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WO2006069237A2 - Systemes et procedes pour la distribution de cartouches de combustible - Google Patents

Systemes et procedes pour la distribution de cartouches de combustible Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2006069237A2
WO2006069237A2 PCT/US2005/046578 US2005046578W WO2006069237A2 WO 2006069237 A2 WO2006069237 A2 WO 2006069237A2 US 2005046578 W US2005046578 W US 2005046578W WO 2006069237 A2 WO2006069237 A2 WO 2006069237A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
cartridge
fuel
compatibility information
memory
cartridges
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US2005/046578
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2006069237A3 (fr
Inventor
James L. Kaschmitter
Ian W. Kaye
Robert David Richardson
William Di Scipio
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ultracell Inc
Original Assignee
Ultracell Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ultracell Inc filed Critical Ultracell Inc
Priority to EP05857179A priority Critical patent/EP1839356A2/fr
Publication of WO2006069237A2 publication Critical patent/WO2006069237A2/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Publication of WO2006069237A3 publication Critical patent/WO2006069237A3/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04—Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04082—Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration
    • H01M8/04201—Reactant storage and supply, e.g. means for feeding, pipes
    • H01M8/04208—Cartridges, cryogenic media or cryogenic reservoirs
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04—Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04082—Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04—Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04082—Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration
    • H01M8/04186—Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration of liquid-charged or electrolyte-charged reactants
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/10—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes
    • H01M8/1009—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes with one of the reactants being liquid, solid or liquid-charged
    • H01M8/1011—Direct alcohol fuel cells [DAFC], e.g. direct methanol fuel cells [DMFC]
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/30—Hydrogen technology
    • Y02E60/50—Fuel cells
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to fuel cell technology.
  • the invention relates to portable fuel cartridges that store a fuel for use in a fuel cell system, distribution of fuel cartridges, refilling of fuel cartridges, and techniques to permit regulation of which devices can draw fuel from a cartridge.
  • a hydrocarbon fuel processor 15 heats and processes a hydrocarbon fuel 17 in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrogen.
  • Fuel processor 15 comprises a reformer, which is a catalytic device that converts a liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon fuel 17 into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
  • reforming refers to the process of producing hydrogen from a fuel 17.
  • Fuel processor 15 may output either pure hydrogen or a hydrogen bearing gas stream (also commonly referred to as 'reformate').
  • Various types of reformers are suitable for use in fuel cell system 10; these include steam reformers, auto thermal reformers (ATR) and catalytic partial oxidizers (CPOX) for example.
  • a steam reformer only needs steam and fuel to produce hydrogen.
  • One suitable fire retardant plastic material for walls 110 is 8-12% weight, JLS-MC mixed with PA66 Polyamide as provided by JLS Chemical of Pomona, CA.
  • Rigid walls 110 may be designed according to criteria for construction of thin walled pressure vessels. In this case, walls 110 and housing 102 may be designed to withstand a maximum pressure within bladder 100.
  • Connector compatibility may include a 'keyed' configuration that provides connection selectivity.
  • connector 104 may comprise a shape unique to a particular fuel (e.g., a circular adaptor for methanol).
  • mating connector 140 offers an exclusive interface shape that only receives a connector 104 for a methanol based cartridge 16 with that shape.
  • This keying system prevents the wrong fuel type from being installed in a device that cannot accept that fuel, e.g., gasoline burns at a higher temperature and may not be suitable for use in all methanol fuel processors.
  • This keying system also prevents cartridge 16 from being refilled with the wrong hydrogen fuel source 17. Further description of connector compatibility is described in commonly owned and co-pending U.S. Patent Application No.
  • the compatibility information for cartridge 16b may be transient or fixed. For example, security features that protect the compatibility information may be updated each time the cartridge is refilled or used. Alternatively, the compatibility and/or authentication information may be fixed for the life of a cartridge.
  • Memory 106 may include any commercially available memory source, such as such as a non-volatile serial EEPROM memory chip. In a specific embodiment, memory 106 includes a model number bq26150 authentication chip as provided by Texas Instruments of Dallas, TX. The bq26150 provides a method to authenticate fuel cartridges and information stored thereon as described below and ensures that only cartridges including predetermined compatibility information are used by a device that includes a fuel cell.
  • Cartridge distribution according to the present invention thus permits flexible and customizable compatibility arrangements.
  • Exclusivity may be established for cartridges and/or devices.
  • Cartridge exclusivity limits which cartridges a device receives fuel from; device exclusivity restricts which devices a cartridge may provide fuel to.
  • a digital memory on a cartridge may also specify compatibility options. Instructions stored in the cartridge memory may dictate what devices are suitable for use with the cartridge. For example, the cartridge may include a certain fuel type and the memory informs a probing controller what type of fuel the cartridge contains. The controller then validates if this type of fuel is suitable for use with its device.
  • the memory includes a list of devices such as laptop computers that the cartridge is permitted to provide fuel to. This is useful when a laptop manufacturer for example includes an older version and a newer version of a fuel cell system in the laptop and the versions require different fuels. The cartridge may then specify which laptop models it is compatible with.
  • the present invention minimizes the presence of gas bubbles in the fuel included in a cartridge. This is done when the fuel is stored in the cartridge - either initially or during a re-filling.
  • FIG. 6 shows a process flow 500 for storing fuel in a portable fuel cartridge in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Sustainable Energy (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Fuel Cell (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention a trait à des systèmes et des procédés pour l'amélioration de la distribution de cartouches de combustible. Les cartouches comprennent une information de compatibilité. Un contrôleur sur le dispositif assure la validation de l'information de compatibilité avant de permettre l'approvisionnement en combustible depuis la cartouche vers le dispositif. Une information d'incompatibilité non valide, ou l'absence d'information de compatibilité, interdit l'écoulement de combustible vers le dispositif. Cela permet au dispositif de valider l'acceptabilité de la cartouche et de son contenu. Cela améliore la distribution en permettant au dispositif ou au fabricant de cellules à combustible de mettre en oeuvre la sélectivité en permettant à des cartouches en provenance de fabricants sélectionnés de fournir du combustible et en interdisant aux autres fabricants de fournir du combustible. L'information de compatibilité stockée dans la mémoire de la cartouche peut également être chiffrée pour interdire un accès facile à l'information de compatibilité. L'information de compatibilité améliore également la distribution de recharge de combustible. Dans ce cas, l'information de compatibilité permet à une cartouche ou un fabricant de dispositif d'assurer un contrôle sélectif concernant celui qui peut recharger les cartouches.
PCT/US2005/046578 2004-12-21 2005-12-21 Systemes et procedes pour la distribution de cartouches de combustible Ceased WO2006069237A2 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP05857179A EP1839356A2 (fr) 2004-12-21 2005-12-21 Systemes et procedes pour la distribution de cartouches de combustible

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US63842104P 2004-12-21 2004-12-21
US60/638,421 2004-12-21
US67742405P 2005-05-02 2005-05-02
US60/677,424 2005-05-02
US68259805P 2005-05-18 2005-05-18
US60/682,598 2005-05-18

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2006069237A2 true WO2006069237A2 (fr) 2006-06-29
WO2006069237A3 WO2006069237A3 (fr) 2009-04-16

Family

ID=36602325

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2005/046578 Ceased WO2006069237A2 (fr) 2004-12-21 2005-12-21 Systemes et procedes pour la distribution de cartouches de combustible

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1839356A2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2006069237A2 (fr)

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2003049996A (ja) * 2001-08-07 2003-02-21 Sony Corp 燃料貯蔵装置、燃料供給装置、燃料消費装置、燃料売買システム、燃料販売方法、並びに燃料購入方法
US20030138679A1 (en) * 2002-01-22 2003-07-24 Ravi Prased Fuel cartridge and reaction chamber

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2006069237A3 (fr) 2009-04-16
EP1839356A2 (fr) 2007-10-03

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