Yunnan develops saltwater lamp using aluminum air cells

Put some salt in a beaker, add 300 millilitres of drinking water, and after the salt dissolves, pour the solution into the base frame of a special hand lantern. In a bit, a soft lamplight turns on. This is a saltwater lamp with aluminum air cells designed by Yunnan Metallurgy Group Company Limited (hereafter referred to simply as Yunnan Metallurgy). The lamp will be launched into the market in April of this year. It can not only light up by adding some saltwater, but  also can recharge a mobile phone.

Our reporter has been to the Yunnan Metallurgy laboratory and seen a batch of saltwater hand lamps in production. They have a height of 30 centimeters or so, and the upper and lower parts are detachable. The ‘energy box’ in the lower section has a notched groove that connects to an aluminum sheet. The middle part is hollow and contains electrolytes, or saltwater.

“The salt used in every household, with the addition of some water and mixing, can become the electrolyte of our ‘power generation’. Geng Jiahua, chief technician of Yunnan Metallurgy’s Battery Industrial Corporation, explained that “After filling the electrolytes once, the lamp can glow for seven hours or so. That is quite enough for a household to cope with a power failure.”

“In the saltwater electrolyte, the aluminum and oxygen go through an oxidation-reduction reaction, which generates electric energy,” Zan Linhan, director of the Technology Quality Department of the Corporation explained.

 It is reported that besides the generator function—similar to the power bank for the hand lamp—an aluminum air cell can also be used in such fields as new-energy automobiles, communication base stations and others as a reserve power supply. At present, in Japan and Israel, aluminum air cell technology has already been used widely for experiments. In China, this technical product from the Yunnan Metallurgy Group is a leading product.

   “The key advantage is that it only requires saltwater, which has saved a lot of time in comparison with other means, such as lithium batteries that must be connected to a power source to recharge,” said Zan Linhan. If this technology becomes mature in future, the aluminum air cell are also promising in becoming a supplementary power supply for new-energy automobiles. Now, new-energy automobiles have limited mileage after one-shot recharging, so aluminum air cells might become a good supplement in future.

Yunnan develops saltwater lamp using aluminum air cells

Put some salt in a beaker, add 300 millilitres of drinking water, and after the salt dissolves, pour the solution into the base frame of a special hand lantern. In a bit, a soft lamplight turns on. This is a saltwater lamp with aluminum air cells designed by Yunnan Metallurgy Group Company Limited (hereafter referred to simply as Yunnan Metallurgy). The lamp will be launched into the market in April of this year. It can not only light up by adding some saltwater, but also can recharge a mobile phone. Our reporter has been to the Yunnan Metallurgy laboratory and seen a batch of saltwater hand lamps in production. They have a height of 30 centimeters or so, and the upper and lower parts are detachable. The energy box in the lower section has a notched groove that connects to an aluminum sheet. The middle part is hollow and contains electrolytes, or saltwater. The salt used in every household, with the addition of some water and mixing, can become the electrolyte of our power generation. Geng Jiahua, chief technician of Yunnan Metallurgys Battery Industrial Corporation, explained that After filling the electrolytes once, the lamp can glow for seven hours or so. That is quite enough for a household to cope with a power failure. In the saltwater electrolyte, the aluminum and oxygen go through an oxidation-reduction reaction, which generates electric energy, Zan Linhan, director of the Technology Quality Department of the Corporation explained. It is reported that besides the generator functionsimilar to the power bank for the hand lampan aluminum air cell can also be used in such fields as new-energy automobiles, communication base stations and others as a reserve power supply. At present, in Japan and Israel, aluminum air cell technology has already been used widely for experiments. In China, this technical product from the Yunnan Metallurgy Group is a leading product. The key advantage is that it only requires saltwater, which has saved a lot of time in comparison with other means, such as lithium batteries that must be connected to a power source to recharge, said Zan Linhan. If this technology becomes mature in future, the aluminum air cell are also promising in becoming a supplementary power supply for new-energy automobiles. Now, new-energy automobiles have limited mileage after one-shot recharging, so aluminum air cells might become a good supplement in future.