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OK, so it’s a _LARGE_ capacitor

I’ve been quietly reading a PDF archived on an odd energy website about CSIRO’s 2008 Energy Storage projects.

These include an 8.54kf asymmetrical Ni(OH)2/C capacitor.

Yes, that’s kiloFarads, or about a million times larger than the biggest electrolytic capacitor you’ll find in an everyday electronic appliance.

They also invented a thing they call the UltraBattery, which is a blend between this asymmetric capacitor & a lead-acid battery. It gives the surge ability of the cap backed by the robustness of the battery. The cap “protects” the battery from damage through excessive demand.

Performance is comparable with NiMH for around a fifth of the cost. Durability trials exceeded 100,000 simulated miles with no significant degradation. Like NiMH, the UltraBattery can be scaled to extremes.

If the pollies (& the bankrupt philosophies pushing them) would just naff off & leave us alone, I think we’ll get on just fine with managing this planet. Chances are...?

Comments

GregoryO said…
Dude that's awesome. I am so looking forward to the future of energy technology as it comes into play for the average consumer. I'd like to somehow be involved in it now, but I've no real expertise and not quite enough attention span to adopt yet one more hobby (:
Leon RJ Brooks said…
Greg, I guess your attention span’s about shot by now... I guess nobody pointed out before you started that having children involves lack of sleep for about 20 or so years...? (-:

Anyway, if you think large caps are fun, hunt around for “magnet motor“ or “plasma generator“ “zero point” (including the quotes will save much reading) then have a go at building one.

A model-sized repulsion-mode magnet motor is fairly simple to build, but “wears out” the magnets fairly soon. I’ve thunk of a similar attraction-mode design but haven’t yet built one.

After recovering from the emotional meltdown which follows construction & operation of a functional model-scale motor, pause to ponder how much the one-world government crew (the Peter Principle taken to extremes) would appreciate the massive loss of direct control implied in most households obtaining their energy from such devices...

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