Aerojet-general Corporation

H Power Corporation

Clean Energy Systems, Inc.

H Harry Mueggenburg

Marvin F Young

Donald C Rousar

Reginald G Spear, Jr

Rex Hodge

Leland L Lang

A system and method is provided in the form of an injector assembly,for thoroughly premixing fuel and oxidizer reactants and water upstream of a combustion chamber,. The assembly includes a housing,that has a first stack,for thoroughly mixing reactants from an oxidizer source,and a fuel source,. It also includes a second stack,for mixing and blending the prior mixed reactants with coolant water, before ignition within a combustion chamber,. The mixing and blending is accomplished in mixing cups,where the water and reactant mixture are joined in perpendicular flow streams. Some water is also introduced tangentially in the mixing cups to promote vortical flow and further enhance the mixing process. An alternative injector assembly,is also provided that mixes the reactants in a swirl cup,and enhances mixture ratio uniformity by means of a diffusion plate insert

Steam generator injector

Fuel cell platelet separators having coordinate features

Fuel, oxidant and reactant for a supercritical water oxidation reactor are fed through an injector in which the flow are arranged such that the oxidant feed surrounds the fuel feed and the shields the fuel feed from the reactant feed. Excessive reactant temperature is thus avoided, and the reaction can proceed in a highly efficient manner.

Injector for SCWO reactor

Fuel cell stacks comprising stacked separator/membrane electrode assembly cells in which the separators comprise a series of stacked thin sheet platelets having individually configured serpentine micro-channel reactant gas humidification, active area and cooling fields therein. The individual platelets are stacked with coordinate features precisely aligned in contact with adjacent platelets and bonded to form a monolithic separator. Post bonding processing includes passivation, such as nitriding. Preferred platelet material is 4-25 mil Ti in which the features, serpentine channels, tabs, lands, vias, manifolds and holes, are formed by chemical or laser etching, cutting, pressing or embossing, with combinations of depth and through-etching being preferred. The platelet manufacturing process is continuous and fast. By employing CAD based platelet design and photolithography, rapid change in feature design to accommodate a wide range of thermal management and humidification techniques. 100 cell H.sub.2 -O.sub.2 /Air PEM fuel cell stacks of this IFMT platelet design will exhibit outputs on the order of 0.75 kW/kg, some 3-6 times greater than current graphite plate PEM stacks.

Metal platelet fuel cells production and operation methods

A micropore filter of discrete flow-through pores of highly controlled pore configuration and dimensions is formed by bonding platelets into a laminate, each platelet having been etched, preferably by a combination of electropolishing and photoetching techniques, to form depth-etched passages and through-etched passages, respectively. The filter is housed in a module which contains wiper blades for periodically removing deposited debris from the filter surface.

Discrete pore platelet filter manufactured by electropolishing

A reactor tube for supercritical water oxidation is designed to supply a thin, continuous layer of water along the inner surface of the reaction zone by a wall lining formed of laminated platelets individually etched and superimposed to form an array of engineered fluid passages through the wall. Each passage includes a flow metering channel of closely controlled configuration to impose a preselected level of resistance to water flowing through it, plus a distribution section which distributes the water emerging from the flow metering channel over the length of a slot-shaped exit port. The exit port is arranged in conjunction with neighboring exit ports in an array over the inner surface of the reactor such that the emerging water forms a continuous film over the surface, thereby protecting the surface from corrosion and salts deposition from the supercritical reaction medium.

Growing community of inventors

Carmichael, CA, United States of America

H Harry Mueggenburg