A cooling system for a fuel cell system 12 onboard a vehicle such as an aircraft has a primary ambient air heat exchanger coolant loop 18 for cooling the fuel cell system, and a secondary coolant loop 36 comprising a fluid circuit configured to circulate a coolant which is in thermal contact with a phase-change material (PCM) 60 and with the fuel cell to absorb heat from the fuel cell. The secondary coolant loop preferably includes a heat pump 54 for cooling the PCM. The primary and secondary coolant loops may both be independently connected to the fuel cell (as shown), or the secondary coolant loop may comprise an extension of the primary coolant loop (figures 3-5). The secondary coolant loop may be selectively isolated from the primary coolant loop using valves. The secondary coolant loop may be configured to add heat to the PCM to heat the fuel cell system during warmup. Power for the heat pump may be provided by the fuel cell itself or by auxiliary mechanical or electrical power sources.
Fuel cell thermal energy storage in phase-change material
2025-04-23
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | H01M Verfahren oder Mittel, z.B. Batterien, für die direkte Umwandlung von chemischer in elektrische Energie , PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY / B60L PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES , Antrieb von elektrisch angetriebenen Fahrzeugen |
Graphitized Carbon Foam with Phase Change Material for Thermal Energy Storage
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
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