providing 250 Watt AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current). This unit operates on a methanol-water fuel with an onboard reformer in a package that can be hand-carried. The system, developed under a contract with the US Army, weighs about 9 kg (20 lbs) and is smaller than a desktop computer. Idatech is also planning to introduce it to a wider market for marine applications by the end of 2006 with a price tag of about Euro5000.
· Intelligent Energy (UK) has developed various systems including a rugged 4kW PEMFC stand-alone genset for military applications. The latest and the most memorable creation is the ENV bike. It is powered by the CORE power pack, a 1 kW fuel cell, which is completely detachable from the bike and is, in theory, capable of powering anything from a motorboat to a small domestic property.
· Jadoo Power Systems (USA) manufactures power systems based on PEMFC for portable applications. Original Jadoo's NAB II system consists of a recharger and filling unit, two four-inch gas canisters and a fuel cell costing US$3,000. Two four-inch gas canisters provide four to eight hours of power, depending on the camera. According to the company hydrogen costs about US$50 a year. A new version of the NAB II system with eight-inch long gas canisters, providing more power at 275 watt for over 10 hours, was introduced at the National Association of Broadcasters in April 2005.
At the end of 2004, Jadoo announced that it has received the first exemption granted by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to transport its storage system containing hydrogen absorbed in metal hydride via air cargo. The company also announced plans to expand research and development as a result of US$11 million in new venture financing led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, Venrock Associates and strategic partner Sinclair Broadcast Group.
In addition to the advanced NAB II power system, Jadoo is also developing a new refill station and energy storage system.
· Masterflex (Germany) and its subsidiary DICOTA has developed a hydrogen 50W PEM fuel cell prototype dubbed the ‘Power Box’ in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for solar energy systems, ISE. The power box is marketed as a ‘reliable and grid-independent power solution for various areas of applications’. Masterflex has also produced fuel cells for bicycles.
· Medis Technologies (USA/Israel) is planning to introduce commercial portable fuel cells for electronic devices, having scheduled initial volume production of its disposable Power Pack system for 2006. The fuel cells will be powered by sodium borohydride, delivering about 20 hours of talk time for cell phones. The company estimates the price to be US$8 for distributors and US$19.99 retail. Medis said that it has begun delivering demonstration fuel cells to carriers and distributors. The company has also announced a US$50-million order from ASE International, a distributor to drugstores, convenience stores, department stores, and airport and duty-free shops, which has placed an order for 200,000 Power Pack systems per month for the first year, and for 400,000 per month for the second production year. The production is apparently planned to start on a semi-automated production line in Israel by the end 2005. The company states that it is expecting to be making 1.5 million units a month by the end of 2006. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Medis has also developed a refuelable version of the Power Pack for the military. In December 2004 it delivered functional prototype fuel cell Power Packs and fuel cartridges to General Dynamics for testing in connection with an advanced rugged PDA being developed for the US DoD.
· Millennium Cell (USA) is aiming to develop next generation hydrogen energy systems for use primarily in portable electronic devices for the consumer, medical, military and industrial markets. Millennium Cell has demonstrated an IBM ThinkPad running on a prototype fuel cell. Millennium Cell's units currently run for only three hours, but the goal is to increase that performance to eight. The company said its goal is to make a system that will cost PC makers about US$25 and sell it as an extra to consumers for about US$150, the price of a standard secondary laptop battery. Millennium Cell is also working with Protonex on the development of a portable power system for the US Air Force. A prototype integrates Millennium Cell's hydrogen energy system into Protonex's PEM fuel cell platform. The company also announced a joint venture with Dow Chemical to collaborate on developing and commercializing portable fuel cells for use by consumers and the military.
· Motorola (USA) is developing direct methanol fuel cells for portable power applications. It has built a 20W reformed hydrogen fuel cell prototype system. A fuel processor based on ceramic technology has been integrated with an elevated temperature fuel cell unit and balance of plant, with this design under evaluation.
The company is also working with Carbon Nanotechnologies and Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells to develop “free standing” carbon nanotube electrodes for micro-fuel cells.
· MTI Micro Fuel Cells (USA) developed a technology called Mobion, based on DMFC, that allows air breathing operation, direct supply of 100% methanol and no water collection and/or pumping. It reduces system complexity by eliminating two pumps and is less than 40cc in size. Late in 2004, MTI Micro shipped its first product powered by Mobion for an Intermec handheld portable radio frequency identification reader.
· NanoDynamics (USA) has developed a solid oxide fuel cell system, the Revolution 50, generating up to 50W. The Revolution 50, operated on conventional hydrocarbon fuels, such as propane, was designed for a wide range of applications, including combat soldier power, battery-recharge systems, outdoor safety lighting and portable refrigeration systems.
· NEC (Japan) improved its previous fuel cell laptop prototype which will be unveiled in October 2005 at the World PC Expo in Tokyo. It is 20 per cent smaller and has the same power output, as its previous model. Last year's system had a power output density of 50mW per cm² compared to the 70mW per cm² of the new model. A single 250 cm3 methanol fuel cartridge can provide enough power to run a notebook PC for 10 hours. Several prototypes developed as part of the company's DMFC research have been shown before and the company has previously said it planned to have a commercial product on the market in 2004. However, this date has now been put back to around 2007, the time when the company believes regulations will be approved to allow airplane passengers to carry methanol cartridges.
· Nokia (Finland) demonstrated a headset powered by a fuel cell in June 2004 but in March 2005 the company announced that it had dropped plans to develop mobile phones with fuel cells for at least the next few years. It said that several issues with the technology including logistical problems led to this decision.
· Protonex (USA), a DMFC and PEM technology developer, designs and manufactures portable power solutions in the range of 10 to 500 Watt for military and commercial uses. It is working on fuel cell generators based on its NGen technology and fuel supply solutions. Its systems are designed to work on a range of fuels including hydrogen gas, methanol and liquid & solid chemical hydrides. Earlier in 2005 Protonex, in partnership with Millenium Cell, delivered a 30 Watt portable fuel cell power system to the US Air Force. The portable power system (referred to as P1) integrates Millennium Cell's hydrogen energy system into Protonex's PEM fuel cell platform to provide a fuel cell power source for soldiers on extended field missions. Also, in November 2004, Protonex in partnership with Parker-Hannifin showed the first prototypes of their joint development —150 and 500W portable generators.
Protonex supplies fuel cells, while Parker provides pumps, valves, seals, and manifolds to complete the system.
· QinetiQ (UK) comprises the greater part of what was the UK Defence and Evaluation Research Agency (DERA). It has worked in several areas of fuel cells, and has developed a series of portable fuel cell systems for military applications, as well as a fuel cell powered battery charger. These are based on its own PEM fuel cells, which can be made almost entirely from plastic and are simple to assemble. QinetiQ has also developed reduced temperature SOFCs with proton conducting ceramic electrolytes.
· Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) (Korea) is developing fuel cells for the Samsung group to power portable electronic devices. In July 2005 Samsung announced that it developed a fuel cell that can generate 100 W of electricity for 5 successive hours with liquefied butane contained in the 220 gram gas cartridge generally used for portable gas cookers. Notebook PCs could run on butane-based fuel cell for more than 20 hours and portable TVs for over eight hours. Samsung announced plans to commercialise the butane fuel cell by 2007, and pushing up the electricity output to 300 watts.
· Sanyo Electric (Japan) is working on fuel cell laptop computers as well as its residential units. In April 2005 the company together with IBM demonstrated a prototype micro direct methanol fuel cell system for IBM ThinkPad notebooks. This fuel cell could supply up to 8 hours of power per cartridge on ThinkPad models. Sanyo's system was designed to be compatible with most ThinkPad models without the need to alter the notebook design. This is a hybrid system utilising both micro fuel cells and rechargeable batteries.
· Smart Fuel Cell (SFC) (Germany) develops and manufactures DMFC units for leisure and industrial applications. The company is already selling its SFC A50, methanol fuelled direct methanol fuel cell systems, which can be used as a back-up for photo-voltaic installations. The main market for the SFC A50 is currently in the recreational vehicle and industrial fields. Its portable SFC C20 system with a Li-polymer hybrid battery is designed as an external energy supply for mobile and wireless uses. With one single M500 fuel cartridge, the fuel cell generates more than 440 Wh of net energy output. With its weight of 470 g, the M500 has an energy density of over 930 Wh/kg. In the longer term SFC aims to directly integrate fuel cell systems into laptops, cameras and electric tools. SFC C20 Fuel Cell System (Source: CFC) Toshiba (Japan) is planning to introduce commercial samples of the world's smallest DMFC for small handheld electronic devices in 2005 although we have not seen any further announcements. In February 2005 The Guinness World Records has officially certified Toshiba's compact direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) as the world's smallest DMFC, designed for integration into devices as small as digital music players. The thumb-size fuel cell is 22 mm wide, 56 mm long and 4.5 mm high. The company has developed two prototype units based on this design and begun validating tests. The first one is a 100mW unit measuring at 23mm x 75mm x 10mm could power a flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a single 3.5ml charge of methanol. The second one with an output of 300mW could deliver enough power for a high capacity audio digital player for approximately 60 hours on a 10ml charge. Its dimensions are 60mm x 75mm x 10mm. Toshiba’s DMFC (Source: Toshiba)
· Toshiba (Japan) is planning to introduce commercial samples of the world's smallest DMFC for small handheld electronic devices in 2005 although we have not seen any further announcements. In February 2005 The Guinness World Records has officially certified Toshiba's compact direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) as the world's smallest DMFC, designed for integration into devices as small as digital music players. The thumb-size fuel cell is 22 mm wide, 56 mm long and 4.5 mm high. The company has developed two prototype units based on this design and begun validating tests. The first one is a 100mW unit measuring at 23mm x 75mm x 10mm could power a flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a single 3.5ml charge of methanol. The second one with an output of 300mW could deliver enough power for a high capacity audio digital player for approximately 60 hours on a 10ml charge. Its dimensions are 60mm x 75mm x 10mm.
Toshiba has also demonstrated an operating fuel cell-powered prototype notebook PC and started evaluation testing. The DMFC prototype powers a PORTEGE M300, A5-sized notebook PC. It produces about 20 watts of electricity and can power the laptop for about 10 hours on a single charge. Toshiba said that it will not be ready for commercial production until the issues like size, weight and regulations are addressed which may take another three years.
· Voller Energy (UK) is a systems integrator focused on portable fuel cells for leisure industry and military use. The company got CE certificate for their latest third
generation of the VE100 portable fuel cell system and set a new standard world wide for hand portable fuel cells that produce both mains output (230 volts in Europe and 110 volts for North America), and work from internal canisters of stored hydrogen.
Last Update: Thursday 11 December 2008 Time: 23:28