[PSUBS-MAILIST] Fuel cells

[CWall@swri.edu]

I can't remember what thread it was in, but some time in the not-too-distant
past, we were talking about a new few cell technology that the TORO company
has built for a golf cart.  There's a working prototype, and I think by now
(or sometime soon) it was supposed to be on the market.

Somebody posted a URL for a webpage about this; I read it; sounded promising
for psub use.  TORO touted less danger of explosion than hydrogen fuel
cells, and increased efficiency, too.

Anybody remember this?  Do I remember KARL FULLER knowing something about
this one?

VBR,

Pat
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Pat, I haven't seen this one, but I'd suspect it is a PEMFC running on
methanol.

Just remember that while the exhaust from a PEMFC running on neat hydrogen gas
is water vapor, operation on methanol yields CO and CO2.   And besides the
requirement for oxygen, you have to get the gaseous waste products off the
boat...and they'll be at low pressure. You'll have to compress them to get them
 overboard.

Even with operation on hydrogen, there is an amount that bypasses the cell-
otherwise inerts build up and shut off the cell as the catalyst is fouled. 
Normally these cells run at 2 or 3 times the fuel and oxidizer gas flow
compared to what is actually required.  That means you either have to get rid
of that gas too, or you have to go to ultrapure gases to allow "dead-headed"
operation. And no one does that, because the operation gets very flaky and
unreliable.

Even if it's not a PEMFC, the other types have much the same associated
requirements,

Craig Wall