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CN-121986191-A - Method for manufacturing an electrolytic cell stack and electrolytic cell stack manufactured according to the method

CN121986191ACN 121986191 ACN121986191 ACN 121986191ACN-121986191-A

Abstract

Method for manufacturing an electrolyser stack, wherein a 3D printing process (hereinafter "3D printing") of added and/or solidified layers is run, said 3D printing process being run repeatedly and interrupted periodically to add pre-prepared workpieces (4, 5, 6), comprising a membrane (4), electrodes (5), optional shims, bipolar pole pieces (7) and/or pre-prepared 3D printed or injection molded sub-unit workpieces to be embedded in a stack frame (8), wherein the electrodes (5), bipolar pole pieces (7) and membrane (4) are arranged one above the other and aligned at the centre of the stack frame (8), and 3D printed material is arranged to extend in the annular stack frame (8) from the periphery of the bipolar pole pieces (7) and/or from the periphery of the membrane (4) to the outer periphery (9) of the stack frame. Also included is a stack manufactured by the method.

Inventors

  • Tim Peterson
  • Christian Dise Gao
  • POULSEN HENNING KNAK

Assignees

  • 蒂森克虏伯新纪元股份有限及两合公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20241009
Priority Date
20231009

Claims (10)

  1. 1. A method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack (1), wherein a layer of polymer material is added to the work piece surface and cured before the next layer of polymer material is added, wherein polymer material is added and cured at the point where a physical work piece structural part (2) is required, and polymer material is not added/cured at the point where a void (3) is required, the process of adding and/or curing the layer is hereinafter abbreviated as 3D printing, this process is repeatedly run and periodically interrupted to add pre-prepared work pieces (4, 5, 6), which pre-prepared work pieces (4, 5, 6) comprise a membrane (4), an electrode (5), an optional spacer, a bipolar pole piece (7) and/or pre-prepared 3D printed or injection molded subunit work pieces to be embedded within the stack frame (8), wherein the electrode (5), bipolar pole piece (7) and membrane (4) are arranged and aligned one above the other at the centre of the stack frame (8), and the 3D printed material is arranged in the annular stack frame (8) from the periphery of the bipolar pole piece (7) and/or the periphery of the bipolar stack (4) to the periphery of the membrane (9).
  2. 2. Method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that polymer material is added to the upper side (10) of the work piece and that the membrane (4) is added to the work piece from above when the 3D printing is temporarily stopped and that a pre-prepared polymer subunit (6) is added to the edge portion (11) of the membrane (4) and extends onto the 3D printed work piece and that a 3D printed layer of polymer is provided to the 3D printed work piece and the polymer subunit (6) to be fused to each other.
  3. 3. Method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that firstly, the pre-prepared end flange (12), the pre-prepared insulating plate (13) and the pre-prepared current injector (14) are placed in sequence in a 3D printing position and the electrolyser stack (1) is 3D printed and the electrolyser stack (1) is assembled onto the current injector (14) from above, wherein after the 3D printing operation an external packaging unit (15) is lowered onto the stack (1) and the pre-prepared current injector (14), the insulator and the end flange are added to the construct, followed by providing a circumferentially arranged tie rod adapted to force the two end flanges against each other.
  4. 4. A method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack according to claim 3, characterized in that an electrically insulating diffusion barrier material (16) is injected to fill the annular void (17) between the 3D printed battery stack (1) and the external packaging unit (15), wherein said electrically insulating diffusion barrier material is added in a fluid state and is adapted to harden or cure after injection into the void or space (17) between the stack (1) and the packaging unit (15) or units (15).
  5. 5. Method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack according to claim 4, characterized in that wires (18) are electrically connected to the outer edges (19) of the bipolar pole pieces (7) and/or thermocouple lead pairs (18) are provided at a point within the half-cells, and wherein during 3D printing operation wires and/or thermocouple leads (18) are embedded in the polymer material between the bipolar pole piece edges (19) and the stack frame outer circumference (9) and embedded and extend through the insulating diffusion preventing material (16) and between segments through the outer packaging unit (15) and/or between the packaging unit (15) and the current injector (14; 14.1) and are adapted to establish a connection with measuring equipment outside the electrolyser stack (1).
  6. 6. A method of manufacturing an electrolyser stack according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the inflow channel (20) and the outflow channel (21) are each shaped as a manifold channel connecting the respective half-cells (22) through dedicated flow channels (23), which dedicated flow channels (23) connect the respective half-cells (22) directly with the manifold channel (21), wherein each dedicated flow channel (23) is tailored to increase in accordance with the flow resistance along the inflow channel (21), thereby ensuring the same flow rate in each half-cell (22).
  7. 7. The stack of cells manufactured according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that an inflow channel (20) and an outflow channel (21) are provided for each of the two individual electrolytes and are arranged to extend along the stack length or the stack radial axis, wherein the inflow and outflow channels (20, 21) of each electrolyte are each connected to a 2 n flow distribution network (26), which 2 n flow distribution network (26) connects the inflow channel (20) and the inflow distributor (27) in each respective half-cell and connects the outflow channel (21) and the outflow collector (28) in each half-cell, wherein each half-cell (22) is capable of supplying the respective electrolyte and has an outflow capacity.
  8. 8. The stack of cells manufactured according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the inflow channels (20) and outflow channels (21) for the two individual electrolytes are arranged to extend radially from their outer periphery in a flow distribution plate (53) to respective main manifolds extending equally from the flow distribution plate (53) in opposite directions, wherein the inflow and outflow channels (20, 21) of each electrolyte are connected to a 2 n flow distribution network (26) connecting the inflow channels (20) and inflow distributors (27) in each respective half cell and the outflow channels (21) and outflow collectors (28) in each half cell, wherein each half cell (22) is capable of supplying the respective electrolyte.
  9. 9. A stack of electrolytic cells manufactured according to any one of claims 7-8, characterized in that an electrically conductive connection to at least one wire (18) is included between every tenth bipolar pole piece and each bipolar pole piece (7).
  10. 10. An electrolyser stack according to any of claims 7-9, characterized in that cooling medium inflow and outflow manifold channels (50) are provided in the stack and are connected to cooling medium flow channels (51) provided in each bipolar pole piece.

Description

Method for manufacturing an electrolytic cell stack and electrolytic cell stack manufactured according to the method The invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electrolytic cell stack. The invention also relates to an electrolysis cell stack manufactured according to the method. Background 3D printing is a technique in which substances are added in small increments or as a fluid stream onto an existing workpiece, where the added material is cured or hardened before a new incremental layer is added. For pressurized cells this technique has not been used because it is believed that 3D printing techniques are unlikely to provide a gas tight enclosure, such as in a filter press type pressurized cell stack. It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a method that can utilize 3D printing technology to improve the electrolyzer stack. Disclosure of Invention The object is achieved by an electrolytic cell stack manufacturing method in which a layer of polymer material is added to the surface of a workpiece and cured before another layer of polymer material is added, wherein the layer of polymer material is added and cured in succession in such a way that the layer of polymer material is not added/cured in the place where the physical workpiece structural component is needed, and the process of such addition and/or curing of the layer, hereinafter referred to as 3D printing, is repeated and further periodically interrupted to add pre-prepared workpieces comprising a diaphragm (dialhragm), an electrode, an optional spacer, a bipolar pole piece and/or a pre-prepared 3D printed or injection molded subunit workpiece to be embedded in the stack, wherein the electrode, the bipolar pole piece and the diaphragm are arranged one above the other and aligned at the centre of the stack, and the 3D printed material is arranged to extend from the periphery of the bipolar pole piece and/or the periphery of the diaphragm to the periphery of the 3D printed workpiece in an annular stack area. Thereby, a greater flexibility is achieved for the elements (e.g. the inner flow channels) within the annular stacking region. At least, the connections to the individual electrolysis chambers through the manifold flow lines can be easily tailored to ensure uniform flow to all chambers. It is also easier to add a sensor comprising an electrical connector or thermocouple element to a specific point within the stack than in conventional stacks. The method can be used to manufacture PEM electrolyzer systems and alkaline systems. Furthermore, both pressurized and non-pressurized systems may benefit from the improved flexibility provided by 3D printing techniques when a flow path is to be created between individual cells within an electrolyzer. In one embodiment of the stack manufacturing method, a polymer material is added to the upper side of the work piece, and further when the 3D printing is temporarily stopped, a separator is added to the work piece from above, and a pre-prepared polymer subunit is added to an edge portion of the separator and extends onto the 3D printed work piece, and a 3D printed polymer layer is provided to weld or fuse at least a portion of an intersection area between the 3D printed work piece and the polymer subunit. As a separator between the half-cells, the membrane for the gas-generating cells usually comprises a polymeric element on which a 3D printing operation is not necessarily performed, nevertheless, in order to ensure a good integration of the membrane into the structure manufactured according to the invention, the membrane is initially placed on the 3D-printed work piece and a pre-prepared annular polymeric article is added, which on the one hand covers the entire outer circumference of the membrane and on the other hand extends away from the membrane in the radial direction. After the placement of the ring element, a 3D printing operation or alternatively a gluing operation is performed, fusing the outer region of the pre-prepared ring with the 3D printed workpiece. Similarly, a slot or hole in the workpiece may accommodate a cover or roof, which is not easily printable in a 3D printing operation. Thus, a cap or roof-like member prepared in advance is placed so as to entirely cover the void, and the edge portion of the cap or roof is fused with the manufactured portion, and then 3D printing can be continued, with a hollow or void embedded inside the printed workpiece. In this respect, it should be mentioned that the ring-shaped or cap-shaped elements prepared beforehand may take the form of injection-molded blanks, to which only specific molded parts are then added in the 3D printing device, and after this final addition of material, these personalized blanks are then added one after the other to the stack in such a way that they are either stacked in a later detachable manner or welded one after the other with the personalized injection-molded blank combination that has been stac