Steam Punk remakes Power Grid With Compressed Air | Hacker News Reader

Steam Punk remakes Power Grid With Compressed Air

wired.com

18 pointshef1989820 comments

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The innovation, as described by the article:

* power can be stored in tanks of compressed air

* compressing air makes it heat up

* heat dissipation from the hot compressed air reduces storage efficiency

* the solution here is to mix water with the air

* the water stores a great deal of heat, reducing the temperature of the compressed air without reducing the amount of heat stored

* lowering the temperature of the compressed air reduces the heat dissipation, increasing storage efficiency

It's a pretty slick solution. The heat capacity of water is so enormous--I've often been frustrated by it when I'm waiting for water to boil. But here they're turning it around and using it as a tool. It's a very elegant problem/solution fit.

And all that without some fancy CO2 storage, new chemicals and all that. It gives the whole ACME Instant "enter something redicolous" just add water approach a whole new spin!

You totally got it. ;)

A common theme with a lot of stories about great innovators like this is that they had excellent parents who made decisions to put their children ahead of social convention or the "default".

Seems pretty cool, but can someone explain the advantages over a battery? Also why is there so little light in the article photos?

Longevity is a mechanical problem, rather than a chemical problem (as it is in batteries). A-priori, this is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage - it is just different. But it is likely that these could live longer and be perfectly recyclable (and with no toxic materials at all).

Modern batteries are a marvel of chemistry, but they have made little progress in density in the last decades (and a lot of that progress relies on rare earth materials). There are many competitors for energy storage now, among them water fuel cells, aluminum and ultra capacitors. If these guys succeed, pressurized air will join this list as well.

Some data points: air compressors last in the field for 30 years, and tanks as long or longer.

We anticipate that, having overcome the corrosion difficulty, an even longer lifetime should be achievable. We have vastly reduced thermal stresses.

> We anticipate that, having overcome the corrosion difficulty

Given that it's essentially a closed system of (quality verifiable) air and water, where is the corrosion coming from? and how did you guys address that?

Some things are proprietary but there was no magic involved.

I promise the LightSail offices (a former chocolate factory) are much more well lit than the article makes out. However, the editors thought it would be more dramatic -- and steam punkish. :-)

Weel lit or not, damn nice office space you have. I'm jealous. Ah, and before I forget: All the best for the future, i'm convinced you're up to something. Really hope it works commercialy. And damn impressive to go to college aged 12 and drop out of grad-school aged 22! :-)

Thanks. Dropped out at 19 actually though.

Of grad school????? No I'll get myself a hole to hide.... :-)

Is it the old Scharffenberger factory?

Yes

The advantage, of course, is that a Beautiful Female Inventor (TM) is pushing it. And therefore you should invest immediately. Or something like that.

In all seriousness, compressed air is a simply dreadful way to store energy. The necessity of an adiabatic cycle (store the heat from compression to use during expansion), for one thing. Tank rupture, for another.

Energy systems everywhere have to deal with large energy densities and risk. A transformer explosion or substation short are dramatic and dangerous as well - yet we deploy them throughout the nation (even in your neighborhood).

The adiabatic cycle management is the principle point in the article; their solution reportedly drives efficiency to 70%.

I'd be interested in knowing the advantages (for stationary power storage) vs. pumping water. With water pumping, you do need convenient access to huge amounts of water, and evaporation is a problem, but pumps are pretty efficient.

What would be the compressed air equivalent of a fuse?

Without fuses, the electric grid as we know it would be quite impossible.

Cool tech, but the article's clumsy attempt to link it to a fashion movement only takes away.

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