KR-20260064117-A - LAMINATED SEPARATOR STURETURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR STACKS USING THE SAME

Abstract

The present invention provides a separator plate structure comprising: a lower separator plate and an upper separator plate stacked in a vertical direction; and a main gasket interposed between the lower separator plate and the upper separator plate, wherein the upper separator plate and the lower separator plate are provided with protrusions so that the upper separator plate is fastened to the lower separator plate.

Inventors

• 양동훈
• 조윤환
• 최예나
• 이정현
• 노규헌
• 오현규
• 안응진

Assignees

• 한화솔루션 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241031

Claims (20)

1. Lower separator plate and upper separator plate stacked in a vertical direction; and It includes a main gasket interposed between the lower separator and the upper separator. The upper and lower separator plates are provided with protrusions and have a structure in which the upper separator plate is fastened to the lower separator plate. Separator structure.
2. A separator plate structure according to claim 1, wherein a sub-gasket is interposed between the main gaskets.
3. Lower separator plate; An upper separator plate spaced apart from the lower separator plate; A lower gasket provided on the lower separator plate above; An upper gasket provided at a position corresponding to the lower gasket above; and A sub-gasket disposed between the lower gasket and the upper gasket; is included, Protrusions are provided at the corners of the upper and lower separating plates to restrict the horizontal movement of the upper and lower gaskets. Separator structure.
4. A separator structure in which, in claim 3, the lower separator and the upper separator are made of stainless steel.
5. In claim 3, the protrusion is a separator structure in which the protruding cross-section is protruded parallel to the upper separator or lower separator and a slope is formed in the direction inward toward the separator.
6. A separator structure according to claim 5, wherein the cross-section is square.
7. A separator plate structure having a fastening hole formed at the center of the cross-section in claim 6.
8. In paragraph 3, the above-mentioned protrusion is formed by press processing, a separator plate structure.
9. A separator plate structure according to paragraph 3, wherein the height and width of the protrusion are determined by the following Equation 1: [Equation 1] H < W1 < W2 In the above Equation 1, H is the height of the protrusion in the lower separator and the upper separator, W1 is the length from the corner of the protrusion to the first protrusion, and W2 is the length from the corner of the protrusion to the second protrusion.
10. A separator structure according to paragraph 3, wherein the sub-gaskets are provided in pairs, and a membrane electrode assembly is provided in the central portion of the sub-gaskets.
11. A separator plate structure according to paragraph 3, wherein a seating groove is formed in the lower separator plate and the upper separator plate, and the lower gasket and the upper gasket are inserted into and fixed in the seating groove.
12. A separator plate structure formed by repeatedly stacking according to any one of paragraphs 3 to 11, stack.
13. A stack according to claim 12, wherein the above-mentioned separator structure is stacked such that the total number of stacked separator layers is 130 to 170 layers.
14. (a) a step of manufacturing a separator plate structure by placing a metal plate and a main gasket in a press device equipped with a die plate having the shape of a protrusion and a punch, and press forming; and (b) a step of manufacturing a stack by vertically stacking the above-mentioned separator plate structure; comprising, Stack manufacturing method.
15. A stack manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein the protrusion in (a) is formed along the four corners of the metal plate.
16. A stack manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein (a) the separator plates are arranged such that a pair of separator plates face each other, and the protrusions of the upper separator plate and the lower separator plate are fastened together to restrict horizontal movement.
17. A stack manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein the separator plate is made of stainless steel.
18. A method for manufacturing a stack according to claim 14, wherein the metal plate of step (a) has a length of 400 to 500 mm, a width of 200 to 300 mm, and an area of 1,000 cm² or more.
19. A stack manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein the stacking in step (b) above involves stacking 130 to 170 layers in a vertical direction.
20. A stack manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein, after step (b) above, a fastening rod is passed through the fastening hole of the protrusion and bolts are fastened to both ends of the fastening rod to secure it.

Description

Laminated Separator Structure and Manufacturing Method for Stacks Using the Same The present invention relates to a separator plate structure and a method for manufacturing a stack. More specifically, the present invention relates to a separator plate structure formed by stacking separator plates in a vertical direction and a method for manufacturing a stack. Separators used in fuel cells or water electrolysis stacks are core components that constitute the stack, along with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Separators are manufactured to possess a certain level of strength to support and secure the membrane electrode assembly during stack formation and to maintain the stack's shape. The separator plate is primarily flat in shape and is provided with a gasket along its edge. The gasket acts as a guide for incoming fuel and air to move to the catalyst layer of the membrane electrode assembly, respectively, and is designed to maintain airtightness to prevent fluid flowing along the manifold from moving to an adjacent manifold; it is typically formed by injection molding and curing together with the separator plate. Figure 1 shows the slip (S) phenomenon of the gasket according to the load (W) during lamination when a gasket is attached to a conventional separator plate. Referring to FIG. 1, a main gasket (2) and a sub-gasket (3) are typically provided between the separator plates (1). In order to increase the capacity of a fuel cell or water electrolysis cell, the cells are stacked to form a stack, and in this case, the separator plates (1) are stacked sequentially in a vertical direction from the bottom. In this case, when a load (W) is applied to the gasket (2) protruding from the outer surface of the separator plate (1), a slip (S) phenomenon occurs on the gasket (2), and the separator plates (1) become misaligned from each other during the stacking process. In particular, in the case of a large-area separator plate (1), shear force is generated between the upper plate and the lower plate, making it difficult for the gasket (2) to be fixed in the correct position. If dozens of separator plates (1) are continuously stacked in a misaligned state due to the detachment of the gasket (2), there is not only a risk that the stack will tip over, but also a problem that after the final stack assembly, some separator plates are misaligned, resulting in a distorted stack shape. Therefore, a separator structure is required that can be stacked so that the separator plates do not become misaligned even when stacking multiple separator plates vertically, while excluding the influence of gaskets. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the slip (S) phenomenon of the gasket according to the load (W) during lamination when a gasket is attached to a conventional separator plate. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a separator plate structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a plan view of one of the protrusions of the separator plate according to Figure 2. FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of one of the protrusions of the separator plate according to FIG. 2. Figure 5 is a side cross-sectional view along the line A-A' of the separator plate structure according to Figure 2. FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing a configuration in which a sub-gasket is fixed to a protrusion in a separator plate structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a stacked structure of a stack according to another aspect of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a process flowchart of a stack manufacturing method according to another aspect of the present invention. The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings. However, the following drawings are provided merely to aid in understanding the present invention, and the present invention is not limited by the drawings. Furthermore, the shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, etc. disclosed in the drawings are exemplary, and the present invention is not limited to the depicted details. Throughout the specification, the same reference numerals refer to the same components. Additionally, in describing the present invention, detailed descriptions of related prior art are omitted if it is determined that such detailed descriptions would unnecessarily obscure the essence of the invention. Where terms such as 'includes,' 'have,' and 'consists of' are used in this specification, other parts may be added unless 'only' is used. Where a component is expressed in the singular, it includes cases where it is in the plural unless specifically stated otherwise. In interpreting the components, they are interpreted to include a margin of error even in the absence of a separate explicit statement. In this specification, "a to b" indicating a numerical range is defined as "≥a and ≤b". In this specification, all numerical ranges include a 95% stan