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US 4,376,155 AGranted
Thermal galvanic cells
AssigneeKali, Inc.
InventorRobert L. Peck
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The efficiency of thermal galvanic cells is enhanced by establishing a temperature gradient along the electrodes, in addition to the temperature gradient between the electrodes, and/or by optimizing electrode geometry. Optimization of electrode geometry may comprise segmenting the electrodes while retaining the desired total electrode area or controlling the depth of immersion of the electrodes into the electrolyte. Further performance improvement may be obtained through the addition of a silica containing material and/or a thermal barrier to the electrolyte.
Claims23
A thermal galvanic cell comprising:
- a first electrode, said first electrode being at least in part comprised of a conductive metal;
- at least a second electrode, said second electrode being at least in part comprised of a conductive metal, said second electrode being oriented generally parallelly with respect to said first electrode;
- a liquid electrolyte, said electrolyte being in contact with spacially separated facing surface areas of said electrodes whereby current may flow between said electrodes, said electrolyte including a barrier material which reduces thermal convection currents over the facing surfaces of the electrodes;
- and
- means for establishing a pair of transversely oriented temperature gradients in the cell, said temperature gradient establishing means directly co-acting with portions of said electrodes at the same time, the first of said temperature gradients being between the electrolyte contacting surface areas of said first and second electrodes and the second of said temperature gradients being over at least a part of the electrolyte contacting surface area of said electrodes.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.