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CommentFrom: "John Guertin" <jguertin1@sympatico.ca > Mr. Allen, thank you for the link on your website. We are being emailed at a phenomenal amount, so I must apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Your questions are very intriguing, especially the first one about primary power vs. emergency power. Our complete focus is to bring affordable fuel cell technology to the people. Rather than waste much of the public funds developing the next best thing, we thought we would take an existing technology, the use of magnesium to make electricity, and package it for the masses. We are in the process of designing a modular system for primary power, and have in the prototype stage a method to sustain an average 2000 square foot home with electricity, heat and hot water without grid intervention - but as the old saying goes, that is still about two years away (or sooner if we can get more people to invest!). As for the SAM-Cell PM series of portable, personal fuel cells, it is by far more than just emergency power. I use my 1/4 size prototype to go camping. It was build to prove the functionality and manufacturability, but still puts out enough juice to run a 15 Watt fluorescent bulb and a large boom-box radio - for 35 hours if need be (actually the boom-box will run for about 12 days before the magnesium is consumed). The SAM-Cell can be "refueled" up to 40 times before it begins to degrade in its ability to generate power. Each cell is modular and can be replaced to extend the life span of the unit. The process is not currently defined, but it will probably be that the unit is sent back to us and we will re-new it for a fee. Still, compared to a battery, it leaves the Bunny in the dust. There is some confusion about the duration of the cell. We are claiming it will run at full power for 35 hours (probably much longer but 35 is our claim) but there is nothing saying you cant turn it off after a few minutes. When it is dry, with no saltwater added, there is no consumption of the magnesium so in fact it will remain ready to go indefinitely. You can at any time replace the magnesium anodes, it is just that by doing so prematurely you will spend money unnecessarily. The magnesium plates begin to dissolve, but are still useful right to the end. When they are complete, all you are left with is two small pins that are the electrical connections to the rest of the unit. Magnesium is a wonderful material. It is an essential element in life, working with calcium to build strong bones as well as other important biological uses. It is not toxic (although the magnesium hydroxide that remains is also known as Milk of Magnesia and it will cure constipation if you drink it), non polluting and is a naturally occurring material. We simply package it in a fashion that is ideal for energy creation. The anode is the magnesium, the saltwater is the electrolyte and our cathode is a material that allows oxygen from the air to react with the magnesium, letting off electrons and hydrogen in the process (which is interesting from the perspective that other fuel cell technology uses hydrogen as its fuel, we are venting it back to the atmosphere). The recent power blackout has been a tremendous boon for us. Our profile has been elevated far beyond what we could have paid for as a result. Our order book is filling up quickly for our SAM-Cell and we expect to announce that or October deliveries are completely sold out. So now we are taking orders for November deliver - so place your orders now and avoid being left out for Christmas! If you have more questions feel free to ask me. Thanks again for your link regards See also
Page posted by SDA,
August 29, 2003 |
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