Alcohol-powered Fuel Cells

prostoalex writes "Researchers have developed a fuel cell that can be recharged with few milliliters of alcohol. MIT's Tech Review quotes the researchers claiming that those 'cells could eventually be used as a replacement for any rechargeable power source, including laptop and PDA batteries'. I suppose the scientists still have to explain all those bills from liquour store that say 'research material' on them."

Comments

Stewardess, more power over here, please!

[Hanashi]

Finally! Now I can leave my notebook's airline power adapter at home and just use those tiny bottles of cheap vodka. A measly $5 per recharge sounds fine to me.

Seriously, though. This could be good news for the cereal grain industry. Corn is abundant, cheap and easy to ferment. I wonder how the efficienccy of this technique will compare to that of regular batteries and more "traditional" hydrogen fuel cells?

overheard on an aircraft....

[wowbagger]

"Coffee? Tea? What can I get you, sir?"

"I'll have a rum and Coke, and my computer will have a vodka."

Won't work for Slashdotters....

[orthogonal]

Let's face it, this won't work for Slashdotters...

Half are too young to buy alcohol, and the other half will want to wait until they can use their favorite re-charger:

Mountain Dew.

Bad habits

[presearch]

...ethanol and nicotinimide adenine dinucleotide...

A laptop that runs on booze and cigarettes.
Just like Keith Richards.

Bender already knew about this!

[clintp]

Bender from Futurama of course, is powered by alcohol (the cigars are just to make him look cool). From www.fox.co.uk/futurama/bender_interview.html:

Alcohol

1. What is the attraction of alcohol for a robot? Bender: Alcohol fuels my power cells, lubricates my personality piston, and makes me a better dancer. It's the reason I'm alive. And from what I understand about human mating, it's probably the reason you're alive too.
2. Do robots get frisky when they've had a few drinks? Bender:Who doesn't get frisky when under the spell of liquor's magic? Again, though, I remind you that robots need alcohol for fuel. As for any humans reading this: I do not endorse wholesome, delicious liquor, available at your local store. Tell 'em Bender sent ya!
3. How does a robot feel when drunk? Bender: They feel like not answering a bunch of dumb questions , jerkbag.
4. Have you ever drunk anything prohibited by your operation manual? Bender: Yeah, one time I drank some weird eggnog at an office Xmas party. I got woozy and ended up making out with a fax machine. The same thing happened to Fry.
5. . What's your favorite cocktail? Bender: Anything you drink using a funnel. Or the neck-cone of an injured pet.

Specific Energy Comparison

[Michael.Forman]

The specific energy of a NiMH battery is approximately 70 Wh/kg (250 kJ/kg).

In comparison a realistic methanol fuel cell has a specific energy of 700 Wh/kg (2.5 MJ/kg).

A methanol fuel cell has roughly ten times the specific energy. However I've heard that the energy density in (J/L) is only on the order of a factor of two better. Can anyone speak to this?

Michael.

Previous Slashdot Science post on Ecologoy and Economy

Lack of details, GRRRRR...

[AB3A]

1) What kind of alcohol?

2) What "poisons" this fuel cell? Will it survive a bit of water?

3) What are the by-products of power generation? Can it be used to store energy too?

4) How many watts per kg or liter?

Sheesh. And it's only been tested for a few months. I'll bet there are at least a few unknowns yet to be discovered. Nontheless, the concept is interesting. The question is whether this can become a practical commercial device. You can't even begin to guess with shoddy reporting like this...