The Convection Battery

Supported by an NSF SBIR Phase 1 grant (2015)

Novelty

US Patent 8,911,893 entitled "Convection Battery Configuration" was granted in October, 2014, and preserves a strong and broad base of patent protection. 

Efficient Heat Transfer

Heat transfer is a major issue for fast-charging batteries.  To recharge 100 miles of battery in 10 minutes translates to the need of heat removal equivalent to at least twice that of a typical car engine radiator.  Heat removal with the Convection Battery is efficient and cheap, only requiring the already-flowing electrolyte to pass through a radiator.

Overcoming Mass Transfer Limits

The first observed advantage of the Convection Battery was improved efficiency due to elimination of diffusion mass transfer resistance in the separators.  This advantage allows for use of thicker electrodes which reduces battery costs.

The convection battery pumps a liquid electrolyte from electrodes to counter-electrodes through flow-permeable separators as illustrated by the image to the left.

Elimination of Dendrites

Lithium-dendrite modes of battery short circuit are a major safety concern and limit both charge rates and upper end energy (and power) densities of batteries.  The flow of electrolyte in a Convection Battery eliminates the driving force for dendrite crystal formation.  It is a unique and total solution to this major barrier of other lithium batteries.  

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Performance of Convection Battery