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All About Batteries

December 4, 2013
Cowie I, All about Batteries, EE Times 12/4/2013

There are lots of factors to consider when choosing the battery technology for a particular application. In addition to relative size, weight, and cost (from cheap to expensive to “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”), the main considerations and factors I plan on covering in this series are as follows:

Environment (operating and storage): Temperature, air pressure, altitude, mechanical strain, vibration, mounting position, radiation hardening, corrosive attack, packaging/shape, storage or shelf life, disposal, waste products produced and outgassing, consumables required, safety, and materials/RoHS

Application: Types (including primary, secondary, and smart), technology, chemistries, efficiency and loss, charge/discharge cycle count and rates, depth of discharge, service life, memory effect, charging techniques, capacitor/battery hybrid, use cases, capacity, density (energy and weight), protection circuitry, measuring and gas gauge, quality, reliability, and recharge and run times

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An Aqueous Rechargeable Lithium Battery Using Coated Li Metal as Anode

March 7, 2013
Wang X, Hou Y, Zhu Y, Wu Y, Holtze R, An Aqueous Rechargeable Lithium Battery Using Coated Li Metal as Anode, Nature, Special Reports 3, Art 1401, 7 Mar 2013

New energy industry including electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage in smart grids requires energy storage systems of good safety, high reliability, high energy density and low cost. Here a coated Li metal is used as anode for an aqueous rechargeable lithium battery (ARLB) combining LiMn2O4 as cathode and 0.5 mol l21 Li2SO4 aqueous solution as electrolyte. Due to the ‘‘cross-over’’ effect of Li1 ions in the coating, this ARLB delivers an output voltage of about 4.0 V, a big breakthrough of the theoretic stable window of water, 1.229 V. Its cycling is very excellent with Coulomb efficiency of 100% except in the first cycle. Its energy density can be 446 Whkg21, about 80% higher than that for traditional lithium ion battery. Its power efficiency can be above 95%. Furthermore, its cost is low and safety is much reliable. It provides another chemistry for post lithium ion batteries.

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Assessing The Safety Of Lithium-Ion Batteries

February 11, 2013
Jacoby M, Assessing The Safety Of Lithium-Ion Batteries, Chemical and Engineering News, Feb 2013

Lithium-ion batteries are back in the crosshairs after two safety incidents aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplanes in January. Headlines everywhere drew readers to stories about flaming and smoldering batteries. Reports warned of these popular power packs’ tendency to overheat and burst into flames. Broadcasts pointed out that fires in portable electronic devices several years ago prompted manufacturers to recall millions of Li-ion laptop batteries.

But these batteries are statistically very reliable. “There’s a lot of mythology in the area of lithium-ion battery safety,” says Brian M. Barnett, a battery safety specialist at Lexington, Mass.-based technology development firm Tiax. Failure rates for rechargeable Li-ion batteries are on the order of one in 10 million cells, he says. “That’s not a reliability problem. It’s an exception.”

Yet exceptions can still be dangerous. As a result of the enormous number of Li-ion cells manufactured each year—about 4 billion in 2012, according to Barnett—some of those failures can lead to fires and serious safety incidents. Although the probability is tiny, the potential for mishap grows as Li-ion battery use surges. Adding to the concern is the scale issue. Li-ion batteries range from palm-sized or smaller packs weighing an ounce or less to 400-plus-lb electric vehicle batteries, and the larger devices can cause more serious problems if they fail.

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Elemental Questions

March 23, 2012
Durso F, Elemental Questions, NFPA Journal,Mar/Apr 2012

As lithium-ion battery use increases, so do the concerns related to the fire-safety hazards of these devices. Through a series of research efforts and partnerships, NFPA is analyzing storage and safety issues surrounding the power source fueling hundreds of millions of devices — from iPhones to electric vehicles — worldwide.

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Development of positive electrode materials for low-cost and high-performance lithium-ion secondary batteries

January 13, 2012
Development of positive electrode materials for low-cost and high-performance lithium-ion secondary batteries, January 13th, 2012

Mitsuharu Tabuchi (Senior Researcher), Ionics Research Group, the Research Institute for Ubiquitous Energy Devices (Director: Tetsuhiko Kobayashi) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; President: Tamotsu Nomakuchi), has developed two types of new oxide material (namely, Li1+x(Fe0.3Mn0.7)1-xO2 and Li1+x(Fe0.3Mn0.5Ti0.2)1-xO2) for the positive electrode of lithium-ion secondary batteries in collaboration with Junji Akimoto (Leader), Crystal and Materials Processes Group, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute (Director: Nobumitsu Murayama) of AIST and Junichi Imaizumi (Manager), Technology Development Team 5, Technology Development Department of Tanaka Chemical Corporation (Tanaka Chemical; President: Tamotsu Tanaka). Approximately 30 % of the total amount of transition metals in these newly developed oxide materials is made up of iron, which is a low-cost and resource-wise abundant metal.

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Can We Build Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs?

December 20, 2011
Rotman D, Can We Build Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs? Technology Review, MIT 20 Dec 2011

Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That’s bad news not just for the country’s economy but for the future of innovation.

In a hangarlike building where General Electric once assembled steam turbines, a $100 million battery manufacturing facility is being constructed to make products using a chemistry never before commercialized on such a large scale. The sodium–metal halide batteries it will produce have been tested and optimized over the last few years by a team of materials scientists and engineers at GE’s sprawling research center just a few miles away. Now some of the same researchers are responsible for reproducing those results in a production facility large enough to hold three and a half football fields.

The engineers have moved from the bucolic research center, which sits on a hill overlooking the Mohawk River, down to the manufacturing site, which abuts the river at the edge of Schenectady, New York, a working-class town known in its heyday as Electric City. There, they supervise the installation and testing of robotics, high-temperature kilns, and analytic equipment that will monitor the production process. The new batteries use an advanced ceramic as an electrolyte inside a sealed metal case containing nickel chloride and sodium; the technology promises to store three times as much energy as the lead-acid batteries used in data centers, in heavy-duty electric vehicles, and for backup power. But almost anything can go wrong. If, say, the particles that make up the ceramic are uneven in size or haven’t been properly dried, battery performance could fall short. That means the conditions in the huge factory must be tightly controlled, and multi-ton devices must be able to match the exactness of lab equipment. “It’s not for the weak of heart,” says Michael Idelchik, GE’s vice president of advanced technologies.

The GE plant is one of a number of facilities around the country producing new technologies for rapidly growing markets in advanced batteries, electric vehicles, and solar power—but those efforts cannot counter the reality that the U.S. manufacturing sector is in trouble. After decades of outsourcing production in an effort to lower costs, many large companies have lost the expertise for the complex engineering and design tasks necessary to scale up and produce today’s most innovative new technologies, not to mention the appetite for the risks involved.

If you believe Thomas Friedman’s assertion that “the world is flat,” and that moving manufacturing to places where production is cheap makes companies more competitive, such a shift might not matter beyond its implications for the U.S. economy and its workers. But the United States remains the world’s most prolific source of new technologies, particularly materials-based ones, and evidence is growing that its diminished manufacturing capabilities could severely cripple global innovation. There are ample reasons to believe that the model of the U.S. computer industry—which has successfully outsourced much of its production in the last few decades and made design, not manufacturing, its priority—will not work effectively for companies trying to commercialize innovations in energy, advanced materials, and other emerging sectors.

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LITHIUM BATTERY SAFETY IN SUPPORT OF OPERATIONAL FIELDING OF UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLES

August 22, 2011
Banner J, Winchester C, LITHIUM BATTERY SAFETY IN SUPPORT OF OPERATIONAL FIELDING OF UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLES, UUST 17, Aug 2011

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How ultracapacitors work (and why they fall short)

July 12, 2011
Garthwaite J, How ultracapacitors work (and why they fall short), Clean Tech, 12 July 2011

Hang around the energy storage crowd long enough, and you’ll hear chatter about ultracapacitors. Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk has said he believes capacitors will even “supercede” batteries.

What is it that makes ultracapacitors such a promising technology? And if ultracapacitors are so great, why have they lost out to batteries, so far, as the energy storage device of choice for applications like electric cars and the power grid?

Put simply, ultracapacitors are some of the best devices around for delivering a quick surge of power. Because an ultracapacitor stores energy in an electric field, rather than in a chemical reaction, it can survive hundreds of thousands more charge and discharge cycles than a battery can.

A more thorough answer, however, looks at how ultracapacitors compare to capacitors and batteries. From there we’ll walk through some of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of ultracaps, how they can enhance (rather than compete with) batteries, and what the opportunities are to advance ultracapacitor technology.

 

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Why Lithium-ion Batteries Die so Young

June 29, 2011
Garthwaite J, Why Lithium-ion Batteries Die so Young, Clean Tech, 26 June 2011

The death of a battery: We’ve all seen it happen. In phones, laptops, cameras and now electric cars, the process is painful and — if you’re lucky — slow. Over the course of years, the lithium-ion battery that once powered your machine for hours (days, even!) will gradually lose its capacity to hold a charge. Eventually you’ll give in, maybe curse Steve Jobs and then buy a new battery, if not a whole new gadget.

But why does this happen? What’s going on in the battery that makes it give up the ghost? The short answer is that damage from extended exposure to high temperatures and a lot of charging and discharging cycles eventually starts to break down the process of the lithium ions traveling back and forth between electrodes.

The longer answer, which will take us through a description of unwanted chemical reactions, corrosion, the threat of high temperatures and other factors affecting performance, begins with an explanation of what happens in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery when everything’s working well.

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UUV Power and Energy System Overview

February 8, 2011
Robert J. Nowak,UUV POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEM OVERVIEW, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

UUV POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEM OVERVIEW

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Energy System for Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Innovative Naval Prototype (INP)

February 8, 2011
Michele Anderson, Energy System for Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Innovative Naval Prototype (INP), Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Energy System for Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Innovative Naval Prototype (INP)

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ONR Long Endurance Undersea Vehicle Propulsion Future Naval Capability (FNC)

February 8, 2011
Michele Anderson, ONR Long Endurance Undersea Vehicle Propulsion Future Naval Capability (FNC), Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

ONR Long Endurance Undersea Vehicle Propulsion Future Naval Capability (FNC)

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Future Naval Capability (FNC) & Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) Administration

February 8, 2011
Michele Anderson, Future Naval Capability (FNC) & Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) Administration, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Future Naval Capability (FNC) & Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) Administration

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Large UUV Technologies

February 8, 2011
Daniel Deitz, Large UUV Technologies, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Energy ONR Industry Day 08 February 2011

Large UUV Technologies

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Battery Research at FFI

February 3, 2011


Sea water batteries

The battery group at FFI has been involved in the development of power sources for unmanned submersibles since 1990. Before that, we had developed seawater batteries for buoys and seabed sensors using magnesium anodes and oxygen dissolved in the water. This system has a very high specific energy as the oxidant (oxygen) and the electrolyte (seawater) is free, but the power capability was very low, making it suitable only for discharge over years. The challenge for AUV use was to get sufficient power out of the battery…

Aluminum hydrogen peroxide semi fuel cell

At the same time as HUGIN 1 was designed, the battery group started the development of the aluminum hydrogen-peroxide semi fuel cell (AlHP) in order to extend the discharge time to 36 hours compared to 6 hours with NiCd technology. It was in many ways similar to the magnesium seawater cell, but used KOH as electrolyte; thereby reducing the internal resistance of the battery by a factor 20…

Pressure tolerant Lithium ion batteries

Traditional batteries inside a pressure hull can be used, but the weight of the pressure hull increases with design depth, making a battery based on pressure tolerant lithium ion polymer cells a more attractive solution for deep diving AUVs…

Hydrogen oxygen fuel cells

Hydrogen oxygen fuel cells have been used in space for a long time, but AUV application has been rare. Given that one can use the positive buoyancy from pressurized carbon composite cylinders, fuel cells in combination with lithium ion batteries may well be the ultimate power source for AUVs and the battery group is working to make this a reality.

 

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Lithium Power – Energy Systems for the Next Generation of Vessels. Power for a Green Future

May 27, 2010
Perry B, Roddan G, Simmonds N, Lithium Power – Energy Systems for the Next Generation of Vessels. Power for a Green Future, ITS 2011, Vancouver BC, May 2010

SYNOPSIS
A brief description of the benefits of lithium energy battery technology, will be followed by a brief history of its growth, and a comparison of modern battery systems. There will then be brief descriptions of working scenarios and the benefits of hybrid and electric applications, including an outline of how to mitigate costs, improve ROI, and develop an understanding of the impact on the environment.

The paper will touch on all aspects of the benefits of using lithium technology today, and how it will be impacting the future of vessel design, construction and use in today’s vessels. It will demonstrate the financial and environmental gains that are possible today.

 

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Advances in the Energy and Power Density of Lithium-ion Batteries for Undersea Applications

September 6, 2009
Robert Gitzendanner, Frank Puglia, Stuart Santee, es for Undersea Applications, UDT 2009

ABSTRACT

With its demonstrated high Energy and Power Densities, long Cycle and Calendar Life, and proven reliability, Lithium-ion Technology is making its way into a number of Manned and Unmanned Undersea Applications. These applications are typically divided into two categories, the High Energy systems – such as UUVs and long range submersibles; and High Power systems – such as electric propulsion torpedoes and targets. Lithium-ion technology is flexible enough that it can be optimized for either of these performance zones.

Yardney Technical Products has already supplied batteries for fielded applications of both types. The 1.2MWh Lithium-ion battery, one of the world’s largest, provides high energy storage for the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), and high power batteries have been supplied to power electric torpedoes. Continuing research and development efforts have been focused on establishing the Next Generation chemistries and designs to support further increases in capability. High Energy systems have been developed that deliver >210Wh/kg at the cell level. High Power cells are supporting 15C continuous discharge rates and delivering >8000W/kg. These advances in cell design and chemistry take advantage of not only new active materials, but also improved binders, separators, and electrolyte additives.

Improvements to battery safety must also be made, as evidenced by some of the recent events with commercial consumer electronics batteries. This issue, combined with the high temperature performance limitations of commercial chemistries, has resulted in several automotive manufacturers delaying the introduction of Lithium-ion batteries into Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. It is also noted that the transition to large format Li-Ion batteries continues with the Chinese presently building 10,000Ah Li-Ion cells for submarines and buses. Replacement of a 300V/8000Ah Lead Acid battery on a submarine with a Lithium-ion version would reduce mass by over 80,000lb and volume by up to 1000ft3.

Safety aspects of these battery designs need to be addressed at the Cell, Battery and System levels as each of these three areas individually impacts the safety and performance of High Energy and High Power Lithium-ion batteries.

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Transport of Lithium Batteries in Accordance with the ICAO Technical Instructions

June 30, 2009


The 2009-2010 ICAO Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air incorporated a number of revisions to requirements for the transport of lithium batteries. Revisions included:

  • Development of new Packing Instructions 965, 966, 967, 968, 969 and 970 to more clearly state requirements for the various types of lithium batteries.
  • Incorporation of the requirements formerly in Special Provision A45 within the new packing instructions.
  • Application of a new lithium battery handling label for certain lithium batteries.
  • Enhanced packaging and revised quantity limits for lithium batteries as shown in
  • Table 3-1 and in the new Packing Instructions.

 

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Energy Storage for long endurance AUVs

August 31, 2008
Griffiths G, Jamieson J, Mitchell S, Rutherford K, Energy Storage for long endurance AUVs, NOC, Aug 2008

Energy Storage is a key Issue for Long Endurance autonomous underwater vehicles. Mission duration, speed through the water and sensor and payload capabilities are constrained by the energy available, which in turn is governed by the characteristics of the energy source or sources and the mass and volumn that the vehicle designer can devote to the energy system. Tensioned against these technical issues are those of cost, operational life, ease of use, maintainability, safety, securty and continuity of supply of the items forming the energy system. This paper focuses on primary and secondary electrochemical batteries, how existing vehicles have constructed their energy storage systems and seeks to establish whether electrochemical cells alone will be able to provide the necessary energy at an affordable cost for future long endurance AUV’s and the missions being considered.

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DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF LITHIUM ION CELLS FOR UNDERWATER ENERGY STORAGE AND POWER DELIVERY

August 19, 2007
Seth Cohen, Frank Puglia, DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE, UUST, Aug 2007

ABSTRACT
Li-Ion cell and battery technology has matured to the extent that it can be found in applications ranging from a few MilliAmpHours to more than a MegaWattHour. The technology has also advanced from its original low rate incarnation, supporting laptop computers, to designs specialized for high energy, high rate or low temperature. The present state-of-the-art designs support continuous discharge rates in excess of 100C and pulse rates exceeding 300C, leading to specific powers surpassing 10kW/kg. In applications such as the B2 Stealth Bomber, the operating temperature for the battery ranges from -40°C to 85°C. In contrast to applications such as the NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers where the batteries have allowed a planned 90 day mission to be extended to more than 1200 days and counting, despite low temperatures and high levels of ionizing radiation. Furthermore, Li-Ion cells, originally offered only in a ~1.1Ah – 18650 format (cylindrical cell that is 18mm in diameter 65 mm long), can now be found in capacities from 1mAh to 400Ah, or higher. The smaller cells are already being used in rechargeable human implantable medical devices and are being evaluated for rechargeable micro sensors. The medium sized cells (5Ah to 50Ah) are used primarily for military and aerospace applications such as: the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Mars Phoenix Lander, the B2 Stealth Bomber, a Lightweight Electric Torpedo, satellites and numerous Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). The largest cells (200Ah and greater) have found a niche as the main energy storage systems primarily for naval applications such as the 8-ton, 1.2 MegaWattHour Li-Ion battery for the Advanced Seal Delivery System (ASDS), which the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has given a Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL 9) designation, the Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV) and various large format (30” diameter and larger) UUVs.


This customization of the cell size, shape and chemistry has been critical in the ability of Li- Ion to adapt to a wide range of applications. However, the ongoing safety issue with Li-Ion laptop computer batteries brings into question the safety of Li-Ion technology in military applications. This issue is further complicated by the widening gap between the needs of commercial and military markets leading to the replacement of premium raw materials with lower cost, inferior materials. This paper addresses the state-of-the-art of Li-Ion technology in both cell and chemistry design, including an analysis of available cathode and anode materials, while reviewing the enhancements to safety and energy density on the horizon. The paper also reviews battery safety from the chemistry cell and battery design standpoint. Finally, since Li-Ion battery technology, as a stand alone system, will not meet the energy requirements of all platforms, a review of Li-Ion technology as part of a hybrid system (e.g. Diesel/Li-Ion or Fuel Cell/Li-Ion) is discussed.

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