ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe to the PowerPulse Newsletter

Conferences and Forums

Darnell's Energy Summit

Darnell's Power Forum

Green Building Power Forum

Smart Grid Electronics Forum

Industry News

April 29, 2002

JPL Develops New Portable Fuel Cell Technology

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) has designed a portable, compact, flat fuel cell technology suitable for operating small, portable electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, hand-held organizers and camcorders, for days at a time without recharging or using expensive, heavy batteries.

JPL researchers eliminated bipolar plates and created a monopolar pack, which is flat with the cells linked by electrical interconnects. To demonstrate the new fuel cell technology, JPL developed a 5W portable power unit using the new lightweight, monopolar, flat pack technology. JPL engineers rigged a cell phone to the power unit and placed several phone calls as a demonstration. The 5W portable power unit could simultaneously power five cell phones, and the system can be refueled instantly to extend talk-time.

ADVERTISEMENT

"This is a significant advance in fuel cell development because by going small, you make the fuel cell portable and viable for use as a power source to operate small appliances that require a long operating time, such as a laptop," stated S.R. Narayanan, the fuel cell technical team leader at JPL.

Opinion: Intelligent (Active Inverter) Eco-Mode Approach can Provide UPS Efficiency without Availability Concerns

Share this story

Send via E-mail
Post to Twitter

On the Web:

NASA
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

ADVERTISEMENT

White Papers

March 11, 2013

Power Modules for Charger Applications

Sponsored by Vincotech

February 27, 2013

The Adaptive Cell Converter Topology Enables Constant Efficiency Over Universal Input AC Line in Front-End, High-Density Power Factor Correction Applications

Sponsored by Vicor Corp.

February 27, 2013

From 48 V direct to Intel VR12.0: Saving "Big Data" $500,000 per datacenter, per year

Sponsored by Vicor Corp.

More White Papers

Most Popular

Design Features

October 22, 2012

Energy Efficiency with Class D Amplifier Modules

Class-D switching amplifiers are helping audio designers create personal multimedia devices and home audio/visual systems that demonstrate how compact and stylish equipment can also deliver high sound quality and high audio output power. The key to this breakthrough, providing freedom from the large and bulky boxes housing traditional audio products, lies in the class-D amplifier’s high energy efficiency, which is typically around 90%. This allows designers to reduce or eliminate heatsinks as well as using smaller-sized PCBs and smaller components such as transformers, connectors and power supplies.

Read this paper

Design Features

October 8, 2012

The Role of Hall Effect Sensors in Power Distribution Infrastructure

Power distribution units (PDUs) form an essential part of modern computing and data communications hardware. They provide multiple outputs for transferring electrical power with maximum efficiency, controlling the power capacity and safeguarding against the possible causes of supply interruption. With an ever increasing need from tech savvy consumers for higher data throughput and greater quantities of data storage capacity, as well as tough international legislation now governing CO&sub2; emissions, the demands being placed on these units are proving challenging for engineering teams to satisfy.

Read this paper

Product Focus

August 13, 2012

The Year in AC-DC Power Supply Technology

The past year witnessed significant new product releases, technological developments, and industry news related to the field of AC-DC Power Supply technology.

Read this paper

Read More Technical Features

 

©2013 Darnell Group Inc.