NASA Technologies Will Allow Charging Electric Vehicles In A Few Minutes
NASA's conductor cooling technology, developed for use on the International Space Station and for future lunar and Martian missions, will be useful for terrestrial electric vehicles. It will allow charging batteries at a much higher speed than is possible at existing charging stations.
The American Space Agency reported that a comprehensive cooling method based on "boiling of a refrigerant in a supercooled stream" was developed by NASA specialists to maintain the proper temperature of electricity in space conditions. At the same time, it can also be useful on Earth, because it will allow transmitting a current of 1400A to charge electric vehicles. For comparison, modern charging stations are capable of delivering up to 520A, and for the most part only 150A.
The experimental installation includes heating devices installed along the walls of the flow channel, which is supplied with a liquid coolant. As these devices heat up, the temperature of the liquid in the channel increases, and over time, the liquid adjacent to the walls begins to boil. The boiling liquid forms small bubbles on the walls, which quickly move away from the walls, constantly capturing liquid from the inner area of the channel to the walls of the channel. This process efficiently transfers heat using both the lower temperature of the liquid and the phase transition from liquid to steam. Also, the process is significantly improved if the liquid is supplied in a supercooled state.
A cable can act as a heating element, because the greater the current, the more heat is released when it passes through the conductor, the higher the probability of overheating of the components. Accordingly, NASA technology, which allows efficient cooling of cables carrying high charges, can potentially provide ultra-fast charging without the risk of overheating of charger parts.
Potentially, the new system can be used to provide 4.6 times more current than the fastest chargers for electric vehicles on the market today, by removing up to 24.22 kilowatts of heat..
NASA said
The application of this new technology would lead to an unprecedented reduction in the time required to charge the vehicle, and will eliminate one of the key barriers to the introduction of electric vehicles worldwide..
NASA said in its blog
The US government plans to install 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles across the country by 2030, increasing the investment of this program.
Comments