Footy finals and fuel cells: Powering the MCG

05th Oct 2017

Whether you’re a footy fan or a clean energy enthusiast, September is set to be an exciting month at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Australia’s favourite patch of turf has some massive energy demands, whether they be lights, electronic score boards, or air conditioning.

No matter the season, the ‘G requires a significant amount of energy – equivalent to the amount required to power around 4,000 homes for a year. Its sheer scale means there are many opportunities to apply innovative energy technologies in order to keep the lights on, sustainably.

CSIRO are working with the Melbourne Cricket Club (stadium manager of the MCG) and their new electricity partner EnergyAustralia to explore the use of hybrid energy systems based on renewable energy, hydrogen, fuel cells and battery storage to better manage the stadium’s electricity consumption and reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Fuel cells or batteries … why not both?

Fuel cells and batteries convert chemical energy into electricity through an electrochemical reaction:

Fuel cells combine gases oxygen (from air) and hydrogen (from a fuel tank).
Batteries combine chemicals stored within their electrodes inside the battery.

So why use a fuel cell instead of a battery, and how can both be used in a hybrid system?

The first reason relates to the fuel – you can store much more energy in a fuel than you can in a battery because a fuel tank is much cheaper than battery electrodes. This makes it cheaper per unit of energy to store energy in a fuel – energy normally measured in kilowatt hours (kWh).

As well as being cheaper, a fuel like hydrogen can be stored indefinitely in a tank, whereas batteries slowly drain once charged.

For the full story, go to CSIRO Scope

Source: CSIRO

What to know about graphite: the mineral of extremes

05th Oct 2017

With the rise of electric cars and energy storage, graphite – a mineral made of carbon – is poised to be hot on the commodity market to meet demand for lithium-ion batteries.

A mineral of extremes, graphite is the strongest and stiffest naturally occurring material, while contrastingly soft and lightweight. It’s also heat resistant with a high melting point, similar to that of a diamond. These properties, coupled with high conductivity, make graphite critical for use in batteries.
Positively charged demand

Specifically, graphite is needed for battery anodes, the positively charged electrode through which the current flows. While graphite has been used as a key ingredient in anodes in all kinds of batteries for decades, lithium-ion batteries contain proportionately about double the amount of graphite.

To put this into perspective, there is estimated to be 54kg of graphite in the batteries used in each Tesla Model S (85 kWh).

But, not all graphite is equal.

Graphite comes naturally and abundantly in three different forms: ‘crystal’ flake, lump and amorphous. Only high purity (>99.9 per cent) graphite flake is capable of producing the level of electrical conductivity needed to be considered ‘battery-grade’.

About one million tonnes of the mineral is sold annually worldwide. Most of the world’s graphite supply comes from China and Brazil, so a lot of work is going into diversifying the sources of graphite to meet the increasing demand predicted for the future.

Companies seeking to get a competitive edge in this market, are finding ways to improve their production processes so that they can recover more graphite flake, at the highest level of purity possible.

Importance of understanding how graphite forms

Graphite is a metamorphic mineral that has undergone transformation deep underground as a result of heat, pressure and flowing fluid. Graphite flake crystals grow with increasing temperature – upwards of 750 degrees Celsius – as organic matter such as dead bacteria or plants in younger rocks is “cooked up” and converted to graphite.

To read the full article, go to CSIRO Scope

Source: CSIRO

How a battery works

13th Apr 2016

Essentials

• A battery is a device that stores chemical energy and converts it to electrical energy.
• The chemical reactions in a battery involve the flow of electrons from one material (electrode) to another, through an external circuit.
• The flow of electrons provides an electric current that can be used to do work.
• To balance the flow of electrons, charged ions also flow through an electrolyte solution that is in contact with both electrodes.
• Different electrodes and electrolytes produce different chemical reactions that affect how the battery works, how much energy it can store and its voltage.

Imagine a world without batteries. All those portable devices we’re so dependent on would be so limited! We’d only be able to take our laptops and phones as far as the reach of their cables, making that new running app you just downloaded onto your phone fairly useless.

Luckily, we do have batteries. Back in 150 BC in Mesopotamia, the Parthian culture used a device known as the Baghdad battery, made of copper and iron electrodes with vinegar or citric acid. Archaeologists believe these were not actually batteries but were used primarily for religious ceremonies.

The invention of the battery as we know it is credited to the Italian scientist Alessandro Volta, who put together the first battery to prove a point to another Italian scientist, Luigi Galvani. In 1780, Galvani had shown that the legs of frogs hanging on iron or brass hooks would twitch when touched with a probe of some other type of metal. He believed that this was caused by electricity from within the frogs’ tissues, and called it ‘animal electricity’.

To read the full article, click here.

Source: NOVA

Graphite: An old product with new uses opens up opportunities for Queensland

12th Apr 2016

Carbon is the fifteenth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is the basis for all life forms on Earth. It is one of the lighter elements on the periodic table coming in at number six. Various forms of carbon (mainly graphite) have an increasing usage in modern technologies – a trend which is accelerating as product research progresses. Appropriate forms of graphite for use in industrial applications are increasingly being sought.

Recent exploration in Queensland has identified a promising graphite occurrence north of Cloncurry, and this deposit may be developed as a resource for future production. Another possible graphite resource is also being explored south of Croydon.

What is Graphite?

Graphite is an allotrope of carbon which comprises simple hexagonal arrangements of carbon atoms in a platy fabric. Other allotropes of carbon include amorphous carbon and diamond.
It is one of the softest known substances.
Graphite’s earliest use was in ‘lead’ pencils for writing on paper.
At atmospheric pressure it has no melting point (it sublimes at temperatures ~53000C) and remains solid at higher temperatures than metals such as tungsten or rhenium.
Graphite is a conductor of electricity. Some forms are used for thermal insulation but other forms are good thermal conductors.

Graphite occurs in three forms in nature:

Amorphous graphite (lowest value and most of the world’s deposits)
Flake graphite (less common and higher value than amorphous graphite)
Vein or lump graphite (plumbago; highest quality/price)

How do we use Graphite?

Graphite has a number of traditional uses, including refractory applications (foundry facings, crucibles, retort linings), brushes in electric motors, dry cells ‘lead’ pencils, and as an additive in paints, lubricants and stove polishes.

The automotive industry has also adopted graphite for use in brake linings, gaskets, clutch materials and dry lubricants, while elsewhere it has been adopted for use in fire retardants and reinforcements in plastics. Graphite is now also used in nuclear reactors to control the speed of the nuclear fission reaction.

More recently, the market for graphite has begun to expand incrementally reflecting its use in a number of green technologies including lithium ion batteries, fuel cells, flow batteries and the expansion of nuclear power sector. Many of these applications have the potential to consume more graphite than all present uses combined. The proliferation of batteries used in the development of electric cars will further drive increased graphite demand in the future. Battery grade graphite involves production of a new form of graphite – spherical graphite. The manufacture of spherical graphite requires chemical modification of flake graphite and at present is mainly performed in China. However other parts of the world are seeking to manufacture the product.

A new carbon-based compound, graphene, has also been developed from flake graphite. Graphene is a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of pure graphite one atom thick which is very strong and efficiently conducts heat. It is 100 times as strong as steel and has exciting uses in areas such as battery technology and conductive coatings.

Some of the research for future uses of graphene include:

Flexible solar cells
Smart wallpaper which collects heat and generates electricity
‘Intelligent’ windows with virtual curtains
Clothing impregnated with graphene which can charge our mobile phones as we walk
‘Smart’ paint on our cars
Graphene cables to transmit heat from deep geothermal resources.

To find out more, including where and how graphite is found in Queensland, click here.

Source: DNRM Mining Journal

Minerals and ingenuity combine

25th Sep 2014

A robotics graduate has won the James Dyson Award for a 3D-printed prosthetic hand that costs a fraction of current artificial limbs.

Joel Gibbard, a robotics graduate from Plymouth University, has designed a prosthetic hand that can be produced in 40 hours; and with a price tag of less than £1,000, it is seen as an affordable alternative to more advanced robotic prosthetics, which can cost between £30,000 and £60,000.

The 25-year-old said he was inspired by a six-year-old girl who lost all her limbs to meningitis and wasn’t using any hand prosthetics because she found them too “ugly” and “heavy”.

“The problem of current robotic prosthetics is their financial barriers. The only alternative to a robotic prosthetic is a cosmetic hand that is functionless and heavy, or an alienating hook,” said Bristol-based Mr Gibbard. “I can 3D print a robotic prosthetic hand inspired by comic books and superheros that hand amputees enjoy showing off for a fraction of the price.”

Around 6,000 major limb amputations are carried out in the UK each year, but most prosthetics are unaffordable to the average patient. Mr Gibbard’s low-cost robotic hands are able to perform the same tasks as advanced prosthetics, including individual finger movement through the use of sensors that are stuck to the amputee’s skin.

To read the full story, click here.

Source: The Telegraph

Taking our solar technology to the land of the rising sun

25th Sep 2014

From CSIRO News Blog:

Did you know we’re exporting our solar technology to the world?

Fresh from setting a world record last year, our solar team continue to see great demand for our heliostat technology. We recently took this tech and our expertise to Cyprus to help the island nation with its transition to renewable energy, and now we are off to the ‘land of the rising sun’, Japan.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) are establishing a field of 150 heliostats in Yokohama, for running research projects using CSIRO-designed heliostats. MHPS recently received funding from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment for the purpose of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and we are delighted that this global leader in energy has chosen our technology; it’s a great vote of confidence.

But it’s not all about success overseas, our solar tech is making a difference to the local car industry as well.

We’re not talking about solar powered vehicles (though we are a fan of solar cars, in fact we’ve developed technology for solar powered cars and tested it at the World Solar Challenge). We’re talking about this technology empowering local companies to transition from the automotive industry to renewables.

We’ve been working with Adelaide-based company, Heliostat SA (HSA) to harness the same skills and equipment they perfected making car parts to manufacture our heliostats. It’s a perfect fit for a company looking to transition its skilled workforce into a new and lucrative industry.

Our heliostat design is unique. It’s smaller than conventional heliostats, and uses an advanced control system to get high performance from a relatively inexpensive design.

To read the full story, click here.

Source: CSIRO

Powering Australia using mirrors in the outback

25th Sep 2014

Fresh from creating a world record back in June, CSIRO are taking their solar savvy to the bush.

At a time when electricity demand is falling across much of Australia, the opposite has been true for many mining centres in remote areas, where energy usage has been increasing.

These regions enjoy some of the bluest skies in the world, making them ideal for the use of solar thermal technology.

The problem is that at the moment the cost is too high.

Solar-thermal tower technology uses many mirrors (heliostats) that track the sun, concentrating its energy by reflecting light towards a receiver fixed on top of a tower. However conventional heliostats are expensive to install in remote areas due to the large number of components that need to be assembled on site, leading to higher electricity costs.

Until now.
By changing the way heliostats are manufactured and controlled, our solar scientists are aiming to avoid the high cost of installation and maintenance in remote areas, providing an affordable renewable energy solution for the Aussie outback.

But that’s only part of the story.

We’re also working to improve the other components of the overall parts of the solar thermal system such as receivers, turbines and, perhaps most importantly, storage. Thermal energy can be stored relatively cheaply compared to some other technologies, so there is great potential for large scale power generation regardless of when the sun is shining.

Solar electricity can be transported through the grid from our country’s sunniest areas into cities and suburbs, and by making use of storage this can happen at the times when demand (and prices) are highest. This can have a positive impact on electricity prices by reducing peak demand caused by the use of air-conditioners on hot days.

To read the full story, click here.

Source: CSIRO

Underground mine transformed into trampoline wonderland

24th Sep 2014

An abandoned 176-year old underground mine has been transformed into a trampoline park. And it looks amazing!

Blaenau Ffestiniog’s slate mine in North Wales boasts three trampolines positioned between 6 to 54 metres above the floor (with safety nets included).

The trampolines are hung within two vast chambers connected by walkways and slides.
To cater for the extra adventurous, the highest slide stands at 18 metres.

As if this wasn’t cool enough, Bounce Below lights up the walls of the mine with a techni-coloured light display that illuminates the cavern, creating a dreamlike affect for bouncers.

To read the full story, click here.

Source: www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/

Treasure hunters recover $1.4m in gold from 1857 shipwreck off US coast

02nd Jun 2014

A deep-ocean exploration company in Florida says it has recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold, worth $1.4 million at current gold prices, on a reconnaissance dive to an historic Atlantic Ocean shipwreck.

The dive confirmed that the ship, SS Central America, had not been disturbed since 1991 when another company stopped recovery work, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, announced on Monday.

The ship, which sank in a hurricane in 1857 with 21 tonnes of gold aboard, sparked a US banking panic at the time, which lasted several years.

The 280-foot sidewheel steamship carried gold from the California mines, as well as the personal wealth and belongings of its 477 passengers, most of whom were lost when the ship sank.

The two-hour reconnaissance dive in mid-April took place as the company’s research vessel, Odyssey Explorer, was travelling from the United Kingdom to Charleston, South Carolina.

To read the full story, click here.

Source: abc.net.au

Robotic trucks taking over Pilbara mining operations in shift to automation

02nd Jun 2014

The three iron ore heavyweights in the Pilbara have launched into the new world of automated mining, where the people are leaving the dirty work to the mechanical monsters in the pit.

With the decade-long mining boom pushing up wages and costs to unrealistic heights and ongoing scrutiny of safety in the mines, it is not hard to see why.

Tim Day has been in charge of rolling out BHP’s automation program at its brand new Jimblebar mine in the Pilbara.

He says there are several drivers for the change.

“The single biggest reason is safety,” Mr Day said.

“On a mine site, one of the issues we have is that we expose operators to machinery for long periods of time. We have fatigue issues, so it takes our people away from the front line.”

The dangers of mining are all too real.

A recent Department of Mines study analysed the deaths of 52 miners over the past 12 years, finding worker fatigue and inexperience with mining risks to be the biggest cause of accidents.

However, while miners are keen to sell the technology as a ticket to safer mine sites, it is also a ticket to cutting costs.

“It should also actually introduce a lot more hours onto the machines, so you can actually use the machinery more because you don’t need lunch breaks, you don’t need crib times or shift changes,” Mr Day said.

And what productivity and efficiency gains essentially boils down to is lower costs for producers and greater returns for investors.

With reduced costs on accommodation, flights and site penalties, some estimate each autonomous truck saves a million dollars per year.

The saving, Mr Kirchlechner says, is essential to remaining cost competitive on the world stage.

“As the world is becoming more global, capital is mobile, so we are always competing for capital,” he said.

“And because the industry is becoming so capital intensive, and because capital costs have risen so quickly, it’s really putting pressure on companies to become more productive.”

For the full article, and background of the automation technology, click here.

Source: abc.net.au