Particle feeding apparatus for electrochemical power source and method of making same

A fuel particle feed mechanism for a refuelable electrochemical device comprising:

• (a) an input of fluid and electrochemically active particles;
• (b) one or more feed tubes;
• (c) one or more electrochemical cells;
• (d) means for inputting said fluid and particles into said feed tube;
• (e) means for operating said feed tube;
• and
• (f) means for transferring electrochemically active particles from the feed tube into one or more of the electrochemical cells or one or more cavities from which the particles can be fed into the electrochemical cells.
• (g) means for ensuring at least 20% of the fluid entering said one or more feed tubes enters said cells or cavities during refueling.

A method of refueling a refuelable electrochemical device having one or more electrochemical cells comprising at least the steps of:

• (a) providing an input of fluid and electrochemically active particles;
• (b) operating a feed tube within said device to allow particles to transfer from said feed tube to other parts of the device;
• (c) pumping said fluid and particles into said device via the feed tube;
• (d) pumping said fluid through said feed tube to clear it of particles;
• and
• (f) operating said feed tube to isolate it from the remainder of the device and to electrically isolate each electrochemical cell in the device from all others.

A method for dispensing fuel particles into one or more electrochemical cells, each having a cell cavity and arranged longitudinally in a container along and substantially within a plane, the method comprising the following steps:

• providing a flow into the cell cavities in a direction substantially parallel to the plane;
• distributing the particles into the cell cavities using the flow;
• and
• continuing the distribution of particles until the cell cavities are substantially filled.