| CPC H01M 8/026 (2013.01) [H01M 8/0258 (2013.01); H01M 8/0265 (2013.01); H01M 2008/1095 (2013.01)] | 10 Claims |
|
1. A bipolar plate for a fuel cell, the bipolar plate comprising:
a bipolar plate body having an inlet bipolar plate region, an outlet bipolar plate region, and a simplified periodic array flow field structure comprising a plurality of parallel feed flow channels fluidically connected to the inlet bipolar plate region,
a plurality of parallel exit flow channels fluidically connected to the outlet bipolar plate region, and
an interwoven pattern flow field structure formed by a plurality of flow channel arrays fluidically connected to the feed flow channels and the exit flow channels, the interwoven pattern flow field structure having a structure based on flow patterns generated by homogenized anisotropic porous media optimization, wherein each flow channel array comprises a first flow channel subarray including a first plurality of parallel secondary flow channels that intersect a second plurality of parallel secondary flow channels and a third plurality of parallel secondary flow channels that is intersected by the second plurality of parallel secondary flow channels, wherein the third plurality of parallel secondary flow channels intersect a fourth plurality of parallel secondary flow channels, wherein the first and second plurality of parallel secondary flow channels are formed by linear ribs, wherein the first plurality of parallel secondary flow channels and the third plurality of parallel secondary flow channels are positioned to be parallel to one another, wherein at least a portion of the first plurality of parallel secondary flow channels is directly adjacent to the third plurality of parallel secondary flow channels, wherein at least a portion of the second plurality of parallel secondary flow channels is directly adjacent to the fourth plurality of parallel secondary flow channels, and wherein the first plurality of parallel secondary flow channels are located to be offset laterally and longitudinally with respect to the third plurality of parallel secondary flow channels and the second plurality of parallel secondary flow channels are located to be offset laterally and longitudinally with respect to the fourth plurality of parallel secondary flow channels.
|