Solid oxide fuel cell including bypass circuit

Abstract

In one aspect there is disclosed a solid oxide fuel cell including an insulating housing. A plurality of interconnected cells defining a stack are disposed within the housing. Each of the fuel cells includes an anode and a cathode. A bypass circuit is positioned outside of the housing and is coupled between the anode and the cathode of at least a portion of the plurality of cells allowing modification of an interconnection between the cells.

1 . A solid oxide fuel cell including:
 an insulating housing;   a plurality of interconnected cells defining a stack disposed within the insulating housing; and   a bypass circuit coupled between the anode and the cathode of at least a portion of the interconnected cells allowing modification of an interconnection therebetween.   
     
     
         2 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 1 , wherein the bypass circuit is coupled between each cell of the plurality of interconnected cells defining the stack. 
     
     
         3 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fuel cells are connected to a buss. 
     
     
         4 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 3 , wherein the bypass circuit facilitates decoupling of one more of the interconnected cells from the buss. 
     
     
         5 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 1  wherein the bypass circuit includes an actively controlled element. 
     
     
         6 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the actively controlled element is selected from: NPN transistors, PNP transistors, JFET transistors, solid state switching elements, switches, field effect transistors, MOSFETs, diodes, and an external P-channel MOSFET. 
     
     
         7 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the actively controlled element comprises a precision comparator, precision reference and a logic driver. 
     
     
         8 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5 , wherein the bypass circuit includes a diode. 
     
     
         9 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5 , wherein the bypass circuit can facilitate a modification of the plurality of interconnected cells from a series to a parallel connection. 
     
     
         10 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the bypass circuit includes and a central control unit coupled to the actively controlled element. 
     
     
         11 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the bypass circuit acts as a passively actuated diode. 
     
     
         12 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the bypass circuit acts as an active diode. 
     
     
         13 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the interconnection between the tubular cells is modified by decoupling faulty cells from the stack. 
     
     
         14 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the interconnection between the tubular cells is modified by adjusting a voltage output of the stack. 
     
     
         15 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the interconnection between the tubular cells is modified by adjusting a current output of the stack. 
     
     
         16 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the interconnection between the tubular cells is modified by managing a power output of the stack. 
     
     
         17 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein the interconnection between the tubular cells is modified by adjusting an efficiency of the plurality of fuel cells of the stack. 
     
     
         18 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein at least a portion of the fuel cells are connected in series. 
     
     
         19 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein at least a portion of the interconnected cells are connected in parallel. 
     
     
         20 . The solid oxide fuel cell of  claim 5  wherein at least a portion of the interconnected cells is connected in series and wherein another portion of fuel cells is connected in parallel.