10-12-2007, 10:33 AM | #1 |
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By 2010: Samsung will power cell phones with water
In the "truly amazing if true" category, the Digital Chosun reports that "Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced Thursday that it has developed a micro-fuel cell and hydrogen generator that runs on H20.
'When the handset is turned on, metal and water in the phone react to produce hydrogen gas,' explained Oh Yong-soo, vice president of Samsung Electro-Mechanics' research center. 'The gas is then supplied to the fuel cell where it reacts with oxygen in the air to generate power.' Other fuel cells need methanol to produce hydrogen, while Samsung's needs only water." This water powered fuel cell is said to: * Produce up to three watts * "Hit the market by 2010" * "Power a handset for 10 hours, twice as long as rechargeable batteries" And whenever we hear of any new technology for powering cell phones, we know that there are likely to be benefits for e-book reading devices. Surely this is too good to be true. What's next? Water powered homes and cars? Via Textually.org. |
10-12-2007, 10:36 AM | #2 |
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This is just "ye olde fuel cell" is it not? Hardly new technology - the Space Shuttle's been getting its on-board electrical power from fuel cells since the 1970s. The only clever bit is miniaturising the "mechanical bits".
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10-12-2007, 10:47 AM | #3 |
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Actually, I think it really is a big deal. While it is "just" a fuel cell, the good part is that it runs on water instead of water+methanol.
I suppose that doesn't matter if it's not rechargeable, but assuming you can recharge it with water, then you have instant recharge plus double the capacity of ordinary batteries. Ordinary fuel cells probably all require expensive recharge mechanisms or costly methane cartridges. |
10-12-2007, 11:14 AM | #4 |
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I agree with Bob on this one. Water powered cells could mean great things down the road. Besides, fuel cells powering the space shuttle hasn't really helped me out too much. Being able to power my devices with water, now that could be helpful.
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10-12-2007, 11:26 AM | #5 | |
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This is the really intriguing bit to me:
Quote:
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10-12-2007, 11:33 AM | #6 |
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It probably still spends some catalyst in the process so I guess it will need to be replaced after a while.
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10-12-2007, 11:41 AM | #7 |
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Let's be clear about this: the fuel cell itself runs on hydrogen and oxygen (ie air). The clever bit is that they appear to have found some mechanism for catalyzing the water and are producing hydrogen from it to feed to the fuel cell.
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10-12-2007, 11:46 AM | #8 | |
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Quote:
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10-12-2007, 11:48 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
Even if it's just a slowly consumed consumable, that'd still be a Big Thing. |
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10-12-2007, 11:51 AM | #10 |
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But a catalyst can get contaminated and lose efficiency, even if it's not actually consumed. That's what happens to catalytic converters in car exhaust systems over time, for example.
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10-12-2007, 11:59 AM | #11 |
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10-12-2007, 12:45 PM | #12 |
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Your discussion about the mechanism makes the comment about "When the handset is turned on, metal and water in the phone react" seem potentially much more meaningful also. Does this mean simply that they can turn off the cell, or does this mean that they have to hit it with power to start the reaction?
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10-12-2007, 01:00 PM | #13 |
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Unlike a battery, where the potential energy is sitting there waiting to be used, a fuel cell requires a continuous flow of reagents through it - it's like an engine. That's why miniature fuel cells have been so difficult to produce - you need physical pumps and valves and stuff like that, and it all has to be gas-tight. You therefore need to "turn on" a fuel cell - switch on all the pumps, etc - before it'll start producing power. It will have some external power source (probably a small rechargeable battery) to power all that.
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10-12-2007, 01:10 PM | #14 |
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Either way, being able to pull the hydrogen out without throwing a lot of juice at it is a big deal — carrying bulk hydrogen around is complicated, expensive and dangerous. Being able to carry it as water and extract it without a big power load is pretty much a requirement for any sort of commercial application, I should think.
Of course, this is going to give the airport security screeners something new to have fits about. |
10-12-2007, 03:13 PM | #15 |
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I suspect to get any kind of decent output though, you'd need distilled water, which would require a special recharger.
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