baha wrote:From what I found it is 2Mwh capacity with 500 Kw output in a 40' storage container. That means at max output it will last 4 hours. I didn't find anything about weight but 'liquid metal' says heavy to me. It is for 'stationary' grid storage.
The max gross weight of a standard 40' storage container is 67,200 lbs. The max weight of an 18 wheeler is 80,000 lbs. Hook a tractor to this thing and it is the truck. I don't know how far the truck could go...but that's an exercise in futility.
When I worked with that team we 'brainstormed' We would simplify the problem as much as possible and then everyone would come up with an idea to solve it. We'd write them on a white board and then take turns shooting each one down. In the end we would get to the right answer. Or at least consensus on how to proceed.
This is what we do at Peak Oil. One of the reasons I enjoy reading it.
Evilgenious - I'm going to have to shoot you down...it ain't gonna work
And I guess since no one has shot me down yet, we will move in that direction...
That's good. I looked at it superficially and it had some promise. In it's current iteration it wouldn't work. As with every kind of tech like this it would improve with more research. I didn't figure the kw's correctly. I moved the decimal over when I shouldn't have.
I wonder about a few things to do with it which might make it a good approach that could benefit from research. If it charged more quickly than other types of battery configurations, for instance, it might hold some promise. If that characteristic were inherent to the approach, that is. I also wonder if something could be done to the liquid metal to make it approximate what goes on with semi conductors when they are doped with other elements. I don't have any idea if anyone has experimented with non-crystalline doping, or if it is even possible, layered approach to baffling maybe. Anyway, I hope you can see why this kind of thing holds promise. For now, though, you are right, it does rather look like fusion, always ten years away.