New Liquid Battery

Your water heater has almost zero insulation. Make that water heater the size of municipal water tank and surround it with forty feet of high R value insulation. The heat losses would be minimal compared to the losses of other electrical storage techniques, such as pumped storage.

Tom

 

I have to ask: What is the difference between cars and EVs? Silly me, I thought they were one and the same. At least we sure drive our EV as a car. I hope we aren't doing it wrong!

 

Cars are a mode of personal transportation. EVs are an imaginary form of transportation.

Tom

 

i can believe that.... i see people every day staring at me with disbelief

 

Yes, of course you can. I'm talking about large industrial processes where certain components are specifically engineered to provide such a steady-state operation, or for certain batch operations

 

Eg: the surface area and loss of a domestic hot water tank vs that huge industrial tank ...

 

Cars are automobiles, which is driven by an engine.
EVs are driven by motors and assuming non-polluting, kind of like a faster golf cart.

 

I would like one of those Tesla golf carts.

 

I thought EVs were powered by bunny hugs and butterfly kisses. At least that's what darreldd told me.

Tom

 

Smirk, snicker

 

But so can gasoline if it's not protected!

 

I usually call it "rainbows and the laughter of children." Not like you to get that wrong seeing as how you hang on every one of my words, Tom.

It will be a breakthrough if it is commercialized, at least. Just like the EEstore capacitors will be "real breakthroughs" if they ever materialize. I usually reserve "breakthrough" for items that exist out in the wild.

 

Well, unfortunately, there are "breatkthrough" ideas out there that have been shelved due to exotically high unit cost, lack of appropriate mass-produced hardware, etc.

Consider that the idea behind a Prius really isn't "new."A vehicle like the Prius could have been built two decades ago. Only catch is that the hardware would have needed several chest-freezer size cabinets to fit in

Before IGBT's, things like variable speed drives (Variable frequency drives) were huge things. A VFD for a three phase 20 hp industrial motor easily required a box the size of an upright freezer

Of course, Tom and I also remember the dawn of "electronic" process control. Eg: a TDC 2000 with a "Hiway" data network, running Enhanced Operator Stations.

Eight years later, when TDC 3000 came on the scene, the Hiway Gateway relegated the former "high speed" network to a low speed interface for RTD's and ORP's

 

LOL. Yes, I usually follow Darell with a sappy look on my face and my pencil and notebook at the ready <sigh>.

Tom

 

This "liquid" battery requires molten metal - so it's a lossless design made for storing surplus energy to be used in times of need.

Think of it as a giant UPS for a power plant.

No way this tech is for cars or at home. Whoever designed the Picture forgot to include the Scale in Meters. This must be huge to be efficient.

 

jus read article about charging breakthru at MIT where Li batts can be recharged safely within seconds...

**prelim info only**

as always, a "few" drawbacks...for one thing, it would need a special charging system, because during testing runs, even with something as small as a cellphone battery, it drew 350 amps... so house charging circuits would be out... they are now investigating solutions that slows down the charging process a bit with less current draw... but its a start.


**edit**
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-10194721-72.html?part=rss

 

Yes, I remember being told that computers will always require entire buildings to hold them (and now I use one as a door stop).

Obviously the first generation may take 5 to 10+ years, but if money can be made by putting them in vehicles, then it's going to happen.

 

Like the IBM Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or AN/FSQ-7, used for early radar defense:

AN/FSQ-7 "Whirlwind II" Intercept Computer

MITRE Corp was instrumental in development of SAGE

MITRE - About Us - MITRE History - Photo Archives - Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE)

Since SAGE was conceived in the mid 1950's, not only did it run on a few vacuum tubes - around 100,000 of them - but the consoles also had built-in ashtrays and cigarette lighters

IBM Archives: SAGE console

Ah, the good ole days