Wheels of change: new energy source on the horizon.

From a cart's muddy underbelly to a schooner's windy stern, from frost-rimmed railways to jet-blasted taxiways, over time the wheel has taken many forms, always evolving to meet the needs of a people intent on improving their ways of life. Now, with a new millennium approaching, the wheel is about to change again- and it just may alter the face of electrical power in Alaska.

The wheel, that familiar, circular frame that turns on an axle, is a long-time companion to humankind-though not in Alaska. According to state historians, the wheel didn't appear in the Great Land until 200 years ago, brought over in the cargo of European explorers.

Today, a new wheel is rolling toward the state. One that will provide great savings to rural Alaskans.

Earlier this year, the Federal Department of Energy announced its intention to speed up the commercial development of superconductivity technology by offering to form partnerships on six new energy conservation projects. One of these, a flywheel energy storage system, is in negotiation with the Boeing Company's Phantom Works Division, with Alaska being a top target market.

Recognizing that energy production in Alaska - particularly rural Alaska - is often costly, Boeing saw its flywheel energy storage system - or FESS as it is dubbed - as potentially helpful to the industries and communities of the Last Frontier.

THE NEED

"Generally speaking, everyone - whether an urban business, a rural community, a remote hatchery, or a wilderness mining operation - is keenly interested in reliable and efficient energy at a reasonable cost," said Peter Crimp, an energy specialist for Alaska's Department of Energy. "For Railbelt Alaska-Fairbanks, Anchorage, and the Kenai Peninsula - a well-developed energy infrastructure already exists. The communities along the belt are connected via an energy interlink between various hydroelectric and natural gas-fired power plants. For this reason, and because of the economy of scale, their energy is fairly inexpensive."

Rural Alaska is another matter.

According to Percy Frisby, director of Alaska's Division of Energy, the biggest challenge energy-wise in rural Alaska is the high cost of producing that energy.

"Rural Alaska relies predominantly on diesel generation and there are high costs associated with purchasing, transporting and distributing that fuel," said Frisby. The Alaskan Department of Community and Regional Affairs reports that the cost of electricity for customers in rural parts of Alaska is approximately three to five times higher than for customers in more urban regions of the state.

In 1996, the average cost of diesel fuel was $1.01 per gallon. Among the 190 rural communities participating in the state's Power Cost Equalization Program that year, which helps bush communities meet their energy bills, over 27 million gallons of fuel oil were consumed to provide electricity, costing almost $28 million.

Fuel cost is only one expense. In rough numbers, it accounts for about 30 percent of a community's fuel-related expenditure. The remaining 70 percent is attributed to the cost of generating power with diesel, which includes the construction of diesel plants, the transportation of fuel, and the operating and maintenance of systems, says Charles Walls, president of the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative.

While diesel remains the lowest cost option today for powering rural Alaska, no one is happy about it. The optimum situation would be to develop a system that is going to reduce the cost of electricity and provide reliable energy in rural Alaska.

THE CONCEPT

"Efficiency," says Sam Wright, Boeing's business development manager on the flywheel project, "is one of the reasons why we started talking to the people in Alaska-because we were certain there would be a need up there. What we're interested in doing is developing alternative sources of energy storage that can supplement or reduce the demand for fossil fuel."

This is exactly what the FESS would do. Flywheels - rimmed, rotating wheels - are common features on machines subject to fluctuations in drive and load, such as an engine. A flywheel on a diesel engine in a fishing vessel, for example, absorbs the energy delivered into its spin by a firing piston, then releases that energy in the time gap before the next piston fires. The flywheel keeps the motion of the crankshaft smooth, which then turns the propeller shaft evenly.

In the case of the FESS, the stored energy goes into just about anything that requires power. It is an "electromechanical" battery; Instead of storing electricity like a lead acid battery, it stores energy mechanically in the spinning wheel. That energy can be drawn out as the attached motor turns, thus creating electricity. Or the flow can be reversed, charging up the flywheel itself. It can be tied into any system: diesel, hydroelectric, wind, solar . . . anything that will power the motor to spin up the wheel.

But two things have hampered use of the technology for long-term energy storage. First, a wheel large enough to store much energy was heavy, inefficient, and rapidly wore out its bearings. And secondly, electromechanical, magnetic, and electromagnetic bearings require complex control systems for stabilizing the wheel. These systems typically drain between 1 percent and 5 percent of the system's energy each hour-economically unacceptable.

The Boeing FESS represents something new. The company's high-strength composite flywheel was developed with knowledge gleaned from Boeing's experience with designing composite structures needed by such aircraft as the B-2 bomber, F-22 fighter, and Boeing 777 jetliner. The flywheel is lightweight, yet strong enough to withstand the strain generated by its 40,000 revolutions-per-minute spin. It is sealed in a vacuum chamber.

Suspended and stabilized in an electromagnetic field created by a combination of permanent and super-conducting electromagnets, it spins with almost zero friction. Energy loss is on the order of 0.1 percent per hour, up to 50 times better than that of earlier flywheel designs.

Overall, it has an energy density (the amount of energy it can store per unit volume) approximately 10 times that of a conventional lead acid battery. Boeing's 2 kilowatt/hr prototype, weighing only 44 pounds, could power an average horne's lights and appliances. And if more storage was necessary, additional flywheels can be hooked up in series, just like batteries. Both the consumer and fuel providers would see financial benefits.

"A flywheel energy storage system is pollution free, it's quiet, it is lightweight, it doesn't take up much space, and it doesn't wear out," says Wright. It recharges quickly, in minutes, as compared to hours required for batteries. Maintenance is on the order of four hours per year, with a service life of a quarter century.

Representatives from Boeing, Alaska Department of Energy, private industry, and various utility companies met in March 1997' for a demonstration of this technology at the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation in Anchorage. Helping to coordinate the meeting was Jack Wood of the Kiiguusi Suuluta Land Company, a business interested in developing geothermal energy on Unalaska Island in the Aleutians.

Boeing brought in its small "Proof of Concept" device and made a two-hour presentation. With the flick of a wrist, participants spun the small composite super-conducting bearing, which was about four times the size of a hockey puck. One spin by Wood and he was certain of the significance of the super-conducting magnetic bearings, and sold on the technology.

"This wheel sat there and rotated in open air for 43 minutes," said Wood. "Forty-three minutes! Everyone kept looking over, kept looking at their watches . . . The only reason it quit (was that) we didn't put in the liquid nitrogen and keep the super-conductive system running."

Charles Wall of Alaska Village Electric Cooperative explains that energy storage systems like the flywheel allow for the improvement of basic fuel-efficiency of engines. Most engines run more efficiently if their load-the power demanded from the engine-is at about 75 percent of their capacity, he said.

Wall said when a spinning flywheel is added to the equation, a diesel engine could be base-loaded at its most efficient level. If a greater demand, or peak load, is placed on the engine, the extra energy is drawn from the flywheel rather than the diesel, allowing the diesel engine to stay at its most efficient level. Likewise, any excess energy from periods of lesser demand could go into recharging the flywheel.

"So, if you had a way to store the energy to where you could just even out that constant loading," says Wall, "and have that energy storage device take care of the variations, you could have a mechanism for improving the fuel efficiency (of the diesel). It could save quite a bit, anything on the order of 10 to 20 percent or better."

If implemented in this fashion, the flywheel would save rural Alaskan communities millions of dollars in Diesel costs.

While rural Alaska is the largest potential market for the storage system, others, including urban organizations, may also find benefit, says Wright. "We've talked to hospitals and hotels, and asked them about their backup power systems . . . Utility companies, telephone companies . . . They all are very interested."

Several alternative energy projects under consideration, or under development, echo this interest. For instance, KSLC's Jack Wood is one potential customer. According to Wood, if KSLC were to pursue developing geothermal power on Unalaska, an efficient energy storage system would be critical. The flywheel may be part of that system. "I'm convinced that the flywheel technology that Boeing is developing has direct application in Alaska," says Wood. "In the Bush, in rural areas, and in metropolitan areas."

Kotzebue Electric Association, Inc., might be another buyer. The company is currently developing a wind turbine facility outside of Kotzebue, and is interested in matching a flywheel energy storage system against diesel and battery storage. "We want to find what works best for wind power in the state," said general manager Brad Reeve. "The flywheel [technology] is a little fresh on the horizon, but somebody needs to take a look at the technology, determine flit is going to work." Wall agreed the flywheel technology has great potential, but cautioned that these energy storage centers are still in early research and development stages.

"The theory is sound," Wall said. "But getting it translated into a commercially viable version will take some time and effort."

THE FUTURE

That effort is underway. Boeing is negotiating a Federal Department of Energy partnership that begins next month to develop a large 10-kilowatt/hr flywheel with an alternate motor generator. This system would be capable of delivering bursts up to 100 kilowatts for utility applications. Size-wise, it could fit on the back of a truck.

Toward this end, "we've a three-year program," said Wright. The first year is dedicated for development of a particular configuration; the second for construction and testing of the devise; and the third for installation and data-gathering. A utility company in Los Angeles, S. Cal. Edison of Edison International, will use the test system and provide Boeing, and Alaska, with vital data.

The year 2000 should show Boeing where to go next - and it may be Alaska. A marriage between successful flywheels and village power plants would provide Boeing with an immediate market while simultaneously cutting rural Alaska electric costs. Remote site industries that also rely on diesel generators - such as mining, timber, and hatchery operations - would most likely follow suit. And who can say? An economic, environmentally sound flywheel system might spur the state development of additional alternative energy technologies: wind power, solar, and geothermal.

Alaska is a powerful land, possessing many forms of energy. A high-tech spinning wheel may just be the key to begin unlocking them.