Is there an Electrical/Electronic Engineer here?

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:47 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:42 AM, chassis said:

What about an insulated capacitor? Im just chucking around ideas here. 0 current = 0 resistance.

that would heat the capacitor thus increasing its resistance (ρ=(1+α)ΔT or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistivity#Temperature_dependence )

 

0 resistance doesn't always imply 0 current

Ohm's law:

R=V/I

If R=0 and V>0 this implies that I approaches ∞.

yeah, I was thinking about that

This was kinda cool.

  Quote

Magnetically insulated capacitor, process for electrostatic energy storage and its applications

United States Patent 3873930

 

 

The invention relates to a novel electric capacitor for the attainment of very high voltages and for the storage of electric energy, comprising of two concentric coaxial toroidal conductors with the inner conductor levitated, an external magnetic field coil, a thermionic cathode emitting electrons, a levitated guide electrode and a discharge tube. The stored energy can thereby be delivered in form of atomic particle beams or electromagnetic waves especially electron beams in very short times and thus with very high power. Applications are: (1) the initiation of nuclear reactions, especially thermonuclear reactions, (2) the collective acceleration of electrically charged atomic particles to very high energies, (3) Gamma-ray flash tubes, (4) the pumping of lasers, (5) micro wave pulse generators and (6) the use of the thusly generated radiation for medical purposes.

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:18 PM, kanarie said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:47 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:42 AM, chassis said:

What about an insulated capacitor? Im just chucking around ideas here. 0 current = 0 resistance.

that would heat the capacitor thus increasing its resistance (ρ=(1+α)ΔT or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistivity#Temperature_dependence )

 

0 resistance doesn't always imply 0 current

 

Ohm's law:

 

R=V/I

 

If R->0 and V>0 this implies that I approaches +∞.

hmm,,

even if that makes sense, Ohm's law can't explain superconductivity. You need quantum mechanics to understand what happens when resistance drops to 0.

::I imagined a heat-insulated capacitor, I don't know what would happen in a magnetically-insulated capacitor.

  On 2/21/2010 at 7:37 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:18 PM, kanarie said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:47 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:42 AM, chassis said:

What about an insulated capacitor? Im just chucking around ideas here. 0 current = 0 resistance.

that would heat the capacitor thus increasing its resistance (ρ=(1+α)ΔT or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistivity#Temperature_dependence )

 

0 resistance doesn't always imply 0 current

 

Ohm's law:

 

R=V/I

 

If R->0 and V>0 this implies that I approaches +∞.

hmm,,

 

even if that makes sense, Ohm's law can't explain superconductivity. You need quantum mechanics to understand what happens when resistance drops to 0.

 

::I imagined a heat-insulated capacitor, I don't know what would happen in a magnetically-insulated capacitor.

It's true that Ohm's law doesn't explain superconductivity, it just states that current is proportional to voltage. If resistance drops to 0, it still applies.

The resistance in a superconductor is obviously very low, so in this case the inductance will play a more significant role (a magnetic field is created when current flows).

  On 2/20/2010 at 12:59 AM, chassis said:

So we were talking about electrical energy in college lately. All about the growth in electricity and how sometimes its the most

efficient way to transfer energy and in other instances its its not.

 

But the subject of storing electrical energy came up a few times and the lecturer got distracted he did say its not possible to

store electrical energy efficiently enough for large amounts. Why the fuck is that? I mean sure some sort of massive capacitor

could be made and would solve the whole load/demand deal.

 

I tried to fine a similar question on Yahoo answers but the best answer was "You can store electrical energy in batteries".

Which is completely retarded so I thought I'd ask here.

 

Also

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

It just doesn't seem to be the most practical way to store energy. The kind of installation you would need to store the same amount of energy as your regular water reservoir would cost billions and pose a big threat to its environment.

You'd either need to charge a kilometer wide metal ball with millions of Teracoulombs worth of electrons, or build a superconductor twice the size of the LHC, and cool it down to a couple mK. Not very practical.

/thread

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:39 AM, chassis said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:30 AM, hahathhat said:

giant capacitors seem like an overly long-winded answer to a need best served by a small pile of radioactive shit slowly burned to make steam by a bunch of men in clipboards

 

edit: flywheels

Men with clipboards who fuck up and make it a massive unihabitable wasteland for millions of years. But i wasnt really talking about Nuclear plants anyway.

 

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:32 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:22 AM, chassis said:

  On 2/20/2010 at 2:15 AM, Super lurker ultra V12 said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule's_laws

I know what Joule's laws are. But still after that refresher course of a page, I'm still no more enlightened. Are you saying the heating effect is an issue?

 

Maybe I need some sleep to make my brain do think good.

electric energy tends to become heat through time because of entropy

 

superconductors might store electricity for a longer time because R=0, but you'd have to use a lot of liquid nitrogen/helium to keep them cool

Ahh, that makes perfect sense. But how long does electrical energy need to be sitting there before it dissipates(correct term?).

 

Also, superconductors and liquid nitrogen are awesome. We got to fuck around with them in the lab. Just thought I'd add that in.

my dad works in a lab where they develop superconductors. They are currently trying to make them work at higher temperatures. The last time he said they were at -80°C. He also told me smth about energy storage...but I'll have to ask him again

  On 2/21/2010 at 2:17 PM, plstik said:

my dad works in a lab where they develop superconductors. They are currently trying to make them work at higher temperatures. The last time he said they were at -80°C. He also told me smth about energy storage...but I'll have to ask him again

We tested out some superconductors around that temperature. Around 70 Kelvin and the resistance is minimal(or nothing cos the equipment is shit) but after 100K the resistance keep rises normally after that. Pretty interesting.

  On 2/21/2010 at 1:39 PM, kanarie said:

It's true that Ohm's law doesn't explain superconductivity, it just states that current is proportional to voltage. If resistance drops to 0, it still applies.

 

The resistance in a superconductor is obviously very low, so in this case the inductance will play a more significant role (a magnetic field is created when current flows).

  Quote

The electrical resistivity of a metallic conductor decreases gradually as the temperature is lowered. However, in ordinary conductors such as copper and silver, this decrease is limited by impurities and other defects. Even near absolute zero, a real sample of copper shows some resistance. In a superconductor however, despite these imperfections, the resistance drops abruptly to zero when the material is cooled below its critical temperature. An electric current flowing in a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no power source.