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Fuel Cells for Laptop Computers
ArbiterOne writes "An article in PC World states that the company MTI Micro Fuel Cells plans to demonstrate a new technology this week that could pave the way for better power technology for laptop and palmtop computers. The article claims that this new technology could provide a battery life 2.5 times greater than that of a lithium-ion battery. Could this be the solution to the problem of short battery life in high-end notebooks?"
As long as the laptop designers don't suddenly think that having more power means they can put components that use 2.5 times the power.
Could this be the solution to the problem of short battery life in high-end notebooks?
Yes, and with their safety record it could cause the problem of short user life in high-end notebooks.
Stop playing games on the company laptop.
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I figured these things were easily re-chargeable. If not, wtf is the point?
I dont think you have to pack little hydrogen pairs in there...
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I like my pubic hair, thankyouverymuch.
But seriously, will this be available in time for current computers (like my brand-new Powerbook) to be able to upgrade to a fuel cell power source?
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
Lithium-Ion batteries only last so long before you have to replace them completely - I wonder if they can get these to be cheap enough to be economically competitive towards the other batteries.
If they last longer, and the cost-per-hour of use turns out to be cheaper...
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Remember what Smokey the Bear says. Only you can prevent your MTI Micro Fuel Cell based laptop from starting a forest fire.
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The last thing I need to be doing is wandering around vegas at three in the morning trying to find some hydrogen to power my notebook
During my 3am Vegas wanderings, it sure wouldn't be hydrogen that I'm looking for.
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I can just see someone cycling up to a petro-can Station pulling out a steaming laptop and yelling 'Filler up fast! I'm being slashdotted!'
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The article didn't seem to mention the cost of these new fuel cell batteries along with their refueling cartridges. I don't see anyone switching to new fuel cell batteries anytime soon unless the cost of the fuel cell and lots of refueling cartridges is approximately the same as a regular li-ion battery. Of course, the nice thing about this technology is that you would never actually need to plug anything in because the battery can't be recharged, just change the cartridge. Also raises the question of whether the fuel cartridges will be hot-swappable. Still, fuel cell batteries sound kewl. :)
I don't know how easily you could find methanol, but *ethanol* is darn easy to come by. :) The new teenage slogan would become, "No, mom, I swear, it's for my computer!"
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Consider the typical office corridor worker, travelling to-and-fro with their tablet PC - do they really want to have to buy or refill a cartridge every day? Would it be practical to have multiple full cartridges on hand and refill them in bulk?
I can see enjoying the option of one of these long life power units if I'm on a flight or in some environment where I need that much portable power without the opportunity to recharge, but it seems doubtful that fuel cells are going to make a major impact on portable electronics until the infrastructure solution is solved. Even still, the infrastructure exists for non-rechargable batteries, yet many people prefer devices that have modern rechargables - it just makes more sense for most situations.
I believe fuel cells are an excellent technology, and a worthy replacement to traditional non-rechargeable batteries, but I find it unlikeley that they will supplant the current methods of use-and-recharge laptop, pda, and cellular batteries - it's just too convenient.
You do realize, don't you, why Bush and Co are focusing on hydrogen as the supposed future? It's so far off in terms of actually replacing much of anything that focusing on it to the detriment of other, more immediately applicable, technologies (hybridization) ensures oil's continued dominance for the foreseeable future.
This all sort of reminds me of the company that was putting out a huge new version of their product, that was taking an incredibly long time. And all their sales people were saying... don't buy yet.. wait... basically hyping the new product. And then when the new product came out they immediately started hyping the next product. No one bought the first product as a result, the company went out of business, and the second version never appeared.
There is a progression of technologies here, and praying for a leapfrog to the next decade's technology and ignoring more immediate technologies only benefits the oil companies, and further delays actual energy independence.
Yeah, we should stick with safe, nutritious lithium ion batteries.
Over the course of the operating period, the amount of excess water released will not be noticeable to the user, he says.
:D
great, now laptops can pee on us
"Disposable" fuel cells have to be compared against primary batteries, not rechargeable ones. Rechargable batteries typically have about half the energy density of primary batteries. So claiming a 2.5x improvement in battery life for a nonrechargeable system is not a win.
Ballard is further along than anybody else in larger fuel cells. Even they don't have much more than prototypes. Their attempt to market a fuel cell under the Coleman brand was a failure. The Coleman Powermate was launched with great fanfare in 2002, and never shipped. It's not clear what's wrong at Ballard. Their 1KW units should be providing backup power for cell phone sites and such, but it isn't happening.
Ballard uses hydrogen in their fuel cells. Despite all the hype about the "hydrogen economy", Praxair, which sells hydrogen for fuel cells, has this to say:
Fuel cell grade hydrogen is specifically designed to be used as a fuel in fuel cell applications. It contains extremely low levels of impurities (e.g. ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur compounds) that can harm the catalyst-coated membranes inside the fuel cell.
It is supplied in high-pressure cylinders and can only be used by industrial customers, like factories, laboratories, universities, and military and government installations. Typically, industrial customers already use compressed gases as part of their daily activities. Its use requires adequate ventilation and/or monitoring systems appropriate to the size of the location, helping ensure the safety of personnel when non-air gases are present.
"Small child dies in tragedy involving laptop".
I've not seen any discussion of this aspect of direct methanol fuel cells on the web, but it's an important one.
(shrug) Methanol is no more toxic than many houshold cleaners, and when sealed in a fuel cell it's probably a bit harder to get at. When's the last time someone let a child chew on their laptop battery? Even if we end up with bottles of methanol lying around, it'll certainly be no worse than having bottles of ammonia and bleach.
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By themselves, they won't cost very much. But I would expect them to also be equipped with some sort of authentication system, so as to prevent unscrupulous third parties from ruining your name brand system with inferior IP.
And, of course, the initial fuel cells supplied with the laptop will only be half full.