Utc Fuel Cells, LLC

Utc Power Corporation

Timothy A Bekkedahl

Jung S Yi

Timothy W Patterson

Lawrence J Bregoli

Richard D Breault

Carl Anthony Reiser

Ned Emidio Cipollini

Tommy Skiba

Richard D Sawyer

Deliang Yang

Chris Vargas

Jeremy P Meyers

Margaret M Steinbugler

Jonathan Puhalski

Emily A Dykeman

Marianne Pemberton

A fuel cell power plant includes a fuel cell having a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), disposed between an anode support plate and a cathode support plate, the anode and/or cathode support plates include a hydrophilic substrate layer having a predetermined pore size. The pressure of the reactant gas streams is greater than the pressure of the coolant stream, such that a greater percentage of the pores within the hydrophilic substrate layer contain reactant gas rather than water. Any water that forms on the cathode side of the MEA will migrate through the cathode support plate and away from the MEA. Controlling the pressure also ensures that the coolant water will continually migrate from the coolant stream toward the anode side of the MEA, thereby preventing the membrane from becoming dry. Proper pore size and a pressure differential between coolant and reactants improves the electrical efficiency of the fuel cell.

Fuel cell having a hydrophilic substrate layer

Each cell of a fuel cell stack is provided, between the anodeand cathodes, with either (a) a permanent shunt () which may be a discrete resistor (), a diode (), a strip of compliant carbon cloth (), or a small amount of conductive carbon black () in the ionomer polymer mixture of which the proton exchange membrane () is formed, or (b) a removeable shunt such as a conductor () which may be rotated into and out of contact with the fuel cell anodes and cathodes, or a conductor () which may be urged into contact by means of a shape memory alloy actuator spring (), which may be heated.

Reducing fuel cell cathode potential during startup and shutdown

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Loveland, CO, United States of America

Timothy A Bekkedahl