Researchers, using salt and water have invented a novel heat battery that could help warm houses in the cold regions and eliminate gas use entirely.
Unsplash
Also Read: New Way To Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries Will Save Planet From Toxic Waste
Reported first by The Independent, the tech is based on an old thermochemical principle that states that when water is added to salt, it produces heat and the same is possible in reverse — heat can be used to evaporate the water.
Using this principle and storing heat within dry salt makes the battery loss-free and offers a rather efficient way to store energy for use in the future. However, it took nearly 12 years for this theory to be transformed into a scalable solution, which now has come into existence.
In this solution, the heat source to store in the salt is derived from industrial byproducts such as residual heat waste from factories, data centres etc. The system makes use of a heat exchanger, fan, evaporator or condenser and lastly, a boiler with salt particles. The proof of concept, albeit pretty simple, was capable of providing heating for an average family home for two whole days.
Researchers have further built on this and upgraded it to a fully working prototype that’s as large as a cabinet that also sports nearly 30 times the storage capacity and can heat a home for two whole months.
Vincent van den Hoogen
Also Read: This New Battery Can Keep Your Smartphone Charged For A Week
Olaf Adan, a professor at Eindhoven University of Technology said in a statement, “It is not yet a product, but everything is now ready to be tested for the first time in a real-world situation. While the potential is great, we have also seen many great potential technologies that have not made it. So we’re going to keep our feet on the ground and take this one step at a time.”
Researchers are currently working on setting up a pilot to test the technology later this year in homes in France, Poland and the Netherlands. If successful, it could be extended to more colder regions across the world and eliminate the need for gas entirely.
Keep visiting universo virtual.com for the latest science and technology news.