Electronics Globalpress Summit Conference - News
roundup
US firm MTI Micro Fuel
Cells intends to be first to bring a fuel
cell product to the market with a direct methanol-based device next
year which will allow you to recharge a mobile phone seven times
before it needs a top-up of methanol.
Albany, New York-based MTI Micro said that methanol-based fuel
cells have been approved for use in aircraft by the aviation
authorities in the UK, Canada and Japan and should be approved by
the US Department of Transport this year.
"We see it as a universal charger," Peng Lim, company CEO told
Electronics Weekly, "there's no more need to plug into the
wall."
The firm's approach is to use a passive, direct methanol fuel
cell. A feature of the technology, which is claimed to make it
easier to manufacture, is the integration of the power module with
the water conditioning system. This internal flow of water takes
place without the need for any pumps, complicated re-circulation
loops or other micro-plumbing tools.
Called
Mobion, the device has demonstrated power of
over 50mW/cm sq. while producing 1.4Wh/cc of energy from the
fuel.
Lim reckons his company will be the first to get a consumer fuel
cell product on the market. He believes MTI Micro is well ahead of
rival developers Toshiba and NEC.
MTI Micro has also developed a methanol fuel cell to power
mobile phones, but has no timescale for manufacturing it. Lim said
that one millilitre of methanol in the mobile phone fuel cell
delivers 1.5 hours of talk-time.