A team of researchers from the City College of New York and Sandia National Laboratories (Contact: Timothy N. Lambert) examined the impact of different acetate-based super-concentrated (or “water-in-salt”) electrolytes on zinc electrochemical performance at currents and material utilizations of practical relevance to industry (0.3-8 mA/cm2 and ~20 mAh/cm2 respectively). Data was collected to understand the fundamental thermodynamics and electrochemical rate-limiting-steps of the technology. Their results revealed that water solvation is not the reason for water-in-salt electrolyte stability but is rather due to a solid-electrolyte-interface (SEI) layer. This SEI layer also becomes the major limitation to practical battery charge/discharge rates. The team also explored strategies to overcome this hurdle, along with various cathode technologies for this electrolyte. The results were presented in an article titled “Electrochemical and Cycle Analysis of Water-in-Salt K-Acetate Electrolyte Zn-Ion Batteries Under Commercially-Relevant Conditions” and were published in the Journal of Electrochemical Society on July 15, 2024.

Decarbonization of national-scale electrical grids requires massive deployment of energy storage, a leading option for which is electrochemical-based batteries. For widespread adoption of grid-scale batteries to succeed, improvements to battery state-of-the-art are necessary in terms of affordability and safety. Toward this goal, this work researched aqueous electrolyte zinc-ion rechargeable batteries due to their low-cost materials, lack of thermal runaway risk, and inherent non-flammability. The major hurdle for aqueous electrolytes to overcome is lower energy density compared to the leading Li-ion technologies, due to the narrow stability window of aqueous electrolyte.

This research explored the use of a super-concentrated (or “water-in-salt”) aqueous electrolyte to expand the voltage window of operation. Their results showed encouraging results that may help pave the development pathway toward creating safe, low-cost, high-performance batteries of the future. The team of researchers included:

• Damon E. Turney, CUNY Energy Institute, City University of New York
• Debayon Dutta, CUNY Energy Institute, City University of New York
• Sanjoy Banerjee, CUNY Energy Institute, City University of New York
• Timothy N. Lambert, Sandia National Laboratories, Department of Photovoltaics and Materials Technology and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
• Nelson S. Bell, Sandia National Laboratories, Advanced Materials Laboratory

D. Turney, D. Dutta, S. Banerjee, T.N. Lambert, N.S. Bell “Electrochemical and Cycle Analysis of Water-in-Salt K-Acetate Electrolyte Zn-Ion Batteries Under Commercially-Relevant Conditions” J. Electrochem. Soc. 171 070525 (2024) DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/ad5769.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.

During the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation, and Motion (SPEEDAM), held in Ischia, Italy from June 19-21, 2024, several research papers funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Energy Storage Division were presented. These papers addressed critical challenges and advancements in grid energy storage solutions, battery state estimation, microgrid stability, and anomaly detection in lithium-ion battery cells. These researchers presenting on the DOE-funded work included:

• Dr. Raymond Byrne, Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage Technology and Systems program manager, co-chaired two paper sessions and presented a paper on grid reliability and the role of energy storage.
• Dr. Rodrigo Trevizan, electrical engineer in the Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage program, presented a paper that introduced a method for adaptive battery state estimation.
• Dr. Victoria O’Brien, electrical engineer in the Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage program, compared online model-based anomaly detection methods. Read more about Dr. O’Brien’s presentation here.
• Dr. Valerio de Angelis, systems lead in the Sandia National Laboratories Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Systems department, presented a paper on a modular prototype of hybrid storage technologies for grid applications.
• Dr. Reinaldo Tonkoski, professor at the Technical University of Munich, presented papers co-authored by Sandians on integrated voltage and frequency support in microgrids and frequency security index-based state of health monitoring.

The presentations at the 2024 SPEEDAM conference provided valuable insights into the future of energy storage, microgrid stability, and battery management. The research papers highlighted advancements in solid-state transformers, battery state estimation, microgrid control, and anomaly detection, all of which are crucial for the development of reliable and efficient energy storage systems. These contributions have the potential to significantly impact the stability, reliability, and safety of future smart grids and microgrids, as well as the performance and lifespan of lithium-ion battery cells. The findings presented at the conference contribute to the ongoing efforts in advancing energy storage technologies and optimizing their integration into the electric grid.

In the 2024 SPEEDAM conference, researchers from 30 countries presented over 200 research papers divided in oral and poster sessions. The conference served as a platform for researchers and industry experts to exchange knowledge and foster collaborations in these critical areas.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Citations

R.H. Byrne, A. Bera, T.A. Nguyen “Reliability of the Future Smart Grid and the Role of Energy Storage” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

R.D. Trevizan, V.A. O’Brien, V.S. Rao “Adaptive Battery State Estimation Considering Input Noise Compensation” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

N. Bhujel, A. Rai, U. Tamrakar, D. Hummels, and R. Tonkoski “Integrated Voltage and Frequency Support in Microgrids Using Droop and Model Predictive Control with Energy Storage Systems” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

A. Ray, U. Tamrakar, N. Bhujel, D. Hummels, R.H. Byrne, R. Tonkoski “Frequency Security Index-Based State of Health Monitoring of a Microgrid using Energy Storage Systems” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

V.A. O’Brien and R.D. Trevizan “A Comparison of Online Model-Based Anomaly Detection Methods for a Lithium-Ion Battery Cell” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

O. Dutta, A. Dow, J. Mueller, R. Wauneka, and V. de Angelis “A Modular Prototype of Hybrid Storage Technologies for Grid Applications” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM), Ischia, Italy, June 2024.

On June 19, 2024, Victoria O’Brien, an Electrical Engineer in the Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage program,presented the results of the paper entitled “A Comparison of Online Model-Based Anomaly Detection Methods for a Lithium-Ion Battery Cell” at the 2024 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation, and Motion (SPEEDAM), in Ischia, Italy. The paper, authored by Victoria O’Brien and Rodrigo Trevizan, compared the ability of four anomaly detection methods to detect bias anomalies corrupting the voltage sensor of a battery cell. The study found a recursive, statistics-based cumulative sum algorithm to be the most effective anomaly detector due to its detection speed, accuracy, and ability to classify the bias of the anomaly as positive or negative.

Sensor anomaly detection is a critically important issue in battery energy storage system safe operation, as battery management systems equipped with estimation functionalities could be corrupted by sensor anomalies. Improper estimation has been found to cause battery degradation, equipment malfunctions, and thermal events. The research in this paper compared four methods that could be deployed in battery management systems to detect sensor anomalies, which is a critical first step in mitigating the damage from these hazardous events. The researchers found the Cumulative Sum Method to be the best option of the four methods studied to detect anomalies distorting voltage measurements on a Lithium-ion battery cell.

The 27th International SPEEDAM was a large, diverse conference with over 200 attendees originating from more than 30 countries. The paper, “A Comparison of Online Model-Based Anomaly Detection Methods for a Lithium-Ion Battery Cell,” was presented in the special session Advances in Grid Energy Storage Solutions.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Dr. Babu Chalamala, a Senior Scientist for Sandia National Laboratories, was appointed as the founding chair of the TC2: Technical Committee on Grid Interfaces for the IEEE Transportation Electrification Council. Dr. Chalamala’s chairmanship became effective June 18, 2024.

The objective of this committee is to reach across IEEE Societies to foster awareness, communicate about, and coordinate efforts concerning essential interfaces between electric, vehicles (EVs) and the electric power grid. These interfaces include direct and indirect connections for charge/discharge purposes as well as any requisite stationary or mobile support infrastructure.

The IEEE Transportation Electrification Council (TEC) coordinates activities throughout the IEEE in the growing field of electrification across transportation domains, including advances in electric and hybrid cars, more-electric ships and aircraft, rail systems, personal transport, and the motive, storage, power grid, electronic intelligence, and control technologies that make them possible.

Will McNamara, an Energy Storage Policy Analyst Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage program, delivered a presentation at the 2024 TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo on June 18, 2024, in Washington, DC. The focus of Will’s presentation titled “Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Mapping the Pathway to Commercialization” was included in the Energy Storage: LDES Policy, Valuation, and Use Cases symposium facilitated by Sandia’s Dr. Erik Spoerke and Dr. Imre Gyuk of the DOE Office of Electricity.

The presentation highlighted the work that Will leads, focusing on the wide range of challenges facing LDES technologies and addressing these challenges with specific, actionable recommendations to create a pathway toward commercialization for these technologies over the next decade. This is extremely important as decarbonization goals being adopted across the US will not be achievable without large increases in the amount of LDES that is deployed.

This symposium at TechConnect has been running for more than 10 years and has offered a unique venue to connect technology innovators, developers, funding sources, and government. The connections that stem from this meeting offer new opportunities for collaboration and growth, particularly around emerging fields, such as long-duration energy storage.

The 2024 TechConnect World Innovation event includes the annual SBIR/STTR Innovation Conference, AI TechConnect, and the TechConnect Technical Program – more than 35 world-class technical symposium, and the Nanotech Conference Series – the world’s largest and longest running nanotechnology event.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Technology Transitions, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Dr. Erik Spoerke, a former Materials Lead in the Sandia Energy Storage program and now Senior Analytics Advisor with the DOE Office of Electricity (OE),  co-chaired the “Energy Storage: Toward Larger and Longer Duration Storage Deployment” symposium at the 2024 TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo June 17-18, 2024, in Washington D.C. Along with Dr. Imre Gyuk (Chief Scientist in the U.S. DOE Office of Electricity), Dr. Spoerke hosted two days of lively presentations focused on storage technology innovation as well as policy and market factors that affect grid-scale storage deployment.

This symposium at TechConnect has been running for more than 10 years and has offered a unique venue to connect technology innovators, developers, funding sources, and government. The connections that stem from this meeting offer new opportunities for collaboration and growth, particularly around emerging fields, such as long-duration energy storage.

The 2024 TechConnect World Innovation event includes the annual SBIR/STTR Innovation Conference, AI TechConnect, and the TechConnect Technical Program – more than 35 world-class technical symposium, and the Nanotech Conference Series – the world’s largest and longest running nanotechnology event.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Dr. Reed Wittman and Dr. Yuliya Preger presented in the Electrochemical Society’s regular webinar series on June 12, 2024. They presented a summary of the long-term Li-ion cycling work that the safety and reliability team has been conducting since 2017. The talk titled “Degradation of Commercial Lithium-Ion Cells Beyond 80 Percent Capacity” covered the cycling of Li-ion cells down to 80% capacity, the materials characterization done at 80% capacity, and the cycling of the remaining cells to an end of life of 40% capacity. The cycling beyond 80% capacity is notable as most studies to date stop at this value. Cycling beyond this metric in our study allows for better insight into the true useful life of different battery chemistries for applications like grid energy storage or remote/off grid applications.

With the presentation, Drs. Wittman and Preger highlighted the attendees the leading role Sandia plays in long term reliability of grid energy storage to make a more secure and reliable energy system. The webinar had a total attendance of 217 people from across the ECS membership. A recording of the presentation will be made public for people to view at their discretion.

The ECS webinar series is a well-attended event put on by the Electrochemical Society (ECS) which is the largest professional organization for electrochemistry. It has a broad audience capturing students, academics, researchers, and members of industry in its attendance. The speaking slots are invite-only, and our invitation is a recognition of the quality of work the Sandia Energy Storage team does and the presence it has in the community.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Dr. Erik Spoerke, a former Materials Lead in the Sandia Energy Storage program and now Senior Analytics Advisor with the DOE Office of Electricity (OE), gave a keynote presentation, at the 14^th Annual Capture the Energy Conference and Expo sponsored by New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY BEST), held May 14-16, 2024, in Albany, NY. Dr. Spoerke’s presentation titled “Generational Electrical Energy Transformation through the DOE Office of Electricity” provided an overview of how the DOE and the OE are working to develop initiatives and drive technical innovation, technology advancement, and commercial deployment of domestic energy storage.

New York is a state leader in the advance of energy storage demonstration and deployment, and this presentation provided insights to key stakeholders into how state efforts may be connected to larger national initiatives toward energy storage deployment.

The New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium, provides resources and expertise for energy storage-related stakeholders active and growing in New York. Additionally, NY-BEST bills itself as a rapidly growing, industry-led, coalition of corporate, entrepreneurial, academic, and government partners building a vibrant, world-class advanced battery and energy storage sector in New York State.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) is advancing electric grid resilience, reliability, and security with a new high-tech facility at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) in Richland, Wash., where pioneering researchers can test energy storage capabilities in a realistic environment. Today, OE joined PNNL in opening the 93,000 square foot Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), which will revolutionize clean energy innovation through advanced battery research.  

The GSL will support OE’s efforts to develop grid-scale energy storage technology by enabling testing and validation of next-generation materials and systems under realistic grid operating conditions. It will help secure our nation’s leadership role in accelerating, collaborating and educating others on the benefits of energy storage.  

“This new Grid Storage Launchpad is where we will transform the energy storage industry, which is a key to modernizing the U.S. electric grid,” said Dr. Geri Richmond, DOE’s Under Secretary for Science and Innovation. “The scientists and researchers who test everything from smaller prototype batteries to large, grid-scale battery systems will lead us forward into a new world where energy storage is safer, durable, and more affordable. When we bring the smartest minds in the industry and give them the tools to advance energy storage, we move our nation that much closer to a cleaner energy future.”