Fuel Cell With Hydrogen Internal Recirculation
AssigneeNuvera Fuel Cells Europe S.R.L.
InventorDaniele Facchi
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Abstract
A unit consisting of a fuel cell, provided with a first ion-exchange membrane, and an electrolysis cell, equipped with a second ion-exchange membrane, capable of operating as an electrochemical hydrogen pump in which the electrolysis cell sucks in the discharge gas of the fuel cell anodic compartment which contains hydrogen as the main component, ionizes the hydrogen on a suitable anodic catalyst, sends the so formed protons across the second ion-exchange membrane to a suitable cathodic catalyst where the protons are reconverted to hydrogen which is mixed to the fuel cell hydrogen feed.
Claims15
A unit comprising a membrane fuel cell fed with hydrogen at the anodic compartment and air at the cathodic compartment connected in electrical series to a hydrogen-transfer electrochemical cell subdivided by an ion-exchange membrane into one anodic compartment and one cathodic compartment, wherein said anodic compartment of said hydrogen-transfer cell is fed with the anodic exhaust of said fuel cell, and the hydrogen evolved at the cathodic compartment of said transfer cell is recycled as a fraction of the anode feed of said fuel cell.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.