Patent ID: 8310235
Filing Date: 2012-11-13
Classification: G01N,G01R

Abstract:
1. A fuel cell toroid cavity detector for in situ analysis of a operational fuel cell using nuclear magnetic resonance/nuclear magnetic imaging comprising: a sealed container housing where said housing is electrically conductive and where a sealed chamber of said housing penetrates a first surface of said housing but not an opposing second surface of said housing, an electrically conductive first hollow tube which penetrates a side wall of said housing extending into said chamber for transporting fuel into said chamber, an electrically conductive second hollow tube which is approximately position in opposition to said first tube and also penetrates from said chamber through said side wall and acts as a first exit port, a first principal detector element which is sized to fit in said chamber and where said first detector element has a oscillating channel positioned on a first surface of said electrically conductive first detector element and where said first surface is exposed to an open end of said chamber and where a first end of said channel is in fluid connection with said first hollow tube and where a second end of said channel is in fluid connection with said second hollow tube and where said first detector element functions as a cathode, a cathode fabric which is embedded with catalyst particles and is adjacent to said channels of said first principal detector element and is sized to correspond to an exposed surface of said first principal detector, a polymer electrolyte membrane which is of similar size to said cathode fabric and is outwardly adjacent to said cathode fabric, an anode fabric embedded with catalyst particles and sized in a manner similar to said polymer electrolyte membrane and which is positioned adjacent to and outward to said polymer membrane, a current collector which can be a second principal detector element which functions as an anode and is positioned adjacent to and outward from said anode fabric, an electrically conductive hollow third tube which is in fluid connection with said current collector and serves as a gas transport duct, an electrically conductive hollow forth tube which is in fluid connection with said current collector and serves as an gas export duct, a cover plate which is attached to an outer surface of said chamber and forms an external cover to said chamber, a means for hermetically sealing said fuel cell toroid detector, a means for connecting said detector to an RF circuit and a means for modulating an external magnetic field.