The idea of ​​making liquid air into an energy storage tank realized in the UK

ByJaime Pérez

Liquid air is also called compressed air,New power used for carsAlthough it is one of the BritishHighview Power StorageThe liquid air storage system developed by the company is drawing attention as a new power storage method.

BBC News - Liquid air 'offers energy storage hope'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689

As for what kind of mechanism, first of all, we use the energy generated by wind power generation at night that does not require much electric power to take in the atmosphere. Next, remove CO2 and water vapor so that the air will not freeze when it cools. Most of the remaining air is nitrogen, but liquefaction is completed by cooling it to -190 degrees. Liquid air is kept in a huge thermos bottle until electricity is needed, and explosive expansion energy during evaporation is used to operate the power generation turbine. This makes it possible to produce electricity without going through the combustion process. The energy efficiency is currently only 25%, but it is improved to 70% by placing a cold generator next to a power plant that produces industrial plants and low grade waste heat.


Peter Dearman originally invented this technology as a driving force of the car, but this technology was diverted to the electric storage system that Highview of the UK can use the technology on the power grid. Under the cooperation of the government, we have established technology over two years.


Tim Fox, the responsible official, told BBC News, "It is the problem that we face intermittently to produce renewable energy, in this case it is a very promising solution to fuel liquid air, which is amazing It is a challenge. " Fox seems to have requested the government to provide incentives for other technologies, including liquid air, at the time of the revision of the law concerning the closely approaching storage cell.

The energy efficiency of the battery is 80%, the energy efficiency of liquid air thought to rise to 70% is never high, but according to IMechE the storage system with liquid air is simple in its simplicity and electricity storage problem It is wonderful that we are addressing not only the approach but also the question of how to handle the waste of industrial fever.


In the future it is expected that batteries currently used in electric vehicles will play a role as a storage system in the home, but as other methods of storing energy become increasingly important in the coming decades On a commercial scale things should be encouraged by the governmentNational GridRichard Smith, energy planning director of the company. It is said that storage is one of the ways we can balance the supply and demand of energy.

Dearman, inventor, believes that liquid air does not run short of raw materials like batteries, so in the future it believes it will outweigh other savings energy. "When I was still in my teens, I thought that everyone had enough fuel to have a car and started from there. I had to think about a completely different way, so cool the air I thought of a way to store it. " In the United Kingdom, electricity storage by hydraulic power is being carried out, but since possible places are limited, if it is possible to develop new electric storage technology at low cost it is expected to be very useful for electric power system.

ByEutrophication & amp; hypoxia