Everything You Wanted to Know About Lithium Batteries. Well, Almost
Also Solid State Batteries - But Much of the Research is a Closely Guarded Secret
900 tons of lithium batteries slated for recycling go up in toxic smoke
also - hydrogen fuel and fuel cells and their cost compared to gasoline, more cold weather in NY, price of lithium down 90%, Chinese stock market woes, Ford mustang mach-e price reduction, and the amazing beauty of butterfly wings
SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY
David Blackmon’s Energy Absurdities Feb 19 picked up this story from France - “900 tons of Li batteries on fire in France -Lithium batteries, found in electric scooters and vacuum cleaners, [and electric cars, computers, and cell phones] are known to spontaneously combust if they overheat or become damaged. Authorities ordered residents to stay indoors and keep their windows closed as thick smoke billowed over the town. No injuries or deaths were reported and the cause of the fire has yet to be established…It took 70 firefighters to put the fire under control, after which air quality tests were conducted and the lockdown order lifted.” Gas masks would be a good idea…
Why do lithium batteries sometimes catch fire and explode?
From slashgear “The major culprit in Li-ion battery fires is a chemical process known as thermal runaway. In layman's terms, thermal runaway occurs when, for one reason or another, something causes a spark (probably from a short circuit) inside the Li-ion battery's casing, leading to a chain reaction that eventually causes that casing to explode… So why does this happen? A Li-ion battery's casing is airtight, holding electro-conductive gasses and chemicals. If the casing is compromised through physical damage or overheated from improper charging, the gasses are vaporized, and the case expands….If the battery has been subject to regular physical damage or high heat, the likelihood of a fire increases. Ergo, to prevent a fire, be gentle with devices containing Li-ion batteries and only charge them with compatible charging cables. You should also try not to leave devices on charge for longer than necessary, even if they have automatic disconnection features.”
Why are the fumes toxic?
From Nature.com - chemistry 201
“The electrolyte in a lithium-ion battery is flammable and generally contains lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) or other Li-salts containing fluorine. In the event of overheating the electrolyte will evaporate and eventually be vented out from the battery cells. The gases may or may not be ignited immediately. In case the emitted gas is not immediately ignited the risk for a gas explosion at a later stage may be imminent. Li-ion batteries release a various number of toxic substances14,15,16 as well as e.g. CO (an asphyxiant gas) and CO2 (induces anoxia) during heating and fire. At elevated temperature the fluorine content of the electrolyte and, to some extent, other parts of the battery such as the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) binder in the electrodes, may form gases such as hydrogen fluoride HF, phosphorus pentafluoride (PF5) and phosphoryl fluoride (POF3). Compounds containing fluorine can also be present as e.g. flame retardants in electrolyte and/or separator17, in additives and in the electrode materials, e.g. fluorophosphates18,19, adding additional sources of fluorine…Of these PF5 is rather short lived. The toxicity of HF and the derivate hydrofluoric acid is well known22,23,24 while there is no toxicity data available for POF3, which is a reactive intermediate25 that will either react with other organic materials or with water finally generating HF. Judging from its chlorine analogy POCl3/HCl24, POF3 may even be more toxic than HF. The decomposition of fluorine containing compounds is complex and many other toxic fluoride gases might also be emitted in these situations, however, this study focuses on analysis of HF and POF3…The measured HF levels, verified using two independent measurement methods, indicate that HF can pose a serious toxic threat, especially for large Li-ion batteries and in confined environments…The immediate dangerous to life or health (IDLH) level for HF is 0.025 g/m3 (30 ppm)22 and the lethal 10 minutes HF toxicity value (AEGL-3) is 0.0139 g/m3 (170 ppm)23. The release of hydrogen fluoride from a Li-ion battery fire can therefore be a severe risk and an even greater risk in confined or semi-confined spaces..”
Injury and death
From news4jax.com
“This brings our total number of people killed by these batteries, for this year alone, to 17,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said, speaking to reporters during a press conference. Kavanaugh said lithium-ion batteries are like having “ticking time bombs” inside people’s homes.”
Large scale, container size assemblies of lithium batteries for backing up the grid system are not immune either
From firehouse.com , April 2019 “…the explosion occurred at the Arizona Public Service McMicken energy storage facility in Surprise. Large, utility-sized lithium batteries are used on the site for the storage and distribution of solar energy, the newspaper reported.”
A report was published in July 2020, on the cause of the fire and explosion:
“It appears that a single lithium-ion cell developed dendrites, or accretions of material that grew from one electrode to the other, which caused a short circuit. This caused the cell to heat up and catch fire. As that fire spread to neighboring cells, the Novec 1230 clean agent fire suppressant* proved incapable of stopping such a powerful conflagration.Dendrites are a well-known failure mode for batteries, but it was unexpected that they would appear on a battery that had only operated for about two years.”
imagine
David Gerardot passed this on in a substack comment – I don’t know who the original author was:
“Imagine for a minute that we all drove nothing but electric vehicles (EV). Imagine that a new technology arose, the internal combustion engine, that was half the weight, driving range was 6-10 times greater, it took 1/10th the time to refuel, used as fuel a commodity that was readily available in vast quantities in this county and easily produced. And it did not depend on special rare metals that came from horribly destructive mining and existed in a country hostile to America. It would be a revelation and sell like hot cakes and save America from untold misery and expense."
Solid state batteries are still in the future, IF they become economically feasible
From energy newsbeat Feb 20 – “Toyota’s hybrid vehicles and investment in solid-state batteries pose a significant challenge to Tesla’s market dominance in electric vehicles.”
Toyota announced on June 13, 2023 (Notice that it’s still future) -“The next-generation battery EVs will adopt new batteries, through which we are determined to become a world leader in battery EV energy consumption… Toyota says it has found a technological breakthrough that will allow it to bring solid state batteries to market as early as 2027…
It's one of several advanced battery technologies that will underscore the brand's new EV focus as it pivots away from its former CEO's hybrid-centric strategy… This pivot is a mistake, in my opinion – the Toyota hybrid has been a great success, and unlike fully electric vehicles, no one has gotten stranded when the battery goes dead. - see earlier post on hybrids
Solid state batteries promise greater energy density, higher electric range, and faster charging that puts refueling time on-par with a gas-powered vehicle. Scientists, researchers, and automakers have spent decades trying to crack the code on their commercialization, but so far no EVs have them…Promises, promises- we’ll have to wait and see
As of March 2023, we have shifted more than half of our R&D staff and approximately half of our R&D expenses to Advanced Development fields while increasing the total amount. We will further accelerate this trend in the future…The hydrogen markets in Europe, China, and North America will be by far the largest in 2030, and the fuel cell market is expected to expand rapidly toward that point, reaching the level of 5 trillion yen per year…”
Two kinds of hydrogen vehicles
This mention (above) of Toyota’s commitment to hydrogen needs a little explanation.
There is hydrogen fuel, and there are hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel is compressed similarly to liquid natural gas, then burned directly as a fuel in a pressure-controlled release.
The hydrogen fuel cells are similar to batteries – they produce electrical energy. They too need to be supplied with hydrogen. Both methods are in use, but expensive. Both also have the disadvantage of an underdeveloped infrastructure of support.
Update - Tracednews.com reported on 2/18/24: “Toyota has put $14 billion into battery technology research.” That’s not even counting hydrogen research. I guess they’re not satisfied with having about 50% of the hybrid market in the US..
Nuclear good news, because we need more nuclear power generation
Energy newsbeat Feb 18 “For the first time in 50 years, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a construction permit for a new type of nuclear test reactor. The Hermes demonstration reactor will be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, by California-based company Kairos Power and will use molten fluoride salt instead of water as a coolant, according to Chemistry World. This change will allow the reactor to operate at a much lower pressure, making it safer and more flexible. Molten salt’s got similar liquid properties to water, you can pump it, it’ll flow through pipes, it has really good heat capacity … salt is cheap, it’s very stable, it’s not toxic,” Nicholas Smith, deputy director of the National Reactor Innovation Center, explained to Chemistry World.”
more cold weather in NY - doesn’t seem to fit the ‘climate’ narrative
Last week - New York City saw 3.2 inches of snow—deploying snow plows for the first time in two years in a city that saw just 2.3 inches total last winter. I’m originally from upstate NY. As I remember, it was always unusual for NY City to get more than 3” of snow. After all, they’re at sea level.
FINANCE and INVESTING
price of lithium down 90%
Remember when everyone was worried there wouldn’t be enough lithium for EV batteries? So lithium mines geared up production in hopes of profiting on the EV boom. Well, the boom isn’t happening, EV sales are slowing, and now the market is flooded with lithium. Here’s energy newsbeat’s recap from a Wall Street Journal article:
“Over the last few years, global mineral producers have ramped up mining operations in an attempt to capitalize on the emerging EV market, but consumers have declined to adopt EVs at the rate producers were expecting, leading to rare minerals flooding the market and driving down prices, according to the WSJ…The price of lithium is down around 90% since the beginning of last year, and the price of nickel has been cut in half in that same time frame, according to the WSJ. A mine on the French Pacific island of New Caledonia recently suspended operations, despite providing more than 6% of the world’s nickel supply.”
Also, big lithium refiner company Albemarle is cutting back on it’s mining and processing project in North Carolina due to the slow EV sales and collapse of the price of the metal. The company doesn’t expect the lithium price to improve any time soon.
chinese stock market down
from energy newsbeat - “The long-running collapse of Chinese stocks has wiped out trillions of investment dollars and delivered another blow to an economy beset by property crisis, slow growth, and deflation, and has added uncertainty about Beijing’s very support for money-making. It may be the last straw for foreign institutional investors who once saw China as an essential destination.”
ford mustang mach-e
1440 Daily Digest - “Ford Motor Co. slashes price of 2023 Mustang Mach-E by up to $8,100; company reports US sales fell 51% in January after the Mach-E became ineligible for a federal tax credit”
FAITH and CHRISTIANITY
design and beauty
There are always overlaps of science and faith. This video is considered a scientific investigation of a butterfly wing, but it is also an evidence of the Great Designer.
Great compilation and technology updates, keep em rollin
Is a hybrid heavier than a purely gas powered vehicle? And … haha anchorage is at sea level too but it gets plenty of snow! 😂😉