Hitachi Readies Fuel Cell for PDAs

Anuj Jain writes "The Register is reporting that Hitachi and Japanese cigarette lighter maker Tokai will ship a direct methanol fuel cell system for PDAs in 2005. The prototype has already been built. The two companies believe they can develop the prototype into a device the size of a AA battery. Hitachi first demonstrated its fuel cell system back in March. NEC is also known to be working on a similar system of its own, as is Toshiba. Unlike Hitachi, they are targeting the notebook computer market. In October, Toshiba showed off a PDA-sized version of its fuel system that can recharge a mobile phone. Another article here. Light on details, but cool photo in the Reg article!"

Comments

EtOH

[zumbojo]

Ethanol stores more chemical energy, is easier to make, easier to come by in a pinch (cheap vodka anyone?), and is much less toxic than methanol. Why the hell aren't they using ethanol?

Re:EtOH

[Kevin Burtch]

Simple, you can't drink methanol.
If they made it run on ethanol, moonshine would have to be legalized.
This is why, when you go to Home Depot to buy a gallon can of alcohol for cleaning or fuel, it's denatured (ethanol mixed with methanol to poison it).
No, you can't run it on cheap vodka, whiskey, or any other kind of legally sold consumable alcohol, as there's far too many impurities - it would destroy the cell.

Now making it run on denatured alcohol would be ideal, since it is readily available and extremely inexpensive. I'm not sure it won't run on it, in fact it probably will.

Enough with the marketing speak...

[ivan256]

sufficient fuel to power a handheld device for six to eight hours.

That's meaningless! Give me some hard data! What's the voltage, the peak and average current ratings, the amp-hours? Can it blink a handheld LED for 6 hours, or run a 400Mhz ARM core with a backlit color display for 6 hours? Is the power density higher than an LiIon battery of the same size? How much does it cost? Can it be refilled in place without turning off the device?

Seems to me that if this was actually signifigant progress, they'd be telling us all this.

Laptop power consumption & airplane security

[G4from128k]

I wonder how much methanol will be needed to keep modern laptops running? At 50 W power consumption, a laptop consumes about as much energy as half a person. With an energy content of 19.5 MJ/kg MeOH and assuming a 75% conversion efficiency, a laptop needs almost 100 gm of methanol for an 8 hour flight.

Something tells me that airlines and security people won't like the idea of people carrying 4 ounce cartridges of flammable pure methyl alcohol onboard flights. Even in a "secure" cartridge form factor, the liquid would seem to pose a hazard if a terrorist learns how to open the cartridge and set fire to the liquid.

Rechargeable?

[peterdaly]

Can someone who knows more about this than me enlighten us on whether these things are rechargeable?

I have a hard time seeing these things catch on if they are one time use.

-Pete

Why not ethanol

[wowbagger]

The reason they don't want to use ethanol is precisely BECAUSE it is the same as alcohol.

If they use ethanol, they have to treat the refills just as they would have to treat vodka - they cannot sell it to anybody under-age, they have to have a liquor license to sell it, they got to prison if they violate the rules.

That is why you don't see pure ethanol at the gas pump, that is why you won't see ethanol fuel for fuel cells.

Now, the COULD try to design the fuel cell to run on ethanol, as well, and leave the fact as a "back door" sort of issue, but any fuel they sell will have to be denatured in some form. The easiest way is to use methanol.

as per usual

[tomstdenis]

"...last 6 to 8 hours...".

Then what? Do I buy more cells? Can I plug them into the wall and recharge them?

At least with my AA's and my Laptop I can just charge them when they die. I've used my AA's [GP1600s] since May 2001 quite a bit and they're still going strong [I'd say they count as environmentally friendly considering if you estimate I would have gone through 4AAs a week for two years that's 416AA batteries or roughly 27lbs of waste].

Anyways make a "fuel cell" I can top off with tap water or by plugging into my wall and then maybe I'll consider it [a 1.5v/3Ah AA battery would be nice :-)].

Tom

Re:Competing Technology

[AKAImBatman]

I'd rather have a battery that never dies. Get me a radioisotope with a half-life of 20 years or less, and use a few grams to propel a tiny Stirling engine driving a 3/4" DC generator. That should be good for at least a few watts of power per stack. One stack could power your cell phone no problem. A larger stack (or perhaps parallel stack) could generate enough power to at least recharge your laptop when not in use. Perhaps even provide constant power.

Screw fuel cells. I want atomic!