A new mobile pressure control system for pneumatic actuators using reversible chemical reactions of water

Recently, the need of mobile gas sources and gas controller with portability, silence and high efficiency are strongly required for pneumatic actuators, while conventional air compressors and their control systems are large, heavy, noisy, and low-efficient. This paper proposes a new mobile pressure control system using reversible chemical reactions. This report shows its basic mechanism and experimental results using the first prototype based on the electrolysis / synthesis of water, which show a big possibility of this new idea. This device consisting of a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and a current controller can control gas pressure with electric current.