Some potentially exciting breakthroughs, using nanotech. This will be a very important technology for space as well.
10 thoughts on “Ultracapacitors”
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Some potentially exciting breakthroughs, using nanotech. This will be a very important technology for space as well.
Comments are closed.
CNT seem to have good radiation characteristics. If they can make them survive in automotive environments (high vibe, shock and heat), they should be good for flight.
“Nanotune isn’t the first company to claim it can make ultracapacitors with very high energy storage. Others have found this promise hard to deliver.”
Big #s claims juxtaposed against meager results have characterized this field for the last 5 years. The market is there and VC money is there. Maybe someday…
I’ve been hearing about ultracapacitors for years. I continue to hope they succeed, but at this point I’ll believe it when I see a shipping product.
For spaceflight applications, they’re going to have to get in their specific energy (W-hr/kilogram) up to be attractive, even if they are dirt cheap. Somewhere in the ballpark of 50 W-Hr per kilogram should put them over the top. They also need to have a reasonable charge/discharge curve (energy in/out vs. voltage) or may have to add a bunch of electronics into the mass and cost. If you could put a kilowatt hour in by charging from 26 to 34 volts out of the box, then you would have a very attractive device.
I’d love to see a well-verified spec sheet.
This is a shocking development!
BTW, the best spec sheets I have been able to find put ultracapacitors at about 5-10 W-Hr per kilogram, about a factor of 10 worse than Li ion batteries.
While I can see the use in electronics, and something compact like a satellite, I’m having trouble believing this is significant for “spaceships” or “bases”.
That is: Bulk energy storage. As opposed to transient storage.
Bases, in particular, have so many integrated chemical systems just involved in life-support alone that there should be plenty of other opportunities for energy storage. Although they aren’t handy in small devices, pressurizing/depressurizing and phase changing materials can have high-efficiencies. And we’re going to want low-pressure air, high-pressure air, and LOX pretty much anywhere.
500 W-hr per kg is impressive compared to a battery, but a yawn compared to the 12,900 W-hr per kg stored in gasoline.
@Titus, it took me a couple of seconds to figure out what “CNT” meant. Of course it’s “Carbon Nano-Tube.”. Now, what would the abbreviation for carbon ultra-capacitor nano-tubes be?
0;^)
Buck Futter!
In Seattle, we made it all the way to the ribbon cutting ceremony before South Lake Union Transit was renamed.