Patent ID: 8186315
Filing Date: 2012-05-29
Classification: F02B,F02M,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A hydrogen fuel system for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a water reservoir; a fuel cell formed from a plurality of fuel cell stacks in fluid communication with the water reservoir, each fuel cell stack having at least one cathode, at least one anode and a proton exchange membrane for separating water into hydrogen and oxygen when an electrical current is applied across the at least one cathode and at least one anode; a hydrogen path extending through the fuel cell and fluidly coupled to each of the plurality of fuel cell stacks to receive substantially pure hydrogen from each of the fuel cell stacks and transport the hydrogen to a hydrogen outlet in the fuel cell; an oxygen path extending through the fuel cell and fluidly coupled to each of the plurality of fuel cell stacks to receive oxygen from each of the fuel cell stacks and transport the oxygen to an oxygen outlet in the fuel cell; a hydrogen line fluidly coupled to the hydrogen outlet to receive and transport hydrogen away from the fuel cell; an oxygen line fluidly coupled to the oxygen outlet to receive and transport oxygen away from the fuel cell; and an engine gas interface fluidly coupled to the oxygen line and the hydrogen line, and operatively coupled to an engine intake, the engine gas interface being operable to receive hydrogen from the hydrogen line and the oxygen from the oxygen line and introduce the hydrogen and oxygen into the engine intake; wherein each fuel cell stack further includes at least one gasket disposed between two components of the fuel cell stack, the gasket including: