Portable Hydrogen Power - 10/9/08

Trulite in Houston, TX is developing a portable hydrogen powered generator called the KH4.  Simply pour water into the unit and it will generate 150 watts of electricity, 200 watts at its peak.

While 200 watts is not a tremendous amount of power it will recharge laptops, cell phones, recharge power tools or run a small appliance.

Contractors working on skyscrapers will be the primary target market for the Trulite KH4 hydrogen generator.  A contactor using cordless power tools must change out their batteries often.  They either need to carry charged spare batteries, which can be very expensive or recharge them with gasoline generators.  Fumes and noise from gasoline generators are often not an option.  The Trulite KH4 will provide the solution. 

The KH4 uses a fuel cell to produce electricity.  The active ingredient in this fuel cell is sodium borohydride.  This material when introduced to water splits the molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.  The hydrogen is then pushed through a membrane that extracts electrons. 

Hydrogen is commonly criticized as being expensive and impractical, but could now become the fuel of the future.  The KH4 hydrogen generator could be the solution when batteries and solar power is not available. 

Trulite will send out beta units soon and plans to sell the units the second quarter of 2009.

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