INTEGRATED FUEL CELL AND ELECTROCHEMICAL POWER SYSTEM EMPLOYING THE SAME

摘要

An electrochemical power system including one or more fuel cells integratedon or into a substrate is described. For each fuel cell, at least two stacked layerscomprising a cathode layer and an ion exchange layer are situated within thesubstrate. A first access path for allowing an oxidant to access the cathode layeris provided from one side of the substrate, and a second access path for allowinga fuel or a reaction medium containing a fuel to access a layer in the stack isprovided from the other side of the substrate. A third access path, which may bethe same or different from the second access path, allows egress of one or morereaction products from the layer. A first conductor connects to the cathode, and asecond conductor connects to the second access path or the layer in the stackaccessible through the second access path. A regeneration unit for regeneratingfuel from one or more reaction products also can be integrated on or into the substrate.The regeneration unit comprises a reaction chamber with one or more areas of ingress and one or more areas of egress. A first flow path interconnects the one or moreareas of egress of the reaction chamber with the second access path of the one ormore fuel cells. A second flow path interconnects the third access path of the one ormore fuel cells with the one or more areas of ingress of the reaction chamber.