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Hybrid Fuel Cells to Empower Road Warriors?

Posted by Matthew Brodsky

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Hats off to the Damen and Herren at the Fraunhofer Institute, for developing a prototype methanol fuel cell that could potentially be used to power our laptops.

Soldiers have always had the heavy load to bear. There's the constant threat of quick death or, even worse, painful debilitation. And for eons they've also had to carry heavy loads on their backs on long marches from boredom and beyond.
Now technology could save their shoulders. Estimates are that today's troops lug around as much as 22 pounds (10 kg) of batteries, whether for their communication systems, their night vision goggles, their iPods-what have you. Enter a military-grade battery that could power all of their systems.

The device is part rechargeable battery, part fuel cell, and methanol fuel supply for that cell. The device is like the soldiers themselves-resourceful. When the rechargeable battery is depleted, the fuel cell kicks in to recharge it. But users can also recharge the battery using a wall outlet, a solar panel, or a disposable 1.5 volt battery.

The new battery has multiple inputs geared toward these different voltages. The first input fits low voltages-from 1 to 10 volts-like you would get from disposable batteries. The next works in the 5.5 to 30 volt range, which covers fuel cells or solar panels. The third input is for heavier juice-from 9 to 45 volts-coming out of a wall socket, for instance.

The battery device also features two different outputs, one for small devices such as phones or PDAs and the other for larger laptops or communication equipment. That way, soldiers don't get stuck uni-tasking.

The new uber-battery is being developed with cash from the German defense ministry, care of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal. The scientists have already created a prototype and expect to have the batteries in the field for the German army by next year. By then, additional features to the battery will allow the fuel cell to turn off when the rechargeable battery is full of juice, or when the unit is plugged into an external source such as a wall outlet.

The soldiers will surely say "Danke" for the lighter load. If this fuel cell tech takes off it may soon empower road warriors seeking laptop battery longevity, not just soldiers.

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