WO2000021147A1

WO2000021147A1 - Electrochemical radial cell engine

Info

Publication number: WO2000021147A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/021057
Authority: WO
Inventors: Salvatore Celeste
Original assignee: Salvatore Celeste
Priority date: 1998-10-08
Filing date: 1998-10-08
Publication date: 2000-04-13

Abstract

An electrochemical radial cell engine comprising an engine block, a motor (15) supported by the engine block, at least one electrochemical reaction cell (14) including a rotatable enclosure containing a source of anode material, preferably in the form of a multiplicity of anode particles, a fluid electrolyte, a cathode surrounding and radially spaced from the rotatable enclosure and means for rotating the rotatable enclosure in response to rotation of the motor. The enclosure should preferably be represented by a perforated cage having a mesh size large enough to pass fluid electrolyte. Rotation of the cage causes the anode particles to be compressed by centrifugal forces which act upon the particles as the cage spins. This maximizes the operating efficiency of the electrochemical reaction cell(s) providing enhanced power for driving the engine.

Description

ELECTROCHEMICAL RADIAL CELL ENGINE

This invention relates to an electrochemical engine having

a motor, an engine block for supporting the motor and at least one

electrochemical reaction cell providing power for the engine with the

electrochemical reaction cell formed as an integral part of the engine

and comprising a rotatable enclosure in the form of a cage having

anode particles, fluid electrolyte and a cathode with the cathode being

radially spaced from the cage and means in said engine for causing the

enclosure to rotate to enhance the delivery of power to the engine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art electrochemically driven engines utilize a passive

battery system to provide an electrochemical source of power for the

engine. The electrical capacity of the battery system which controls

engine performance decreases during normal engine operation.

Accordingly, research has been directed primarily to increasing the

output capacity of the battery system and to recharging systems to

repeatedly restore the battery system to its maximum capacity for

reuse within a reasonable time period. The design of the engine was

heretofore treated separately. Many of the problems attributable to the

use of an electrochemical source of power for driving an engine are

directly traceable to problems in the electrochemical power source

(battery system) associated with oxide buildup, dendrite formation,

gassing and passivation which reduce the electrical output discharge performance characteristic of the battery system and, in turn, materially

affect engine operation and performance. To compensate against the

degradation of battery capacity the conventional battery system needs

to be continually recharged after relatively short intervals of usage to

repeatedly restore the capacity of the battery well before the supply of

anode and/or cathode material has been materially depleted.

The present engine design incorporates at least one

electrochemical reaction cell as an integral part of the engine with the

electrochemical reaction cell having a cathode, a rotatable enclosure

containing a source of anode material and a source of fluid electrolyte.

The rotatable enclosure is preferably a perforated cage and the source

of anode material is preferably composed of a multiplicity of individual

anode particles. Upon rotation of the cage containing the anode

particles a dynamic interrelationship occurs between the operation of

the engine and the operation of the electrochemical reaction cell. This

dynamic interrelationship is caused by the rotation of the supply of

anode particles relative to the cathode during engine operation and

preferably in response to rotation of the engine motor. As the cage

spins centrifugal (centripetal) forces compress the anode particles

together and against the cage concomitantly with the electrochemical

reaction process between the fluid electrolyte and the anode and

cathode. Rotation of the cage causes a stratification to occur between

anode particles which have oxidized and the non-oxidized anode

particles so that only "fresh" anode particles, i.e. essentially non- oxidized particles, remain at the periphery of the cage adjacent to the

cathode with the oxidized particles drawn toward the inner core of the

cage. As a result of this stratification the formation of dendrites is

inhibited and there is no loss in electrical contact between anode

particles, particularly at the periphery of the cage, so that the interface

spacing between the "fresh" anode particles and the cathode surface

is maintained constant. The rotation of the cage also causes the fluid

electrolyte to circulate through the space representing the interface

between anode and cathode which has the effect of removing all

electrochemical by-product contamination thereby keeping the surface

of the anode particles at the periphery of the cage free of such

contamination. Accordingly, the discharge characteristic of the

electrochemical reaction cell (battery) does not drop off and instead

remains substantially constant with engine power demand. As a result

engine efficiency and performance does not degrade due to

electrochemical inefficiency as in conventional electrochemical systems.

Accordingly the radial engine of the present invention is able to sustain

a high operating efficiency until almost complete exhaustion of the

anode supply. In fact the electrochemical radial cell engine of the

present invention operates at substantially close to maximum

electrochemical efficiency without suffering substantial degradation in

battery performance until the anode supply is essentially exhausted.

Moreover, by integrating the electrochemical cell with the engine it is possible to provide auxiliary power in the form of both a source of

alternating current, direct current and/or pulsating DC.

The electrochemical radial cell engine of the present

invention provides an overall engine performance comparable to the

performance of a conventional engine using conventional fossils fuels

as their power source.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The electrochemical engine of the present invention

broadly comprises an engine block, at least one electrochemical

reaction cell having a rotatable enclosure preferably in the form of a

cage containing a source of anode material, a fluid electrolyte, a

cathode spaced apart from the enclosure to permit rotation of the

enclosure relative to the cathode, a motor supported by the engine

block and means for rotating the enclosure during rotation of the motor.

The rotation of the cage maintains the anode material under

compression due to centrifugal forces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will

become apparent from the following detailed description of the inven¬

tion when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of

which: Figure 1 is a side elevation in cross section of a preferred

embodiment of the electrochemical engine of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the electrochemical engine of

Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is an enlargement of a section on the right hand

side of Figure 1 which magnifies the electrochemical reaction cell in the

engine with part of the interior of the reaction cell exposed to show the

anode particles and the flow pattern for fluid electrolyte;

Figure 4 is a top view of the electrochemical reaction cell

of Figure 3 taken along the lines 4-4 showing the stratification of the

anode particles within the reaction cell;

Figure 5 is a magnified view of a radial sector of the

electrochemical reaction cell in Figure 4 taken along the lines 5-5 for

showing the details of construction of the electrochemical reaction cell;

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the preferred air cathode

assembly for each electrochemical reaction cell in the electrochemical

engine of the present invention;

Figure 6a is a magnified view of an encircled section of

Figure 6 which shows the space for fluid flow between the air cathode

and the periphery of the cage containing the anode particles;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a printed circuit board

showing the wiring interconnections between each of the

electrochemical reaction cells and its interconnection preferably through a controller with the motor winding for the preferred electrochemical

engine embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is an electrical block diagram of the controller and

printed circuit board in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a side elevation in cross section of another

embodiment of the present invention showing a tandem arrangement

of electrochemical reaction cells;

Figure 1 0 is a cross sectional view of yet another

embodiment of the electrochemical engine of the present invention

having only a single electrochemical reaction cell;

Figure 1 1 is a magnified view of the air cathode assembly

for the electrochemical reaction cell in the engine embodiment of Figure

1 0; and

Figure 1 2 is a top view of the electrochemical reaction cell

in Figure 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to figures 1 -8 inclusive illustrating the

preferred embodiment of the electrochemical radial cell engine 10 of the

present invention which comprises an engine block 1 2, a plurality of

electrochemical reaction cells 1 4, with each reaction cell 1 4 being

supported by the engine block 1 2, and a motor 1 5. The plurality of

electrochemical reaction cells 1 4 are arranged symmetrically around the

motor 1 5 and preferably in a concentric arrangement. The motor 1 5 is of a conventional design such as a DC motor for operation with an

electrochemical source of power. A fan (not shown) is mounted

adjacent to the motor 1 5 with the fan having impeller vanes 1 6 as

shown in figure 2 for drawing air through the engine 1 0 to cool the

armature of the motor 1 5, exhaust hydrogen gas generated by the

electrochemical reaction cells 1 4 and to provide an adequate supply of

relatively high velocity air to the air cathodes 1 8 of the reaction cells

14. Air cathodes 1 8 are deployed in the preferred embodiment for the

cathode component of the electrochemical reaction cells 14. However,

it should be understood that the use of an air cathode is not essential

to the present invention i.e, any conventional cathode may be used.

The fan is driven by the motor 1 5 to draw and exhaust air through the

engine 10 in accordance with a preferred air flow path as identified by

arrows in Figures 1 and 2 respectively. The air is exhausted into the

atmosphere. The air is preferably drawn from the atmosphere through

the motor 1 5 so as to cool the motor armature windings (not shown)

and then to follow a preferred path past the air cathodes 1 8 as shown

in Figure 2. By passing first through the motor 1 5 the air will be

elevated somewhat in temperature before being directed past the air

cathodes 1 8 into the atmosphere. The moving air not only supplies

oxygen to the air cathodes 1 8 but also and provides a path to exhaust

gas generated by the electrochemical reaction in the electrochemical

reaction cells 1 4. The motor 1 5 is connected to the main drive shaft 1 9 of

the engine 1 0 which, in turn, is adapted to be connected to the

transmission of a vehicle (not shown) or to the drive train of any other

mechanism (not shown) which to be electrochemically driven by the

engine 10 of the present invention. A gear assembly 20 connects the

main drive shaft 1 9 of the engine 1 0 to the electrochemical reaction

cells 1 4. The gear assembly 20 includes a main fly gear 21 and a

plurality of secondary slave gears 22 with each of the secondary slave

gears 22 connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of

electrochemical reaction cells 1 4 as is more specifically shown in Figure

2. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention there exists

eight (8) electrochemical reaction cells 14 and eight (8) corresponding

secondary slave gears 22 with each reaction cell 1 4 having the same

reference number and with each slave gear 22 having the same

reference number for the sake of simplicity. Each one of the slave gears

22 is affixed to a separate cylindrical shaft 24 which, in turn, is

connected through the engine block 1 2 to one of the electrochemical

reaction cells 14. The slave gears 22 simultaneously rotate the

enclosures 28 of the reaction cells 14 in response to the rotation of the

main fly gear 21 so that each enclosure 28 will rotate about an axis

through the shaft 24 coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the motor 1 5

and in a common direction with the rotation of the main drive shaft 1 9

of the engine 10. Each enclosure 28 contains the anode supply for the

respective reaction cell 1 4. Although a gear arrangement is shown for rotating the enclosures 28 in response to the rotation of the main drive

shaft 1 9 it should be obvious that the enclosures 28 may be rotated

electromagnetically or by any other conventional mechanical or

electromechanical arrangement. Stated otherwise the use of the gear

arrangement 20 is not to be construed as essential to the invention.

Rotation of the enclosures 28 containing the anode supply

for each of the electrochemical reaction cells 14 may also be initiated

independent of the operation of motor 1 5 or in conjunction therewith

e.g. the electrochemical reaction cells 14 may be independently rotated

from an external source such as a solar cell or by other conventional

means. The speed of rotation will depend upon the size of the engine

10 and is not critical to the present invention. However the enclosures

28 must be rotated at a speed which will create a centrifugal force

sufficient to compress the anode particles within each enclosure 28.

Each enclosure 28 should preferably be represented by a rotatable cage

and will hereinafter for simplicity be referred to as a rotatable cage 28.

As shown in Figure 1 and more particularly in Figure 3

each shaft 24 is rotatably connected through bushing members 25 and

26 in the engine block 10 and is directly connected to a sleeve 27

forming the inner wall of the rotatable cage 28. The rotatable cage 28

is preferably of cylindrical configuration. The sleeve 27 is connected to

the outer periphery of the rotatable cage 28 preferably by means of a

plurality of radial dividers 29. End caps 31 and 33 are placed over the

opposite ends of the rotatable cage 28 thereby forming an enclosure. It should be understood that the construction of the cage 28 does not

require the use of the dividers 29. The rotatable cage 28 may be

formed in any desired manner preferably from screening having a

desired mesh size. The composition of the cage may be metal and more

preferably brass although it may also be composed from an alloy. In

addition to a metal mesh the cage 28 should preferably have a covering

sheathe surrounding the metal mesh represented preferably by a porous

permeable membrane 30. The rotatable cage 28 is filled with anode

material preferably in the form of a multiplicity of anode granulated

particles 32. Figure 3 shows part of the cylindrical cage 28 removed

exposing some of the anode particles 32 contained in the cage 28

whereas Figures 4 and 5 show the distribution of the anode particles

32 in the cage 28 during the electrochemical reaction process. The

mesh size of the cage 28 must readily permit fluid electrolyte 34 to

freely flow through the cage 28. Fluid electrolyte 34 preferably flows

through each reaction cell 14 in the direction shown by the arrows in

Figure 3. The porous permeable membrane 30 which surrounds the

screening of the cage 28 functions to contain the anode particles 32

within the cage 28 during rotation of the cage 28. The permeability of

the membrane 30 must however be sufficient to permit the fluid

electrolyte 34 to freely pass therethrough. The composition of the

permeable membrane 30 is not critical to the invention and may be

composed from any suitable polymeric material. The cage 28 is separated from the cathode 1 8 by a space

35 of predetermined dimension. Upon rotation of the cage 28 the fluid

electrolyte 34 is caused to circulate thought the cage 28 into the space

35 and then to pass through vent holes or passageways 38 and 39

located between the engine block 1 2 and the end caps 31 and 36

respectively forming a closed circulating loop as illustrated by the

arrows in Figure 3. The end caps 31 and 36 close the cage 28 to form

an enclosure for the anode particles 32. The end cap 36 is also

structured as an impeller as shown in figure 2 to assist in the controlled

flow of the fluid electrolyte 34.

The cathode 1 8 is supported between an upper section 40

of the engine block 1 2 and a lower section 41 . Although not shown a

seal is formed between the assembly of the cathode 1 8 and the engine

block 1 2 so that leakage of electrolyte 34 therebetween is prevented.

The upper section 40 of the engine block 1 2 is readily removable from

the engine 1 0 for assembling the electrochemical reaction cells 14,

filling the cage 28 of each reaction cell 1 4 with electrolyte 34,

replacing or substituting one or more of the electrochemical reaction

cells 1 4 and for maintenance purposes.

The anode particles 32 are exposed through the screening

of the cage 28 to the cathode 1 8. Upon rotation of the cage 28 the

anode particles 32 appear to the cathode 1 8 as having a "virtually

infinite surface area". "Virtually infinite surface area" is intended for

purposes of the present disclosure to identify a surface area caused by a rotation of the anode particles 32 into concentric cylindrical orbits in

response to the rotation of the cage 28 such that to the cathode 1 8 it

appears as if each anode particle 32 has the surface area of the

cylindrical orbit assumed by the particle. The spinning of the cage

permits continuous electrochemical reaction of each particle as the

particle spins in orbit causing reaction with the particle over a dynamic

surface area for an entire revolution thus providing a "virtual surface

area" for electrochemical activity much greater than the surface area

actually provided by the particle were it a passive operation. Moreover,

since a multiplicity of anode particles are present with each providing

a substantially enlarged surface area this results in substantially

enhancing the output discharge capacity of each reaction cell 1 4.

The cathode 1 8 is preferably of the same geometry as that

of the cage 28 with the separation therebetween defining the space 35.

In the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings both the cage 28

and cathode 1 8 are of cylindrical geometry thereby defining the space

35 as a radial space. Although the radial space 35 should be as small

as possible its dimension will vary substantially in correspondence with

the size of the engine 1 0.

The anode particles 32 may be formed from any

conventional anode material selected from the group including, for

example, zinc, magnesium, aluminum, lithium etc. The size of the

anode particles will vary with the size of the cage 28 which in turn

depends upon the size of the engine 1 0. Any conventional aqueous electrolyte compatible with the selected material choice for anode and

cathode may be used such as e.g. potassium hydroxide (KOH) .

Although the fluid electrolyte need not be aqueous an aqueous fluid

electrolyte is preferred. The fluid electrolyte may be in the form of a

liquid or may be microencapsulated or in a gelled composition. Any

conventional material may be used for the cathode compatible with the

choice of the anode material although an air cathode is preferred. An air

cathode, as is well known in the art, is typically in the form of a sheet

like member having opposite surfaces with one surface exposed to the

atmosphere and the other surface exposed to the electrolyte in the cell

such that during battery operation atmospheric oxygen dissociates

while metal from the anode oxidizes to provide electron flow between

the anode and cathode. The air cathode must contain an electrically

conductive element and be permeable to air. An illustration of the air

cathode 1 8 for the electrochemical radial cell engine of the present

invention is shown in Figure 6. The air cathode 1 8 is exposed to the

atmosphere through ports 44 formed within a supporting plastic

framework 45 connected to the manifold or engine block 1 2. The air

cathode 1 8 should be substantially hydrophobic to the aqueous

electrolyte so that aqueous electrolyte will not seep through. The

surface of the air cathode 1 8 facing electrolyte is formed from active

carbon containing finely divided hydrophobic polymeric material

whereas the opposing surface is composed of a conductive element such as a metal screen and faces the atmosphere. Figure 6a shows the

space 35 for the flow of fluid electrolyte 34.

Rotation of each cage 28 generates a centripetal

(centrifugal) force which compresses the anode particles 32 together

and up against the periphery of the cage 28. This assures good

electrical contact between the anode particles 32 and results in a

stratification of the anode particles as shown in Figure 4. The oxidized

particles are displaced by the larger non-oxidized particles which move

toward the periphery of the cage 28 while the displaced oxidized

particles move toward the center of the cage 28. The stratification of

particles as exemplified in Figure 4 results in the smaller particles i.e.

the oxidized anode particles and hydroxides congregating at the center

or core section of the cage 28. Partially oxidized particles will

congregate in a band at an intermediate position. The heavier non-

oxidized anode particles 32 which did not significantly take part in the

electrochemical reaction are forced to move toward the periphery of the

cage 28. This results in assuring a "fresh" supply of anode particles 32

in contact with one another at the periphery of the cage 28. The

rotation of the cage 28 also causes the fluid electrolyte 34 to circulate

through the cage 28 and through the radial space 35 between the

cathode 1 8 and cage 28. This causes removal of substantially all

contaminates in the cathode/anode interface spacing 35 and keeps the

surface of the anode particles 32 abutting the cage 28 clean. The

displaced oxide particles at the center of the cage 28 form a core of oxide particles which act as a filter for the fluid electrolyte 34 within

the closed fluid circulation path. Accordingly, the space 35 between the

active "fresh" anode particles which are in close engagement with one

another at the outer periphery of the cage 28 and the cathode surface

is essentially constant. It should be understood that the space 35 in the

present case is not only the physical space separating the cage 28 from

the cathode 1 8 but is also an "interface space" between fresh active

anode particles and the cathode. In conventional electrochemical

systems the "interface space" between the closest non-oxidized

particles and the cathode increases in dimension since the anode

particles closest to the cathode oxidize first and essentially remain fixed

in position. The electrolyte thickness is also essentially a constant. The

result of all this is to essentially prevent passivation and the formation

of dendrites and to cause the removal of substantially all oxides and by-

products from the active anode and cathode interface surfaces. The

constant removal of reaction-by-products from the anode/cathode

interface by the circulating fluid electrolyte within the space 35 and the

continual redistribution of anode particles 32 in the cage 28 in

accordance with the teaching of the present invention dramatically

minimizes ohmic effects by maintaining a low internal resistance

thereby causing the power output to be substantially constant. This

produces a level discharge characteristic for each of the electrochemical

reaction cell 1 4 until the anode supply is substantially exhausted.

Hydrogen gas is exhausted by the air flow current through the engine 10. Moreover because the anode particles 32 appear to the cathode 1 8

to constitute a virtually infinite surface area a much larger current

density is produced relative to that obtainable from any conventional

electrochemical battery source.

The electrochemical reaction cells 1 4 supply power to

drive the engine 10. The power delivered to the engine 10 from the

reaction cells 1 4 can be controlled by changing the electrical wiring

configuration of the reaction cells 14 i.e., by changing the electrical

wiring configuration between reaction cells 14 from a series or parallel

configuration to a specified combination of series and parallel

configuration. The wiring configuration between the reaction cells 1 5

may be controlled manually or may be fixed into different preset

configurations corresponding to specified engine output requirements

for different applications with adjustment through a switch or by

automatic control. The preferred arrangement involves automatically

varing the wiring configuration of the reaction cells 1 4 using a

controller 47 as shown in Figures 7 and 8 respectively in response to

engine power demand. The wiring of the reaction cells 14 is

accomplished through a printed circuit board 50 which is interposed

between the engine block 1 2 and the reactions cells 14 as shown in

Figure 1 . The printed circuit board 50 is positioned to make contact

with each electrochemical reaction cell 1 4 to provide an anode lead 48

for each reaction cell 1 4 and a correponding cathode lead 49 for each

reaction cell 1 4 respectively. The anode lead 49 may connect to the corresponding cage 28 of each reaction cell 14 or to the shaft 24 and

the cathode lead 49 to the cathode 18. The printed circuit board 50 has

an edge connector 52 which is connected to the controller 47. The

controller 47 is also connected to a wiring cable 53 which has a

receptacle 55 to which plug 56 is manually connected. The plug 56 is

connected to the wiring leads 33 which lead directly to appropriate

windings in the engine 1 0 such as the armature windings (not shown)

of the motor 1 5.

The controller 47 as shown in Figure 8 contains a

microprocessor 58 which is programmed to rearrange the configuration

of the reaction cells 1 4 to form a given series/parallel arrangement of

reaction cells 14 which will optimize the output discharge characteristic

of the engine 10 for any given set of engine operating conditions. The

microprocessor 58 is connected to a logic module 59 representing an

input/output modem for the microprocessor 58 to receives information

from a feed back loop controller 60 which may itself be a

microprocessor for receiving logic information from the printed circuit

board 50 identifying the wiring configuration of the reaction cells 1 4.

The logic module 59 and feed back loop controller 60 communicate

with an output power relay unit 61 to provide power from the reaction

cells to the motor 1 5. The output power relay unit 61 is preferably

connected to a device 62 such as a speedometer and to an indicator

control panel 63. The controller 47 is also connected to a user

input/output accelerator control unit 65 which may also include operator override control 66. The user input/output accelerator control

unit 65 provides information to the controller 47 to know how much

power is being demanded by the engine 1 0 so that it can respond

automatically by changing the wiring configuration of the reaction cells

1 4. The override control 66 enables an operator of the engine 10 to

override the operation through, for example, a number of manually

operated switches (not shown) indicative of certain situations in which

normal operation from the accelerator control 66 should be overridden.

Initially, the electrochemical cells 1 4 may be used in a

passive capacity to energize the motor 1 5 once the plug 56 is

connected to the receptacle 55 thereby interconnecting the printed

circuit board 50, controller 47 and motor 1 5. Although, in the passive

state, the cages 28 are not revolving an electrochemical reaction will

occur between the anode particles 32 and the cathode 1 8 in each of

the reaction cells 14 to deliver power to motor 1 5 sufficient to intitiate

rotation of the gear assembly 20 and, in turn, to start the rotation of

each cage 28.

The electrochemical cells 1 4 may be recharged from any

external source of power. Recharging from an external electrochemical

source may be carried out simply by connecting the electrochemical

cells 1 4 to an external source of power with the plug 56 from the

motor 1 5 disconnected from the controller 47. It should however be

understood that during normal engine operation recharging of the

reaction cells occurs automatically when power is not demanded by the engine 1 0. In this regard the reaction cells 14 operate as a "fly wheel"

when the engine does not draw power from the reaction cells 1 4.

When the engine 10 is not drawing power the motor 1 5 operates as a

generator for automatically recharging the reaction cells 14. By this

recharging mechanism the mechanical energy stored in the reaction

cells is substantially recaptured. There is also a gryroscopic effect due

to the rotating mass of each reaction cell 1 4 which will stabilize the

position of the engine keeping its attitiude essentially flat. During the

recharging operation the oxidation process reverses and the oxide

particles disassociate to cause a reformation of the anode particles. In

fact as a result of the rotation of the cages 28 during recharge the

recharging process is accelerated. A spent electrochemical reaction cell

1 4 may also be removed from the engine 10 by removing the upper

section 40 of the engine block 1 0 and readily replaced with a new

reaction cell 14.

The arrangement of reaction cells 1 4 in the embodiment

of figure 1 may be modified as shown in Figure 9 to include another set

of reaction cells 14 mounted in tandum so as to double the number of

reaction cells 14 with only a limited increase in the size of the engine

10. The controller 47 can provide better power control to the engine 10

with a larger number of electrochemical reaction cells 1 4. The engine

block 1 2 for the arrangement in Figure 9 includes a plurality of air

intake ports 46 and an air filter 51 . An alternate embodiment of the present invention is

shown in Figures 10-1 2 employing a single electrochemical reaction cell

70 including a single rotating cage 28 filled with a multiplicity of anode

particles 32 which operates funtionally equivalent to the

electrochemical cell 14. In this embodiment the electrochemical

reaction cell 70 surrounds the motor 1 5 in a concentric arrangement

with the main drive shaft 1 9 directly connected to the single reaction

cell 70 through a hub 72 without the need for the gear assembly 20 of

Figure 1 . As shown in Figure 1 2 the hub 72 forms a carousel for

rotating the cage 28 containing the anode particles 32. A plurality of

vanes 74 are located at the bottom end of the cage 28 to assist in the

control of the direction of flow of fluid electrolyte 34 through the cage

28 in a manner similar to that of Figure 3 with the vanes 74 being

functionally equivalent in operation to the vanes 36. For simplicity,

identical reference numbers are used to identify components in Figure

1 0 which are identical to their counterparts in Figure 1 . As such the

construction of the cage 28 is not elaborated upon. However, the air

cathode 75 which is functionally equivalent to air cathode 1 8 is

designed for to permit an air flow intake and air flow exhaust through

the engine 1 0 as shown in Figures 1 0 and 1 1 respectively. In this

embodiment the motor 1 5 and rotatable cage 28 rotate in unison and

at the same speed. The motor 1 5 includes an intake fan 1 6 which is

directly connected to the motor 1 5 in the same manner as shown in

Figure 1 such that air is drawn into the engine 10 from the atmosphere and is forced to take a path around the air cathode 75. The

embodiment of Figure 10 operates in a manner substantially equivalent

to the embodiment of Figure 1 in that when the motor 1 5 is energized

the cage 28 rotates to compress the anode particles 32 against one

another and against the cage 28.

Claims

What we claim is:

1 - An electrochemical radial cell engine comprising an engine block, a motor supported by the engine block and at least one electrochemical reaction cell having a rotatable enclosure containing a source of anode material, a fluid electrolyte, a cathode spaced apart from the enclosure to permit rotation of the enclosure relative to the cathode, and means for rotating the enclosure during rotation of the motor.

2- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotatable enclosure is in the form of a cage rotatable within said engine.

3- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim

2 wherein said cathode and rotatable cage are each of cylindrical geometry and wherein the space between said cathode and anode is radial.

4- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim

3 wherein the source of anode material is a multiplicity of anode particles maintained under compression during the rotation of said cage by centrifugal force. 5- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim

4 wherein said rotatable cage has an outer periphery composed of a conductive material in the form of a screen.

6- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim

5 wherein said screen is covered by a fluid permeable membrane which permits fluid electrolyte to pass therethrough.

7- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 4 wherein said cathode is an air cathode.

8- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 7 wherein the composition of said anode particles are selected from the group consisting of: group 1 , 2 and 3 of the periodic table and alloys thereof. 9- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 3 wherein the source of anode material is mercury.

1 0- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 8 wherein said engine block and said electrochemical cell form a sealed enclosure for said fluid electrolyte with said fluid electrolyte having a closed circulation path extending through said rotatable cage and around said radial space.

1 1 - An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 0 wherein said radial space is constant in radial dimension around the periphery of said cage.

1 2- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 1 further comprising a fan coupled to said motor for directing air through said motor and through said air cathode.

1 3- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 2 wherein air is directed to flow first through said motor and then past said air cathode before being exhausted into the atmosphere.

1 4- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 2 wherein said motor is either a DC or AC motor.

1 5- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 8 further comprising a plurality of electrochemical cells arranged symmetrically around said motor.

1 6- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 5 wherein said motor has a drive shaft in common with the drive shaft for said engine and said plurality of electrochemical cells are connected to the drive shaft of said motor.

1 7- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 6 further comprising a gear assembly for connecting said plurality of electrochemical cells to said motor.

1 8- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 7 wherein said gear assembly comprises a main gear and a plurality of slave gears with each slave gear connected to the rotatable cage.

1 9- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 8 including only one electrochemical cell arranged concentrically about said motor and connected directly thereto.

20- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 4 wherein said plurality of reaction cells are electrically connected in a configuration represented by a series, parallel or a combination of series and parallel connections. 21 - An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 20 further comprising a controller for automatically arranging the electrical configuration of said plurality of reaction cells in response to engine demand.

22- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 20 wherein said plurality of reaction cells are electrically connected to a common printed circuit board.

23- An electrochemical radial cell engine as defined in claim 1 having a first set of a plurality of electrochemical reaction cells arranged symmetrically about said motor and a second set of electrochemical reaction cells arranged in tandem with said first set.