Hydrogen generator
View Patent ↗A hydrogen generation system includes a fuel container, a spent fuel container, a catalyst system and a control system for generating hydrogen in a manner which provides for a compact and efficient construction while producing hydrogen from a reaction involving a hydride solution such as sodium borohydride.
1. A hydrogen generator comprising:
a fuel container adapted to contain fluid reactants;
a catalyst chamber in fluid communication with the fuel container, wherein the catalyst chamber is configured to catalyze reaction of the fluid reactants to produce reaction products comprising hydrogen and non-gaseous products;
a spent fuel container adapted to receive the reaction products from the catalyst chamber;
a pump configured to pump the fluid reactants from the fuel container through the catalyst chamber into the spent fuel container; and
a hydrogen outlet in fluid communication with the spent fuel container;
wherein at least a portion of the spent fuel container is configured to retain the non-gaseous products.
2. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the catalyst chamber and the pump is disposed between the fuel container and the spent fuel container.
3. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen outlet comprises a hydrogen line and at least a portion of the hydrogen line is coiled to facilitate cooling of hydrogen gas.
4. The hydrogen generator of claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the hydrogen line is wrapped around at least a portion of the fuel container.
5. The hydrogen generator of claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the hydrogen line is routed through a heat exchanger.
6. The hydrogen generator of claim 5 , wherein the heat exchanger further comprises a heat sink.
7. The hydrogen generator of claim 3 , wherein the hydrogen line further comprises a pressure switch capable of providing a signal to control the pump.
8. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein part of a wall of the fuel container forms part of a wall of the spent fuel container.
9. The hydrogen generator of claim 8 , wherein the part of the wall is flexible.
10. The hydrogen generator of claim 8 , wherein the part of the wall is capable of providing for volume exchange between the fuel container and the spent fuel container.
11. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein one of the fuel container and the spent fuel container is at least partially contained within the other of the fuel container and the spent fuel container.
12. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 further comprising, a heat exchanger configured to allow heat to be transferred from at least one of the spent fuel container, catalyst chamber, and fuel container.
13. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , further comprising a heat shield positioned between the catalyst chamber and the fuel container.
14. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein the pump is capable of removing a fuel from the catalyst chamber when cessation of hydrogen generation is desired.
15. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , further comprising a separating device capable of separating hydrogen from the non-gaseous products.
16. The hydrogen generator of claim 15 , wherein the separating device comprises a porous membrane.
17. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , further comprising a fuel line adapted to feed fuel by gravity from the fuel container to the catalyst chamber.
18. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 , wherein the fuel container is pressurized.
19. A hydrogen generator comprising:
a fuel container containing a fuel capable of generating products comprising hydrogen and non-gaseous products, said fuel being one of a hydride solution and a stabilized metal hydride solution;
a spent fuel container for retaining the non-gaseous products separate from the fuel;
a catalyst chamber in fluid communication with the fuel container and the spent fuel container, wherein the catalyst chamber is configured to catalyze reaction of the fuel to produce reaction products comprising hydrogen and non-gaseous products;
a pump means for pumping fluid from the fuel container through the catalyst chamber to the spent fuel container; and
a hydrogen outlet in fluid communication with the spent fuel container;
wherein at least a portion of the spent fuel container is configured to retain the non-gaseous products.
20. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , wherein the hydrogen outlet comprises a hydrogen line configured to convey hydrogen from one of the catalyst chamber and the spent fuel container.
21. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , wherein the catalyst chamber contains a hydrogen generation catalyst capable of catalyzing reaction with a hydride solution to generate hydrogen comprising one of a transition metal catalyst and a supported transition metal catalyst.
22. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , wherein the pump means is configured to remove fuel from the catalyst system when cessation of hydrogen generation is desired.
23. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , further comprising a separating device for separating hydrogen from the nongaseous products.
24. The hydrogen generator of claim 23 , wherein the separating device is in fluid communication with the catalyst chamber.
25. The hydrogen generator of claim 20 , further comprising a separating device, for separating hydrogen from the nongaseous products, in fluid communication with the hydrogen line.
26. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , wherein the fuel solution comprises a stabilizer selected from the group consists of sodium hydroxide and glycol.
27. The hydrogen generator of claim 19 , wherein the fuel container and spent fuel container are arranged in a volume exchanging configuration.
28. The hydrogen generator of claim 1 further comprising a hydrogen line configured to convey hydrogen from the hydrogen generator.
29. A hydrogen generator comprising:
a fuel container for fluid reactants;
a spent fuel container for receiving reaction products comprising hydrogen and other gaseous and non gaseous reaction products;
a catalyst system in fluid communication with the fuel container and the spent fuel container, the catalyst system comprising a catalyst chamber for catalyzing reaction of the reactants to produce reaction products comprising hydrogen and non gaseous reaction products;
pumping means for pumping fluid from the fuel container through the catalyst chamber to the spent fuel chamber;
a separating device in fluid communication with at least one of the catalyst chamber and the spent fuel container for separating gaseous products from non-gaseous products; and
a hydrogen outlet in fluid communication with the spent fuel container.
30. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 wherein the separating device comprises a porous membrane.
31. A hydrogen generator according to claim 30 wherein the porous membrane selectively passes hydrogen.
32. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising a spent fuel line between the catalyst chamber and the spent fuel container, said separating device being in fluid communication with the spent fuel line.
33. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising flow control means to control back flow of fluid from the catalyst chamber to the fuel container.
34. A hydrogen generator according to claim 33 wherein the flow control means comprises a valve disposed between the fuel container and the catalyst chamber.
35. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising a waste outlet for removing non-gaseous reaction products retained by the spent fuel container.
36. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising control means responsive to pressure in the spent fuel container to control the pumping means for pumping reactants through the catalyst system.
37. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising volume exchange means between the fuel container and the spent fuel container.
38. A hydrogen generator according to claim 37 wherein the fuel container is collapsible as reactants are removed, and the spent fuel container is expandable as reaction products are received.
39. A hydrogen generator according to claim 37 further comprising a flexible partition between the fuel container and the spent fuel container to provide for volume exchange between the chambers as fuel is removed from the fuel container.
40. A hydrogen generator according to claim 29 further comprising a mist filter.
41. A hydrogen generator of claim 1 further comprising pressure regulation means comprising a pressure switch responsive to a system pressure for sending a control signal to the pump when the system pressure reaches a threshold value.
42. A hydrogen generator according to claim 1 further comprising a hydrogen detector configured to send a signal to control the pump when a hydrogen concentration reaches a threshold value.
43. A hydrogen generator comprising:
a fuel container for fluid reactants;
a catalyst chamber in fluid communication with the fuel container, wherein the catalyst chamber is configured to catalyze reaction of the reactants to produce reaction products comprising hydrogen and non-gaseous reaction products;
a spent fuel container for receiving reaction products from the catalyst chamber;
means for pumping fluid by gravity feed from the fuel container through the catalyst chamber into the spent fuel container; and
a hydrogen outlet in fluid communication with the spent fuel container,
wherein at least a portion of the spent fuel container is configured to retain the non-gaseous products.