Posted on 07/21/2021 11:05:06 PM PDT by Jonty30
As renewable forms of power like wind and solar continue to gain prominence, there will be a need for creative solutions when it comes to storing energy from sources that are intermittent by nature. One potential solution is known as a molten salt battery, which offers advantages that lithium batteries do not, but have their share of kinks to iron out, too. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new design that addresses a number of these shortcomings, and demonstrated a working molten salt battery that can be constructed far more cheaply, while storing more energy, than currently available versions.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
What about replacing hydrocarbons for your car? (Haha)
I don’t mind at all that funds go towards research, even if that research ends up going nowhere. At some point, there will be an Eureka level discovery that Allows America and the world to have a real energy revolution on a scale that allows us to have 500 years of prosperity.
Maybe this combined with solar power could be a ticket. Use the solar power to heat up the salt and then use the salt to keep your home warm.
For those who want a better understanding as to how molten salt works, it isn’t just salt.
Interesting. Thank you.
Sounds like a battery Timothy McVeigh would love.
We already have enough coal, oil and natural gas. They just don’t want to use it. The will stop anything that makes America great
I’m in agreement with you. Hydrocarbons is the most environmentally friendly option of all.
Fire? Maybe not. Explosion? Likely!
I remember a demonstration of Sodium back in my 7th grade science class. The sodium was held inside a container filled with kerosene. Why kerosene? Because the Sodium had an explosive reaction when brought in contact with water. The instructor, who happened to have a PhD in real science, not education, demonstrated this by dropping a tiny piece of the sodium into a water bath so we could see this. It was quite impressive.
So, if you want to have large quantities of liquid sodium at temperatures over 600 degrees F (hot enough to ignite paper on contact), and explosive when contacting water, it better be miles away from me.
“Maybe this combined with solar power could be a ticket. Use the solar power to heat up the salt and then use the salt to keep your home warm.”
One of the big problems with solar is it declines just as energy consumption peaks around 7pm. Molten salt can push power production forward a couple hours to help with this.
The major problems with battery storage are 1) scalability and 2) sustainability. How many mega watts you can store is a big factor but not as important as how many megawatt hours you can provide. How big a battery source would you need to maintain power to the grid to prevent a blackout across southern California, say, that might last for hours?
McVeigh was a patsy, the fedgoons blew up their own building.
It is not pure sodium, but a sodium salt. You can mix this salt in water and it will dissolve without an explosive reaction.
As long as it doesn’t burn my house down...or my Tesla. Or my Tesla AND my house.
Could be a great boon for off-grid living.
Molten salt heat storage has been in use for decades in cars to provide rapid heating of engine coolant in cold climates. The “battery” is charged while driving and stores enough thermal energy to quickly heat the car the next morning.
it’s interesting but as they admit not ready yet for prime time, and there is no assurance that the additional hurdles to be overcome will be overcome, in ten years time, or in a real-time cost effective manner.
I am not betting on solar & wind and their need for battery solutions.
I am betting on latest technology small safe and modular nuclear power plants, and they will be dominating the energy scene before fusion is ever reliable.
CO2 is plant food. We need to keep saying this.
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