Czech scientists design a non-flammable 3D Lithium battery for balancing and storing energy from renewable resources.

Record ID: 161867

  • Title: Czech scientists design a non-flammable 3D Lithium battery for balancing and storing energy from renewable resources.
  • Date: 22nd December 2016
  • Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (DECEMBER 19, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** HE3DA DEVELOPMENT BUILDING IN PRAGUE LETNANY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OBSERVING ELECTRIC CARS EXHIBITED IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING POSTER SAYING: H3DA - BATTERY FOR SMART GRID HE3DA TECHNOLOGIES PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER JAN PROCHAZKA PRESENTING THE NEW BATTERIES PRODUCTION LINE PROCHA
  • Embargoed: 6th January 2017 10:15
  • Keywords: Czech battery non-flammable 3D
  • Location: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC & UNKNOWN LOCATION
  • City: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC & UNKNOWN LOCATION
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015DYTV17
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Czech company has designed a non-flammable battery aimed at balancing and storing energy from renewable resources, extending duration and lowering costs.
    HE3DA (High Energy 3D Accumulator) Technologies have been looking into developing the battery for ten years, testing nano materials that could meet their expectations.
    Jan Prochazka, president and co-founder of the company, proudly presented the result this week saying it is almost indestructable.
    A promotional video released by the company shows the battery still working after being run over by a truck, hit with a hammer, drilled and even by shot at by an AK-47 machine gun.
    Engineer Radomir Prus said it is mainly aimed at the energy industry as costs are low and duration is long.
    "Our battery is designed for the energy industry, for the stabilization of the solar sources or wind power plants as well as stabilization of standard classical (electric) networks," he told Reuters at the company's headquarters in Prague.
    "It is excellent because of its safety as it is non-flammable. The production costs are very low compared to classic technologies used today and its lifetime is very high, an estimated 20 years," he added.
    Jan Prochazka, president of the company, has been working on a whole new generation of high-power batteries with unique three-dimensional electrodes.
    This new 3D concept offers high storage capacity, he says, and offers many new benefits when compared to the currently used 2D thin film technology of lithium accumulators.
    "When there is lack of energy from the solar source, the battery equals the difference and sends the energy into the network," he told Reuters.
    "In the opposite situation, the surplus of energy, all the overproduction comes automatically into the battery where it is stored," he added.
    But he proudly showed one of the main advantages of the new battery when he tried to set fire to its new separating layer, which provides isolation between the electrodes and is made of special nano-materials, proving that it is non-flammable.
    Inflammable lithium battery technology is eagerly awaited by more than just the energy industry.
    In September Samsung recalled its flagship Note 7 smartphone after reports of phones igniting. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued recalls for battery packs, snow blowers, hoverboards, flashlights and power recliners in the past year, all because of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
    In 2013, Boeing was forced to ground its entire fleet of advanced 787 jetliners after some lithium-ion batteries caught fire. The fleet was allowed to resume flights after changes were made to the battery and charger, and to better contain battery fires.
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