At least for the Pro Line of the EFoy (SFC) fuel cells, it would be easy to refill the jugs. There are no moving parts or anything in the container- but it does have a pickup and is very pure. My understanding is any contamination could potentially really mess up the chemistry in the stack.
Since it was a backup power in the applications I've used, the fuel would last a very long time (years). But I ran one for a year charging a big bank of batteries (some 1800 Ah at a 8hour rate if I recall)- and used only about a litre or two of fuel at the most. I cannot remember exactly how much anymore, I'm pretty sure it was only a litre.
Note that the loads on that bank was small, just some small fans to keep the shelter ventilated well.
On the mountaintop there were no fans (power is too precious) but a tall vent tube for fresh air when it was snow covered- the exhaust when out the bottom.
We even used solar controllers with no LEDs or anything to keep power losses down. I figured at it needed at least a month of reserved power with no solar at all to make sure this highly critical site was kept running (with no access in winter, even until perhaps July often due to heavy snow, estimated 250 feet a year).
If I was still working, I could probably have snagged some old fuel we didn't want to chance using on the mountaintop sites. Even though technically illeagal (but paying to get rid of something that is no longer useful for the application seems silly to me. Of course the reason is to keep someone from taking/giving away stuff that is still useful, which would be stealing).
Mark
|