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US 8,709,670 B2Granted
Fuel cell system with mechanical check valve
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsFrancis Niezabytowski, Fred G. Brighton, Craig Michael Mathie, Douglas Piccard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell system may include a cathode loop having an operating pressure during fuel cell system operation. The cathode loop may include a normally open mechanical check valve disposed at a water pooling location within the loop and having a cracking pressure approximately equal to the operating pressure.
Claims14
A vehicle comprising:
- a fuel cell system configured to provide motive power for the vehicle and including a cathode loop (i) being arranged such that a portion of the loop forms a water pooling location where water normally pools during stack operation or after stack shut-down and (ii) including a normally open mechanical check valve disposed within a vicinity of the water pooling location.
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a cathode loop including a fuel stack, a humidifier, a first tube fluidly connecting the stack and humidifier, a control valve, and a second tube fluidly connecting the control valve and humidifier;
- and
- a mechanical check valve (i) configured to close when a pressure within the loop is greater than a predetermined threshold and to open when the pressure is less than the threshold and (ii) disposed within the loop such that water within the loop and in a vicinity of the check valve drains from the loop if the check valve is open.
A vehicle comprising:
- a fuel cell system configured to provide motive power for the vehicle and including a cathode loop having an operating pressure during fuel cell system operation, the cathode loop including a normally open mechanical check valve (i) disposed at a water pooling location within the loop and (ii) having a cracking pressure approximately equal to the operating pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.