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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday August 13 2017, @01:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the water-powered dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Army scientists and engineers recently made a groundbreaking discovery -- an aluminum nanomaterial of their design produces high amounts of energy when it comes in contact with water, or with any liquid containing water.

During routine materials experimentation at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, a team of researchers observed a bubbling reaction when adding water to a nano-galvanic aluminum-based powder.

"We all as a team were very excited and ecstatic that something good had happened," said Dr. Anit Giri, a physicist with the lab's Weapons and Materials Research Directorate.

The team further investigated and found that water -- two molecules[sic] of hydrogen and one of oxygen -- splits apart when coming into contact with their unique aluminum nanomaterial.

The reaction surprised the researchers, but they soon considered its potential implications for future power and energy applications.

Source: https://www.army.mil/article/191212/army_discovery_may_offer_new_energy_source


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  • (Score: 2) by WalksOnDirt on Sunday August 13 2017, @10:30AM (1 child)

    by WalksOnDirt (5854) on Sunday August 13 2017, @10:30AM (#553169) Journal

    Yes, it's storage, so how does it compare to batteries?

    The big advantage is energy density, probably ten times more than batteries.

    The disadvantages are that it uses water, produces waste that has to be recycled, and needs a whole new infrastructure to be developed.

    Using hydrogen is perhaps 60% efficient, and I'll hazard a guess that making aluminum is the same. That puts the round trip efficiency at 36%, and that's ignoring any inefficiency in producing the hydrogen. Round trip for a battery is around 80%.

    In most cases I think batteries would win, but there are exceptions.

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  • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday August 13 2017, @07:07PM

    by deimtee (3272) on Sunday August 13 2017, @07:07PM (#553329) Journal

    "In our case, it does not need a catalyst," Giri said. "Also, it is very fast. For example, we have calculated that one kilogram of aluminum powder can produce 220 kilowatts of energy in just three minutes."

    It's very poorly written, mixing up energy and power, but they may mean that with three minutes warning they can generate 220 kW = about 300 horsepower.
    Pretty high power level for something that small.

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.