The Race of the Artificial Suns






The energy transformation of our times advances, in a discreet way but at a good pace. There are several races that seek to break with the current limits of technologies; they can become the dominant standard of the global energy sector in the future.

Recently, GE launched the Haliade-X, a 13 MW mega wind turbine that makes the 2.5 MW turbines in La Venta, Oaxaca pale. We can see the same with technological companies that seek to integrate perovskite into solar panels to make them more efficient; batteries with greater duration, cheaper and more compact, among many other events. But a technological race to which we should pay special attention is that of artificial suns.

But what is an artificial sun?

In reality it is an apparatus that uses high-temperature plasma superconducting technology and high magnetic fields to approach atomic fusion, similar to what happens inside a sun. To achieve this, the fusion fuel must be heated to temperatures of more than 200 million degrees Kelvin, where matter becomes plasma.

Before fusion occurs, the electric repulsion of the atomic nucleus allows the atoms to come physically close enough to fuse. Fusion, then, promises the use of this reaction to provide virtually unlimited, safe energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Some countries that are in this race for the development of their own artificial suns are South Korea and China. In South Korea it is developed at the Korean Center for Advanced Tokamak Superconductivity Research of the Korean Fusion Institute, with support from Seoul National University and Columbia University of the United States. On November 24, 2020, this project maintained the continuous operation of plasma with an ionic temperature of more than 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds. These 20 seconds represent a record not reached by other projects.

For its part, the China National Nuclear Corporation developed the HL-2M Tokamak that operates at temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius and is located in the city of Chengdu, within the province of Sichuan. However, this is only the largest and most stable of the artificial suns that are developed in the country.

Another country that also advances in this race is France through the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor that is being built in Cadarache within the European country. The development will have an estimated cost of 24,000 million euros and it is expected to obtain its first plasma by 2025. It is estimated that the temperature of this project could be between 100 and 150 million degrees Celsius.

Unlike atomic fission nuclear plants, which we addressed in the past, and which face difficulties to continue advancing and keep their costs low, the development of artificial suns that use nuclear fusion has a more promising future that could become an important piece in the competition to achieve clean, cheap and reliable energy.

This could be fundamental to achieve objective seven of the Sustainable Development Goals, which refers to achieving total coverage of electricity in the world through modern, affordable, renewable and reliable sources. A synergy that, in combination with solar, wind, hydrogen and storage developments, could be the energy pillars of a future without greenhouse gas emissions.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: January 12, 2021
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/carrera-sol-artificial-paul-alejandro-sanchez-opinion-energia-circular/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20211027225428/https://businessinsider.mx/carrera-sol-artificial-paul-alejandro-sanchez-opinion-energia-circular/ [Archived]

Wireless Electricity






Almost any road trip in Mexico, and perhaps in the world, is accompanied by large transmission lines. Those metal poles that carry electricity from power plants at high voltage to distribution substations —where the voltage is lowered— to take electricity to our homes through concrete or wooden poles, common in our neighborhoods, or, in some cases, through underground wiring.

The principle is simple, the electricity generated in large power plants travels long distances through cables, raising and lowering the electric voltage from the production center to the consumption center depending on the consumer. In your house everything comes from the domestic wiring that gives energy to lamps, blenders, televisions, videogame consoles, sound systems; hair dryer, razor, cellphone and others. Almost any device requires energy that flows through a cable.

Can you imagine that in this world of electric wiring there were wireless electricity? That by holding your cellphone in your hands near an energy source, it charged without cables; that just by holding a light bulb in your hands near the energy source it turned on or, that the television did not have cables to connect.

Well then, wireless electricity is real and can be produced by transferring electricity through the magnetic field.

Since the magnetic field is used, the flow that produces the primary energy must be of high density and high frequency, of which we will speak in another column. The success of developing this technology would imply the possibility of replacing cables as the main channels of energy flow.

Wireless electricity is not something new

This, however, is not new. It was part of the efforts that the scientist Nikola Tesla promoted in the decade of 1890, more than 130 years ago. For this he developed the so-called Tesla Coil, known in English as Tesla Coil, which is a transformer composed of a series of resonant electric circuits.

In the end, Tesla did not achieve a commercial advance of importance and lost JP Morgan’s financing. Since then, some efforts to continue the development of wireless electric energy transmission have been made, in more than 100 years, with very limited advances.

Clearly, the development of wireless transmission of electricity would have many advantages. Imagine that electric automobiles could recharge at every stop or without connecting them to a power outlet. Or being able to take electricity to remote places without having to build a wide infrastructure to attend a small demand. Or, even, to take renewable energy from remote places to important consumption centers.

However, many of the problems around transmitting and distributing electricity wirelessly are not solved and the advance is rather in a conceptual stage. The important thing, perhaps, is that as technology advances this is a field with great potential for application.

For now, wireless electricity technology has some applications inside homes on a smaller scale where disruptions are smaller and environments more controlled. At least, eventually, we could forget about cables to charge cellphones and laptops and perhaps also automobiles. Without a doubt, this would be a wonderful advance.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: December 16, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/electricidad-inalambrica-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210517193607/https://businessinsider.mx/electricidad-inalambrica-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [Archived]

Electric Cars in Flames






Those who follow Formula 1 will have seen that last Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the French driver Romain Grosjean suffered a spectacular accident. To his good fortune, he did not suffer serious injuries, but the flames of the accident inspired me for this column.

In one maneuver, Grosjean crashes into the containment wall, splitting the car in half and immediately causing an explosion. The flames were impressive; however, in seconds the F1 team was trying to put out the fire and open a space so that the driver could get out from among the flames. No more than 30 seconds passed between the impact and Grosjean’s exit.

We are used to seeing these scenes: after an accident, a conventional car runs the risk of catching fire. Normally, we see that water or chemical extinguishers are used to put out the fire. What this seeks is to isolate the fuel to control the fire and prevent another one from starting. But electric cars bring their own challenges and this works differently.

A conventional electric car could require up to 1,125 liters of water per minute and up to 24 hours to be extinguished. Why? Well, basically, because the fire of a lithium battery in electric cars cannot be extinguished; it will continue until all the cells are consumed.

The batteries of electric cars are composed of many cells that are grouped into modules and, in turn, into packs. The batteries of electric cars can have one or several packs and, in the event of a short circuit, the fire can reach a temperature of 2,700 degrees Celsius. To give you an idea, the fire of a conventional car is 800 degrees Celsius, that is, a fire of an electric car is three times more intense.

Once at the place, the protocol changes. What is sought is not to put out the fire but to reduce the heat enough to be able to activate the mechanisms that separate the modules and avoid a chain reaction and, at the same time, remove other objects at risk, for example, nearby cars in a parking lot. If this is not possible, the car will continue burning for approximately 24 hours.

Water extinguishers are the tool of choice because of the way the chain reaction of the fire in the battery pack works. However, it must be used following certain precautions because, given the heat, water can separate into its components, oxygen and hydrogen, causing a violent flare-up by providing the combustion with more oxidizing agent.

But it does not end there; there are other associated risks: electric shock, heat burns, chemical burns, toxic smoke. The worst? If the dismantling protocols are not followed to stop the chain reaction, the battery could catch fire again in a period no longer than 24 hours.

The accident in Formula 1 demonstrates the technological, safety and protocol advances that we have in fires of conventional cars. But electric cars change the game; if the car that Grosjean crashed had been electric, perhaps the result would not have been so favorable.

As electric cars become widespread and become the rule, the challenge of electric car fires will increase, but this period represents the most complicated learning curve for all countries. In Mexico, we are still in time to begin designing the necessary protocols to prepare ourselves for this new reality and include the large batteries of mass transport.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: December 2, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/autos-electricos-accidentes-llamas-opinion-energia-circular-paul-sanchez/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240715042612/https://businessinsider.mx/autos-electricos-accidentes-llamas-opinion-energia-circular-paul-sanchez/ [Archived]