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US 2008/0076005 A1Published application
Fuel cell fluid distribution system
AssigneesMichel Bitton, EnergyOr Technologies Inc.
InventorsStephane Levesque, Raymond Roberge
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AssigneesMichel Bitton, EnergyOr Technologies Inc.
InventorsStephane Levesque, Raymond Roberge
Estimating the term…
The dominant fuel cell design is based on using separator plates with flow fields to distribute the reaction gases parallel to the membrane. In our invention the solid electrolyte membrane fuel cell has a multitude of conduits that penetrate the catalyst coated membranes and the porous gas diffusion layers in a perpendicular direction, each conduit separated by an active area. The conduits are distributed in a repeatable parallelogram unit to create a two dimensional pattern. The conduits have appropriately positioned integrated gaskets to provide reactant gases to the anode (fuel) or cathode (oxidant) and to ensure that the anode fuel is prevented from entering the cathode side of the membrane and vice-versa. A separate conduit (in/out) for the water cooling can be added or the water cooling can be integrated to the air exhaust or the hydrogen exhaust to extract the heat from the electrochemical reaction and the reaction water.
A solid electrolyte membrane fuel cell comprising a plurality of conduits that penetrate the catalyst coated membrane and the porous gas diffusion layers in a perpendicular direction to the catalyst coated membrane plane, the conduits have appropriately positioned integrated gaskets to provide reactant gases to the anode or cathode and to ensure that the anode fuel is prevented from entering the cathode side of the membrane and vice-versa, a water cooling path to extract the heat from the electrochemical reaction, each conduit is fully separated from each other by an active area of the solid electrolyte membrane.
The inert additives in claim 111 wherein the additives are silicon dioxide based.
A fuel cell stack of two or more fuel cells connected in series, the stack comprising a plurality of fuel cells, a plurality of separator plates between each fuel cell with openings matching the conduits in the individual fuel cells, two fluid distribution manifolds with fluid flows that register with the openings in the separator plates and the conduits in the fuel cells, said fluid distribution manifolds having external ports for the fluids inlets and outlets, two current collectors, two end plates disposed on opposing sides of the said plurality of fuel cells to maintain the stack under compression.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.