Ford Motor Company Limited

Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ron Brost

Bruce Carvell Blakemore

William Hubert Schank

James Waldecker

A spinning electrode fuel cell is disclosed. The spinning electrode fuel cell includes a housing and a stacked disk assembly which is rotatably mounted in the housing. The stacked disk assembly includes multiple electrochemical cells connected to each other. A motor engages the stacked disk assembly for rotating the stacked disk assembly in the housing. A fuel flow pathway is provided in the housing for distributing a fuel to the electrochemical cells. An oxidant flow pathway is provided in the housing and physically separated from the fuel flow pathway for distributing an oxidant to the electrochemical cells. A method of fabricating a fuel cell is also disclosed.

Spinning electrode fuel cell

A spirally-wound fuel cell assembly is disclosed. The spirally-wound fuel cell assembly includes an enclosure. Multiple cell assemblies are disposed in electrical contact with each other and provided in the enclosure. Each of the cell assemblies has at least one membrane electrode assembly including a negative electrode, a positive electrode and a proton conductive membrane sandwiched between the negative electrode and the positive electrode. An oxidant channel is provided in each of the cell assemblies for receiving an oxidant gas. A fuel gas pathway is defined around the cell assemblies for receiving a fuel gas. A method of fabricating a fuel cell assembly is also disclosed.

Spirally-wound fuel cell assembly

A state of charge control system and method uses a region of voltage linearity and a long-term average voltage to estimate an average battery state of charge for storage batteries and to eliminate errors due to hysteresis, drift and sensor noncompliance. An average state of charge Sn is calculated using a current integral method and an average state of charge Sv based on an average observed voltage Vn for a time period exceeding a predefined minimum time but before a predefined maximum time has elapsed is also calculated. If the absolute value of the difference between the Sv and Sn are not are within an acceptable error band, then an offset value is calculated to correct the Sn by subtracting the Sv from the Sn, and thus, to maintain a more accurate Sn. Additionally, a closed current integral method is used to reduce errors due to hysteresis.

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Dearborn, MI, United States of America

Ron Brost