Fuel cell systems for personal and portable power applications

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2001

OSTI ID:975676

Fateen, S A ^[1]

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1. Shaheerah A.

Fuel cells are devices that electrochemically convert fuel, usually hydrogen gas, to directly produce electricity. Fuel cells were initially developed for use in the space program to provide electricity and drinking water for astronauts. Fuel cells are under development for use in the automobile industry to power cars and buses with the advantage of lower emissions and higher efficiency than internal combustion engines. Fuel cells also have great potential to be used in portable consumer products like cellular phones and laptop computers, as well as military applications. In fact, any products that use batteries can be powered by fuel cells. In this project, we examine fuel cell system trade-offs between fuel cell type and energy storage/hydrogen production for portable power generation. The types of fuel cells being examined include stored hydrogen PEM (polymer electrolyte), direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) and indirect methanol fuel cells, where methanol is reformed producing hydrogen. These fuel cells systems can operate at or near ambient conditions, which make them potentially optimal for use in manned personal power applications. The expected power production for these systems is in the range of milliwatts to 500 watts of electrical power for either personal or soldier field use. The fuel cell system trade-offs examine hydrogen storage by metal hydrides, carbon nanotubes, and compressed hydrogen tanks. We examine the weights each system, volume, fuel storage, system costs, system peripherals, power output, and fuel cell feasibility in portable devices.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 975676
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-01-4380; TRN: US201008%%383
• Resource Relation: Conference: "Submitted to: Symposium 2001: highlighting Student and Postdoctoral Research, August 2001, Santa Fe, NM"
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
AUTOMOBILES
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
BUSES
CARBON
COMPUTERS
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS
ELECTRICITY
FUEL CELLS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN STORAGE
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
METHANOL
METHANOL FUELS
NANOTUBES
POWER GENERATION
STORAGE
TANKS