Tubular fuel cell assembly and method of manufacture
AssigneeGore Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
InventorWillem J. Steyn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell assembly including a porous tubular substrate made from a fluid-permeable material, and a plurality of elongated flexible polymer electrolyte fuel cells wound in side by side relation onto the substrate. Each elongated cell includes a central proton exchange membrane, a cathode element mounted on one side of said membrane and an anode element mounted on the other side of said membrane. In a preferred arrangement, the anode element of a first elongated wound fuel cell is in electrical contact with the cathode element of an adjacently wound fuel cell.
Claims31
A fuel cell assembly comprising:
- a tubular substrate made from a fluid permeable material;
- a plurality of elongated flexible polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assemblies wound in side by side relation onto said substrate, each membrane electrode assembly including a central proton exchange membrane, a cathode element mounted on one side of said membrane and an anode element mounted on the other side of said membrane;
- and
- means for serially connecting the anode element of a first elongated membrane electrode assembly in electrical contact with the cathode element of the next adjacent membrane electrode assembly.
A method of fabricating a fuel cell assembly comprising the steps of:
- providing a tubular substrate that permits gas to diffuse therethrough;
- winding upon said tubular substrate a first flexible elongated membrane electrode assembly that includes a central proton exchange membrane, a cathode element mounted on one side of said membrane and an anode element mounted on the opposite side of said membrane;
- winding upon said tubular substrate a plurality of flexible elongated membrane electrode assemblies in alignment with said first wound membrane electrode assembly;
- and
- electrically connecting said membrane electrode assemblies.
A fuel cell unit comprising a plurality of elongated flexible fuel cell assemblies that are each formed of multiple layers that include a central ion conducting membrane that is sandwiched between an anode sheet on a first side and a cathode sheet on a second side, wherein a portion of an anode sheet of a first fuel cell assembly overlaps a portion of a cathode sheet of an adjacent fuel cell assembly, and wherein an electrical connection exists through said ion conducting membrane between said portion of said anode sheet of said first fuel cell assembly and said portion of said cathode sheet of said adjacent fuel cell assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.