125 results about "Tubular solid oxide fuel cell" patented technology

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a metal-supported tubular micro-solid oxide fuel cell, and a fuel cell made from such method. The method comprises the steps of coating a wooden substrate member with a conductive substrate layer, coating the substrate layer with an inner electrode layer, coating the inner electrode layer with an electrolyte layer, drying and sintering the coated substrate member such that the substrate member combusts, coating the electrolyte layer with an outer electrode layer, and then drying and sintering the layers. The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a tubular solid oxide fuel cell assembly comprising: a) coating a tubular substantially metallic support layer with a ceramic or cermet inner electrode layer, b) coating the inner electrode layer with a ceramic electrolyte layer; c) coating the electrolyte layer with a ceramic or cermet outer electrode layer, then d) sintering the layers to produce a hollow tubular metal-supported fuel cell; the electrode and electrolyte layers having a collective wall thickness of 80 μm or less, the support layer having sufficient mechanical strength to support the electrode and electrolyte layers and sufficient porosity to flow a reactant therethrough.

This invention relates to a fuel cell system comprising an outer tubular solid oxide fuel cell, a solid phase porous matrix located inside the outer fuel cell and attached to its inner electrode layer, and at least one inner tubular solid oxide fuel cell embedded in the matrix. The outer fuel cell has an inner electrode layer configured to receive a first reactant fluid, an outer electrode layer configured to receive a second reactant fluid, and an electrolyte layer sandwiched between the electrode layers. The inner fuel cell has an outer electrode layer configured to receive the first reactant fluid, an inner electrode layer configured to receive the second reactant fluid, and an electrolyte layer sandwiched between the inner and outer electrode layers. The matrix has sufficient mechanical strength to support the inner fuel cell and sufficient porosity to enable the first reactant fluid to flow through the matrix to the inner and outer fuel cell respectively.

The invention provides tubular solid oxide fuel cell devices and a fuel cell system incorporating a plurality of the fuel devices, each device including an elongate tube having a reaction zone for heating to an operating reaction temperature, and at least one cold zone that remains at a low temperature below the operating reaction temperature when the reaction zone is heated. An electrolyte is disposed between anodes and cathodes in the reaction zone, and the anode and cathode each have an electrical pathway extending to an exterior surface in a cold zone for electrical connection at low temperature. In one embodiment, the tubular device is a spiral rolled structure, and in another embodiment, the tubular device is a concentrically arranged device. The system further includes the devices positioned with their reaction zones in a hot zone chamber and their cold zones extending outside the hot zone chamber. A heat source is coupled to the hot zone chamber to heat the reaction zones to the operating reaction temperature, and fuel and air supplies are coupled to the tubes in the cold zones.

This invention relates to a stack comprising a continuous solid-phase matrix and tubular fuel cells embedded in the matrix. Each fuel cell comprises an inner electrode layer, an outer electrode layer, and an electrolyte layer sandwiched between the inner and outer electrode layers. The matrix is sufficiently porous to allow a first reactant to flow through the matrix and to the outer electrode of each fuel cell, and have sufficient mechanical strength to support the fuel cells in the stack. The fuel cells are embedded such that a second reactant may be flowed through the inside of each tubular fuel cell and to the inner electrode thereof. Alternatively, a stack of tubular separation membranes or a stack of tubular membrane reactors may be embedded in the matrix. The matrix material may comprise solid state foam, metal filament, or metal, cermet, or ceramic wool.