Enqin Gao is R&D director at Hammond Group spearheading the international firm’s research into cutting edge additives and oxide. Batteries International interviewed him at the Asian Battery Conference last week.
What are your impressions of ABC?
I’m impressed. There’s a huge selection of firms attending the conference and I’m looking forward to hearing some more interesting papers. I’m hoping too that people will also have been interested too in my paper where I show how it is possible to increase negative charge acceptance and reduce water loss at the same time.
Your research is focused on improving lead battery performance, do you believe that it is possible to raise this to the same levels as other battery chemistries?
In simple words. Yes. Two reasons. The first is the need to realise that much of the many claims being made about alternative chemistries may not be lies but they are half-truths. The second is just to look at the LCOS of lead versus other technologies — it’s also all to do with affordability.
So, for example, many proponents of, say, flow batteries talk about the long life of the battery and its ability to achieve extended cycling. They are right in that the electrolyte being pumped through charge and discharge can be used endlessly. But they will often miss out facts such as the need to replace graphite bricks inside them every three to four years, or the wear and tear on machinery through constant use.
And, as to the point about the electrolyte being able to pumped endlessly, doesn’t that rather remind you of the fact that the lead in lead batteries can also be used endlessly.
What about lithium in that case?
Many of the claims about the extended cycle life of lithium batteries omit to mention that when we are talking about energy storage, lithium batteries may only need to be charged and discharged a couple of times per day and their calendar life still need to be proved.
Also, what is less noised about in the lithium side of things is that battery deterioration occurs over time as does battery safety. The longer they are used, the more dangerous they become.
Internal processes such as the growth of dendrites — and the super thin separator in between — increase the chance of a short and all the dangers that may entail. The constant shrinking and expansion of the cells is also another vulnerability lithium batteries are susceptible to again a potential danger threat.
Presumably too you also expect lead batteries to improve further?
Yes. Much further. If you look at the targets the CBI set in 2019, such as a cycle life of 5000 and DoD of 80% then you see how much we’ve achieved in just a few short years.
