Battery Technology
I've read something disconcerting. I was reading a PC mag today, forget its name... Maximum PC? It's a gamier's mag, really. If any of you have read the latest issue, it's the one with the ALienware and the Apple CInema HD display.
ANywhoo, there was an article on current battery technology.
I've been given the impression that the Lithium-Polymer battereis are the best things going. Light, bendy, and energy dense. Now it seems that they're only light and bendy.
The article said that the polymer batteries fall far short of deivering the same whallop as the LIthium Ion batteries. I dunno if that's by eight or by volume (probably loses in both).
How is it that the iPod manages 10 hours of playtime with a battery that doens't carry a fanatastic amount of energy? I thought that most of the space in that smaller-than-a-deck of cards packagte was HD. Maybe I was wrong. Hmm.....
Anywhoo, there was a bunch of battery techs listed in the article. Most were useless in electronics, but three energy-stroage mechanisms were mentioned that were promising for use in electronics in the next ten years or so.
Lithium Ion
Lithium Polymer
Hydrogen Fuel Cell (not a battery - must be refueled)
Are there other types of energy storage units useful in electronics that might come out soon? Please, no anitimatter or direct-mass-to-energy conversion please. ALthough that would be pretty cool. General Whoodnow's bridge plunges into darkness because his son unplugged the Battleship's Energy Unit to recharge his 100 TB iPod.
Any ideas? Zinc oxidation batteries? N+5/N-5 pair fuels, rechargable at any electric outlet? Ideas?
ANywhoo, there was an article on current battery technology.
I've been given the impression that the Lithium-Polymer battereis are the best things going. Light, bendy, and energy dense. Now it seems that they're only light and bendy.
The article said that the polymer batteries fall far short of deivering the same whallop as the LIthium Ion batteries. I dunno if that's by eight or by volume (probably loses in both).
How is it that the iPod manages 10 hours of playtime with a battery that doens't carry a fanatastic amount of energy? I thought that most of the space in that smaller-than-a-deck of cards packagte was HD. Maybe I was wrong. Hmm.....
Anywhoo, there was a bunch of battery techs listed in the article. Most were useless in electronics, but three energy-stroage mechanisms were mentioned that were promising for use in electronics in the next ten years or so.
Lithium Ion
Lithium Polymer
Hydrogen Fuel Cell (not a battery - must be refueled)
Are there other types of energy storage units useful in electronics that might come out soon? Please, no anitimatter or direct-mass-to-energy conversion please. ALthough that would be pretty cool. General Whoodnow's bridge plunges into darkness because his son unplugged the Battleship's Energy Unit to recharge his 100 TB iPod.
Any ideas? Zinc oxidation batteries? N+5/N-5 pair fuels, rechargable at any electric outlet? Ideas?
Comments
As a note.
the iPod manages 10+ battery hours because all it does is spin a small hard drive once in a while, decode mp3s and power a tiny little OS.
Powerbooks have . . . a bit more drain.
Just kidding.
I like the hydrogen fuel cell idea, though. Until you drop it and it explodes.
This was before 20cm carbon nanotubes, which are the perfect size for pressurized laptop hydrogen tanks, and have over 150 Gigapascals of strength (not sure if that's the right way to say that, and material engineers here?)
I think the hydrogen fuel cell will be the power source of choice for future electronics.
Wheather the hydrogen in used in a micro or nano turbine array or a solid state exchange memberane has still to be decided, I think a month of cell phone use before a 2 second recharge and only water emission sounds great to me.
<a href="http://www.trimolgroup.com/index.html"; target="_blank">http://www.trimolgroup.com/index.html</a>;
Also look at aluminum-power's web site.
They claim they will make a cell with about four times the capacity of the current powerbook battery. Instead of recharging it with elecricity you would simply slip in a new piece of aluminum.
I found this a while back, paper batteries!
<a href="http://www.powerpaper.com"; target="_blank">http://www.powerpaper.com</a>;
Regular Peltiers generate electricity if one side is cooled or warmed
Hmm.... top tuern it on, just touch it.
<strong>Uhm.
As a note.
the iPod manages 10+ battery hours because all it does is spin a small hard drive once in a while, decode mp3s and power a tiny little OS.</strong><hr></blockquote>
One major omission from you list of power-drains...
Amplifier! Albeit small, it does take a good amount of juice to convert and amplify the signal into the analog world and drive you headphones.
The louder you listen, the faster the battery dies.
Hence, if you DO run your iPod through a powered system, turn down your iPod to about 1/2 to 1/3rd volume and let the POWERED system do most of the amplification. Sure, it introduces a "little" noise... but then again, .MP3s aren't exactly high-fidelity.
I wonder if the cool chips could be used to generate electricity.. That would be really... cool?
More seriously, hydrogen fuel cells will definitely be the wave of the future in electrical technology. Wouldn't it be great? Recharge your PowerBook and have a drink! I commend Toyota for being the first to come out with a consumer use for something like this. I hope computer companies, especially Apple (I've been waiting FOREVER for the perfect PowerBook), follow suit quickly.
I open up my laptop for EL-AL security and it starts to leak. :eek:
I hope that I would still be alive to explain why my laptop is leaking. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
I'll stick with my two solar panels thankyou very much. They don't produce any emissions either. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
1394b Layered on 802.11e is the future
[ 07-05-2002: Message edited by: MrBillData ]</p>
Oh, right. More si8lly ways of powering things....
Distributing power via raqdio waves! Yeah baby! Have a tower set up in each town, broadcasting government messages at 10 megawatts. You have to see the messages in the bottom hal odf the screen in order to use the free power.
Miniature nuclear reactors.
Thermoelectricity from the spinning hard drive. Who cares about thermodynamics?
The Li-Polymer is superior to the Li-ion batteries. Of that I am absolutely certain, at least when we are talking small batteries. Small meaning both in size (like the one in the ipod or any mobile phone) and in capacity (eg less than 1Ah).
For car batteries Li-ion might be better, of that I don't know, but how much does that matter for the iPod?
<strong>I'll stick with my two solar panels thankyou very much. They don't produce any emissions either.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Unfortunately that's false. Photovoltaic's take more energy to manufacture than you get out of them in their useful lifetime. If you're "on the grid", and use PVs, you're burning more fossil fuel (and MORE emissions) than plugging in to the wall. PVs only benefit comes when not near a powersource to charge.
<strong>Either a vibrator or a portable stereo. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
With the size of a D-cell battery, that would have to be one big-- uh, portable stereo. Yeah. Stereo. <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
Her... enjoyment shouldn't put lead (common battery material) into the vast unspoilt garbage dumps of America. Who are we kidding? There should be designated "**** this place" areas where stuff can be dumped. Make sure that water cdoesn't carry shit out of the place, and place you garbage miles high.
Then