Research on Design and Optimization of Large Metal Bipolar Plate Sealing for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Jinghui Zhao, Huijin Guo, Shaobo Ping, Zimeng Guo, Weikang Lin, Yanbo Yang, Wen Shi, Zixi Wang and Tiancai Ma ()
Additional contact information
Jinghui Zhao: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, No. 4800 Caoan Highway, Shanghai 201804, China
Huijin Guo: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, No. 4800 Caoan Highway, Shanghai 201804, China
Shaobo Ping: AT&M Environmental Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., No. 76 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Zimeng Guo: AT&M Environmental Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., No. 76 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Weikang Lin: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, No. 4800 Caoan Highway, Shanghai 201804, China
Yanbo Yang: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, No. 4800 Caoan Highway, Shanghai 201804, China
Wen Shi: AT&M Environmental Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., No. 76 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Zixi Wang: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Tiancai Ma: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, No. 4800 Caoan Highway, Shanghai 201804, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-18

Abstract: The sealing system, as the most important load-bearing component, is a critical part of the stack assembly in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Currently, flat or single-peak sealing gaskets are commonly used for large metal bipolar plate sealing, which can easily cause problems such as significant internal stress and distortion displacement. In order to solve this problem, an innovative double-peak sealing gasket structure is proposed. Based on the Mooney–Rivlin constitutive model, the impact of the sealing material hardness, friction coefficient, and compression ratio on the sealing performance are investigated. Meanwhile, the double-peak seal is fabricated and assembled into a single fuel cell for testing. The results show that the sealing performance of a double-peak sealing gasket with extended wings has been optimized, and the maximum contact pressure on the upper and lower contact surfaces is 1.2 MPa and 0.67 MPa, respectively, which is greater than the given air pressure of 0.1 MPa. And the sealing effect is optimal with a 45 Shore A hardness rubber, a friction coefficient of 0.05, and an initial compression ratio of 35%. The simulation and experimental sealing performance of the sealing gasket under different compression ratios remain similar.

Keywords: PEMFC; metal bipolar plate; double-peak sealing gasket; sealing design and optimization; compression ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/12002/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/12002/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:12002-:d:1210678

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().