Fuel containment and recycling system

Abstract

An energy conversion system is provided including at least one energy conversion device. A reservoir container is provided for storing a quantity of fuel and a quantity of exhaust. The reservoir container includes a container body including at least two chambers of inversely variable volume disposed within said container body for respectively storing a quantity of fuel and receiving a quantity of exhaust, and a structure for decreasing the volume of the first chamber while concurrently increasing the volume of the second chamber. The auxiliary container is in fluid communication with the at least one energy conversion device, the first chamber and the second chamber. The auxiliary container is configured for receiving a quantity of fuel from the first chamber, providing said quantity of fuel to the at least one energy conversion device, receiving a quantity of fuel partially converted from said energy conversion device, and returning a portion of said partially converted fuel to said energy conversion device.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation in part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 429,935, filed on May 5, 2003 entitled “Fuel containment and recycling system”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 570,798 filed on May 12, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,825, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to fuel and exhaust containment for energy conversion systems, and more particularly, to fuel containers and recycling systems for metal-air fuel cells. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Fuel cells, and in particular metal-air battery systems, have long been considered a desirable power source in view of their inherent high energy density. A fuel-cell battery includes a cathode, an ionic medium and an anode. A metal-air cell employs an anode comprised of metal particles that is fed into the cell and oxidized as the cell discharges. The ca...

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Benefits of technology

[0009] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a convenient, economical and environmentally safe fuel supply and waste material retrieval system for use with an energy conversion device.

[0013] It is yet another object of the present invention to maximize the usage of energy within fuel supplied to an energy conversion device while utilizing a single reservoir container for concurrently supplying fuel to the energy conversion device and collecting exhaust from the energy conversion device.

Problems solved by technology

Since oxygen is readily available in the air, it is usually unnecessary to utilize a dedicated oxygen storage vessel for the fuel-cell battery (except in certain configurations where there the oxygen supply is limited due to design considerations).

These systems never achieved any commercial success because they all had relatively low power output (acceptable drain rates and overall capacities).

Until now, this has been the major obstacle to providing a commercially viable system.

While this arrangement increases the drain rate by removing the reaction materials, the multiple reservoir design wastes space, adds complexity, and increases cost.

Although effective for the pellet-type fuel particles disclosed in the patent, this expedient cannot block the passage of the small anode particles that are found in a paste-like fuel substance.

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