3 ms·
This could serve as an example of the insane energy density that fossil fuels pack.
by whatever1 6y ago
This could serve as an example of the insane energy density that fossil fuels pack.
- jodrellblank 6y agoThey do, but one of its selling points is its case "fits in the trunk of a standard car." that suggests it's a pretty big drone and I default to imagining copters that fit in a hand, size in picture[2] more than I understand what 20kg means in drone size. No wonder it can fly a long way if it's massive. For energy density comparison, check the Wikipedia list of energy density of various things[1], starts with Antimatter highest, then nuclear fuels, Hydrogen[3] at the top of the chemical fuels with ~140 MegaJoules per Kilogram, then all the hydrocarbon fossil fuels hang around 45-55 MJ/Kg, body fat comes in around 38, coal around 30, wood around 18, glucose around 15, Lithium-air battery at 9, household waste at 8, and the highlight of our modern electronics lifestyle Lithium-ion battery at 0.3-0.9, barely ahead of flywheel at 0.3-0.5. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Tables_of_energy_content https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Tables_of_energ... [2] https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/-965_SXAhPeD1LTlB-xZuQwJvJE=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/BEXU22MH7JEKTPZMAEC3IJH57I.jpg https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/-965_SXAhPeD1LTlB-xZuQwJvJ... [3] the catch with Hydrogen is a kilogram of it is 11 cubic meters, and a lot of that energy advantage has to go into compressing or cooling it to make it usefully dense, and maintaining the infrastructure to store and transport that safely.
- jamiek88 6y agoThat actually makes me hopeful. If we can get a lithium air battery working the a 10x jump in density is possible. That’d be a game changer!