Method of and system for determining the remaining energy in a metal fuel cell
First Claim
1. A method of measuring available energy in a metal fuel cell in which one or more reaction products of an electrochemical reaction occurring in the cell is dissolved in a reaction medium to form a mixture having at least one electrical property, the method comprising:
- measuring at least one of the electrical property(ies) of the mixture; and
deriving an indication of the available energy of the fuel cell from the measured electrical property(ies).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for measuring available energy in a metal fuel cell is provided. The system comprises first componentry for measuring an electrical property of a mixture formed from one or more reaction products dissolved in a reaction medium. The electrical property may be such as to bear a known relationship with the concentration of the one or more reaction products. Using this known relationship, second componentry estimates the concentration of the one or more reaction products, and, responsive thereto, determines the available energy in the fuel cell.
104 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method of measuring available energy in a metal fuel cell in which one or more reaction products of an electrochemical reaction occurring in the cell is dissolved in a reaction medium to form a mixture having at least one electrical property, the method comprising:
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measuring at least one of the electrical property(ies) of the mixture; and
deriving an indication of the available energy of the fuel cell from the measured electrical property(ies). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for measuring available energy in a metal fuel cell in which one or more reaction products of an electrochemical reaction occurring in the cell is dissolved in a reaction medium to form a mixture having at least one electrical property(ies), the system comprising:
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first componentry for measuring at least one of the electrical property(ies) of the mixture; and
second componentry for deriving an indication of the available energy of the fuel cell from the measured electrical property(ies). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 52)
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16. A metal fuel system comprising:
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one or more metal fuel cells capable of providing system power to a load, wherein one or more reaction products of an electrochemical reaction occurring in the one or more cells are dissolved in a reaction medium to form a mixture having at least one electrical property(ies); and
a sub-system for measuring available energy in at least one of the fuel cells comprising;
first isolation circuitry for deriving a driving signal from system power while substantially isolating the driving signal from system power;
first componentry for measuring at least one of the electrical property(ies) of the mixture responsive to the driving signal and outputting a first signal representative thereof, second isolation circuitry for deriving a second signal representative of the measured electrical property(ies) of the mixture responsive to the first signal while substantially isolating the second signal from the first signal; and
second componentry for deriving an indication of the available energy of the fuel cell from the second signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for producing a signal representative of a probe resistance comprising:
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a probe for applying a probe resistance between first and second probe terminals;
a bridge circuit which, responsive to an AC driving signal, switches between providing a signal at the first probe terminal which is representative of the probe resistance and providing a signal at the second probe terminal which is representative of the probe resistance; and
sampling circuitry for sampling either or both the signal provided at the first probe terminal and the signal provided at the second probe terminal to obtain one or more samples, and outputting a signal representative of the one or more samples. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of producing a signal representative of a probe resistance comprising:
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applying a probe resistance between first and second probe terminals;
switching, responsive to an AC driving signal, between providing a signal at the first probe terminal which is representative of the probe resistance and providing a signal at the second probe terminal which is representative of the probe resistance;
sampling either or both the signal provided at the first probe terminal and the signal provided at the second probe terminal to provide one or more samples; and
outputting a signal representative of the one or more samples. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification