Appeal 2006-3385
Application 10/407,401
reduction reactions and are said to possess significant advantages over other
forms of power generation in terms of cleanliness and efficiency. Typically,
fuel cells employ hydrogen as the fuel and oxygen as the oxidizing agent.
Because hydrogen is difficult to store and transport, "fuel processors" or
"reformers" are used to convert hydrocarbons to a hydrogen rich gas stream
which can be used as a feed for fuel cells. Fuel processor reactions are
carried out at elevated temperatures and heat management is critical for
proper operation. According to Appellants, problems with conventional
cooling subsystems include (1) dependence between the reactor cooling and
the temperatures of the reactor feeds and products and (2) additional heat
management problems which occur when housing the fuel cell and its fuel
processor in a cabinet. Appellants' invention addresses these difficulties by
using a coolant subsystem which is separate from the feed to the processor
reactor and capable of circulating a coolant through the processor reactor,
and by housing the processor reactor as well as the other constituent
elements of the fuel processor in a cabinet so that the coolant subsystem is
capable of cooling both the processor reactor and the interior of the cabinet.
See Specification 2-3.
Claim 36, the sole independent claim is illustrative of the invention:
36. An apparatus, comprising:
a cabinet; and
a fuel processor contained in the cabinet, the fuel processor including:
a processor reactor;
a feed to the processor reactor; and
2
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