Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies Launches Direct Ethanol Product
(Technology News, 05 Sep 2008 )
Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies has launched what’s said to be the fuel cell industry's first direct ethanol product, the Bio Energy Diversity Kit, which uses tiny amounts of alcohol and water at its fuel. The product marks another step in Horizon commercialization of fuel cells in portable electronics.
The Bio Energy Discovery Kit is a simple educational product used to introduce fuel cell technology to students, aspiring scientists, teachers and engineers. The kit features a fuel cell powered desktop fan that uses a 90-percent water, 10-percent ethanol mix as the source fuel for transforming an electrochemical reaction into electrical energy.
Most fuel cell related developments targeting consumer electronics have so far focused on using liquid methanol (DMFC) as a fuel source. Horizon's new direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC) can generate small amounts of power for days or weeks at a time using tiny amounts of simple household alcohol, such as diluted vodka. Unlike methanol, or past attempts to use alkaline ethanol solutions, Horizon's device can use plain water and alcohol which is easily accessible to consumers. Tiny amounts of alcohol can thus be placed in contact with Horizon's fuel cell and slowly converted to electricity that can power small devices.
Direct ethanol fuel cells show promise for a wide range of small devices that do not draw a lot of power but would benefit from significantly more runtime than what current batteries provide. Such devices include remote sensing devices that rely on frequent battery changing and maintenance, new products that light up or emit sound in the contact of alcohol, and even portable consumer electronics such as MP3 or mobile phone chargers -- perfect for long-distance flights.
