We get a higher energy density per m^3 of air at higher pressures. We were aiming at 4500 psi eventually.
We aim for it not to be noisy -- any noise from high pressure air rushing out represents wasted energy. Sonic booms from exhaust have this problem in automobile engines, we avoid it.
Lithium ion is indeed much more dense :-)
Consider that every car has a gasoline tank, many houses have fuel oil, and we undergird our streets with natural gas pipes, which burned down San Francisco. I submit that air has its safety issues, but that most of these can be avoided, and in particular, chain reactions, which threaten flammable energy storage, can be made a non-issue.
> Consider that every car has a gasoline tank, many houses have fuel oil
Just guessing that this could be a gating issue once you have something to deploy. People can be irrational, even when faced with facts. I know people that will not go into the water at the beach for fear of being attacked by a shark. Yet, the same people don't think twice about getting into their cars in the morning and driving on Los Angeles freeways.
Here industrial design might be the key. If the unit looks, almost literally, like the typical freezer or refrigerator lots of people have in their garage it might mitigate irrational first impressions.
4500psi?! Haven't the ideal gas laws broken down by then?
There's a reason most (recreational) scuba tanks stop around 3000 - 3500 PSI max working pressure: you fairly quickly stop getting linear gains, at the expense of additional tank wall thickness and stronger valves required.
Edit: Nevermind, it appears that 4500 PSI/300 BAR is semi-standard in Compressed Air Powered cars, so I guess there is value in going to that pressure (storage density I guess).
We aim for it not to be noisy -- any noise from high pressure air rushing out represents wasted energy. Sonic booms from exhaust have this problem in automobile engines, we avoid it.
Lithium ion is indeed much more dense :-)
Consider that every car has a gasoline tank, many houses have fuel oil, and we undergird our streets with natural gas pipes, which burned down San Francisco. I submit that air has its safety issues, but that most of these can be avoided, and in particular, chain reactions, which threaten flammable energy storage, can be made a non-issue.