The IfBattery

Is this like an "instant" refill for the tank on my car?

Basically we would never have to demolish the good old gas stations.

Just replace with different fluid?

Oh Nostalgia. There is something to feel good about this!

Flow batteries have been around for a while but have required much more liquid than could be stored in a car. The difference with this battery is a much higher energy density utilizing nanopowders.

There are a number of unanswered questions. How many times can the fuel be recycled (recharged)? What is the efficiency, both in discharge and the recharging of the fuel?

If it can be made economical, this represents a major breakthrough, removing two of the drawbacks of electric vehicles, short range and long recharge times.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170601151813.htm

So what happens to the 'expired' old battery fluid? I assume it will need to be drained out of the car before the new fluid can be pumped in. How toxic is the old fluid? And for that matter, how toxic is the new fluid?

And does this really save on infrastructure? Gas stations will need to be rebuilt with new storage tanks for the old fluid as well as tanks for the new fluid, and a new set of tanker trucks will be needed that can pump out the expired fluid from the holding tanks.

What happens to the old fluid? Does the chemistry exist that will re-activate the old fluid (essentially 'recharging' the fluid) or will it need to be dumped somewhere? - preferably Not In My Backyard.

So what happens to the 'expired' old battery fluid?

According to this, it can be recharged. The efficiency of the process would have to factor in the energy needed to recharge as well as the efficiency of the liquid battery. You also have the transportation to wherever the recharging is done.

"The spent battery fluids or electrolyte could be collected and taken to a solar farm, wind turbine installation or hydroelectric plant for re-charging."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170601151813.htm

...using an all electric tanker truck I assume.

I still like the idea of standardizing (never gonna happen) EV batteries into exchangeable modules. Stock pile the modules at the current fuel stations and just exchange as many as you can afford. They get recharged via solar/wind at the fuel station.

Lots cheaper to have a tank farm than a pile of bit Li+ batteries. And you don't have to worry about heat building up to a sudden crescendo of boom.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have our very first NIMBY to the IFBattery. Gee, what a joy it must be to live with or near you!

You should go back and actually try to listen to the video this time.

The component chemicals (electrolytes in various oxidation states, I presume) are either in water, ethanol, or methanol solution, with the other half of the redox pair in an immiscible solvent. The most hazardous part would be the methanol or ethanol leaking out and infiltrating ground water, but even that can be managed in the environmental sense.

The IFbattery:

1. is not radioactive
2. is not going to explode like a Li+ battery might
3. no membrane fouling induced fires (no membrane)
4. advanced battery capacity per charging, with very rapid charging at stations.
5. No major environmental hazards that technology does not already exist for cleanup, recovery (of any more valuable materials), and pollution prevention.
6. No giant, implausible infrastructure changes other than slight modifications of tankage at refilling stations.
7. I like this battery, and you should too.

I see that the spent fluid need not be transported so many miles out to generating areas, since we already know how to distribute and control power. A nearby industrial park might suffice, depending on load requirement (i.e. - how many MW power is needed for fluid recharge).

I DID listen to it. I'm a skeptic (_{/cold fusion, /AGW global warming, /Monsanto...}), and proud to be one. I capitalized the NIMBY deliberately.

All I heard in the video was blah, blah, blah, followed by what my Physics professors used to call 'hand-waving'. Where's the data? Where's the formula for the chemical reaction? I've heard that old 'this is gonna be safe' BS line too often to fall for it.

And did you see that lab? God, what a mess. If I'd run my labs like that back when I was teaching, I'd have lost my teaching job.

Here's the link https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2017/Q2/instantly-rechargeable-battery-could-change-the-future-of-electric-and-hybrid-automobiles.html

I tried to find an academic paper but I didn't see any so I found a link to where he presented the paper at a conference. I suspect the paper may be released soon.

https://whova.com/embedded/subsession/icpma_201705/177114/177119/

Neatness is a true sign of one of two things:

1. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
2. A sick mind
3. nothing to do

Which of the two affected you the most? No, seriously, I thought that lab was a bit over the top messy. He did mention six different "good" chemistries that work. Maybe they had all six on the bench at once.

He also mentioned manpower, but what is really needed is a settled business approach, that clearly states the path chosen, and then on to pilot and full scale projects.

There are several professors involved, surely one of them has read all the SDS literature on the chemicals, and read with the environmental compliance in mind.

Things that make me go Hmmm...

Oh, Snap! Wrong thread. That was supposed to go on the Wankel engine post. LoL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHzeGEHWMjo