Horizon MiniPak personal fuel cell charger

[MarioJP]

This seems cool I guess. Seems powerful too.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/16/horizon-minipak-personal-fuel-cell-charger-hits-shelves-for-100/

 

[core]

Seems like a fun "geek gadget" for a gift or what not, but not terribly useful.

The page says "1000's of AA batteries" but right there in the video the sales guy at the show says "7 or 8 AA's". The hydrogen cartidge looks slightly larger than an 18650, so already we're just about even.

Now you have to get out this huge handheld device and that's where the already large cartidge goes? (Looks more like a H2 bong than anything else) Allll that for just "7 or 8 AA batteries" worth of power?

Cool though, I guess, sure. At least that hydrogen maker looks cleaner than a 4th grade science project, if not any more advanced.

 

[paulr]

The fuel container is here: http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/store/hydrostik.htm

It says the electrical capacity is 15 WH, which is a bit less than a pair of mid-grade 18650's. "Thousands of AA's" is marketing-speak referring to recharging it multiple times, like an AA NiMH cell is equivalent to 100's of alkalines.

 

[MarioJP]

I guess the concept is fill it with water and then charge it up to make hydrogen??.

I see what you mean about the mistake "1,000 AA" lmao. Does this mean the cycles are infinite since you are using water to make hydrogen??.

 

[paulr]

You can look at the web site. There is some kind of refilling contraption that charges the tank up with hydrogen. The hydrogen is combined with some metal salts or something, to avoid being at high pressure. The cycle life is large but limited, like batteries. I guess impurities build up in the salts or something.

It's still pretty interesting, as I expect capacity would increase as the technology matures, just as has happened with batteries.

 

[ASheep]

Electrolysis is a rather inefficient way to make the hydrogen... wouldn't it end up more efficient to just charge the batteries at home?
Seeing as you have to "charge" the hydrogen cells at home anyway, then carry the big fuel cell around, it seems easier to just get a couple of spare batteries and carry them...
Or did I miss something, and they've designed a way to "create" hydrogen from hopes and dreams?

 

[MarioJP]

wow 600 bucks!

 

[core]

Or did I miss something, and they've designed a way to "create" hydrogen from hopes and dreams?

Nope, you got it right! There's nothing special about the big glossy hydrogen generator. In fact, their site says you can even charge those little cartridges from conventional hydrogen tanks.

So clearly it isn't the hydrogen generator they're hyped up about. No, the magic is in the huge handheld thing which would be somewhat more useful if you dumped all the innerds out and used it as a storage case for 18650's.

Hehehe ok maybe I'm being a bit harsh. If I had an additional $100 to blow on something useless I'd pick one up right now, no question about it.

 

[Battery Guy]

You can look at the web site. There is some kind of refilling contraption that charges the tank up with hydrogen. The hydrogen is combined with some metal salts or something, to avoid being at high pressure. The cycle life is large but limited, like batteries. I guess impurities build up in the salts or something.

It's still pretty interesting, as I expect capacity would increase as the technology matures, just as has happened with batteries.

These use a metal hydride alloy similar to the negative electrode in a NiMH battery. Concept is the same, but the chemistry of the alloy is different. Like many of you noticed, the energy density of the hydrogen canister is about 2X that of a similarly sized lithium-ion battery. The reason for that is simple: the canister is basically a NiMH battery without the nickel cathode, separators or current collectors. Since oxygen in air is used as the cathode, the whole container can be filled with the "fuel".

Bottom line is the energy density stinks compared other portable fuels like methanol and butane which have a factor of 10 advantage over the metal alloys. Unfortunately, the ban on carrying flammable liquids onto planes killed the whole direct methanol and butane fuel cell movement. Hopefully the methanol and/or butane fuel cells will start to come back soon.

Cheers,
Battery Guy