Neat concept for a hybrid aircraft using a gas turbine combined with battery electric propulsion.
I can't help but think they could have gone all the way to VTOL, however. Use the battery and lightweight motors for take off and landing, (plus a little bit in-flight). Using larger props, they could also make it more efficient.
Still, I think there is a lot of possibility here. Perhaps America doesn't need HSR, it just needs these.
The HSR thing never made scene outside some niche cases. It's just a prestige project meant to appeal to the chattering classes. Even the Japanese system only makes money by being a massive real estate developer.
Contrary to popular belief America has a much better train system than the Europe because it largely prioritises profitable cargo railways instead of passenger railways. America would do better by investing in inner city metro systems. Aka just be Australia (except Queenslanders because fuck them).
Their take off and landing space is comparable to that of helicopter anyway. So what would be the point of increasing the complexity of your architecture for such a small marginal benefit.
Always have been a fan of diesel engines for aviation but they have limited use cases due to their much lower power to weight ratios relative to gas turbines. Perhaps you can use electric motors in conjunction to reduce the required engine power?
A much for likely scenario is probably is incorporating recuperation using advanced materials like ceramics. This will increase the fuel efficiency by reusing the waste heat from the turbine. Although you won't hit the efficiency levels of diesel engines. More details here - https://youtu.be/k4Rg50z7DFc
> Fourth power makes a thermal battery that uses solar electricity to make molten tin. The tin is used to heat graphite blocks and thermophotovoltaics collect light from the block when electricity is needed. They claim their energy storage system costs less than $25/kWh. But it seems too complicated. Why not use the heat directly? Why not use molten salt? They might be better off licensing Lightcell energy’s sodium illuminant technology than making expensive multi-junction cells. Regardless, at that price it’s competitive with the hopes for iron-air batteries and molten salt thermal. Good to see more “shots on goal” for cheap energy storage.
Don't really understand the commercial value of thermophotovoltaics. I read about them I was looking for external combustion engines for my metal combustion projects. Their efficiency is about 30-40% and need specific conditions and expensive equipment. What is the value added compared to conventional stream engines?
Generally the rule of thumb is that unless your engine is dramatically better than the competition, it's not worth scaling a new type of engine.
Additionally according to CATL, they expect sodium ion batteries to reach $10/kWh soon.
> Advice from someone in their 30s who has successfully kept the majority of their friends. This Hacker News comment (on an article about losing friends) offers good advice on maintaining relationships. Good habits can stop the natural tendency to drift apart.
Never understood the point of this. I don't think I ever had a friend group that lasted more than 2-3 years. I just invested in my ability to make new friends consistently. Perhaps my behaviour doesn't scale to other people since I'm one of those shallow rootless cosmopolitan types.
Thanks for sharing this Sam.
Neat concept for a hybrid aircraft using a gas turbine combined with battery electric propulsion.
I can't help but think they could have gone all the way to VTOL, however. Use the battery and lightweight motors for take off and landing, (plus a little bit in-flight). Using larger props, they could also make it more efficient.
Still, I think there is a lot of possibility here. Perhaps America doesn't need HSR, it just needs these.
The HSR thing never made scene outside some niche cases. It's just a prestige project meant to appeal to the chattering classes. Even the Japanese system only makes money by being a massive real estate developer.
Contrary to popular belief America has a much better train system than the Europe because it largely prioritises profitable cargo railways instead of passenger railways. America would do better by investing in inner city metro systems. Aka just be Australia (except Queenslanders because fuck them).
Their take off and landing space is comparable to that of helicopter anyway. So what would be the point of increasing the complexity of your architecture for such a small marginal benefit.
Always have been a fan of diesel engines for aviation but they have limited use cases due to their much lower power to weight ratios relative to gas turbines. Perhaps you can use electric motors in conjunction to reduce the required engine power?
A much for likely scenario is probably is incorporating recuperation using advanced materials like ceramics. This will increase the fuel efficiency by reusing the waste heat from the turbine. Although you won't hit the efficiency levels of diesel engines. More details here - https://youtu.be/k4Rg50z7DFc
> Fourth power makes a thermal battery that uses solar electricity to make molten tin. The tin is used to heat graphite blocks and thermophotovoltaics collect light from the block when electricity is needed. They claim their energy storage system costs less than $25/kWh. But it seems too complicated. Why not use the heat directly? Why not use molten salt? They might be better off licensing Lightcell energy’s sodium illuminant technology than making expensive multi-junction cells. Regardless, at that price it’s competitive with the hopes for iron-air batteries and molten salt thermal. Good to see more “shots on goal” for cheap energy storage.
Don't really understand the commercial value of thermophotovoltaics. I read about them I was looking for external combustion engines for my metal combustion projects. Their efficiency is about 30-40% and need specific conditions and expensive equipment. What is the value added compared to conventional stream engines?
Generally the rule of thumb is that unless your engine is dramatically better than the competition, it's not worth scaling a new type of engine.
Additionally according to CATL, they expect sodium ion batteries to reach $10/kWh soon.
> Advice from someone in their 30s who has successfully kept the majority of their friends. This Hacker News comment (on an article about losing friends) offers good advice on maintaining relationships. Good habits can stop the natural tendency to drift apart.
Never understood the point of this. I don't think I ever had a friend group that lasted more than 2-3 years. I just invested in my ability to make new friends consistently. Perhaps my behaviour doesn't scale to other people since I'm one of those shallow rootless cosmopolitan types.