Laptop Methanol Fuel Cells Promised This Week 249
securitas writes: "Wired tells us that Germany's Smart Fuel Cell is about to ship the first methanol based fuel cells for laptops and other electronic devices. The company says a 120 milliliter fuel cell can power a 15W notebook for 10 hours, and you can refill it without shutting down."
Re:15W notebook? (Score:2, Informative)
The actual Notebook can take around 26 watts or more, depending upon what you are doing with it, especially heavy when watching DVDs (constant DVD motion plus the CPU running at full blast for the software decoder).
15 watts may be enough for a toy Notebook, but it ain't enough for mine!!!!!
Coleman Alternative (Score:2, Informative)
I recall an earlier [slashdot.org] Slashdot article discussing the Coleman [colemanpowermate.com] portable fuel cell generator. This would seem like a better solution for the laptop user, as you still have the option to charge from a standard wall outlet, but if you are in the field you could carry a resevoir of methanol and the Coleman for recharging in the wild.
Re:Infrastructure (Score:3, Informative)
You can buy it by the gallon in any hardware store or by the 55 gallon drum at a paint wholesaler. It's dirt cheap. It sounds like this particular design takes pre-filled cartridges, but I'd bet it's not long before someone comes up with a way to refill them (see inkjet cartridges).
Re:What about the other fuel cells? (Score:2, Informative)
Are you sure you're talking about the same stuff? I'm only familiar with "meths" as a term from the U.K. and don't think I've ever seen anything labeled as such in this country. Methanol isn't oily. It evaporates quickly and leaves no residue, just like grain or rubbing alcohol. The similarity occasionally causes problems when people try to drink it (it's pretty toxic when ingested).
Older USians may be more familiar with the smell of methanol in the form of mimeograph fluid (used to produce those illegible purple school handouts in the days before cheap copiers and laser printers). I don't mind the smell, myself. It takes me right back to first grade.
Re:Is Methanol Connected to Methane? (Score:1, Informative)
Not exactly pocket-sized (Score:5, Informative)
A lot of people don't seem to've noticed that this unit won't exactly be convenient to carry around. Their 25W prototype is 120x160x170mm (5"x6.5"x7") and 2.8kg (5lb)! That's less than a large desktop-equivalent laptop but almost double the weight of some lightweight models. I don't know how many road warriors will really want to triple their carry weight and pay extra money for a few extra hours of runtime. It will probably seem much more convenient and cost-effective to get one of those LiPoly external batteries or something.
Methanol v. Ethanol / The Whiskey Rebellion (Score:5, Informative)
When you ingest ethanol (aka grain alcohol), alcohol dehydrogenase (an enzyme)catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde. If you oxidize acetaldehyde, you get then get acetic acid, which can then be oxidized to carbon dioxide.
Conversly, when you oxidize methanol (aka wood alcohol), you get formaldehyde. If you then oxidize that, you get formic acid. The formaldehyde and the formic acid are both toxic with formic acid being the more toxic of the two. The formaldehyde attacks the sensitive protein in the retina making you blind while the formic acid is what kills you.
Because the rate limiting step in methanol oxidation is availability of alcohol dehydrogenase, the clinical treatment for methanol poisoning is, you guessed it, to give large amounts of ethanol. Because the alcohol dehydrogenase has a higher affinity for ethanol than methanol, giving you ethanol will keep the methanol from being catabolized. The "unprocessed" non-toxic methanol can then be cleared by the kidneys.
Also, it should be noted that the prohibition on distilling has absolutely nothing to do with public safety. It is a taxation issue pure and simple. I suggest you pull out a history text and read about something called the Whiskey Rebellion.
Number of points (Score:4, Informative)
"Also, if I'm staying in a hotel, charging my batteries is free."
It's not free, the hotels expect you to do it and build it into the cost. If methanol becomes popular with travellers, the hotel will pop down to the hardware store, buy a couple of gallons of methanol, and offer that free on tap to guests too.
"This will become even worse if cells arrive that run off of pure hydrogen-PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells that run on hydrogen"
All PEM fuel cells run on hydrogen. Methanol based fuel cells simply break down the methanol into hydrogen and its constituent parts before it hits the PEM.
"However, if the methanol charges for the fuel cells are not rechargeable themselves, we will be adding a MORE exhaust to the environment, in the form of the disposed charger."
You don't recharge a methanol cell, you just squirt in more methanol to replace what has been used up.
"Ok, fine methanol works as a safe hydrogen storage method, but I was under the impression that fuel cells use hydrogen AND oxygen to create electricity and as a byproduct create H2O. Where does the water go?"
Methanol is 50% oxygen, 37.5% carbon and 12.5% hydrogen. So yes water will be produced and there must be some drainage tap (so you will have to take your laptop for a pee on the plane). There will also be carbon deposits you will have to dispose of. I wonder also how often the PEM has to be changed, as carbon will clog it up if not effectively filtered out.
There are plenty of fuel cell articles at Future Energies [futureenergies.com], including how a fuel cell is heating my local swimming pool! Check it out.
Phillip.
Evil Antennae (Score:3, Informative)
We seem to be developing some weird urban legends relating to electronic devices. My cable TV company ordered me not to install an FM splitter on my own -- if not done by a "trained technician" (snicker), it might cause airplanes to fall out of the sky. Many gas stations now ban people from talking on their cells while fueling, because somebody told someone that they'd heard somewhere that a gas station was destroyed when sparks from a cell ignited the fumes. (Think about it, what has more circuitry, a cell phone or a car?) And of course, flight attendents have all kinds of vague safety rules they have to enforce, most of which they don't actually understand. So you can't use your computer if it has a CD drive, because somebody thinks lasers are an issue. And somebody decided "anything with an antenna"...
Re:Evil Antennae (Score:2, Informative)
No i was thinking about the rule "No antenna".
But if you put a cell (GMS 900/1800)phone next to an FM radio you KNOW it disturbs the radio signal when it rings! no urbam myth there. It is about safety. And since receivers are far away they use the peek wattage.
local systems would get saturated every time a plane flies over them.
Are you talking about GSM (900Mhz/1800Mhz)phones? this one is COMPLETELY new to me.
About the use of portable computers on airplanes. I know in the beginning of the portables the screens of the portables causes radio interference.
Re:This stuff is poisonous !!! (Score:4, Informative)
I'm sure their "refueling" procedure involves a special tool designed to avoid spills. Methanol can be absorbed through your skin, but if you have a proper system in place you can do it safely. As for using ethanol instead of methanol, you can't just substitute one alcohol for another and expect it to work...