Chinese scientists create ‘game-changer’ methanol battery

This seems to me to really be a big deal when it comes to battery power. Do we in the west have something comparable ? I have not heard if we do. But once there is a proven concept others will take the line and run with it, IMO.
Full title is : Chinese scientists create ‘game-changer’ methanol battery that keeps drone in the air for 12 hours

Developers of FY-36 say they overcame ‘tons of problems’ to create alcohol-fuelled battery that allows 15kg (33lb)6 drone to fly for up to 12 hours
With 15 test flights under their belt, Chinese team achieve methanol-powered flight before German company

Its methanol fuel cell was designed to generate enough electricity for a flight time of up to 12 hours per charge. By comparison, a low-cost lithium-powered Chinese DJI Spark “selfie drone” can stay in the air for 15 minutes, while the professional-grade DJI Inspire 2 can barely top half an hour using a lithium-ion battery pack.

“There were tons of problems which had to be solved on the ground” before the FY-36 took its maiden flight in November, Zhang – who described the technology as a “game-changer” – said on Monday.

www.scmp.com...

a reply to: 727Sky

Up to 40 hrs continuous flight... is a lot. And they for sure can create a low cost, high-performance drone with this, to patrol the South-China Sea.

a reply to: 727Sky

Im waiting for the develpment of this nano carbon structure which can hold enormes amount of energy. I read somewhere that this is the stuf laser weapon pistols are made of.. pure sci-fi technlogy.

a reply to: 727Sky

It looks good-although if I have this right, its not really a battery in the conventional sense(not that that is a bad thing).

I think this fuel cell cannot be recharged like a lipo battery(plugged in to a source of electricity).
Rather it would use the methanol,and would then need to be refilled with more methanol.
There is also the catalyst(which the methanol breaks down to relase gas which is converted to electrical energy).
The catalyst will have a finite lifespan before it is used up,and will then need to be replaced.

It does pack a big punch though,and methanol is far easier to make than getting and refining your source of lithium.

I hope we soon see the new dual carbon battery tech take off-that has big potential I think-
Super fast to recharge,lasts for much longer than lithium,and generates ZERO heat.
That sounds very promising IMO.
www.extremetech.com...

It's about time we start seeing energy changes as our devices become more advance.

It's the natural thing to do.

However, lets not give the chinese all the credit, the US has been working on battery technology for a long time and we have a variety of methods available.

This link, created Dec 8, 2019 of this year, list a number of breakthroughs in Battery technologies, with the front runners being pursued by big business to get products rolling out soon.

Source:

newatlas.com...

a reply to: 727Sky

Im sure they have.
China also is building more coal power plants so let's take a deep breath here.

Interesting concept, but to get power out of the methanol they would need to add hydrogen to it, so it is probably a special methanol compound they created. I wonder how damaging that molecular chemistry would be to people if we were exposed to it? I am guessing, there may be some catalyst involved that actually increases the hydrogen breakdown too, meaning that it would have to be refueled with methanol each time. It would be interesting to read exactly how it works.

I made an article about this aluminum battery here.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Oh yes, swarms of flying Chinese molotovs can't wait.

a reply to: 727Sky


Sorry, but i simply don't think that's possible. There isn't enough energy is methanol to power a 12 hour flight unless his drone is some kind of power assisted glider that uses a large fixed wing to generate lift. No quad copter style drone could stay aloft for that long on that fuel source. Methanol doesn't contain enough energy.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Interesting concept, but to get power out of the methanol they would need to add hydrogen to it, so it is probably a special methanol compound they created. I wonder how damaging that molecular chemistry would be to people if we were exposed to it? I am guessing, there may be some catalyst involved that actually increases the hydrogen breakdown too, meaning that it would have to be refueled with methanol each time. It would be interesting to read exactly how it works.

Platinum solid in the solution I believe might do it. Maybe something else like Palladium. Just a SWAG. The extra Hydrogen would have to come from somewhere. Methanol is CH3- OH or a CH4 Methane molecule with an OH removing the H. The combustion in our atmosphere produces primarily CO2 gas and Water as a gas. I too think it consumes the Methanol.

originally posted by: Justoneman

originally posted by: rickymouse
Interesting concept, but to get power out of the methanol they would need to add hydrogen to it, so it is probably a special methanol compound they created. I wonder how damaging that molecular chemistry would be to people if we were exposed to it? I am guessing, there may be some catalyst involved that actually increases the hydrogen breakdown too, meaning that it would have to be refueled with methanol each time. It would be interesting to read exactly how it works.

Platinum solid in the solution I believe might do it. Maybe something else like Palladium. Just a SWAG. The extra Hydrogen would have to come from somewhere. Methanol is CH3- OH or a CH4 Methane molecule with an OH removing the H. The combustion in our atmosphere produces primarily CO2 gas and Water as a gas. I too think it consumes the Methanol.

It is not a battery. It is a fuel cell. The products would be water and CO2. It would probably burn 90% of the fuel per pass without a recycle loop. It does produce heat.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
a reply to: 727Sky


Sorry, but i simply don't think that's possible. There isn't enough energy is methanol to power a 12 hour flight unless his drone is some kind of power assisted glider that uses a large fixed wing to generate lift. No quad copter style drone could stay aloft for that long on that fuel source. Methanol doesn't contain enough energy.

The energy density of methanol is 19.7 MJ/kg (when reacting with oxygen). For a 50% efficient fuel cell that would be about 10 MJ/kg or about 2780 Wh/kg. Li-ion batteries are somewhere between 100-200 Wh/kg, 28-14 times less energy at the same weight.

Now you also have to include the weight of the fuel cell to be fair, which will depend on you power requirements. But with fuel making most of the weight in a typical application, fuel cells are pretty much unbeatable. A fuel cell drone should easily stay 10 times longer in the air than a battery powered one with the same weight.

originally posted by: pteridine

originally posted by: Justoneman

originally posted by: rickymouse
Interesting concept, but to get power out of the methanol they would need to add hydrogen to it, so it is probably a special methanol compound they created. I wonder how damaging that molecular chemistry would be to people if we were exposed to it? I am guessing, there may be some catalyst involved that actually increases the hydrogen breakdown too, meaning that it would have to be refueled with methanol each time. It would be interesting to read exactly how it works.

Platinum solid in the solution I believe might do it. Maybe something else like Palladium. Just a SWAG. The extra Hydrogen would have to come from somewhere. Methanol is CH3- OH or a CH4 Methane molecule with an OH removing the H. The combustion in our atmosphere produces primarily CO2 gas and Water as a gas. I too think it consumes the Methanol.

It is not a battery. It is a fuel cell. The products would be water and CO2. It would probably burn 90% of the fuel per pass without a recycle loop. It does produce heat.

If it had the other part of the battery yes. I wouldn't think the design was too complicated and is but a miniaturized fuel cell. We would need to know more about a fuel cells physical makeup to grasp this, myself included.