Fuel cell system having curved membrane electrode assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9935322-B2
Application number	US-201514970936-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2015
Priority date	May 28, 2015
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a fuel cell system. The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell module, fuel and oxidizing gas. The fuel cell module includes a container and a membrane electrode assembly located on the container. The container includes a housing and a nozzle connected to the housing. The container defines a number of through holes located on the housing and covered by the membrane electrode assembly. The membrane electrode assembly includes a proton exchange membrane having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a cathode electrode located on the first surface and an anode electrode located on the second surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel, a fuel cell module at least partially immersed in the fuel, and oxidizing gas; wherein the fuel cell module comprises:
a container, wherein the container comprises a housing and a nozzle, and the housing defines a plurality of through holes; the housing defines a chamber and an opening; the nozzle has a first end connected to the opening and a second end opposite to the first end; and
a membrane electrode assembly located on the container and covering the plurality of through holes, wherein the membrane electrode assembly comprises a proton exchange membrane having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a cathode electrode located on the first surface and an anode electrode located on the second surface; the membrane electrode assembly is curved and surrounds the chamber.

2. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container further comprises a baffle located in both the nozzle and the chamber.

3. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the housing defines a first opening and a second opening; and the container comprises a first nozzle in connected to the first opening and a second nozzle in connected to the second opening.

4. The fuel cell system of claim 3 , wherein the container further comprises a baffle located in the chamber to divide the chamber in to a first space connected to the first nozzle and a second space connected to the second nozzle.

5. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein a ratio between a first maximum diameter of the chamber and a second maximum diameter of the nozzle is in a range from about 1.5:1 to about 100:1.

6. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises rigid materials selected from the group consisting of metal, ceramic, glass, quartz, diamond and plastic.

7. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein a shape of the housing is spherical, hemispherical, cylindrical or accordion shape.

8. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises an outside surface and an inside surface opposite to the outside surface; and the membrane electrode assembly is located on the inside surface.

9. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises an outside surface and an inside surface opposite to the outside surface; and the membrane electrode assembly is located on the outside surface.

10. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container is made of conductive material and used as a first current collector; and further comprises a second current collector so that the membrane electrode assembly is located between the first current collector and the second current collector.

11. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the container is made of insulative material; the fuel cell module further comprises a first current collector located between the container and the membrane electrode assembly and a second current collector, and the membrane electrode assembly is located between the first current collector and the second current collector.

12. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein each of the cathode electrode and the anode electrode comprises a gas diffusion layer and catalyst dispersed on the gas diffusion layer.

13. The fuel cell system of claim 12 , wherein the gas diffusion layer is a carbon nanotube layer.

14. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein a depth h of the fuel cell module in the fuel satisfies a condition: h<P/(ρ1−ρ2)g, where, P represents a maximum pressure the fuel cell module is capable of bearing, ρ1 represents the density of the fuel, ρ2 represents the density of the oxidizing gas, and g is a constant 9.8 N/kg.

15. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel is selected from the group consisting of bioethanol, methane gas and glucose solution.

16. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing gas is selected from the group consisting of pure oxygen or air containing oxygen.

17. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , further comprising a gas supplying and extracting device connected to the nozzle.

18. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the membrane electrode assembly is located on entire outside surface or entire inside surface of the housing.

19. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the membrane electrode assembly is entirely immersed in the fuel.

20. A fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel, a fuel cell module at least partially immersed in the fuel, and oxidizing gas; wherein the fuel cell module comprises:
a container, wherein the container defines a chamber and a plurality of through holes on wall of the container; and
a membrane electrode assembly located on the container and covering the plurality of through holes, wherein the membrane electrode assembly comprises a proton exchange membrane having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a cathode electrode located on the first surface and an anode electrode located on the second surface: the membrane electrode assembly is curved and surrounds the chamber.

Assignees

• Univ Tsinghua
• Hon Hai Prec Ind Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zhang Li-Na
• Gao Xin-Yu
• Yang qi-yao
• Jiang Kai-Li
• Liu Chang-Hong
• Fan Shou-Shan

Classifications

• H01M8/1011

  Direct alcohol fuel cells [DAFC], e.g. direct methanol fuel cells [DMFC] · CPC title

• H01M4/8626

  characterised by the form · CPC title

• H01M2008/1095

  Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes · CPC title

• Y02E60/523

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M8/1009

  with one of the reactants being liquid, solid or liquid-charged (H01M8/12 takes precedence) · CPC title