Methods of removing contaminants from a fuel cell electrode
First Claim
1. A method of optimizing a waveform of an electrical current applied to an anode or cathode of a fuel cell, comprising the steps of:
- applying an electrical current to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell;
determining a waveform of the voltage or the current of the electrical current;
representing the waveform by mathematical expressions or numbers;
taking measurements of output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell associated with the application of the electrical current; and
varying the shape and frequency of the waveform to optimize the output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell and thereby determine an optimized waveform of the electrical current to be applied to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of optimizing a waveform of an electrical current applied to an electrode of an elecetrochemical device that includes at least two electrodes separated by an electrolyte, includes the steps of: applying an electrical current to an electrode of a device; determining a waveform of the voltage or the current of the electrical current; representing the waveform by a mathematical expressions or numbers; taking measurements of output voltage, current or power of the device associated with the application of the electrical current; and varying the shape and frequency of the wave form to optimize the output voltage, current or power of the device and thereby determine an optimized waveform of the electrical current to be applied to the electrode of the device.
56 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of optimizing a waveform of an electrical current applied to an anode or cathode of a fuel cell, comprising the steps of:
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applying an electrical current to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell; determining a waveform of the voltage or the current of the electrical current; representing the waveform by mathematical expressions or numbers; taking measurements of output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell associated with the application of the electrical current; and varying the shape and frequency of the waveform to optimize the output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell and thereby determine an optimized waveform of the electrical current to be applied to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of optimizing a waveform of an electrical current applied to an anode or cathode of a fuel cell, comprising the steps of:
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applying an electrical current to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell; determining a waveform of the voltage or the current of the electrical current; representing the waveform by a mathematical description consisting of a number of postulated points of the waveform or an analytical function characterized by a number of postulated coefficients and a fixed number of known functions; measuring output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell associated with the application of the electrical current; feeding the waveform description and the measured output voltage, current or power to an algorithm including an optimization routine which uses the postulated points or coefficients as independent variables for optimizing the output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell; and performing the algorithm to determine optimized values of the postulated points or coefficients which vary the shape of the waveform in order to optimize the output voltage, current or power of the fuel cell, and thereby determine an optimized waveform of the electrical current to be applied to the anode or cathode of the fuel cell. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification