Roadtrek demonstrates WATT Fuel Cell Technology
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It is hard to know what this device is all about from listening to the sales pitch. It is a device about as big as the typical 2.5KW propane generator found on many RVs. But it produces only 500 watts, one fifth of the propane generator's output.
And to say it has no combustion is misleading at best. Fuel cells operate on hydrogen or less efficiently methanol. Propane has hydrogen in its atomic structure but the only way to release that hydrogen is with partial oxidation, which sounds a lot like combustion to me.
Propane has been used for decades to produce hydrogen in large, multi-million dollar industrial plants. I built them until I retired a decade ago. These large scale plants- thousands of times bigger than the Watt, use about one half of the energy in the propane feedstock molecules to convert it to hydrogen. So it is very energy inefficient, just in the hydrogen generation part of the device.
Then the fuel cell converts about 40-50% of the energy in a molecule of hydrogen to electrical energy. So the overall efficiency (if done in a large scale) is no more than 20-25%, not much different from a propane fueled internal combustion engine driven generator. This tiny 500 watt fuel cell is probably less efficient than that.
But it is quiet even though probably not very efficient. But it won't put out enough power for most RV AC power uses such as a microwave and no where near enough for an air conditioner. At best it is a way to recharge your batteries quietly. Solar can do that a lot cheaper and uses no fuel.
David
And to say it has no combustion is misleading at best. Fuel cells operate on hydrogen or less efficiently methanol. Propane has hydrogen in its atomic structure but the only way to release that hydrogen is with partial oxidation, which sounds a lot like combustion to me.
Propane has been used for decades to produce hydrogen in large, multi-million dollar industrial plants. I built them until I retired a decade ago. These large scale plants- thousands of times bigger than the Watt, use about one half of the energy in the propane feedstock molecules to convert it to hydrogen. So it is very energy inefficient, just in the hydrogen generation part of the device.
Then the fuel cell converts about 40-50% of the energy in a molecule of hydrogen to electrical energy. So the overall efficiency (if done in a large scale) is no more than 20-25%, not much different from a propane fueled internal combustion engine driven generator. This tiny 500 watt fuel cell is probably less efficient than that.
But it is quiet even though probably not very efficient. But it won't put out enough power for most RV AC power uses such as a microwave and no where near enough for an air conditioner. At best it is a way to recharge your batteries quietly. Solar can do that a lot cheaper and uses no fuel.
David
PMF1984
Guru
Hey Dave, seems to me that this is the answer to those cloudy days in the NW that occur for 10 months straight.
So I have been waiting for a propane fuel cell for three years. 1. Because I already have propane on board, 2. Because this, or something like it, does not have a sea water strainer, battery, starter, heat exchanger, or need oil changes, 3. Makes power at night and cloudy days, and finally, 4. No noise.
Notice on the website wattfuelcell.com there are no prices. Amazon doesn’t carry any yet, neither does West Marine. Guess I’ll have to wait a few more years and keep the oil clean on the Northern Lights unit for now.
John
So I have been waiting for a propane fuel cell for three years. 1. Because I already have propane on board, 2. Because this, or something like it, does not have a sea water strainer, battery, starter, heat exchanger, or need oil changes, 3. Makes power at night and cloudy days, and finally, 4. No noise.
Notice on the website wattfuelcell.com there are no prices. Amazon doesn’t carry any yet, neither does West Marine. Guess I’ll have to wait a few more years and keep the oil clean on the Northern Lights unit for now.
John
FF
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Most boats can not live on batts with out a noisemaker because of the need to pump about 200A into the bats each day , to keep the reefer happy.
Simpler to just burn propane in the reefer , and have no problems with DC electric .
Less than a pound a day keeps the noisemaker away.
Simpler to just burn propane in the reefer , and have no problems with DC electric .
Less than a pound a day keeps the noisemaker away.
dhays
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I’ve got a propane stove and oven and don’t live in fear. I’ve used propane refrigerators on RVs years ago with no issues.
Even so, I don’t think I would be comfortable with a propane fridge on my boat that was running 24/7.
Ski:
In heavy industrial processes the C is oxidized to CO2 by using up the O in steam (H2O) to make more H. These processes use lots of steam in addition to the propane feedstock (or more typically methane).
The WATT system might recirculate the water made in the fuel cell to somehow accomplish the above, but I doubt it. If they don't then that makes it much less efficient than the industrial processes which only return half of the energy in propane as hydrogen.
In their system they probably just partially oxidize the Cs in C3H6 to CO2 and then feed the whole mixture to the fuel cell. The CO2 passes through the fuel cell as an inert just like the N2 in the air used for oxidation.
David
In heavy industrial processes the C is oxidized to CO2 by using up the O in steam (H2O) to make more H. These processes use lots of steam in addition to the propane feedstock (or more typically methane).
The WATT system might recirculate the water made in the fuel cell to somehow accomplish the above, but I doubt it. If they don't then that makes it much less efficient than the industrial processes which only return half of the energy in propane as hydrogen.
In their system they probably just partially oxidize the Cs in C3H6 to CO2 and then feed the whole mixture to the fuel cell. The CO2 passes through the fuel cell as an inert just like the N2 in the air used for oxidation.
David
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