Sodium-sulfur battery

A sodium-sulfur battery is a type of battery constructed from sodium (Na) and sulfur (S). This type of battery has a high energy density, high efficiency of charge/discharge (89—92%) and long cycle life, and is fabricated from inexpensive materials. Because, however, of the operating temperatures of 300 to 350 °C and the highly corrosive nature of the sodium polysulfides, such cells are primarily suitable for large-scale non-mobile applications such as grid energy storage.

Construction

The cell is usually made in a tall cylindrical configuration. The entire cell is enclosed by a steel casing that is protected, usually by chromium and molybdenum, from corrosion on the inside. This outside container serves as the positive electrode, while the liquid sodium serves as the negative electrode. The container is sealed at the top with an airtight alumina lid. An essential part of the cell is the presence of a BASE (beta-alumina sodium ion exchange) membrane, which selectively conducts Na⁺. The cell becomes more economical with increasing size. In commercial applications the cells are arranged in blocks for better conservation of heat and are encased in a vacuum-insulated box.

Operation

During the discharge phase, molten elemental sodium at the core serves as the anode, meaning that the Na donates electrons to the external circuit. The sodium is separated by a beta-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE) cylinder from the container of sulfur, which is fabricated from an inert metal serving as the cathode. The sulfur is absorbed in a carbon sponge. BASE is a good conductor of sodium ions, but a poor conductor of electrons, so avoids self-discharge. When sodium gives off an electron, the Na⁺ ion migrates to the sulfur container. The electron drives an electric current through the molten sodium to the contact, through the electrical load and back to the sulfur container. Here, another electron reacts with sulfur to form S_n²⁻, sodium polysulfide. The discharge process can be represented as follows::2 Na + 4 S → Na₂S₄ E_cell ~ 2 VAs the cell discharges, the sodium level drops. During the charging phase the reverse process takes place. Once running, the heat produced by charging and discharging cycles is sufficient to maintain operating temperatures and usually no external source is required. [Taku Oshima, Masaharu Kajita, Akiyasu Okuno "Development of Sodium-Sulfur Batteries" International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology Volume 1, Pages 269-276, 2004. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7402.2004.tb00179.x]

afety aspects

Pure sodium presents a hazard because it spontaneously burns/explodes in contact with water, thus the system must be protected from moisture. In modern NaS cells, sealing techniques make fires unlikely.

NaS Battery Development in Japan

NaS Battery was one of the 4 types of batteries selected as candidates for intensive research by MITI as part of the "Moonlight Project" in 1980. This project sought to develop a durable utility power storage device meeting the criteria shown below in a 10-year project. 1. 1,000kW class 2. 8 hour charging / 8 hour discharge at rated load 3. Efficiency of 70% or better 4. Lifetime of 1,500 cycles or betterThe other 3 types of batteries were; improved lead-acid, Redox flow (Vanadium type), and Zinc Bromide batteries.

TEPCO(Tokyo Electric Power Co.)/NGK(NGK Insulators Ltd.) consortium declared their interest in researching the NaS battery in 1983, and have become the primary drivers behind the development of this type ever since. TEPCO chose the NAS battery because all its component elements (Sodium, Sulphur, Ceramics) can be abundantly found in Japan.First large-scale prototype field testing took place at TEPCO's Tsunashima substation between 1993 and 1996, using 3 x 2MW, 6.6kV battery banks. Based on the findings from this trial, improved battery modules were developed and were made commercially available in 2000. The performance of the commercial NAS battery bank is as follows: 1. Capacity : 25 - 250 kW per bank 2. Efficiency of 87% 3. Lifetime of 2,500 cycles (at 100% DOD - depth of discharge), or 4,500 cycles (at 80% DOD) [http://www.ulvac-uc.co.jp/prm/prm_arc/049pdf/ulvac049-02.pdf] (Source in Japanese)

There is currently a demonstration project using NGK Insulators’ NAS battery at Japan Wind Development Co.’s Miura Wind Park in Japan. [ [http://www.japanfs.org/db/1843-e Japan for Sustainability - Japanese Companies Test System to Stabilize Output from Wind Power ] ]

Japan Wind Development has opened a 51 MW wind farm that incorporates a 34 MW sodium sulfur battery system at Futamata in Aomori Prefecture in May 2008. [http://www.jwd.co.jp/around/images/ph24.html]

There are already 165MW of installed capacity base in Japan alone as of 2007, and NGK has just announced plan to expand its NAS factory output from 90MW a year to 150MW a year. [http://www.ngk.co.jp/news/2008/0728.html] (Source in Japanese, but with some pictures)

Xcel Energy has announced that it will be testing a wind farm energy storage battery based on 20-50kW sodium-sulfur batteries from NGK Insulators Ltd of Japan. The 80 tonne, 2 semi-trailer sized battery is expected to have 7.2MW hours of capacity at a charge and discharge rate of 1MW. [ [http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2211044/xcel-energy-trial-wind-power Xcel Energy to trial wind power storage system - 04 Mar 2008 - BusinessGreen ] ]

Applications

The first large-scale use of sodium-sulfur batteries was in the Ford "Ecostar" demonstration vehicle [ [http://www.greencar.com/features/features21/ Ford Ecostar EV, Ron Cogan] ] , an electric vehicle prototype that was demonstrated in 1991. The high temperature of sodium sulfur batteries presented some difficulties for electric vehicle use, however, and with the development of other battery types better suited to automotive use, the Ecostar never went into production.

Sodium sulfur batteries are a possible energy storage application to support renewable energy plants, specifically wind farms and solar generation plants. In the case of a wind farm, the battery would store energy during times of high wind but low power demand. This stored energy could then be discharged from the batteries during peak load periods. In addition to this power shifting, it is likely that sodium sulfur batteries could be used throughout the day to assist in stabilizing the power output of the wind farm during wind fluctuations. These types of batteries present an option for energy storage in locations where other storage options are not feasible due to location or terrain constraints. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity facilities require a lot of space and a significant water resource. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) requires some type of geologic feature for storage. [ [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun06/3544 IEEE Spectrum: Taking Wind Mainstream ] ]

pace Applications

Because of its high energy density, the NaS battery has been proposed for space applications [A. A. Koenig and J. R. Rasmussen, "Development of a High Specific Power Sodium Sulfur Cell," IEEE 1990 available at [http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/511/3906/00145783.pdf IEEE Explore] website] [William Auxer, "The PB sodium sulfur cell for satellite battery applications," International Power Sources Symposium, 32nd, Cherry Hill, NJ, June 9-12, 1986, Proceedings Volume A88-16601 04-44 (Pennington, NJ, Electrochemical Society, Inc., 1986, p. 49-54).] . Sodium sulfur cells can be made space-qualified; in fact a test sodium sulfur cell was flown on the Space Shuttle to demonstrate operation in space. The sodium sulfur flight experiment demonstrated a battery with a specific energy of 150 Wh/kg (3 x nickel hydrogen battery energy density), operating at 350 °C. It was launched on the STS-87 mission in November 1997, and demonstrated 10 days of experiment operation in orbit [NRL NaSBE Experiment, 1997 , see [http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/battery.html NRL page] ] .

ee also

*Molten salt battery

References

External links

http://www.aep.com/newsroom/newsreleases/default.asp?dbcommand=displayrelease&ID=956First US Utility application at American Electric Power