Hybrid Power Generation Systems, LLC

General Electric Company

Farrokh Issacci

Estela T Ong

Timothy Joseph Rehg

Jie Guan

Rajiv Doshi

A partial fuel cell system for converting a flow of a reactant to electricity and a flow of exhaust gases. The partial fuel cell system may include a first heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the flow of exhaust gases and the flow of the reactant, a second heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the flow of exhaust gases and the flow of the reactant, and a flow controller for controlling the flow of the reactant to the second heat exchanger.

Fuel cell system with regenerative bed

A method and apparatus to increase fuel cell reliability and maintainability is disclosed. The apparatus includes a recuperating loop consisting of a spiral tube that surrounds a stack or a combination of several stacks. If the fuel cell stacks are externally manifolded, the recuperating loop may also surround the external manifold. The spent hot gases from the stack directly flows over the recuperating loop to transfer heat to a coolant flowing through the loop providing heat exchange by convection and radiation. The spent hot gases may be manifolded and may not flow over the recuperating loop. In this case, the heat exchange is by radiation between the hot fuel cell stack(s) and the recuperating loop.

Integrated recuperation loop in fuel cell stack

The present invention is directed to apparatus and method for cathode-side disposal of water in an electrochemical fuel cell. There is a cathode plate. Within a surface of the plate is a flow field comprised of interdigitated channels. During operation of the fuel cell, cathode gas flows by convection through a gas diffusion layer above the flow field. Positioned at points adjacent to the flow field are one or more porous gas block mediums that have pores sized such that water is sipped off to the outside of the flow field by capillary flow and cathode gas is blocked from flowing through the medium. On the other surface of the plate is a channel in fluid communication with each porous gas block mediums. The method for water disposal in a fuel cell comprises installing the cathode plate assemblies at the cathode sides of the stack of fuel cells and manifolding the single water channel of each of the cathode plate assemblies to the coolant flow that feeds coolant plates in the stack.

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Playa Del Rey, CA, United States of America

Farrokh Issacci