3 ms·
Flywheels only make sense on a massive scale. We should put one in space.
by NHQ 4y ago
Flywheels only make sense on a massive scale. We should put one in space.
- midoridensha 4y agoOr in (or near) a power plant to store utility-scale power from renewables.
- dredmorbius 4y agoThis is done, as an alternative to "spinning reserve" with renewables-loaded grid supplies. The benefits are mixed. Amongst other problems, the Earth's own rotation actually puts a lot of stress on the rotational axis. free-floating flywheels aren't generally highly practical, so compensations (I believe magnetic bearings are common) are used. The apparently obvious storage mechanism ... turns out to be rather difficult to operationalise.
- elcritch 4y agoCouldn't the gyros just be oriented so the axis align with earths rotation? At the equator thats easy, just mount it vertically. In the contiguous US I'd guess a what 50deg angle? It'd be fun in a scifi movie to see large disc shaped buildings sticking half way out at an angle all over.
- BenjiWiebe 4y agoI believe you'd actually need the axis of rotation to be the same. So a horizontal flywheel, mounted on either pole.
- elcritch 4y agoAt the equator a gyroscope on its side would have the same orientation for its axis of rotation as the earths. Think of holding a gyroscope on a merry go round.
- dredmorbius 4y agoThat would require a free-floating (gimbal) mount, so far as I understand. Most grid-support gyros are in fact cylindrical rather than disk-shaped, as this optimises for mass at the outer radius of rotation. To gimbal-mount a large cylinder you'd have to have a proportionately large spherical enclosure. I'm only somewhat generally and vaguely aware of the issues here and I don't know what R&D or theory are specifically ongoing here. As noted, polar and equatorial locations would require the least adjustment, as polar flywheels could be aligned perpendicular to the ground, equatorial ones parallel (along the north-south axis), which would minimise any movements, as others have noted. (I don't think that Earth's axial inclination would matter, and am presuming that precession of Earth's own axis is Too Small to Matter.)
- winrid 4y agoA similar, common and safer mechanism is to just move water. Instead of spinning up a flywheel, water is pumped to an upper reservoir. When the power is needed, it's drained through a generator and the water can be reused when there is excess energy again.
- midoridensha 4y agoThat only works in places where you have convenient geography, which isn't that many places.
- devb 4y agoOr mines, as they've proposed in my area.
- tbrownaw 4y agoWe have one already. We can't put energy back in, but it slowly self-extracts and is where tidal power comes from.