On Sun, 9 Apr 2017 10:32:38 +0100, Robin wrote:
On 09/04/2017 10:13, e27002 aurora wrote:
This http://tinyurl.com/lek9qsp could have an impact on rail and
transit. It remains to be used beyond prototypes.
Did you mean to provide a link to something other than yet another
expensive video pumping yet another company claiming yet another battery
breakthrough, and one which they first publicised nearly 2 years ago?
This is what the first of several well-informed comments says:
"How can the cost of an Al-air system be roughly $1.1 per kg of
aluminium anode. The current very low LME price is already $1.5/Kg.
The anode would still need to be produced, packaged and transported to
the market. Furthermore everyone in the supply chain will have to make
a profit. I have done some simple math and found that an average USA
based family size vehicle would require 50Kg of Al anode to cover 1000
miles at a fuel cost of $150 at the filling station. This is
considerably higher (by $35) than that of a petrol powered car. The
consumer would still need to return the spent alumina at the same
location "filling station".
However, this is a complicated technical problem still to be overcome.
The spent alumina (aluminium oxide) will need to be in a powder form
to make it viable and shipped back at a cost to the smelter. I think
as an alternative motor vehicle fuel this is a no-goer. Aluminium as
an emergency electrical storage battery (only recharged by replacing
the anodes) has value."
http://www.geektime.com/2016/01/07/i...c-car-battery/
Essentially, this is a way of using cheap(?) electricity to convert
aluminium oxide into aluminium in a smelter, which is then 'burnt' in
the car to create electricity and aluminium oxide 'ash'. The latter
than has to be returned to the smelter to be turned back into
aluminium. In effect, this is a way of getting mains electricity to an
electric car using metallic aluminium, rather than hydrogen or a
direct electric connection to recharge the batteries. Both of the
latter methods seem much more desirable.