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A The
NewElectromechanical
Look at an Battery
Old Idea
The Electromechanical Battery
Laboratory researchers
are integrating innovative
S PINNING at 60,000 revolutions
per minute, a cylinder about the
size of a large coffee can may hold the
“charged” by spinning its rotor to
maximum speed with an integral
generator/motor in its “motor mode.”
lead–acid battery. Power densities can
soar to 5 to 10 kW/kg, several times
that of a typical gasoline-powered
key to the long-awaited realization of It is “discharged” by slowing the rotor engine and up to 100 times that of
practical electric cars and trucks. The of the same generator/motor to draw out typical electrochemical batteries. And
materials and designs to graphite, fiber-composite cylinder
belongs to a new breed of LLNL-
the kinetically stored energy in its
“generator mode.” The advanced design
because of its simple design and
advanced materials, an EMB is
developed, flywheel-based, energy features a special array of permanent expected to run without maintenance
develop highly efficient storage systems with new materials, magnets (called a Halbach array) in the for at least a decade.
new technologies, and new thinking generator–motor to perform these Livermore researchers envision
about the most efficient ways to charging and discharging functions several small, maintenance-free
and cost-effective energy store energy. efficiently. modules, each with a kilowatt-hour of
Called an electromechanical battery The EMB offers significant energy storage, for use in electric or
(EMB) by its Laboratory creators, the advantages over other kinds of energy hybrid-electric vehicles. See the
storage. modular device contains a modern storage systems (see box, next page). prototype in Figure 1 (also see box,
flywheel stabilized by nearly For example, the efficiency of energy p. 15). Larger modules with 2 to
frictionless magnetic bearings, recovery (kilowatt-hours out versus 25 kWh of storage capacity could be
integrated with a special ironless kilowatt-hours in) is projected to employed by electrical utilities for more
generator motor, and housed in a sealed exceed 95%, considerably better than efficient use of their transmission lines
vacuum enclosure. The EMB is any electrochemical battery such as a and by factories for power conditioning.
These larger units could also be used in
wind and solar-electric power systems
Figure 1. Prototype
to enable them to deliver power
of the LLNL
whenever it is needed, rather than only
electromechanical
when it is generated.
battery, which is
The exceptional potential of the
based on the
Laboratory design has not gone
flywheel concept of
unnoticed by American industry.
energy storage. Left
Trinity Flywheel Batteries,
to right: high-speed
Westinghouse Electric, and General
rotor, rotor in motion,
Motors have all sponsored research at
and enclosed battery
Livermore for vehicular and industrial
(20 cm in diameter by
applications. The efforts, which include
30 cm high).
tapping the expertise of researchers
throughout the Laboratory, involve
Science & Technology Review April 1996 Science & Technology Review April 1996
16 Electromechanical Battery Electromechanical Battery 17
The only difference between the example), the EMB is expected to have a energy back into the battery pack Calculations reveal that a high-strength fiber composites, materials of choice in flywheel rotors
Livermore EMB, viewed as a “black useful service life measured in decades. whenever the vehicle slows down, is representative automobile powered by particularly graphite. The strength of for energy storage. A metal flywheel
box” to store electrical energy, and an This longevity should be attainable even braked, or descends a hill. electricity using EMBs for storage graphite fibers, now used in everything does indeed store more energy than an
electrochemical cell is that, instead of under repeated “deep-discharge” One way to express the resulting instead of an internal combustion from tennis racquets to sailboat masts, equivalent-size flywheel made of low-
low-voltage direct current, the EMB cycling, an attribute not possessed by energy savings is through an energy engine would have an ECF of 4.0. That has increased by a factor of 5 over the density material and rotating at the
“cell” accepts and delivers variable- any known electrochemical cell. conservation factor (ECF). This is the is, four barrels of oil delivered to a last two decades. same speed. However, a low-density
frequency alternating current at an A typical gasoline-powered ratio of energy required to drive a refinery would yield the same number These fibers play a central role in wheel can be spun up to a higher speed
operating voltage level chosen by the automobile in urban driving converts vehicle powered by a gasoline engine of urban driving miles in a gas-powered flywheel energy storage. The reason lies until it reaches the same internal tensile
designer. When coupled to a power only about 12% of the heat energy of over a given urban cycle compared to the vehicle as one barrel of oil (or its in the laws dictating how much kinetic stresses as the metal one, where it stores
converter, the EMB delivers its gasoline to useful drive power. In energy that would be required to drive a energy equivalent) delivered to a power energy can be stored in a rotating body the same amount of kinetic energy at a
electrical energy at higher power addition, gas-powered vehicles have vehicle with the same weight and drag plant for a car powered by electricity (Figure 3). Any spinning rotor has an much lower weight. For example,
levels per kilogram of mass than any no way to recover the energy that is coefficients equipped with an electric stored in EMBs. “The impact of such upper speed limit determined by the lightweight graphite fiber is more than
known battery. wasted upon slowing down, braking drive system. (Of course, the ECF for an a major increase in the efficiency of tensile strength of the material from ten times more effective per unit mass
Furthermore, like other electro- to a stop, or descending a hill. EMB electric vehicle must include the the transportation sector would be which it is made. On the other hand, at for kinetic energy storage than steel.
mechanical equipment operating in a vehicles offer a simple way to efficiently efficiency with which the electric utility phenomenal in terms of reducing our a given rotation speed, the amount of Which modern fiber is optimum
sealed environment (the household recoup this energy through “regenerative generates and delivers electricity to need for petroleum and also in terms of kinetic energy stored is determined by for an EMB depends on whether the
refrigerator motor and compressor, for braking.” In this mode, the electric drive charge the batteries.) air pollution,” says Post. the mass of the flywheel. designer wants maximum energy
motors are operated as generators to put When the same calculations are done This observation originally led to storage per unit mass (as in vehicular
for a lead–acid electrochemical battery, the intuitive notion that high-density applications) or, for economic reasons,
the ECF drops to about 2.5, owing to its materials, namely metals, are the the designer requires the maximum
lower energy recovery efficiency (60 to
Basic technology components Applications
70%). Post says that if for no other
Table 1. Comparison of attributes for battery modules.
reason than superior efficiency, special
attention should be paid to exploiting EMB Lead–acid battery
the EMB for designing “real-world”
electric vehicles. Specific power 5–10 kW/kg 0.1–0.5 kW
Energy recovery 90–95% 60–70%
Specific energy 100 Wh/kg 30–35 Wh/kg
Fiber Is Key Service lifetime >10 years 3–5 years
Magnetic bearings Integrated system Hybrid vehicle Self-discharge time Weeks to months Many variables
The Livermore effort to design and (temperature, usage, etc.)
build an EMB takes advantage of Hazardous chemicals None Lead, sulfuric acid
recent advances in materials such as
1000
800
Power electronics
Wh/kg
but graphite, which is lighter,
stores kinetic energy better.
400
200
Composite materials
Bulk energy storage
Figure 2. Concept of the flywheel battery 0
system and its applications. Carbon Alloy Glass Graphite fibers Graphite fibers
steel steel fibers (current) (projected)
Science & Technology Review April 1996 Science & Technology Review April 1996
18 Electromechanical Battery Electromechanical Battery 19
Power sources
Lead–acid energy storage
Battery type
Figure 4. The Commercial magnetic bearings, now devices are
Halbach permanent in use in specialty applications, must compared for (a)
magnet array is an employ complex and expensive
Zinc– power density and
integral part of our electronic servo systems to overcome V-8 engine
bromide (b) energy recovery.
electromechanical this constraint.
battery. The Livermore team is working to
Stator
wires achieve levitation by using a magnetic EMB EMB
bearing energized by permanent module module
magnets to support the spinning mass
Magnetic field
of the flywheel against gravity, at 0 2 4 6 8 10 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
present supplemented by a Power density, kW/kg Energy recovery efficiency, %
conventional bearing to stabilize the
system. For the longer term, the team is
Halbach Vacuum Composite aiming its main effort on rotor Laboratory team has adapted them for 95%, while specific power climbs to 10 electric cars (or hybrid internal
magnet array barrier rotor dynamics effects to achieve stable use in EMBs. Figure 4 shows an end kW/kg. Figure 5 illustrates these values combustion engine/electric-drive cars) is
levitation with so-called “passive” view of the array. for a modern V-8 gasoline engine and a being delayed by the lack of a
magnetic bearings, in which no servo Noncontacting magnetic bearings small EMB module. satisfactory energy storage system.
energy storage per unit cost (as in most second. The Livermore approach is to system is required. The team’s novel eliminate wear and minimize rotational Post says that the Laboratory’s EMB
stationary applications, such as load achieve lowest cost and tolerate modest approach to passive magnetic bearings, drag losses, and ironless generator motor development program can make a major Key Words: electromechanical battery
(EMB), energy efficiency, flywheel, storage
leveling for electric utilities). Vehicular penalties in energy density. As a result, unique in the magnetic bearing designs eliminate hysteretic losses. If contribution toward solving a critical cells.
uses call for graphite fibers, even the team uses rotors made of material community, takes advantage of the there were no losses from aerodynamic societal problem—finding less expensive
though these are more than ten times as costing $26 per kilogram ($12 a pound) expertise within Livermore’s magnetic drag, the rundown, or self-discharge and more efficient ways to store Reference
expensive as the most cost-effective that operate with tip speeds on the order fusion program staff. lifetime, of the module supported by electrical energy. This need, he says, 1. K. Halbach, “Design of Permanent
fiber for EMB stationary applications. of 800 to 1,000 meters per second, as An integral part of the rotor is the optimized magnetic bearings would be appears in many aspects of the nation’s Multipole Magnets with Oriented Rare
Earth Cobalt Material,” Nuclear
Post emphasizes that using opposed to top-performing fibers costing generator motor, composed only of a very long. Rundown times in excess of use of electricity, from homes and Instruments and Methods 169 (1980),
composite fibers has required the team $130 per kilogram ($60 a pound). rotating array of permanent magnet two years for magnetically levitated factories to the needs of electric utilities pp. 1–10.
to rethink the entire flywheel concept, bars that produce a rotating magnetic high-speed rotors operated in vacuo were and wind-electric and solar-electric
which was based on metal flywheels. Designing for Tomorrow field. This field couples through a demonstrated 40 years ago. power generators. It is felt most keenly, For further information contact
Because steel is an isotropic material, vacuum-tight, glass–ceramic cylinder As in those early tests, Livermore however, in the transportation sector, Richard F. Post (510) 422-9853
its strength against rupture is the same With rotor design and materials to three-phase copper-wire windings researchers put the rotor in an evacuated where the development of practical (post3@llnl.gov).
in every direction. Composites are problems largely solved, the most located inside this cylinder (and thus enclosure to minimize the losses from
typically anisotropic materials; i.e., important challenges facing EMB outside the evacuated region). This aerodynamic friction. Fortunately, the
they are strong in the direction of their designers are the two issues of bearings ironless design minimizes hysteretic degree of vacuum required to satisfy About the Scientist
fibers but up to 100 times weaker in the and rotor dynamics. In current tests, losses from fluctuations in the even the most demanding vehicular
other direction. Laboratory researchers have been using magnetic field, which would limit the needs is well within commercial In 1951, RICHARD F. POST received his Ph.D. in Physics
Laboratory flywheel designs use a mechanical bearings. In future tests, rundown times and generate heat. practice. Computer models show from Stanford University, Stanford, California. In 1940, he
basic geometry of a cylinder, with the they plan to incorporate a virtually This generator motor is the first aerodynamic rundown times of several received his B.S. from Pomona College, Claremont, California.
fiber orientation that of a tight-wound frictionless, magnetic bearing system battery application of what is called a months and corresponding losses from A specialist in fusion research, plasma physics, and energy
spring, i.e., essentially perpendicular in which the rotor is suspended by Halbach magnetic array. These aerodynamic drag of a fraction of storage, Post has been at Livermore since 1951. Currently he is a
to the axis of the cylinder. In this way magnetic forces derived from uniquely arranged magnet designs a watt. senior scientist in Energy, Manufacturing, and Transportation
they achieve maximal strength in the permanent magnets. were pioneered in the 1980s by Klaus Together, the ironless design, the Technologies within LLNL’s Energy Program. Since 1963, he
outward centrifugal direction. The Although the concept of levitating Halbach1 of Lawrence Berkeley Halbach array, and the very high rotation also has been affiliated with the University of California, Davis,
rotor’s highest tip speeds attained using magnetic bearings dates to the 1940s, National Laboratory. Although in a sealed, evacuated enclosure give where he now is a Professor Emeritus. Recent publications by
the strongest available composite fibers every designer of such bearings must Halbach’s work related to magnet extremely high efficiency and specific Post include book chapters, journal articles, and conference proceedings on topics
range from 1,400 to 2,000 meters per contend with Earnshaw’s Theorem, arrays for particle accelerators, the power. As noted, efficiencies exceed such as magnetic mirror fusion research and the electromechanical battery.
Science & Technology Review April 1996 Science & Technology Review April 1996