Ngk Insulators, Inc.

Hidenobu Misawa

Takeshi Ishihara

Shinji Oshima

Satoru Yamada

Hirotake Yamada

Shoji Seike

Isao Nakajima

Tadashi Fujita

Yukihiro Koshino

An excellent polymer insulator is provided which can be formed by casting a composition in a mold and which after heat-curing have a silicone rubber coating layer on an outer circumferential surface of a glass fiber-reinforced plastics core thereby providing superior electric insulation properties including weather resistance, tracking resistance and erosion resistance, etc. in severe conditions of air pollution, salt damaging or severe climate.

Polymer insulator

A power generating device in which a plurality of cylindrical solid oxide fuel cell elements are electrically connected to each other to constitute a collecting cell which is provided in a power generating chamber. The device is arranged such that a fuel gas is supplied on the surface of each solid oxide fuel cell element in the power generating chamber in an evenly distributed manner in order to reduce a temperature gradient due to a fuel concentration gradient in the chamber. Cracks are prevented in the solid oxide, unevenness of an electrochemical reaction in the power generating chamber becomes small, and the power generating efficiency is improved.

Power generating equipment

A solid oxide fuel cell including tube-shaped solid oxide fuel cell elements. One gas selected from an oxidizing gas and a fuel gas flows in an internal space of the element, and the other gas flows in an external space of the element. A means for converting an oxidizing gas-flow and/or a fuel gas-flow into turbulent flow is provided in the internal space and/or the external space. The converting means is preferably an elongated body such as a tube-shaped body, a solid pillar-shaped body, a hollow-cylindrical body, a solid-cylindrical body and a rod with plates, extending in the longitudinal direction of the element.

Solid oxide fuel cell

A solid oxide fuel cell has a plurality of cylindrical solid oxide fuel cell elements arranged. Each of the fuel cell elements at least has a fuel electrode, a solid electrolyte and an air electrode. A multi-contact point type current-collecting member is contacted to the fuel electrodes. The fuel electrode of a certain fuel cell element is electrically connected to the air electrode of a solid oxide fuel electrode adjacent to this certain fuel cell element through the multi-contact point type current-collecting member and an interconnector. The multi-contact point type current-collecting member is contacted with the substantially entire surface of the fuel electrodes.

Solid oxide fuel cells

A solid oxide fuel cell comprises a plate-like electrode body of porous ceramic having a plurality of gas flowing passages therein, a dense interconnector formed on the plate-like electrode body, a dense solid electrolyte film formed on the plate-like electrode body, an electrode film formed on the dense solid electrolyte film, a gas supply chamber, a dense partition member separating the gas supply chamber from an exhaust gas combustion chamber, and a partition member separating the exhaust gas combustion chamber from a power generation chamber. In this case, the oxidizing gas or fuel gas passing through the gas flowing passages is turned around an end portion of the fuel cell unit at the side of the power generation chamber and transferred toward the gas supply chamber and then discharged to the exhaust gas combustion chamber through a gas discharge port formed in the respective gas flowing passage.

A solid oxide fuel cell including a closed cylindrical solid oxide fuel cell body including a solid electrolyte, an air electrode and a fuel electrode, a gas supply tube for supplying an oxidizing gas or a fuel gas, partition members arranged between the fuel cell body and the gas supply tube for dividing the hollow space into a plurality of gas flowing passages, a sealing member, at least one exhaust port formed in each of the gas flowing passages, and a support means for holding the opening end side of the fuel cell body.

A method and apparatus for shaping ceramic multi-layer structural bodies by extruding through a die. Ceramic molding compounds having different properties are fed under pressure, united and integrated in an extruding apparatus, while thicknesses of layers of the respective ceramic molding compounds are controlled by adjusting extruding pressures of the respective ceramic molding compounds. The extruding apparatus includes a die having a tip end opening of a given shape corresponding to the structural bodies to be extruded, a first extruding means capable of feeding a ceramic molding compound to the die under a given pressure, and a second extruding means for feeding another ceramic molding compound to the die. The another ceramic molding compound is different from that to be extruded through the first extruding means. The second extruding means is provided separately from the first extruding means.

Method for extruding ceramic multi-layer structural bodies

A solid oxide fuel cell including a bottomprovided cylindrical solid oxide fuel cell element including at least an air electrode, a solid electrolyte and a fuel electrode, a gas feed pipe inserted into a cylindrical space and having a gas feeding portion for feeding an oxidizing gas or a fuel gas into the cylindrical space of the solid oxide fuel cell element. The gas feeding portion is provided at least in a lateral face of the gas feed pipe. Instead of or in addition to the gas feeding portion being provided in the lateral face of the gas feed pipe, a permeating amount of the gas passing through that portion of the porous cylindrical support tube which faces an upstream side of a stream of the gas flowing through the cylindrical space is made smaller than that of the gas passing through that portion of the porous cylindrical support tube which faces a downstream side of the gas stream.

A solid oxide fuel cell includes a plurality of flat plate-like laminates spaced substantially in parallel with one another. One surface of each of the laminates is covered with a flat air electrode film, while the other surface is covered with a flat fuel electrode film. The fuel cell further includes a plurality of oxidizing gas flow passages each arranged between the adjacent laminates and facing the flat air electrode film, a plurality of fuel gas flow passages each arranged between the adjacent flat laminates and facing the flat fuel electrode films and at least air electrode films, solid electrolyte films and fuel electrode films interposed between the oxidizing and fuel gas flow passages. Oxidizing gas supply pipes are each extended from an opening at one end of each of the oxidizing gas flow passages into the gas flow passage, and closure members each close the other end of the oxidizing gas flow passage. Fuel gas supply pipes are each extending from an opening at one end of each of the fuel gas flow passages into the gas flow passage, and closure members each close the other end of the fuel gas flow passage.

An apparatus for producing a sleeve having a closed end by extruding a forming material from a mouthpiece. A core member is arranged in position in the mouthpiece and has a piston member detachably provided in a tip end of the core member. The piston member has an air communication aperture. On the other hand, an outer die is arranged in the mouthpiece for forming an outer configuration of the closed end. As a result, an annular space is formed by the mouthpiece, core member and outer die. The forming material is then supplied into the annular space and extruded to form the closed end of the sleeve. After the outer die has been removed from the mouthpiece, the piston member is caused to slide relative to the mouthpiece and at the same time the air is blown into an inside of the closed end through the air communication aperture of the piston, while the forming material is further supplied and extruded from the mouthpiece to form the closed end sleeve.

Core structure for producing closed end sleeve

A solid oxide fuel cell includes a one end-closed cylindrical porous air electrode tube, a solid electrolyte film provided on the outer periphery of the air electrode tube, and a fuel electrode film provided on the outer surface of the solid electrolyte film. A fuel gas is caused to flow around the outer periphery of the fuel electrode film, and an oxidizing gas is supplied into the inner space of the cylindrical air electrode tube to generate electric power. The pore diameter of that portion of the porous air electrode which is in contact with the solid electrolyte film is smaller than that of the surface portion of the porous air electrode on the side opposite to the interface.

Solid oxide fuel cell and porous electrode for use in the same

A method for manufacturing an one-end closed ceramic double tube, which includes the steps of extruding a ceramic double tube having inner and outer cylinders, drying the ceramic double tube, forming at least one passage in one end of the inner cylinder of the ceramic double tube so as to communicate an inner space of the inner cylinder with a gap formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder, sealing the one end of outer cylinder proximate the one end of the inner cylinder, and firing the ceramic double tube.

Method of manufacturing one-end closed ceramic double tube

A device for holding at least one long shaped product made of ceramics during its drying, including an assembly having at least one straight elongated cavity in which the product to be dried can be held along its entire length. The cavity is open at both ends and surrounds the whole periphery of the product, and has a clearance between the assembly wall and the whole periphery of the product except the portion where both are contacting each other.

Device for holding a long shaped product made of ceramics during drying

A one-end closed ceramic double tube has an integral structure comprising: a one-end closed outer cylinder; an inner cylinder extending concentrically with said outer cylinder; and at least one support portion extending laterally to bridge said outer and inner cylinders and longitudinally from near the closed end at least up to the open end of said outer cylinder, wherein the ratio of a total thickness of the support portions in contact with the inner circumference of the outer cylinder to the inner circumference of the outer cylinder at cross section is most 25%, and preferably, the outside diameter ratio of the outer cylinder to the inner cylinder is at most 3.3. An air passage formed on the inner cylinder near the closed end side of the tube communicates between the inner passageway inside the inner cylinder and the outer passageway defined by the inner and outer cylinders. This double tube has high reliability and sufficient mechanical strength and can be suitably used as filters, heat exchangers, concentrators and as supporting tubes for fuel cells. This double tube is manufactured by means of extrusion molding.

One-end closed ceramic double tube and method of manufacturing the same

A method of manufacturing elongate ceramic articles including a plurality of firing stages. In a pre-firing stage, an elongate ceramic shaped-body is held in a first attitude and subjected to a pre-firing at a predetermined pre-firing temperature to form a pre-fired-body. In the final firing stage, the pre-fired-body is held in a second attitude, which is different from the first attitude and in which the longitudinal direction of the pre-fired-body is oriented substantially in a vertical direction, and the pre-fired-body is subjected to a firing at a temperature not less than the pre-firing temperature. The method of the invention allows elongate ceramic articles to be manufactured, without accompanying formation of cracks or fractures induced by tensile stresses due to dead weight of the shaped-body itself. The article so manufactured has substantial homogeneity dimensions and performances throughout the entire length thereof.

Growing community of inventors

Toyoake, Japan

Hidenobu Misawa