Sandia Researcher Recognized for Electrification Work with Tribal Communities

Sandia National Laboratories Senior Scientist Stan Atcitty has been honored with the A.P. Seethapathy Rural Electrification Excellence Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for his leadership and innovation in the rural electrification of U.S. tribal nations.

The IEEE, one of the world’s largest technical professional organizations, established the Seethapathy Rural Electrification Award in 2008. The award recognizes exceptional power engineers who have innovated or implemented cost-effective electrification technologies for the rural sector. It is among 24 national awards of the IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Atcitty, a member of the Navajo Nation, leads the power electronics subprogram as part of the Department of Energy Office of Electricity’s Energy Storage Program. He also leads the Tribal Energy Storage Program and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program, conducting outreach with tribal colleges and universities.

Sandian Will McNamara Discusses Importance of Long-Duration Energy Storage

Will McNamara, Energy Storage Policy Analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, delivered a presentation to the Energy Storage Working Group of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. The presentation was focused on Sandia’s current work related to long-duration energy storage (LDES), specifically its role as the Lead Lab in the DOE-funded LDES National Consortium project, a three-year initiative that commenced in January. Will’s presentation covered the following: 1) decarbonization and the role of energy storage; 2) the need for new storage technologies, beyond four-hour lithium-ion batteries; 3) LDES technologies and applications; 4) commercialization challenges & recommendations facing LDES technologies; and 5) an introduction to the LDES National Consortium with an invitation for SEPA members to join as Teaming Partners.

SEPA is a nonprofit organization that envisions a carbon-free energy system that is safe, affordable, reliable, resilient and equitable. Its mission is to accelerate the electric power industry’s transformation to a modern energy future through education, research, standards, and collaboration. SEPA has over 1,000 members (including 700+ utilities) who continuously rely on us to make smart clean and modern energy choices. Thus, Will’s presentation to this Energy Storage Working Group within SEPA promoted the work of Sandia and the LDES National Consortium to a broad audience of significant stakeholders in the industry.

The presentation highlighted the work that Will is leading that is focuses on addressing 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. Will characterized addressing these challenges as 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 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.

Sandia Partnership Speeds up Development of Flow Batteries for Green Grid, Water

Drs. Leo Small and Melissa Meyerson, researchers with the Sandia Energy Storage program, collaborated with Albuquerque entrepreneur Charles Call to help bring Office of Electricity-funded research from the lab to local businesses. This collaboration was facilitated by the DOE Office of Technology Transitions Boost program.

This partnership aims to get big, safe, stationary lithium-sulfur flow batteries to market faster. As part of the collaborative research project, the team developed a new design for the lithium metal anode, allowing the battery to recharge faster. The team also wants to increase the battery’s capacity to store energy by increasing the amount of lithium or sulfur it contains.

Charles Call is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Offgrid LLC, Dba GridFlow, a startup manufacturing company that intends to build “water boxes” or technological units that would use solar energy to produce water from air.

Read the full story at https://newsreleases.sandia.gov/boosting_batteries/.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division. Additionally, the collaboration between Sandia and GridFlow was supported by DOE Boost, funded by DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund, and administered by the Office of Technology Transitions.

Melissa Meyerson works to set up a lithium-sulfur flow battery in a glovebox at Sandia National Laboratories. A partnership between tat Sandia National Laboratories and local entrepreneurs, facilitated by the Department of Energy’s Boost program, aims to get big, safe, stationary  batteries to market faster. Photo by Craig Fritz
Melissa Meyerson works to set up a lithium-sulfur flow battery in a glovebox at Sandia National Laboratories. A partnership between tat Sandia National Laboratories and local entrepreneurs, facilitated by the Department of Energy’s Boost program, aims to get big, safe, stationary batteries to market faster. Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandian David Rosewater Talks Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries

On June 5, 2024, David Rosewater, a grid energy storage researcher in the Sandia Energy Storage program, was an invited speaker during the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) webinar on Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries. Dr. Rosewater’s presented to the international audience on his recently published research to improve battery electrical safety in the workplace. The webinar was hosted by IEEE IAS’s Industry Segment Development subcommittee.

David’s talk contained three main components. It:

  1. Explored the modifications required to develop a battery hazardous energy control procedure that can protect workers and avoid accidents.
  2. Covered several physical properties and engineering controls common in battery systems that affect the battery risk assessment required by NFPA 70E.
  3. Presented a list of changes proposed to electrical safety practices, including those outlined in NFPA 70E, that clarify how to control hazardous energy in batteries, helping to avoid future misapplication of power distribution circuit electrical safety practices to batteries.

According to David, electrical safety guidance in NFPA 70E for work on batteries can be substantially improved. This work is critical to keeping a new generation of battery technicians safe as they install and maintain the energy storage systems that will be needed for the clean energy transition.

Read the original research paper at: D.M. Rosewater “Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 2732-2741, March-April 2024, DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2023.3332828.

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

Reducing Risk and Keeping Battery Workers Safe

Led by Sandia grid energy storage researcher David Rosewater, the Energy Facilities Contractors Group (EFCOG) and the IEEE Energy Storage and Stationary Battery (ESSB) committee collaborated to submit public comments for the next edition of NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. These public inputs, submitted on June 4, 2024, represent the culmination of more than two years of research and consensus work.

As batteries have fallen in cost they are more commonly installed in cars, homes, business, and utility applications by a new workforce of battery technicians. This new workforce needs specific guidance for how to safely assemble, maintain, repair, and disassemble battery systems. The proposed changes will help keep battery workers safe by effectively controlling the electrical hazard.

Building on Dr. Rosewater’s DOE-funded research, these groups worked to improve specific procedures for establishing a lower risk working condition in batteries. These processes, similar to lock-out/tag-out in facility electrical systems, reduce the risk of electrical accidents by sectionalizing a battery into lower voltage, lower energy strings.

EFCOG is an organization of electrical safety professionals at Department of Energy National Labs while the ESSB committee is comprised of stationary battery and energy storage industry professionals.

For more information and purchasing options on the Standard, visit NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace.

D M. Rosewater “Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 2732-2741, March-April 2024, DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2023.3332828.

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

Sandian Ramesh Koripella Discusses Sandia Partnership with the California Energy Commission

Ramesh Koripella, a Materials Scientist in the Sandia Energy Storage program, spoke at the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) 2024 Members Meeting on June 4, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Koripella’s presentation titled “Non-Lithium Energy Storage Demonstration Projects in California” was a part of the Non-Lithium and Longer-Duration Technologies breakout session.

Ramesh discussed the percent of renewables, energy storage, and the mix of various power generation sources in California. With a growing number of renewables on the grid, there is an increased need for energy storage and suitable long duration energy storage technologies such as flow batteries, metal air batteries, mechanical and thermal storage technologies. The state of California is addressing these needs through California Energy Commission (CEC)-funded demonstration projects with Zn-Br, Fe flow, vanadium redox flow, Fe-air, and Zn-air batteries.

CESA is a nonprofit organization promoting clean energy transition in states and its members include various state utilities and regulatory authorities. Many of these members may not necessarily be familiar with new long duration energy storage technologies and what the CEC is doing in this space. So this presentation offered the opportunity to follow CEC’s lead and incorporate long duration into their electric grid planning.

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

Sandian Oindrilla Dutta Presents on Battery Management System (BMS) Testing

Dr. Oindrilla Dutta, an R&D Scientist and Engineer in the Sandia Energy Storage program, served as panelist in a webinar organized by OPAL-RT Technologies on May 16, 2024. The webinar was titled “The Importance of Battery Management System (BMS) Testing Today: From EVs to Grid Storage.” Dr. Dutta’s area of focus was BMS for Grid Storage, the current market trends, future requirements, and ways to achieve those.

BMSs are a key component in efficient operation of batteries while maintaining their health and safety, Dr. Dutta explained. With the increasing need for electrification from EVs to grid, the safety and efficiency of battery technologies is crucial for attaining climate goals worldwide. Hence, testing of BMSs is crucial for facilitating electrification of critical infrastructure. The presentation covered importance of developing both hardware and hardware-in-the-loop platforms to accommodate real battery testing as well as in emulation environment. It also elaborated on the additional functionalities that need to be added in future BMSs to accommodate non-Lithium chemistries.

The organizer of this webinar, OPAL-RT, is a world leader in the development of PC/FPGA-based real-time simulation solutions, HIL testing equipment, and RCP systems. This webinar was attended by 240 professionals from various industries (aerospace, automotive, energy conversion, marine, railway, off-highway, and power system).

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

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PNNL Hosts 2024 Energy Storage Safety & Reliability Forum

Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) hosted the 2024 Energy Storage Safety & Reliability Forum on May 14-16 at Discovery Hall on the PNNL campus. The event provided about 200 guests the opportunity to learn about the latest developments, share lessons learned and best practices, and discuss the ongoing challenged of ensuring energy storage systems are safe and reliable.

The three-day agenda featured engaging speakers from three continents comprised of energy storage technology developers, emergency responders, code officials, utilities, integrators, standards developers, international research institutions, and numerous experts from PNNL and Sandia National Laboratories.

In addition to the speakers, guests were treated to a full day of touring PNNL’s exceptional facilities including their Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center (EIOC), Energy Science Center, B-Reactor, and the new $75 million Grid Storage launchpad (GSL). The GSL’s goal is to accelerate the development and deployment of next generations grid storage technologies through systematic and independent validation.

See the full agenda and access the conference presentations.

Relive the highlights through the event pictures.

Questions? Contact:

Matt Paiss, Advisor, Battery Development & Reliability,
(509) 371-7770, matthew.paiss@pnnl.gov

Jaime Kolln, Senior Power Systems Engineer,
(971) 940-7108, jaime.kolln@pnnl.gov

Graduate Student at CCNY Defends Ph.D. Dissertation

On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Jungsang Cho, a graduate student at the City College of New York (CCNY), under the tutelage of Professor Sanjoy Banerjee, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation titled “Understanding the Application of Hydrogel Electrolytes for Rechargeable Alkaline Zinc-Manganese Dioxide Batteries.” Cho’s thesis work was the result of a collaborative effort with Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy Storage Program, specifically a project on Advanced Zn Batteries (PI: Sandian Timothy N. Lambert). The goal of this research is to advance Zn-based batteries for grid and long duration energy storage applications.

Zinc (Zn)–manganese dioxide (MnO2) rechargeable batteries have high specific theoretical capacity, are environmentally friendly, intrinsically safe, and low-cost. Liquid electrolytes, such as potassium hydroxide, are historically used in these batteries; however, many failure mechanisms of the Zn–MnO2 battery chemistry result from the use of liquid electrolytes, including the formation of electrochemically inert phases on the MnO2 cathodes and shape change of the Zn anode.

This thesis details the development and use of polymer gel electrolytes to mitigate many of the failure mechanisms for Zn-MnO2. Improved Zn-MnO2 cells are demonstrated for both the 1-electron and 2-electron regimes for MnO2, whereby cells utilizing the gel electrolyte showed higher capacity retention compared to the tests with the liquid electrolyte. Improved cell safety was also achieved as the hydrogels are ‘non-spillable’, according to standards from the US Department of Transportation.

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

J. Cho, G.G. Yadav, M. Weiner, J. Huang, A. Upreti, X. Wei, R. Yakobov, B. Hawkins, M. Nyce, T.N. Lambert, D.J. Arnot, N.S. Bell, N.B. Schorr, D. Turney, G. Cowles, S. Banerjee “Hydroxyl Conducting Hydrogels Enable Low-Maintenance Commercially Sized Rechargeable Zn-MnO2 Batteries for Use in Solar Microgrids” Polymer 2022, 14 (3), 417. DOI: 10.3390/polym140304417.

J. Cho, D.E. Turney, G.G. Yadav, M. Nyce, B.R. Waygant, T.N. Lambert, S. Banerjee “Use of Hydrogel Electrolyte in Zn-MnO2 Rechargeable Batteries: Characterization of Safety, Performance, and Cu2+ Ion Diffusion” Polymer 2024, 16(5), 658, https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16050658.

G. G. Yadav, M. Sammy, J. Cho, M. Booth, M. Nyce, J. Huang, T. N. Lambert, D. Turney, X. Wei, S. Banerjee “A Report on the Performance of Low Cost and Highly Energy Dense Hybrid Zinc|Manganese Dioxide-Copper Scaled-Cells” Batteries 2024 manuscript under review.

Sandia’s David Rosewater Presents on Modernizing Battery Worker Safety Standards

As batteries have fallen in cost they are more commonly installed in cars, homes, business, and utility applications by a new workforce of battery technicians. This new workforce needs specific guidance for how to safely assemble, maintain, repair, and disassemble battery systems. As part of his efforts to modernize battery worker safety standards, David Rosewater, grid energy storage researcher at the Sandia National Laboratories, was an invited speaker for the DOE’s Worker Safety and Health Policy Webex Series on May 8, 2024. His recently published paper, “Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries,” codifies best practices in battery hazard analysis and work planning controls. The Worker Safety and Health Policy Webex webinar had over two hundred attendees and served to spread analysis methods and work procedures that will prevent accidents and keep workers safe.

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

D. M. Rosewater, “Reducing Risk When Performing Energized Work on Batteries,” in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 2732-2741, March-April 2024, DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2023.3332828.