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Advancing Mining Processes to Make Better Materials for Use in Lithium Ion Batteries
American Manganese Inc has developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly hydrometallurgical process to recover manganese (Mn) from lower grade resources. American Manganese has applied for a patent for their hydrometallurgical process that produces electrolytic manganese metal with low energy and water consumption. American Manganese commissioned R&D contractor, Kemetco Research Inc to determine uses of Artillery Peak manganese resource material to generate high value alternative products. Chemical manganese dioxide (CMD) and lithiated manganese oxide (LixMn2O4) for use in rechargeable batteries were the areas researched.
The research was successful in producing CMD from Artillery Peak resource material with low cation impurities and avoiding processing steps that are known to introduce metallic impurities in the final product. Cation impurities cause capacity fade, whereas metallic impurities are known to cause catastrophic failures (such as fire and explosions) in lithium ion batteries. Working rechargeable lithium ion coin cell battery prototypes were produced from the CMD material.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Catastrophic failure of Li Ion batteries caused by metallic impurities that may be introduced from the mining of raw materials
• Conventional mining process to recover MnO2 used to make LiMn2O4
• Research on a new mining process that avoids steps known to introduce metallic impurities to recover MnO2 used to make LiMn2O4
Presenter
Norman Chow – President – Kemetco Research, Inc.
Norman earned a B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in Metals and Materials Engineering from University of British Columbia. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (P. Eng.) in British Columbia. He has over 15 years of technology development and contract research experience. He is the President of Kemetco Research Inc., which he formed after acquiring the Industrial Process Division of BC Research Inc. BC Research had been in operation for over 60 years as an R&D contractor.
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Preventing Thermal Runaway in Energy Storage Systems (ESS)
From air transportation to electric vehicles and most recently “Hover Boards”, our industry is painfully aware of the over-discharge malfunctions associated with high-energy lithium-ion batteries, yet according to recent studies, nearly 70% of all Energy Storage Systems currently deployed are lithium-ion. Avoiding the pitfalls of utilizing greater energy density in larger installations is what will be discussed. Michelle will walk through the recent innovations from materials and process tracking in battery manufacturing to comprehensive control of cells in a fully deployed system. Incorporating lessons learned from recent failure investigations by the NTSB and FAA as well as new DoE mandates, Michelle will discuss how to achieve and in some areas surpass the new emerging safety certifications for a multi-megawatt energy storage system.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Making batteries safe or making safe batteries? (control & mitigation)
• Cell manufacture tracking, certification and response
– NTSB & DoE analysis and current situation
• Incorporating advanced battery management systems (BMS)
– Active cell dynamic balancing
– Cell replacement (hot-swapping)
– System reconfiguration
– Energy density scalability
Presenter
Michelle Klassen – VP of Business Development at Pathion, Inc.
Michelle Klassen is VP of Business Development for PATHION Inc. which manufactures high-performance, safe, and reliable Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for commercial markets ranging from 86 kilowatt-hours in stand-alone systems to over 1 megawatt-hour in containerized units. Prior to PATHION, as Vice President at ZeroBase Energy, she led the design and implementation of power systems and micro-grids for customers, including the US Department of Defense, Kenya Ministry of Energy and the L.A. Department of Water and Power.
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Stability of Li7La3Zr2O12 Garnet Solid-State Electrolyte Against Metallic Lithium
Energy storage demands will require safer, cheaper and higher performance electrochemical energy storage. While the primary strategy for improving performance has focused on state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries, this work seeks to develop solid-state batteries employing metallic Li anode. Recently, the ceramic electrolyte, Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) cubic garnet, has shown promise owing to its unique combination of properties such as high Li-ion conductivity and electrochemical stability. Generally, LLZO is synthesized through powder processing and sintering at high temperature to produce dense membrane. Processing of the ceramic materials produces internal and surface flaws which will inhibit lithium transport creating localized current density and control the stability against Li dendrite propagation. This presentation will discuss new improvement in methodology to evaluate the integrity of LLZO membrane.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Methodology to evaluate the integrity of LLZO by identifying the microstructural flaws and their impact on mechanical properties
• DC cycling, EIS, XPS will be shown to determine the reactions that govern the maximum current density
• Correlate the electrochemical stability and critical current density with defects in polycrystalline solid state LLZO electrolyte
Presenter
Asma Sharafi – PhD Student with Jeff Sakamoto at University of Michigan
Asma received her MS in Chemistry (material science) in 2013 at University of Georgia. Currently, she is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan under Jeff Sakamoto’s supervision. The primary focus of her research is on the development of new solid state electrolyte (SSE) with the garnet structure (Li7La3Zr2O12) that offer unprecedented safety and durability.
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Addressing Engineering Challenges of Vehicle Electrification With Model-Based Systems Engineering
The concern for the environment and energy savings is changing the way we think about transportation. Wide spreading vehicle electrification – not only through Electric Vehicles (EV) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), but also electrification in conventional vehicles – has become a common trend of the industry and the upcoming battlefield to install new leading positions. Accounting for costs, reliability, safety, performance, customer acceptance, infrastructure and design process makes manufacturers and suppliers facing new engineering challenges that need to be addressed in a very short time-frame.
Technologies used for electrification are causing a growing complexity in systems and components, and producing vehicles designed right, first, at reasonable costs make the implementation of collaborative mechatronic system simulation a decisive and mandatory step in the engineering process.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• What are the global trends and challenges of vehicle electrification?
• What are the available technologies for reducing CO2 emissions?
• What are the benefits of stop & start and regenerative braking systems?
• How to characterize battery and optimize its thermal management?
• How do energy storage architectures impact battery aging?
Presenter
Himanshu Kalra – Application Engineer, Siemens
Himanshu Kalra is an Application Engineer with Siemens PLM Software. He graduated with his Masters of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech University and his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Institute of Management and Technology, India. He works with Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Simulation tools to model and analyze vehicle electrification strategies, including thermal management, battery characterization and the impacts on battery ageing. He also has an experience working with technologies used for reducing emissions on internal combustion engines.
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