Humidifier, plate, device, and motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10971740-B2
Application number	US-201515315607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2015
Priority date	Jun 2, 2014
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A humidifier, a device including a fuel cell, and a motor vehicle. The humidifier of the includes at least one humidifying duct and is designed in such a way that a first gas to be humidified can be conducted in the humidifying duct in a direction of flow and, separated by a water-permeable material, past a humidifying second gas so that water is transferred from the second gas to the first gas. The humidifier includes a cross-sectional area of the humidifying duct available to the first gas tapers in the direction of flow. The fact that the cross-sectional area tapers results in a drop in pressure along the humidifying duct, and the drop in pressure reduces, compensates or overcompensates an increase in pressure resulting from the increasing humidification, so the partial difference in pressure between the first gas and the second gas remains large over the distance of the humidifying duct in spite of the transfer of humidity.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A plate made of water-permeable material, the plate comprising:
webs on a flat side extending in a flow direction and delimiting a humidification channel, a distance between the webs decreasing monotonically in the flow direction; wherein a plurality of the webs delimit the humidification channel and at least one further mutually parallel humidification channel, widths of the webs monotonically increasing in the flow direction, so that cross-sectional areas of the humidification channel and the at least one further humidification channel decrease in the flow direction.

2. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein the plate includes further webs extending in the flow direction on an other flat side.

3. The plate as recited in claim 2 wherein widths of the further webs on the other flat side increase monotonically in the flow direction.

4. The plate as recited in claim 2 wherein the side and the other flat side define parallel planar surfaces.

5. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein the plate has an other flat side opposite the flat side, the side and further flat side defining parallel planar surfaces.

6. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein the webs protrude perpendicularly from the flat side.

7. The plate as recited in claim 6 wherein the humidification channel is delimited by the webs and the flat side.

8. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein a plurality of the webs delimit the humidification channel and at least one further mutually parallel humidification channel, the plurality of webs protruding perpendicularly from the flat side.

9. The plate as recited in claim 8 wherein the humidification channel and the at least one further mutually parallel humidification channel is delimited by the webs and the flat side.

10. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein the water-permeable material allows capillary passage of moisture through pores in the material.

11. The plate as recited in claim 1 wherein the water-permeable material does not permit passage of gas.

12. A humidifier comprising:
at least one plate as recited in claim 1 , a first gas to be humidified in the humidification channel being leadable in a flow direction and, separated by a water-permeable material, past a humidifying second gas so that water is transferred from the second gas into the first gas, a cross-sectional area of the humidification channel available to the first gas decreasing in the flow direction.

13. A device comprising a fuel cell and a humidifier as recited in claim 12 for humidifying supply air for the fuel cell with the aid of exhaust gas of the fuel cell.

14. A motor vehicle comprising the device as recited in claim 13 .

Assignees

• Volkswagen Ag
• Audi Ag

Inventors

• Brinkmeier Jan-Philipp

Classifications

• B01D2313/20

  Specific housing · CPC title

• H01M8/04141 Primary

  by water containing exhaust gases · CPC title

• H01M8/04149

  by diffusion, e.g. making use of membranes · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• B01D53/268

  by diffusion · CPC title