MAGIC engine
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The MAGIC motor is the design of a heat engine developed by Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyo Technical University . The project did not get beyond an experimental stage. A MAGIC motor burns magnesium and water to produce hot steam and thus work . It doesn't need any fossil fuels . Professor Takashi Yabe played a key role in the project . The acronym MAGIC means Magnesium Injection Cycle; translated into German about magnesium circuit injection engine .
history
- 2005 - A joint project between Mitsubishi and the Tokyo University of Technology is founded.
- 2006 - Development of a prototype of a carbon dioxide-free engine that worked successfully.
- 2007 - Professor Yabe planned to demonstrate the engine on the occasion of the G8 summit in Tōyako 2008 in Chitose , Japan .
Base material: magnesium
→ See also main article: Magnesium .
Magnesium is a metal, lighter than aluminum and has a whitish, silvery sheen. Sea water contains a lot of magnesium, more than 1 kg / m³, about 1800 trillion tons. Magnesium is highly reactive, when it comes into contact with water it burns very quickly. It is just as flammable as hydrogen. On the other hand, solid magnesium does not ignite at temperatures below 650 ° C, it can be stored at room temperature. It can actually be stored for more than 10 years.
→ See also main article: Energy density .
The energy density of magnesium is quite high. The reaction between magnesium and water creates heat. Hydrogen is generated at the same time. This hydrogen can be burned at the same time and generates additional heat. Magnesium has a calorific value of 25 MJ · kg −1 . With the thermal energy, a large amount of water vapor can be generated, which is used in turbines to convert the energy stored in the magnesium into work (mechanical energy).
For comparison: the calorific value of coal is around 30 MJ kg −1 , slightly more than that of magnesium.
The table lists various energy carriers and energy storage devices that can be used in vehicles. Magnesium has the highest energy density of the renewable energy sources.
Comparison with other energy sources and storage systems
| Substance / system | Energy density in MJ / kg | fossil / renewable | Remark, application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead accumulator | 0.11 | renewable | Car battery |
| NiMH battery | 0.36 | renewable | HR6 mignon cell |
| Li-ion battery | 0.5 | renewable | Range: 0.36-0.5 MJ / kg, for the latter figure see: Accumulator |
| Li-polymer battery | 0.54 | renewable | Modelling |
| Hydrogen (including hydride tank ) | 1.19 | renewable | |
| magnesium | 25th | renewable | including hydrogen combustion |
| natural gas | 36-50 | fossil | Calorific value |
| petrol | 43 | fossil | |
| Diesel fuel | 45.4 | fossil | |
| Hydrogen (without tank) | 142 | renewable |
Energy chain and material cycle
Extraction of magnesium from sea water
Magnesium chloride can be obtained by evaporating seawater . With the help of the solar laser, pure magnesium can be produced from it.
The magnesium chloride in seawater contains chemically bound water. If it is heated, magnesium oxide and hydrochloric acid are produced .
Reduction of magnesium oxide with solar energy
If you work without a catalyst, you need a temperature of 20,000 ° C to split magnesium oxide into magnesium and oxygen. The magnesium is recovered from the oxide using a laser powered by solar energy.
The incident sunlight is at a 4 m 2 large Fresnel lens made of plastic in an area of about 6 cm 2 focused. However, such a point can only get as hot as the surface of the sun , i.e. about 6000 ° C. Sunlight consists of light with different wavelengths: ultraviolet, visible light, infrared light. The focused sunlight irradiates a Cr-doped Nd: YAG ceramic material. This material is able to convert sunlight from different spectral ranges from blue light (approx. 400 nm) to near infrared (approx. 900 nm) into near infrared light with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The laser beam is focused through a lens onto an area of less than 6 mm 2 in order to generate extremely high temperatures.
With the extremely hot light beam, magnesium oxide powder is irradiated for a very short time (0.2 s), the surface evaporates and the resulting gas contains approx. 30% magnesium. The gaseous magnesium is quickly cooled by an inert gas (e.g. argon) so that it cannot react with atmospheric oxygen. The magnesium is deposited as a substrate.
Further experiments suggest that this conversion of magnesium oxide to magnesium can work with an efficiency of 45%.
The motor
The chemical reaction between magnesium (in powdered form) and water at room temperature creates energy-rich steam and hydrogen . At the same time, the hydrogen is burned, generating more energy-rich steam. These two sources of steam drive the engine. The energy cycle does not generate any CO 2 or other harmful emissions . The only end products of the reaction are water and magnesium oxide .
Despite its small dimensions (diameter approx. 5 cm, height approx. 13.5 cm), the motor can deliver a heat output of several dozen kW , which is converted into mechanical work over time.
The engine development was led by Professor Takashi Yabe with the support of Professor Ikuta and others from the Tokyo University of Technology in cooperation in Ono Denki Seisakusho, KK a manufacturer from Shinagawa , Tokyo .
Chemical reaction
In the MAGIC motor, magnesium is "burned" with water:
at the same time, the resulting hydrogen is burned with atmospheric oxygen:
Applications
The engine was intended to be used in combined heat and power plants , vehicles, ships and many other areas.
Comparison of the magnesium cycle and the hydrogen cycle
With the same volume, magnesium is much heavier than hydrogen. If you want to store hydrogen, you need a stable tank. The hydrogen escapes very easily if the tank is damaged. Magnesium can be stored at room temperature. It can actually be stored for more than 10 years.
Hydrogen requires special facilities and cannot be easily stored. In order to store the energy that a 1000 MW power plant generates in one day (in 24 hours) (100 * 10 12 joules) you need a tank with dimensions of 1 km × 1 km × for hydrogen at a pressure of one bar 10 m. The same amount of energy can be stored with magnesium in a tank measuring 15 m × 15 m × 10 m.
Developments from 2006
In an announcement in 2006 it was stated that further research was planned with the aim of launching it after three years. No updated plans have been released since then.
Web links
- "The Magnesium Civilization"
- "Magnesium and the Sun" , YouTube video (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b "CO 2 Free Engine Powers Up" , Mitsubishi website
- ↑ a b "Clean Magnesium Energy Cycle Hints at Fossil Fuel Freedom" , (English) by Steve Levenstein, July 27, 2007, InventorSpot.com
- ↑ a b c "TIT & Mitsubishi Prototypes Pollution-free Engine Excluding Fossil Fuel" , (English) by Motohiko Hamada and Nikkei Monozukuri, techon.nikkeibp.co.jp
- ^ "What is Magnesium-based energy cycling" , (English) www.mgciv.com
- ↑ a b "Magnesium can be burned at power generation plants" , (English) www.mgciv.com
- ↑ Energizer product website: NiMH battery type AA with 2500 mAh, 1.2 V, 30 g
- ↑ a b Rolf Zinniker: Information sheet on batteries and accumulators. (PDF; 151 kB) August 25, 2003, archived from the original on November 28, 2010 ; Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
- ↑ Louis Schlapbach, Andreas Züttel: Hydrogen storage materials for mobile applications, Nature 414, 2001
- ↑ "An economical“ Solar-pumped laser ”produces ultra high temperature" , (English) www.mgciv.com
- ↑ "Can a laser smelt magnesium?" , (English) www.mgciv.com
- ^ "Magnesium is fuel" , (English) www.mgciv.com