Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100124678 | FUEL CELL FEED SYSTEMS - Fuel feed systems capable of providing substantially consistent flow of fuel to a fuel cell and also capable of tolerating varying pressures from a reservoir (also referred to as fuel supply or fuel cell cartridge) and the fuel cell while maintaining substantially consistent control flow to the fuel cell are disclosed. | 05-20-2010 |
20100124679 | METHOD FOR INCREASING THE DURABILITY OF DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELLS - Methods for increasing the durability of direct oxidation fuel cells are disclosed. In one instance, the method for increasing durability of a vapor fed direct oxidation fuel cell includes reducing fluctuations in output power, provided by the vapor fed direct oxidation fuel cell, to a load. The reduction of the fluctuations in output power can include, in one instance, utilizing a mass flow controller or an electro-osmotive pump to supply fuel to the vapor fed direct oxidation fuel cell. | 05-20-2010 |
20100124689 | SYSTEM TO RESERVOIR CONNECTOR - A system-to-reservoir connector is disclosed in which a system-side-sub-connector and a reservoir-side-sub-connector provide for a fluid connection that is resilient to external forces, is substantially leak-proof upon insertion and retraction, and is orientation independent. | 05-20-2010 |
20140127610 | FUEL CELL FEED SYSTEMS - Fuel feed systems capable of providing substantially consistent flow of fuel to a fuel cell and also capable of tolerating varying pressures from a reservoir (also referred to as fuel supply or fuel cell cartridge) and the fuel cell while maintaining substantially consistent control flow to the fuel cell are disclosed. | 05-08-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100124676 | MANAGING GAS BUBBLES IN A LIQUID FLOW SYSTEM - A system and method for managing gas bubbles in a liquid flow system are described. In particular, according to the system and method, novel techniques reduce a volume of cavities in the liquid flow system and limit a cross-sectional area of the liquid flow system to a maximum cross-sectional area of tolerably sized bubbles. In this manner, by reducing the cavity volumes and limiting cross-sectional areas, the formation of intolerably sized bubbles and the aggregation of tolerably sized bubbles into intolerably sized bubbles are each substantially prevented. Also, bubbles may be removed from the system to reduce the quantity of bubbles that are to be managed. | 05-20-2010 |
20100124677 | DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELL SYSTEM WITH UNIFORM VAPOR DELIVERY OF FUEL - A fuel cell system which includes a fuel distribution structure that uniformly distributes vaporizing fuel to a fuel cell is provided. As the fuel travels in a flow field channel in the fuel distribution structure, it is substantially converted to a vapor by the heat of the fuel cell operation in such a manner that the resulting vapor pressure works to substantially uniformly distribute fuel evenly outwardly across substantially the entire active area of the anode aspect of one or more membrane electrode assemblies in the system, and whereby localized, uneven “hot spots” of fuel at the anode aspects are substantially prevented. A pair of enthalpy exchanger and heat spreader assemblies include a cathode current collector element that also has a heat spreader plate that collects and redirects heat in the fuel cell system, the assembly acting to manage the heat, temperature and condensation in the fuel cell system. | 05-20-2010 |
20100124683 | HEAT SPREADER ASSEMBLY FOR USE WITH A DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELL - A heat spreader assembly that provides electrical, thermal and structural functions to the fuel cell. The heat spreader assembly comprises two bulk composite material layers, and a heat spreader element. The heat spreader element includes a copper layer sandwiched between two stainless steel layers. The stainless steel layers are bonded to the bulk composite layers by a conductive thermal set adhesive. The lamination applied to the stainless steel layers enables heat and electricity to flow from the cathode while maintaining low resistance among other layers of the fuel cell. The copper layer diffuses heat across the layer and functions as cathode current collector for a fuel cell. The bulk composite material layers function as a cold side of an enthalpy exchanger system and a cathode flow field. Further the composite material includes flow channels formed throughout the material to evenly distribute incoming air over the enthalpy exchanger membrane and to the cathode of the MEA. | 05-20-2010 |
20140234740 | DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELL SYSTEM WITH UNIFORM VAPOR DELIVERY OF FUEL - In one embodiment, a membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell has an anode aspect and a cathode aspect. A fuel distribution structure is disposed adjacent to the anode aspect. The fuel distribution structure has a fuel feed port configured to receive and inject liquid fuel to a flow field plate. The flow field plate has flow channels formed therein that split and spread from the fuel feed port to exit ports. The flow channels are configured to convey heat to fuel passing there through to substantially convert the liquid fuel to vaporous fuel within the flow channels. The exit ports are configured to deliver the resulting vaporous fuel to the anode aspect to substantially uniformly distribute fuel across the anode aspect. Further, an enthalpy exchanger and heat spreader assembly is in thermal contact with the fuel distribution structure and configured to provide to it heat from fuel cell operation. | 08-21-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080264062 | Isothermal power - This invention provides means for producing power by using isothermal compressors and isothermal expanders. One embodiment has an isothermal compressor that compresses air (or other gas), passes the air through a counter-flow heat exchanger, which heats the air, uses the heated air to drive an isothermal expander for power generation, and transfers the expander exhaust back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to heat the input air to the expander. Another embodiment has a boiler that produces vapor that flows through a counter-flow heat exchanger to superheat the vapor. The vapor then flows through an isothermal expander for power generation. The exhaust from the isothermal expander flows back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to supply heat to the vapor coming from the boiler and then flows through another heat exchanger that preheats the feed liquid flowing to the boiler. | 10-30-2008 |
20090077969 | Heat Transfer Methods for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Desalination - A means is provided to produce fresh water from seawater on both the boiler side and the condenser side of an OTEC power plant. Part of the warm ocean surface water is evaporated, and its vapor transfers heat to the working-fluid boiler as the vapor condenses. The condensation of the vapor provides fresh water. On the condenser side, the condensation of the working-fluid vapor from the turbine in the condenser releases heat that evaporates seawater that runs down the outside of the condenser surfaces. The vapor from the seawater is condensed by a heat exchanger that uses input from colder seawater. As the cold seawater accepts heat from the condensing vapor, it becomes slightly warmer and provides the source of seawater that accepts heat from the condenser. The condensing vapor on the heat exchanger becomes fresh water that is drawn out as potable water. To provide additional fresh water, a multi-stage desalination unit uses the warm water discharge and the cold-water discharge from the OTEC plant to provide a temperature gradient that causes evaporation and condensation in each stage of the unit. | 03-26-2009 |
20090260301 | Compressed-Air Rigid Building Blocks - The outstanding tensile strength of some materials are used in compression applications by using air pressure to supply the outward force on an enclosure and by using interior tension members to maintain the geometry of the air-pressurized structure. The air pressure on each face of the structure is balanced by the tension in the tension members. Due to the high modulus of the tension members, the air-pressurized structures are very rigid. It is the air pressure that actually supports any load placed on the structure, but it is the tension members that maintain the geometry when the load is removed, and the strength of the tension members determine how much air pressure can be sustained. The mass of tension material required in such a structure is roughly equivalent to the amount of filament material required in a cable to support the same load. The Compressed-air Rigid Building Blocks can be stacked like bricks to form strong, lightweight walls, buildings, towers, and other structures. | 10-22-2009 |
20090260361 | ISOTHERMAL POWER SYSTEM - This invention provides means for producing power by using isothermal compressors and isothermal expanders. One embodiment has an isothermal compressor that compresses air (or other gas), passes the air through a counter-flow heat exchanger, which heats the air, uses the heated air to drive an isothermal expander for power generation, and passes the expander exhaust back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to heat the input air to the expander. Another embodiment has a boiler that produces vapor that flows through a counter-flow heat exchanger to superheat the vapor. The vapor then flows through an isothermal expander for power generation. The exhaust from the isothermal expander flows back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to supply heat to super heat the vapor coming from the boiler. The description presents several devices that can perform at near isothermal conditions, including a modified Tesla turbine. | 10-22-2009 |
20100018520 | HIGH LEVERAGE TROUGH SOLAR COLLECTOR - This invention is a trough solar collector that uses the principles of high leverage in order to produce a lightweight, inexpensive thermal solar collector. The parabolic reflectors are held in proper shape by rigid ribs that are spaced apart along the length of the collector. The structure of the trough is held rigid by a unique sun-tracking system that not only guides a long trough row to point it toward the sun, but also maintains the whole length of the row in rigid configuration. Small-diameter cables are wrapped around a rotatable pipe that extends along the row. The cables extend around circular arches attached to the parabolic ribs that provide high leverage for rotating the troughs. Since the arches rotate in unison, the long trough row is maintained in rotational rigidity. Rather than having heavy concrete foundations and heavy structures to support the troughs, lightweight support posts are placed into the ground, and guy wires maintain the position of the posts. | 01-28-2010 |
20100251714 | AIR-WATER POWER GENERATION SYSTEM - The Air-Water Power Generation System utilizes the temperature differential between warm air and a surface cooled by water evaporation. To enhance the temperature differential, the air that evaporates the water is first cooled by releasing heat to boil the working fluid in a boiler and then is cooled further by a counter-flow heat exchanger before the air enters the condenser where a water film is evaporating. The air then becomes colder as the water evaporates in the condenser, and this provides the cooling to condense the working fluid. Finally, the cold air flows out of the condenser and flows back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to provide the cooling of the air flowing from the boiler. | 10-07-2010 |