Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090136821 | Electrolyte supported cell designed for longer life and higher power - A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode, and a solid oxide electrolyte located between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The cathode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with a cathode catalyst material, and the anode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with an anode catalyst material, and the electrolyte is a ceramic layer having a lower porosity than the anode and the cathode electrodes. A ceramic reinforcing region may be located adjacent to the riser opening in the electrolyte. | 05-28-2009 |
20100009221 | Recuperators with spiral flow for fuel cell systems - A fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks, and one or more devices which in operation of the system provide an azimuthal direction to one or more anode or cathode feed or exhaust fluid flows in the system. | 01-14-2010 |
20100047637 | OPERATION OF FUEL CELL SYSTEMS WITH REDUCED CARBON FORMATION AND ANODE LEADING EDGE DAMAGE - A method of operating a fuel cell system includes introducing a fuel mixture comprising hydrogen, fuel, and steam at a fuel inlet of the fuel cell system, and operating the fuel cell system to generate electricity. A ratio of hydrogen to carbon from fuel (H | 02-25-2010 |
20100119909 | FUEL CELL INTERCONNECT - A fuel cell interconnect includes a first side containing a first plurality of channels and a second side containing a second plurality of channels. The first and second sides are disposed on opposite sides of the interconnect. The first plurality of channels are configured to provide a serpentine fuel flow field while the second plurality of channels are configured to provide an approximately straight air flow field. | 05-13-2010 |
20100159344 | Fuel cell seals - A fuel cell stack includes a plurality of fuel cells, a plurality of interconnects, and a plurality of seal members, wherein the plurality of seal members comprises one or more first seal members and one or more additional seal members, where the one or more first seal members form a protective barrier between the reducing environment contained with the fuel cell stack and the remaining seal members. | 06-24-2010 |
20100209802 | FUEL CELL STACK COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS - A plurality of fuel cell stack components, such as interconnects, seals and bypass conductors are provided. The components may be used in solid oxide fuel cell stacks or other types of fuel cell stacks. | 08-19-2010 |
20120024461 | ELECTROLYTE SUPPORTED CELL DESIGNED FOR LONGER LIFE AND HIGHER POWER - A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode, and a solid oxide electrolyte located between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The cathode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with a cathode catalyst material, and the anode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with an anode catalyst material, and the electrolyte is a ceramic layer having a lower porosity than the anode and the cathode electrodes. A ceramic reinforcing region may be located adjacent to the riser opening in the electrolyte. | 02-02-2012 |
20120028162 | Electrolyte Supported Cell Designed for Longer Life and Higher Power - A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode, and a solid oxide electrolyte located between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The cathode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with a cathode catalyst material, and the anode electrode is a porous ceramic layer infiltrated with an anode catalyst material, and the electrolyte is a ceramic layer having a lower porosity than the anode and the cathode electrodes. A ceramic reinforcing region may be located adjacent to the riser opening in the electrolyte. | 02-02-2012 |
20120115062 | FUEL CELL STACK COMPONENTS - An interconnect for a fuel cell stack includes a first set of gas flow channels in a first portion of the interconnect, and a second set of gas flow channels in second portion of the interconnect. The channels of the first set have a larger cross sectional area than the channels of the second set | 05-10-2012 |
20120135337 | Non-Destructive Testing Methods for Fuel Cell Interconnect Manufacturing - Various embodiments provide methods for testing a fuel cell interconnect including the steps of providing a fuel cell interconnect and performing a non-destructive test on the fuel cell interconnect comprising at least one of detecting a magnetic response of the interconnect, calculating a volume by optically illuminating the interconnect, detecting an acoustic response of the interconnect, and detecting a thermal response of the interconnect. | 05-31-2012 |
20120315565 | Fuel Cell Stack Components - An interconnect for a fuel cell stack includes a first set of gas flow channels in a first portion of the interconnect, and a second set of gas flow channels in second portion of the interconnect. The channels of the first set have a larger cross sectional area than the channels of the second set | 12-13-2012 |
20130029245 | MEASUREMENT DEVICE FOR MEASURING VOLTAGES ALONG A LINEAR ARRAY OF VOLTAGE SOURCES - A measurement device for measuring voltages along a linear array of voltage sources, such as a fuel cell stack, includes at least one movable contact or non-contact voltage probe that measures a voltage of an array element. | 01-31-2013 |
20130130152 | Fuel Cell Interconnects and Methods of Fabrication - An interconnect for a fuel cell stack includes a first plurality of ribs extending from a first major surface of the interconnect and defining a first plurality of gas flow channels between the ribs, the ribs extending between a first rib end and a second rib end and having a tapered profile in a vertical dimension, perpendicular to the first major surface of the interconnect, proximate at least one of the first rib end and the second rib end, wherein the ribs comprise a flat upper surface and rounded edges between the flat upper surface and the adjacent gas flow channels, the rounded edges having a first radius of curvature, and wherein the gas flow channels comprise a rounded surface having a second radius of curvature, different from the first radius of curvature. | 05-23-2013 |
20130216927 | Methods and Systems for Fuel Cell Stack Sintering and Conditioning - Systems and methods for sintering and conditioning fuel cell stacks utilizing channel guides, baffles, and internal compression systems are provided. Sintering and conditioning may be performed utilizing a fuel cell column cartridge assembly and fuel cell stacks may be sintered and conditioned at the system level during the same annealing cycle on the same support. | 08-22-2013 |
20130230072 | Flaw Detection Method and Apparatus for Fuel Cell Components - Various embodiments provide systems and methods for detecting defects in components of a fuel cell. Embodiment methods and systems for detecting a defect in an interconnect for a fuel cell system include thermally exciting the interconnect using optical radiation and/or inductive stimulation, detecting a thermal response of the interconnect, and based on the thermal response, determining the presence or absence of a defect in the interconnect, such as a lateral or through crack in the interconnect. | 09-05-2013 |
20130252119 | Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Heat Treatment Methods and Apparatus - Systems and methods are provided for fuel cell stack heat treatment. An eductor may be used to recycle air into the air inlet stream or to recycle fuel into the fuel inlet stream. An eductor may also be used to exhaust air away from the furnace. The stack heat treatment may include stack sintering or conditioning. The conditioning may be conducted without using externally supplied hydrogen. | 09-26-2013 |
20130269436 | Flaw Detection Method and Apparatus for Fuel Cell Components - Various embodiments provide systems and methods for detecting defects in components of a fuel cell. Embodiment methods and systems include directing acoustic energy into the component, detecting acoustic energy from the component, analyzing a characteristic of the detected acoustic energy, and based on the analyzing, determining the presence or absence of a defect in the component. | 10-17-2013 |
20140193064 | Optical Measurement Method and Apparatus for Fuel Cell Components - Methods and systems for measuring a property of a component of a fuel cell system include performing a three-dimensional optical scan of at least a portion of a surface of the component to produce a three-dimensional representation of the topography of the at least a portion of the surface and measuring at least one property of the component based on the three-dimensional representation. Further embodiments include systems and methods for measuring dimensions of a fuel cell component using a line scan imaging device and/or a matrix camera. | 07-10-2014 |
20140195031 | Serialization of Fuel Cell Components - Systems and methods for fuel cell stack part serialization and tracking. In an embodiment, a barcode may be applied to a fuel cell stack part which may identify the fuel cell stack part. In an embodiment, the barcode may be applied as ink on a green fuel cell stack part prior to sintering. In an embodiment, a portion of a fuel cell stack part may be imaged and pattern recognition techniques may be utilized to identify the fuel cell stack part based on the unique features of fuel cell stack part. In an embodiment, portion of a fuel cell stack part may be measured to generate one or more series of unique volume/area values and one or more series of unique volume/area values may be utilized to identify the fuel cell stack part. | 07-10-2014 |
20140332145 | Methods and Devices for Printing Seals for Fuel Cell Stacks - Various embodiments include a fuel cell stack seal application method including the step of applying a seal paste to a fuel cell, placing the fuel cell in a fuel cell stack, and thermally treating the fuel cell stack to set the seal paste into a seal. Further embodiments include applying the seal paste to an interconnect using stencil printing. | 11-13-2014 |