ultrathin proton exchange membrane; the bipolar plate 241 is an ultra-thin metal bipolar plate 241, specifically, the substrate thickness of the bipolar plate 241 is 0.075-0.1 mm, for example, 0.075, 0.08, 0.082, 0.085, 0.09, 0.092, 0.097, 0.1mm, etc.; the coating adopts a high-performance nano gold or carbon composite coating.

Specifically, the active area of the membrane electrode 242 is 280 to 320 square centimeters, for example, 280, 290, 295, 302, 310, 315, 320 square centimeters, and the like. The thickness of the gas diffusion layer of the membrane electrode 242 is 170 to 180um, for example, 170, 171, 173, 175, 177, 180um, etc.; the thickness of the anode catalyst layer is 2-6 um, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6um and the like; the thickness of the cathode catalyst layer is 12-16 um, such as 12, 13, 14, 15, 16um and the like; the thickness of the proton exchange membrane is 8 to 15um, for example, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15um, etc. The specific materials of the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer are not limited in this application.

In some embodiments, the flow channels 249 of the bipolar plate 241 include flow channel segments 2491 of at least two different shapes and/or characteristics that alternate along the direction of extension of the flow channels 249, and at least one of the flow channel segments 2491 is a linear flow channel 249. The straight flow channel sections 2491 are beneficial to reducing the flow resistance of the fluid medium, local pressure drop is increased at the joints of different flow channel sections 2491, disturbance on the fluid medium is increased, the reaction medium is promoted to be uniformly distributed on the surface of the membrane electrode 242, liquid water generated by reaction is discharged out of the flow channel 249, and the performance of the fuel cell is improved. The bipolar plate 241 has different flow channel sections 2491, so that the flow resistance of the fluid medium is reduced, local pressure drop increase can be formed, the fluid medium is uniformly distributed, and the reliable performance of the fuel cell stack is ensured.

Considering that the pressure loss of the flow channel 249 is not too large, in some embodiments, the flow channel 249 includes two types of flow channel segments 2491, specifically, a first flow channel segment 2491 and a second flow channel segment 2491 with different shapes, one of the first flow channel segment 2491 and the second flow channel segment 2491 is a straight flow channel 249 parallel to the long side direction of the bipolar plate 241, and the other is a wavy flow channel 249, a zigzag flow channel 249, a tooth-shaped flow channel 249, or other flow channel 249 shapes disclosed in the prior art, which should not be limited by the present application.

In the active region 247 of the bipolar plate 241, the number of the flow channels 249 is 60 to 150, for example, 70, 80, 93, 106, 120, 135, 145, etc., and 60 to 150 flow channels 249 are sequentially arranged along the short side direction of the bipolar plate 241, and the total width thereof is 120 to 150mm, for example, 120mm, 126mm, 135mm, 141mm, 145mm, etc.; the length of the flow channel 249 ranges from 200 to 250mm, for example, 210mm, 220mm, 230mm, 235mm, 241mm, 245mm, etc., in the longitudinal direction of the bipolar plate 241.

For the metal bipolar plate 241, the grooves and the ridges are usually formed by a compression molding process, in order to reduce the internal stress generated by stamping, the grooves and the ridges are usually connected by inclined edges and are in arc transition, and the flow resistance of the fluid flowing in the flow channel 249 can also be reduced by the structure in which the inclined edges are connected and the arc transition is performed. In this embodiment, the characteristic parameters of the flow channel 249 are as follows: the period of the flow channel 249 is 0.8 to 1.5mm, for example, 0.82mm, 0.85mm, 0.9mm, 1.03mm, 1.05mm, 1.15mm, 1.25mm, 1.35mm, 1.45mm, etc.; a depth of 0.25 to 0.55mm, for example, 0.3mm, 0.35mm, 0.38mm, 0.45mm, 0.5mm, etc.; the inclination angle of the flow channel 249 is 10 ° to 20 °, for example, 10 °, 12 °, 15 °, 17 °, 19 °, 20 °, etc.; the ridge-groove ratio (the ratio of the ridge width of the flow channel 249 to the groove width) is 0.8 to 1.2; the fillet of the flow channel 249 is not more than 0.2mm.

In this embodiment, the fuel cell module 1000 is a high-power fuel cell, and the number of the single cells in the core 240 is 300 to 460, such as 320, 340, 360, 380, 400, 420, 440, 460, etc. The output voltage of a single cell is 0.6-0.65V, the output power can reach 400W, and the output power of the whole stack is more than 120 KW. Because the number of the single cells is large, in order to reduce the whole stack volume, the distance between the polar plates of the two adjacent single cells is 1.07-1.09 mm, such as 1.07, 1.071, 1.075, 1.08, 1.083, 1.085, 1.088, 1.09mm and the like.

Referring to fig. 14, the low voltage assembly 400 of the fuel cell module 1000 includes a voltage inspection device 410, a low voltage wire harness 430 and a connector assembly 420 electrically connected in sequence, wherein the connector assembly 420 is electrically connected to the tabs 244 of the bipolar plate 241, the connector assembly 420 is connected to the spring plate by using a PCB, and is connected to the voltage inspection device 410 through the wire harness. The voltage inspection device 410, the low-voltage wire harness 430 and the connector assembly 420 are well known in the art, and the detailed structure thereof is not described herein.

For hydrogen fuel cells, in order to ensure hydrogen safety, a hydrogen concentration sensor 440 is generally provided in the fuel cell, and the hydrogen concentration sensor 440 also belongs to the low-pressure assembly 400. Specifically, the installation location 2111 of the hydrogen concentration sensor 440 is located close to the voltage inspection device 410, and since the density of hydrogen gas is lighter than that of air, the hydrogen concentration sensor 440 should be installed at the highest position inside the housing 100 as much as possible. This fuel cell module 1000 still includes low-voltage socket 500, and low-voltage socket 500 is installed on casing 100 for external pencil, and hydrogen concentration sensor 440 and voltage inspection device 410 all are connected with low-voltage socket 500 electricity, outwards transmit the detected signal through the pencil of connecting on the low-voltage socket 500.

The inspection of the stack 200 usually adopts a "single-piece" inspection scheme, the connector 421 usually adopts a single row, and each connection position 422 of the connector 421 is continuously plugged onto the bipolar plate 241. As the spacing between bipolar plates 241 decreases, the thickness of the outer wall of the adjacent voltage routing connector 421 is required to decrease, which results in a decrease in the strength of the connector 421. In addition, in view of the inspection function, due to the existence of the outer frame of the connector 421, the thickness of the outer frame is significantly larger than the inter-plate distance of the bipolar plates 241, so that the current inspection device cannot simultaneously detect the voltages of the two outermost bipolar plates 241 of the adjacent connector 421.

In order to solve the above problem, in some embodiments, tabs 244 are provided to odd-numbered and/or even-numbered unit cells in the core 240, and each tab 244 forms a tab row 243, that is, the tab row 243 in the core 240 is formed by a single odd-numbered unit cell or a single even-numbered unit cell, and if the tabs 244 are provided to both the odd-numbered unit cell and the even-numbered unit cell, the position of the tab row 243 formed by the tabs 244 of the odd-numbered unit cell is different from the position of the tab row 243 formed by the tabs 244 of the even-numbered unit cell. The connector assemblies 420 are connected to the tabs 244 of the odd-numbered and/or even-numbered unit cells in the core 240, whereby the single connector assembly 420 connects only the odd-numbered or even-numbered unit cells, and the pitch of the installation sites 2111 of the connector 421 can be enlarged at least twice, ensuring a sufficient wall thickness of the connector 421, and improving the structural strength thereof. On the other hand, by electrically connecting different connector assemblies 420 with the low voltage harness 430, different routing schemes can be implemented, such as: the fuel cell stack 200 can implement a "double-sheet one-inspection" inspection scheme by wiring only the connectors 421 connected to the tab rows 243 of the odd-numbered unit cells, and the connectors 421 not connected to the low-voltage wiring harnesses 430 are used to implement insulation between the tabs 244; if the connectors 421 are wired, the stack 200 can implement a "one-chip one-inspection" inspection scheme.

Specifically, referring to fig. 15, in some embodiments, the odd-numbered cells and the even-numbered cells in the core 240 are each provided with a tab 244, the tabs 244 of the odd-numbered cells form a first tab row 243, and the tabs 244 of the even-numbered cells form a second tab row 243. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the connector assembly 420 includes at least two connectors 421 sequentially arranged in the stacking direction; the connector 421 includes two rows of connection locations 422, the number of the connection locations 422 in each row of connection locations 422 is more than four, and the connection locations 422 in the two rows of connection locations 422 are distributed in a staggered manner. The connection bits 422 in the same row have a spacing D of 4D. Compared with the connector 421 in which only one row of tab rows 243144 is provided and only one row of connection locations 422 is provided on the connector 421 in the prior art, the pitch D of the connection locations 422 of the connector 421 provided in this embodiment can be four times as large as the pitch D of the connection locations 422 of the connector 421 in the prior art, so as to ensure that the connector 421 has a sufficient wall thickness, thereby improving the structural strength thereof.

Referring to fig. 16, in other embodiments, only odd-numbered or even-numbered single cells in the core 240 are provided with tabs 244. For example, only odd-numbered single cells are provided with the tabs 244; while the even-numbered single cells have no tab 244. Thus, in the stack 200, only one tab row 243 is provided in the entire core 240, and the connector module 420 is connected to the tab row 243, and the connector module 420 is provided with the low-voltage harness 430 and can be electrically connected to the voltage inspection device 410.

During operation, the fuel cell has an end-to-end effect, that is, the voltage stability of several single cells at the ending end of the core 240 is poor, and the output voltage is relatively small. The reason for this analysis is: 1. the single cells at the end parts radiate heat faster, and the optimal reaction temperature is difficult to maintain compared with the single cells at the middle part; 2. since the fastening force of the core 240 decreases from the end to the middle, the fastening force of the single cells in the middle of the core 240 is substantially the same, and the fastening force of the end single cells is the largest.

To improve the end-to-side effect, in certain embodiments, at least one end of the core 240 in the stacking direction is provided with a sealing structure 290; referring to fig. 11, the sealing structure 290 includes at least one dummy film electrode 291 and at least one plate unit 292 alternately stacked in a stacking direction. Here, the dummy membrane electrode 291 has a similar structure to the membrane electrode 242 of the single cell in the core 240, and the dummy membrane electrode 291 is different in that electrochemical reaction cannot be performed. The seal ring 201 is arranged on the dummy membrane electrode 291, and the structure of the seal ring 201 is the same as that of the seal ring 201 in the reactor core 240, so that the seal ring 201 with the end side sealed can be used commonly with the seal ring 201 in the reactor core 240, on one hand, the design types of the seal ring 201 are reduced, the mold cost is reduced, and the assembly process is simpler; on the other hand, because the sealing rings 201 are the same, under the compression action of the fastening assembly 280 of the stack 200, the deformation condition and the sealing area of each sealing ring 201 are basically consistent, and the leakage of the fluid medium, particularly hydrogen, in the stack 200 can be reduced to the maximum extent.

The plate unit 292 is a bipolar plate 241 or a dummy bipolar plate 241, and the dummy bipolar plate 241 is a plate structure that the fluid medium cannot flow into the flow field. The dummy bipolar plate 241 may be a dummy bipolar plate, or may be a dummy bipolar plate that is used for both of the two unipolar plates. Specifically, no corresponding flow guiding structure (a "layer-crossing" structure or a "straight-through" structure) is disposed between the fluid ports 245 of the dummy unipolar plate and the fluid transition region, or the dummy bipolar plate 241 is welded together to block the flow channels 249, so that the fluid ports 245 of the dummy unipolar plate are not communicated with the fluid field, and the fluid medium cannot enter the fluid field. The plate units 292 are provided with the tabs 244, specifically, the tabs 244 of the plate units 292 are arranged in the same way as the tabs 244 of the bipolar plate 241 of the single cell in the core 240, for example, if the sealing structure 290 includes more than two plate units 292, the odd-numbered plate units 292 and the even-numbered plate units 292 are also present, and the tabs 244 of the odd-numbered plate units 292 are different from the tabs 244 of the even-numbered plate units 292 in position.

The sealing structure 290 is identical to a single cell of the core 240 in external view. Accordingly, the sealing structure 290 can be regarded as a single cell that cannot generate electrochemical reaction or power generation, and the sealing structure 290 can be regarded as a continuation of the single cell of the core 240 only from the external structure. To ensure functional integrity, the side of the sealing structure 290 away from the core 240 is a dummy membrane electrode 291; the side of the sealing structure 290 close to the core 240 is a plate unit 292, and the plate unit 292 is in contact with the membrane electrode 242 at the end of the core 240, and the plate unit 292 at the side of the corresponding sealing structure 290 close to the core 240 comprises a false unipolar plate and a true unipolar plate, wherein the true unipolar plate is close to the core 240 and is used for providing a hydrogen field or an air field.

The connector assembly 420 is electrically connected to both the tabs 244 of the core 240 and the tabs 244 of the seal structure 290, and therefore, the number of tabs 244 of the seal structure 290 needs to be considered when designing the connection sites 422 of the connector assembly 420. And the connection sites 422 electrically connected to the tabs 244 of the sealing structure 290 need not be connected to the low voltage wiring harness 430. Since the sealing structure 290 is disposed at the end of the core 240, which is equivalent to applying the end effect of the core 240 to the sealing structure 290, firstly, the output voltage is prevented from being reduced due to the rapid heat dissipation of the single cells (the membrane electrode 242+ the bipolar plate 241) at the end of the core 240, and the consistency of the output voltage of each single cell of the core 240 is improved; the sealing structure 290 has a certain heat preservation performance, and can preserve heat of the end side of the reactor core 240 when cold starting at low temperature, so that the reactor core 240 can reach an optimal working state as soon as possible; in the third aspect, the sealing structure 290 is subjected to a large fastening force, the sealing structure 290 forms a transition region of the fastening force, and the fastening force applied to each single cell of the entire core 240 is substantially uniform. Thereby reducing the end effect of the core 240 and improving the output performance of the core 240.

Example 2:

based on the same inventive concept, the present embodiment provides a vehicle, as shown in fig. 17, that includes at least one fuel cell module 1000 of embodiment 1 described above. Specifically, the vehicle includes a fuel cell power system, which includes a fuel cell system, a DC/DC converter, a driving motor and its motor controller, and an on-board energy storage device, and the fuel cell system includes a fuel cell module 1000 and a fuel cell auxiliary system, and the fuel cell system can normally operate under the condition of an external fuel supply source. The fuel cell module 1000 includes at least one fuel cell module 1000 according to the above embodiment 1, that is, the fuel cell module 1000 may be a single stack solution or a multi-stack integrated solution.

The fuel cell auxiliary system of the fuel cell system comprises an air supply subsystem, a fuel supply subsystem, a thermal management subsystem and an automatic control system, wherein the air supply subsystem is used for supplying air to each electric pile 200 of the fuel cell module 1000 and selectively processing the air in aspects of filtration, humidification, pressure regulation and the like, and the air supply subsystem is communicated with an air inlet and an air outlet of each electric pile 200 of the fuel cell module 1000; the fuel supply subsystem is used for supplying fuel to each cell stack 200 of the fuel cell module 1000, and optionally performing humidification, pressure regulation and other processes on the fuel so as to convert the fuel into fuel gas suitable for operation in the fuel cell stack, and taking hydrogen as fuel, the fuel supply subsystem is communicated with a hydrogen inlet and a hydrogen outlet of each cell stack 200 of the fuel cell module 1000; and a thermal management subsystem in communication with each stack 200 of the fuel cell module 1000 to provide a coolant to cool and/or heat the stack 200, and to recover water produced by the stack 200.

The automatic control system is electrically connected with the fuel cell module 1000, the air supply subsystem, the fuel supply subsystem and the thermal management subsystem respectively, and the automatic control system is an assembly comprising a sensor, an actuator, a valve, a switch and a control logic component, so that the fuel cell system can normally work without manual interference. In other embodiments, the fuel cell auxiliary system may further include a ventilation system for mechanically exhausting the gas inside the cabinet of the fuel cell system to the outside. In the present embodiment, the fuel cell auxiliary system in the fuel cell system is not modified, so that reference may be made to the related disclosure of the prior art for more details, which will not be described herein.

In the fuel cell power system, the DC/DC converter is electrically connected to each stack 200 of the fuel cell system to realize voltage conversion, and the voltage generated by each stack 200 is regulated and then output to high-voltage devices such as a driving motor, a pressure loss machine of an automobile air conditioner, and the like, and power storage devices such as a battery, and the like. The driving motor is electrically connected with the DC/DC converter and is used for providing torque required by vehicle running; the motor controller is electrically connected with the driving motor to control the starting, stopping, torque output and the like of the driving motor, is connected with the whole vehicle controller to receive driving signals sent by the whole vehicle controller, and can also be selectively electrically connected with an automatic control system of the fuel cell system. The vehicle-mounted energy storage device is used for storing electric energy to supply power to other electronic equipment in the vehicle, and is electrically connected with the DC/DC converter, for example, the vehicle-mounted energy storage device is a storage battery.

In the present embodiment, the DC/DC converter, the driving motor and its motor controller, and the vehicle-mounted energy storage device in the fuel cell power system are not modified, so that reference may be made to the related disclosure of the prior art for more details, and the description thereof is omitted here.

In addition, the vehicle needs to include a transmission system that transmits torque to drive the electric motor to rotate the drive wheels, and a fuel storage device for storing fuel that acts like a fuel tank in a fuel-powered vehicle that communicates with a fuel supply subsystem of the fuel cell system via a conduit.

Therefore, the vehicle can be a hydrogen energy vehicle or a hydrogen energy and charging hybrid electric vehicle, and can be a family car, a passenger car, a truck and the like. Since the specific structure of the vehicle is not improved in the embodiment, the structure of the vehicle where no change is made in the embodiment can refer to the prior art, and the specific content is not described herein. Thus, the vehicle has all the features and advantages described above for the fuel cell power system, the fuel cell module 1000, and the fuel cell stack 200100, and will not be described in detail here.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present application.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A fuel cell module, comprising:

a housing provided with a mounting cavity;

the electric pile is arranged in the installation cavity and comprises a reactor core, the reactor core comprises more than two single cells which are stacked, and the single cells comprise bipolar plates and membrane electrodes;

wherein the copper bar assembly and the low pressure assembly are distributed on two opposite sides of the core.

2. The fuel cell module according to claim 1, wherein: the shell comprises a shell end plate and a shell main body which are connected, and the shell end plate and the shell main body surround the installation cavity;

3. The fuel cell module according to claim 2, wherein: the shell end plate is integrated with the inlet end plate or the dead end plate assembly; the gas inlet end plate or the dead end plate assembly is fixedly connected with the shell body through a first connecting piece, and the first connecting piece is parallel to the stacking direction of the reactor core.

4. A fuel cell module according to claim 3, wherein: the end plate that admits air with the casing end plate is integrated as an organic whole, the end plate that admits air includes end plate body and locates the faying edge that end plate body is global in succession, the faying edge constitute be used for with casing main part location contact and fixed connection's spacing face, be equipped with on the end plate body and be used for the installation fastening component's installation position.

5. The fuel cell module according to claim 4, wherein: the gas inlet end plate also comprises a boss and an insulating stand matched with the bipolar plate of the reactor core in shape, and the boss is arranged at one end of the end plate body far away from the lap joint edge; the insulating table comprises an insulating sleeve and a fluid channel, the insulating sleeve is connected with the fluid channel, fluid media flow through the fluid channel, the insulating sleeve covers the outer surface of the boss to form the air inlet end insulating plate, and the fluid channel penetrates through the end plate body.

6. The fuel cell module according to claim 2, wherein: the shell body comprises a first shell and a second shell which are connected; the second shell is a flat plate, the first shell is a cover body, and the first shell is covered on the second shell; or the second shell and the first shell are both cover bodies.

7. The fuel cell module according to claim 2, wherein: the fastening assembly comprises at least two fastening units; the fastening unit comprises a fastening piece and fastening joints connected to two ends of the fastening piece, and the fastening joints are connected to the air inlet end plate and the blind end plate assembly; alternatively, the fastening unit includes an insulating support disposed between the core and the fastener, and the fastening joint.

8. The fuel cell module according to claim 7, wherein: the fastening piece is a pull rod, and the pull rod and the fastening joint are of an integrated structure; and/or the fastener is a steel belt, and the steel belt is welded to the fastening joint.

9. The fuel cell module according to claim 7, wherein: the fastening joint is connected to the air inlet end plate and the blind end plate assembly by a second connection member, which is parallel to the stacking direction of the core or perpendicular to the stacking direction of the core.

10. The fuel cell module according to claim 7, wherein: the bipolar plate is provided with at least two fluid through holes which are symmetrically distributed at two ends of the bipolar plate in the long edge direction; the fluid fields of the anode plate and the cathode plate respectively comprise a distribution area, an active area and a confluence area which are sequentially distributed along the long side direction;

the width h1 of the bipolar plate in the area of the fluid ports is greater than the width h2 of the bipolar plate in the area of the active region;

the fastening assembly comprises at least three fastening units, the at least three fastening units are distributed in the middle and the end parts of the air inlet end plate, and the thickness of the fastening unit connected to the middle part is larger than that of the fastening unit connected to the end part.

11. The fuel cell module according to claim 2, wherein: the electric pile further comprises an adjusting assembly positioned on at least one side of the reactor core along the stacking direction, wherein the adjusting assembly comprises at least one adjusting plate, and the adjusting plate is clamped in the reactor core to adjust the fastening force of the electric pile.

12. The fuel cell module according to claim 11, wherein: the adjusting plate is an insulating piece and is arranged on one side, far away from the reactor core, of the air inlet end collector plate and/or the blind end collector plate; and/or the regulating plate is a conductive piece and is arranged on one side, close to the reactor core, of the air inlet end collector plate and/or the blind end collector plate.

13. The fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: the electric pile is arranged in a posture that the long side of the bipolar plate of the reactor core is parallel to the horizontal direction, the short side of the bipolar plate of the reactor core is parallel to the vertical direction and the stacking direction is parallel to the horizontal direction;

14. The fuel cell module according to claim 13, wherein: the oxidizing medium inlet and the reducing medium outlet of the galvanic pile are positioned at the upper part, and the oxidizing medium outlet and the reducing medium inlet of the galvanic pile are positioned at the lower part; the cooling medium outlet and the cooling medium inlet of the electric pile are positioned in the middle;

15. The fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: the active area of the membrane electrode is 280-320 square centimeters; the thickness of the gas diffusion layer of the membrane electrode is 170-180 um, the thickness of the anode catalysis layer is 2-6 um, the thickness of the cathode catalysis layer is 12-16 um, and the thickness of the proton exchange membrane is 8-15 um.

16. The fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: the flow channel of the bipolar plate comprises at least two flow channel sections which are alternately distributed along the extending direction of the flow channel and have different shapes and/or characteristic parameters, and at least one flow channel section is a linear flow channel.

17. The fuel cell module of claim 16, wherein: the thickness of the base material of the bipolar plate is 0.075-0.1 mm; the number of the flow passages is 60-150; the length of the flow channel is 200-250 mm; the total width of the 60-150 flow channels is 120-150 mm; the runner period of the runner is 0.8-1.5 mm; the depth is 0.25-0.55 mm; the inclination angle of the flow channel is 10-20 degrees; the ridge-groove ratio is 0.8-1.2; the fillet of the flow passage is not more than 0.2mm.

18. The fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: the number of the single batteries in the reactor core is 300-460; the distance between the polar plates of two adjacent monocells is 1.07-1.09 mm.

19. The fuel cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: the low-voltage assembly comprises a voltage inspection device, a low-voltage wire harness and a connector assembly which are electrically connected in sequence, and the connector assembly is electrically connected with the electrode lugs of the bipolar plate.

20. The fuel cell module of claim 19, wherein: the odd-numbered and/or even-numbered monocells in the reactor core are provided with tabs, and each tab forms a tab row; the connector assemblies are connected to tabs of odd-numbered and/or even-numbered single cells in the core, and at least one of the connector assemblies is electrically connected to the low voltage harness.

21. The fuel cell module of claim 20, wherein: at least one end of the reactor core along the stacking direction is provided with a sealing structure; the sealing structure comprises at least one false membrane electrode and at least one polar plate unit which are alternately stacked; the false membrane electrode is of a membrane electrode structure which is provided with a sealing ring and cannot perform electrochemical reaction, and the polar plate unit is provided with a polar lug; and the connector assembly is electrically connected with the pole lugs of the reactor core and the pole lugs of the sealing structure.

22. The fuel cell module of claim 19, wherein: the fuel cell module further comprises a low voltage socket mounted on the housing; the low-voltage component further comprises a hydrogen concentration sensor, and the hydrogen concentration sensor and the voltage inspection device are electrically connected with the low-voltage socket.

23. A vehicle, characterized in that: comprising a fuel cell module as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 22.