Commercialization of a direct methanol fuel cell system

This paper describes a major breakthrough in energy technology developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that can be used in a wide variety of portable, remote and transportation applications without polluting the environment. The status, performance, and design considerations of the JPL non-polluting, Direct Methanol, Fuel Cell system for consumer equipment and transportation applications are reported herein. This new fuel cell technology utilizes the direct oxidation of a 3% aqueous liquid methanol solution as the fuel and air (O2) as the oxidant. The only products are CO2 and water. Therefore, because recharging can be accomplished by refueling with methanol, vehicles can enjoy unlimited range and extended use compared to battery operated devices requiring recharge time and power accessibility.