Foam-Generating apparatus

• Main Author: ROBERT J LONGMAN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 10.12.2014
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRICITY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING, DISPERSING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSIONOF CHEMICAL INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY; REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGYGENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; TRANSPORTING

A device for dispersing or dispensing a gas into a liquid comprising porous member 266 with a first surface and a second surface, a supply of gas to the first surface, a supply of liquid to the second surface and a gas supply modulator 310 wherein the modulator regulates the supply of gas to the porous member and the device is arranged to receive gas from a supply common to at least one other device. The device is preferably connected to a reaction volume 270, adjacent the second surface of the porous member, where the liquid and gas react. Ideally, the gas supply modulator (fig 4 (a) (b)) is a fluidic diverter which supplies an oscillating or pulsed gas flow to the porous member. The device forms part of an assembly 300 for regenerating a catholyte in a liquid electrolyte fuel cell (301; fig 2), the assembly comprising a plurality of devices each connected to reaction volume 270, a gas inlet manifold 210 for distributing gas to each of the devices, and an outlet manifold with a plurality of inlets connected to the reaction volume and having a bubble destruction region 280 formed of a low surface energy material.