Medis Technologies Ltd. (New York) announced that it has achieved a major milestone in the development of its proprietary direct-liquid ethanol (DLEF) fuel cell technology, specifically, in the use of its fuel cells as the source of power to operate a working model of its Power Pack cell-phone charger.
The Medis Power Pack is capable of directly charging a cell phone as if the cell phone was connected by a charger to a wall socket. In its current stage of development, the Power Pack consists of two 1W DLEF fuel cells with a dc-to-dc converter. Each fuel cell is 3.40in x 1.65in x 0.70in and weighs 70g. The fuel cells use an internal concentration of ethanol as its fuel source.
There are no external fuel feeders, water-management systems or other external support systems. The Power Pack is capable of fully charging the cell phone in the regular time required by the phone for charging. It is not trickle charged in small increments. At present, the Power Pack is already capable of charging the phone twice on each fueling.
"We believe that this is a giant stride towards the commercialization of Medis' first fuel-cell-powered product," said Robert K. Lifton, chairman and CEO of Medis. "It is becoming increasingly evident that there is a large-scale demand for an easily portable charger that can keep the cell phone charged at all times, yet is inexpensive and convenient to use."
