Claims
- 1. A fuel cell apparatus comprising, in combination:
a compression assembly; a housing contained entirely within the compression assembly; and a fuel cell stack positioned within the housing.
- 2. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pair of seals, a first seal positioned between a first end of the fuel cell stack and the housing and a second seal positioned between a second end of the fuel cell stack and the housing, the pair of seals configured to prevent fluid communication between an inlet portion of the housing and an outlet portion of the housing.
- 3. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fuel cell stack comprises a plurality of bipolar separator plates, each separator plate formed of a plurality of segments, each segment including an oxidant flow path and a fuel flow path, the compression assembly comprising a plurality of mating anode compression bars and cathode compression bars, each mating pair of compression bars being secured to one another and positioned between an adjoining pair of segments.
- 4. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a plurality of power take-off terminals, each terminal corresponding to a segment and being secured to the housing.
- 5. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 4, wherein each power take-off terminal comprises an extension formed on a segment.
- 6. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, wherein the compression assembly comprises a plurality of anode compression bars and a plurality of mating cathode compression bars, each pair of mating compression bars secured to one another.
- 7. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mating anode compression bars and cathode compression bars are adjustably secured to one another.
- 8. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mating anode compression bars and cathode compression bars are secured to one another via tie rods.
- 9. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing includes an oxidant inlet in fluid communication with an inlet chamber of the housing and an oxidant outlet in fluid communication with an outlet chamber of the housing.
- 10. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a fuel inlet in fluid communication with the fuel cell stack and a fuel outlet in fluid communication with the fuel cell stack.
- 11. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 10, wherein a first feed tube connects the fuel inlet to the fuel cell stack and a second feed tube connects the fuel outlet to the fuel cell stack.
- 12. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a dielectric spacer positioned between an anode end of the fuel cell stack and the housing.
- 13. A fuel cell apparatus comprising, in combination:
a housing comprised of a first half-shell and a second half-shell; a fuel cell stack positioned within the housing, the fuel cell stack comprising a plurality of bipolar separator plates positioned between a cathode end plate and an anode end plate, each bipolar separator plate including a plurality of segments, each segment including a fuel flow path and an oxidant flow path; a plurality of cathode compression bars; a plurality of anode compression bars, each anode compression bar secured to a mating cathode compression bar, each mating pair of compression bars being positioned between a pair of segments, the housing being positioned between the anode compression bars and the cathode compression bars; a cathode compression plate positioned between each cathode compression bar and one of the half-shells; and an anode compression plate positioned between each anode compression bar and the other of the half-shells.
- 14. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, wherein each anode compression bar is secured to a mating cathode compression bar by a plurality of tie rods.
- 15. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, further comprising cathode insulation between each cathode compression plate and the one of the half-shells.
- 16. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, further comprising anode insulation between each anode compression plate and the other of the half-shells.
- 17. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing includes an oxidant inlet in fluid communication with an inlet chamber of the housing and an oxidant outlet in fluid communication with an outlet chamber of the housing.
- 18. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing includes a fuel inlet in fluid communication with the fuel cell stack and a fuel outlet in fluid communication with the fuel cell stack.
- 19. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, wherein a first feed tube connects the fuel inlet to the fuel cell stack and a second feed tube connects the fuel outlet to the fuel cell stack.
- 20. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a dielectric spacer positioned between an anode end of the fuel cell stack and the housing.
- 21. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of power takeoff terminals secured to the housing.
- 22. The fuel cell apparatus of claim 21, wherein each power take-off terminal comprises an extension formed on a segment of a bipolar separator plate.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/190,190, filed Mar. 17, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60190190 |
Mar 2000 |
US |