Space technologies developed over the years continue to find use in different areas of our lives. Finally, a team funded by NASA has revealed that a method developed for use in NASA missions can increase the charging speed of electric vehicles to an incredible extent.
According to the discovery announced in the blog post shared by NASA, the “Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE)” technology developed by the team for temperature management in space has the potential to allow electric cars to charge in five minutes or even less.
The technology developed for the International Space Station can be used in the charging cable of electric cars:
The technology in question, developed by scientists from Purdue University, was actually developed for heat transfer on the International Space Station and in low gravity environments. Thus, while aiming to manage the temperature in the environment, it was stated that the “supercooled flow boiling” method used in technology can also be used in electric vehicles.
So what is this technology and method?
The piece in the technology called the “Flow Boiling Module” contains heat-generating devices mounted along the walls of a flow channel where coolant is supplied in liquid form. As these devices heat up, the temperature of the liquid in the channel rises and eventually the liquid adjacent to the walls begins to boil.
The boiling liquid forms small bubbles on the walls and constantly draws liquid from the inner region of the channel towards the channel walls. This process transfers heat efficiently, taking advantage of both the lower temperature of the liquid and the phase change that follows the transition from liquid to vapor.
The FBCE technology was tested in August 2021 and has also recently moved to the International Space Station. Additional results from the system operating at the station showed the technology could be used in future space systems, while testing continued later on on Earth.
How can technology be used in electric vehicles?
According to scientists, the passage of the current generated in the charging process of electric vehicles through any conductor produces a limited amount of heat. The higher the current, the higher the temperature. Even currents of 350 amps to ‘fast charge’ vehicles require large conductors and heavy and useless cables. That’s why many charging stations today use 150 amps.
A capacity of 1,400 amps is required to reduce the charging time to five minutes or less. While this was not possible with current technologies, the team behind FBCE decided to test their new system in electric vehicles. With the new technology, the non-conductive liquid refrigerant is pumped through the charging cable, where it takes advantage of the heat generated by the current-carrying conductor.
As a result of this test, the team was able to remove up to 24.22 kilowatts of heat, producing the fastest electric charger ever developed. Moreover, the specially developed cable supported even 2,400 amps of current.
Of course, it is not yet known how such a high current will affect vehicle batteries. However, the new charging technology can be used to eliminate one of the biggest problems of electric vehicles in the future.
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