Batteries and New Battery Technologies

Thanks Brian, a very interesting article - looks like a good potential there... It would be nice to see those batteries on the market soon as the present option seems to be spiral-wound AGM...

The full article is great, Thanks - pity it cannot be printed/saved offline for future reference (or even have a direct link to the article)...

 

In a few months I believe the ProBoat issues becomes more readily available on their website to the general public? It is easier to dissect the article if you have it in a printed form before you.

I know if you are a subscriber you can select those pages of the article (pages 41 thru 51) and print them out.

 

Altairnano Launches New Energy Website

Altairnano, a leader in advanced energy storage systems for clean, efficient power and energy management, recently launched a significantly enhanced website focusing on its core technology solutions and strategic initiatives.

As a leader in advanced energy storage systems for clean, efficient power and energy management, Altairnano’s suite of advanced lithium-ion energy storage systems is helping solve today’s toughest power and energy challenges. From helping create a more reliable, resilient, and efficient electricity grid, to accelerating the adoption of renewable generation and alternative fuel vehicles, Altairnano combines science and innovation with market-ready solutions to achieve sustainable, and economically sensible, power and energy management practices.

Our unique, innovative approach starts at the electro-chemical level.

Altairnano is the first company to replace traditional graphite materials used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with a proprietary, nano-structured lithium titanate – a process that delivers distinctive performance attributes, including power, fast charge/discharge rates, high round-trip efficiencies, long cycle life, safety, and ability to operate under extreme temperatures.

This science is the fundamental building block applied to every advanced energy storage system and battery we build today.

The company's advanced lithium-ion energy storage systems can help solve today's toughest power and energy challenges, including a more reliable, resilient, and efficient electricity grid. The new website features overviews and additional information for the company's five core solutions: Smart Grid, renewable integration, remote UPS, military and transportation.
Go to Solutions

 

I was looking through the various lithium battery contenders. The ones I have followed are:
1. These are developing strong reputation-
http://www.a123systems.com/
2. I have actually seen these in the flesh-
http://lithiumenergy.jp/en/products/index.html
3. Then there is Altairnano but you have to wonder where they are going-
http://www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/ResLibraryView.asp?BzID=546&ResLibraryID=28895&Category=1567
Although their batteries look good.
4. You have to think China will be making good value batteries-
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/china-wants-to-become-electric-cars-hybrids-world-leader.php

Then I wondered why US has been so tardy with EVs. I have heard of the linked documentary but not gone through it before. It will take about 90 minutes to go through all 10 parts. The voice sync is good in most of it but some real bad parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FDmmJm9vSA&feature=related

After looking through this you really need to wonder whether the US car manufacturers deserve tax payer bail outs!!!

I wonder where batteries could be if they were given genuine support.

Rick W

 

twice as good and half the price and available in many configurations - getting cheaper and better, quicker than the dollar can fall (even if the dollar was made of led paper)

 

hi
i hav don some work (school project) on future fuel sources these 4 r the most promising-
-solar cells (dye based-2x the energy 1/2 the price)
-4th generation (mayB 3rd) 'oilgae'
--->hydrogen fuel cells<--
-biofuels (crops 2 oil)
Aztek

 

aztek, welcome to boatdesign.net, thank you for your post - links are always helpful when introducing particular news/products, and unless you are using txt messages from your cellphone to interact, those abbreviations are usually frowned upon

There are/may be threads specifically related to those products - use the search engine in the bar near the top of the page (it is powered by google and there are two search options try for threads and the top input panel, then if no result try "posts" option and changing the key-words)...

 

Work at MIT's Laboratory, Supercapacitors & Nanotechology

April 2007

Work at MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES) on increasing the storage capacity of ultracapacitors may be demonstrated in the next few months, Prof. Joel E. Schindall told Le Figaro newspaper on 13 April.

Capacitors store energy as an electrical field, making them more efficient than standard batteries, which get their energy from chemical reactions. Ultracapacitors are capacitor-based storage cells that provide quick, massive bursts of instant energy. They are sometimes used in fuel-cell vehicles to provide an extra burst for accelerating into traffic and climbing hills, but need to be much larger than batteries to hold the same charge.

The LEES invention would increase the storage capacity of existing commercial ultracapacitors by storing electrical fields at the atomic level. Although ultracapacitors have been around since the 1960s, they are relatively expensive and only recently began being manufactured in sufficient quantities to become cost-competitive.

To date, despite their inherent advantages -- a 10-year-plus lifetime, indifference to temperature change, high immunity to shock and vibration and high charging and discharging efficiency -- physical constraints on electrode surface area and spacing have limited ultracapacitors to an energy storage capacity around 25 times less than a similarly sized lithium-ion battery.

The LEES ultracapacitor has the capacity to overcome this energy limitation by using vertically aligned, single-wall carbon nanotubes -- one thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 100,000 times as long as they are wide. It would reportedly permit ultracapacitors to give a car a 160 km range on electric power, and reduce energy storage units by two thirds in weight and 75% in size by comparison with existing nickel-metal hydride units as used by Toyota’s Prius.

MIT’s work on this project, first announced in late 2005, has been funded in part by the MIT/Industry Consortium on Advanced Automottive Electrical/Electronic Components and Systems and in part by a grant from the Ford-MIT Alliance.

this document is a little dated, but it points us in one direction I find quite exciting

 

another MIT reference

Just for fun have a look at this photo of 'in the works' research

MIT Builds Efficient Nanowire Storage to Replace Car Batteries
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4252623.html

...however there is some interesting information in the text of this article and a look at some of the hurdles ahead.

 

some fool figured out if you hook up a thermo electric chip to a high enough temp diference it will run in reverse and produce energy
that means that theoretically at least if the water temp is different than the air temp you can produce juice by heat sinking to both
kinda cool eh

 

Here is a new one that I have just found out about, sounds very interesting, first time I have seen anything that can be cheaper than the grid system.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/305052/

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Two please - - "...Ceramatec says its new generation of battery would deliver a continuous flow of 5 kilowatts of electricity over four hours, with 3,650 daily discharge/recharge cycles over 10 years. With the batteries expected to sell in the neighborhood of $2,000, that translates to less than 3 cents per kilowatt hour over the battery's life. ..." - - but when the exchange rate is a bit more favourable - does anyone know of any adverse issues and weight & size and DC voltage? (I need 48VDC)... - - That is a 20KW/H capacity? each - phew!!!

 

ya at $2000 a crack my wallet is going to be significantly smaller and lighter than it is now

whats the recharge time
( battery not wallet )
B

 

According to the article, a 40 kWh battery would cost 2.000 USD. That's 50 USD per kWh, to be compared with Lithium at 1.000 to 1.500 USD per kWh. In comparison, dirt cheap.

They also mention that they are well in excess of 200 Wh/kg, which is twice as efficient/energy dense as today's Lithium.

If they can bring it to market with these qualities, it will be a true quantum leap. One can only wait, see and hope...

Cheers

 

The same capacity in spiral wound AGM, cost appears to be not much different? and by the looks Ceramatec may be a heck of a lot lighter.. and smaller and on a cat THAT MATTERS....