SA scientist develops portable power solution

18th April 2014

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Rocket scientist and innovator Siyabulela Xuza believes microfuel-cell technology can be used as a portable power source, which would provide crucial additional power for cellphone users.

Xuza, who addressed the 2014 Power & Electricity World Africa conference, in Johannesburg, last month, explained that, while studying at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, in the US, he pioneered microfuel cells for mobile energy use.

“I believe that power storage, and not power generation, presents the greatest challenge in developing innovative energy solutions.”

He highlighted that, in the last ten years, with the advent of smartphones, particularly in the fourth generation of the mobile telecommunications era, these devices required significantly more energy than their batteries provided.

“The insufficient generation capacity of cellular batteries means that regular users of mobile devices have to recharge regularly,” Xuza pointed out.

He stressed that the poor power levels of cellphone batteries would have significant consequences for African countries, where the mobile telecommunication industries were playing a critical role in promoting growth.

“By ensuring a sufficient power supply to a cellular phone, one is, in essence, empowering an entire economy. For example, in Kenya, mobile phones have revolutionised the way the country’s commercial industry is being operated,” stated Xuza.

According to the American think-tank Pew Research Center, Kenya is at “the forefront of a banking revolution, as the majority of Kenyans, about 56%, make or receive payments using cellphones”.

Understanding Fuel Cells

“A fuel cell, containing air and fuel, is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. The fuel, mixed with air, produces electricity through a process of chemical reactions,” Xuza explained.

He added that the heart of the fuel cell – the electrolytes – was also the fuel cell’s membrane and that developing ways of enlarging the membrane was key to fuel cell development, “as a larger membrane produces more energy”.

“A microfuel cell is the same as a fuel cell, but it does not produce enough electricity to power a business operation; however, it can contain sufficient electricity-generating capacity to power a cellular device.”

Further, Xuza noted that microfuel-cell models had been developed over the last 20 years.

“However, researchers were struggling to overcome the challenge of scalability,” he added.

Xuza said that microfuel cells were developed square-shaped because of mechanical reasons and, as a result, “were brittle and highly susceptible to mechanical failure”.

African Innovation

Xuza said that while he was studying in the US, he investigated the feasibility of constructing microfuel cells in a circular shape and, by conducting stress assessments on circular membranes, found that mechanical stability –essential to microfuel-cell development – could be achieved.

Additionally, he noted that using circular membranes increased the area of surface space that could be used for increasing the power output of the microfuel cells.

“This was important, as each microfuel cell is about the size of a microchip, which is equivalent to the size of the average SIM card, and it was essential to fit as many circular membranes as possible into the cell to ensure maximum power production.”

Moreover, Xuza pointed out that a few companies in the US had already commercialised the use of microfuel-cell technology to power cellphones, indicating the technology’s great marketing potential.

“Having developed a scalable microfuel-cell technology model, I was determined to establish a commercially viable industry in South Africa using the technologies my research team and I had developed at Harvard,” he asserted.

Xuza acknowledged that South Africa currently did not have the technical capacity to develop the system locally, but that he remained committed to establishing a commercially viable business locally that would develop solutions for the African energy industries.

About Xuza

The 25-year-old Xuza hails from Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape. For his work on rocket fuel, he achieved first place at the world’s largest youth innovation fair – the 2007 Intel Science and Engineering Fair – which took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the US.

In 2008, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory, in the US, named a minor planet Siyaxuza, which is located near the Jupiter asteroid belt, in Xuza’s honour.

Xuza’s numerous other accolades include being awarded a fellowship to the African Leadership Network in 2010. He is also the youngest member of the Africa 2.0 energy advisory panel.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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