Harvard University (USA) efforts Michael Aziz (Michael J. Aziz) and his staff created a new type of

Harvard University (USA) efforts Michael Aziz (Michael J. Aziz) and his staff created a new type of so-called flow batteries from very cheap materials. The developers believe that it is essential for the triumph of renewable energy. Try to figure out whether this is so ...
Night new battery can supply one household stocked day gelioelektrichestvom already at capacity in 2000 l. Not ideal, but realistic lithium or lead-acid alternatives. (Here and below, Fig. Eliza Grinnell / Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.) Flow batteries are highly reliable, durable (more than 10,000 charge-discharge cycles) and, most importantly, cheaper lithium-ion per kilowatt-hour of energy stored. The most successful of them all - the vanadium redox battery, netcarshow based on the change in the oxidation state of vanadium in the working solution. Total oxidation states are four: two have a battery container with the electrolyte, and the central pump chamber in which two liquids are separated by a proton exchange membrane. One container contains V 5 + ions, the second - V 2 +. When the battery is charged / discharged electrolytes are pumped into the chamber, where there are chemical reactions that shift the ion charge in one direction or another. From this scheme it is obvious that it involved relatively few vanadium, no lithium, netcarshow but because the cost of a kilowatt-hour battery netcarshow capacity may be less than $ 500 - the same magic number that still does not allow electric vehicles to oust its secular rivals. As with capacity? It is equal to 20-30 kW h / kg, which is slightly lower than that of the lead battery of your car, and several times less than that of the lithium battery of your laptop. However, for large-scale energy storage devices used in power generation to compensate for variation solar and wind energy capacity per kilogram is not as important as the capacity per dollar. Again even better durability lithium batteries today still several times lower than the flow analogs. That is why on the Japanese island of Hokkaido built the first large gathering stations on vanadium redox battery capacity of several megawatt-hours. Alas, except the Japanese until the hunters go in this direction is not enough: according to the calculations of the Ministry of Energy of the United States, even the cheapest vanadium batteries netcarshow are now at least $ 350 per kW h capacity, while for the widespread introduction of the price should fall to $ 100 per kW h Improved production technology itself vanadium battery is unlikely to help: only the vanadium them worth $ 81 per kW h, that is, no matter how Improve netcarshow technology, battery included, only a quarter will be more expensive. That's why a group of Michael Aziz undertook to replace netcarshow vanadium quinones - organic compounds used in the animal and plant world to transfer electrons and protons in the breathing process. In one of his experimental capacity battery scientists put quinone aqueous solution, and the other - liquid bromine. During the battery each molecule gives quinone through proton exchange membrane pair of protons and two more electrons - through a separate circuit. As a result, the capacitance of one bromine molecule, bromine molecule produces two hydrogen bromide. When charging, hydrogen bromide to just serve the electrons and protons from it go back to the quinone. In addition to changing the direction of the pumps, do not need to alter anything netcarshow - and, most importantly, converters and other electrical charge of the peak load can be any power and nothing to do with the total capacity of the battery determines the amount of storage with bromine and quinone. What does this mean? If you want to "relaunch" of, say, a lithium battery, you have to buy and holding netcarshow tank, and any related "electrician" because it is functionally netcarshow coherent whole. With flow batteries are no such restrictions, and therefore cost savings huge amounts of energy can be very reasonable - especially if you need not too much peak power as when storing energy generated by solar cells, which are on your roof. Of vanadium netcarshow flow batteries quinone new features cheapness components quinone drive almost identical quinone as rhubarb and distributed in nature, and in crude oil, causing less vanadium. On the quinone itself accounts for only $ 27 per kilowatt-hour battery capacity that exactly three times less than for the main part of the vanadium redox battery. Consequently, this or a similar battery has all the chances to meet the Procrustean $ 100 per kilowatt-hour set as a benchmark U.S. Department of Energy (by the way, has sponsored the development). Last but not least, quinone-hydroquinone reaction is about a thousand times faster than the processes of reduction and oxidation of vanadium. And it allows you to charge and discharge the battery to a speedily vanadium options and ultimately to achieve a lot more stable parameters of the network at the same nominal capacity drives. "I think