The Secretary of State for Industry in Her Britannic Majesty's

Trevor Leslie Markin

Leslie Samuel Evans

Roger J Bones

Albert George Montgomery

Anthony Richard Junkison

Ronald Michael Dell

In an electric cell having a solid electrolyte and employing sodium as the iquid anode and sulphur as the liquid cathode, the liquid anode is contained in two compartments separated by a corrosion resistant barrier. Liquid anode is arranged to flow between the compartments through a flow restrictor which permits a rate of flow sufficient to meet the normal charge and discharge requirements of the cell but limits higher rates of flow. One of the compartments has a very limited capacity for liquid sodium and is disposed about one side of the solid electrolyte to define a wicking space to constrain liquid sodium to flow over the solid electrolyte. The other compartment provides a reservoir for containing the bulk of the liquid sodium. In the event of damage to the solid electrolyte, only a very limited amount of liquid sodium is readily available to mix and react with the liquid sulphur.

Electric cells

A sodium-sulphur electric cell is provided having a sulphur compartment in hich a current collector of hollow form extends. The space inside the current collector is used as an expansion space for products arising from reaction of sodium and sulphur. The walls of the current collector may be tapered to arrange that the current density along it is substantially constant.

Sodium-sulphur electric cells

A method and apparatus is described for filling an electric cell which coises a compartment for receiving a liquid electrode, an electrolyte, and a constraining means in the compartment for constraining the liquid electrode to wet a surface of the electrolyte. The method comprises the steps of introducing liquid electrode material into the compartment, thereby to contact the constraining means with the liquid electrode material. The liquid electrode material is then subjected to a pressure sufficient to force the liquid electrode material to penetrate the constraining means and thereby wet the electrolyte. The gas is maintained in the cell to ensure that the liquid electrode material remains in the constraining means.

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Goring-On-Thames, United Kingdom

Trevor Leslie Markin