Page 42 - European Energy Innovation - Summer 2015 publication

Summer 2015 European Energy Innovation
COMMUNICATION
Energycaps: High power and
high energy lithium ion capacitor
A research project in the frame of Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) - Marie Curie Actions
The management
of the electricity
supply interruptions
that can occur
unexpectedly is vital for hospitals, Kiev National University of
telecommunication centers,
airports, supermarkets, banks,
tunnels or critical production
plants. About 20 seconds are
needed to start an additional
electric generator of several
megawatts (e.g., a diesel
generator). To ensure the
uninterrupted power supply
(UPS), an intermediate device
capable of delivering such a
high power within a fraction of
a second and keeping it up to
about 20 seconds is needed.
Lead-acid battery has been
meeting the demand of
uninterrupted power supplies
(UPS) at a megawatt scale for
many decades. Its power to
weight ratio is, however, very
low and appears as major
inconvenience.
Lithium-ion capacitors have
recently emerged as an
interesting alternative. Their
competitive advantage over
lead-acid battery is an important
reduction of the device size.
Compared to Li-ion batteries,
Li-ion capacitors offer a better
compromise between power and
energy for this application.
This technology was identified as
a new opportunity for SOLVAY to
promote the products typically
sold on the lithium-ion battery
market. Li-ion capacitor could
also be used to improve the
fuel saving and reduce the CO2
emission in hybrid vehicles.
A SOLVAY researcher sought
for partners to the forefront in
this field of research in 2010.
Two academic teams (Poznan
University of Technology,
Technologies and Design) and
two small companies (YUNASKO
from Ukraine and RECUPYL from
France) were selected. They joined device provides an energy
SOLVAY in the collaborative
project “Energycaps”, sponsored
by the European Marie Curie
funding program “IAPP” (Industry-
Academia Partnerships and
Pathways) with more than 2 million
Euros.
The objective of the project is to and the electrolyte mixture.
demonstrate market perspectives
of this emerging technology (Li-
ion capacitors).
The project started at the end
of 2011. It has a mixture of
secondments (26 researchers,
143 months) and recruitments.
Academic partners are involved
in electrodes, electrolytes,
separator and current collector
Coordinator and contact: Fernand.Gauthy@Solvay.com
www.Energycaps.eu
www.Yunasko.com
development/optimization.
RECUPYL is currently developing
a recycling process and assessing
the environmental impacts.
YUNASKO develops a prototype
of Lithium-ion capacitor. The
density similar to that of lead-acid
battery, a charging time as low as
1 minute, and a number of cycles
and power capability improved at
least by a factor of 100.
Solvay products have been used
in the electrodes, the separator
According to YUNASKO, LiTFSI,
produced by SOLVAY is the
preferred lithium salt for Li-ion
capacitor. l
Electric bus in Nice (FR) powered without
any fossil fuel and without cable (photo with
courtesy of the “PVI company”). The bus
gets the energy at each bus station within
20 seconds. This energy is currently stored
in classical supercapacitor (also called
ultracapacitors) and allows about 1km range
(see: www.pvi.fr).
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu