Solid State Lithium Air Battery Might Be a Breakthrough
Nov 30, 2009 Energy Talks
Binod Kumar, leader of the University of Dayton Research Institute has published in the 2010 Issue 1 of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society that the group has developed the first solid-state, rechargeable lithium-air battery. Kumar is calling this a breakthrough designed to address the fire and explosion risk of other lithium rechargeable batteries and pave the way for development of large-size lithium rechargeable batteries for a number of industry applications, including hybrid and electric cars.
Kumar says, “We have successfully fabricated and tested the first totally solid-state lithium-air battery, which represents a major advancement in the quest for a commercially viable, safe rechargeable battery with high energy and power densities and long cycle life. We believe this breakthrough represents a great opportunity to companies who are eager to incorporate significantly higher energy, longer-life and safer batteries into their products.”
The cell is comprised of a Lithium metal anode, a highly Lithium-ion conductive solid electrolyte membrane laminate fabricated from glass–ceramic and polymer–ceramic materials, and a solid-state composite air cathode prepared from high surface area carbon and ionically conducting glass–ceramic powder.
Kumar and the Lithium Air Battery. .
In the effort to increase the battery’s energy density (the ratio of energy to battery weight), the development is designed to mitigate the volatile nature of traditional lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in cell phones and laptops, which can overheat and catch fire or rupture. Because of their lighter weight and high-energy capacity, lithium-ion batteries are being increasingly used in aerospace and automotive applications, but their full potential for larger applications remains untapped because of technological challenges – primarily related to the self-igniting fire safety concern.
Currently, restrictions exist for ground and air transport of lithium batteries. Kumar says, “There have been a number of accidents and a large number of recalls involving lithium batteries. Most batteries use a liquid electrolyte, which creates a number of problems. They are corrosive and can leak. A short circuit or excessive heat from exposure to direct sunlight or use in a poorly vented laptop, for example, not only shortens battery life, but can cause the battery to rupture, ignite or explode.”
Kumar and his colleagues addressed the safety issues by developing an entirely solid-state lithium battery – no liquid is present in the cell. “We’ve replaced the liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte that works just as well, but is far safer,” Kumar said. The primary component of the new electrolyte is a glass-ceramic material that is very stable, even when in contact with water.
Kumar’s group applied innovations on solid electrolytes to develop the new technology in the form of a lithium-air battery, rather than a lithium-ion, because they are much lighter and have the potential to be the most energy-dense and most environmentally friendly rechargeable batteries.
So just how far has the breakthrough gotten on the temperature range, the recharge discharge cycles, and the humidity matter? Kumar says, “We made and tested more than three dozen lithium-air batteries during the last year, and each exhibited superior performance – even at temperatures as high as 225F. As development of the technology continues, researchers will also focus on cycle life – the number of times a battery can be discharged and recharged. “We’re currently at a cycle life of 40, with a goal of 4,000, which is significantly greater than the cycle life of current lithium batteries.”
The press release isn’t saying anything about the water effects.
But the paper’s abstract does make an exceptional assertion saying, “We believe that the Li–O2 cell, when fully developed, could exceed specific energies of 1000 Wh/kg in practical configurations.” That’s a noteworthy assertion when the theoretical specific energy of the Lithium-air cell is 13,000 Wh/kg, the highest of any metal-air battery system. Kumar thinks he’ll get better than 75% there – which makes the effort quite worthwhile.
Kumar and his colleagues have focused on electrolyte research for two decades and hold a number of patents in the field. Research to develop the new lithium battery was funded in part by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
It seems that the innovation here is in the design and materials that might prove to solve some of the major issues facing rechargeable air batteries. The big issue is solve the junk coming in with the desired oxygen, but water and the wealth of other things in the air accumulate, simply smothering the reactions.
Solid state looks to offer a construction solving some of the issues, we’ll watch with interest to see if Kumar and his group can get the Lithium air chemistry to stay fully functional for the cycles needed to make Lithium air an economically viable choice.
Author: New Energy and Fuel
Tags: efficiency, energy, Lithium, materials, new
Diagnosing R-410A Systems
Nov 30, 2009 HVAC
Well heat pump fans, here it is. An up close and personal look at a 410A heat pump system in action. Normal operation vs fault condition numbers in the cool cycle. There’s no audio with the vid, but for those of you who know their way around a system, the captions should be sufficient to explain what’s going on, and you should be able to interpret the changes in vital signs. The timing per scene could have been better, so it may take a couple of viewings to absorb the info. The heat cycle scenes are mainly to offer a “pressures vs OD temp” perspective.
And if you by chance have never seen a digital gauge/manifold RSA (refrigeration system analyzer), the top numbers are system pressures and lower numbers are either saturated temps or superheat or subcooling. All numbers are to one decimal place. You can also visit Tony B’s Digital-Zeus blog at http://digitalzeus.wordpress.com/ and see some Testo RSA tutorials for a more in-depth perspective.
Tags: Digital Zeus, heat pumps, OD, RSA
Best Related Inventory Management Software
Nov 30, 2009 Commercial Controls
Inventory management software are important to store owner, Factory manager, restaurant, warehouse and lot more. Inventory management sofware is the best solution to controling your inventory. Inventory is the total amount of goods and or material contained in a store or factory at any given time. Inventory management, or inventory control, is attempt to balance inventory needs and requirements with the need to manimize cost from obtain and holding inventory.
Related software product for inventory management like Inventory management Software for Public Warehousing is designed to handle complex charges with ease while providing the inventory management needed warehouse owner operator. Its specialy designed for use in cold and dry storage facilities as well as distribution warehouse and transpoting company.
More version of Inventory Mananagement Software is for Manufacturing And Distribution this Inventory management software are design absolutely for Manufacturing and distributors. Sales orders may be entered with multiple line items having multiple delivery requirements. To assist your planners, ensuring the necessary materials are available to fulfill all sales order, making supply and demand manageable this inventory management software developer as provide The MRP module for their Inventory Software.
Best related Software development company who had provided Inventory Management or control Software application for public warehouse, Manufacturers, Distributors and companies needing a powerful program to track and manage theirs assets. With over 20 years of transportation, warehousing, and software development exprience with Inventory Management Software, they know what inventory management software you need, because they were in business themselves. Find out more as an option for their product because they also provide scanning and Bar Coding.
Tags: Bar Coding, Inventory, Inventory Management Software, Related, Software
Choosing Grow Lights for Hydroponics Gardening
Nov 30, 2009 Lighting Design & Controls
Susan Slobac asked:
Hydroponics gardening makes a great hobby anytime of year, but especially during those dark cold winter months. In this system of indoor gardening, plants are grown without using soil. Instead, they are grown in a growing medium, feeding off of nutrient solution. As with any type of indoor gardening method, hydroponics gardening requires the use of grow lights in order for the plants to be able to synthesize food, grow, and reproduce, producing flowers or fruit. HID lights are often used for this purpose. HID, or high-intensity discharge lights, come in several varieties, including metal halide grow lights and HPS grow lights. All HID lights require a digital ballast in order to control electrical current through the lamp and ensure its proper function. Most also benefit from being used in conjunction with a reflector, which will direct and intensify the light that the bulb produces. LED grow lights are also very popular. These lightweight lights, using light- emitting diodes, produce a lot of light in colors useful for plant growth, and are cost effective as well. All of these lamps make great grow lights for hydroponics.
Metal halide grow lights consist of an arc tube made of alumina, inside of which is argon, mercury vapor and a variety of metals. The different metals give color to the light the lamp produces. The argon gas is used to get the lamp going at first when electrical current is introduced inside the arc tube from electrodes on either end. The arc of current vaporizes the metals and mercury, and thus light is produced. The benefit of using these lamps is that for such small bulbs they produce a lot of light, and are efficient to run.
HPS grow lights are also called high-pressure sodium lights. Like the MH lights, HPS lights also use an alumina arc tube. Inside this tube you will find sodium, mercury, and the noble gas Xenon to get the light started. Like the metal halide lights, HPS lights also require a ballast for their use, to stabilize their operation.
LED grow lights are similar in function to the lights you might see on Christmas trees during holiday times. They are a small, efficient and very bright light. The diode functions as a semi-conductor, and there are two crystals in this type of bulb. LED bulbs light up when electrical current moves from one crystal to the other. The light produced is surrounded by a reflector and is used with a lens to emit the light where you want it to go.
All of the aforementioned grow lights work well to grow your indoor plants to full horticultural splendor. They are also economical to run, and can be selected in terms of the color spectrum of light they produce in order to provide your specific plants with what they need to thrive.
Tags: gardening, HPS, indoor gardening, Susan Slobac
