Batteries open the door to hybrid systems
ESTechnologies’ lithium polymer batteries for onboard energy storage
Dutch company ESTechnologies has introduced what it says are the first marine lithium-polymer batteries with Lloyd’s Certificate. The battery range is designed and certified for marine applications and large energy storage systems.
Lithium polymer batteries are claimed to be cost effective and environmentally friendly. They are said to be particularly suited to onboard energy storage, leading to optimised power management, reduced fuel costs and lower CO2 emissions.
The special properties of lithium polymer cells allow energy to be stored more efficiently, due to the chemical composition of the battery, using non corrosive chemicals, which guarantees long lifetime and little wear, while the polymer technology allows very high efficiency and low impedance. These features combine to offer a long lifetime, typically involving over 5,000 charge / discharge cycles.
ESTechnologies has developed 51.8 VDC battery blocks with a capacity of 100Ah or 200Ah, comprising 14 large single cells instead of the more common hundreds of small cells.
Alongside the battery range, ESTechnologies has designed a battery management system with constantly active balancing. This balances energy between cells within one battery unit, or between cells of different battery units connected in one system, with minimal losses. Each module uses its own active balancing and monitoring board. If there is an imbalance in the system, part of the energy will be transported from the highest cell to the lowest cell.
The company says that the required voltage may be realised by connecting batteries in series, while the required power can be obtained by connection battery series in parallel. Safety is a high priority; the housing and connectors are fully protected and have IP65 rating. The batteries are claimed to be maintenance-free, to have a charge and discharge efficiency of more than 95%, and to be configurable for megawatt applications
The latest development is a 12% reduction in battery weight, thanks to a new lightweight cell design and inproved mounting frames.
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