Testing the Goods: Horizon MiniPak Portable Fuel Cell Charger

I am just curious to the ramifications of when this thing shorts out. I like to know the worse case situation. Remember other articles about exploding cell phones and exploding laptops. Yes, maybe it has a 1 to 10,000 or more chance of shorting out or exploding. If this fuel cell has the ability to kill several people as it malfunctions, that would be an interesting tidbit of information to know. They say a plane is safer way to travel than a car. But the other reality is when the plane crashes, hundreds of people die.

@BubbaGump

Read the end of the third paragraph. it says, "Oh, and unlike fuel cells that rely on compressed hydrogen, it doesn't run the risk of exploding--and when things are supposed to explode, we generally prefer they don't." so there ya go.

Uncompressed hydrogen fuel cells. It may just be my misunderstanding of the science behind this but that sounds like a pretty major breakthrough for the fuel cell industry. Depending on how efficient and scalable the process is I could see this translating into automotive and small home fuel cells very nicely.

I'm not an engineer by an stretch of the imagination but I don't see why a system couldn't be developed where water is poured into a container with a current running through it, a vent system separates the hydrogen and oxygen, and then the two are mixed again for combustion using a device like this one to create electricity, while the waste is deposited back into the original container. The hard part would seem to be collecting the hydrogen and oxygen separately during electrolysis. I don't know if it could be a closed loop system because I'm unsure if there is any loss in electrolysis or combustion of either element.

You make a good point. The salesman in the article said it won't explode and well that's all I need to know. And to all those engineers that make cell phones and laptops and batteries, they did no testing either.... Certainly as everyone read about those articles in national news, the news must have just been fabricated. Does anyone remember the IPHONE and the reception problems? Yea, it’s the user fault, you have to hold just right. The IPHONE QUALITY ENGINEERS spent months of testing of the IPHONE. And our sales team guarantees it, ending that sentence, “trust me ". But, your right, they wrote in the article it won't explode, so it must be true. Ya-da-ya-da! Pltzzzz!

@BubbaGump. The use of metal hydrides as a storage medium for hydrogen is not new. It is safe for many reasons.
First, the hydrogen is no longer in a gaseous form it actually becomes bonded to the metal. It becomes part of the metal and thus is a solid. This bonding does not require high pressure thus eliminating the danger of explosive tank rupture and the need for heavy thick walled pressure tanks.
But wait there’s more! This form of solid state storage will hold more hydrogen than a high pressure tank of the same size while being lighter. Hydrogen itself is very stable until it mixes with oxygen to a certain percentage and since this hydrogen is bonded to metal in a sealed tank that’s not going to happen.

@Sarah Parsons. I just visited the web site you linked to in the article and they do sell a home electrolysis device that can recharge these cartridges.
That makes these devices very cost effective as the cartridges can be used over and over again.

RangerDave

@BubbaGump

Let's think this through based on things we know, and things we can safely assume the writer wouldn't fabricate.

If hydrogen is not under pressure, it will not explode. It just burns.(the article says the fuel cell does not rely on compressed hydrogen, like other fuel cells do)

The article also says that the thing doesn't work unless it has the fuel cell in it, and that you must take the fuel cell out when not charging something.

It also says that in operation it must be sitting on a flat level surface.

So when used properly the device is only running for a short time while you are holding it; while loading the fuel cell, and connecting your device, and again after the charge, to disconnect everything.

I would venture a guess based on the above details that the risk of being injured by this thing is minimal, probably similar to the risk of being burnt by an unlit candle.

Then again there is a way to hurt yourself with anything if you don't follow the directions. So the people that do get hurt by this, if any, will be the same people that would willingly put a lit candle in their pants.

Ok, the last 2 make wonderful excellent points. I really hope this product is successful and all goes well. I also have to say does anyone remember reading about the articles where peoples legs or arms (pockets) heated up and burn their skin. Those batteries too were safe, too. How ever those units were made, obiviously a short circuit happend and drew extra current; causing a damaging amount of heat.

@BubbaGump...for christ sake, stop with all the negative comments, you have certainly earned the troll of the week award

All the very best to Horizon Fuel cells and their team!
I have seen a number of those charging devices and can only hoe, that they will be successful with this one. Others have been coming, but also going. Time and the market wil tell. Thank you for all your endevours, anyway! And my message to potential customers: Just buy one (or even more) of them!

Almost ten years ago, I use to watch American Scientific on a PBS station that had Allan Alda talking to a couple of scientists about this same fuel cell they invented for the hydrogen fuel cell car. They said that the fuel cell, which was about the size of a hockey puck, was as safe a water in a sponge.

General Moters (GM) bought a car that was invented by a engineering scientist and it was called the skateboard car or the hydrogen fuel cell battery on wheels. If you have ever been to GM's web site, you have seen that skateboard car. GM promoted the skateboard car or hydrogen fuel cell battery on wheels for about a year and then the car just disappeared from GM's web site.

With that hydrostik battery being about six feet long and a diameter of a hockey puck, that hydrogen fuel cell battery on wheels could take you over 7,000 miles before you needed to replenish the hydrogen, and to do that, you just needed to pour distilled water into the tank that converted it to hydrogen (that part was built in Norway) and stored the hydrogen into that fuel cell.

This hydrogen fuel cell battery on wheels could've got America away from fossil fuel in the wink of an eye, but President Bush wanted to promote nuclear power plants, coal and oil...so, GM, which was -and still is- ran by the GOP bought the hydrogen fuel cell battery on wheels and made it disappear.

If you want to search pbs.org/AmericanScientific, you probably can still find the show called, 'Alternative Fuel Vehicles' and see that skateboard car and the fuel cell that would've powered it. Scientific American still has an article on hydrogen fuel cell batteries that shows a cut-away of that fuel cell battery and how it would work.

The MiniPak charger is a remarkable invention that is based on that fuel cell those scientists invented, and it is remarkable.

Just so you know, I am very much for Fuel Cell technology and I do hope this company great success. But in business, it's those subtle overlook details that can suddenly take a successful company and go bankrupt by a lawsuit. Any decent R&D department, should have a Q&A department too, ripping this thing apart in as many ways possible. Why? For many several reasons, to make a better product and in many ways to protect the company too. Now this thing appears to be small and to fit into a briefcase with the creation to be for a traveler. But it may sit on the desk of a home user too. I like to know if little Jimmy in the house can swallow the cap on this unit? I like to know, what happens to the unit if Jimmy pours orange juice in it. Is the unit ruined, can the orange juice be poured out and the correct water, all is well. What matterials is this made of? Can a bad guy put some household chemical into it and make a flash bomb or bomb itself? Will a traveler be pulled aside each time this thing goes through a X-Ray machine? What is the cost of this unit to the wattage it puts out? Is it cost effective compared to rechargeable batteries? What happens if is full of liquid and it becomes frozen, will it break? Will it be ok, once it warms up? What kind of voltage does it put out? I promise you, my questions are few to any decent Q&A department. I wish this company success. I like Fuel Cell technology. I would love to see each individual travel with its own power and each home become independant with its own power too.

Oh, and as wrong as it maybe, many of the home users of batteries, rechargeable batteries put them in the trash, once the batteries expire. This is wrong, because all these battery materials eventually get in our water supply and we drink it. I like to know, what happens as these get tossed into the local dump and decompose? How long does it take to decompose? As is decomposes does it create anything dangerous to the drinking water? How is the consumer to discard this unit, once it does expire? Can this unit be recycled? Does the company recycle these and how consumer friend does the company make the process?

Finally, I really do like the concept of a Fuel Cell Technology. I really hope they do solve all the problems and get the bugs out! I wish this company much success!

Before we convert out transportation system from gas to fuel cells three changes have to be over come

1). price; cost of the fuel cell power planet is still a lot more then a conventional engine

2). Hydrogen production, electrolysis requires more energy then is produced when using the resulting hydrogen. In order to produce the amount of H2 needed we are going to need to build nuclear planets out the wazo-solar and wind can also be used, but will be decades before the tech can produce the amount of power needed at the needed price.

3). Infrastructure; before consumer will be fuel cell vehicular in mass there needs to be network of filling station. It will be difficult in convince fuel distributors to spend the BILLIONS needed to build that infrastructure for a market that does not yet exist. It's chicken-egg thing.

Concepts like the GM Sequel (skateboard chassis) have not materialize for the consumer because the economic challenges have not yet been over come.

Sarah Parsons,
Why did you not do your own research when you copied the *lies* from the Horizon company? The reason that I use such a strong word is that they tried to craft a press release that can be published by magazines like PopSci
but where essentially none of their claimed benefits stands up to scrutiny.
That is why I am so appalled that a PopSci editor did not bother to even use common sense.
For example, the most compelling reason and the centerpoint of their claims is that you
want to have power available when there is none, lots of power. So they claim that their device packs a lot more energy than Alkaline cells. That is not true.
The size of their device is slightly larger than 4 C-cells, which *each* pack the same 12Wh as one of their cartridges!
Another claim is that it is cheaper, but an 8-pack of Energizer Alkalines is $15 online at Walmart
so instead of $9.99 for a Hydrogen cartridge, I can get the same power much more conveniently, in a smaller size and working in any orientation, for less than $2.
BTW, did you notice that they compare their device to AA cells (which are much smaller)
Why do you think? And why compare to disposable batteries?
Their device is comparable in size to a small notebook 6-cell battery, which packs
about 58Wh or 5 times their energy and can easily be recharged many hundreds
(or with newer technology Lithium, *thousands*) of times.
To make it clear how inefficient their Hydrogen cartridges are, let me show how much
energy a typical EV packs - about 24kWh for a 100 mile drive, for example the Nissan Leaf.
To provide this power with these Hydrogen cartridges, you need 2000 of them and that will cost you $20,000.
Now I ask you why these Hydrogen devices are still called Fool Cells by those who look with a realistic eye to their merit compared to other technologies, such as
rechargeable batteries.
Oh, the same 100 miles in a Leaf will cost you less than $3 when you charge the 24kWh battery from the wall outlet and even less if you have a solar system.
Please notice that Hydrogen Fool Cells will never become a mainstream technology, for the simple reason that creating Hydrogen is energy inefficient. You lose about half the energy, so it is always twice as expensive as for example recharging energy efficient batteries. And I am not even talking about the cost of storing and transporting Hydrogen or the Fuel Cell itself. I *do* believe that Fuel Cells will be used, either in niche applications or when a different fuel than Hydrogen can be used, one that is easy to contain and transport and energy efficient to create.
Even though it sounds cool, Hydrogen is a non-starter.

Give me a call when you can guarantee I'm not receiving a battery acid shower; I'm worried for when I would pocket the cell on a hot day.

velorium,

There is no acid in this device.

I sincerely doubt TSA would allow this device as carry-on or in checked luggage. Their website says the only compressed gas cartridges allowed are those in life vests, and that those must be presented with the life vest to be legal.

Rainier Wolfcastle