Volume 10, Number 3 • May/June 2002 • Advanced Technologies

JPL Develops New Portable Fuel Cell Technology

A team of fuel cell experts at Jet Propulsion Laboratory has designed a compact, flat fuel cell. The result is a portable fuel cell technology that may someday operate small, portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops, handheld organizers and camcorders for hours at a time without recharging batteries.

NASA researchers have reached an important milestone in developing a portable energy source that may someday make a better battery.

A team of fuel cell experts at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA has taken what have been traditionally large, bulky stacks of layered fuel cells and altered their design dramatically. They have designed a compact, flat fuel cell, reducing its weight substantially. The result is a portable fuel cell technology that may someday operate small, portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops, handheld organizers and camcorders, for hours and even days at a time without recharging.

“This is a significant advance in fuel cell development because, by going small, you make the fuel cell portable and viable for use as a power source to operate small appliances that require long operating time, such as a laptop,” said Dr. S.R. Narayanan, fuel cell technical team lead at JPL.

Work on the portable fuel cell technology is sponsored by a public company, TechSys, Inc. of Florham Park, NJ, through a technology affiliates agreement with JPL. By becoming a technology affiliate member, TechSys, Inc. gained access to JPL engineers and technologists who specialize in fuel cell technology development.

“Instead of recharging your laptop every two hours, imagine being able to use it for 10 hours at a time,” said Narayanan. Unlike batteries, these fuel cells can be recharged almost instantaneously by refueling with liquid methanol. Typical batteries contain toxic materials and must be disposed of properly.

A fuel cell works on the same principle as a battery but is continually fed with fuel. In this new power source, methanol is put in on one side of the unit, while air circulates on the other side. Both are circulated past electrodes and converted to electricity. This process produces no toxic emissions; carbon dioxide and water are the only byproducts. Methanol, better known as methyl alcohol, is a common, inexpensive chemical.

Existing fuel cells typically operate at high temperatures, require bulky thermal insulation and use hydrogen as their energy source. Much of their weight and size is due to the bipolar plates needed to connect several cells to form a stack. JPL researchers have eliminated bipolar plates and created what is called a monopolar pack, which is flat, with the cells linked by electrical interconnects.

To demonstrate the feasibility of the portable fuel cell technology, JPL developed a five-watt portable power unit. The power source uses the new lightweight monopolar flat pack technology and is roughly the size of two paperback books standing tall, back-to-back. It operates efficiently at ambient temperature without a fan, unlike conventional designs.

JPL engineers rigged a cell phone to this power unit and placed several phone calls as a demonstration. They estimate that the five watts could simultaneously power five cell phones.

Now that the concept of making a portable, flat stack has been demonstrated, the next phase underway at JPL is to make it smaller, more robust and user-friendly.

JPL’s fuel cell group has been working on direct methanol fuel cells since the early 1990s and is credited with inventing the technology, largely under funding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The creation of the portable power source builds on that work and experience.

TechSys, Inc. has the rights to an exclusive license on the development of this micro-direct methanol fuel cell technology from JPL’s parent institution, the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. TechSys, Inc. intends to commercialize the JPL portable fuel cell technology for civil and defense applications. Q

For more information, contact Dr. S.R. Narayahan at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 818/354-0013. Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

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