Fuel cell plates with improved arrangement of process channels for enhanced pressure drop across the plates

Patent · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:866089

Spurrier, Francis R ^[1]; Pierce, Bill L ^[1]; Wright, Maynard K ^[2]

---

1. Whitehall Boro, PA
2. Bethel Park, PA

A plate for a fuel cell has an arrangement of ribs defining an improved configuration of process gas channels and slots on a surface of the plate which provide a modified serpentine gas flow pattern across the plate surface. The channels are generally linear and arranged parallel to one another while the spaced slots allow cross channel flow of process gas in a staggered fashion which creates a plurality of generally mini-serpentine flow paths extending transverse to the longitudinal gas flow along the channels. Adjacent pairs of the channels are interconnected to one another in flow communication. Also, a bipolar plate has the aforementioned process gas channel configuration on one surface and another configuration on the opposite surface. In the other configuration, there are not slots and the gas flow channels have a generally serpentine configuration.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL
• Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp. (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Patent Number(s): US 4631239
• OSTI ID: 866089
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/429/
adjacent
adjacent pair
aforementioned
allow
arranged
arranged parallel
arrangement
bipolar
bipolar plate
cell
cell plate
cell plates
channel
channels
communication
configuration
creates
defining
drop
enhanced
extending
extending transverse
fashion
flow
flow channel
flow channels
flow communication
flow path
flow paths
flow pattern
fuel
fuel cell
gas
gas channel
gas channels
gas flow
improved
interconnected
linear
longitudinal
mini-serpentine
modified
opposite
opposite surface
pairs
parallel
paths
pattern
plate
plate surface
plates
plurality
pressure
pressure drop
process
process channels
process gas
provide
ribs
serpentine
serpentine flow
site surface
slots
spaced
spaced slots
staggered
surface
transverse