초록 ▼

The fuel cell stack is made from two basic finished component subassemblies which are stacked repetitively atop each other in alternating fashion. One of the components is an electrode subassembly, and the other is a separator plate-flow field subassembly. The subassemblies are formed from several d

The fuel cell stack is made from two basic finished component subassemblies which are stacked repetitively atop each other in alternating fashion. One of the components is an electrode subassembly, and the other is a separator plate-flow field subassembly. The subassemblies are formed from several different material layers which are sintered and shrunk to operating size and density prior to the stack being assembled. The finished subassemblies are layered atop each other to form the stack and then heated to an elevated subsintering temperature and subjected to a light compressive load so that abutting surfaces of the adjacent subassemlies are creep flattened into intimate adherent contact with each other thereby forming a monolithic stack assembly.

대표청구항 ▼

A method for forming a monolithic solid oxide fuel cell stack, said method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a plurality of electrode subassemblies by: (i) providing appropriately sized green unsintered tapes of solid oxide electrolyte material; (ii) sintering said tapes to form sintered plates o

A method for forming a monolithic solid oxide fuel cell stack, said method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a plurality of electrode subassemblies by: (i) providing appropriately sized green unsintered tapes of solid oxide electrolyte material; (ii) sintering said tapes to form sintered plates of said electrolyte material of appropriate operational density; (iii) forming a finished layer of anode material on one surface of said sintered electrolyte plates; and (iv) forming a finished layer of cathode material on an opposite surface of said sintered electrolyte plates; (b) forming a plurality of gas separator-reactant flow field subassemblies by: (i) providing appropriately sized green unsintered sheets of interconnect material; (ii) sintering said sheets to form laminae of said interconnect material of appropriate operational density; (iii) forming a finished anode flow field layer of anode material on one surface of said laminae, said anode flow field layers including a plurality of parallel ribs and intervening grooves extending across said laminae in a first direction; and (iv) forming a finished cathode flow field layer on an opposite surface of said laminae, said cathode flow field layers including a plurality of parallel ribs and intervening grooves extending across said laminae in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction; (c) stacking said electrode subassemblies and said gas separator-reactant flow field subassemblies one atop the other in alternating fashion with said cathode material layers abutting said cathode flow field layers, and with anode material layers abutting said anode flow field layers to form a stack preassembly; (d) heating said stack preassembly to an elevated subsintering temperature thereby softening said subassemblies and creep flattening the latter to form intimate interfacial contact between said subassemblies; and (e) applying a light compressive load axially of said stack preassembly during said heating step to cause said subassemblies to fuse together to form a monolithic stack structure.