Patent ID: 11926427
Assignee: ALAKAI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  H  Y | IPC B  H

Claim 0:
1. A lightweight, high power density, fault-tolerant fuel cell system for a clean fuel aircraft, the system comprising:
a power generation subsystem comprising at least one fuel cell module comprising:
a plurality of hydrogen fuel cells configured to supply electrical voltage and current to a plurality of motor and propeller assemblies controlled by a plurality of motor controllers;

a fuel supply subsystem comprising a fuel tank in fluid communication with the at least one fuel cell module and configured to store and transport liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel;
a thermal energy interface subsystem comprising a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the fuel tank and the at least one fuel cell module including each hydrogen fuel cell of the plurality of hydrogen fuel cells, a plurality of fluid conduits, and at least one radiator in fluid communication with the at least one fuel cell module, configured to store and transport a coolant, wherein the heat exchanger extracts gaseous hydrogen (GH2) from LH2 or to increase a temperature of already extracted gaseous hydrogen (GH2) using thermal energy transfer by transferring heat or thermal energy across heat exchanger walls and heat exchanger surfaces to the fuel supplied by fuel lines in fluid communication with the one or more heat exchangers and the fuel tank, using thermodynamic processes including conduction;
an external interface subsystem comprising one or more oxygen delivery mechanisms comprising one or more of turbochargers, superchargers, blowers, compressors, local supply of air or oxygen, or combinations thereof, configured to compress ambient air and in fluid communication with at least one air intake and the at least one fuel cell module; and
a power distribution monitoring and control subsystem for monitoring and controlling distribution of supplied electrical voltage and current to the plurality of motor controllers and an avionics subsystem, comprising:
one or more sensing devices configured to measure operating conditions; and
an electrical circuit configured to collect electrons from each hydrogen fuel cell of the plurality of hydrogen fuel cells and supply voltage and current to the plurality of motor controllers and aircraft components, wherein electrons returning from the electrical circuit combine with oxygen in the compressed air to form oxygen ions, then protons combine with oxygen ions to form H2O molecules, wherein the plurality of motor controllers are commanded by one or more autopilot control units or computer units comprising a computer processor configured to compute algorithms based on measured operating conditions, and configured to select and control an amount and distribution of electrical voltage and torque or current for each of the plurality of motor and propeller assemblies;

wherein the one or more autopilot control units or computer units comprising a computer processor are further configured to dissipate waste heat using the thermal energy interface subsystem comprising the heat exchanger or a vaporizer used to warm LH2 or GH2, and/or using at least one radiator or one or more exhaust ports to expel waste heat with exhaust gas, wherein the H2O molecules are removed using the one or more exhaust ports or a vent.