Students at UNF have begun working with a new eco-friendly technology that may soon replace the battery in your laptop. Led by UNF professor Dr. James Fletcher, a team of graduate students are getting familiar with a direct methanol fuel cell at UNF's JEA Clean & Renewable Energy Lab in building 50.
Working with a company out of California, the team will spend time getting to know the technology and will ultimately help to further develop the technology, according to Benjamin Swanson, one of the students working on the project.
The eco-friendly fuel cell uses methanol as its fuel source and only produces water and very small quantities of carbon dioxide as emissions, according to the Methanol Institute.
“Due to the nature of the reaction,†Swanson said, “There is actually more water released as a byproduct than what is used.â€
One of the issues the team may be working on is what to do with that extra water, according to Swanson.
Despite its small size, the fuel cell is capable of delivering a low to moderate amount of power for a long period of time, according to Swanson. While its low power output makes it unsuitable for powering an automobile, Swanson says it is ideal for most low-power mobile devices like laptops, cell phones, PDAs and mp3 players.
“Some companies have said they ran laptops for 10 to 20 hours on a single methanol charge,†said Jason Harrington, one of the project's students.
While conventional batteries have to either be completely replaced or charged from a wall outlet, that isn't necessary to charge a direct methanol fuel cell, according to Swanson. A methanol-charged refill canister the size of a lighter is all that is necessary to instantly restore the fuel cell to full power.
Although there is currently no infrastructure to get methanol to consumers, Harrington thinks that will likely change.
“I imagine methanol is going to be quite easy to buy from a drugstore just because it is such a small quantity,†Harrington said.
And although the technology is expensive right now, that will also change as more and more companies market the fuel cells to consumers, according to the Methanol Institute.
“Companies like Samsung and Toshiba intend to release products within the next year,†Swanson said.
Toshiba is currently working with the world's smallest direct methanol fuel cell. At only 2.2 inches long, the fuel cell is capable of powering an mp3 player for up to 20 hours, according to a Toshiba press release.
