A hydrogen gas generator system comprises a reactor stack adapted to perform electrolysis on water in an electrolyte solution, the reactor stack comprising a plurality of spaced apart electrode plates and electrolyte solution disposed between the plates, each plate having an upper outlet aperture and a lower inlet aperture to allow movement of electrolyte solution across the plates. A separator is configured to receive a mixture of gas and electrolyte solution from a top of the reactor stack and separate the gas from the electrolyte solution. A gas outlet configured to remove gas from the separator, and an electrolyte solution inlet configured to return electrolyte solution from the separator to a bottom of the reactor stack. The system comprises a pump configured to pump electrolyte solution in a circuit from the electrolyte solution outlet of the separator/reservoir, through the reactor stack at velocity, and back to the separator/reservoir, and in which in the upper and lower apertures are sufficiently large to allow pumped flow through the reactor stack.

Various embodiments include an electrolysis cell with a housing with an anode and a gas diffusion electrode connected as cathode. The gas diffusion electrode has an electrolyte side and a gas side and separates the electrolyte space from a gas space for a reaction gas. There is a support body disposed in the gas space with a contact surface in contact with the gas diffusion electrode. The gas space comprises a first channel system and a second channel system. The first channel system and the second channel system run separately from one another and thus form two separate volumes of the gas space. The first channel system and the second channel system each have openings in the contact surface of the support body.

The invention relates to an arrangement of electrochemical cells and also to the uses thereof. The electrochemical cells are arranged one above another and are in electrically conducting communication with one another. In this arrangement they form repeating units which in each case are formed of at least one interconnector, in which apertures for gas passage are formed, an electrochemical cell, which is formed of a cathode, an electrolyte and an anode, and contact elements on the anode side and on the cathode side, and are arranged one above another. The area of the individual planar electrochemical cells is in each case smaller than the area of the individual interconnectors, and the electrolytes finish flush in each case with a plane of a surface of the respective interconnector. Mounted on this surface of the interconnector in each case is a single sealing ply of a glass solder with constant thickness, for sealing the gap between electrolyte and interconnector (internal joining) and the gaps between apertures for gas passage of two adjacent interconnectors (external joining).

Electrochemical devices, such as membrane electrode assemblies and electrochemical reactors, are described herein, as well as and methods for the conversion of reactants such as carbon dioxide to value-added products such as ethanol. In certain aspects, the membrane electrode assemblies are configured to allow for distributed pressure along the cathodic side of a membrane electrode assembly is described. The pressure vessel acts as a cathode chamber, both for the feed of reactant carbon dioxide as well as collection of products. The designs described herein improves the safety of high pressure electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction and allows for varied pressures to be used, in order to optimize reaction conditions. Configurations optimized for producing preferred products, such as ethanol, are also described.

A composite cell plate can include a polymer element laterally mated and interlocked, at a plurality of engagement points, with a resilient metal element. The cell plate can be used in an electrochemical cell. A method of forming a cell plate can include fitting a polymer element to a resilient metal element at a plurality of engagement points, and expanding the polymer of the polymer element such that the polymer element and the resilient metal element engage and interlock at the engagement points.

An individual solid oxide cell (SOC) constructed of a sandwich configuration including in the following order: an oxygen electrode, a solid oxide electrolyte, a fuel electrode, a fuel manifold, and at least one layer of mesh. In one embodiment, the mesh supports a reforming catalyst resulting in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) having a reformer embedded therein. The reformer-modified SOFC functions internally to steam reform or partially oxidize a gaseous hydrocarbon, e.g. methane, to a gaseous reformate of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which is converted in the SOC to water, carbon dioxide, or a mixture thereof, and an electrical current. In another embodiment, an electrical insulator is disposed between the fuel manifold and the mesh resulting in a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), which functions to electrolyze water and/or carbon dioxide.

A water electrolysis system includes a water electrolysis stack, a gas-liquid separator, a water supply path, a water introduction unit, a water lead-out unit, a water discharge path, and a circulation pump. The water lead-out unit includes a first water lead-out unit and a second water lead-out unit, which are provided in the water electrolysis stack. The water introduction unit is positioned in a stacking direction between the first water lead-out unit and the second water lead-out unit, together with being disposed in a water electrolysis cell which is positioned between both ends in the stacking direction among a plurality of the water electrolysis cells.

Disclosed herein are methods and systems that relate to electrochemically oxidizing metal halide with a metal ion in a lower oxidation state to a higher oxidation state; halogenating an unsaturated hydrocarbon or a saturated hydrocarbon with the metal halide with the metal ion in the higher oxidation state; and oxyhalogenating the metal halide with the metal ion from a lower oxidation state to a higher oxidation state in presence of an oxidant. In some embodiments, the oxyhalogenation is in series with the electrochemical oxidation, the electrochemical oxidation is in series with the oxyhalogenation, the oxyhalogenation is parallel to the electrochemical oxidation, and/or the oxyhalogenation is simultaneous with the halogenation.

The application relates to a process for operating in starting mode or in stand-by mode a unit, termed power-to-gas unit, comprising a number N of reactors (1) with a stack of elemental electrolysis cells of solid oxide type (SOEC), the cathodes of which are made of methanation reaction catalyst material(s).

Features for an aqueous reactor include a field generator. The field generator includes a series of parallel conductive plates including a series of intermediate neutral plates. The intermediate neutral plates are arranged in interleaved sets between an anode and a cathode. Other features of the aqueous reactor may include a sealed reaction vessel, fluid circulation manifold, electrical power modulator, vacuum port, and barrier membrane. Methods of using the field generator include immersion in an electrolyte solution and application of an external voltage and vacuum to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases. The reactor and related components can be arranged to produce gaseous fuel or liquid fuel. In one use, a mixture of a carbon based material and a liquid hydrocarbon is added. The preferred carbon based material is powdered coal.