Air manager system for recirculating reactant air in a metal-air battery

An air manager system for a metal-air cell having an air cathode and defining a reactant air plenum, comprising:

• an air passageway connected at one end thereof to said plenum at an air inlet and at another end thereof to said plenum at an air outlet;
• said connected plenum and passageway forming a recirculation system isolated from general air circulation around said cell;
• means for circulating air around said recirculation system;
• and
• means for replacing air within said recirculation system in an amount sufficient only approximately to replace oxygen removed by operation of said cell.

An air manager system for a metal-air cell having an air cathode assembly and defining a reactant air plenum, said metal-air cell enclosed within a cell housing, comprising:

• an air passageway connected at one end thereof to said plenum at an air inlet and at another end thereof to said plenum at an air outlet;
• said connected plenum and passageway forming a recirculation system isolated from general air circulation around said cell;
• an air moving device for circulating air around said recirculation system;
• and
• at least one air exchange opening defined in said pathway for admitting only ambient air to said recirculation system, the rate of flow of said amount of ambient air being minimized to a rate needed to replace oxygen depleted by operation of said cell.

A metal-air power supply including a metal-air cell for providing energy to a load, wherein said load has a plurality of modes of operation, comprising:

• an air cathode and an anode;
• a reactant air pathway directed adjacent to said cathode, said pathway being operative for directing a flow of air adjacent to the air cathode to provide reactant air and for removing the reactant air from adjacent to the air cathode;
• an adjustable air inlet for admitting ambient air into the flow of said recirculating reactant air;
• an output monitoring circuit connected to measure an output current drawn from said metal-air cell during operation of said load;
• and
• output control means, connected to said load, for monitoring the mode of operation of said load and for operating said air inlet responsive to the mode of operation of said load.

An air manager system for an metal-air battery, comprising:

• a housing,
• an arrangement of one or more cell stacks within said housing, said cell stacks each further comprising a plurality of metal-air cells each having a cell casing and an air cathode assembly, said cells positioned at spaced apart levels by one or more spacer barriers extending between each said air cathode assembly and a facing wall, said facing wall being a portion of said housing or of the cell casing of an adjacent cell;
• an air pathway, said air pathway comprising:
• a plurality of channels, said channels defined by said spacer barriers and by said facing walls, said channels each having an air inlet end and an air outlet end;
• and
• an air plenum defined within said housing, said air plenum opened to said air inlet ends and to said air outlet ends of said channels
• an air moving device positioned to direct a flow of air throughout said channels from said air inlet end to said air outlet end, the air becoming depleted of oxygen in said channels by the operation of said cells;
• and
• at least one air exchange opening in said pathway for exchanging a select amount of the depleted air with ambient air from outside of said housing through said air exchange opening, said select amount based on the oxygen depleted by the operation of said cells, the non-exchanged depleted air being recirculated with said ambient air by said air moving device.

A rechargeable metal-air battery comprising:

• a housing;
• at least one metal-air cell within said housing, said metal-air cell generating oxygen and hydrogen gas during cell charging;
• an air flow path within said housing,
• a catalyst element positioned in said air flow path, said catalyst element catalyzing the recombination of oxygen and hydrogen gas;
• and
• an air moving device for directing a flow of the generated oxygen and hydrogen gas from said cells to said catalyst element during cell charging.