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US 8,617,758 B2Granted
Humidity regulation fuel cell
AssigneesSTMicroelectronics (Tours) SAS, Commissariat A L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives
InventorsNicolas Karst, Pierre Bouillon, Nelly Martin, Audrey Martinent
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell including a main cell and an auxiliary cell sharing a common electrolyte and having at least one separate electrode, circuitry for measuring the humidity ratio of the electrolyte, and control and switching circuitry for operating the main and auxiliary cells in parallel on a same load or separately on two different loads.
Claims2
A hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell comprising:
- a main cell and an auxiliary cell sharing a common electrolyte and having at least one separate electrode,
- means for measuring the humidity ratio of the electrolyte comprising impedance measurement means, and
- control and switching means for operating the main and auxiliary cells in parallel on a same load or separately on two different loads, wherein the control and switching means comprises means for periodically disconnecting the auxiliary cell from the main cell, triggering the humidity ratio measurement and, if the humidity ratio is below a desired threshold, connecting the auxiliary cell to a load, such that the auxiliary cell operates in humidity generation conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.