Ultra Power Battery

In a previous thread, Kent Hoult <khoult@xxxxxxxxx> pointed me to the
patent and other information on EEStor's Ultra Power Battery they are
developing for automotive use. The patent is quite technical and goes into
detail about the chemistry, materials preparation, fabrication,
specifications and other aspects of their invention. I must say that if this
is not smoke and mirrors it should prove to be a major innovation in vehicle
technology.

Basically the invention is a giant ceramic capacitor using special
techniques, chemistry, coatings and fabrication methods to produce an
unheard of capacitance and voltage rating in a relatively small box. They
call the capacitor an EESU, Electrical Energy Storage Unit and sometimes
term it a "battery." They are secretive and careful to not call it a cap, I
guess to throw off inquisitive copy cats. However, the patent does disclose
what they are doing but probably has some misleading information in it to
cover their bets.

Each EESU is a box a little over one cubic foot in volume and weighs about
336lb. The dimentions given were 13.5in X 13.5in X 11in. Each unit can store
up to 52.2kWH of electrical energy. That is a huge amount for any previous
capacitor technology and many times any known chemical battery technology in
that volume. It actually rivals gasoline in storage capability which is the
equavalent of about 1.6 gallons of gas. Considering that an ICE is only
about 25% efficient, the equivalent electrical storage is greater than that
of six gallons of gasoline. And, that ain't bad!

The EESU has a capacitance of 31Farads and can charge to 3500Volts. The unit
is made of some 2230 smaller capacitor components each less than one cubic
inch in volume. A solder bump assembly scheme is used to connect the
components. The dielectric is Barium Titanate, a common material used in
capacitors, but it is uniquely prepared and fabricated to create the
individual component caps. The particles of Titanate in powder form are
coated with Aluminum Oxide and a Magnesium Alumino Silicate glass that gives
the dielectric its extreme voltage capability and other unique properties of
the invention. The component capacitors are fabricated from multi-layer,
nickel electrode, parallel plate units using silk screen techniques. They
are appropriatly hot pressed and fired into the ceramic capacitor sub-units.

Apparently the EESU's can stand a million charge discharge cycles, like most
capacitors without degredation. They loose energy at a rate of about 0.1% in
30 days which is unheard of in chemical batteries. They can be charged
slowly, over night from domestic power or quick charged in several minutes
from industrial power or from a bank of other EESU's in a charging station.
They can be added together for higher energy storage for larger vehicles,
buses, SUV's, etc. The costs are unknown but they claim to be in the $2000
range.

Clearly these things are too good to be true. If they are real the they
could obsolete ALL other electric vehicle schemes, fuel cells, hydrogen,
chemical batteries, hybrid electrics, etc. I'm not sure that this small
company, EEStor has the clout, marketing savy, funding or capitalization
necessary to pull this off if the device is as promised. I suspect that they
will have to partner with one or more of the big boys to make it happen in
the way it deserves. As it stands now we are waiting to see what the results
are as they try to enter the market. I sincerely hope that this is not a
scam or over promised and hyped technology like so many things we have seen
from a lot of of these small companies. Futhermore I am well aware that
patents mean little and are often use to bilk investors but I am hopeful
about this. At least it seems reasonable. I invite comments.
Bob


Here is the patent:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsrchnum.htm&Sect1=
PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&r=1&l=50&f=G&d=PALL&s1=7033406.PN.&OS=PN/7033406



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cap or Second Battery?
    ... Here are some functional differences between a cap and a battery: ... The operating voltage of a cap is defined by the charging voltage, ... depending on the car and condition of the alternator. ... This simply means that the capacitor has the ability to ...
    (rec.audio.car)
  • Re: impulse generator circuit design
    ... Not sure about my voltage source yet. ... capacitor to the load and let it discharge, ... Well, if I wind up using a battery with a small maximum current, I ... Cathode of the diode to an inductor, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Transients connecting and disconnecting SMPS from battery
    ... I want to be able to toggle the power switch to the ... battery so as to provide two or more brightness ranges. ... a diode and large capacitor. ... I will probably add the series inductor to the raw battery supply from the ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Cap or Second Battery?
    ... So what is the differnce between a cap and a battery? ... > 1) The operating voltage of a cap is defined by the charging voltage, ... This simply means that the capacitor has the ability ...
    (rec.audio.car)
  • EEstor battery/super capacitor
    ... On this note, the patent document says, somewhat disingenuously I feel: ... " None of the EESU materials used to fabricate the EESU, which are aluminum, ... As the invention claims the possibility of charging the "battery" in 3 ... How could safety of recharge ...
    (sci.electronics.design)