1. An electrochemical energy conversion system comprising: at least one electrically conducting component with at least two in series connected cells,
wherein at least one of the electrically conducting components is divided into at least two segments, which are electrically insulated against each other and at least one transfer plate is provided, consisting of electrically non-conducting material with at least two conducting sections andor areas for conducting current from at least one segment to at least one other segment.
2. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein at least one electrically insulating separating element is present between each segment.
3. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein at least one electrically conducting component is divided into at least two half components which are connected via a transfer plate electrically conducting with each other.
4. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 3, wherein when using a bipolar plate as electrically conducting component, the half components are half bipolar plates.
5. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 3, wherein the transfer plate is placed between the two half components.
6. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein only one electrically conducting component is a bipolar plate of a fuel cell stack or the electrodes of a galvanic plant, an electrometallurgical plant or an electrolyser are divided electrically into segments.
7. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 2, wherein a bipolar plate is used as the separating element which has a lateral resistance along the length of the bipolar plate which is much higher than the through resistance by a factor of 103 to 105.
8. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the electrically conducting component is a bipolar plate of a fuel cell stack or the electrodes of a galvanic plant, an electrometallurgical plant or an electrolyser, consisting of an electrically anisotropic conducting material.
9. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 8,
wherein the electrically conducting component consists of a material whose electrical conductivity in the direction vertical to the surface area is high and in the other directions lower.
10. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 9,
wherein a specific conductivity in the through direction is at least double as much as in the lateral direction.
11. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 8,
wherein the anisotropy of the electrical conductivity of the electrically conducting component that is the bipolar plate, exhibits a preferential direction so that the lateral conductivity between the individual segments is at least halved.
12. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 8, wherein a specific lateral conductivity of the electrically conducting component that is the bipolar plate, decreases in radial direction from the middle by at least a factor of 4 compared to the through conductivity so that a transient skin effect can be avoided.
13. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the electrically conducting sections of the transfer plate are separated electrically from one another.
14. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the electrically conducting sections andor areas of the transfer plate are provided with electrical separation from one another and a lateral resistance forms a separating element between the electrically conducting sections andor areas.
15. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein connecting elements are provided between the electrically conducting sections andor areas of the transfer plate and which are insulated against each other.
16. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 15, wherein the connecting elements are cables, in particular when providing a number of cables whose resistance corresponds to each other and is similar.
17. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 15, wherein the connecting elements are essentially flat elements, which are connected with the conducting sections andor areas of the transfer plate, with similar or identical resistance.
18. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 15, wherein the connecting elements are arranged outside of the transfer plate, in order to conduct current from one segment to another segment.
19. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 15, wherein the connecting elements are connected to an electrical center of the sections or at a place, from which a current density can be passed on with lowest resistance between the sections, which are connected to one another and taking the resistance of the sections themselves into account.
20. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 15, wherein the connecting elements which can be or are fastened to predefined locations at or on the transfer plate.
21. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein a non conducting body of the transfer plate is constructed in part as a hollow body filled with air or fuel.
22. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer plate is arranged between two parts of an electrochemical energy conversion system, in particular stacks of a fuel cell, and that instead of half bipolar plates with separating elements end plates with separating elements or group bars with separating elements are provided, in particular separating elements which are electrically insulating or formed as a result of a lateral resistance.
23. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein at least one segment is surrounded by all other segments.
24. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 23, wherein a connection for conducting current between the segments both between the other segments as well as the inner segments is provided.
25. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer plate is formed together with at least one bipolar plate together as an integral, design engineered unit.
26. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to the claim 1, wherein at least one power electronic component is provided for improving current homogeneity in an electrochemical energy conversion system.
27. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 26, wherein the power electronic component is integrated into at least one current path of segments of the electrically conducting components, or which can be integrated.
28. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 26, wherein the power electronic component passes power taken up onto at least one electronic component between segments andor provides the power for operation of auxiliary systems.
29. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein an end plate of the electrochemical energy conversion system is provided, which is divided into segments which are electrically separated from one another.
30. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 29, wherein a power electronic component is arranged on the side of the end plate which is facing away from the fuel cell stack.
31. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the segments have different sizes and are variable from cell to cell.
32. The electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein a supply of fuel or reactants to an electrochemical energy conversion system in the form of a fuel cell is fed to the cells to different segments in different sequences.
33. A transfer plate for an electrochemical energy conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer plate consists of electrically non-conducting material and has at least two electrically conducting sections andor areas.
34. The transfer plate according to claim 33, wherein at least two electrically conducting sections andor areas are provided on both sides of the transfer plate.
35. The transfer plate according to claim 33, wherein connecting elements are provided, which connect the sections andor areas with one another.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition comprising steps of:
polarizing a ceramic composition comprising a perovskite compound containing Pb, Zr, Ti and Mn as main components; and
heat-treating said polarized ceramic composition within a temperature range lower than Tc (Tc denoting the Curie temperature of said ceramic composition) for 1 to 100 minutes.
2. A manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition comprising steps of:
polarizing a ceramic composition comprising a perovskite compound containing Pb, Zr, Ti, Mn and Nb as main components; and
heat-treating said polarized ceramic composition within a temperature range equal to or higher than 0.68 Tc and lower than Tc (Tc denoting the Curie temperature of said ceramic composition) for 1 to 100 minutes.
3. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
in said heat treatment step, the heat treatment is carried out within a temperature range equal to or higher than 0.74 Tc and lower than Tc.
4. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
the Curie temperature Tc of said ceramic composition is 340\xb0 C. or higher.
5. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
in said polarizing step, an electric field of 1.0 to 2.0 Ec (Ec denoting a coercive electric field) is applied to said ceramic composition within a temperature range from 50 to 300\xb0 C. for 0.5 to 30 minutes.
6. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 2 wherein:
said ceramic composition comprises said main components represented by a formula, Pb\u03b1(Mn13Nb23)xTiyZrzO3, in which \u03b1, x, y and z fall within the ranges of 0.95\u2266\u03b1\u22661.02, 0.02\u2266x\u22660.15, 0.48\u2266y\u22660.62, and 0.30\u2266z\u22660.50, respectively; and
said ceramic composition comprises as an additive Mn in 0.65 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of MnCO3 andor Cr in 0.65 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Cr2O3.
7. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 6, wherein:
said ceramic composition comprises as an additive Al in 5.0 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Al2O3 andor Sc in 5.0 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Sc2O3.
8. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
in said heat treatment step, the product between the heat treatment temperature and the heat treatment time is 500 (\xb0 C.\xb7hour) or less.
9. The manufacturing method for a piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
the vibrational mode of said piezoelectric ceramic composition is a thickness-shear mode.
10. A piezoelectric ceramic composition comprising a perovskite compound containing Pb, Zr, and Ti as main components, wherein:
\u0394F0 (here, \u0394F0 is the rate of change in oscillation frequency F0 caused by external thermal shock) of said piezoelectric ceramic composition is 0.10% or less in absolute value.
11. The piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 10, wherein:
said piezoelectric ceramic composition further comprises Mn andor Nb as said main components.
12. A piezoelectric ceramic composition comprising a perovskite compound containing Pb, Zr, Ti, Mn and Nb as main components, wherein:
said perovskite compound is represented by a formula, Pb\u03b1(Mn13Nb23)xTiyZrzO3 in which \u03b1, x, y and z fall within the ranges of 0.95\u2266\u03b1\u22661.02, 0.02\u2266x\u22660.15, 0.48\u2266y\u22660.62, and 0.30\u2266z\u22660.50, respectively; and
\u0394F0 (here, \u0394F0 is the rate of change in oscillation frequency F0 caused by external thermal shock) of said piezoelectric ceramic composition is 0.10% or less in absolute value.
13. The piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 12, wherein:
said piezoelectric ceramic composition comprises Mn as an additive in 0.65 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of MnCO3 andor Cr in 0.65 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Cr2O3.
14. The piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 12 or 13, wherein:
said piezoelectric ceramic composition comprises as an additive Al in 5.0 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Al2O3 andor Sc in 5.0 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of Sc2O3.
15. The piezoelectric ceramic composition according to claim 11 or 12, wherein:
the Curie temperature Tc of said piezoelectric ceramic composition is 340\xb0 C. or higher.
16. A piezoelectric element comprising a piezoelectric substrate having a front surface and a back surface opposed to each other with a predetermined distance therebetween and a pair of electrodes arranged, respectively, on said front surface and said back surface of said piezoelectric substrate, wherein:
said piezoelectric substrate is constituted with a sintered body comprising a perovskite compound containing Pb, Zr, Ti, Mn and Nb as main components, in which the sintered body is represented by a formula, Pb\u03b1(Mn13Nb23)xTiyZrzO3, in which \u03b1, x, y and z fall within the ranges of 0.95\u2266\u03b1\u22661.02, 0.02\u2266x\u22660.15, 0.48\u2266y\u22660.62, and 0.30\u2266z\u22660.50, respectively; and the sintered body comprises as an additive Mn in 0.65 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of MnCO3.
17. The piezoelectric element according to claim 16, wherein:
the piezoelectric element is constituted with a sintered body comprising as an additive Mn in 0.50 wt % or less (not inclusive of 0) in terms of MnCO3.
18. The piezoelectric element according to claim 16, wherein:
the vibrational mode of said piezoelectric element is a thickness-shear mode.
19. The piezoelectric element according to claim 16, wherein:
the \u0394F0 (here, \u0394F0 is the rate of change in oscillation frequency F0 caused by external thermal shock) of said piezoelectric element is 0.10% or less in absolute value.
20. The piezoelectric element according to claim 16, wherein:
the \u0394Fr (here, \u0394Fr is the rate of change in resonant frequency Fr caused by external thermal shock) of said piezoelectric element is 0.10% or less in absolute value.