liquid batteries for solar and wind power - lithium ion cell

In an industrial park on the outskirts of Pullman, wosh.
Ten white storage trailers are arranged side by side in two rows.
These are not normal storage units.
Placed on the inside shelf is the entrails of a large rechargeable battery that can store and release utilities
The scale of electricity.
But this is not an ordinary battery.
Contrast to typical lead
Acid battery for starting a car engine or lithium battery-
Ion batteries that power electric vehicles
Both of these are solid-
Most of this battery is liquid.
The chemicals that react to generate electricity dissolve in water and circulate in and out of the heart of each cell in which the reaction occurs.
So it's called a mobile battery, and one of Pullman's demonstration projects will be tested over the next year and a half, the largest in the world.
It can store about 3. 2 megawatt-
More than three to four hours of energy and the discharge of megawatts of electricity
Enough for 500 ordinary families to live an afternoon.
The battery is not new (
In some ways, they are similar to fuel cells)
But they never really knew.
They were invented in France in the 19 th century and were studied by NASA in the 1970 s as a potential energy source in space or on the moon.
Now, mobile batteries are considered a possible way to help the grid deal with more renewable energy, and companies like UniEnergy Technologies are further developing these batteries, the manufacturer of Pullman batteries, academic and government researchers.
As solar panels and wind turbines generate different amounts of electricity during the day, utilities and system operators must work harder to integrate renewable energy into the grid.
Batteries are a way to do this, for example, storing excess power from solar panels during the day and releasing it at night.
These batteries are mainly used for the purpose of incorporating renewable energy beyond the grid
For example, keep the grid stable by providing a short injection of electricity.
The United States used only 60 megawatts of storage last year.
But storage is expected to grow rapidly as prices for batteries and related control devices fall.
Other battery technology
Lithium ion in particular, as it is widely used by Tesla cars and other electric vehiclescar makers —
There is a beginning in the market.
However, experts say there are some advantages to mobile batteries that make them ideal for grid storage.
"I think mobile batteries are becoming more and more important," said Imre Gyuk, who manages the Energy Department project, which aims to help develop utility technology.
Scale electrical storage. Lithium-ion and lead-
The acid batteries are larger in size, which makes them particularly useful for tasks such as flipping the gasoline engine or getting electric cars to travel from the full station.
They are smaller than mobile batteries, which have tanks of liquid chemicals and equipment that can pump them into the battery.
But on the electric network, the battery does not need to provide a lot of power at the same time;
Instead, they need to provide energy steadily over time.
Compact size is not important.
"The smaller footprint is not so useful in fixed batteries," Dr. Gyuk said.
Because electricity
A reaction occurs in the liquid, and increasing the size of the tank allows the flow battery to store more power.
While their capacity has practical and economical limits, the mobile battery is thought to have the potential to discharge if the battery system has to discharge for more than a few hours.
"If you're talking about six
One hour battery, you may see the mobile battery, "said Matt Roberts, executive director of the energy storage association of industry groups.
Rick winter chief operating officer UniEnergy technology, which is based on cleaning at macertiao.
Said that there are other advantages of the mobile battery.
Compared to other batteries, they lose capacity when they go through many charges
Discharge cycle, must be replaced eventually, the life of the mobile battery is much longer
The company guarantees that the battery can be used for 20 years and can cycle indefinitely.
Flow batteries that can also be fully discharged
Not recommended for lithium
Because it affects their lifespan, ions and other types.
"There is no physical mechanism to reduce the performance of this system . "Winter said.
"No matter how many times you cycle, it will have the same power and energy levels.
The energy source for Pullman batteries is the use of vanadium salt.
Chemical reactions developed in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. (
Four years ago, at a business forum at the White House, President Obama mentioned the vanadium craft and commented, "This is one of the coolest words I 've ever said. ”)
The demonstration project, which costs $7 million, is paid by utilities in the region, Avista, and the National Clean Energy Fund.
It will be used to power the grid at peak demand, but because it is on campus of a large electrical engineering company --
Large electricity users-
It will also be tested as a large uninterrupted power supply.
In order to keep the company's sensitive digital device running, it will almost start up in the instant of power failure.
"The equipment will not notice the speed of the power outage will be fast enough," Mr. Winter said.