Battery that runs on fuel?

[ReconRat]

Bye bye internal combustion. It might take 20 to 40 years, but this might bring in a new generation of electric vehicles...

MIT researchers discover new energy source

...The researchers devised a process for generating electricity using nanotechnology. They plan to refine the process in hopes of creating a new environmentally friendly battery, among other products.

It works like this: Researchers used tiny wires, known as carbon nanotubes, to create a powerful wave of energy, according to Michael Strano, and MIT associate professor of chemical engineering. He is also the senior author of a paper on this new phenomenon, published in this week's Nature Materials journal.

After coating these tiny wires with a layer of fuel, Strano said his team generated a so-called thermopower wave and stumbled across a reaction that may eventually be used to power electronics, computers and cell phones

"This could lead to batteries that are up to 10 times smaller and still have the same power output..."

Nano-scale "fuses" generate 100 times more energy than conventional batteries

...Their nanotube bundles carry, gram for gram, up to 100 times more energy than a standard lithium-ion battery...

Edited March 13, 2010 by ReconRat

[Harb67]

Sounds sort of like the Bloom Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Box). Solid state device + hydrocarbon fuel = electricity. Sounds pretty preposterous, but lots of big companies (eBay, Wal Mart, Bank of America and more) have already purchased and installed some of these things.

[ReconRat]

Sounds sort of like the Bloom Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Box). Solid state device + hydrocarbon fuel = electricity. Sounds pretty preposterous, but lots of big companies (eBay, Wal Mart, Bank of America and more) have already purchased and installed some of these things.

Also Google and FedEx? But this MIT thing will be extremely scalable. 10 to one ratio on size makes it work for a car, truck or motorcycle. 100 to one power ratio is incredible. It would still be a replaceable power pack, so there would have to be a nationwide distribution system. Gas stations would have to sell them, and they would have to be easy and quick to swap. That will take a long time to develop and field. We'll see it in laptops first.

[Harb67]

But this MIT thing will be extremely scalable. 10 to one ratio on size makes it work for a car, truck or motorcycle. 100 to one power ratio is incredible. It would still be a replaceable power pack, so there would have to be a nationwide distribution system. Gas stations would have to sell them, and they would have to be easy and quick to swap. That will take a long time to develop and field. We'll see it in laptops first.

The Bloom Boxes are scalable as well. The systems Google and them have are massive, but according to this video (click, it's a good watch) you'll only need what looks to be about a 6"x6"x10" block of the things to power an average US home. That's just the reactive plate thingies though it seems...I'd assume at least a 50-100% increase in volume once the enclosure and operational gizmos are added on.

I think Bloom Boxes would make for a great crossover invention; you could have an electric vehicle with a gas tank fueling a Bloom Box and electric motor that you can fill up like any other car. That'd be good for the inevitable period of time where the distribution system for the MIT invention is still being built. Once that infrastructure is up and running, there would be no need for gas stations anymore (with regards to these two inventions at least).

Honestly what gets me most excited about this type of stuff is the prospect of finally getting off the grid. I would much rather have one of these guys powering my home and only have to have fuel trucked in every X amount of weeks or months instead of being hooked in to the power grid.

[MidgetTodd]

Sooo if it runs on fuel isnt it still an engine, not a battery?

[Big Green Valley]

The idea is fascinating. But, as with any new technology, there must be drawbacks, potential hazards.

What are they?

[ReconRat]

The idea is fascinating. But, as with any new technology, there must be drawbacks, potential hazards.

What are they?

Disadvantages:

Fuel source, I'd say. Bloom box runs on any petro fuel. Right now it's natural gas. That's a steady source when hooked up. That would also raise the price of natural gas if everyone had one. More natural gas would have to be developed. Which isn't too difficult, Ohio as elsewhere is covered with capped off natural gas wells. It isn't worth recovering it yet. Bio fuels can be used, like corn alcohol.

That new MIT process, was first run using "cyclotrimethylene trinitramine" as fuel. I don't have any of that, and neither does anyone else. That's a problem. The Bloom box is up and running and for sale. But the MIT process will take a long time to develop. Hopefully they look at other fuels to use. If it's really a big deal, the military might grab it up and we'll not see it for commercial use for many decades. Same with the Bloom box, but if the advantages of commercial distribution are high (profit), there will probably be parallel development.

Advantages:

The Bloom boxes are steady rate producers of electricity. What isn't used is put back into the grid for profit. (Reduction of electric bill.) The current basic unit is small enough to run a house (or car). And it's basically solid state, with no moving parts.The inventor says widescale distribution won't happen till someone like GE or Westinghouse buys the invention and starts mass producing it.

The MIT stuff can be scaled down to tiny AAA battery cell size or smaller, and could relieve the burden of toxic metals in all our batteries. The world is going to run short on those types of metals anyway. That doesn't sound serious, but it will be when prices for those metals go up again and again. If it produces the amount of energy they are claiming, or more, in such a small package, we just might get those laser battle rifles we've been wanting. Large amounts of electrical power are not generally available in small devices.

MIT also developed a gas turbine engine with fuel tank and alternator the size of a D cell battery. Large power output. (Large heat output also.) That was a couple of years ago. That's been missing in action. No clue what happened to it.

Edited March 14, 2010 by ReconRat

[ReconRat]

Sooo if it runs on fuel isnt it still an engine, not a battery?

Sounds like it to me, but a battery produces electrical current, and an engine produces mechanical force and motion. The lines between the two definitions are blurring.

[psyco1]

The bloom box also runs HOT, 800C, that's hot enough to melt aluminum, way too hot to put in portable devices. I guess you could think of it as a heat generator that happens to make electricity. I don't think too many people want a potential fire hazard like that in their house either, you think that plasma tv makes the house hot in the summer....

Maybe they could increase the efficiency by applying the heat to a Stirling engine coupled to a generator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

[Gump]

That's some interesting stuff. The more money that can be made off of it, the quicker it will be here.

Unlike this thing..http://www.activeion.com/default.aspx

People will try to make it disappear. Including some of the biggest name brands you have heard.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Gump

[TenTwelve]

Sounds sort of like the Bloom Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Box). Solid state device + hydrocarbon fuel = electricity. Sounds pretty preposterous, but lots of big companies (eBay, Wal Mart, Bank of America and more) have already purchased and installed some of these things.

I watched a vid on the bloom box. It's nuts. Very cool.

[ReconRat]

The bloom box also runs HOT, 800C, that's hot enough to melt aluminum, way too hot to put in portable devices. I guess you could think of it as a heat generator that happens to make electricity. I don't think too many people want a potential fire hazard like that in their house either, you think that plasma tv makes the house hot in the summer....

Maybe they could increase the efficiency by applying the heat to a Stirling engine coupled to a generator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

I didn't know it ran that hot. But it's installed outdoors like an air conditioner unit, as far as I know. Cars have been made with turbine engines, and those run a bit hot also. ~1800C in combustion section. Need lots of air flow to cool the surrounding area around the engine.

[ReconRat]

edit: oh look, I found an old accidental double post... gone...

Edited October 17, 2010 by ReconRat