Till now, we discussed Capacitor, Thermal battery, Pneumatic Battery, Springs, Flywheels etc. In this post, we will discuss Molten Salt Battery and Ice Battery.
Molten Salt Battery
As the name suggests, it contains a high capacity thermal salt. This type of battery absorbs the solar thermal energy and dispense it during night for generation of steam that in turn drives the steam generator and so provides a continuous power supply to the user.
Process of generation of electricity :
It has got solar concentrators which maximizes the solar thermal effect and use it to heat up the high capacity thermal salt. This special salt turns into its molten stage when the temperature reaches its melting point. This extremely heated molten salt is stored in a shielded container till the time its requirement comes. The heat of this molten salt is transferred when required to heat the water to form steam. This steam is then used to drive the steam generator which generates electricity.
A lot of efforts have been given to bring this technology for mass uses. However, the same has not been adopted on a mass level so far.
Molten salt batteries are used in power grids for suitable for mass storing of energy.
Ice Battery
It is a thermal energy storage system specially designed for air-conditioning system. The basic function of this system is to accumulate low temperature and provide the low temperature next day.
It is an upgradation of common air conditioning system in order to expand its uses with minimum power consumption and to take benefit of low offpeak tariff of electricity during night time.
Ice Battery contains a big temperature storage container which is connected with main AC system directly. When ‘Ice charging’ mode is selected during night, then the compressor compresses the coolant and starts pumping it through a chain of copper coils of the temperature storage container. This in turn freezes the water and ice is formed. During the day time, while being in ‘Ice charging’ mode, the coolant is cooled by ice in the container.
You can expect an effective low energy consumption of nearly 90% by this method. However, the calculation of reduction in consumption vastly depends on the difference between peak and offpeak tariffs.
