MTI micro fuel-cell effort to get boost

Micro-fuel cells will play a big part in the future development of fuel-cell technology in America, said Shimshon Gottesfeld of MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc.

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to make a recommendation to Congress on how to continue to aggressively promote further fuel-cell development as an efficient and clean power generation technology, Gottesfeld said.

"The report ... is at the request of Congress asking what should be done in R&D regarding fuel-cell technology ... to make it a winner within the U.S.," Gottesfeld said.

Fuel cells convert fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, propane or methanol into electricity through an electrochemical process.

Fuel-cell manufacturers and researchers are working on a number of different applications: Stationary fuel cells, like those made by Plug Power Inc., which is partly owned by Mechanical Technology Inc.'s; fuel cells that will power cars and other vehicles; and micro or portable fuel cells, such as those MTI MicroFuel Cells is developing, to power cell phones and other small devices.

In its recommendation, the DOE decided to look at all fuel-cell technology as one group, Gottesfeld said.

Gottesfeld returned from a meeting in Phoenix last week in which fuel-cell manufacturers, representatives from government agencies, including the DOE and the U.S. Army, and tech companies such as Motorola and Panasonic, discussed the proposal for Congress.

Fuel cells have gained increased credibility in recent months, especially since the DOE endorsed the idea of hydrogen fuel cells to the Big 3 automakers.

The U.S. Army already has shown support for fuel cells. MTI MicroFuel is working on a project with weapons developer Alliant Techsystems of Minnesota to create what could be the first weapon powered by micro-fuel cells. As weapons become more high-tech, an alternative power source is needed to run them, said William Acker, president of Mechanical Technology. Alliant has a three-year, $95 million grant to make the weapon.

And Mechanical Technology demonstrated a micro fuel cell that powered a personal digital assistant at the U.S. Congressional Fuel Cell Expo in Washington, D.C., in June. By October, MTI MicroFuel demonstrated an early prototype of a micro fuel cell power pack that could power a combination cell phone and PDA, a device Gottesfeld said demands 10 times the power demanded just by a PDA.

Gottesfeld said micro fuel cells will pave the way for further uses of all types of fuel cells, because the small energy sources will be commercially viable before the others.

"Everybody agrees that the first market entry of fuel-cell technology will be portable power," he said.

Because the public will be able to afford a cell phone powered by micro fuel cells, people will become comfortable with the concept of fuel cells in general, reducing the mystery that might keep customers away. The key for fuel cells to be viable in other sectors, Gottesfeld said, will then be cost.

Gottesfeld was hired by Mechanical Technology a year ago from Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he directed its fuel-cell research program, to be chief technology officer and vice president of research and development for the company's micro fuel-cell program.

At that time, he had no lab to work in and only one other research colleague.

Now, MTI MicroFuel has five labs and Gottesfeld oversees a team of 35 researchers from across the country. The company has made key hires from Los Alamos, Motorola and Plug, and alliances with other companies.

MTI MicroFuel has hired creatively. Juan Becerra, who managed development of inkjet printer technology at Xerox, was hired as director of engineering. Gottesfeld said inkjet technology, where liquid from a cartridge is transferred to a mechanism, is useful in micro fuel-cell development as well.

Gottesfeld said that around the time he was hired, he could envision a cell phone that would be able to run for a month without replacing its micro fuel-cell power packs.

He still has that vision.

And now, Gottesfeld has a 2004 deadline to make it a reality.

• Print
• Email

Reader Comments

• More News Headlines
• Popular News Stories