Abstract
The direct methanol fuel cell or DMFC is emerging as a future winner in many
of the applications that fuel cells can satisfy. DMFC is an important subset
of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology. DMFC emergence is
especially viable in the portable device sector. Commercialization is driven
by consumer demands and desires for a superior power source that can operate
alone or as a supplement or synergist with existing advanced battery
technologies.
This niche market and technology report projects that the value of DMFCs in
the U.S. will grow from the 2006 value of $14 million to $63 million by 2011.
This is an average annual growth rate of 35%/year. Such a sizeable increase
is significant but it is growing from a relatively small base number. This $63
million is the value of the unit itself and excludes the fuel container, the
methanol delivery or reforming system as well as the device that the fuel cell
might be included in and any balance of plant options for water control. The
earliest adapter and the first big winner in DMFCs will be laptop computers.
Military applications, enhanced cell phones and other hand held devices would
follow adoption of DMFCs into the consumer acceptance.
Small portable devices are well suited, in terms of storage, safety, and
energy density, to use of methanol as a fuel for fuel cells. Direct hydrogen
feed for fuel cells requires complicated storage and would take much more
space in small portable devices. There is also the safety issue of compressed
hydrogen being allowed on airplanes. Cartridges of methanol can fit into
existing retail channels or be available from OEMs. Methanol cartridges could
be available through any number of delivery channels and accepted without
difficulty into the consumer market. DMFCs are adapted to a hybrid system of
portable devices such as trickle charging or recharging or the backup of
secondary batteries inside a portable device. Recharging is a hybrid
transitional approach or even a long-term approach to future commercialization
of DMFCs.
Asia, principally Japan, is emerging as a big player in fuel cell development
and especially in DMFC development and commercialization. Their predominance
in the electronics and related manufacturing sectors has led these companies
toward a vertical integration. Both in the U.S. and Japan there has been seen
a need for the development of reliable and supplemental power sources for
ever-improving and multi-faceted electronics and big companies prefer for this
development to be under their own control and not dependent on an outside
supply train at the early stages of development. These large corporations
either acquire licensed technology or are developing their own."
Discussed are issues of passive feed and active feed for the methanol. There
is also the question of what concentration of methanol can be used and how
water management is handled. There is a niche being created by reformed
methanol fuel cells. This report documents the technology approaches and
profiles of the DMFC players as well as expands on the technology by looking
at recent patents, membrane types, fuel concentration and delivery, and
catalysts mechanisms. One of the first hurdles for fuel deliver is that
gaseous diffusion layers were originally designed to handle, as the name
suggests, gases. In DMFCs the feed is a liquid and presents a new set of
parameters. If methanol is to be converted to pure hydrogen, that presents
another set of problems in handling, storing or delivering the gaseous
reforrmate fuel.
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