The development of the basic module schemes for the dimension-type series of power plants based on the air-aluminum chemical current sources
Aerospace propulsion engineering
Аuthors
*, **, ***, ****Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), 4, Volokolamskoe shosse, Moscow, А-80, GSP-3, 125993, Russia
*e-mail: ok.nadezhda@mail.ru
**e-mail: konstantin-val@yandex.ru
***e-mail: sds46@yandex.ru
****e-mail: a.a.farmakovskaya@gmail.com
Abstract
Currently, there are a lot of works developing the power plants (PP) based on the aluminium-air (AA) mechanically rechargeable chemical current sources (CCS), which have high specific energy and profitable economical and operational characteristics. For this kind of PP it is reasonable to create a functional dimension-type series of the AA PP. This paper examines the basic module diagrams for the modular dimension-type series and evaluates the energy and mass exchange characteristics as well as the energy loss characteristics for power plants of various schemes.
During the development of the basic diagrams of the PP and its service systems, the unique specifics of the AA CCS and the special properties of the reaction products were considered in addition to the usual approaches. Since the consumed materials in the AA CCS are the aluminium, water, and oxygen, they should be constantly fed into the reaction zone and the reaction products should be removed in case of a long constant work. Accordingly, the block diagram of the PP based on the AA CCS with a circulating electrolyte should have a range of subsystems which will provide the energy and mass exchange.
The fundamental property of the AA system is a high buffer capacity of the alkaline electrolyte, i.e. a significant part of the water can be consumed from the electrolyte without further water supply, given that the electrical characteristics of the current source change insignificantly. Considering the high electrolyte buffer capacity, in several cases the water storage and supply system can be excluded from the PP. Therefore, another scheme with a circulating alkaline electrolyte system is proposed. An integrated block diagram without circulation (the so called filled scheme) is also examined.
A light scheme of the PP based on the AA CCS with the neutral, saline, electrolytes is examined. Since there is no corrosion at the no-current mode in the AA CCS with the neutral electrolytes, it is not necessary to pour out the electrolyte in the intervals between the PP operations.
For the proper choice of the basic module diagrams of the dimension-type series, the energy and mass exchanges in the AA CCS have been evaluated and the energy loss has been compared in different basic diagrams. This paper also describes the main characteristics of the basic modules of the AA PP.
It is shown that the main factor limiting the power rate of the basic modules is a maximum reachable power rate of the single battery which is determined by the technological limits of production of the large area gas-diffusion cathodes and the possibility of providing the proper conditions for the energy and mass exchange.
As a conclusion it can be said that based on the main determinative characteristics it is possible to create 23 modular dimension-type series, which include 35 basic modules in each series. Besides, the basic module can include 16 or 18 batteries depending on its power rate. Also, the optimal schemes of the PP basic modules are chosen in this work.
Keywords:
electrochemical cell, dimension-type series, electric power plant, basic moduleReferences
- Klochkova L.L., Sevruk S.D. Rabochie protsessy v energeticheskikh I dvigatel’nykh ustanovkakh. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov instituta. Moscow, MAI, 1975, Release 320, pp. 17 — 22.
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