Electrolytic cell, method for enhancing electrolytic cell performance, and hydrogen fueling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9487872-B2
Application number	US-201213537458-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2012
Priority date	Jun 29, 2012
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

An electrolytic cell includes a positive electrode disposed in an electrolytic compartment, a negative electrode disposed in another electrolytic compartment, and a cell membrane positioned between the electrolytic compartment and the other electrolytic compartment. An electrolyte solution is disposed inside the electrolytic compartment and inside the other electrolytic compartment. The electrolyte solution is also in contact with the cell membrane. A transducer, which is directly attached to any of the negative electrode or the positive electrode, is capable of selectively transmitting vibrational energy to the negative electrode and/or the positive electrode. The vibrational energy selectively transmitted to the negative electrode and/or the positive electrode causes bubbles to form and to separate i) hydrogen gas bubbles from a surface of the negative electrode, ii) oxygen gas bubbles from a surface of the positive electrode, or iii) both i and ii.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electrolytic cell, comprising:
a positive electrode disposed in an electrolytic compartment;
a negative electrode disposed in an other electrolytic compartment, wherein the negative electrode or the positive electrode has a modified surface geometry including protrusions separated by resonant cavities, the protrusions having a length ranging from about 0.1 cm to about 0.5 cm, and having a width of about 1.0 cm, and the resonant cavities having a width ranging from about 0.1 cm to about 1.0 cm;
a cell membrane positioned between the electrolytic compartment with the positive electrode disposed therein and the other electrolytic compartment with the negative electrode disposed therein;
an electrolyte solution disposed inside the electrolytic compartment with the positive electrode disposed therein and inside the other electrolytic compartment with the negative electrode disposed therein, the electrolyte solution also being in contact with the cell membrane;
a first transducer directly attached to the negative electrode; and
a second transducer directly attached to the positive electrode, wherein vibrational energy selectively transmitted to the negative electrode and the positive electrode by the first and second transducers causes a) both the negative electrode and the positive electrode to respectively oscillate in a same direction, and b) bubbles to form and to separate i) hydrogen gas bubbles from a surface of the negative electrode and ii) oxygen gas bubbles from a surface of the positive electrode.

2. An electrolytic cell, comprising:
a positive electrode disposed in an electrolytic compartment;
a negative electrode disposed in an other electrolytic compartment, wherein:
the negative electrode or the positive electrode has a single protrusion that wraps around a body of the negative electrode or the positive electrode in a screw-shaped geometry;
the single protrusion has a length, which is defined by a spaced distance from the body to an edge of the protrusion, ranging from about 0.1 cm to about 0.5 cm; and
the single protrusion has a width, defined by a thickness of a material that forms the single protrusion, ranging from about 0.5 cm to about 1.0 cm;

a cell membrane positioned between the electrolytic compartment with the positive electrode disposed therein and the other electrolytic compartment with the negative electrode disposed therein;
an electrolyte solution disposed inside the electrolytic compartment with the positive electrode disposed therein and inside the other electrolytic compartment with the negative electrode disposed therein, the electrolyte solution also being in contact with the cell membrane;
a first transducer directly attached to the negative electrode; and
a second transducer directly attached to the positive electrode, wherein vibrational energy selectively transmitted to the negative electrode and the positive electrode by the first and second transducers causes a) both the negative electrode and the positive electrode to respectively oscillate in a same direction, and b) bubbles to form and to separate i) hydrogen gas bubbles from a surface of the negative electrode and ii) oxygen gas bubbles from a surface of the positive electrode.

3. The electrolytic cell as defined in claim 2 wherein the protrusion is formed of a material that forms the negative electrode or the positive electrode.

4. The electrolytic cell as defined in claim 2 wherein the protrusion is formed of a resonant material that is different from that of either the positive electrode or the negative electrode.

5. The electrolytic cell as defined in claim 4 wherein the resonant material is nonconductive, and is chosen from ceramics and plastics.

6. The electrolytic cell as defined in claim 2 wherein
i) the same direction is parallel to an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, or ii) the same direction is perpendicular to an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, or iii) the same direction is angularly offset from an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, wherein the angularly offset direction is an angle other than 0°, 90°, or 180° with respect to the axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode.

7. A method for making the electrolytic cell of claim 2 , the method comprising:
separating the negative electrode from the positive electrode with the cell membrane;
introducing the electrolyte solution into a space defined between the positive electrode and the negative electrode and in contact with the cell membrane; and
respectively directly attaching the negative electrode and the positive electrode to the first and second transducers such that vibrational energy is to be selectively supplied from the first and second transducers to the negative electrode and the positive electrode.

8. A method for enhancing performance of the electrolytic cell as defined in claim 1 , the method comprising:
sonicating the electrolyte solution by directly oscillating the negative electrode and the positive electrode in contact with the electrolyte solution in the same direction, thereby inducing cavitation and transportation of i) the hydrogen gas bubbles from the surface of the negative electrode and ii) the oxygen gas bubbles from the surface of the positive electrode;
wherein the direct oscillation is accomplished using the first and second transducers that are respectively directly connected to the negative electrode and the positive electrode.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the sonicating is performed at i) a fixed frequency, or ii) a pulsed frequency.

10. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the sonicating is performed at a sweeping frequency ranging from infrasound to ultrasound.

11. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein i) the same direction is parallel to an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, or ii) the same direction is perpendicular to an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, or iii) the same direction is angularly offset from an axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode, wherein the angularly offset direction is an angle other than 0°, 90°, or 180° with respect to the axis of each of the negative electrode and the positive electrode.

12. The method as defined in claim 8 , further comprising agitating the electrolyte solution at a distance from the surface of any of the negative electrode or the positive electrode.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising altering an oscillatory frequency of the any of the negative electrode or the positive electrode based on a depth of the resonant cavities, thereby transporting the electrolyte solution to the surface of the any of the negative electrode or the positive electrode and enhancing kinetics of the electrolytic cell.

14. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the inducing of cavitation reduces saturation of the hydrogen gas bubbles or oxygen gas bubbles in the electrolyte solution.

15. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the sonicating is accomplished in a manner sufficient to transmit a constant rate of the vibrational energy to the negative electrode and the positive electrode to thereby oscillate the negative electrode and the positive electrode at a constant rate.

16. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein while the first and second transducers are in a non-oscillating mode, the further comprises:
by a processor executing computer readable code embedded on a non-transito

Assignees

• Kelly Nelson A
• Mance Andrew M
• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Kelly Nelson A
• Mance Andrew M

Classifications

• C25B11/02 Primary

  characterised by shape or form · CPC title

• C25B15/02

  Process control or regulation · CPC title

• Y10T29/49002

  Electrical device making · CPC title

• C25B9/08

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C25B9/015

  Cylindrical cells · CPC title