Patent ID: 11996565

Abstract:
Electrode plates with feed and product channels are provided that present more spatially uniform chemical and electrochemical compositions to catalytically active electrode structures and ion-conducting electrolyte membrane layers to improve the performance and increase the longevity of the electrochemical devices (e.g., membrane reactors, gas-separation cells, electrochemical compressors, fuel cells, and electrolyzers). Each plate can have a single channel that extends between an inlet and an outlet, and each channel can have a first segment that spirals inwardly from the inlet to a midpoint and a second segment that spirals outwardly from the midpoint to the outlet. The segments are interleaved with each other such that there are alternating flows of less-depleted feed or product and more-depleted feed or product. Consequently, chemical, electrochemical, and thermal behaviors are more uniformly distributed across the membrane-electrode assembly to increase performance and longevity of the assembly.