When it comes to the need to somehow accumulate energy, many immediately start thinking about the battery. Of course, what else could it be. Nevertheless, there is another method that is not used very often, but at the same time has very good prospects. Especially against the background of the development of other technologies. Such developments were even used in the production of public and freight transport. Their origins date back to the Soviet Union, but recently the technology has begun to be used more and more often. Several years ago, when the regulations allowed, it was used even in Formula 1. Let's open the veil of secrecy and tell you how this rather simple but ingenious invention works, and about a person who dedicated his life to this.
What is a flywheel?
Today we will talk about super flywheels and their creator Nurbey Gulia. Although it seems that the flywheel is something outdated and purely technical, it also has a place in the new electrical world.
The flywheels themselves were invented a very long time ago and were even successfully used in the industry of those years. There are even finds in Mesopotamia and ancient China that confirm the use of such devices. True, then they were made of baked clay or wood and performed other functions.
Where are flywheels used?
Due to its massiveness and the laws of physics that accompany the movement of a flywheel, it has found application in many modern mechanisms - from transport to industry.
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The simplest application is to maintain the rotational speed of the shaft on which the flywheel is mounted. This can come in handy while a machine is running. Especially in those moments when it is experiencing sharp loads and it is necessary to prevent a drop in the speed. It turns out this kind of damper.
Probably the most common place where flywheels are found is in a car's internal combustion engine. It allows the engine speed to be maintained when the clutch is released. This reduces the impact on the transmission, since the gear change occurs while the engine is running above idle. In addition, greater comfort and smoother movement are achieved. True, in racing cars, the flywheel is very much lightened to reduce weight and increase the speed at which the engine spins.
Flywheel of a passenger car.
Also, flywheels are often used to stabilize motion. This happens due to the fact that the wheel, which is the flywheel, creates a gyroscopic effect when rotating. It creates strong resistance when trying to tilt it. This effect can be easily felt, for example, by spinning a bicycle wheel and trying to tilt it, or by picking up a working hard drive.
Such force interferes with the control of the motorcycle, forcing to resort to counter-steering, especially at high speed, but it helps a lot, for example, to stabilize the ship during rolling. Also, by hanging such a flywheel and taking into account that it is always in the same position relative to the horizon, you can fix its deviations from the body of the object and understand its position in space. The use of such properties of a flywheel is relevant in aviation. It is the rotating flywheel that will determine the position of the aircraft fuselage in space.
Super flywheel Gulia
Now, after quite a long introduction and background, let's talk directly about super flywheels and how they help conserve energy without having any chemical compounds in their composition for this.
Nurbey Gulia - created and promotes the idea of a super flywheel as an energy storage device.
A super flywheel is a type of flywheel designed for energy storage. It is specially designed to store as much energy as possible without the need for any other purpose.
These flywheels are heavy and turn very fast. Due to the fact that the rotation speed is very high, there is a risk of a vacuum in the structure, but this is also thought out. The flywheel itself consists of coiled turns of steel plastic tape or composite materials. In addition to the fact that such a structure is stronger than a monolithic one, it is still gradually destroyed. That is, in the event of delamination, the flywheel will simply slow down and become entangled in its own parts. I don't think it is worth explaining that a rupture of a flywheel that rotates at tens of thousands of revolutions per minute and weighs at least tens of kilograms is fraught with very serious consequences.
In addition, to ensure even greater safety, you can place a system with such a flywheel in an armored capsule and bury it several meters in the ground. In this case, the moving elements will definitely not be able to harm a person.
An additional advantage of using an armored capsule will be the creation of a vacuum in it, which will significantly reduce the effect of external forces on movement. Simply put, this way you can minimize or completely remove the resistance of the gaseous medium (in the usual case of air).
This is how Gulia's super flywheel works.
The resistance of the bearings on which the flywheel is installed also acts as additional forces that hinder rotation. But it can be mounted on a magnetic suspension. In this case, the forces of influence are reduced to such a minimum, which can be neglected. It is for this reason that such flywheels can rotate for months. In addition, the magnetic suspension allows you not to worry about system wear. Only the generator is worn out.
It is the generator that is the element that allows you to generate electricity. It simply connects to the flywheel, and receives the rotation transmitted to it, it generates electricity. It turns out an analogue of a conventional generator, only for this you do not need to burn fuel.
To store energy when there is no load, the flywheel spins and thus “holds the charge”. Actually, a combined version is also possible by analogy with conventional batteries, which can simultaneously give off energy and charge themselves. To spin the flywheel, a motor generator is used, which can both spin the flywheel and take the energy of its rotation.
Such systems are relevant for energy storage in households and in charging systems. For example, a similar system, as conceived by Skoda engineers, should be used to charge cars. During the day, the flywheel spins up, and in the evening it gives a charge to electric cars, without loading the city network in the evening and at night. In this case, you can charge slowly from one flywheel or quickly from several, from which more electricity will be “removed”.
Super flywheel efficiency
The efficiency of super flywheels for all their seeming archaism reaches very high values. Their efficiency reaches 98 percent, which is not even dreamed of by ordinary storage batteries. By the way, self-discharge of such batteries also occurs faster than the loss of speed of a well-made flywheel in vacuum and on a magnetic suspension.
You can remember the old days when people began to store energy through flywheels. The simplest example is the potter's wheels, which were spun and spun while the artisan worked on the next vessel.
We have already determined that the design of a super flywheel is quite simple, it has a high efficiency and at the same time is relatively inexpensive, but it has one drawback, which affects the efficiency of its use and stands in the way of mass adoption. More precisely, there are two such disadvantages.
Belt flywheel.
The main one will be the same gyroscopic effect. If on ships this is a useful side property, then on road transport it will greatly interfere and it will be necessary to use complex suspension systems. The second disadvantage will be fire hazard in case of destruction. Due to the high rate of destruction, even composite flywheels will generate a large amount of heat due to friction against the inside of the armored capsule. At a stationary facility, this will not be a big problem, since a fire extinguishing system can be made, but in transport it can create a lot of difficulties. Moreover, in transport, the risk of destruction is higher due to vibrations during movement.
Where are super flywheels used?
First of all, N. V. Gulia wanted to use his invention in transport. Several prototypes were even built and tested. Despite this, the systems did not go beyond testing. But the use of this method of energy storage was found in another area.
So in the USA in 1997, Beacon Power took a big step in developing super flywheels for use in power plants at an industrial level. These super flywheels could store energy up to 25 kWh and had power up to 200 kW. Construction of the 20 MW plant began in 2009. She had to level out the peaks of the load on the electrical network.
There are similar projects in Russia too. For example, under the scientific supervision of N. V. Gulia himself, Kinetic Power has created its own version of stationary kinetic energy storage devices based on a super flywheel. One drive can store up to 100 kWh of energy and provide power up to 300 kW. The system of such flywheels can provide equalization of the daily inhomogeneity of the electrical load of an entire region. So you can completely abandon the very expensive pumped storage power plants.
It is also possible to use super flywheels on objects where independence from electrical networks and backup power is needed. These systems are very responsive. It is literally a fraction of a second and allows you to provide truly uninterrupted power.
Such an idea "did not come up". Can it work with trains?
Another place where the Super Flywheel can be used is in rail transport. A lot of energy is spent on braking trains, and if you do not waste it, heating up the braking mechanisms, and spin the flywheel, the accumulated energy can then be spent on gaining speed. You will say that the suspension system will be very fragile for transport and you will be right, but in this case we can also talk about bearings, since there is simply no need to store energy for a long time and the losses from the bearings will not be so great over such a period of time. But this method allows you to save 30 percent of the energy consumed by the train for movement.
As you can see, super flywheel systems have a lot of advantages and very few disadvantages. From this we can conclude that they will gain popularity, become cheaper and more widespread. This is the very case when the properties of matter and the laws of physics, familiar to people from ancient times, allow you to come up with something new. As a result, you got an amazing symbiosis of mechanics and electrics, the potential of which has not yet been fully revealed.
Artem Sutyagin