PASADENA, CA - VIASPACE Inc. announced in a press release that it has received Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its patent application entitled Fuel Cell and Products of Combustion Humidity Sensor.
The patent application relates to detection and measurement of water vapor (humidity) in gas streams for fuel cells and exhaust streams from combustion processes. The patent fees have been paid and the patent is expected to issue within six weeks.
The patent application covers two of the most important uses of VIASPACE's HS-1000 humidity sensor product. The HS-1000 uses a laser to make real-time measurements of water vapor in air or other gas streams.
Humidity measurements are crucial for testing and optimization of hydrogen fuel cells and the HS-1000 has been sold to leading fuel cell developers and researchers worldwide.
The other major application covered by the patent is to measure humidity in the products of combustion. Gasoline or natural gas, when burned in air, produce water vapor as a combustion product.
Precise measurement of the water vapor in the exhaust may be a crucial indicator of the efficiency of combustion and the effective "miles per gallon" achieved.
One international customer extensively compared the VIASPACE HS-1000 to two leading competitors and the HS-1000 won the competition. HS-1000 customers include Ballard Power Systems, 3M, US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology and a leading worldwide automobile manufacturer.
VIASPACE was founded in 1998 and became a public company in 2005. VIASPACE focuses on clean and alternative energy including disposable fuel cell cartridges, and a proprietary fast-growing grass as a feedstock for biofuels and for animal feed.
