YouTube/Patrick Laine/fuel cells

[Jam]

Had a listen/look on YouTube and this chap is really interesting.  Very calm and tells you as it is.  One thing I can’t get my head around is how he can travel long dist with only methanol fuel cell as alternative for charging plus he uses autohelm all the time.  How much methanol does he need on a trip, cost and storage of flammable liquid....is this an issue.  Also does he run the engine to charge when required.   He talks about the type of fuel cell used but not much else.
Well worth a listen and he has travelled all over the place single handed
J

[Markus]

I am not sure which fuel cell he has (did not listen to this one yet), but probably a direct methanol fuel cell such as Efoy. They run with a mixture of ethanol and distilled water. Due to the much higher electrical efficiency of fuel cells compared to marine diesel engine (running on low partial load when charging), the needed fuel quantity is relatively small. According to Efoy specification, you get 1 kWh (around 77 Ah at 13 V) out of 0.9 litres of fuel (methanol-water mix). So with for example 50 litres of fuel onboard in addition to usual solar arrays, you can run in silent mode for a very long time... 

And the good thing is that the fuel is not flammable as it's a mix of water and methanol so you can store it in a similar fashion as you store your sundowners - although separately as methanol is poisonous if ingested!

https://www.my-efoy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/datasheet-efoy-80-150-en.pdf

[Odysseus]

Patrick is based in La Rochell ex pilot, has some very good advice on sailing, he was caught out with the fuel bug and built his own polishing kit, be aware people, it's a big issue.
I am in France and every year people ask me about it.
Odysseus

[tiger79]

I am not sure which fuel cell he has (did not listen to this one yet), but probably a direct methanol fuel cell such as Efoy. They run with a mixture of ethanol and distilled water. Due to the much higher electrical efficiency of fuel cells compared to marine diesel engine (running on low partial load when charging), the needed fuel quantity is relatively small. According to Efoy specification, you get 1 kWh (around 77 Ah at 13 V) out of 0.9 litres of fuel (methanol-water mix). So with for example 50 litres of fuel onboard in addition to usual solar arrays, you can run in silent mode for a very long time... 

And the good thing is that the fuel is not flammable as it's a mix of water and methanol so you can store it in a similar fashion as you store your sundowners - although separately as methanol is poisonous if ingested!

https://www.my-efoy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/datasheet-efoy-80-150-en.pdf

Unfortunately, the Efoy fuel cartridges are ruinously expensive - the methanol is about £5 a litre.