Microcell: design and development of a polymer fuel cell for low consumption portable applications

'Full text:' At present, very diverse electric energy generating devices or equipment exist, commonly known as low consumption portable systems (mobile phones, electronic agendas, portable computers, etc.), the use of which is becoming more widespread in ordinary day life. The aforementioned systems use power batteries as an energy source. These batteries store energy until they are wasted, at which time they have to be replaced or recharged from the network, usually with specific chargers. However, fuel cells are not devices that store energy, they convert the energy contained in a certain fuel into electric energy. The objective of the project is the study, design and development of an electric energy production system based on a fuel cell, in miniature, up to 50 W output, integrated in a plate expressly developed for the fluids involved in the production of electric energy by means of this electrochemical device. The most original innovation aspect of this project is the design of a system based on fuel cells for low consumption applications with the advantages this technology provides as regards recharge time (practically nil) and energy density (very high), among others. (author)