Hitachi, Ltd.

Mitsubishi Petrochemical Company Limited

Babcock-hitachi Kabushiki Kaisha

Hitachi Engineering Co., Ltd.

Babcock-hitachi K.k.

New Energy Development Organization

Masato Takeuchi

Hideo Okada

Fumito Nakajima

Sigeru Okabe

Kohki Tamura

Shimpei Matsuda

Jinichi Imahashi

Toshikatsu Mori

Hiroshi Tobita

Toshiki Kahara

Shigeo Uno

Seizi Takeuchi

Munehiko Tonami

Akira Kato

Tomoichi Kamo

Shinpei Matsuda

Yoshio Iwase

Makoto Imanari

Hideo Yusa

Yoshihisa Watanabe

Hiroshi Kawagoshi

Kunio Kamiya

Kenzo Ishii

Hirosi Tobita

Kouichi Mitsugi

Hisao Yamashita

Tatsuo Horiba

Yoshiki Noguchi

Akio Honji

Shigehisa Sugita

Tadao Arakawa

Kazuo Iwamoto

Nobuo Nagasaki

Kunko Kitami

Youichi Sakuta

Teruo Kumagi

Otane Hitomi

Satoshi Kuroe

The present invention provides a molten carbonate type fuel cell comprising two electrodes as anode and cathode, an electrolyte plate and separators in a single unit and a battery of the unit cells stacked. The electrodes comprise a porous plate of an electron-conducting material such as nickel containing particles of ceramics such as magnesium oxide uniformly dispersed therein in an amount of 2 to 29 atomic %, except for the superficial thin portion free of the ceramic particles on the one-side surface of the plate. The electrodes are prepared by mixing a powder of the electro-conducting material with an organic binder under stirring to obtain a slurry or paste, deaerating the slurry or paste to remove entrained air bubbles therefrom, shaping the slurry or paste plate with or without a metal wire net, drying the electrode plate at room temperature and finally firing the plate in a reducing atmosphere.

Fuel cell, electrode for the cell and method of preparation thereof

A molten carbonate fuel cell using molten carbonate as an electrolyte, carbonate ions as electric conductor, and feeding a hydrogen-enriched gas to the anode and a mixture of air and carbon dioxide gas to the cathode has its output fall by degrees with operation. It is surmised that one of the causes of this problem is ascribable to the fact that the molten carbonate electrolyte moves during operation to destroy equilibrium in the boundary between the electrolyte and electrodes. After studies for measures against the problem, the inventor found that the output of a fuel cell which has fallen can be improved by shutting off part or all of the raaction gases or reducing their feed for a while, and then restoring. The purpose of the present invention is to offer a high-performance stable-output molten carbonate fuel cell and its operation control method, incorporating the above findings in its operation control system.

Molten carbonate fuel cell, and its operation control method

A unit cell is formed by a plurality of sub-unit cells as a result of dividing each of the electrodes and electrolytic plate into a plurality of parts. That is, the electrodes and the electrolytic plate are each divided into two parts by electrolytic plate support portions projected from the surfaces of separators. The support portions are pressed in contact with the end portions of the electrolytic plate so as to support the electrolytic plate and seal the reaction gas, preventing it from leaking. The electrolyte support portions of the separators can be provided with electrolyte supply paths, through which the electrolyte is supplied and impregnated into the electrolytic plate. The electrolyte can be supplied via the apertures provided in the separators, to the electrolyte supply paths.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell provided with an electrolyte retaining plate made of electrical insulating long fibers such as lithium aluminate long fibers which have preferably a length of 100 to 400 .mu.m and a diameter of 1 to 4 .mu.m, are interlocked each other and have vacant spaces for filling an electrolyte can be constructed and operated safely without damaging the electrolyte retaining plate for a long period of time.

Process for producing an electrolyte retaining matrix of electrical

In a fuel cell comprising a pair of counterposed gas-diffusible electrodes, an electrolyte-retaining, porous matrix provided between and in contact with the electrodes, a fuel chamber for feeding a gaseous fuel to the anode of the pair of the electrodes and an oxidizing agent chamber for feeding a gaseous oxidizing agent to the cathode of the pair of the electrodes, the cell performance is remarkably prevented from lowering by making the electrolyte saturated absorption amount of the cathode smaller than that of the anode, thereby preventing migration of the electrolyte in the electrolyte-retaining matrix.

A fuel cell power plant comprising a fuel cell employing a molten carbonate as an electrolyte, a reformer for reforming fuel into a reactive gas to be supplied into the anode of the cell, an expansion turbine connected to a compressor, a combustor for burning a gas exhausted from the anode and introducing the combustion gas into the cathode of the fuel cell along with a gas compressed by the compressor, and a waste heat recovery system. The power plant is characterized by the provision of another combustor on the passage through which cathode exhaust gas is sent from the cathode to the turbine and a passage for leading a part of the anode exhaust gas to the combustor, whereby unburned gas, included in the anode exhaust gas, is burned with the cathode exhaust gas supplied as oxygen source so that the temperature of the turbine driving gas is raised, as a result, the overall thermal efficiency of the power plant increases.

Fuel cell power plant

Disclosed is a catalytic reaction process in which a substance in a liquid reaction system is catalytically reacted with a gaseous substance which is hardly soluble in the liquid reaction system in the presence of a solid catalyst of a non-electroconductive, hydrophobic polymeric material, a part of the surface of which is non-compatible with the liquid reaction system or with the liquid reaction system and a product formed by the catalytic reaction. According to this process, mild reaction conditions can be selected and adopted and separation or recovery of the catalyst can be remarkably facilitated. This catalytic reaction process can be applied to various liquid-gas reactions and can be applied especially advantageously to oxidation and reduction of organic substances and inorganic ions for disposal of waste waters and recovery of valuable substances.

Catalytic reaction process

A fuel cell comprising a pair of electrodes and an electrolyte body comprising an electrolyte-retainable material and an electrolyte retained in the electrolyte-retainable material, the electrolyte body being provided between the pair of electrodes, characterized by the electrolyte body being integrated with at least one of the pair of the electrodes. The fuel cell has a good sealing between the electrodes and the electrolyte body.

A waste gas generated in the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel is at first subjected to removal of explosive, gaseous substances such as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, and materials capable of forming the explosive gaseous substances, such as oxygen, and condensible substances such as carbon dioxide, water and ammonia from the waste gas, and then to cryogenic distillation, thereby separating and recovering Kr-85 from the waste gas. As the separation and recovery of Kr-85 is carried out by cryogenic separation after the removal of the substances having a possibility to explode in a cryogenic distillation apparatus and also the removal of condensible substances having a possibility to clog a piping system of the apparatus, the operation of the apparatus is ensured. It is also disclosed that the oxygen and nitrogen oxides can be completely removed by catalytic hydrogen reduction.

Process for treating waste gas in reprocessing of used nuclear fuel

A molten carbonate fuel cell comprising an anode, a cathode and a porous body impregnated with an electrolyte composition of metal carbonates, said body being sandwiched between both the electrodes and being made of one or more refractory, non-electron conductive, inorganic materials containing lithium titanate in an amount sufficient to stabilize said inorganic materials at a temperature of operation of said fuel cell, and operated by supplying a fuel into a fuel chamber placed in the anode side and an oxidant into an oxidant chamber placed in the cathode side, has improved stability for a long period of time and high fuel cell performance.

A fused carbonate type of fuel cell comprising an electrolytic body retaining an electrolyte therein which is arranged between an anode and a cathode, where electricity is electrochemically generated by feeding fuel gas and an oxidant to a fuel chamber arranged on the anode side and an oxidant chamber arranged on the cathode side, respectively, said fuel cell being characterized in that the electrolytic body comprises an electrolyte, an electrolyte-holding member for holding the electrolyte and an inorganic binder.

Fused carbonate fuel cell

A fuel cell electrode being substantially free from cracks on the surface of catalyst layer on the electrode and having a good electrode performance under the atmospheric pressure or under pressure when assembled into a fuel cell, which comprises a gas-diffusing electroconductive substrate with continued pores and a water-repellent catalyst layer comprising electroconductive submicron particles having a catalyst, electroconductive materials each having a volume 10.sup.3 -10.sup.10 as large as the volume of the largest particle of the submicron particles and, if necessary, having a catalyst, and a water-repellent polymer as a binder, the electroconductive submicron particles and the electroconductive materials being provided in a mixing ratio by volume of the former to the latter of 95-50 to 5-50.

Fuel cell electrode

In a molten carbonate fuel cell, an anode or cathode is made of a sintered material containing a nickel oxide and/or cobalt oxide and a rare earth element oxide. This anode or cathode has a high activity and is stable at high temperatures.

Molten carbonate fuel cell

Fuel cell with improved and stabilized electrode performance having at least one gas diffusion electrode, where the gas diffusion electrode comprises an electronconductive, gas-permeable substrate and an electrode catalyst uniformly distributed on the substrate, the electrode catalyst comprising colonies each consisting of not more than 20 primary particles of noble metal each having a size of 10-30 A and being uniformly distributed and deposited on carrier powder.

The present invention relates to a method for sintering oxidized titanium powder and an active metallic component containing oxidized molybdenum as a binder for oxidized titanium granules. The active metallic component comprises one or more than one selected from a group consisting of V.sub.2 O.sub.3, Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3, WO.sub.3, Co.sub.2 O.sub.3, NiO, Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, CeO.sub.2, SnO.sub.2, CuO, MoO.sub.3, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir and Re. The method comprising the steps of:

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Katsuta, Japan

Masato Takeuchi