Different Ways To Store Up Energy
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by: SarahGreen | Total views: 18 | Word Count: 568
Electricity is mostly generated at an amount that meets what is demanded, as it is tricky to store surplus energy. Nevertheless it's feasible to store smaller quantities of energy for personal and domestic uses. Batteries and fuel cells both produce electricity by employing electrochemical reactions. Flywheels store energy as they spin.
The battery
A convenient store of energy is the electric cell or battery. These are used each day to power torches, radios, toys and lots of other gizmos. The most common form of battery contains carbon and zinc separated by a solution of ammonium chloride. When the battery is attached to an electric circuit, its stored chemical power is changed into electric energy. The battery continues to supply an electrical current until all the chemicals have reacted with one another. Then, the battery is said to be 'flat'. Batteries comprising nickel and cadmium (Nicads) can be recharged by passing a tiny electrical current thru the battery for one or two hours. This makes them last much longer.
Flywheels
Space stations use solar panels and fuel cells as their source of energy. This energy is then stored in batteries. These batteries are huge and dear and have to be replaced every five years. But new space stations and satellites may use flywheels to store the energy. These can last twenty years. Flywheels are utilized in engines, but now scientists are planning even more efficient versions. When energy is used to turn a flywheel, the energy is converted to kinetic energy. The flywheel stores the energy mechanically in the shape of kinetic energy. The speedier the flywheel spins, the more energy it stores. This energy can be converted to electricity. The new flywheels will be as tiny as just 15 centimetres across, and made from extremely powerful, yet light-weight, materials. They can spin up to 600,000 times each minute, and can store eight times more energy than a battery of the same mass.
Fuel Cells
It's feasible that in the near future, car engines, batteries in laptops and even power stations might be replaced by fuel cells. Fuel cells date back to 1839, but until recently, only the US State Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made use of them.
All fuel cells are energy converters, and work on the same basic principle. They have 2 electrodes divided by an electrolyte, a substance that conducts electricity. A fuel such as hydrogen enters at one electrode and oxygen enters at the other. They go through a reaction, which produces an electric current. When the fuel is hydrogen, the sole waste product is pure water.
Fuel cells have many advantages. They convert energy far more efficiently than standard power sources: for instance, a fuel cell is 2 times as efficient as a car petrol engine and produces nearly no pollution. Furthermore, they don't contain moving parts, so do not produce any noise or vibration. An operating fuel cell is therefore extraordinarily quiet and doesn't suffer from wear. But there are a bunch of problems to overcome. Currently, fuel cells are awfully high-priced, though this is due to the fact that only tiny numbers are being manufactured. The price will fall once big quantities are produced. There are problems of reliability with some fuel cells. In addition, some bigger fuel cells have a poor power to weight and volume proportion. This means that for their weight or volume, they produce comparatively small amounts of power.
About the Author
Sarah Green is an environmental campaigner, activist, and robust disciple of being energy self-sufficient. In her free time, she reports on alternative DIY energy blueprints and kits, for example the ben ford homemade energy download.
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