We might remember them as one of the catalysts of the Industrial Revolution, but the flywheel has older antecedents. Much older in fact…dating right back to the Neolithic age. Flywheels have been used for everything, from a potter’s wheel to the steam engine. Now in the age of electronic chips and laser, it’s making a heralded comeback. Though it never disappeared from the scene altogether. Flywheels are very much a part of the modern day automobile and many engineering devices.

In a change of course, flywheels are being brought back to plug some gaps in our search for sustainable energy.

Flywheel is a physically simple device that rotates and stores the kinetic energy. A flywheel resists change in its inertia. The rotatory motion can be kept on through sporadic supply of energy. When you think that renewable energy sources like wind and waves are by nature sporadic, the utility of flywheels can be felt.

Vycon is a company that’s in the forefront of flywheel energy storage systems. Vycon’s patented system comprises of a steel hub with magnetic bearings, a dual motor/generator (the motor charges the system, the generator distributes the energy), high tech system controls, and a converter that transforms the flywheel’s AC power into DC.

Vycon’s applications cover wind and solar energy installations. It has developed a form of energy recycling which uses flywheels in crane operations to store wasted energy. Another system can capture and store the braking energy from commuter and freight trains.

The application of flywheel technology can be applied to any area where there is intermittent motion. From mining operations to elevators, flywheels can be used to harvest and distribute localized energy. As an energy retention device it is portable and more efficient than other solutions like molten salt. The technology is already fully developed as it is basically simple physics. Flywheels are also showing there merit in several high stress environments.

A couple of years ago, Formula 1 cars introduced a flywheel/hybrid electric system   called Kinetic Energy Recovery, which stores waste energy in a flywheel instead of a battery.

The new Ross Island Wind Farm in Antarctica is expected to reduce its carbon footprint with the help of a flywheel storage system.

Image: Wikimedia Commons