Rusting Batteries. Energy Storage Breakthrough?

[Jim]

I can't really tell from what I've read if this is just vaporware or if they have a working model. Supposedly they have lab scale models, but they don't give any figures on it. If this is for real, it would go a long way to solving the intermittent nature of wind and solar. Gates and Bezos are helping fund it... so there is that.
Link
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[Mailman]

That’s interesting. Admittedly electrical is not my strong suit, I’m still trying to understand how rusting iron oxide pellets creates electricity, but at least it sounds like an economical and safe way to store energy.
Arizona Public Service, one of Arizona’s primary electricity providers had a battery storage building just about a mile from my house, it was about the size of a mobile home trailer and filled with racks of lithium ion batteries.
Built to store electricity generated from solar panels and wind turbines. It had a electrical short , which created a cascade failure event and a fire alarm was tripped. Nine firefighters were injured, when the building exploded shortly after they arrived.

( Interesting side note: When I searched the internet for this fire near me, dozens of similar stories showed up , from all around the world, these lithium batteries can be touchy apparently.)

https://www.azcentral.com/story/mon...sion-surprise-new-report-findings/5523361002/

 

[Jim]

Yeah...Li-ion batteries are a necessary evil right now, but they definitely carry more hazards than most other types. Sooner or later a safer alternative will come along with the capacity of Li-ion but safer.

 

[kshansen]

So this rust to energy thing real?
Just think, all the old Fords, Chevys and Dodges here in the Northeast could be the solution to the energy problem!

 

[Jim]

That’s interesting. Admittedly electrical is not my strong suit, I’m still trying to understand how rusting iron oxide pellets creates electricity, but at least it sounds like an economical and safe way to store energy.

Me too... I wish they'd give more details though.
It does make sense in that batteries operate from a chemical reaction between two different mediums. Rust is also a chemical reaction, so it sound feasible. I love to learn more details though.

 

[650Skull]

This guy has redesigned the battery case so batteries can be smaller with the case able to be dismantled and reused.

Vaulta.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ted-in-a-brisbane-garage-that-is-going-global

https://www.vaulta.com.au/

 

[T Rex NZ]

thats why I like this site so much, its not just bikes bikes bikes though I love my bikes its the essence of my life its what makes up who we are that you guys give us interesting articles to read and discuss, keep this up you guys this site has life

 

[Grimly]

The Rust to Redemption battery could work perfectly well, but it's got a low level of storage capacity per cu.M. compared to even LA or any of the lithium cells.
However, that's not really a problem if you're planning on using it for base-load top-ups and smoothing out demand peaks, just like small hydro pumped-storage plants.
I've long known about Fe being used in conjunction with Ni for more exotic locations especially as genstart batteries. Neither of those two constituents are particularly expensive or rare, but a battery that just uses Fe / Fe will be considerably cheaper, I assume.

 

[kshansen]

The Rust to Redemption battery could work perfectly well, but it's got a low level of storage capacity per cu.M. compared to even LA or any of the lithium cells.
However, that's not really a problem if you're planning on using it for base-load top-ups and smoothing out demand peaks, just like small hydro pumped-storage plants.

Agree, if not worried about weight or size of a storage system it should lend itself to more possibilities. Like maybe build a large building to house the battery and mount solar cells on the roof. Same foot print on the ground but serving two complementing functions,

Also if the storage can be done in a much safer form it would also open up its use in places that otherwise would be too risky.

 

[59Tebo]

Batteries have been around for a long, long time, and two of the main problems are size and weight. Lead/acid, nickel/cadmium, lithium/ion, gallium/arsenide... The evolution of the batterie has been smaller, lighter, cheaper (yeah, right). There's plenty of elements left on the "table".