Portable power market

Fuel Cells for Portable Power Markets, Manufacture and Cost, Darnell Group Inc. 2003. 

By 2015, develop and verify low cost, off-board hydrogen storage systems, as reguired to support transportation, stationary and portable power markets. 

Darnell Group Inc. 2003 Euel cells for portable power Markets, manufacture and cost. Revised final report (4) for Breakthrough Technologies and US Fuel Cell Council, submitted 13 January 2003, Corona, CA. 

The portable equipment market usually needs to turn off any temporarily unused circuits to extend its battery life. In this case, a simple series MOSFET switch can be used. The RDS(ON) should be as low as possible to minimize the power dissipation within the MOSFET switch. These approaches are shown in Figure 3-58. 

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of the fuels directly into electrical energy, and are considered to be the key technology for power generation in stationary, automotive, portable and even microscale systems. Among all kinds of fuel cells, direct methanol fuel cells have really exhibited the potential to replace current portable power sources and micropower sources in the market (Yao et al., 2006). 

One of the lessons learned in the 1990s was that the enormous need for high-performance portable power is not diminishing. Consumer electronics continues to be a vibrant, worldwide market force, leading to ever-increasing demands for portable power. The inability of lithium ion batteries to fully satisfy consumer electronics has been one of the principal motivations for the dramatic rise in fuelcell research and development. As the dimensions of devices continue to shrink, the question arises as to... 

Phase 2 is the Initial Market Penetration Phase. This could begin as early as 2010 using existing natural gas and electric grid infrastructure for applications such as portable power and some stationary and transportation applications it will continue as hydrogen-related technologies meet or exceed customer requirements. As markets are established, this leads to Phase 3, or the Infrastructure Investment Phase, in which there is expansion of markets and infrastructure. 

DMFC 200 W portable power pack development Market introduction for replacement of battery (2006)... 

By far the largest sector of the battery industry worldwide is based on the lead-acid aqueous cell whose dominance is due to a combination of low cost, versatility and the excellent reversibility of the electrochemical system, Lead-acid cells have extensive use both as portable power sources for vehicle service and traction, and in stationary applications ranging from small emergency supplies to load levelling systems. In terms of sales, the lead-acid battery occupies over 50% of the entire primary and secondary market, with an estimated value of 100 billion per annum before retail mark-up. 

DMFCs have potential near-term applications mainly in the portable power source market, as they are smaller, lighter, simpler, and cleaner than conventional batteries. Liquid methanol is consumed directly in a DMFC, which implies a higher energy density of the fuel cell system. But the power densities achievable with state-of-the-art DMFCs are still smaller in comparison... 

Most portable electronic devices would require a fuel cell of less than 100 W output, and often considerably less. Here, effort is concentrated on perfecting the DMFC, because of the convenience of methanol as a liquid fuel. Clearly, portable power is a very promising high-value opportunity for small fuel cells, but the outcome would have little impact on overall energy consumption and is not strictly part of the hydrogen energy scene. Nevertheless, many observers believe that volume production of micro fuel cells would be a key technical and economic driver for the entire fuel-cell market. 

Idatech Advanced Fuel Cell Solutions of the United States has developed a 250 W Portable Power System that can provide 4h of backup power with 2 liters of a methanol and water mixture as fuel. The system uses a PEM fuel cell and includes a fuel processor in the module (Idatech 2005a). Idatech initially is marketing 1 kW Modular Fuel Cell Systems to the military. These systems are scalable and able to use a variety of fuel sources (Idatech 2005b). 

DMFCs have potential near-term applications mainly in the portable power source market, as they are smaller, lighter, simpler, and cleaner than conventional batteries. Liquid methanol is consumed directly in a DMFC, which implies a higher energy density of the fuel cell system. But the power densities achievable with state-of-the-art DMFCs are still very small in comparison to hydrogen-fuelled PEMFCs. One of the major problems lies in the use of liquid methanol solution on the anode of the DMFC, which, on the one hand, keeps the ionomeric membrane water saturated (and thus no humidification is needed) but, on the other hand, does not keep fuel (methanol or any other organic fuel, e.g., formic acid, ethanol) and water from permeating to the cathode side, since the basic PFSA membranes are permeable to both methanol and water. - The fuel and water crossover from anode to cathode hampers the performance of the air cathode. 

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