The invention relates to a method of remi-neralization and correction of pH for water produced by a fuel cell (P) on board an aircraft, noteworthy in that it consists in diverting part of the water (E1) produced by the cell to at least one treatment tank (200) containing a saturation reagent and in mixing the flow of treated water (E2) issuing from the treatment tank (200) with the undiverted flow of water (E3) so as to obtain water (E5) with the desired mineralization and/or pH. The invention also relates to devices making it possible to implement said method.

An inspection method of a fuel battery by using an electrical charge existing in a fuel battery stack includes a supplying step in which the electrical charge is supplied from an external power supply to the fuel battery stack.

A fuel cell includes an electrode assembly having an electrolyte between an anode and a cathode for generating an electric current and byproduct water. A porous plate is located adjacent to the electrode and includes reactant gas channels for delivering a reactant gas to the electrode assembly. A separator plate is located adjacent the porous plate such that the porous plate is between the electrode assembly and the separator plate. The separator plate includes a reactant gas inlet manifold and a reactant gas outlet manifold in fluid connection with the reactant gas channels, and a purge manifold in fluid connection with the porous plate such that limiting flow of the reactant gas from the reactant gas outlet manifold and opening the purge manifold under a pressure of the reactant gas in the reactant gas channels drives the byproduct water toward the purge manifold for removal from the fuel cell.

Various hot box fuel cell system components are provided, such as heat exchangers, steam generator and other components.

The invention is a power generation system which involves a water-splitting reaction employing metal feedstock to generate heat, hydrogen and metal hydroxide. The heat produced by the power generation system supplies a Heating-Ventilation-Air Conditioning (HVAC) system for heating and cooling building structures, such as homes, kiosks, commercial buildings and greenhouses. The hydrogen gas component produced by the invention is sufficient to fuel a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) and a fuel cell, which provides electricity to an associated building structure. The invention can be located on-site with a building structure and provides a readily available FCV fueling station associated with the building structure where an FCV is located.

A method of shutting down operation of a fuel cell system is disclosed, comprising a fuel cell stack, the method comprising the sequential steps of: i) ceasing a supply of fuel to the fuel cell stack; ii) closing a shut-off valve on an exhaust line in fluid communication with a cathode system of the fuel cell system, the cathode system comprising a cathode fluid flow path passing through the fuel cell stack; iii) pressurizing the cathode system with an air compressor in fluid communication with a cathode air inlet port in the fuel cell stack; and iv) ejecting water from the cathode flow path.

The present application is directed to gas generators comprising a fuel mixture and a catalyst. The catalyst is contained in a self-regulated reactor or buoy, and selectively opens and closes to produce a gas in accordance with the demand for gas. This fuel mixture is generally a solution formed by dissolving a solid fuel component in a liquid fuel component. The mixing preferably occurs before the first use, and more preferably occurs immediately prior to the first use. The inventive gas generators preferably further comprises a starting mechanism that isolates the solid fuel from the liquid fuel or vice versa before the first use. In one embodiment, the starting mechanism further comprises a catalyst shield mechanism that isolates the catalyst in the reactor or buoy from the liquid and/or the solid fuel prior to the first use.

The present invention discloses a fuel supply for a fuel cell, the fuel cell including a liquid storage area that includes a liquid reactant, a reaction area that includes a solid reactant, wherein the liquid reactant is pumped into the reaction area such that the liquid reactant reacts with the solid reactant to produce reaction components, a product collection area that receives the reaction components, a barrier, and a container with an interior volume that substantially encloses the reaction area, liquid storage area, product collection area. The barrier separates and defines several of the aforementioned areas, and moves to simultaneously increase the product collector area and decrease the liquid storage area as the liquid reactant is pumped from the liquid storage area and the reaction components are transferred into the product collection area.

The present invention discloses a fuel supply for a fuel cell, the fuel cell including a liquid storage area that includes a liquid reactant, a reaction area that includes a solid reactant, wherein the liquid reactant is pumped into the reaction area such that the liquid reactant reacts with the solid reactant to produce reaction components, a product collection area that receives the reaction components, a barrier, and a container with an interior volume that substantially encloses the reaction area, liquid storage area, product collection area. The barrier separates and defines several of the aforementioned areas, and moves to simultaneously increase the product collector area and decrease the liquid storage area as the liquid reactant is pumped from the liquid storage area and the reaction components are transferred into the product collection area.

The present teachings provide apparatus and methods for mixing a reformable fuel and/or steam with an oxygen-containing gas and/or steam to provide a gaseous reforming reaction mixture suitable for reforming with a reformer and/or a fuel cell stack of a fuel cell unit and/or fuel cell system.