PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

PHOTO CAPTION                                P-48600                   
                                             June 19, 1997     

A revolutionary, energy-producing,  zero-emission methanol fuel 
cell patented by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the 
University of Southern California is under development for a wide 
range of uses. 

Unlike existing fuel cells, this device, the "Direct Methanol, 
Liquid Feed Fuel Cell," converts the chemical energy of its 
aqueous liquid methanol and other fuels directly into electrical 
current without burning. This technology, whose development was 
funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 
(DARPA), the U.S. Army  and private sources, is easily scaleable 
into larger units capable of powering portable, non-polluting 
electronic equipment or, eventually, zero-emission cars. The U.S. 
military is interested in this technology for its potential of 
providing portable power to soldiers in the field.

JPL has worked closely with its partners to develop a compact, 
high-performance fuel cell system. One partner, Giner Inc., with 
many years of fuel cell engineering and hardware development, has 
developed a high-density stack  (11 cells per inch) for testing 
in a system configuration at JPL. Two 11-cell stacks in parallel 
were integrated into a complete system, and continuous operation 
was demonstrated. 

This new technology is being considered for a number of 
commercial applications, including electric vehicles, marine and 
RV use, electronic and consumer devices, and remote and emergency 
power. In one major project, developers believe they can create a 
unit about the size of a thick paperback book that can run 
continuously for weeks at a time, producing 50 watts of power, 
consuming about a pint of methanol fuel per day, and emitting 
only water and carbon dioxide.

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