- #1
RGClark
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I wanted to use air as the dielectric for a capacitor for energy storage for aircraft. My thinking was that we could charge the capacitor on the ground and leave the capicitor open to the flowing air in flight. As long as the density of the flowing air remained the same, the capacitance would stay the same.
Capacitors usually don't offer significant advantages over chemical batteries per weight because you have to consider the weight of the dielectric that must be carried along. This is true even when the dielectric is air that is enclosed and must be carried along. But I thought an open air dielectric wouldn't have this problem as you're just using the surrounding air as the dielectric.
The question is would the flowing air cause the capacitor to discharge?
Would the leakage be unacceptably high in this case?
- Bob Clark
Capacitors usually don't offer significant advantages over chemical batteries per weight because you have to consider the weight of the dielectric that must be carried along. This is true even when the dielectric is air that is enclosed and must be carried along. But I thought an open air dielectric wouldn't have this problem as you're just using the surrounding air as the dielectric.
The question is would the flowing air cause the capacitor to discharge?
Would the leakage be unacceptably high in this case?
- Bob Clark