Fuel cell with a degassing device

Abstract

A fuel cell system in which methanol is supplied in liquid form to the fuel cells (so-called Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) system) with a container containing a supply of methanol, a conduit line designed to supply liquid methanol leading from the container to the fuel cells, another conduit line running from the fuel cells back to the container, a nozzle present in the other line and a pressure-boosting pump present in the conduit system, characterized by the fact that the pump is arranged in the conduit line leading from the container to the fuel cells, and a cooler is preferably arranged in the conduit line leading from the container to the fuel cells. In this way, one succeeds in supplying the fuel cells with a liquid fuel which is undersaturated with CO2 and therefore can absorb CO2 forming in the fuel cells so that as little gaseous CO2 as possible is contained in the fuel cell system, thus increasing the power of the system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.