Why doesn’t my phone run on propane?

[Rex Sanders]

Randall Munroe does his usual excellent job of explaining why a Zippo lighter contains a lot more energy that your smart phone:

http://what-if.xkcd.com/128/

Reminds me of many BPL threads.

— Rex

"The hand isn't the fattiest part of the body, but if burned completely, it would probably give off about 500 watt-hours of energy …"

[David Thomas]

My prediction (not like I studied fuel cells in college or anything, except, well, I did):

The first time most people will recharge their cell phone off a fuel cell is when they plug it into the 12-volt power port of the Honda or Toyota fuel-cell car parked in their driveway. And while a hydrocarbon fuel-cell is the holy grail of fuel cells (what every wants) it is also the holy grail of fuel cells (no one has found it yet*). A gasoline or even propane-powered fuel-cell car would hit it out of the ball-park (infinite range through our existing fuel stations and fuel efficiency 2-3x what combustion engines can possibly do). But I suspect the mass-marketed fuel-cell cars will use hydrogen with all of its downsides because that kind of fuel cell is so easy – we've been shooting them into space for longer than I've been alive.

*yeah, there are hydrocarbon fuel cells but operating at ridiculous temperatures, using really expensive materials, and/or too sensitive and heavy for portable applications.

[Ralph Burgess]

The fuel cell charger that Randall mentions looks interesting, if they can deliver.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/265641170/kraftwerk-highly-innovative-portable-power-plant

Specs:
The empty unit weighs 5.6oz.
1.4oz fuel gives about 10,000 mAh (about 4 iPhone charges).
And you can just take as much fuel if you need.

[Roger Caffin]

Your iPhone cannot run on propane because it really runs on smoke.
This is well known.

Cheers

[Larry Swearingen]

Roger,
You forgot about the mirrors.

Larry

[Roger Caffin]

> You forgot about the mirrors.
My bad.

Cheers

[Author]

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