Fuel cell and method of purging a fuel cell
AssigneeJohnson Matthey Public Limited Company
InventorDonald S. Cameron
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell may be purged with inert gas and/or pre-heated and/or maintained at an elevated temperature by combusting the hydrogen fuel with air and passing the combustion product gases either through the cell or through a heat exchanger for imparting heat either to the electrolyte or to the fuel gases. Preferably the combustor includes a catalyst. The hydrogen can either be taken directly from the fuel supply or the "waste" hydrogen periodically bled from the cell can be used. If the product gases are to be passed into the cell, the stoichiometry of the combustion should be controlled so that hydrogen is absent.
Claims12
A fuel cell in combination with a combustor for combusting hydrogen with air to yield a gas stream comprising water vapour and nitrogen optionally together with hydrogen at a concentration below the explosive limit and means for passing the gas stream through the fuel cell as a purge and/or as a preheater or through a heat exchanger for imparting heat to a reactant for the fuel cell or to the fuel cell electrolyte.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.