Power system with hydrogen on demand
First Claim
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1. A method of providing electrical power to a power-consuming device in a circuit, said method comprising:
- providing a source of hydrogen included in a storage medium;
incorporating an output of a first fuel cell into said circuit;
releasing said hydrogen from said storage medium for the purpose of noncombustibly consuming said hydrogen in said first fuel cell to provide electrical power to said power-consuming device.
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Abstract
The present invention is a power system using a reformer/fuel cell arrangement as the primary source of DC power. The reformer is operated on either natural gas or propane. A backup source of power consumes hydrogen which is diffused from a solid medium. On an as-needed basis, the medium is reacted to release hydrogen gas which is consumed by a fuel cell to generate backup DC power. The system also includes Lithium-Metal-Polymer batteries which are used for both bridging and backup purposes.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of providing electrical power to a power-consuming device in a circuit, said method comprising:
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providing a source of hydrogen included in a storage medium;
incorporating an output of a first fuel cell into said circuit;
releasing said hydrogen from said storage medium for the purpose of noncombustibly consuming said hydrogen in said first fuel cell to provide electrical power to said power-consuming device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for maintaining power in a DC circuit, said system comprising:
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a primary source of DC electrical power adapted to introduce DC electrical power into said circuit;
a storage medium in which said gas is included, said medium being adapted to release said gas upon one of (i) the introduction of heat;
(ii) the introduction of a catalyst; and
a secondary source of DC electrical power, said secondary source adapted to noncombustibly consume a gas to deliver DC electrical power to said circuit.
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10. A system for providing backup electrical power, said system comprising:
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a gas-extraction device for extracting a first source of gas from a first source of fuel;
a first gas-consuming device for noncombustibly using said first source of gas to create a first source of electrical power; and
a second source of gas included in a medium, said second source of gas maintained for noncombustive consumption by one of said first gas-consuming device and a second gas-consuming device for the purpose of providing an alternative source of electrical power. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification