This invention relates generally to a fuel supply for a fuel cell, and more specifically to a fuel supply that contains both the reactants and waste products of the fuel production.
Fuel cells, especially hydrogen fuel cells, have received increasing interest as on-demand, portable power sources. In particular, there has been an increased interest in leveraging fuel cell technology to power portable consumer devices, especially as battery replacements. Fuel cells are exceptionally interesting as battery replacements because not only do fuel cells present fewer environmental concerns than batteries, but they have an exceptionally longer lifespan, as fuel cells produce electricity only when needed. Thus, fuel cells can be theoretically used for an unlimited period of time as long as the fuel supply, which provides the fuel that the fuel cell consumes to generate electricity, is periodically replaced. This fuel supply can be pure-fuel storage, such as a tank of hydrogen gas, or it can be a fuel generator that utilizes chemical precursors (such as a sodium borohydride slurry or dry sodium borohydride and water) to generate the fuel. The latter option is often preferred due to the higher fuel stability.
In order for the fuel cell to power portable electronics on-demand, both the fuel cell and the fuel supply must be portable and preferably, easily incorporated into the electronic device itself. While prior art fuel cells can be incorporated easily into a portable package, even incorporated into the product itself, prior art fuel supplies cannot be as easily incorporated into the product due to size limitations. Because the fuel-generating reaction produces corrosive waste products, not only does the fuel supply need to store enough reactant(s) to provide adequate energy density, but it also needs to store the waste products produced by the fuel-generating reactions. Additionally, the storage of the reactant(s) and waste products is preferably accomplished in a fixed volume, as expansion of a fuel supply may damage any device that the fuel supply has been incorporated into.
Thus, there is a need in the fuel supply field to create an improved fuel supply that contains both the requisite reactants and the generated waste products.
The following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is not intended to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments, but rather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.
As shown in
The outer container 200 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to contain the reaction area 400, liquid storage area 600 and the product collection area 800, to mechanically protect the contents of the fuel supply 100, and to provide a fixed volume for fuel generation. The outer container 200 is preferably constructed of a material that is corrosion resistant, liquid impermeable, and heat resistant, such that reaction components 830 will not corrode or leak through the outer container 200. Additionally, the outer container 200 is preferably substantially fluidly sealed such that non-fuel reaction components 830 do not leak through. The outer container 200 is preferably rigid, but may alternatively be semi-rigid, flexible, or a combination of rigidities. Materials that the outer container 200 may be made of include plastics (e.g., Polyethylene, PEEK, polypropylene), metals (e.g., stainless steel, Aluminum), ceramics (e.g., silicon carbide, kaolinite, glass), or a combination of the aforementioned materials (e.g., metal lined plastic). The outer container 200 is preferably small enough to be inserted into a laptop or a cell phone, but may alternatively be any size, such as that of a car battery or even larger. The outer container 200 is preferably in the form of a prism (with or without rounded edges and corners), but may alternatively be a cylinder, a sphere, or a container of any shape and size. The outer container 200 is preferably formed from two pieces that are welded together, but may alternatively be milled from a single piece, sintered from powder, several pieces or one piece welded together, two pieces that are mechanically joined (e.g., by using screws, clasps, hooks, or other joining mechanisms) or multiple pieces that are glued together. The outer container 200 may additionally include a clear section such that the contents of the interior volume may be viewed. The outer container 200 preferably includes inlets, outlets 220 or valves fluidly connecting the inside of the container to the outside for the purposes of adding more reactants, transferring fuel to a fuel cell, releasing built up pressure, or for any other purpose wherein materials need to be introduced or removed from the interior of the container.
The barrier 300 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to substantially fluidly isolate one area from another area within the container, and moves to simultaneously increase the volume of one area while decreasing the volume of another area, thereby facilitating the replacement of one area by another. The barrier 300 is preferably located between the liquid storage area 600 and the product collection area 800, but may additionally be located between the liquid storage area 600 and the reaction area 400 or between the reaction area 400 and the product collection area 800. The barrier 300 is preferably impermeable to both fluids and gasses such that it has a high gas barrier, but may alternately be impermeable to fluids only and allow gasses to flow through. The barrier 300 is preferably flexible and configures to the shape of the contents of the area, but may alternatively define the shape of the area's contents (e.g., an elastic sheath 320 or an elastic band), or may be rigid wherein the barrier's 300 position is determined by the largest dimension of the area's contents only. The barrier 300 is preferably a bag enclosing an area, but may alternatively be a bag that encloses two areas, a bag that encloses multiple areas with dividers that substantially fluidly separate the enclosed areas from each other, a flexible membrane attached to the interior wall of the container or a rigid sheet that runs on guiderails on the interior wall of the container. The fuel supply 100 preferably includes three barriers 300 enclosing the three aforementioned areas, but may alternatively include one barrier 300 separating one area from the other two, two barriers 300 that separate the interior container volume into the three areas, four barriers 300 wherein one of the areas has an extra barrier 300 enclosing it, or any number of barriers 300 as necessary. The barrier 300 is preferably made from polymers such as polyolefins, PEEK, PTFE, or polyethylene, but may alternatively be made from metals such as aluminum or stainless steel as well. The barrier 300 is preferably comprised of a single layer of a material, but may be comprised of two layers (e.g., metal lined plastic), five layers (e.g., alternating layers of plastic and metal), or any number of layers. Additionally, the barrier 300 may be coated to change the barrier's 300 physical properties, such as improving lubricity, improving heat transfer, or decreasing gas permeability. The barrier 300 may also include openings that allow different areas (e.g., reaction area 400, liquid storage area 600, product collection area 800) to be fluidly connected.
The reaction area 400 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to contain a solid reactant 500 and to facilitate the initiation of the fuel-generating reaction. The reaction area 400 may be unbounded such that it is not exactly defined, but is preferably bounded and defined by a barrier 300. The reaction area 400 preferably occupies a substantial portion of the outer container's 200 inner volume 210 before the solid reactant 500 is reacted, as shown in
The liquid storage area 600 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to store a liquid reactant 610. The liquid storage area 600 may be unbounded such that it is not exactly defined within the outer container 200, but is preferably bounded and defined by a barrier 300. The liquid storage area 600 preferably occupies a substantial portion of the outer container's 200 inner volume 210 before the liquid reactant 610 is pumped out of the liquid storage area 600, as shown in
The liquid dispenser 700 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to pump liquid reactant 610 from the liquid storage area 600 and dispense it into the reaction area 400, preferably close to the solid reactant 500 surface. As shown in
The product collection area 800 of the fuel supply 100 of the preferred embodiment functions to receive the reaction components 830 generated by the fuel-generating reaction. The product collection area 800 is fluidly coupled to the reaction area 400, and is preferably coupled by a flexible channel, but may alternatively be coupled by a diffusion membrane, a tube, a rigid channel, another liquid dispenser 700, or by having the reaction area 400 located within the product collection with no barriers 300 between the two areas such that reaction products directly flow into the product collection area 800. The product collection area 800 may be unbounded such that it is not exactly defined within the outer container 200, but is preferably bounded and defined by a barrier 300. The product collection area 800 preferably occupies a small portion of the outer container's 200 inner volume 210 before the liquid and solid reactants 610 and 500, respectively, are reacted (as shown in
The reaction area 400, liquid storage area 600, and product collection area 800 are preferably arranged within the outer container 200 such that the area volumes are easily exchanged, wherein the areas may or may not be defined and/or enclosed by a barrier 300. As shown in
As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the figures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of this invention defined in the following claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3262801 | Lally et al. | Jul 1966 | A |
3774589 | Kober | Nov 1973 | A |
4042528 | Abe | Aug 1977 | A |
4261956 | Adlhart | Apr 1981 | A |
4419457 | Tokunaga | Dec 1983 | A |
4846176 | Golden | Jul 1989 | A |
5182046 | Patton et al. | Jan 1993 | A |
5804329 | Amendola | Sep 1998 | A |
5817157 | Checketts | Oct 1998 | A |
5948558 | Amendola | Sep 1999 | A |
6106801 | Bogdanovic et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
6250078 | Amendola | Jun 2001 | B1 |
6326097 | Hockaday | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6375638 | Nason | Apr 2002 | B2 |
6392313 | Epstein | May 2002 | B1 |
6433129 | Amendola | Aug 2002 | B1 |
6468694 | Amendola | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6497973 | Amendola | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6524542 | Amendola | Feb 2003 | B2 |
6534033 | Amendola | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6534950 | Leboe | Mar 2003 | B2 |
6544400 | Hockaday | Apr 2003 | B2 |
6544679 | Petillo | Apr 2003 | B1 |
6579068 | Bridger | Jun 2003 | B2 |
6586563 | Ortega | Jul 2003 | B1 |
6645651 | Hockaday | Nov 2003 | B2 |
6660685 | Schussler | Dec 2003 | B1 |
6670444 | Amendola | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6683025 | Amendola | Jan 2004 | B2 |
6706909 | Snover et al. | Mar 2004 | B1 |
6713201 | Bullock | Mar 2004 | B2 |
6723072 | Flaherty | Apr 2004 | B2 |
6745801 | Cohen | Jun 2004 | B1 |
6746496 | Kravitz et al. | Jun 2004 | B1 |
6808833 | Johnson | Oct 2004 | B2 |
6818334 | Tsang | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6821499 | Jorgensen | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6834632 | Kataoka et al. | Dec 2004 | B2 |
6840955 | Ein | Jan 2005 | B2 |
6849351 | Hartnack | Feb 2005 | B2 |
6887596 | Leban | May 2005 | B2 |
6893755 | Leboe | May 2005 | B2 |
6916159 | Rush | Jul 2005 | B2 |
6924054 | Prasad | Aug 2005 | B2 |
6932847 | Amendola et al. | Aug 2005 | B2 |
6939529 | Strizki et al. | Sep 2005 | B2 |
7019105 | Amendola et al. | Mar 2006 | B2 |
7083657 | Mohring et al. | Aug 2006 | B2 |
7105033 | Strizki | Sep 2006 | B2 |
7105245 | Ohlsen | Sep 2006 | B2 |
7108777 | Xu et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
7214439 | Ortega et al. | May 2007 | B2 |
7220290 | Amendola et al. | May 2007 | B2 |
7282073 | Petillo et al. | Oct 2007 | B2 |
7316718 | Amendola et al. | Jan 2008 | B2 |
7316719 | Devos | Jan 2008 | B2 |
7323148 | Shah et al. | Jan 2008 | B2 |
7393369 | Shurtleff | Jul 2008 | B2 |
7527661 | Chellappa et al. | May 2009 | B2 |
7530931 | Amendola et al. | May 2009 | B2 |
7540892 | Strizki et al. | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7645536 | Akiyama | Jan 2010 | B2 |
7662435 | Chellappa et al. | Feb 2010 | B2 |
7666386 | Withers-Kirby | Feb 2010 | B2 |
7811529 | Powell et al. | Oct 2010 | B2 |
7867300 | Chellappa et al. | Jan 2011 | B2 |
7875089 | Powell et al. | Jan 2011 | B2 |
7922781 | Chellappa et al. | Apr 2011 | B2 |
7954519 | Powell et al. | Jun 2011 | B2 |
8100993 | Fisher et al. | Jan 2012 | B2 |
20020114985 | Shkolnik et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
20020182459 | Hockaday | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20030009942 | Amendola | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030022034 | Suzuki | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030037487 | Amendola et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20030077494 | Aberle et al. | Apr 2003 | A1 |
20030082427 | Prasad | May 2003 | A1 |
20030091879 | Rusta-Sellehy et al. | May 2003 | A1 |
20030138679 | Prased | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20030198558 | Nason | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20030235724 | Ord | Dec 2003 | A1 |
20040011662 | Xu | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040013923 | Molter et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040048115 | Devos | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040048132 | Takai et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040052704 | Devos | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040062965 | Morse | Apr 2004 | A1 |
20040062978 | Yazici | Apr 2004 | A1 |
20040096721 | Ohlsen et al. | May 2004 | A1 |
20040131903 | Shioya | Jul 2004 | A1 |
20040136156 | Nakamura et al. | Jul 2004 | A1 |
20040148857 | Strizki | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20040197214 | Arthur | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20040202548 | Dai | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20040211054 | Morse | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20040219409 | Isogai | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20040229101 | Davis | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20040253500 | Bourilkov | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20050023236 | Adams et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050031931 | Kabumoto et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050036941 | Bae et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050037245 | Pham | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050037252 | Pham | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050074641 | Inai et al. | Apr 2005 | A1 |
20050089415 | Cho et al. | Apr 2005 | A1 |
20050158595 | Marsh et al. | Jul 2005 | A1 |
20050181250 | Beckmann et al. | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20050238573 | Zhang et al. | Oct 2005 | A1 |
20060059778 | Shurtleff et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
20060073365 | Kaye | Apr 2006 | A1 |
20060110639 | Walter | May 2006 | A1 |
20060127734 | Mclean et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060172694 | Gau et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
20060194082 | Tucker et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
20060196112 | Berry | Sep 2006 | A1 |
20060275645 | Gallagher et al. | Dec 2006 | A1 |
20070002172 | Calvignac et al. | Jan 2007 | A1 |
20070020172 | Withers-Kirby et al. | Jan 2007 | A1 |
20070031711 | Miyata et al. | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20070036711 | Fisher et al. | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20070037034 | Fisher et al. | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20070042244 | Spallone | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20070068071 | Kelly et al. | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20070120872 | Satoh | May 2007 | A1 |
20070122668 | Suzuki et al. | May 2007 | A1 |
20070166595 | Akiyama et al. | Jul 2007 | A1 |
20070189960 | Yamamoto | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20070264546 | Laven | Nov 2007 | A1 |
20080025880 | Shurtleff et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
20080044691 | Wake et al. | Feb 2008 | A1 |
20080187798 | Mclean et al. | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20080203816 | Fujita | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20080220297 | Sarata et al. | Sep 2008 | A1 |
20080292541 | Kamada et al. | Nov 2008 | A1 |
20090092864 | Mclean et al. | Apr 2009 | A1 |
20090117420 | Nakakubo | May 2009 | A1 |
20090197125 | Salvador et al. | Aug 2009 | A1 |
20090269634 | Fabian et al. | Oct 2009 | A1 |
20090274595 | Fisher et al. | Nov 2009 | A1 |
20090304558 | Patton et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
20100150824 | Withers-Kirby | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20100173214 | Fabian et al. | Jul 2010 | A1 |
20110020215 | Ryu et al. | Jan 2011 | A1 |
20110053016 | Braithwaite et al. | Mar 2011 | A1 |
20110070151 | Braithwaite et al. | Mar 2011 | A1 |
20110159386 | Kaupert et al. | Jun 2011 | A1 |
20110200495 | Braithwaite et al. | Aug 2011 | A1 |
20110311895 | Spare et al. | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20110313589 | Iyer et al. | Dec 2011 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4221492 | Jan 1993 | DE |
1434292 | Jun 2004 | EP |
2002234358 | Aug 2002 | JP |
2002234358 | Aug 2002 | JP |
2006079891 | Mar 2006 | JP |
2007157587 | Jun 2007 | JP |
0012889 | Mar 2000 | WO |
04001235 | Dec 2003 | WO |
04001235 | Dec 2003 | WO |
20040062978 | Apr 2004 | WO |
2005049485 | Jun 2005 | WO |
2005057703 | Jun 2005 | WO |
2005123586 | Dec 2005 | WO |
2006093735 | Sep 2006 | WO |
2007021924 | Feb 2007 | WO |
2007021934 | Feb 2007 | WO |
2007035845 | Mar 2007 | WO |
2007055146 | May 2007 | WO |
2007109036 | Sep 2007 | WO |
2007120872 | Oct 2007 | WO |
2011011050 | Jan 2011 | WO |
2011028242 | Mar 2011 | WO |
2012054787 | Apr 2012 | WO |
2012058688 | May 2012 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Definition of course work technical terms. Southwest Tech, 2002-2006. [Retrieved on Feb. 8, 2012]. Retrieved from the Internet <URL: http://www.swtc.edu/Ag—Power/hydraulics/terms.htm. |
Schlesinger et al, “Sodium Borohydride, Its Hydrolysis and its Use as a Reducing Agent and in the Generation of Hydrogen,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.; vol. 75 (Mar. 15, 1952), pp. 215-219. |
Laser et al., “A Review of Micropumps,” J. Micromech. Microeng.; vol. 14 (2004) R35-R64. |
Wu, “Hydrogen Storage via Sodium Borohydride: Current Status, Barriers & R&D Roadmap,” Presentation presented at GCEP, Stanford University, Apr. 14-15, 2003. |
D.J. Laser and J.G. Santiago, “A Review of Micropumps” J. Micromech. Microeng.; vol. 14 (2004) R35-R64. |
Ying,Wu, “Hydrogen Storage via Sodium Borohydride: Current Status, Barriers & R&D Roadmap” Presentation presented at GCEP, Stanford University, Apr. 14-15, 2003. |
Written Opinion of te International Searching Authority for PCT/US2010/02022. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120100443 A1 | Apr 2012 | US |