Real-World Vaporware: Charge Your Phone With a Hydrogen Reactor
Photo: Tim Moynihan/WIRED
Most portable chargers won’t last long if you’re away from a power
outlet for more than a couple of days. The vast majority of them need to
be plugged in so their internal batteries can get recharged. Once
they’re out of juice, you’re out of luck if you’re away from a socket.
The
Brunton Hydrogen Reactor
removes recharging from the equation by using hydrogen fuel-cell
technology to generate power. It doesn’t require a power outlet to build
up a charge, so it will come in handy for long camping trips,
earthquake kits, and emergency go-bags.
If the Reactor looks familiar, then you probably know about the
$100 Horizon Fuel-Cell MiniPak.
The Brunton version is a licensed, reworked, and improved version of
Horizon’s portable fuel-cell charger, rebranded for campers and hikers.
Other than aesthetics, the main difference between the two products is
that the Brunton charger’s hydrogen cores have more capacity.
Photo: Tim Moynihan/WIRED
There are other portable fuel-cell chargers out there — some that use
hydrogen as the main source of fuel and others that use different
sources. There’s the hydrogen-based
myFC PowerTrekk ($230), which can also be charged up using a power outlet.
Toshiba’s Dynario charger (around $300) uses a squirtable liquid methanol solution to charge devices. The
Lilliputian Nectar ($300) has a similar design as the Reactor, but it uses butane cartridges as its fuel source.
With a fuel-cell device, you’re basically developing electricity live
and on-the-spot. The Walkman-sized Reactor uses removable and
replenishable hydrogen cores, each of which are about the size of two C
batteries stacked on top of one another. The rechargeable hydrogen cores
are rated at 1,000 cycles apiece. When they’re spent, you can recycle
them as you would a soup can.
When a hydrogen core is loaded into the device, the Reactor’s
internal fuel cell uses a platinum catalyst to separate
positively-charged hydrogen ions from negatively-charged electrons. The
electrons are routed through a circuit, supplying the electricity that
powers your gadget. The hydrogen ions are shot through an electrolyte
membrane, where they combine with oxygen from the air to create water
vapor. You hear little puffs of vapor come out of the device as your
gadget charges — water and mild heat are the Reactor’s only
environmental emissions.
Photo: Tim Moynihan/WIRED
Compressed hydrogen gas and liquid hydrogen are both extremely
volatile and dangerous, but Brunton claims the hydrogen stored in its
rechargeable cores is much safer because it’s stored as a
more stable hydride.
That said, the Reactor and its hydrogen cores have their own set of
safety requirements: The Reactor is only approved for carry-on luggage
in airplanes, no more than two hydrogen-core cells are allowed in your
carry-on luggage, and you’ll need to keep the cells at temperatures
below 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
The charger needs open air to operate correctly, so you can’t put it
in an airtight bag while you’re charging your gadgets. And it won’t work
on any camping trips to the Moon.
A USB-out port on the Reactor pumps out 5 volts at either 1 or 2
amps; you toggle between output levels by pressing the lone button on
the side of the Reactor. The 1-amp setting is made for charging most
pocketable devices, including phones, camera batteries, and GPS units,
while the 2-amp setting is enough to charge an iPad. Brunton says each
hydrogen-core cell boasts enough juice to charge your smartphone five or
six times, but iPad-recharging caps out at about 1.5 times per
fully-juiced cell.
The hydrogen-core cells recharge quickly (about an hour each), and
their charging power doesn’t degrade quickly over time unlike a
Lithium-ion battery. Once each cell runs out of juice, you’ll have to
wait until you get home to recharge it; the separately sold hydrolyser
refill device isn’t portable, and it requires a wall outlet to work. It
also costs $250, but Brunton is working with retailers to offer free
in-store recharging stations for the hydrogen cores.
Due in October, the $150 Brunton Hydrogen Reactor will come with two
rechargeable hydrogen-core cells. Individual cartridges will go for $15
each, while four-packs will sell for $50. That’s not exactly a
cost-effective scenario for everyday use, but it might be worth the
investment for hardcore campers and hikers.
