Appendix2.pdf

RICHARD WEIR and CARL NELSON

US Patent 7,033,406 25th April 2006 Inventors: Richard Weir and Carl Nelson

ELECTRICAL-ENERGY-STORAGE UNIT UTILISING CERAMIC AND INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT

TECHNOLOGIES FOR REPLACEMENT OF ELECTROCHEMICAL BATTERIES

This patent shows an electrical storage method which is reputed to power an electric car for a 500 mile trip on a

charge taking only five minutes to complete. This document is a very slightly re-worded copy of the original. It

has been pointed out by Mike Furness that while a five minute recharge is feasible, it is not practical, calling for

cables with a six-inch diameter. Also, the concept of recharging stations as suggested is also rather improbable

as the electrical supply needed would rival that of a power station. However, if the charging time were extended

to night time, then it would allow substantial driving range during the day time.

ABSTRACT

An Electrical-Energy-Storage Unit (EESU) has as a basis material a high-permittivity, composition-modified

barium titanate ceramic powder. This powder is double coated with the first coating being aluminium oxide and

the second coating calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass. The components of the EESU are manufactured

with the use of classical ceramic fabrication techniques which include screen printing alternating multi-layers of

nickel electrodes and high-permittivity composition-modified barium titanate powder, sintering to a closed-pore

porous body, followed by hot-isostatic pressing to a void-free body. The components are configured into a multi-

layer array with the use of a solder-bump technique as the enabling technology so as to provide a parallel

configuration of components that has the capability to store electrical energy in the range of 52 kWH. The total

weight of an EESU with this range of electrical energy storage is about 336 pounds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to energy-storage devices, and relates more particularly to high-permittivity

ceramic components utilised in an array configuration for application in ultra high electrical-energy storage

devices.

2. Description of the Relevant Art

The internal-combustion-engine (ICE) powered vehicles have as their electrical energy sources a generator and

battery system. This electrical system powers the vehicle accessories, which include the radio, lights, heating,

and air conditioning. The generator is driven by a belt and pulley system and some of its power is also used to

recharge the battery when the ICE is in operation. The battery initially provides the required electrical power to

operate an electrical motor that is used to turn the ICE during the starting operation and the ignition system.

The most common batteries in use today are:

Flooded lead-acid,

Sealed gel lead-acid,

Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad),

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), and

Nickel-Zinc (Ni-Z).

References on the subject of electrolchemical batteries include the following:

Guardian, Inc., " Product Specification ": Feb. 2, 2001;

K. A. Nishimura, " NiCd Battery ", Science Electronics FAQ V1.00: Nov. 20, 1996;

Ovonics, Inc., " Product Data Sheet ": no date;

Evercel, Inc., " Battery Data Sheet—Model 100 ": no date;

S. R. Ovshinsky et al., " Ovonics NiMH Batteries: The Enabling Technology for Heavy-Duty Electrical and Hybrid

Electric Vehicles ", Ovonics publication 2000-01-3108: Nov. 5, 1999;

B. Dickinson et al., " Issues and Benefits with Fast Charging Industrial Batteries ", AeroVeronment, Inc. article: no

date.

Each specific type of battery has characteristics, which make it either more or less desirable to use in a specific

application. Cost is always a major factor and the NiMH battery tops the list in price with the flooded lead-acid

battery being the most inexpensive. Evercel manufactures the Ni-Z battery and by a patented process, with the

A - 470

claim to have the highest power-per-pound ratio of any battery. See Table 1 below for comparisons among the

various batteries. What is lost in the cost translation is the fact that NiMH batteries yield nearly twice the

performance (energy density per weight of the battery) than do conventional lead-acid batteries. A major

drawback to the NiMH battery is the very high self-discharge rate of approximately 5% to 10% per day. This

would make the battery useless in a few weeks. The Ni-Cad battery and the lead-acid battery also have self-

discharge but it is in the range of about 1% per day and both contain hazardous materials such as acid or highly

toxic cadmium. The Ni-Z and the NiMH batteries contain potassium hydroxide and this electrolyte in moderate

and high concentrations is very caustic and will cause severe burns to tissue and corrosion to many metals such

as beryllium, magnesium, aluminium, zinc, and tin.

Another factor that must be considered when making a battery comparison is the recharge time. Lead-acid

batteries require a very long recharge period, as long as 6 to 8 hours. Lead-acid batteries, because of their

chemical makeup, cannot sustain high current or voltage continuously during charging. The lead plates within the

battery heat rapidly and cool very slowly. Too much heat results in a condition known as "gassing" where

hydrogen and oxygen gases are released from the battery's vent cap. Over time, gassing reduces the

effectiveness of the battery and also increases the need for battery maintenance, i.e., requiring periodic de-

ionised or distilled water addition. Batteries such as Ni-Cad and NiMH are not as susceptible to heat and can be

recharged in less time, allowing for high current or voltage changes which can bring the battery from a 20% state

of charge to an 80% state of charge in just 20 minutes. The time to fully recharge these batteries can be more

than an hour. Common to all present day batteries is a finite life, and if they are fully discharged and recharged

on a regular basis their life is reduced considerably.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a unique electrical-

energy-storage unit that has the capability to store ultra high amounts of energy.

One aspect of the present invention is that the materials used to produce the energy-storage unit, EESU, are not

explosive, corrosive, or hazardous. The basis material, a high-permittivity calcined composition-modified barium

titanate powder is an inert powder and is described in the following references: S. A. Bruno, D. K. Swanson, and I.

Burn, J. Am Ceram. Soc. 76, 1233 (1993); P. Hansen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,494, issued Jun. 20, 2000. The most

cost-effective metal that can be used for the conduction paths is nickel. Nickel as a metal is not hazardous and

only becomes a problem if it is in solution such as in deposition of electroless nickel. None of the EESU materials

will explode when being recharged or impacted. Thus the EESU is a safe product when used in electric vehicles,

buses, bicycles, tractors, or any device that is used for transportation or to perform work. It could also be used for

storing electrical power generated from solar voltaic cells or other alternative sources for residential, commercial,

or industrial applications. The EESU will also allow power averaging of power plants utilising SPVC or wind

technology and will have the capability to provide this function by storing sufficient electrical energy so that when

the sun is not shinning or the wind is not blowing they can meet the energy requirements of residential,

commercial, and industrial sites.

Another aspect of the present invention is that the EESU initial specifications will not degrade due to being fully

discharged or recharged. Deep cycling the EESU through the life of any commercial product that may use it will

not cause the EESU specifications to be degraded. The EESU can also be rapidly charged without damaging the

material or reducing its life. The cycle time to fully charge a 52 kWH EESU would be in the range of 4 to 6

minutes with sufficient cooling of the power cables and connections. This and the ability of a bank of EESUs to

store sufficient energy to supply 400 electric vehicles or more with a single charge will allow electrical energy

stations that have the same features as the present day gasoline stations for the ICE cars. The bank of EESUs

will store the energy being delivered to it from the present day utility power grid during the night when demand is

low and then deliver the energy when the demand hits a peak. The EESU energy bank will be charging during

the peak times but at a rate that is sufficient to provide a full charge of the bank over a 24-hour period or less.

This method of electrical power averaging would reduce the number of power generating stations required and

the charging energy could also come from alternative sources. These electrical-energy-delivery stations will not

have the hazards of the explosive gasoline.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is that the coating of aluminium oxide and calcium magnesium

aluminosilicate glass on calcined composition-modified barium titanate powder provides many enhancement

features and manufacturing capabilities to the basis material. These coating materials have exceptional high

voltage breakdown and when coated on to the above material will increase the breakdown voltage of ceramics

comprised of the coated particles from 3×10 6 V/cm of the uncoated basis material to around 5×10 6 V/cm or

higher. The following reference indicates the dielectric breakdown strength in V/cm of such materials: J. Kuwata et

al., "Electrical Properties of Perovskite-Type Oxide Thin-Films Prepared by RF Sputtering", Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.,

Part 1, 1985, 24(Suppl. 24-2, Proc. Int. Meet. Ferroelectr., 6th), 413-15. This very high voltage breakdown assists

in allowing the ceramic EESU to store a large amount of energy due to the following: Stored energy E = CV 2 / 2,

A - 471

Formula 1, as indicated in F. Sears et al., "Capacitance-Properties of Dielectrics", University Physics, Addison-

Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.: Dec. 1957: pp 468-486, where C is the capacitance, V is the voltage across

the EESU terminals, and E is the stored energy. This indicates that the energy of the EESU increases with the

square of the voltage. Fig.1 indicates that a double array of 2230 energy storage components 9 in a parallel

configuration that contain the calcined composition-modified barium titanate powder. Fully densified ceramic

components of this powder coated with 100 Angstrom units of aluminium oxide as the first coating 8 and a 100

Angstrom units of calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass as the second coating 8 can be safely charged to

3500 V. The number of components used in the double array depends on the electrical energy storage

requirements of the application. The components used in the array can vary from 2 to 10,000 or more. The total

capacitance of this particular array 9 is 31 F which will allow 52,220 W·h of energy to be stored as derived by

Formula 1.

These coatings also assist in significantly lowering the leakage and ageing of ceramic components comprised of

the calcined composition-modified barium titanate powder to a point where they will not effect the performance of

the EESU. In fact, the discharge rate of the ceramic EESU will be lower than 0.1% per 30 days which is

approximately an order of magnitude lower than the best electrochemical battery.

A significant advantage of the present invention is that the calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass coating

assists in lowering the sintering and hot-isostatic-pressing temperatures to 800 O C. This lower temperature

eliminates the need to use expensive platinum, palladium, or palladium-silver alloy as the terminal metal. In fact,

this temperature is in a safe range that allows nickel to be used, providing a major cost saving in material expense

and also power usage during the hot-isostatic-pressing process. Also, since the glass becomes easily

deformable and flowable at these temperatures it will assist in removing the voids from the EESU material during

the hot-isostatic-pressing process. The manufacturer of such systems is Flow Autoclave Systems, Inc. For this

product to be successful it is mandatory that all voids be removed to assist in ensuring that the high voltage

breakdown can be obtained. Also, the method described in this patent of coating the calcium magnesium

aluminosilicate glass ensures that the hot-isostatic-pressed double-coated composition-modified barium titanate

high-relative-permittivity layer is uniform and homogeneous.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is that each component of the EESU is produced by screen-printing

multiple layers of nickel electrodes with screening ink from nickel powder. Interleaved between nickel electrodes

are dielectric layers with screening ink from calcined double-coated high-permittivity calcined composition-

modified barium titanate powder. A unique independent dual screen-printing and layer-drying system is used for

this procedure. Each screening ink contains appropriate plastic resins, surfactants, lubricants, and solvents,

resulting in a proper rheology (the study of the deformation and flow of matter) for screen printing. The number of

these layers can vary depending on the electrical energy storage requirements. Each layer is dried before the

next layer is screen printed. Each nickel electrode layer 12 is alternately preferentially aligned to each of two

opposite sides of the component automatically during this process as indicated in Fig.2 . These layers are screen

printed on top of one another in a continuous manner. When the specified number of layers is achieved, the

component layers are then baked to obtain by further drying sufficient handling strength of the green plastic body.

Then the array is cut into individual components to the specified sizes.

Alternatively, the dielectric powder is prepared by blending with plastic binders, surfactants, lubricants, and

solvents to obtain a slurry with the proper rheology for tape casting. In tape casting, the powder-binder mixture is

extruded by pressure through a narrow slit of appropriate aperture height for the thickness desired of the green

plastic ceramic layer on to a moving plastic-tape carrier, known as a doctor-blade web coater. After drying, to

develop sufficient handling strength of the green plastic ceramic layer, this layer is peeled away from the plastic-

tape carrier. The green plastic ceramic layer is cut into sheets to fit the screen-printing frame in which the

A - 472

electrode pattern is applied with nickel ink. After drying of the electrode pattern, the sheets are stacked and then

pressed together to assure a well-bonded lamination. The laminate is then cut into components of the desired

shape and size.

The components are treated for the binder-burnout and sintering steps. The furnace temperature is slowly

ramped up to 350 O C and held for a specified length of time. This heating is accomplished over a period of several

hours so as to avoid any cracking and delamination of the body. Then the temperature is ramped up to 850 O C

and held for a specified length of time. After this process is completed the components are then properly

prepared for the hot isostatic pressing at 700 O C and the specified pressure. This process will eliminate voids.

After this process, the components are then side-lapped on the connection side to expose the preferentially

aligned nickel electrodes 12 . Then these sides are dipped into ink from nickel powder that has been prepared to

have the desired rheology. Then side conductors of nickel 14 are dipped into the same ink and then are clamped

on to each side of the components 15 that have been dipped into the nickel powder ink. The components are

then fired at 800 O C for 20 minutes to bond the nickel bars to the components as indicated in Fig.3 . The

components are then assembled into a first-level array, Fig.3 , with the use of the proper tooling and solder-bump

technology. Then the first-level arrays are assembled to form a second-level array, Fig.4 , by stacking the first

array layers on top of one another in a preferential mode. Then nickel bars 18 are attached on each side of the

second array as indicated in Fig.4 . Then the EESU is packaged to form its final assembly configuration.

The features of this patent indicate that the ceramic EESU, as indicated in Table 1, outperforms the

electrochemical battery in every parameter. This technology will provide mission-critical capability to many

sections of the energy-storage industry.

TABLE 1

The parameters of each technology to store 52.2 kW · h of electrical energy

are indicated-(data as of February 2001 from manufacturer’s specification sheets).

NiMH

LA(Gel)

Ceramic EESU

Ni—Z

Weight (pounds)

1,716

3,646

336

1,920

Volume (cu. inch)

17,881

43,045

2,005

34,780

Discharge rate

5% in 30 days

1% in 30 days

0.1% in 30 days

1% in 30 days

Charging time (full)

1.5 hours

8.0 hours

3 to 6 minutes

1.5 hours

Life reduced with deep cycle use

moderate

high

none

moderate

Hazardous materials

Yes

None

Yes

A - 473

This EESU will have the potential to revolutionise the electric vehicle (EV) industry, the storage and use of

electrical energy generated from alternative sources with the present utility grid system as a backup source for

residential, commercial, and industrial sites, and the electric energy point of sales to EVs. The EESU will replace

the electrochemical battery in any of the applications that are associated with the above business areas or in any

business area where its features are required.

The features and advantages described in the specifications are not all inclusive, and particularly, many additional

features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the description, specification

and claims made here. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been

principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or

circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive

subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig.1 indicates a schematic of 2320 energy storage components 9 hooked up in parallel with a total capacitance

of 31 Farads. The maximum charge voltage 8 of 3500 V is indicated with the cathode end of the energy storage

components 9 hooked to system ground 10 .

Fig.2 is a cross-section side view of the electrical-energy-storage unit component. This figure indicates the

alternating layers of nickel electrode layers 12 and high-permittivity composition-modified barium titanate dielectric

layers 11 . This figure also indicate the preferentially aligning concept of the nickel electrode layers 12 so that

each storage layer can be hooked up in parallel.

A - 474

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: