Fuel cell stack with a plurality of connected single unit fuel cells
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
H01M-008/10
H01M-002/00
H01M-002/18
출원번호
UP-0437336
(2006-05-19)
등록번호
US-7776485
(2010-09-06)
발명자
/ 주소
Davis, Edward Lee
Schafer, Benjamin Franklin
출원인 / 주소
Hydro Fuel Cell Corporation
대리인 / 주소
Buskop Law Group, PC
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
2인용 특허 :
25
초록▼
A fuel cell stack including a housing for holding fuel cells is disclosed. Each fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly with a proton exchange membrane disposed between carbon bases, a connector for engaging metalized collectors to form an electrical circuit for operating the fuel cell stac
A fuel cell stack including a housing for holding fuel cells is disclosed. Each fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly with a proton exchange membrane disposed between carbon bases, a connector for engaging metalized collectors to form an electrical circuit for operating the fuel cell stack, and a sealable two-part housing for supporting an oxidant manifold and a fuel manifold that support the membrane electrode assembly and flexible plenums of each fuel cell. The fuel cell stack includes fuel cell connectors for connecting an anode from one fuel cell with a cathode from an adjacent fuel cell, a fuel intake in communication with a fuel source and an oxidant intake in communication with an oxidant source for providing fuel and oxidant into the fuel cell stack, a controller for monitoring and regulating fuel and oxidant, and a fuel manifold engaging fuel intakes and an oxidant manifold engaging oxidant intakes.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell stack comprising: a. a plurality of connected fuel cells, wherein each fuel cell comprises: i. a membrane electrode assembly comprising: 1. a proton exchange membrane disposed between a first carbon base and a second carbon base, and wherein an anode side is forme
What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell stack comprising: a. a plurality of connected fuel cells, wherein each fuel cell comprises: i. a membrane electrode assembly comprising: 1. a proton exchange membrane disposed between a first carbon base and a second carbon base, and wherein an anode side is formed from between 0.1 milligrams/cm2 and 0.3 milligrams/cm2 of a first catalyst on a side of the first carbon base disposed adjacent to the proton exchange membrane and a cathode side is formed from between 0.3 milligrams/cm2 and 0.6 milligrams/cm2 of a second catalyst on a side of the second carbon base disposed adjacent to the proton exchange membrane; 2. a gasket disposed around an edge of the proton exchange membrane for sealing the sides of the proton exchange membrane without covering the anode side or the cathode side; and 3. a first metalized collector deployed on the anode side and a second metalized collector deployed on the cathode side, wherein each metalized collector is shaped with a body, a projection, and a plurality of paths formed through each body for transmitting gases, wherein the first metalized collector is disposed adjacent to the first carbon base and the second metalized collector is disposed adjacent to the second carbon base, wherein the first metalized collector is in communication with the first carbon base and the proton exchange membrane and the second metalized collector is in communication with the second carbon base and the proton exchange membrane for forming the membrane electrode assembly; ii. a flexible fuel plenum disposed on a side of the membrane electrode assembly and a flexible oxidant plenum disposed on an opposite side of the membrane electrode assembly for forming an intermediate structure, wherein the intermediate structure is disposed between a fuel manifold and an oxidant manifold enabling the anode side to communicate with the fuel manifold and the cathode side to communicate with the oxidant manifold, wherein each flexible plenum comprises: 1. a top central portion and a bottom central portion, wherein each central portion comprises a plurality of holes for transmitting a gas to each metalized collector; 2. a plurality of nibs disposed in the top central portion and the bottom central portion for increasing turbulence in gases flowing over the top central portion and the bottom central portion; and 3. a frame surrounding the top central portion and the bottom central portion, wherein the frame has a height equivalent to a portion of the plurality of nibs, wherein the frame provides a gas inlet passageway and a gas exhaust passageway, wherein each frame forms a seal when engaging another fuel cell, wherein fuel flows over the flexible fuel plenum to the first metalized collector and oxidant flows over the flexible oxidant plenum to the second metalized collector in forming an operational fuel cell; b. fuel cell connectors for connecting in series an anode from a first fuel cell in the fuel cell stack with a cathode from an adjacent fuel cell in the fuel cell stack or connecting in parallel a cathode from a first fuel cell in the fuel cell stack with a cathode from an adjacent fuel cell in the fuel cell stack forming a plurality of connected fuel cells; c. an anode load connector for connecting an unconnected anode of the plurality of connected fuel cells to a load; d. a cathode load connector for connecting an unconnected cathode of the plurality of connected fuel cells to a load; e. a housing for supporting the plurality of connected fuel cells, wherein the housing comprises: 1. at least one fuel intake in communication with a fuel source for providing fuel into the plurality of connected fuel cells; 2. at least one fuel exhaust for releasing fuel exhaust gases from the plurality of connected fuel cells; 3. at least one oxidant intake in communication with an oxidant source for providing oxidant into the plurality of connected fuel cells; and 4. at least one oxidant exhaust for releasing oxidant exhaust gases from the plurality of connected fuel cells; f. a fuel manifold engaging the at least one fuel intake and providing a sealing engagement with the plurality of connected fuel cells in the housing; g. an oxidant manifold engaging the at least one oxidant intake and providing a sealing engagement with the plurality of connected fuel cells in the housing; and h. a controller with a processor in communication with the at least one fuel intake for monitoring and regulating fuel into the plurality of connected fuel cells and in communication with the at least one oxidant intake for monitoring and regulating oxidant flow into the plurality of connected fuel cells. 2. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein at least one metalized collector further comprises: a. a temperature sensor disposed on the projection; b. a voltage sensor disposed on the projection; c. a current sensor disposed on the projection; and d. a metalized collector processor with a memory for data storage disposed on the projection in communication with sensors disposed on the projection for forming a printed circuit board. 3. The fuel cell stack of claim 2, further comprising a power supply in communication with the processor for providing power during start-up of the fuel cell stack. 4. The fuel cell stack of claim 2, wherein the metalized collector processor has a database storage and a memory with computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions comprise steps for instructing the metalized collector processor to monitor and regulate a temperature, a voltage, a current, a humidity, a gas flow, and combinations thereof, based on pre-set limits stored in the database storage. 5. The fuel cell stack of claim 2, further comprising a pressure sensor disposed on the at least one metalized collector within the body and in communication with the metalized collector processor of the at least one metalized collector. 6. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein each metalized collector comprises a layer of between 1 micro-inch and 2 micro-inches of an inert metal capable of resistance to degradation in the presence of a strong acid. 7. The fuel cell stack of claim 6, wherein the layer on each metalized collector is made up of a member selected from the group consisting of: a gold, a gold alloy, and combinations thereof. 8. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein each catalyst is a member selected from the group consisting of: a platinum catalyst, a ruthenium catalyst, and combinations thereof. 9. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the plurality of paths in each metalized collector covers between 40% and 60% of each metalized collector. 10. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, further comprising a needle connecting the gas inlet passageway to a hydrogen tank for supplying fuel to the plurality of connected fuel cell. 11. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, further comprising a needle connecting the gas inlet passageway to a reformer for supplying fuel to the fuel cell, wherein the reformer converts a hydrogen carrying fuel to hydrogen. 12. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the proton exchange membrane is a member selected from the group consisting of: a proton permeable membrane, an electrically insulating membrane, a perfluorosulphonic acid based hydrophilic membrane, and combinations thereof. 13. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein each fuel cell produces a current density of at least 350 milli-Amps (mA) per square centimeter at a nominal voltage of about 0.5 volts. 14. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein each fuel cell has an electrical output of at least 10.5 watts. 15. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the housing is a sealable two-part housing for supporting the fuel manifold in a position opposite the oxidant manifold. 16. The fuel cell stack of claim 15, wherein the sealable two-part housing provides support for the membrane electrode assembly and the flexible plenums of each fuel cell, wherein the sealable two-part housing further comprises: a. a fuel intake port with a fuel channel in communication with the fuel manifold; b. an oxidant intake port in communication with an oxidant channel in communication with the oxidant manifold; c. a fuel exhaust port in communication with the flexible fuel plenum; and d. an oxidant exhaust port in communication with the flexible oxidant plenum. 17. The fuel cell stack of claim 16, wherein the sealable two-part housing compresses each flexible plenum to the membrane electrode assembly for providing communication between the plurality of nibs and the first metalized collector on the anode side and the plurality of nibs and the second metalized collector on the cathode side. 18. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the fuel manifold and the oxidant manifold are wedge shaped. 19. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the plurality of nibs increases communication between the first metalized collector and the first carbon base on the anode side and the second metalized collector and the second carbon base on the cathode side. 20. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the fuel cell connectors engage the projections of the first metalized collector and the projection of the second metalized collector of each fuel cell forming an electrical circuit for operating the fuel cell stack and for providing a power removal circuit for facilitating removal of created power from the fuel cell stack.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (25)
Fuglevand, William A.; Bayyuk, Shibli Hanna I.; Lloyd, Greg A.; Wilkerson, Shalena V.; Wright, Matthew M., Air cooled fuel cell module.
Fuglevand, William A.; Bayyuk, Shiblihanna I.; Lloyd, Greg; Devries, Peter D.; Lott, David R.; Scartozzi, John P., Fuel cell power systems and methods of controlling a fuel cell power system.
William A. Fuglevand ; Shiblihanna I. Bayyuk ; Greg Lloyd ; Peter D. Devries ; David R. Lott ; John P. Scartozzi, Fuel cell power systems and methods of controlling a fuel cell power system.
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