Development of 250W Methanol Fuel Cell for Marine Applications

This 12 month feasibility project, led by UPS Systems plc, one of the UK’s leading standby power supply and fuel cell system integration companies examines the feasibility of developing a fully modular, methanol fuel cell system (DMFCs) for application within the mid-range boat and yacht sector. DMFC stacks with a 250W power output capability will be supplied under sub-contract by Baltic Fuel Cells GmbH. The modular approach is designed to meet the unmet market need for a marine proofed low-noise, low-emission auxiliary power supply, configured to allow self-maintenance with easy replaced components and integrated into existing on-board computer systems both to monitor/measure power output and to diagnose system failure with in-built maintenance instructions. Methanol based fuel cell are appropriate for marine application because of their light-weight and fuel storage requirements. Current DMFC systems do not have the required power output