Integrated Fuel and Fuel Cell Device
OwnerYu Zhouinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Described here is a device for generating electrical current via an electrochemical fuel cell that consumes hydrogen. The described device may be entirely or partially self-contained or may be made up of cooperating components. The device comprises at least and fuel and fuel cell components and those components may be integrated. The fuel is selected to produce hydrogen suitable for use in a variety of fuel cell designs that utilize hydrogen to produce electrical current. The fuel cell, in some variations, produces water and that water may be returned to the selected fuel source to create a self-sustaining supply of hydrogen for the fuel cell under load. The fuel cell may also contain a system for controlling the amount of water produced by the fuel cell that gets delivered to the solid fuel.
Claims44
A device for generating electrical energy, the device comprising:
- at least one fuel cell capable of generating electricity and water when fed hydrogen and oxygen, and
- at least one solid fuel source comprising a solid fuel, wherein the solid fuel source is configured to produce hydrogen for use by said at least one fuel cell when reacted with the water and wherein the solid fuel source and the fuel cell are configured so that an amount of the water produced by the fuel cell is directed into the solid fuel source to react with the solid fuel to produce hydrogen for use by the fuel cell.
The device according to claim 18 wherein the activating agent is hydrogen.
A method for generating electricity the method comprising:
- reacting a solid fuel with water to generate hydrogen;
- converting the hydrogen in a fuel cell to electricity and water;
- directing an amount of the water produced by the hydrogen fuel cell to the solid fuel to generate hydrogen;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.