The Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

The direct methanol fuel cell takes the low costs, direct-injection advantages of the hydrogen fuel cell, and couples it with the high energy density and high liquification temperature of petrochemicals. Because of this, methanol is an excellent alternative to both hydrogen and gasoline fuel cells. At least, it could be.

Limitations of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

The biggest problem with direct methanol fuel cells is their relatively low efficiency due to membrane permeation by the methanol, This phenomenon is called methanol crossover, and leads to sluggish responses to dynamic power requirement changes. In other words, if you stomp the accelerator, your car would be sluggish to respond due to the cell taking time to "ramp up" to the new required levels. There are also problems with managing the carbon dioxide produced as waste gas.

These problems make the methanol fuel cell a better choice for low power, long duration applications, such as personal electronics, cell phones, laptops, and the like. But with more time and research, direct methanol fuel cells could be a good solution to our current alternative fuel crisis. Cheaper to produce than gasoline fuel cells, much safer than hydrogen, and currently available for purchase, these direct methanol fuel cells may just be the wave of the future.