Chapter 469 - 215: Unexpected Discovery

Chapter 469: Chapter 215: Unexpected Discovery

With company matters settled for the upcoming Chinese New Year, Jiang Miao didn’t have much else that needed his urgent attention. As a result, he had been spending his time doing research in the lab.

January 20th, the day of Great Cold.

Shuya called, asking him to come over.

He entered Shuya’s microbiology lab.

He found Shuya standing beside a dozen or so experimental battery boxes.

"Ah Ya, what’s going on?"

Seeing him arrive, Shuya handed him a freshly printed data report. "You’ll understand once you take a look."

Jiang Miao took the folder and flipped through it carefully. He raised an eyebrow. "You actually managed to create something like this."

Shuya smiled and explained, "Well, I saw how worried you’ve been these past few months about the future soybean surplus. I wanted to help you solve the problem, so I started looking into whether soybeans could be used as food for electrogenic bacteria. I just didn’t expect this happy accident."

Setting the folder aside, Jiang Miao carefully examined the experimental battery boxes before him.

He did so while listening to Shuya explain the specific details.

"I used a mix of straw powder, soybean powder, and agar powder to create a special gel. Then I added the electrogenic bacteria culture and other auxiliary trace reagents to keep the bacteria in a state of relatively stable growth..."

"The best version so far has a power output of 334 watts per cubic meter. It can maintain that output steadily for 160 hours. Its theoretical total output is 53.44 kilowatt-hours, with an actual output of around 48 kilowatt-hours..."

Based on these numbers, this new technology seemed to have only a third of the power output of the version Jiang Miao had previously researched.

But what truly astonished Jiang Miao was that as the electrogenic bacteria grew and multiplied within the gel, they formed a unique nanostructure.

This nanostructure resembled a large fungus, like a mushroom, but its interior was filled with a dense, honeycomb-like pattern.

Shuya’s initial plan was to see if the honeycomb gel could be reused by reintroducing nutrient powder.

However, the results were unexpected. The honeycomb gel that had been refilled with nutrient powder produced an abnormally low amount of power.

And yet, the electrogenic bacteria had consumed the nutrients from the powder as expected.

This result piqued Shuya’s interest. She re-examined the honeycomb gel and discovered that its structure could actually store electrical energy.

Her initial research showed that each cubic meter of the honeycomb gel had a maximum storage capacity of around 150 kilowatt-hours.

Subsequently, Shuya and a dozen or so lab assistants conducted in-depth research into the various physicochemical properties of the honeycomb gel.

They discovered that a dried and deactivated honeycomb gel could be added to a new batch of gel, achieving a secondary stack.

The current stacking limit was three times. After each stack, the density of the honeycomb gel’s energy-storing nanostructure would roughly double, increasing the maximum storage capacity per cubic meter to 450 kilowatt-hours.

However, its discharge rate wasn’t high, currently only about 1600 watts. A full charge could provide a continuous discharge for 281 hours.

Shuya had been trying to find a way to increase its rapid discharge capability, but after over a month, she was still stumped. That was why she had finally called him over to take a look.

"Temperature, light exposure, pH... you’ve tested them all. You said they can change the output, but not by much," Jiang Miao said, sinking into thought.

More accurately, he had activated his appraisal panel and was carefully observing the honeycomb gel.

The nanostructures were formed after the electrogenic bacteria underwent apoptosis. Even after cell death, these structures still retained some of the bacteria’s original properties.

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him. "Ah Ya, try increasing the oxygen concentration."

"Oxygen concentration? To increase the redox reaction? I’ll give it a try." Shuya looked thoughtful, then immediately arranged for her lab assistants to start the experiment.

As more and more oxygen was fed into the honeycomb gel, its power output soared, just as he’d predicted.

But soon after, the entire gel suddenly burst into flames.

The lab assistants, who were prepared for such an event, quickly followed the procedures in the operations manual to extinguish the fire.

Shuya wasn’t too surprised. After all, if pumping oxygen into a storage battery actually increased its discharge rate, it was highly likely to catch fire.

She focused intently on the data from the experiment.

At an oxygen concentration of 45%, the discharge rate peaked at 4,725 watts. When the concentration reached 53%, the discharge rate dropped to 3,529 watts, and the gel began to spontaneously combust.

Meanwhile, Jiang Miao, observing through his appraisal panel, saw every detail of the discharge process. The oxygen concentration did indeed increase the honeycomb gel’s discharge rate, but it also inflicted massive damage on its energy-storing nanostructure.

This was an expected outcome.

After all, increasing the oxygen concentration was meant to increase the efficiency of the redox reaction. When something is oxidized, its structure inevitably changes.

Jiang Miao wasn’t too concerned about this, however. His true purpose was to observe the discharge properties of these nanostructures and understand how they achieved it.

And during the intense reaction just now, he had seen the answer he was looking for.

The structure used phosphorus and nitrogen atoms to enable the rapid migration of electrons within the special nanostructure, thereby creating the discharge effect. It was somewhat similar in structure to the electrocytes of an electric eel.

With Jiang Miao’s guidance, Shuya and her dozen-plus lab assistants finally perfected the technology for regulating the honeycomb gel’s discharge rate just before the Chinese New Year.

The technology used soybean oil as a buffer agent (other vegetable oils with high solidification points also worked). By adding potassium chloride, the honeycomb gel’s discharge rate could be freely switched between 0 and 96 kilowatts simply by adjusting the wavelength of an LED light.

As for its operational lifespan, Jiang Miao’s appraisal panel estimated it could perform around 600 high-efficiency discharge cycles. After 600 cycles, the nanostructure would begin to fail, and both its storage and discharge capabilities would drop off a cliff.

The honeycomb gel’s charging rate could also be switched between 0 and 96 kilowatts.

However, its charging energy loss was slightly lower than that of lithium batteries, at around 3% to 7%.

Its discharge energy loss was also in the 3% to 7% range.

Its monthly self-discharge loss was approximately 0.2% to 0.8%.

As for its performance in low temperatures, this was mainly affected by the soybean oil inside the gel. Once the soybean oil solidified, the discharge rate would plummet to only about one-tenth of its maximum. In a semi-solidified state, between zero and negative sixteen degrees Celsius, its discharge rate would be roughly one-half.

Fortunately, once the gel began to discharge, most of the energy lost during the process was converted into heat, which would rapidly warm the gel’s interior.

Therefore, to use the gel as a storage battery in the North during winter, it would need to be fitted with an insulating layer and a rapid heater. The initial burst from the heater, combined with the gel’s own self-heating effect, would allow it to maintain high-efficiency operation.

There was one inconvenient aspect to this design, however: in the summer, the insulating layer had to be removed promptly. Otherwise, during operation, its core temperature could reach about 46 degrees Celsius. It would then need to be left exposed and either air-cooled or water-cooled to bring the core temperature down to between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

These drawbacks, however, did not diminish the value of the Gel Battery.

After all, it could store 450 kilowatt-hours per cubic meter. With a weight of 1.5 metric tons, this was equivalent to an energy density of 0.3 kilowatt-hours per kilogram.

How did that energy density compare to the competition?

Lithium iron phosphate batteries are around 0.16 to 0.2 kWh/kg.

Semi-solid-state batteries are around 0.28 to 0.4 kWh/kg.

All-solid-state batteries are around 0.5 to 0.7 kWh/kg.

In other words, the Gel Battery’s energy density was comparable to that of semi-solid-state batteries.

But the Gel Battery had one key advantage: its production cost was extremely low. Its core raw materials were the husks of the electrogenic bacteria, soybean oil, potassium chloride, and other trace elements. Including the electrodes and casing, the cost per cubic meter was only around 3,500 yuan at current market prices.

This cost absolutely crushed the 30,00-yuan-per-ton price of lithium iron phosphate batteries, not to mention the solid-state money pits that averaged over 200,000 yuan per ton.

Plus, the Gel Battery was eco-friendly!

When a Gel Battery was scrapped, the soybean oil could be recycled to produce biodiesel, and the honeycomb biomass could be crushed to be used as organic fertilizer. This meant there was no need to worry about environmental pollution or spend a fortune on waste disposal; in fact, part of the cost could even be recouped.

Although its 600-cycle lifespan was pathetic compared to the 2,000-odd cycles of a lithium iron phosphate battery, the thing was dirt cheap.

For the cost of producing one metric ton of lithium iron phosphate, one could produce 8.5 cubic meters, or 12.75 metric tons, of Gel Batteries.

When it wore out, replacing it wouldn’t break the bank.

Other batteries required various rare elements, which not only increased production costs but also added risk to the supply chain. After all, the country’s domestic reserves of many rare elements were insufficient. Any turmoil abroad could cause production costs to skyrocket.

The core raw materials for the Gel Battery, on the other hand, were soybeans, straw, and potassium chloride—resources the country had in abundance.

Of course, the greatest benefits of the Gel Battery were for the energy storage industry.

After all, its total round-trip energy loss was only 6% to 14%. This meant that for every 10 units of electricity charged, you could get back 8.6 to 9.4 units on discharge. This was a significant advantage over current pumped-storage hydroelectricity, which had an upper limit of getting 7.5 units back for every 10 units charged.

As for its application as a power source for vehicles, that was certainly possible.

However, considering the Gel Battery’s maximum charging rate was only 96 kilowatts, it wouldn’t be able to achieve the kind of rapid charging that takes only a few minutes.

Therefore, it was better suited for a battery-swapping model rather than a charging model.

When a vehicle’s battery was nearly depleted, you could simply go and swap it for a fully charged one, avoiding the hassle of recharging.

Given the Gel Battery’s energy density of 450 kilowatt-hours per cubic meter, a 150 kilowatt-hour battery would be more than enough for an ordinary family car; there would be no need to design such a large battery pack.

Large trucks, construction vehicles, and inland river transport ships, on the other hand, would require a much larger charge.