<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-hot-brick-technology-that-could-slash-emissions-at-concrete-plants-and-aluminium-refineries/>
"A toaster and a cement kiln walk into a bar… what comes out later is a
battery. Or, more specifically, a “heat battery” and one that could help
revolutionise efforts to slash industrial emissions in Australia, and across
the world.
On face value the duo don’t have much in common but they — or the materials and
processes they represent — are a match for a new style of battery that might be
simple enough and easy enough to make to bridge the technology valley of death
that lies between early stage funding and serious project finance.
US company Rondo Energy is commercialising a hot brick energy storage system
(ESS) that, it says, does the trick.
The idea was to put a toaster-like element inside a 500 kilo brick made of the
same stuff that lines concrete kilns and steel blast furnaces, add some
inventive aerodynamic design, and use it to superheat air.
That air could then be blasted back into the furnace — hot air is one of the
key ingredients for steelmaking and cement — or use it to drive a steam turbine
for electricity.
The trick now, as other speculative thermal ESS ventures are finding, is to
bridge the gap between venture funding and the sort of finance that will allow
them to deliver commercial volumes of their product.
“It’s easier to finance a $3 billion project than a $300 million project,” says
Rondo Energy co-founder John O’Donnell.
“There’s been this valley of death-effect in early finance for projects that
fully meet all the discipline, all the reporting, all the reliability, and
build a track record.
“[They can’t] put in place the foundation for the next wave that’s 10 or 100
times larger. And that’s what we’re doing right now.”
In 2023, the company did a deal with Siam Cement Group to lift manufacturing
capacity from 2.4 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year to 90 GWh.
What does that mean? An individual brick weighs 500kg and stores 100 kilowatt
hours (kWh) of energy, meaning Rondo’s eventual manufacturing capacity will be
90,000 bricks a year."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
