Portable equipment electricity generators

In addition to these smaller applications, fuel cells can be used in portable generators, such as those used to provide electricity for portable equipment. Thousands of portable fuel cell systems have been developed and operated worldwide, ranging from 1 watt to 1.5 kilowatts in power. The two primary technologies for portable applications are polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) designs. 

Ene way to meet the energy needs of the future is to find effective ways of generating electricity from chemical reactions. Small but efficient sources of electricity are needed for portable equipment, from artificial hearts and pocket computers to electric automobiles and space habitats. We shall see in this chapter how chemical reactions—particularly redox reactions—can provide this energy. 

Burrows M.S., Deane A.J., Morton J. Experience with portable ultrasonic imaging equipment within the Central Electricity Generating Board, Proc. 6th Int. Conf. on NDE in the Nuclecu Industry, Zurich, (1983). 

Satellite Trucks and Portable Satellites. Trucks equipped with electrical generators to provide the power for an attached satellite have found applications for mobile transmission of news, especially after natural disasters. Some of these portable satellites use the G-band frequency for the transmission of information via the uplink process, which requires rather large antennas, whereas other portable satellites were developed in the 1980 s to use the band for transmission of information. 

New pilot and commercial-scale equipment has been developed to blend and apply the composites and to determine total system costs (Figure 3). Several commercial-sized units based on the pilot design are now under construction. Each has a 500-gal capacity. They are fitted with a hot-oil heating system, heavy-duty mixers, and heated hoses that can deliver up to 200 lb/min of sulfur composite. They are designed to operate typically at 250°-300°F and at spray pressures of 20-100 psi. Each is self-contained except for electrical power which is provided by a stationary source or a portable generator. 

Solid hazardous wastes generated in the HCF are items such as alkaline and lithium batteries used in portable electrical instruments, materials (e.g., rags and paper towels) used with cleaning solvents to clean equipment and components, and sodium vapor or mercury lamps. The estimated volume of solid hazardous waste generated annually does not exceed 0.28 m (10 ft ). 

Portable generators are made up of two main parts an engine, which powers the equipment, and an alternator, which converts motion into electricity. 

You already know, if you have read Reaction 6, that an electric current is a stream of electrons. If you have also read the section on redox reactions (Reaction 5), which you should, in preparation for this account, then you will also know that in a redox reaction electrons are transferred from one species to another. Although it is now far too late, had you had that information 150 or so years ago, then you might have realized that if those species were at the opposite ends of a piece of wire, the transfer of electrons would then take place in the form of an electric current travelling along the wire and you would have invented the electric battery. All the batteries that are used to generate electricity and drive portable electrical and electronic equipment, from torches, drills, phones, music players, laptops, through to electric vehicles, are driven by this kind of chemically produced flow of electrons. 

---