Webmaster : Phakhin Rianwilairat M5/3 No.21

Refference : https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a42532492/iron-air-battery-energy-storage/












 

 

If you want to store energy, lithium-ion batteries are really the only game in town. It’s why you’ll find them in consumer products from electric cars, smartphones, nd everything in between. In fact, Lithium is so normal to humanity’s green energy future that people are trying to figure out how to get more of it as soon as humanly possible.

 

 

 

But what might work for your laptop isn’t the best storage idea for power grids where energy output is measured in megawatts. Lithium-ion batteries are only great at expending energy over a short period, the compound lithium isn’t exactly readily available, and if you’ve ever seen a Tesla engulfed in flames you know they can explode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, Form Energy, a Massachusetts-based energy company, thinks it has the solution: iron-air batteries. And the company is  will to put 760 Mil behind the ideaby building a new manufacturing facility in West Virginia.

Each iron-air battery is about the size of a washer/dryer set and holds 50 iron-air cells, which are then surrounded by an electrolyte (similar to the Duracell in your TV remote). Using a principle called “reverse rusting,” the cells “breathe” in air, which transforms the iron into iron oxide (aka rust) and produces energy. To charge it back up, a current reverses the oxidation and turns the cells back into iron.

NASA first started experimenting with iron-air batteries back in the late 1960s, and it’s obvious why this next-gen storage system has engineers excited. For one, iron-air batteries solve a few of lithium’s biggest shortcomings right off the bat. As their name suggests, these batteries use primarily iron, the fourth most abundant element on Earth, and ... well ... air. This tech’s adoption could help curtail the large amounts of water used to mine lithium (not to mention alleviating the potential for groundwater contamination).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                           

Secondly, and most importantly, iron-air batteries would be 10 times cheaper , perform better, and last 17 times longer. Right now, these batteries’ primary task would be to bridge the gap when utilities need more power during peak hours, and as green energy eats up a bigger share of the energy pie, they could also crucially store excess energy on sunny days to shore up supply when the clouds roll in. Lithium-ion only provides approximately four hours of storage, whereas iron air could deliver up to hundred hours—a full four days to bridge those energy gaps.

The downsides to iron-air batteries? They’re big and also slow to recharge, which is likely why lithium-ion will remain the battery of choice for electric cars and smartphones. Form Energy also said these iron-air batteries will form “power blocks” where iron-air batteries handle long load times, while lithium-ion batteries take care of spikes in demand.

With construction starting this year, Form Energy hopes its West Virginia factory will start producing its first batteries as early as 2024. Energy’s Iron Age is only just beginning.