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US 11,380,923 B2Granted
Oxygen regulated fuel cell
AssigneeIntelligent Energy Limited
InventorsSteven J. Eickhoff, Jeffrey Michael Klein, Jason Wiebesick
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device includes a container having a top plate containing an array of oxygen limiting pinholes and a chamber to hold a chemical hydride fuel, a fuel cell proton exchange membrane electrode assembly supported within the container between the top plate and the chamber, a first gas diffusion layer supported between the fuel cell proton exchange membrane electrode assembly and the top plate, and a second gas diffusion layer supported between the fuel cell proton exchange membrane electrode assembly and the chamber.
Claims20
A device restricting oxygen and water vapor comprising:
- a container having a top plate containing an array of pinholes and a chamber to hold a chemical hydride fuel, each of the pinholes providing a direct oxygen diffusion path between ambient atmosphere and the container;
- and
- a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly supported within the container between the top plate and the chamber, wherein:
- a number of pinholes and a diameter of pinholes provide a total cross-sectional area, and the total cross-sectional area and a thickness of pinholes are selected to limit oxygen supplied from the ambient atmosphere to a cathode of the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly to limit an average power generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- the number of pinholes, the diameter of pinholes, and the thickness of pinholes restrict water vapor recovered from ambient atmosphere such that oxygen is the primary regulator of electricity generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- a first, gas diffusion layer supported between the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly and the top plate, the first gas diffusion layer abutting the top plate to minimize the direct oxygen diffusion path between the first gas diffusion layer and ambient atmosphere;
- and
- a second gas diffusion layer supported between the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly and the chamber.
5 more elements
A device comprising:
- a container having a top plate containing an array of pinholes and a chamber to hold a chemical hydride fuel, each of the pinholes providing a direct oxygen diffusion path between ambient atmosphere and the container;
- and
- a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly supported within the container between the top plate and the chamber positioned to receive oxygen from the pinholes and hydrogen from the chamber, wherein:
- a number of pinholes and a diameter of pinholes provide a total cross-sectional area, and the total cross-sectional area and a thickness of pinholes are selected to oxygen supplied from the ambient atmosphere to the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly to limit an average power generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- the number of pinholes, the diameter of pinholes, and the thickness of pinholes restrict water vapor recovered from ambient atmosphere such that oxygen is the primary regulator of electricity generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- and
- a first gas diffusion layer supported between the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly and the top plate, the first gas diffusion layer abutting the top plate to minimize the direct oxygen diffusion path between the first gas diffusion layer and ambient atmosphere.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- exposing a cathode of a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly to a limited supply of oxygen via one or more pinholes in a power generator container, wherein:
- a number of pinholes and a diameter of pinholes provide a total cross-sectional area, and the total cross-sectional area and a thickness of pinholes are selected to limit oxygen supplied from the ambient atmosphere to the cathode to limit an average power generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- the number of pinholes, the diameter of pinholes, and the thickness of pinholes restrict water vapor recovered from ambient atmosphere such that oxygen is the primary regulator of electricity generated by the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly;
- providing hydrogen to an anode of the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly from a chamber containing a chemical hydride;
- reacting the oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity and water vapor;
- and
- providing the produced water vapor to the chemical hydride to cause the chemical hydride to generate more hydrogen.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.