A space and defence technology firm has patented a new instrument which measures fuel cell humidity using a laser.

Viaspace, which marketises technologies developed by the department of defence and NASA as hardware and software, said that the instrument would provide a real-time measurement of the amount of water vapour in gas streams used by fuel cells.

Fuel cells are set to be a growth area for platinum and pgm demand as the metals are used as catalysts in the technology, which is finding increasing an increasing number of applications.

A device to detect the humidity of the gas stream was essential for the performance of the fuel cell, the company said, as the performance of the cell's Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) depends upon the membrane's moisture level.

"Viaspace believes that its humidity measuring instrument is far superior to competing approaches, and this patent application is intended to protect our competitive advantage," said Dr Carl Kukkonen, chief executive of Viaspace.

The chief added that the instrument has been directly developed thanks to work done by NASA's own research.

"The concept behind this instrument was originally developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to measure water vapor in the atmospheres of Earth and Mars. The technology came via the space program," he said.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd