by Fuel Cell Mike on October 29, 2009
The U.S. Fuel Cell Council believes that, at this very moment, there are more than 40 different types of fuel cells that can handle portable, transportation and stationary applications. Last August, many in the industry were saying that these full cells had the capability of being cheap and small enough to power all kinds of deviecs: digital cameras, PDAs and even cell phones.
Yet Medis Technologies doesn’t seem to agree; they have already put on the market a type of fuel cell that has a reusable power cable. This costs only $34.99 and the new power packs only cost $20. Although it is the first company to put this battery on the market, it is quite likely that the immediate future is going to provide a significant amount of competition for Medis Technologies.
These fuel cells are likely to be one of the most important techology advances in a world that is very excited about finding renewable and clean forms of energy. Medis technology is the first, but clearly not the last, in this exciting new realm of technology. It’s time that we start using fuel cells to fuel all of our important technology. It’s perhaps the most important thing we can do.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 26, 2009
You’ve probably heard about fuel cells.
Fuel cells are one of the most popular buzz words at the moment; everyone wants a car with a fuel cell. Surely you’ve heard of fuel cells. Where did they come from? Well, President Bush, in 2003, created the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, which helped to fund fuel cell development. They had existed before this, but the proposal was the first major government funding of fuel cells, and was the reason why they began to have mainstream sucecss. So what are these things and how do they work? How come so many people are interested in them? Well, most people are interested in them because of the main idea: fuel cells are capable of making energy without noise or pollution. This is in comparison to fossil fuels, which make a lot of noise and a lot of pollution when they are creating energy. The main idea behind fuel cells is the polymer electrolyte membrane, which allows this process to take place. It takes hydrogren and oxygen and makes them into wayer, and was it does this, energy is created in the process. The fuel cell also stores this energy, effectively creating a neverending battery. The only problem with fuel cells at the moment is the cost; other than that, they might be the ideal form of energy.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 25, 2009
amazing form of energy storage which presents many advantages over traditional energy platforms. A solid oxide fuel cell is a fuel cell device which provides energy in the same chemical process as a standard battery cell, but with an amazing twist: the electrolyte material used is ceramic, a solid. Because of this ceramic electrolyte, fuel cell devices constructed in this manner are extremely stable over long periods of time, and do not suffer from many of the disadvantages of regular fuel cell devices, such as methanol fuel cells, or acid based cells. The emissions are extremely low, and the cost per unit of output is greatly reduced.
These solid fuel cells are extremely stable under conditions which would normally pose serious difficulty to a liquid based cell. With extreme movement, there is no risk of spillage or explosion. This makes them especially useful in applications such as motor vehicles or watercraft. The motion of the vehicle poses no threat to unsettle the contents, which can results in a hazardous acid spill.
With the continued focus on the energy crisis, it is good to see that there is forward progress and new innovation in the field, and new fuel cell devices are part of these advancements.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 19, 2009
Two universities have just made some impressive discoveries about bacteria. Tsinghua University and Penn State University have worked together to discover that bacteria actually has properties that can eventually turn things like dirty salt water into useful things such as electricity and clean water. Such a discovery allows us to look at microbial fuel cells in a new light, which had previously been only used to make electricity or for the storage of electricity in the form of methane gas or hydrogen. The people who made the discovery thinks that the microbial fuel cell is the basis for taking things like organic waste and turning it into energy.
One of the most amazing thing is that this was possible with just a cup of water from a natural source or a pond. The scientists discovered that some of the microbes (among millions of other microbes which are less useful) have the properties that will creat electrons and protons. They do this within their own cells, and then let the energy be ejected outside of the cell. Some of the other types of bacteria then take these electroncs nad protos and turn them into hydrogen. Some also turn them into methane and various other chemicals that can be energy.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 17, 2009
Scientists have recently evolved a high technology way of production fuel apart from normal sources. The scientifically proved cheap hydrogen from urine is used in fuel cells for the power generation. This could be well defined power source which is the good supplement for the gas batteries and others.
The newly evolved pee power is based on the technology of hydrogen based. Hydrogen, which happens to be the most common element in the Universe, would be used in a profitable way hereafter. The efforts made on hydrogen uses in production, storing, transporting energy and using it economically also found fruitful.
The recent techniques which are involved in the fuel powered devices are its usage in Laptop, cell phone and ipod, as beautiful source of renewable energy. It would be a boon for the owners of the above products. The world is still waiting to the dawn of inception of these marvelous products in the entire electronics arena.
Even though the usage of fuel cell devices is in existence, it is not in full flow in the Market. The reason could be, the low production rate or the companies have worked on making them small, cheap at affordable price and making them long lasting. The caution given for these fuel cells is these should not get overheated, as it may lose its durability.
Hence the fuel powered cells are the future kings in the arena of renewable source of energy. It has all the qualities of normal fuel powered cells to get into the world’s usage. In short these are the products from natural sources which would never exhaust.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 14, 2009
There is a new technology in the form of direct methanol fuel cells, which are in the early stage of demonstration, powering the mobiles and laptops. In the PEM cell which is being used till now , methanol is used after reforming. The DMFC(Direct Methanol Fuel Cells ) use methanol directly where it is split into Carbon Di-Oxide and Hydrogen and the separated hydrogen reacts with oxygen.
Leave alone the chemical equations. These DMFC are capable of working at a high temperature, and have got more efficiency too. The cost involved is reduced by the elimination of reforming process. The earlier teething trouble with this DMFC is the larger requirement of Platinum catalyst, which is expected to be sorted out using liquid fuel. Hence success is very much assured.
Usually a sophisticated methanol reformer involves some cost. Since this has been cleared out of the regular process, researches are still on for in depth study. The fuel efficiency and performance densities of a DMFC are somewhat lower, when PEM fuel cells are concerned. Over all system has higher advantage over PEM fuel cells. PEM fuel cells had the toxicological questions to be answered. The same question needs to be addressed in DMFC also. But the interesting potential overcomes all these drawbacks except water and thermal management which needs an earlier cure
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 13, 2009
A very interesting cell phone was recently shown in Japan. Toshiba is introducing a cell phone that runs on methanol fuel. It fits well into the whole going green rage we’re seeing around the world. This phone is a modified Toshiba T002 that’s being shown by Japanese carrier KDDI.
The phone is based on a direct methanol fuel cell or DMFC for short. DMFC’s are able to produce electricity from the reaction between methanol, water, and air. This type of battery is recognized as being a much greener than the traditional ones. The fuel cell unit also includes a lithium ion battery. This enables to phone to be able to deal with the high power demands when the phone is used to make calls or browse the web. This gives the phone an amazing 320 hours of battery life. That’s three days longer than the normal T002. You might think it cant get any better than that, however this phone does that. The battery life is amazing, but its ability to be recharged in seconds rather than hours is unheard off. All it takes to recharge this phone, is a small squirt of methanol.
A lot of people don’t like the fact that the extra fuel cell makes the phone twice as thick as the original. That’s a small price to pay, for all the benefits that come along with this phone. Toshiba is trying to introduce a new portable charger that will use this same technology. This charger will be able to be used to recharge batteries in the many portable gadgets we have today. Be on the lookout for when these products will hit the market.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 8, 2009
Hi folks, be ready to build your own tank instead of a sink to preserve all that urine you let it go free. The latest research by a Ohio University based scientist claims to have come up with a nickel based electrode to oxidize a chemical-(NH2)2CO-which is nothing other than animal urea.
While all efforts are towards making electric power driven cars, there lies a side view towards this new discovery. Already the much talked about hydrogen fuel cells for cars have been hushed up. The main disadvantage in hydrogen fuel cells is that the hydrogen molecules are not floating around unaccompanied. They are to be split from other atoms to which they have a serious bond. It needs more energy to split them . It means you need an extra energy that is normally required to move your car.
Now that this new discovery is there, it is possible to split hydrogen atom from the urea with lesser energy. It requires a mere 0.37 volts to remove the hydrogen atom from a urine molecule which is equivalent to just 25percent of the energy required to split a hydrogen from a water molecule. It is a clear evidence that energy balance obtained from ‘urea derived’ hydrogen is a better choice.
Now are you able to perceive that car manufacturers have already started secret discussions on strategies for winning a tender for maintaining local sewerage treatment facility. If so please preserve your urine which may be exchanged for cash.
by Fuel Cell Mike on October 4, 2009
chemical energy of fuels is directly converted into electrical energy.conventional conversion of chemical energy of fuels into electrical raise steam is then used for spinning turbines connected with electric generators.the efficiency of this,process,which cannot exceed that of a reversible Carnot engine varies from 20 to 40 per cent.Fuel cells,on the other hand convert about 75 per cent of the available chemical energy into electrical energy.fuels cells are associated with number of advantages.their efficiency is very high.About 75 per cent of chemical energy into electrical energy.The individual cells can be stacked and connected in series to generate higher voltages.They are also very light.
However there are a number of engineering problems which shall have to be solved before fuel cells become practical sources of electrical energy.Once it is done.fuel cell technology would bring revolution in the area of energy productions.
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