A quick grump about fuel cells
on
E-bike E-xperiences?
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· Score: 2, Informative
Does someone want to donate a direct-conversion methanol fuel cell to the project?
If you're interested in throwing a lot of money (yours or someone else's) into the project, you're better off going with an advanced battery chemistry, like lithium ion or nimh. The fuel cell battery charger you pointed to delivers 50 watts. This would not be acceptable for moving a bike down the road, for the same reason that fuel cells are not [yet] acceptable for moving cars -- they require too much mass to generate enough power. At 6kg (without fuel) this fuel cell has a specific power of a little over 4 w/kg. Lithium ion can give over 350-400 w/kg, especially if packaged in large cells. And though specific energy is very high, lithium ion is actually considered fairly crappy in terms of power output, compared with other battery chemistries.
MetricMind's lithium ion batteries are sized for a car, but their specs are useful as an example:
And unless it runs on pure hydrogen, it emits exhaust. It's a little cleaner than a combustion engine, it's quiet, and a little more efficient (compared to burning the methanol and generating the electricity conventionally), but right now, batteries are just a better solution.
I've recently had a chance to try out the WaveCrest TidalForce bike, powered by NiMH batteries. At 750W (approx 1HP), it's a pretty fun ride:
With this sort of project in mind, I've been searching for a desktop-style case for a PC that would blend in well with a stack of modern stereo components. So far I've come up empty, and the case this guy is using is no longer being sold.
Anyone know of a good source for A/V-component-style PC cases?
I'm pulling from some really old memory here, but I recall from many years ago that the very first IBM PCs had slots that were just slightly closer together than the AT standard used today. I recall seeing upgraded original IBM PC cases with the metal cut from between the slots on the backplate, and new screw holes drilled because of this.
This guy doesn't mention that he had to do anything special in order to make a modern ATX motherboard (still with AT slot spacing) fit.
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Does someone want to donate a direct-conversion methanol fuel cell to the project?
If you're interested in throwing a lot of money (yours or someone else's) into the project, you're better off going with an advanced battery chemistry, like lithium ion or nimh. The fuel cell battery charger you pointed to delivers 50 watts. This would not be acceptable for moving a bike down the road, for the same reason that fuel cells are not [yet] acceptable for moving cars -- they require too much mass to generate enough power. At 6kg (without fuel) this fuel cell has a specific power of a little over 4 w/kg. Lithium ion can give over 350-400 w/kg, especially if packaged in large cells. And though specific energy is very high, lithium ion is actually considered fairly crappy in terms of power output, compared with other battery chemistries.
MetricMind's lithium ion batteries are sized for a car, but their specs are useful as an example:
http://metricmind.com/battery.htm
And unless it runs on pure hydrogen, it emits exhaust. It's a little cleaner than a combustion engine, it's quiet, and a little more efficient (compared to burning the methanol and generating the electricity conventionally), but right now, batteries are just a better solution.
I've recently had a chance to try out the WaveCrest TidalForce bike, powered by NiMH batteries. At 750W (approx 1HP), it's a pretty fun ride:
http://tidalforce.com/
With this sort of project in mind, I've been searching for a desktop-style case for a PC that would blend in well with a stack of modern stereo components. So far I've come up empty, and the case this guy is using is no longer being sold.
Anyone know of a good source for A/V-component-style PC cases?
I'm pulling from some really old memory here, but I recall from many years ago that the very first IBM PCs had slots that were just slightly closer together than the AT standard used today. I recall seeing upgraded original IBM PC cases with the metal cut from between the slots on the backplate, and new screw holes drilled because of this.
This guy doesn't mention that he had to do anything special in order to make a modern ATX motherboard (still with AT slot spacing) fit.
Am I hallucinating here?