RE: More storage13 Jul 2020 08:46
As an Aerospace Engineer, I needed to put some counterpoints on here regarding Li batteries and VRFB batteries in aircraft.
Li-ion batteries are volatile and hence get banned from being brought onto aircraft. This started with the incidents on the new 787's a few years back. VRFB is not as volatile, however I can't see them being used as storage on aircraft due to their inferior energy-volume ratio. The future of passenger air travel (minus urban air mobility) is not electric but will be hybrid/ultra-high efficiency turbofans/propfans.
I'm not sure what 'pumped water storage' is unless this means inlet water injection? This is where water is added to the intake and (due to some pretty complex thermodynamics) increases the propulsive efficienicy of the engine. But this isn't used due to the weight margins (water is very heavy)
Still a keen holder of BMN, but I can't see vanadium batteries being a thing powering propulsive systems on aircraft.