Compact Alkaline Fuel Cell System

Compact power sources are desired by the military for soldier applications that have improved energy capacities over 1000 W-hr/kg, a level that cannot be met by today's state-of-the-art batteries. Consequently, fuel cell power systems coupled with liquid fuel storage options such as methanol are being developed to produce 20 W for these soldier applications. Little attention has been paid to using alkaline fuel cell technology for these applications with the preferred approach being variants of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. However, recent development work in alkaline fuel cell technology at MicroCell Technologies has shown that a compact alkaline fuel cell power system is feasible that can operate directly with methanol fuel. With an operational goal of 72 hours over a two week period, our alkaline fuel cell system may produce 20 watts with an energy capacity greater than 1000 W-hr/kg in a compact system. During the Phase I program, we will demonstrate the fundamental operation of methanol and air in an alkaline fuel cell system along with a compact system design. Performance evaluations will be conducted to demonstrate the compatibility of methanol with the alkaline system for a two-week mission duration.