Fuel cell assembly

A fuel cell assembly for using hydrogen gas and oxygen to produce electrical energy comprising:

• a fuel cell including an anode for receiving a plurality of hydrogen molecules and for splitting the hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons;
• said fuel cell including a cathode spaced from said anode for receiving the protons and electrons from said anode of said fuel cell and for receiving a flow of compressed and cooled air including oxygen and to combine the protons and electrons and oxygen molecules to produce liquid water and a flow of moist air including water vapor;
• said fuel cell including a proton exchange membrane (PEM) sandwiched between said anode and said cathode for conveying the protons from said anode to said cathode and for receiving the liquid water from said cathode to moisten said PEM;
• said PEM being of a material pervious to water and pervious to protons and resistive to electrons;
• an electrical circuit spaced from said PEM and electrically interconnecting said anode and said cathode for conveying the electrons from said anode to said cathode;
• a dehumidifier in fluid communication with said cathode of said fuel cell for receiving the flow of moist air including water vapor and for condensing the water vapor to produce a flow of purified liquid water and a flow of dehumidified air;
• a compressor in fluid communication with said dehumidifier for receiving the flow of dehumidified air from said dehumidifier and for receiving a flow of ambient air and for compressing the dehumidified and ambient air to a prescribed pressure to define a flow of compressed air including oxygen;
• a heat exchanger in fluid communication with said compressor for receiving the flow of compressed air and for cooling the compressed air to a predetermined temperature to define a flow of compressed and cooled air including oxygen;
• said dehumidifier including a housing including an air inlet pipe disposed on an axis for receiving the flow of moist air from said cathode of said fuel cell and an air outlet for dispensing the flow of dehumidified air to said compressor;
• said housing of said dehumidifier defining a diffuser cavity for conveying the flow of air from said air inlet to said air outlet;
• said housing of said dehumidifier extending radially outwardly from said axis and having a top plate and a bottom plate in spaced and parallel relationship with one another;
• a scroll disposed in said housing and having a wall extending axially between said top and bottom plates and spiraling radially outwardly to define at least one coil as viewed in cross-section from a first end engaging said air inlet pipe to a second end defining said air outlet for defining said diffuser cavity as extending from said air inlet pipe on said axis to said air outlet adjacent said second end of said spiral-shaped scroll;
• and
• said spiral-shaped scroll being further defined as having a spiral as viewed in cross-section and an exponentially increasing radius from said first end engaging said air inlet pipe to said second end radially spaced from said axis to further define said diffuser cavity as having a progressively increasing cross-sectional area from said air inlet pipe on said axis to said air outlet for depressurizing and cooling the flow of moist air including water vapor below the dew point of the moist air including water vapor to condense the water vapor on said scroll and said top plate and said bottom plate of said housing of said dehumidifier.