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Xergy Incorporated

Brian Kienitz

Bamdad Bahar

William H Parmelee

An electrochemical compression system utilizes a preheater to heat an electrochemically active working fluid to a superheated temperature delta prior compression. Heating the electrochemically active working fluid to a superheated temperature ensures there will be no condensation before the fluid reaches the condenser and therefore increases efficiency and effectiveness of the system. A preheater may be configured in a chamber upstream of the electrochemical compressor and one or more valves may control the delivery of the superheated fluid to the compressor. A preheater may be configured in an enclosure, having a valve at the inlet and outlet and retain the electrochemically active fluid at a superheated temperature. A preheater may be configured within or attached to a gas diffusion media, flow-filed or current collector and may be in direct communication with the fluid.

Electrochemical compressor utilizing a preheater

An electrochemical compression system utilizes an electrolyzer to electrolyze an electrochemically active working fluid, at a first pressure, into decomposition products that are reformed back into said electrochemically active working fluid by a fuel cell, at a higher pressure. Water may be electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen and stored in reservoir tanks at an elevated pressure and subsequently provided to a fuel cell for reforming. The hydrogen is provided to the anode side of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and the oxygen is provided to the cathode side. Water is reformed on the cathode side of the fuel cell at a higher pressure than the inlet to the electrolyzer. This pressure differential enable flow of the electrochemically active working fluid through a conduit from the cathode to the electrolyzer. This flow of fluid may be used in a heat transfer system.

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Seaford, DE, United States of America

Brian Kienitz