Pulse power 350 V nickel–metal hydride battery power-D-005-00181

Energy-storage devices are needed for applications requiring very high-power over short periods of time. Such devices have various military (rail guns, electromagnetic launchers, and DEW) and commercial applications, such as hybrid electric vehicles, vehicle starting (SLI), and utility peak shaving.The storage and delivery of high levels of burst power can be achieved with a capacitor, flywheel, or rechargeable battery. In order to reduce the weight and volume of many systems they must contain advanced state-of-the-art electrochemical or electromechanical power sources. There is an opportunity and a need to develop energy-storage devices that have improved high-power characteristics compared to existing ultra capacitors, flywheels or rechargeable batteries.Electro Energy, Inc. has been engaged in the development of bipolar nickel–metal hydride batteries, which may fulfil the requirements of some of these applications. This paper describes a module rated at 300 V (255 cells) (6 Ah). The volume of the module is 23 L and the mass is 56 kg. The module is designed to deliver 50 kW pulses of 10 s duration at 50% state-of-charge. Details of the mechanical design of the module, safety considerations, along with the results of initial electrical characterization testing by the customer will be discussed. Some discussion of the possibilities for design optimization is also included.     

Novel applications of the flywheel energy storage system

Flywheel energy storage system is focused as an uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) from the view point of a clean ecological energy storage system. However, in high speed rotating machines, e.g. motor, generator and flywheel, the windage loss amounts to a large ratio of the total losses. The reason is that windage loss is proportional to the cube of its angular velocity; a windage loss may lead to the reduction of total system efficiency. To cope with this problem, Ajisman et al. proposed the use of helium–air mixture gas into the housing and indicated that the helium (50 vol%)–air (50 vol%) mixture gas can reduce the windage loss to 42% of that in the air (100 vol%) case. Helium is the second lightest and smallest monatomic molecule gas. Its molecular weight and gas density are about 1/7 those of air, thermal conductivity is 10 times as large as that of air. Then, enclosing helium–air mixture gas into the housing of rotating machine, a large amount of windage loss can be reduced.In our first work, applying this mixture gas to the conventional flywheel UPS, we indicate that idling energy loss of the flywheel UPS which is caused by the rotation can be easily reduced, and thus the energy storage efficiency can be improved. Second, we propose one of the novel utilization of a low speed steel flywheel energy storage system for a momentary power failure called a momentary voltage drop.     

Research progress on fabrication process of composite flywheel rotor

储能飞轮是一种机械能量储存系统,具有广阔的应用前景.飞轮能否达到设计的高转速,需要飞轮的制作与试验验证,因此飞轮制作工艺是飞轮储能技术能否得到广泛工程应用的关键问题.本文概述了国内外复合材料储能飞轮成型工艺的研究进展,总结了飞轮转子的材料,形状以及制造工艺等问题.结合理论分析与试验研究,提出面向工程应用的先进复合材料飞轮的设计方法,提高复合材料飞轮的成型工艺水平,是今后的重要工作内容.     

Analysis of fuel cell hybrid locomotives

Led by Vehicle Projects LLC, an international industry–government consortium is developing a 109 t, 1.2 MW road-switcher locomotive for commercial and military railway applications. As part of the feasibility and conceptual-design analysis, a study has been made of the potential benefits of a hybrid power plant in which fuel cells comprise the prime mover and a battery or flywheel provides auxiliary power. The potential benefits of a hybrid power plant are: (i) enhancement of transient power and hence tractive effort; (ii) regenerative braking; (iii) reduction of capital cost.Generally, the tractive effort of a locomotive at low speed is limited by wheel adhesion and not by available power. Enhanced transient power is therefore unlikely to benefit a switcher locomotive, but could assist applications that require high acceleration, e.g. subway trains with all axles powered.In most cases, the value of regeneration in locomotives is minimal. For low-speed applications such as switchers, the available kinetic energy and the effectiveness of traction motors as generators are both minimal. For high-speed heavy applications such as freight, the ability of the auxiliary power device to absorb a significant portion of the available kinetic energy is low. Moreover, the hybrid power plant suffers a double efficiency penalty, namely, losses occur in both absorbing and then releasing energy from the auxiliary device, which result in a net storage efficiency of no more than 50% for present battery technology.Capital cost in some applications may be reduced. Based on an observed locomotive duty cycle, a cost model shows that a hybrid power plant for a switcher may indeed reduce capital cost. Offsetting this potential benefit are the increased complexity, weight and volume of the power plant, as well as 20–40% increased fuel consumption that results from lower efficiency.Based on this analysis, the consortium has decided to develop a pure fuel cell road-switcher locomotive, that is, not a hybrid.     

Structural design and optimization of metallic flywheel based on FEM

金属飞轮功率密度大,可靠性高,是我国推广飞轮储能技术应用的重要途径。本文综合考虑应力强度、金属疲劳、储能总量、储能密度和加工工艺,依托有限元计算优化金属飞轮设计,以应对不同工况要求。飞轮材料选用35CrMoA,设计储能量大于20 kW·h。频繁充放电飞轮采用4倍安全系数,具备高可靠性;高速待机飞轮以疲劳极限强度作为设计准则,平衡储能量和寿命。计算对比发现,“哑铃”形截面有利于实现轻质量大转动惯量,相同储能量下降低轴承负荷。此外,文章依托模块化设计思想,提出叠层铆合飞轮设计,评估轴孔螺孔应力集中影响。上述讨论为低速大功率金属飞轮进一步设计和量产化提供了有力参考。     

New developments on valve-regulated lead–acid batteries for advanced automotive electrical systems

The development of novel electrical systems for low emission vehicles demands batteries with specific cycling performance, especially under partial state of charge (PSOC) conditions. Moreover, according to the powertrain design, battery high power capability is demanded or this function can be assumed by a supercapacitor or a flywheel. This paper deals with the development of AGM and gel valve-regulated lead–acid batteries for advanced automotive applications.AGM VRLA battery development was based on previous work for short autonomy high power UPS applications and on active material formulations with specific additives to improve battery life under high rate partial state of charge cycling conditions. The 18 Ah batteries showed excellent high rate capability (9 kW 10 s discharge peaks and 4 kW 5 s regenerative charge acceptance at 60% state of charge) and 110,000 power assist microcycles at 60% SOC and 2.5% DOD were fulfilled.Moreover, as preliminary work in the development of a cost-effective and reliable gel battery to be used in combination of a supercapacitor in a 42 V mild-hybrid powertrain, VRLA batteries with conventional gel formulations have been tested according to novel automotive cycling profiles, mainly moderate cycling under partial state of charge conditions and simulating load management in a stop and start working profile.     

Cycle-life testing of 100-Ah class lithium-ion battery in a simulated geosynchronous-Earth-orbit satellite operation

In this paper, we review our work on cycle-life testing of a 100-Ah class lithium-ion battery in a simulated geosynchronous-Earth-orbit (GEO) satellite operation. The battery consists of ten 100-Ah lithium-ion (10) cells in a series, with a high energy density exceeding 100 Wh kg⁻¹ at the battery level. We simulate the eclipse period in real-time testing with five depth-of-discharge (DOD) patterns at an ambient temperature of 15 °C. We also simulate a sun-shine period in 8-day thermally accelerated full-charge storage at an ambient temperature of 25 °C, which in our experience corresponds to full-charge storage of a half-year operation at 0 °C. Eighteen eclipse seasons have presently been completed, corresponding to 9 years of GEO operation. The battery maintained a high voltage near 3.4 V at the end of the discharge, even when the DOD was set at 70%. The voltage dispersion of 10 cells was also sufficiently small in the range of 48 mV. The cell temperature reached a maximum of 29 °C and maintained minimal dispersion smaller than 4 °C even when the battery was discharged at a high DOD of 70%.     

Metallic materials for energy storage flywheel rotors

飞轮储能是利用高速旋转的转子来储存能量,是一种理想的绿色环保储能方式,高效清洁且寿命持久.由于储能飞轮的储能密度与比强度呈正比的关系,因此开发与制备新型高比强度材料的飞轮转子是提高其储能能力的重要途径.作者叙述了储能飞轮用金属材料的发展历程与应用现状:储能飞轮的研制初期一般采用储能密度较低的金属转子,目前储能飞轮的研究重点已转到密度低而强度高的复合材料飞轮,其最优的转子形状具有沿半径方向中间薄,两端厚的特征,以获得更高的储能密度.阐述了金属转子与轮毂的铸造,锻造,机加工,热处理以及质量检验等加工工艺的研究现状.储能飞轮转子用金属材料的发展最终取决于超高强度钢及合金的开发与研究,如超高纯冶炼技术的发展,热处理工艺的优化等.     

Supercapacitors based on conducting polymers/nanotubes composites

Three types of electrically conducting polymers (ECPs), i.e. polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy) and poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) have been tested as supercapacitor electrode materials in the form of composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The energy storage in such a type of composite combines an electrostatic attraction as well as quick faradaic processes called pseudo-capacitance. It has been shown that carbon nanotubes play the role of a perfect backbone for a homogenous distribution of ECP in the composite. It is well known that pure conducting polymers are mechanically weak, hence, the carbon nanotubes preserve the ECP active material from mechanical changes (shrinkage and breaking) during long cycling. Apart of excellent conducting and mechanical properties, the presence of nanotubes improves also the charge transfer that enables a high charge/discharge rate. For an optimal use of ECPs in electrochemical capacitors, a special electrode composition with ca. 20 wt.% of CNTs and a careful selection of the potential range is necessary. The capacitance values ranging from 100 to 330 F g⁻¹ could be reached for different asymmetric configurations with a capacitor voltage from 0.6 to 1.8 V. It is also noteworthy that such a type of ECP/CNTs composite does not need any binding substance that is an important practical advantage.     

New lightweight bipolar plate system for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The use of metal based bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, with an active coating on titanium to reduce voltage losses due to the formation of passive layers has been demonstrated. Lifetime data in excess of 8000 h has been achieved and power densities in excess of 1.8 kW dm⁻³ and 1 kW kg⁻¹ are predicted.     

A compact,high efficiency contra-rotating generator suitable for wind turbines in the urban environment

This paper is concerned with the design, development and performance testing of a permanent magnet (PM) generator for wind turbine applications in urban areas. The radially interacting armature windings and magnet array are carried on direct drive, contra-rotating rotors, resulting in a high torque density and efficiency. This topology also provides improved physical and mechanical characteristics such as compactness, low starting torque, elimination of gearboxes, low maintenance, low noise and vibration, and the potential for modular construction. The design brief required a 50 kW continuous rated prototype generator, with a relative speed at the air-gap of 500 rpm. A test rig has been instrumented to give measurements of the mechanical input (torque and speed) and electrical output (voltage, current and power) of the generator, as well as temperature readings from inside the generator using a wireless telemetry device. Peak power output was found to be 48 kW at a contra-rotating speed of 500 rpm, close to the design target, with an efficiency of 94%. It is anticipated that the generator will find application in a wide range of wind turbine designs suited to the urban environment, e.g. types sited on the top of buildings, as there is growing interest in providing quiet, low cost, clean electricity at point of use.     

Calendar life performance of pouch lithium-ion cells

An accelerated method was used to determine the effect of temperature, end-of-charge voltage and the type of storage condition over the performance pouch lithium-ion cells. The cells were studied for 4.0 V and 4.2 V end-of-charge voltages (EOCV) both at 5 °C and 35 °C. The irreversible capacity loss of the cell was analyzed every month using a capacity measurement protocol. The results indicated that higher temperature and voltage accelerates the degradation of the cells. The open circuit voltage (OCV) decay of the cells stored under open circuit conditions was also analyzed. The reasons for the irreversible capacity loss, energy loss, OCV decay and the increase in the internal resistance of the cell are discussed in detail. The most detrimental storage condition and the most mild storage condition are identified and discussed in detail.     

Utilization of phase change materials in solar domestic hot water systems

Thermal energy storage systems which keep warm and cold water separated by means of gravitational stratification have been found to be attractive in low and medium temperature thermal storage applications due to their simplicity and low cost. This effect is known as thermal stratification, and has been studied experimentally thoughtfully. This system stores sensible heat in water for short term applications. Adding PCM (phase change material) modules at the top of the water tank would give the system a higher storage density and compensate heat loss in the top layer because of the latent heat of PCM. Tests were performed under real operating conditions in a complete solar heating system that was constructed at the University of Lleida, Spain. In this work, new PCM-graphite compounds with optimized thermal properties were used, such as 80:20 weight percent ratio mixtures of paraffin and stearic acid (PS), paraffin and palmitic acid (PP), and stearic acid and myristic acid (SM). The solar domestic hot water (SDHW) tank used in the experiments had a 150 L water capacity. Three modules with a cylindrical geometry with an outer diameter of 0.176 m and a height of 0.315 m were used. In the cooling experiments, the average tank water temperature dropped below the PCM melting temperature range in about 6–12 h. During reheating experiments, the PCM could increase the temperature of 14–36 L of water at the upper part of the SDHW tank by 3–4 °C. This effect took place in 10–15 min. It can be concluded that PS gave the best results for thermal performance enhancement of the SDHW tank (74% efficiency).     

Transient analysis of modified cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage system

A novel solar water heating system, modified cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage (ICS) system with transparent insulation material (TIM) has been designed and developed, which combines collection and storage in a single unit and minimizes the nocturnal heat losses. A comprehensive study has been carried out to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics inside the enclosure of the system to enhance the collection and storage of solar energy. The transient behavior of the modified-cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage system is investigated numerically to evolve optimum configuration. The optimum design for the system is obtained by carrying out a numerical parametric study with different geometry parameters like the depth of the cuboid (d = 2, 5, 8, and 12 cm), and inclination angles (10°, 20°, 30°, and 50°). The inside heat transfer coefficient of the ICS system, stratification factor and water temperature distribution inside the enclosure have been predicted by numerical simulation. Average heat transfer coefficient at the bottom surface of absorber plate is 20% higher for depth of 12 cm as compared to the 2 cm depth of cuboid section, after 2 h of heating. The stratification factor also increases from 0.02 to 0.065 as depth of the system increases from 2 cm to 12 cm. There is a marginal effect of inclination angles of the system on the convection in the enclosure. As the inclination angle increases from 10° to 50°, the average heat transfer coefficient increases from 90 W/m² K to 115 W/m² K. But the stratification factor is comparatively high for lower inclination angles. With the optimum design parameters, a field experimental set-up was built and the numerical model was validated for efficient heat collection and storage in a modified cuboid ICS system. The model is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Modeling of adsorption storage of hydrogen on activated carbons

The storage of hydrogen on board vehicles is one of the most critical issues for the transition towards an hydrogen-based transportation system. An electric vehicle powered by a typical gasoline tank will require 3.1 kg of hydrogen (H₂) to achieve a range of 500 km. Compared to a typical gasoline tank, this would correspond to a hydrogen density of 65 kg/m³ (including the storage system) and 6.5 wt%. Presently, only liquid hydrogen (LH₂) systems with a density of 51 kg/m³ and 14 wt% is close to this target. However, LH₂ is costly and requires more complex refueling systems. The physical adsorption of hydrogen on activated carbon can reduce the pressure required to store compressed gases. Though an efficient adsorption-based storage system for vehicular use of natural gas can be achieved at room temperature, the application of this technology to hydrogen using activated carbon as the adsorbent requires its operation at cryogenic temperature. We present the results of a parametric and comparative study of adsorption and compressed gas storage of hydrogen as a function of temperature, pressure and adsorbent properties. In particular, the isothermal hydrogen storage and net storage densities for passive and active storage systems operating at 77, 150 and 293 K are compared and discussed.     

Experimental study on a cryogenic loop heat pipe with high heat capacity

Cryogenic loop heat pipes (CLHPs) are efficient heat transfer devices based on two-phase flow. Loop heat pipes for room temperature applications have achieved satisfactory thermal control functions with the benefits of no mechanical moving part, vibration isolation, thermal insulation, long heat transport distance and so on. While there exist many problems for low temperature applications of loop heat pipes, such as limited heat transport capacity, which could not meet the increasing requirement of instrument heat dissipation. This paper presents an advanced CLHP operating at liquid-nitrogen temperature range. An improved condenser structure is introduced to the CLHP, which greatly reduces the flow resistance and increases the cooling capability of the condenser. Many experiments have been carried out on the CLHP prototype for performance test, and one set of the experimental results with a 3.2 MPa fill pressure at room temperature is presented in this paper. It is shown that the advanced CLHP prototype can be operated reliably with a high heat transfer capacity up to 41 W and a limited temperature difference of 6 K across a 0.48 m transport distance.     

Low cost and high efficiency of single phase photovoltaic system based on microcontroller

This paper presents a theoretical and practical study of a single phase photovoltaic conversion system. It consists of a step down converter to charge a battery with the maximum power available from photovoltaic generator (PVG) and a single phase voltage source inverter (VSI) to produce a stable AC voltage (220 V/50 Hz) with lower total harmonic distortion (THD). A new perturb and observe algorithm is designed and implemented in a cheaper microcontroller PIC 16F876 where the duty cycle perturbation and the sampling period are selected to insure the stability of the PV system around the maximum power. The control strategy adopted for the inverter is the Selective Harmonic Eliminated Pulse Width Modulation (SHE PWM). The pulses are calculated and transferred on the PIC 16F876 memory. With this technique, inverter losses are decreased and the output voltage is easily filtered with a simple low pass filter producing a perfectly sine wave form voltage. The battery is sized to supply loads in non-sunny times.With optimization of its various components, the conventional single phase PV system has a low cost, high efficiency but also good power quality which represents a good opportunity to use it in many stand alone photovoltaic applications such as houses lighting. An experimental system has been made to demonstrate the efficiency of the photovoltaic system and to validate simulations done by Matlab–Simulink environment.     

Analysis of stationary fuel cell dynamic ramping capabilities and ultra capacitor energy storage using high resolution demand data

Current high temperature fuel cell (HTFC) systems used for stationary power applications (in the 200–300 kW size range) have very limited dynamic load following capability or are simply base load devices. Considering the economics of existing electric utility rate structures, there is little incentive to increase HTFC ramping capability beyond 1 kWs⁻¹ (0.4% s⁻¹). However, in order to ease concerns about grid instabilities from utility companies and increase market adoption, HTFC systems will have to increase their ramping abilities, and will likely have to incorporate electrical energy storage (EES). Because batteries have low power densities and limited lifetimes in highly cyclic applications, ultra capacitors may be the EES medium of choice. The current analyses show that, because ultra capacitors have a very low energy storage density, their integration with HTFC systems may not be feasible unless the fuel cell has a ramp rate approaching 10 kWs⁻¹ (4% s⁻¹) when using a worst-case design analysis. This requirement for fast dynamic load response characteristics can be reduced to 1 kWs⁻¹ by utilizing high resolution demand data to properly size ultra capacitor systems and through demand management techniques that reduce load volatility.     

System design of a large fuel cell hybrid locomotive

Fuel cell power for locomotives combines the environmental benefits of a catenary-electric locomotive with the higher overall energy efficiency and lower infrastructure costs of a diesel-electric. A North American consortium, a public–private partnership, is developing a prototype hydrogen-fueled fuel cell-battery hybrid switcher locomotive for urban and military-base rail applications. Switcher locomotives are used in rail yards for assembling and disassembling trains and moving trains from one point to another. At 127 tonnes (280,000 lb), continuous power of 250 kW from its (proton exchange membrane) PEM fuel cell prime mover, and transient power well in excess of 1 MW, the hybrid locomotive will be the heaviest and most powerful fuel cell land vehicle yet. This fast-paced project calls for completion of the vehicle itself near the end of 2007. Several technical challenges not found in the development of smaller vehicles arise when designing and developing such a large fuel cell vehicle. Weight, center of gravity, packaging, and safety were design factors leading to, among other features, the roof location of the lightweight 350 bar compressed hydrogen storage system. Harsh operating conditions, especially shock loads during coupling to railcars, require component mounting systems capable of absorbing high energy. Vehicle scale-up by increasing mass, density, or power presents new challenges primarily related to issues of system layout, hydrogen storage, heat transfer, and shock loads.     

Resistive heating and electropermeabilization of skin tissue during in vivo electroporation: A coupled nonlinear finite element model

The use of electric pulses to increase cell membrane permeability – electroporation – has, among other applications also been used on skin for (a) enhanced transdermal molecular delivery or (b) the delivery of drugs or DNA into viable skin cells. Based on finite element numerical method, we theoretically described skin electropermeabilization and the amount of heating in and around an electrically created pore in the stratum corneum (SC). With the model, we address both, electrical as well as thermal effects on skin tissue, specifically for electrode design and pulse protocols we used for gene electrotransfer in vivo (already published results), where plasmid DNA was injected intradermally with a syringe and external plate electrodes were used for pulse delivery. Theoretical results obtained with the model show no significant further thermal expansion of the aqueous pore for our specific pulse protocol (one short high voltage pulse: 400 V, 100 μs + one longer low voltage pulse: 80 V, 400 ms), as well as no thermal damage to the tissue. With some modifications to the protocol, electroporation could be used to (a) create pores in the SC through which to transport the DNA, and then (b) introduce the DNA into viable skin cells.