Abstract: A fuel cell system which has a high temperature fuel cell stack (1) with current diverters (5) and a reformer and/or an afterburner (6), the current diverters (5) being connected with low temperature connecting elements (10) for current delivery. The current diverters (5) are in thermal contact with the reformer and/or afterburner (6) between the high temperature fuel cell stack (1) and the low temperature connecting elements (10). The thermal contact prevents cooling of the HTFC stack 1 on its ends in the vicinity of the connecting points of the current diverters (5) and ensures effective conversion and uniform transport of the fuel.

Abstract: A fuel cell gas separator (14) between two planar solid oxide fuel cells (12) comprises a first layer (22) which is formed of a material that is impermeable to gases, a second layer (24) which is formed of a material that is impermeable to gases. The first and second layers have perforations (28) through their thickness which are closed by electrically conductive plug material (30). A third intermediate layer (26) between the first and second layers is electrically conductive and is in electrical contact with the plug material in the perforations through the first and second layers. The perforations in the first layer may be offset relative to the perforations in the second layer. The electrically conductive plug material in the perforations of the first and second layers may be the same, and may also be the same as the material of the third intermediate layer. The electrically conductive material may be silver or a silver-based material such as a silver-glass composite.

Abstract: A system for reacting fuel and air into reformate, with a reformer (10) which has a reaction space (12), a nozzle (14) which at least in part is formed as a Venturi nozzle for supply of a fuel/air mixture to the reaction space (12), the Venturi nozzle part has a small diameter area (16) from which a diffuser extends to the reaction space. A first gas supply means (20) is provided on the side of the small diameter area which side faces away from the diffuser, and second gas supply means (26, 28) are provide at the small diameter area. A fuel supply (22) is also provided for supplying fuel to the nozzle and it preferably extends along the longitudinal axis of the nozzle.

Abstract: A fuel cell stack (2) comprises a stack (3) of alternating solid oxide fuel cell and gas separator plates within a housing (4). Each fuel cell plate has apertures therethough aligned with corresponding apertures through adjacent separator plates. A first aligned series of apertures in the fuel cell and separator plates opens to the anode side of each fuel cell to form a first manifold (5) for incoming fuel gas. A second aligned series of apertures in the fuel cell and separator plates opens from the anode side of each fuel cell to form a second manifold (6) for exhaust fuel gas. A third manifold (7) for in coming air is formed between the stack (3) and housing (4) and opens to the cathode side of each fuel cell. A fourth manifold (8) for exhaust air is formed between the stack (3) and housing (4) and opens from the cathode side of each fuel cell.

Abstract: A fuel cell gas separator (212) for use between two solid oxide fuel cells (210) and having a separator body with an anode-facing side and a cathode-facing side and with paths (234) of electrically conductive material therethrough in an electrode-contacting zone (236). In a first aspect, the electrically conductive material comprises a silver-glass composite, preferably containing 15 to 30 wt % glass. In this aspect the material of the separator body is preferably zirconia and the silver is commercially pure, a silver mixture or a silver alloy. In another aspect, the material of the separator body is zirconia, the electrically conductive material comprises silver or a silver-based material, a coating of nickel is formed on the electrode-contacting zone (236) on the anode-facing side preferably with an undercoating of Ag, and a coating of Ag—Sn alloy is formed on the electrode-contacting zone (236) on the cathode side.

Abstract: A fuel cell stack comprising alternating solid oxide fuel cell plates (10) and gas separator plates (30) stacked face to face with one or more seal assemblies (34, 36, 37, 38, 40) provided between opposed generally planar surfaces (33, 54) of each adjacent pair of plates. Each seal assembly comprises a pair of rigid ribs (36, 37) projecting from one surface (33) with a valley (38) therebetween and a third rigid rib (34) projecting from the other surface (54) and nested between the pair of ribs. Opposed contact surfaces (54, 60, 61) cooperate to define the maximum insertion of the third rib (34) into the valley (38). The third rib (34) has a profile that leaves a void between the valley (38) and the third rib (34) at said maximum insertion. A glass sealant (40) in said void contacts the surface of the valley (38) and the third rib (34). In a preferred embodiment each rib (34, 36, 37) tapers away from the respective surface (33, 54) towards a distal surface (51, 61) of the rib.

Abstract: The invention provides unique architectures and techniques for routing redundancy in a data switch configured to use label switching. Multiple label switch controllers (LSCs) each operate concurrently but independently of each other to provide routes through a data switching mechanism. Preferred embodiments provide a plurality of LSCs offering MPLS capabilities coupled to a single switch, such as an ATM switch. The similarly configured LSCs each can concurrently support a route for data (e.g., labeled ATM cells) within the data switching mechanism in parallel, thereby providing the ability to support redundant and multiple parallel data networks. The configuration is called a label switch router (LSR). A fully-meshed embodiment allows selected routes to share bandwidth on ports, while a fully parallel embodiment provides separate ports for selected routes.

Abstract: A merging ATM switch forwards to a common downstream ATM switch ATM data cells that it receives from a plurality of upstream ATM switches. The merging ATM switch may have different upstream ATM switches employ different respective virtual-circuit identifiers for those commonly destined data cells, but it uses a common virtual-circuit identifier in forwarding them to the downstream switch. The upstream ATM switches intersperse among the data cells forward-directed resource-management cells bearing the virtual-channel identifiers that those upstream switches use on the commonly destined data cells. The merging ATM switch responds to such forward-directed resource-management cells by sending corresponding forward-directed resource-management cells to the downstream ATM switch and reverse-directed resource-management cells to the upstream ATM switches.

Abstract: An interface (12, 14, or 16) in a service-provider network's transit label-switching router (P2) employs resource-management messages to inform neighbor routers of the bandwidths that it can allocate to various routes that it supports. To allocate its available bandwidth, it employs a weight value set for the route by an ingress router (PE2) in a system to which the label-switching router belongs. The transit router treats the weight as a relative bandwidth: when the sum of the bandwidths requested for various routes exceeds the bandwidth available, the router sets the bandwidths for at least some routes in accordance with the ratio of a given route's weight to the sum of the weights assigned to all routes among which it divides available bandwidth in this manner. That is, it assigns at least some bandwidth to all such routes, regardless of how small the resultant bandwidth may be. In this way, the network can operate with virtually no packet loss and yet remain available to all of its customers.