NEC Delays Fuel Cell Launch

KingFishKingFish
edited October 2004 in Science & Tech
NEC has succeeded in reducing the size of a prototype direct methanol fuel cell for use with notebook PCs but says it is unlikely to see commercialization until at least two years later than previously forecast.
Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) mix methanol with air and water to produce electrical power and are viewed by many as a potential successor to lithium-ion and other batteries used in devices such as notebook personal computers and other portable electronics devices. Their by-products are heat and water. NEC's new prototype has a power unit that is 20 percent smaller than the company's previous prototype and has an output density of 70 milliwatts per square centimeter, the company says in a statement. The new fuel cell also includes a control system that helps optimize power output for operations such as machine start-up and shut-down, it says. It will be unveiled on Wednesday when the World PC Expo exhibition begins in Tokyo. A single 250 cubic-centimeter methanol fuel cartridge can provide enough power to run a notebook PC for 10 hours, NEC says. The prototype machine is based on a 1.1-GHz Pentium M processor and has 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, 12.1-inch color TFT (thin-film transistor) LCD, and runs the Windows XP Professional operating system.
Source: PC World

Comments

  • SputnikSputnik Worcester, MA
    edited October 2004
    is this fuel cell rechargable?

    also, the heat byproduct.... aren't laptops hot enough as is?
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited October 2004
    1.1-GHz Pentium M processor and has 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, 12.1-inch color TFT

    that is kinda low end

    probley coud get 6-7 hours on Lithe-Ion batterys
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    It's a sucessor, not the end all be all to Li-On(however it goes). I think these are gonna rock... makes me curious what takes IT's place in the future. I too wonder though if they are rechargable somehow, and if a bi-product is water.... what happens to this water?

    The only way I can really see it right now is that the battery holds the water, then you toss it when it's done... but then it had better be damned cheap!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited October 2004
    gibbonsl wrote:
    1.1-GHz Pentium M processor and has 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, 12.1-inch color TFT

    that is kinda low end

    probley coud get 6-7 hours on Lithe-Ion batterys

    Not on a battery that's about 2.4" x 2.4" x 2.4" it couldn't.
Sign In or Register to comment.