The present invention relates to cabinets for housing electronic equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cabinet for housing electronic equipment and a connection panel for cross-connecting the electronic equipment with various provider and/or subscriber lines, wherein the cabinet includes a fuel cell power backup system, and more particularly, to a fuel cell cabinet having an air feed system for the fuel cell power backup system.
Outdoor cabinets that house electronic equipment and connection panels are generally known in the art. The connection panel (sometimes referred to as a feeder-distribution interface), within the cabinet, is used to connect subscriber lines to provider lines directly, or in parallel or serial, with terminals of certain electronic equipment also within the cabinet, such as surge protectors, switches, servers, etc.
In some conventional cabinets, the electronic equipment includes a fuel cell power backup system. The electronic equipment may be sensitive to temperature and humidity and the air and the electronic equipment in the interior of the cabinet may be environmentally controlled by employing a heat exchanger, dehumidifier, and/or air conditioner.
These problems and others are addressed by the present invention, a first aspect of which comprises a fuel cell cabinet comprising an air feed system that supplies temperature controlled air to a fuel cell, and a controller that controls the air feed system for maintaining a predetermined temperature range of the temperature controlled air entering the fuel cell.
Another aspect is directed to a fuel cell cabinet air feed system comprising a fuel cell, an air feed system that supplies temperature controlled air to the fuel cell, and a controller that controls the air feed system for maintaining a predetermined temperature range of the temperature controlled air entering the fuel cell.
Another aspect is directed to an air feed system for a fuel cell cabinet comprising a heater, a heat sink on the heater, and a housing surrounding the heater and the heat sink, wherein the housing manages a flow of air over the heater and the heat sink.
These and other aspects and features of embodiments of the present invention will be better understood after a reading of the following detailed description, together with the attached drawings, wherein:
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which aspects are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the aspects set forth herein; rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.
Exemplary aspects are directed to cabinets for housing electronic equipment, wherein the cabinet includes a fuel cell power backup system, and more particularly, to a fuel cell cabinet having an air feed system for the fuel cell power backup system.
Conventional cabinets and the electronic equipment in the interior of the cabinets commonly are air cooled. The aspects recognize that stabilizing and maintaining a substantially constant fuel cell temperature may increase power density of the fuel cell system. The aspects also may reduce the time needed for the fuel cell to reach full power.
The aspects provide a low cost air feed system for a fuel cell cabinet. The aspects provide redundancy to reduce or eliminate system failures. The aspects improve the efficiency of the fuel cell cabinet. The aspects maintain proper air intake temperatures for the fuel cell, which may enable the fuel cell to achieve faster power output. The aspects also may add or extend the life of the system, for example, by maintaining the intake temperature of the fuel cell at a predetermined temperature or within a desired temperature range for operation, thereby extending the life of the fuel cell.
Exemplary aspects will now be described with reference to
A fuel cell cabinet 100 according to an aspect is illustrated in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
With reference again to
In another aspect, the heater system (e.g., 404, 504) can include an auto off feature to reduce or eliminate overheating of the heater, for example, beyond a predetermined threshold temperature. In an aspect, the heater 404, 504 can be, for example, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) type heater.
One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the air feed system can be incorporated into the fuel cell cabinet in a variety of ways and may include a number of configurations and elements for providing the air feed system. The present invention is not limited to the exemplary aspects described herein.
Exemplary aspects of the air feed system 930 will now be described with reference to
The air feed system 930 includes air inlets 1002 and 1004. The ambient air is drawn through the filters 622, 624 in
A second end of the heater assembly tube 1018, 1022 is coupled to a first end of a T-shaped connector 1030, 1032. A second end of the heater assembly tube (i.e., redundant heater assembly tube) 1020, 1024 is coupled to the elbow 1014, 1016. An elbow 1026, 1028 is coupled to a second end of the T-shaped connectors 1030, 1032. A third end of the T-shaped connectors 1030, 1032 is connected to air exits 1034, 1036 of the air feed system 930.
Exemplary aspects of the heater assembly tubes 1018, 1020, 1022, 1024 will now be described with reference to
As shown in
The aspect illustrated in
The heater assembly 1602, 1604 can include a housing 1610 having a rectangular cross-section. In other aspects, the cross-section of the housing 1610 can be a circular shape, an oval shape, a square shape, or another shape. The housing 1610 can be, for example, a plastic or metal or a high temperature plastic or metal, or other suitable material. The housing 1610 can include support brackets 1612 for coupling the heater assembly 1602, 1604 to a frame or support structure of the fuel cell cabinet 600.
One or more heaters (not shown) are encapsulated in the interior of the housing 1610. The heater assembly 1602, 1604 can be coupled to an electrical connector (not shown).
The heater assembly 1602, 1604 includes an inlet 1614 that receives intake air. The one or more heaters in the interior of the housing 1610 heat the air as the air flows through the housing 1610 and over the one or more heaters. The heated air then exits the heater assembly 1602, 1604 via an outlet 1616 of the housing 1610 and is supplied to the one or more fuel cells 2000.
For example,
An exemplary aspect of a fuel cell 2000, which can be mounted or secured in the exemplary cabinet 600, will be described with reference to
The exemplary aspects described herein provide a fuel cell cabinet that houses electronic equipment and that includes a fuel cell power backup system.
The exemplary fuel cell cabinets having an air feed system for controlling the temperature of the air at the intake to the fuel cell power backup system.
An example of the operation of a fuel cell cabinet according to an aspect will now be described. An aspect of the system operates via a controller (e.g., controller 306, 512) to turn the heaters of the air feed system and/or the fan system (e.g., 642, 644, 646) ON and OFF to control or maintain the air temperature at the intake to the fuel cell (e.g., 2000) at a predetermined temperature or within a predetermined temperature range. As described herein, the air intake temperature can be based on factors including, but not limited to, the number of fuel cells, the type of fuel cells, the output of the fuel cells, the outside temperature or environmental temperature of the cabinet, the climate in which the cabinet is deployed, etc.
For application in a telecom environment, an aspect controls or maintains the air feed temperature Tintake to the fuel cell 2000 such that the air feed temperature Tintake is greater than 0° C. The air feed flow rate is controlled to be less than or equal to 45 l/min. In a telecom environment, the system provides important advantages of reducing or preventing system failures by providing redundancy in the air feed system, such as redundant heaters and redundant heater assemblies.
More particularly, in an aspect for use in a telecom environment, the system can operate in ambient conditions of between −40° C. and +46° C. In this environment, the system should not heat the air past +50° C., with a target temperature range between 15° C. to 45° C. This exemplary aspect heats the ambient air from −40° C. to 0° C. and provides a varying air flow rate between 5 l/min and 45 l/min.
The operation of an exemplary system according to an aspect will now be described with reference to Table 1.1 below. Table 1.1 exemplarily illustrates the minimum number of heaters required to heat the intake air based on the power requirement of the fuel cell(s), the outside temperature (i.e., ambient air temperature), and the air flow rate of the air feed system.
The air feed system according to the invention provides a low cost system that can provide redundancy for minimizing or eliminating failures. The air feed system also can increase the efficiency of the fuel cell power backup system by heating the air to a desired temperature within, for example, twenty (20) seconds, including cases in which the flow rate is at a highest level and the temperature is at a lowest level. The time needed to heat the air to the desired or predetermined temperature varies depending on the flow rate and ambient temperature.
Other aspects can include a thermal fuse to reduce or eliminate failures and provide fail safe (safety) operation of the fuel cell cabinet system. For example, an electrical connection 1404 can include a thermal fuse.
Other aspects also can select or optimize the air flow rates and air resistance in the air feed system. For example, the shape of the heater and the heat sinks can be selected to optimize air flow rates and air resistance. As another example, the exhaust fan (or alternatively, a supply fan or blower) can be selected to optimize air flow rates and air resistance. The exhaust fan or blower can be selected or optimized to reduce costs (e.g., manufacturing costs, operational costs, etc.). The size, shape, and number of heat sinks provided on the heaters also can be selected or optimized to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of heat transfer to the air in the air feed system.
The present invention has been described herein in terms of several preferred aspects. However, modifications and additions to these aspects will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all such modifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention to the extent that they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.
The present invention claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/041,575 entitled “Liquid Cooling System for Fuel Cell Cabinets, Air Feed System for Fuel Cell Cabinets, Heat Management and Thermal Control of Cabinets for Fuel Cells, and EcoPower Cabinet” filed Apr. 1, 2008, Provisional Application No. 61/047,016 entitled “Cabinet Air Feed and Exhaust System for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Declassification” filed Apr. 22, 2008, and Provisional Application No. 61/047,031 entitled “Fuel Cell Cabinet Waste Water Management System” filed Apr. 22, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The present Application for Patent is related to the following co-pending U.S. Patent Applications: “ELECTRONICS CABINET WITH LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM FOR BACKUP POWER FUEL CELL” (U.S. application Ser. No. 12/416,087), filed Mar. 31, 2009, assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference; “ELECTRONICS CABINET WITH HEAT MANAGEMENT AND THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEM FOR BACKUP POWER FUEL CELL” (U.S. application Ser. No. 12/416,106), filed Mar. 31, 2009, assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference; “ELECTRONICS CABINET WITH AIR FEED AND EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR BACKUP POWER FUEL CELL” (U.S. application Ser. No. 12/416,113), filed Mar. 31, 2009, assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference; and “ELECTRONICS CABINET WITH WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR BACKUP POWER FUEL CELL” (U.S. application Ser. No. 12/416,116), filed Mar. 31, 2009, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by reference herein.
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