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NASA G2 flywheel
Flywheel energy storage (FES) works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy. When energy is extracted from the system, the flywheel's rotational speed is reduced as a consequence of the principle of conservation of energy; adding energy to the system correspondingly results in an increase in the speed of the flywheel.
Just what is a flywheel, anyway?
A flywheel is, quite simply, any rotating disk installed to collect and supply energy to a given system by storing this energy in the form of rotational Kinetic Energy.
Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? Well, to be quite honest, a flywheel system can be very simple. The perfect example of this is the old Smash-Up Derby Cars that were popular in the late 70's and early 80's as a child's toy. These cars would race towards one another at great speeds and, when they hit, pieces would fly off. Collect the pieces and reattach them and you were ready for another run. But, what made them move. No, you didn't have to push them. They ran on a simple flywheel design.
Located in the center of the car was a single wheel what was free to rotate with the axle perpendicular to the direction the car was facing. Give it a push, and it would roll. But, to get the best results, you placed a specially designed cord in a hole and pulled it out quickly. This cord was attached to a gear on the side of the flywheel. When the cord was pulled, the gear was rotated and the flywheel powered up. With this flywheel spinning, we have a simple flywheel engine, the only means of locomotion for the vehicle. Neat, hey?
Unfortunately, such simple designs are of very limited use. As can be seen by the diagram above, they have gotten much more complicated. Not we require high strength materials, ultra high vacuums, friction free environments, and multiple flywheels to overcome Gyroscopic Inertia. To get a feel for the problems we face today, see my sections on The Problems and Their Solutions.
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