
Alphabet’s X lab spins out molten-salt energy storage project Malta - sahin-boydas
https://blog.x.company/introducing-malta-81bceb559061
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FiatLuxDave
I'm interested to know what kind of heat pump they are using to get up to
molten salt temperatures. The only off-the-shelf high temp heat pumps you can
find are generally supercritical CO2. To get a high temperature differential
with phase change heat pumps, you typically need to use multiple stages or
have a very high compression ratio (read: quite expensive compressor). The
picture in the background looks like maybe a ceramic turbine?

Anyone who has any information on this, I'd be interested to hear more about
the details.

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partingshots
I like it. Conventional batteries are inefficient for grid level stationary
energy storage. Battery packs should stick to their strengths in areas where
portability is more important. With the aspect of not having to be moved,
molten-salt storage is cheaper and more cost-effective with pretty much zero
downsides.

Congratulations to the team that figured out how to build the corrosion
resistant materials they're using for storing molten salt. This has been a
defining bottleneck for decades now and is a huge accomplishment.

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occamrazor
My memories of thermodynamics are old and full of gaps, but from what I
remember both steps, if performed at "normal temperatures, necessarily produce
a waste of energy. The first step, i.e. using electricity to drive a heat
pump, is efficient only if the temperature differential between the cold body
and the hot one is small. On the other side, conversion of thermal energy into
electricity is efficient only if the temperature differential is large. How
does Malta overcome this problem?

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syntaxing
I am so curious about this project and really hope for it's success. But heat
pumps and PV curves have been studies for centuries. I'm super curious what
Alphabet has to offer that is cutting edge. That being said, I really hope
they are going to use a Stirling engine to convert the heat back into
electricity rather than a turbine. A large scale maintenance free Stirling
pump has always been my dream.

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sahin-boydas
[https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/19/alphabets-x-lab-spins-
out...](https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/19/alphabets-x-lab-spins-out-molten-
salt-energy-storage-project-malta-as-an-independent-company/)

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b_tterc_p
How easy would it be to transport temperaturized salt compared to sending
electricity through a grid? Or rather, could we use this to generate large
amounts of renewable energy in remote but energy dense or low land cost
locations and then ship it back to populous areas?

