Fuel Cell Powered Clock

Here is a project I have been thinking about for a while. I've had a Thames & Kosmos fuel cell car kit for a while. And I am collecting a bag full of "dead" batteries to drop off at hazardous waste disposal. My mind started wandering and I thought "I know there is still energy in those batteries, just not enough to run the device they are in, I hate to throw them out while there is still energy in them..." The wheels in my head started turning and I starting thinking about how to drain these batteries completely before disposal while storing and using the recovered energy. First challenge is voltage variation, almost by definition the voltage of these batteries is low and getting lower as they are drained, so that got me thinking of electrolysis to drain them while producing hydrogen which I could then use to power the fuel cell. But the fuel cell only puts out a small voltage, so can't use it to power anything significant - but maybe my 1.5 bathroom clock! So, with all of that in mind, here is my thought process and at the bottom is the final plan.

Basic Car Kit Connections:
This is the connection setup defined in my Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit. This configuration uses a solar panel to power the load and power the fuel cell in electrolysis mode to produce hydrogen. When there is no light on the panel, the cell reverts into generator mode and consumes hydrogen to continue powering the load. The book suggests that plastic containers apparently won’t hold hydrogen for long(?) so looking for something glass to use for storage. (book indicates ~50% reduction in hydrogen volume over 12 hours!)

Basic Car Kit Connections - with Bad Idea:
Thought #1 - connect “dead” batteries to the system to remove every last bit of energy before sending for recycling. Problem: book says that the fuel cell needs at least ~1 volt to operate in electrolysis mode, so won’t fully drain the battery. Also, at that low voltage it would become a load for the solar panel and fuel cell (they would try to charge the battery). I think a full battery could be used if a transistor was put in line such that if the voltage of the system drops below a minimum, then the battery is engaged, but that is extra (complicated) circuitry.

Basic Car Kit Connections with Hoffman Apparatus:
Thought #2 - connect “dead” batteries directly to the water for electrolysis. This changes the problem into one of plumbing - the fuel cell needs distilled water, and straight electrolysis really needs salt water to be effective, so the tubing connections need to be done in such a way as to avoid any salt water from getting into the fuel cell. A little Internet searching found "The Hoffman Electrolysis Apparatus", which appears to be exactly what I need.
NOTE: booklet says hydrogen comes off negative terminal of energy source.

Hoffman Electrolysis Apparatus Connections:
Operation, Daylight:
- solar panel powers clock and fuel cell, hydrogen produced is stored in Hoffman apparatus
- battery also produces hydrogen, also stored in apparatus
- when “full”, cathode is out of water and battery electrolysis stops
- continued fuel cell hydrogen produced is vented through center tube

Operation, Night/Dark:
- Fuel cell consumes hydrogen to power the clock
- battery produces hydrogen to replenish
- when water level reaches top, air is drawn from center tube to avoid salt water flow into fuel cell supply tube and electricity production stops (clock stops)

MP3 Player Playlist Suggestion

I must not be a normal person. My friends will immediately agree with this, but I'm saying it for a different reason... Almost all MP3 players and computer-based music programs allow the creation of playlists, but none that I have found allow songs to be added to these playlists while the song is playing, or allow adding a song to multiple lists. From what I can see, if I load a CD into my music archive, I need to immediately assign each song to a single playlist after loading or at some point while my MP3 player is connected to the computer - which I think is kinda stupid.
My suggestion:
- create multiple playlists by music type or listening pattern (ie. driving tunes, quite Sunday morning tunes, dinner background tunes, etc)
- load all the songs from the CD into the computer/MP3 player
- allow the user to select playlists to associate to the song while the song is playing

Scenario is this: load 1 or several CDs onto the MP3 player, listen to the songs however you like (I prefer shuffling everything), while listening to each song, tag it to all of the playlists you want, go to next song....after a while, all the songs are categorized and you can then listen by category. Oh, and be sure to create a "Delete" playlist so that you can flag a song for removal from the library next time you are doing list admin.

Movie Review: Reneissance

I caught Reneissance on the dish the other night, its a neat little movie. Its animated but in pure black and white - not even greys. The movie itself is just 'okay', but its got an interesting look. Not very memorable, but one thing did stick with me; the setting is a futuristic (~50 years) Paris, and sections of the city have had "glass" pedestrian promenades built above the streets. I think this is a very interesting and doable idea for city core areas that have become over congested. Thinking of areas in Toronto like Yonge and Queen, picture a glasstic (my word for something transparent with the flex and strength properties of plastic) platform built at about the 3rd floor level that goes between the buildings and completely covers the streets. There is room at street level for the cars, trucks, and streetcars, but the majority of the pedestrian traffic would be above this. The glasstic still allows daylight to reach the underlying street, but there is now room for free human movement outdoors including outdoor cafes and miniparks with seating areas and gardens in the middle of what would be the intersections below. The underlying structure would need to be strong enough to support the weight of many people (thinking sporting event or political rally or protest) and the winter snow, but minimal snow removal costs would be incurred in this area, just enough on the pedestrian level to allow movement between buildings - but even that is optional since the pedestrians could use the street level in winter to avoid the snow. Anyway, this was a minor background concept in the movie, but it got me thinking about the practical applications.