The Application of a Portable DMFCs Stack With Fractal Current Collectors Using Hilbert Geometry for a Charger System

The study develops a portable charger platform that contains a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) consisting of a set of planar DMFCs with current collectors, Fractal Hilbert Geometry and a power balance plant (BOP). The third order Hilbert geometry is used for the 35×35 mm2 current collectors. The system output design is set at 5V controlled by a power balance plant applied to 3C low power products. This paper discusses the Methanol feed rate, air flow rate, bipolar plate thickness and power balance plant layout for DMFC performance. To evaluate the reliability and efficiency of the DMFC power source, a data acquisition (DAQ) system connected to a real time monitor is used to assess the current and voltage output from the DMFC system while running different parameters. The results show the current of the charger system obtain 84 mA and 103 mA under 2V and 3V input voltage converters respectively. The transform efficiency for power balance plant is up to about 84% for 3V input voltage converter.