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US 2003/0198857 A1Published application
Graphite laminate fuel cell plate
OwnerEdward C. McManus, David P. Lyonsinventors
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Abstract
A laminated fuel cell plate has a sheet metal layer compression molded between two layers of expanded graphite. The sheet metal layer provides resilient support for making thinner plates. The sheet metal layer also functions as a permeability barrier, which allows the conductivity of the expanded graphite layers to be enhanced. Features are molded into the graphite layers for such purposes as alignment, sealing, and flow control.
Claims37
A laminated graphite plate for an electrochemical fuel cell comprising:
- two layers of a graphite material being compression molded together with an intermediate layer of sheet metal;
- flow-directing features being compression molded into at least one of the layers of graphite to direct flows of reactants across the plate;
- and
- the intermediate layer of sheet metal being laminated between the two layers of graphite material to provide a structural support and a permeability barrier for preventing unwanted flows of the reactants between the graphite layers.
1 more element
An electrochemical fuel cell assembly comprising:
- first and second fuel cell plates straddling a fuel cell membrane;
- each of the first and second fuel cell plates being formed by a sheet metal layer compression molded between two graphite layers;
- and
- locating features being compression molded within adjacent graphite layers of the fuel cell plates for aligning the first and second fuel cell plates with respect to each other.
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A method of making a laminated graphite fuel cell plate comprising steps of:
- loading expanded graphite together with a sheet metal layer in the form of a stack within a compression mold;
- compacting the expanded graphite on opposite sides of the sheet metal layer so that at least an outer edge of the sheet metal layer is encapsulated between layers of graphite and the two layers of graphite are bonded to each other around the outer edge of the sheet metal layer;
- and
- molding flow-directing features into at least one of the layers of graphite for fluid flows across the plate.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.