Passive carbon-oxygen battery system and method of use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025323292-A1
Application number	US-202519175148-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 10, 2025
Priority date	Apr 10, 2024
Publication date	Oct 16, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A carbon-oxygen battery system, including a Boudouard reactor in fluid communication with an electrochemical cell; a carbon store configured to store carbon; a gas store in fluid communication with the electrochemical cell, and a fuel gauge. The gas store is configured to separately store oxygen and a carbon-containing gas, wherein the gas store comprises a movable barrier separating the oxygen from the carbon-containing gas. The fuel gauge configured to determine a state of charge based on a position of the movable barrier, a mass of the oxygen in the gas store, a mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, a mass of carbon in the carbon store, a volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof. The gas store and the electrochemical cell form a closed system.

First claim

1 . A carbon-oxygen battery system, comprising:
a Boudouard reactor in fluid communication with an electrochemical cell; a carbon store configured to store carbon; a gas store in fluid communication with the electrochemical cell, the gas store configured to separately store oxygen and a carbon-containing gas, wherein the gas store comprises a movable barrier separating the oxygen from the carbon-containing gas; and a fuel gauge configured to determine a state of charge based on a position of the movable barrier, a mass of the oxygen in the gas store, a mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, a mass of carbon in the carbon store, a volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof, wherein the gas store and the electrochemical cell form a closed system.

2 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the carbon-oxygen battery system is configured to provide an oxygen flow from the gas store to the electrochemical cell and to provide a carbon-containing gas flow to the gas store from the electrochemical cell during discharge; and
wherein the carbon-oxygen battery system is configured to provide the oxygen flow to the gas store from the electrochemical cell and to provide the carbon-containing gas flow from the gas store to the electrochemical cell during charge.

3 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen and the carbon-containing gas in the gas store are configured to be pressure balanced;
wherein the movable barrier comprises a movable piston, a diaphragm, an inflatable bladder, or a combination thereof; further comprising a carbon store fuel gauge configured to sense a mass of carbon in the carbon store, a volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof; wherein the carbon-containing gas comprises carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; wherein the carbon-oxygen battery system is configured to operate without a pump, a compressor, a blower, a condenser, or a combination thereof; or a combination thereof.

4 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the carbon store is disposed inside the Boudouard reactor, or wherein the carbon store is disposed outside of the Boudouard reactor and in fluid communication with the Boudouard reactor,
wherein the gas store comprises a first compartment and a second compartment, wherein the oxygen is stored in the first compartment and the carbon-containing gas is stored in the second compartment.

5 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 4 , wherein the first compartment and the second compartment are configured to be pressure balanced;
wherein the movable barrier is configured to maintain a same pressure in the first compartment and the second compartment; or a combination thereof.

6 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 3 , further comprising a carbon dioxide separation membrane configured to separate carbon dioxide from the carbon-containing gas.

7 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 6 , wherein the carbon dioxide separation membrane is disposed between the gas store and the electrochemical cell.

8 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first valve disposed between the gas store and the electrochemical cell, wherein the first valve is configured to control a flow of the oxygen; and a second valve disposed between the gas store and the electrochemical cell, wherein the second valve is configured to control a carbon-containing gas flow.

9 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical cell comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein the electrolyte comprises a solid oxide electrolyte, a molten salt electrolyte, a molten hydroxide electrolyte, or a combination thereof.

10 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , further comprising a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the Boudouard reactor and the electrochemical cell;
wherein at least one of the Boudouard reactor and the electrochemical cell are disposed in a thermal chamber; wherein the electrochemical cell comprises a plurality of electrochemical cells, wherein each electrochemical cell of the plurality of electrochemical cells is in electrical contact with an external circuit; or a combination thereof.

11 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 10 , wherein at least one electrochemical cell of the plurality of electrochemical cells is a removable electrochemical cell.

12 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one removable electrochemical cell is configured to be selectively isolated from the carbon-oxygen battery system;
wherein the at least one removable electrochemical cell is configured to be selectively isolated from the gas store; wherein the carbon-oxygen battery system is configured to operate when the at least one removable electrochemical cell is isolated from the system and at least one electrochemical cell is not isolated from the system; or a combination thereof.

13 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , further comprising a processor configured to receive information relating to the position of the movable barrier, the mass of the oxygen in the gas store, the mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, the mass of carbon in the carbon store, the volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof, and to determine the state of charge based on the position of the movable barrier, the mass of the oxygen in the gas store, the mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, the mass of carbon in the carbon store, the volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof.

14 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the Boudouard reactor is:
disposed within a compartment of a negative electrode of the electrochemical cell; disposed in a separate reactor from the electrochemical cell; or disposed in a separate reactor that forms an interconnect, wherein the electrochemical cell comprises a plurality of electrochemical cells that are connected via the interconnect.

15 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of Boudouard reactors.

16 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel gauge comprises a first fuel gauge and a second fuel gauge,
wherein the first fuel gauge is configured to determine a state of charge based on a position of the movable barrier, a mass of the oxygen in the gas store, a mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, or a combination thereof and the second fuel gauge is configured to determine a mass of carbon in the carbon store, a volume of carbon in the carbon store, or a combination thereof.

17 . The carbon-oxygen battery system of claim 1 , wherein the gas store, the electrochemical cell, and the Boudouard reactor form a closed system.

18 . A battery fuel gauge configured to determine a state of charge of a carbon-oxygen battery,
wherein the battery fuel gauge comprises a processor configured to receive information relating to a position of a movable barrier of a gas store, a mass of oxygen in the gas store, a mass of a carbon-containing gas in the gas store, or a combination thereof and to determine the state of charge based on the position of the movable barrier, the mass of the oxygen in the gas store, the mass of the carbon-containing gas in the gas store, or a combination thereof; wherein the carbon-oxygen battery comprises: an electrochemical

Assignees

• Form Energy Inc

Inventors

• Manser Joseph S
• Reynolds Christopher Thomas
• Su Liang
• Perkins Nicholas

Classifications

• H01M8/04216 Primary

  characterised by the choice for a specific material, e.g. carbon, hydride, absorbent · CPC title

• H01M8/146

  Fuel cells with molten hydroxide · CPC title

• H01M8/04067

  Heat exchange or temperature measuring elements, thermal insulation, e.g. heat pipes, heat pumps, fins · CPC title

• H01M8/1246

  the electrolyte consisting of oxides · CPC title

• H01M8/0668

  Removal of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide · CPC title