Learn about Batteries and other forms of energy storage.
- Get better at understanding and working with alternative energy
- Move toward a more sustainable energy supply
- Get more from the energy resources available
Course Content
This course involves ten lessons, as outlined below:
1. Energy Storage
- What is Energy Storage
- Types of Energy Storage
- Mechanical Storage - Pumped hydro, Compressed air, Isothermal compressed air, Flywheel, Pumped heat
- Electrical Storage - Supercapacitor, Superconducting Magnetic
- Electrochemical Storage - Lead acid battery, Lithium ion battery, Flow battery
- Chemical Storage - Hydrogen, Synthetic natural gas
- Thermal Storage - sensible heat, Hot water, Molten salt, Latent heat, Phase change
- Advantages of Energy Storage
2. Battery Science
- History - wet cell, dry cell
- Electricity - Current, Voltage, Resistance, Power, Ohm's Law, Power Dissipation
- Circuits - Parallel
- Electrochemical Battery - Fundamental components
- Terminology
3. Types of Batteries
- Primary Cell Batteries
- Dry Cell
- Alkaline Battery
- Silver Oxide Battery
- Zinc Air Battery
- Carbon Zinc Battery
- Secondry Cells
- Nickel Cadmium Battery
- Lithium Ion Batterty
- Nickel Cobalt Battery
- Nickel Metal Halide Battery
- Sodium Ion Battery
- Lead Acid Battery
- Zinc Bromide Gel Battery
4. Chemistry of Batteries
- Introduction
- Electrochemistry - Conduction, Metallic and electrochemical conduction, Electrolysis, Electrodes, Electrolytes
- The Simple Cell
- Electrochemical Cell
- Redox Reaction
- Oxidation and Reduction Reaction
- Applications of Redox Reaction in Electrochemistry
- Reactions in Different Cell Types
5. Applications
- Introduction
- Rechargeable Batteries
- Domestic Batteries
- Health Instruments
- Artficial Heart
- Implants for Drug Delivery
- Implantable Hearing Devices
- Medical Applications - wheelchairs, neurostimulators, Sensors and monitors
- Vehicles
- Marine Batteries
6. Industrial Applications
- Introduction
- Communication Systems
- Firefighting and Emergency
- Logistics
- Military
- Space Technolgy
- UPS
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Other Applications
7. Off Grid/On Grid Applications
- On Grid System - Air Energy Storage, Batteries, Hydro, Thermal
- Off Grid Systems -Batteries
- Lead Acid Batteries
- Lithium Ion
- Flow Batteries
- C hoosing the Right System Components
- How to Upgrade a System
- Estimating Your Energy Needs
- Do It Yourself
8. Setting up an Off Grid System
- Calculate Power Requirements
- Calculate Battery REquirements
- Type of Battery
- Capacity
- Number Needed
- How it will be Saves
- Deciding on Energy Generation Technology - Solar, Wind, Hydro
- Select Location - Solar, Wind, Hydro
- Select Charge Controllers
- Select Inverter
- Connecting to Property
9. Safety and Disposal
- Introduction
- Safety
- Disposal
- Recycling
10. Managing the Future
- Introduction - Nanoscale, Chemical Transformation,
- Supercapacitors
- Nano-wire Batteries
- Chemical Energy
- Thermal Energy
- Nano Scale Hydrogen Batteries
- Future Developments
- Benefits
- Capacities
- Consumers - Solid State, Gold Nanowire, Organosilicon
- Graphene Aluminium Ion
- Graphene Polymer
- Graphene Lithium Sulphur
- Nanobolt Lithium Tungsten
- Industrial Batteries - Zinc Manganese Oxide, Sodium, Vanadium Redox Flow Battery
Complementary Courses
This course goes well with our courses on Alternative Energy, Applied Physics (Physics II) and Electronics
WHY STUDY THIS?
Energy storage technologies offer significant benefits in terms of improving power quality and supply reliability.
In order to reduce problems from global warming to the economics of building more efficient machinery, battery technology needs to be as efficient as possible.
Many advancements have been made in energy storage and use,
- Battery technologies are more advanced than ever before.
- Advanced environment-friendly power supplies now incorporate flywheel technologies.
- For power quality applications, advanced capacitors are being investigated as energy storage.
- Superconducting energy storage technologies also continue to advance.
Consider
- What it is (accumulator or battery)
- Importance
- Types (Chemical, electrical, electrochemical, mechanical, thermal)
- co-dependent factors like the grid power supply, solar inverter type, phase profile of a building etc.
Energy storage is of vital importance to the future of the planet as the two largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are the power industry and vehicles. With better storage capabilities green energy production would be enhanced (such as storing solar energy collected during the day for discharge at night or collecting wind energy and storing for milder days) and the popularity of electric vehicles would increase (as the range would be increased and charging times decreased with better batteries).