Download Bielektronic Accumulator Battery

The Project
BIELECTRONIC ACCUMULATOR
Nanotechnologies for Durable, Long-Life Supercompact Electric Accumulator Batteries
A novel technology is suggested for creating bielektronic accumulators - electric
accumulator batteries on the basis of capacitors made of a nano-structured dielectric - to obtain
a specific capacity of 1.6 MJ/kg, with no limits to the recharge cycle number. The operating
temperature range would be from - 70°C to +300°C, with the continuous operation lifetime
extended to no less than 30 thousand hours.
1.
Problems Related to Mobile Sources of Electric Energy
Accumulator batteries are reusable chemical sources of electric energy (power). Every of
them consists of two electrode plates (anode and cathode), electrolytic solution and a jar. Energy
storage in an accumulator battery is provided by the chemical oxidoreduction reaction of the
electrode plates. The inverse processes occur with discharge of an accumulator battery.
Accumulator voltage is a potential difference between the poles of an accumulator battery with
a certain fixed load.
Accumulators were invented the middle of 19th century. Until now, they have been
subject to constant technologic development. However, no qualitative leaps have ever occurred
in production of storage batteries, in contrast to the electronic engineering field, with its
sweeping transition from high-vacuum tubes to transistors and integrated circuits.
Accumulators differ both in their design and in the type of the physical chemistry
processes utilized. The most widely used are hermetically sealed lead-acid (SLAs), nickelcadmium (NiCd), nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-Ion) and lithium-polymer (Li Polymer) storage batteries. Conventional modern lead batteries have the specific capacity of
0.08 MJ/kg, nickel accumulator batteries - 0.2 MJ/kg, sodium-sulfur storage batteries - 0.4 to
0.6 MJ/kg at operating temperatures over 500°K and Li-Polymer storage batteries - 0.6 to 0.7
MJ/kg at room temperature. The most advanced lithium accumulator batteries for cell phones
are known to have been developed by the Kokam Engineering Company in South Korea
(http://www.kokam.co.kr/english/product/battery01.html).
Present-day accumulator batteries are used for limited numbers of recharge cycles
(ranging from 200 to 1000), which sets limits to the operation lifetime of such batteries at 1.5 to
2 years. With that, they are environmentally unsafe and heavy maintenance burden.
Table 1. Some characteristics of accumulator batteries (according to Batteries in a Portable
World by Isidor Buchmann; http://www.terralab.ru/supply/7853/)
[Feature] Description/
Type of Chemistry
NiCd
SLA
NiMH
Li-Ion
Li-Polymer
1
2
3
4
5
6
Low
low
high
medium
medium
1500+
200 to 500
500
500 – 1000/
1.5 years
100 - 150/
1.5 years
less than 1.5
8 - 16
2- 4
3- 4
8 - 15
High
low
low
medium
medium
40 – 60
30
60 - 80
100
150 - 200
Impendance
Number of ‘charge-discharge’ cycles
/operation lifetime (times/years)
Charging time (hours)
Current drain profile
Power density, Wh/kg
Total monthly self-discharge share
(per cent)
Maintenance required to keep up the
capacity
1
20
Monthly
5
30
10
10
once in 3 - once in 2 not required not required
6 months 3 months
2
3
4
5
6
Cost of a ‘charge - discharge’ cycle
for the cells used in mobile devices
consuming 6 – 9 V (USD)
0,04
0,1
0,14
0,2
0,6
Market entry record
1950
1970
1990
1991
2000
A battery for storage of electric energy is the integral part of any power-generating
system, as it helps smoothing away peak loads. It would be impossible to provide a constant
power supply of premises from solar photovoltaic cells without such batteries, nor to create
electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, etc. Furthermore, if, an accumulator meant for use in
vehicles should have high profiles of specific capacity and number of recharge cycles, along
with good charging/discharging dynamics.
Vehicle accumulators are designed to ensure operation of ignition systems in the starter
mode and at starting internal combustion engines; they also serve as the power source for the
vehicle-born equipment. Usually their service life period spans for about 2 years, with the
operating time 2500 to 3000 hours. They are designed for use at temperatures from –35°C to
+60°C. Energy density of starter batteries amounts to about 0.1 MJ/kg.
Regretfully, the problem of storage batteries for electric vehicles was not solved within
the last hundred years. With the conventional batteries the maximums in power density achieved
are at least one tenth of the required values. Furthermore, the transition to battery-driven
vehicles will demand an enormous number of new power stations to be created. With the total
losses through the entire cycle of electric power generation and charging of accumulator
batteries, the overall efficiency will be brought to the utmost of 30 - 35%. Therefore nowadays
the large-scale transition toward electric vehicles is regarded as a domain with no prospects for
the energy-efficient future. However, battery-driven vehicles still remains an object of high
environmental urgency in large cities. Thus, by 2009, the total of 2.5 million electric and hybrid
vehicles are to be manufactured around the world. (http://www.freedoniagroup.com/WorldElectric-Vehicles.html). Besides, accumulator batteries will take a substantial share of the
vehicle prices; more to that, the batteries must be changed every 2 years of the operation of the
vehicles.
The absence of compact, long-life yet cheap accumulator batteries urge the automotive
corporations to boost their development of vehicles with environmentally safe engines,
including those based on fuel elements (FEs).
The fuel elements ensure direct transformation of chemical energy of a fuel into
electricity, leaving out the ineffective combustion processes with the large losses of energy.
These electrochemical devices generate electric energy being a direct output of the high-yield
“cold” combustion of a fuel. Due to their high cost, FEs are mainly used in aerospace
technologies.
At present much effort is focused on the studies of FEs, for the commercial application
thereof. Electricity in an FE is generated from direct low-temperature oxidation of fuel upon the
catalysts at low temperatures, within the range of 300 - 500°K, the efficiency amounting to 80%
(with oxidation of hydrogen gas). However, with the hydrocarbon fuels used, the FEs’
efficiency is cut to 40 - 45%. This has to do with the necessity of primarily cracking such fuels
into their components to obtain hydrogen. The direct use of methane, spirit and the like reduces
the efficiency even more. As a result, FEs’ intrinsic advantages, so attractive to power
engineering, are lost. The area of application is narrowed down to the sector of the mobile
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devices, where there are no strict requirements of high efficiency. Besides, all FEs provide low
power density rates, which demands additional accumulator batteries for peak loads.
Several companies, specialized in development of fuel cell systems for mobile electronic
devices, have at the same time claimed this technology to be commercialized in the near future.
Smart Fuel Cell AG (Germany), Casio, Toshiba and NEC (Japan) are among those companies.
The FE share in their cell systems is not larger than 10 – 30%, while their energy density
amounts to about 1 MJ/kg. Thus, the performance parameters of FEs are tenfold better than
those of nickel-cadmium storage batteries. An FE does not require long recharging from electric
mains, just replacement of a containers with a liquid organic fuel. However, because of the low
specific current density, FEs are to be used with additional, bypass accumulators in vehicles or
in cell phones. Consequently, we are back again, facing the problem of accumulator batteries.
As appears from the above, of all chemical sources of current supply, fuel elements can
be beaten only by the electric accumulator batteries of no less than 1 MJ/kg specific capacity,
providing the unlimited number of cycles of short, almost instantaneous recharging.
2. Alternative Approach to Creation of Mobile Sources of Electric Power
We rejected the standard pattern of creation of electrolytic accumulator batteries
(wherein the charge is carried by heavy ions) and proceeded to storage of electron pairs in a
nano-structured dielectric capacitor. The dielectric is structured in such a way that the electrons
form evenly distributed pairs throughout the entire volume of the dielectric material. This made
possible to increase the specific density of the stored energy several thousands times, in
comparison with the feature of ceramic and chemical capacitors.
Consequently, there can be devised a fundamentally new technology for creation of a
storage battery on the basis of the nano-structured dielectric capacitor, to ensure a specific
capacity of 1.6 MJ/kg at normal operating temperatures, along with virtually unlimited number
of charging/discharging cycles – a bielektronic accumulator battery. The specific capacity of
such batteries will be 2 - 3 times larger than that of the best lithium-polymer storage batteries,
with the production costs not exceeding those of the lithium-polymer technology. The operating
temperature span will be from -70ºC up to 300ºC. The period of continuous operation will be
extended to about 10 - 30 years.
Furthermore, the proposed type of accumulator batteries could completely replace all the
types of disposable solid chemical battery power supplies (battery cells) and create the
opportunities for enormous material savings.
2.1. Know-how. Brief Description
We have made theoretical and experimental studies on creation of capacitors that would
allow the maximum specific energy storage possible, low leakage current rates and high-speed
profiles.
Dielectric constants of the known dielectrics is ε ≤ 1000 and low strength E of the
electric field, which does not allow to obtain high specific energy density values. There are two
methods for increasing the energy density rates – either by providing higher ε, or by higher field
strength E, which is more effective. However, increase in E causes irreversible dielectric
breakdowns. The breakdowns in solid dielectrics occur due to the emission of electrons into the
dielectric from the capacitor coatings. Having been emitted into the dielectric and exposed to
the accelerating electric field, the electrons move from the cathode to the anode. On their way
they collide repeatedly, which leads to formation of an electron avalanche, i.e. the breakdown.
The collision ionization results in creation of positive ions that remain in the avalanche track
and build up a remanent charge. Besides, an increase in thickness of dielectrics produces the socalled “bulk effect”, i.e., the dielectric breakdown voltage gets sharply down, which causes the
decrease of the specific energy accumulated. The avalanche breakdown results in destruction of
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the dielectric material and formation of an irrepairably defective channel. As an ultimate result
of all this, the capacitor fails.
At present there are many theoretic insights of the mechanism of dielectric breakdown.
However, all of them offer solutions of just some particular problems by approximated methods.
Certain amount of research has been made in this direction to study the new mechanism
of energy storage in the entire volume of solid dielectrics, owing to control of breakdowns
mechanism and restoration of the operating characteristics of the dielectric materials. A new
mechanism of electron current in dielectrics and semiconductors was investigated for
simultaneously increased ε and E, taking into account the three-dimensional wave structure of
electron (as published in application PCT BY 99/00012).
As a result of our studies, a new class of nano-structured materials of a super-large
dielectric permeability (ε = 2·106) has been detected. Preliminary laboratory tests have revealed
good results and proved practicability of designing accumulator batteries with fundamentally
new consumer properties:
• specific capacity - 1.6 MJ/kg, which is 16 - 20 times higher than that of lead batteries;
• admissible deep discharge in the starter mode;
• unlimited number of recharge cycles;
• virtually instantaneous charging;
• no requirements of operating maintenance;
• unlimited service life and no limits to uncharged storage;
• pollution-free production, operation, salvage and recycling.
This would enable us of solving the problems related to solar power engineering, hybrid
and battery vehicles, mobile electronics.
3. Markets for Accumulator Batteries
The markets for accumulator batteries are remarkable for the exceptional variety of their
segments:
• mobile electronics (cell phones, video equipment, etc.);
• substitutes for all the types of single-use solid chemical sources of power supply
(batteries);
• storage batteries for every transport means;
• stationary by-pass accumulators for the solar, thermal and atomic power plants.
Each year, till 2007, the global demand for disposable and rechargeable power cells will
grow by 6,4%. The most rapidly growing markets will be in China, India, Brazil and South
Korea; the USA, Western Europe and Japan are also likely to experience an up-going demand
for them. Rechargeable non-lead batteries will outstrip the disposable cells and lead acid
batteries. (http://www.freedoniagroup.com/World-Batteries.html).
The world markets for production of storage batteries are estimated for as much as
USD43 milliard. There are more than 30 leading manufacturers of storage batteries in the world,
including Matsushita Electric Industrial, Exide, Duracell, Sanyo Electric, Energizer Holdings,
Toshiba, Johnson Controls, and VARTA.
Storage batteries for the vehicles with electric drives – i.e. hybrid and battery vehicles –
take a special niche. The costs of such storage batteries make 10% to 30% of the total cost of the
entire vehicles. By 2009 the sales of electric vehicles will reach 2.5 million pieces worldwide,
their market estimated as much as USD 45 milliard. Their production growth will be caused by
the problems of environment preservation, stimulated by production preferences or benefits and
spurred by high oil prices. Hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles will prevail; the market share
of the transport means powered only from storage batteries will be subject to the declining
tendency. (http://www.freedoniagroup.com/World-Electric-Vehicles.html).
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The absence of the storage batteries with the necessary consumer properties is the
restraint that keeps this market from growing today.
More than 30 leading industrial companies, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General
Motors, Honda and Toyota, have dwelled upon production of electric vehicles.
Stationary bypass storage batteries are necessary to be used to increase the efficiency of
renewable energy sources and power mini-plants. The global demand for power mini-plants (the
so-called “micropower” units) will grow yearly by 13% till 2007, as by using such units the
environmental impact can be reduced. The greatest production growth in the microturbine and
fuel cell sectors will be observed in North America. Solar photo cells, wind electric generators
and other renewable energy sources will enjoy the utmost development advance in Asia and
Europe. The specialized world markets will reach the sale amount of USD16 milliard.
(http://www.freedoniagroup.com/World-Micropower.html). Generally, costs of storage batteries
for solar and wind power stations are commensurable with the cost of the power units.
Production of mini power units is the domain shared most entirely by 25 key companies,
including Caterpillar, Cummins, NEG Micon, Vestas, BP Solarex, Kyocera, ABB, Alstom,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Siemens.
As a summary of the above, the sales total of the promising world markets for storage
batteries is likely to make about USD 60 milliard by 2009 (http://www.freedoniagroup.com/).
The high level of patent protection of the production technologies of bielectronic
accumulators provides the opportunity to monopolize the markets for such batteries for 15 - 20
years.
Furthermore, mass production of the bielectronic storage batteries paves the way to
creation of high-performance electric vehicles, solar power stations, etc.
4. Marketable Products of the Firm
Limited licenses for production technology of bielectronic storage batteries meant for
various segments of the Chinese and Belorussian markets for storage batteries of specific
requested characteristics.
Selection and instruction of the personnel for license buyers.
Preparation of the "umbrella" of patents related to basic application PCT BY 99/00012
and Patent EA No.003852 for the production technology of the bielectronic accumulator, in
order to protect the rights of the licenses buyers and build up the intangible assets of the JV.
5. Technical Feasibility and Marketability of Mass Production of Bielectronic
Accumulator Batteries
The production methods for nano-clusters and nano-tubes, both being the basic elements
of bielectronic accumulators, allow creating nano-structured materials based on the available
technologies.
In the electrical engineering industry extensively used are dielectrics with a nonlinear
characteristic. These materials provide the basis for making input voltages limiters (varistors).
This production is well developed and set. It is simple a task to manufacture clusters of the
necessary size that would evoke the resonance properties of electrons, whereby the material
would acquire new properties of an energy accumulator.
As regards the power engineering sector, a simpler technology for making nanostructured materials, based on nano-porous foam, could be used for the purpose of buffer
accumulation of large amounts of energy. For this, it is necessary to finish the development of
the carbonic foaming technologies or the synthesis of nano-porous silicate glass.
The synthesis of spherical porous particles by the sol-gel method is also cheap enough.
This method would provide us with the nano-structured material for the bielectronic
accumulator.
The materials used for the technology are well known and produced by the industry in
sufficient amounts; they are ecologically clean and relatively inexpensive.
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6. Risks
In the case of obtaining bielectronic accumulators of tenfold less specific capacity than
proclaimed, they would still remain competitive on the markets for vehicle accumulator
batteries. Should their capacity be 3 - 5 times smaller than the proclaimed parameter, they
would remain competitive in all the segments of the entire market for storage batteries.
Professor Alexander M. Ilyanok
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