Rondo uses a simple toaster-style system to heat up "blast stoves," similar to the ones the steel industry already uses for cyclical heat storage. These stoves are full of plain ol' bricks, made out of plain ol' clay, sometimes with a bit of sand in there, but certainly nothing special in terms of materials. Nothing toxic, nothing that decays over time. These bricks will still be storing heat just as well in 40 or 50 years' time, when chemical batteries have gone through several generations of complex recycling.
Rondo says it can pull that heat back out at an extraordinary 98% efficiency, resulting in a dirt-cheap industrial heat storage solution that costs "about one fifth the cost per unit of energy stored as any electrochemical battery," according to O'Donnell. "On the outside, it looks fairly boring. It's only possible today because of supercomputer computational fluid dynamics, and finite element analysis and AI system controls. We're building something that's very simple – but was very interesting and complicated to design."
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Rondo's first customers, he says, have zero interest in being "green" or advertising their decision. They're in this for the bottom line, taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunity that intermittent clean energy presents. And right now, it's a hell of an arbitrage opportunity. "Today, electricity through a Rondo unit driving an industrial process in Saudi Arabia is one half the cost of oil-fired heat... straight up economics, solar PPA prices vs fuel prices," he said.
I don’t get it, how is he pulling the “stored” heat back out? Brick cools slowly but not that slowly that it’s a 98 percent efficient process over any meaningful period.
I don’t get it, how is he pulling the “stored” heat back out? Brick cools slowly but not that slowly that it’s a 98 percent efficient process over any meaningful period.
Scale, I'd think? Build a giant stack of bricks and insulate it well and any heat losses are a rounding error. They didn't specify a size. There are likely fundamental issues like actually...
Scale, I'd think? Build a giant stack of bricks and insulate it well and any heat losses are a rounding error. They didn't specify a size. There are likely fundamental issues like actually circulating the heat through the bricks; that fan/pump will draw some power, regardless of size.
That said,
It's only possible today because of supercomputer computational fluid dynamics, and finite element analysis and AI system controls. We're building something that's very simple – but was very interesting and complicated to design.
I think they're taking the piss here at least a little bit. Yes, sure, they used CFD to optimize air flow on the inside for reasonably homogenous heating/warming. Sure, an "AI" times the electricity market to figure out when to heat up the storage and when to discharge it. Hardly "only possible now" in any meaningful sense, except to say that without those marginal gains it would not be economically viable for another 3 years or something.
Definitely reads a bit much like a pitch and not much like objective reporting.
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't see anything on the website. I suppose the larger it is, the higher the volume to surface area ratio, and there's no reason they can't make the walls very...
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't see anything on the website.
I suppose the larger it is, the higher the volume to surface area ratio, and there's no reason they can't make the walls very thick. Still, it would hardly be the first time a startup lies about their technology.
From the article:
[...]
I don’t get it, how is he pulling the “stored” heat back out? Brick cools slowly but not that slowly that it’s a 98 percent efficient process over any meaningful period.
I guess all of the
led to shockingly good insulation. Or it's snake oil. Or somewhere in between.
Scale, I'd think? Build a giant stack of bricks and insulate it well and any heat losses are a rounding error. They didn't specify a size. There are likely fundamental issues like actually circulating the heat through the bricks; that fan/pump will draw some power, regardless of size.
That said,
I think they're taking the piss here at least a little bit. Yes, sure, they used CFD to optimize air flow on the inside for reasonably homogenous heating/warming. Sure, an "AI" times the electricity market to figure out when to heat up the storage and when to discharge it. Hardly "only possible now" in any meaningful sense, except to say that without those marginal gains it would not be economically viable for another 3 years or something.
Definitely reads a bit much like a pitch and not much like objective reporting.
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't see anything on the website.
I suppose the larger it is, the higher the volume to surface area ratio, and there's no reason they can't make the walls very thick. Still, it would hardly be the first time a startup lies about their technology.