Reactant conditioning scheme for fuel cell systems
AssigneePlug Power Inc.
InventorsMichael Cacioppo, Ranjieve A. Williams, Charles R. Elder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack and a reactant temperature conditioner. The conditioner includes a fuel inlet for receiving fuel from a fuel source and an oxidant inlet for receiving oxidant from an oxidant source. The conditioner is configured to transfer heat energy from the oxidant to the fuel to arrive at a conditioned oxidant and a conditioned fuel. The conditioner has a fuel outlet coupled to the fuel cell stack to allow flow of the conditioned fuel to the fuel cell stack and an oxidant outlet to allow flow of the conditioned oxidant to the fuel cell stack.
Claims22
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell stack;
- a reactant temperature conditioner coupled to a fuel source and an oxidant source, said conditioner having a fuel inlet for receiving fuel from the fuel source and an oxidant inlet for receiving oxidant from the oxidant source, said conditioner configured to transfer heat energy from the oxidant to the fuel to arrive at a conditioned oxidant and a conditioned fuel;
- said conditioner having a fuel outlet coupled to said fuel cell stack to allow flow of the conditioned fuel to said fuel cell stack and an oxidant outlet to allow flow of the conditioned oxidant to said fuel cell stack.
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell stack;
- a reactant temperature conditioner coupled to a fuel source and an oxidant source, said conditioner having a fuel inlet for receiving fuel from the fuel source and an oxidant inlet for receiving oxidant from the oxidant source, said conditioner configured to transfer heat energy from the oxidant to the fuel to arrive at conditioned oxidant and conditioned fuel;
- said conditioner having a fuel outlet coupled to said fuel cell stack to allow flow of the conditioned fuel to said fuel cell stack and an oxidant outlet to allow flow of the conditioned oxidant to said fuel cell stack;
- and
- a coolant source coupled to said fuel cell stack, said fuel cell stack comprising a coolant outlet coupled to said conditioner to allow flow of exhaust coolant from said fuel cell stack to said conditioner to allow a transfer of heat energy from the oxidant to the coolant.
A method for operating a fuel cell comprising:
- flowing a fuel from a fuel source and an oxidant from an oxidant source to a reactant temperature conditioner;
- transferring heat energy from the oxidant to the fuel in the conditioner to form a conditioned oxidant and a conditioned fuel;
- and
- flowing the conditioned oxidant and the conditioned fuel to a fuel cell stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.