US 12,412,907 B2
Bipolar plate and fuel cell stack
Oliver Keitsch, Heilbronn (DE); Armin Siebel, Neckarsulm (DE); and Sebastian Voigt, Heilbronn (DE)
Assigned to AUDI AG, Ingolstadt (DE)
Appl. No. 18/003,855
Filed by AUDI AG, Ingolstadt (DE)
PCT Filed Oct. 25, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/079463
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 29, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/090119, PCT Pub. Date May 5, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 128 310.5 (DE), filed on Oct. 28, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0268521 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
Int. Cl. H01M 8/0265 (2016.01); H01M 8/0254 (2016.01); H01M 8/0267 (2016.01)
CPC H01M 8/0265 (2013.01) [H01M 8/0254 (2013.01); H01M 8/0267 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
 
1. A bipolar plate formed from two single plates joined together, which are formed with a reactant flow field on their plate surfaces facing away from each other, comprising:
multiple flow ducts for a reaction medium, bounded by walls of webs, wherein the webs and the flow ducts of one of the single plates run opposite the webs and the flow ducts of the other of the single plates in an active region, thus forming coolant ducts of a coolant flow field extending between the single plates,
the reactant flow fields and the coolant flow field being each connected fluidically to a media port across a distribution region situated outside the active region,
and there being a cross channeling of the two reaction media for a portion in the distribution region,
wherein, for the channeling of the coolant in the distribution region free of cross currents, at least one of the single plates is formed with a reduction in height of the webs on its plate surface facing toward the other of the single plates in an intersection region of the reaction media channels, so that two adjacent flow ducts are fluidically connected by the reduction.