Glad to see there are types of denatured ethanol compatible with fuel cells (See attachment).
Obviously being able to use denatured ethanol is going to make refueling the fuel cell very easy as you can buy it at any hardware or home improvement store.
Now we just need to figure how to use the waste heat of a fuel cell in a productive fashion. There should be something easy enough to implement as there are all types of waste heat driven processes....there is even such a thing as "waste heat driven refrigeration" which is sometimes called "heat driven refrigeration".
I'm no expert on fuel cells, but IIRC the membranes don't last long and are expensive?
As for using waste heat in a velomobile type chassis I think
the Meredith Effect might be about the easiest, no extra stuff and weight required, method.
ie: a mild jet effect simply from the shape of the velo's shell and I believe the the aero shapes currently used are very damn close thx to the same laws of aerodynamics.
As I understand things you have a duct that increases in area to a maximum slightly ahead of the heat source to create a high pressure 'barrier' or one way valve of sorts.
After that the heating of the air expands it giving you the 'jet' of faster moving air out the back.
The literature says the effect only works above 400km/h or something, but back then they did not have the CFD modeling software available today, so I think it's worth a 2nd look..?
For std engines the heat and temperature in the exhaust is sufficient for pyrolysis:
The breaking down of HCs into methane like gasses that burn faster and more completely.
The temperature is sufficient for Steam Reformation too:
Methane + Steam = H2 + CO. (CO burns but badly)
But the pressures required to do so efficiently would make things heavy and dangerous.
Fortunately you can swap more temperature for lower pressure as was done by MIT and the like.
Look up:
MIT Plasmatron fuel reformer
for some interesting reading!
Basically it's nothing more than a giant spark plug, easily turned on a lathe, that provides the extra temperature and where the plasma arc also acts as a catalyst of huge surface area...
It worked so well it was bought out by shell companies and relegated to an exhaust after-treatment system, before quietly 'disappearing' of the scene completely.
Ye; if you own a lot of oil wells etc; buying controlling stocks in the industries that consume oil is a very good way of ensuring continued daylight robbery.
Then there's the Water-Gas Shift Reaction that operates at the temperatures akin to those found in the necessary cooling of the above gasses in an intercooler (large surface area) before entering the engine.
CO+H20 = H2+CO2
Throughout these reactions there are similar catalysts.
Zinc and Copper come up a lot.
These normally require huge surface areas, but every bit helps.
Copper is extremely interesting in that, unlike most metals, high temperatures reduce copper from 'rusty' to shiny bright..!
The kind of temperatures found in combustion chambers.
There is in fact a study where a copper coated combustion chamber etc makes a surprisingly large difference to engine efficiency by 'catalysing' the HC, steam and CO to H2 in the flame quenched areas close to chamber walls!
I'll provide links if anyone's interested.
Most important to note is that in an onboard system the easily achievable 'Methane' is already a win.
Any H2 one might be able to produce, Plasmatron or not, is a bonus.
Copper radiators are available and copper and zinc plating (of steel wool etc and combustion chambers) are pretty simple.
I have plenty of links available if you or anyone's interested.
endless-sphere.com
