DailyTech - New Sharp Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Excels in Power Density

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Science New Sharp Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Excels in Power Density
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - May 15, 2008 1:19 PM

31 comment(s) - last by MoFW.. on May 16 at 6:13 PM

Sharp direct methanol fuel cell produces 0.3W/cc of fuel

Fuel cells are getting lots of attention for powering everything from a laptop computer to future SUVs. The trick to getting fuel cells into our portable devices is to get them small enough that they are easily portable, yet large enough that they can generate sufficient power to operate the device.

Sharp Corporation announced today that it made a breakthrough in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) that enabled it to achieve the world’s highest power density of 0.3W/cc. Sharp says that its new technology allows the production of fuel cells of the same volume as current lithium ion batteries but have a significantly increased runtime compared to batteries.

The Sharp DMFC makes its power in the same way as other DMFCs. Power is generated through a chemical reaction between the methanol supplied directly to the power generation components and oxygen from circulating air.

Sharp says that its new design is made up of a grid of laminated reed-shaped cells arranged at fixed, parallel intervals and reed-shaped porous spacers running perpendicular to the cells. The structure is then arranged into a stack structure via microfabrication.

The uniform and continuous spaces created by the grid allow for smooth air flow to provide the oxygen that is required to power the electricity generating reaction. The new DMFC is able to product about seven times as much power as Sharp’s previous fuel cell technology.

Sharp isn’t the only well known maker of electronics introducing new fuel cells recently. Sony unveiled its small complete fuel cell system in early May 2008. Mobion, on the other hand, is showing off a prototype GPS device powered by its fuel cell technology that promises 60 hours of continuous use.

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How to recharge/refill?

By Pauli on 5/15/2008 1:52:17 PM , Rating: 2

These DMFC fuel cell announcements are coming fast and furious, but nobody has mentioned how the heck these things are going to be recharged/refilled. I've seen some comments about maybe some kind of methonal cartridge or perhaps directly pouring the methanol in the cell, but what is the most practical, inexpensive way to do this?

RE: How to recharge/refill?

By five40 on 5/15/2008 2:02:57 PM , Rating: 2

Or when they'll actually be released for consumer use.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By dgingeri on 5/15/2008 2:23:19 PM , Rating: 2

I'd say they'll probably be refilled much the same as Zippo lighters. Just buy a bottle of methanol, eject the battery, open the little fuel cap, and refill it.

It wasn't such a big deal with my old Zippo, back when I was a smoker, so I don't think it will be a problem with laptop users.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By mvpx02 on 5/15/2008 3:10:25 PM , Rating: 2

Agreed, I'm was picturing refill-able butane lighters... buy a canister, press the nozzle up against the nozzle on the tank & it auto-fills.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By Smartless on 5/15/2008 2:41:42 PM , Rating: 1

Then there's always, what's the best way to make the methanol? Is this a "green" push because isn't methanol currently made from natural gas? I know there are some ways to convert natural methane from swamps, sewage, etc in methanol but is the idea to create the demand before they make the green solution? I do realize the possibilities but I don't understand the motivation yet.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By Smartless on 5/15/2008 2:43:28 PM , Rating: 4

Or if I'd read the article better, longer runtime. *Slaps forehead*

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By FITCamaro on 5/15/2008 3:14:31 PM , Rating: 3

Even if runtime was the same as batteries, it takes only a few minutes to refill a fuel cell while it takes hours to recharge a battery.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By 67STANG on 5/15/2008 3:54:09 PM , Rating: 2

DMFC's are nothing new, EFOY has been doing this for a while. They just big jugs of methanol though, but on the flip side, they produce much more power and are still quite portable...

http://www.efoy.de/index.php?option=com_content&ta...

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By zsdersw on 5/15/2008 3:28:12 PM , Rating: 2

I think more to the point is the dwindling supply of lithium. There will come a point when *any* method of acquiring methanol will be more economical than acquiring/processing lithium.

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RE: How to recharge/refill?

By masher2

(blog) on 5/16/2008 9:32:44 AM , Rating: 2

> "Then there's always, what's the best way to make the methanol? Is this a "green" push"

The amount of energy used for consumer electronics is a tiny fraction of what's used by transportation or the commercial power generation industries. The rationale for fuel cells is to increase run time and power densities, not for environmental considerations.

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Carbon buildup?

By sonoran on 5/15/2008 4:06:22 PM , Rating: 2

So if methanol is the fuel, my question is...where does the carbon atom go? Won't the carbon atoms get left behind and clog up the works soon enough?

RE: Carbon buildup?

By FITCamaro on 5/15/2008 5:07:59 PM , Rating: 1

Some emit CO2 as waste. GASP!!! THEY'LL DESTROY THE PLANET!!!

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By IPEG on 5/15/2008 6:56:12 PM , Rating: 2

Not if it's from biomass where a lot of methanol is produced nowadays.

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By Spuke on 5/15/2008 7:13:01 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Not if it's from biomass where a lot of methanol is produced nowadays.

Nope. Most of methanol is produced from natural gas not biomass. It is HOPED that methanol can be produced from biomass as a replacement for natural gas.

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By IPEG on 5/15/2008 6:55:24 PM , Rating: 2

The reaction that takes place within the DMFC produces carbon dioxide which doesn't accumulate.

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By Spuke on 5/15/2008 7:13:47 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
The reaction that takes place within the DMFC produces carbon dioxide which doesn't accumulate.

Why doesn't it accumulate?

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By ziggo on 5/15/2008 7:28:56 PM , Rating: 2

Its a gas.

If you mean in the atmosphere then bleh

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By whoever123 on 5/16/2008 4:27:55 AM , Rating: 2

We should develop super micro nuclear reactor for notebook and car .. would be extremely coooool

Notebook and car that will run forever and forever, no pollution or whatsoever

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By zsdersw on 5/16/2008 7:31:12 AM , Rating: 2

Yeah, sure. :) Considering that nuclear power is just another way of generating steam to spin turbines, that's not gonna happen. We need direct electricity generation.. and more of it.

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By masher2

(blog) on 5/16/2008 9:34:23 AM , Rating: 2

> "Considering that nuclear power is just another way of generating steam to spin turbines"

This isn't true. Google RTG -- the so-called "nuclear batteries", for an example to the contrary.

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RE: Carbon buildup?

By zsdersw on 5/16/2008 11:24:01 AM , Rating: 2

He was talking about "nuclear reactors", which is what is generally implied with the term "nuclear power". You mentioned another form of nuclear power.

What I said about "nuclear power" is true, minus the "just" part.

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0.3W/cc of fuel

By dnd728 on 5/15/2008 4:31:13 PM , Rating: 2

0.3W/cc of fuel should have been 0.3W/cc of cell, as it refers to the power not the energy.

RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By Phillipma on 5/15/2008 7:34:20 PM , Rating: 2

It is correct as written, it produces 0.3 Watts of power ("of power" is assumed when you say Watts) per cc of fuel used up in the fuel cell. What you are thinking is that 1cc of size in the cell produces a certain amount of power and that is incorrect.

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By androticus on 5/15/2008 10:42:01 PM , Rating: 2

It makes no sense as written. It is missing a unit of time. It needs to be cc/unit time to make any sense. Otherwise, it would need to be energy/cc, not power/cc. Does it produce .3W/cc even if it takes 10,000 years to consume that cc??? Pretty amazing!

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By nutz4cycling on 5/16/2008 1:00:44 AM , Rating: 2

I thought a watt was a joule per second

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By MoFW on 5/15/2008 11:50:11 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
It is correct as written, it produces 0.3 Watts of power ("of power" is assumed when you say Watts) per cc of fuel used up in the fuel cell.

Absolutely incorrect.
See footnote 2 of the press release: "The output is per unit volume for the power generation part (stack). The unit is W/cc."

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By InternetGeek on 5/15/2008 11:57:25 PM , Rating: 2

I think we are all right but in the wrong context. If you are into power generation it makes sense to measure in terms of watt per cc or liter because you use a certain amount of fuel to generate energy. For example, you could keep sharp's fuel cell running for 15minutes if you have one liter of methanol. It'd be nice if an expert advised us in this.

Still, I don't think the units are correct because power is billed to you in kw/h.

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By InternetGeek on 5/15/2008 11:57:26 PM , Rating: 2

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By ziggo on 5/16/2008 3:06:12 AM , Rating: 2

Seeing as how the article is about power density I am interpreting the .3W/cc to mean the size of the device, not the amount of fuel it consumes. Ie a battery occupying 10 cubic centimeters of space could be expected to generate a constant 3W of power.

A correct rating for its fuel consumption would be Joules/cc, indicating how efficient it is at extracting energy from the fuel. You could then obtain the power rating from this if you knew the rate of fuel consumption.

Also your electricity is billed as KW*hr, not KW/hr. This is a unit of energy, not of power. Energy/time = power so power*time = energy

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By masher2

(blog) on 5/16/2008 9:38:31 AM , Rating: 2

The article is correct as written, and the denominator in the unit refers to the volume of the cell itself, rather than the fuel source. Power density is a measure of how much energy per unit time (power) a device can output per given unit of size. It has nothing to do with total energy output, fuel efficiency, or any of the other alternatives suggested in the above thread.

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RE: 0.3W/cc of fuel

By MoFW on 5/16/2008 6:13:47 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
The article is correct as written

Only if you don't count the first line of the article:"Sharp direct methanol fuel cell produces 0.3W/cc of fuel"

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