John Becker wrote:
>
> I recently read an article about very high tech flywheels which spin very
> fast and can store large amounts of kinetic energy. This energy can be
> reclaimed in tthe form of electricity. This could replace the battery in an
> electric auto which would provide a non toxic, portable storage device. I
> think (but am not sure)that the article was in "Science" magazine. Has
> anyone seen the article
> John Becker
>
> JOHN ROJO BECKER
Yep, not sure about the magazine. It may have been "Discovery".
Anyway, the flywheels can rotate at around 100,000 rpm or so if I'm not
mistaken. The flywheel is shielded from the forces of friction by
essentially levitating the wheel in a small compartment. Supposedly
with enough of these flywheels spun up to speed(they tend to stay
spinning for long periods of time(days/weeks/months), you can gather
some rather massive amounts of horsepower. I think 12 of these flywheel
systems can store 800 horsepower, and with no friction to rob energy,
they are extremely efficient. If the patents go through, after design
is completed, the automobile as we know it will change forever. This is
the absolute cutting edge technology, and hopefully we'll see it one
day.
Jay
--
Jurgen Hartwig
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
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