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　　Research on breakthrough energy storage cost method aims to reach $0.05 per kilowatt-hour

　　To reduce the cost of long-duration energy storage to $0.05/kWh, the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is funding 10 research teams pursuing flow batteries, hydrogen energy storage and other technologies. breakthrough.

　　Each team has its own research project, and the team uses federal government grants to achieve a certain level of research progress.

　　According to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy's (ARPA-E) DAYS project, the ultimate goal is to achieve energy storage that costs $0.05 per kilowatt-hour and can last for several days.

　　Below are highlights from these 10 projects, which span corporate, university and other teams.

　　Sulfur flow battery

　　Flow batteries use electric current to generate electrolyte, which can be stored separately from the battery. The electrolyte flows through the battery to generate electricity. Therefore, long-duration energy storage using flow batteries only requires larger storage capacity.

　　Form Energy is researching this type of sulfur flow battery. The company's goal is to achieve full-week backup power with sulfur flow batteries that are 10 times or more cheaper than lithium-ion batteries. Aqueous sulfur flow batteries are the lowest chemically among rechargeable batteries, but they are also less efficient. To increase efficiency, the company is working on anode and cathode formulations, separators and physical system design.

　　The company has a project focused on sulfur-manganese flow batteries, in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MIT and Pennsylvania State University.

　　electrolytic hydrogen

　　A research team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is working to improve the efficiency of the round-trip process that converts electricity into hydrogen and back into electricity. The team's current approach uses electricity to power an electrolyser that converts water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is then used in a fuel cell to generate electricity and water.

　　"It has always been our goal to create a renewable fuel cell, a single device that combines the functions of a fuel cell and an electrolyte," said Dr. Thomas, the team's lead researcher. But previously, the overall efficiency of these devices was low, so this new project took a different approach, bypassing the efficiency bottleneck by changing a chemical reaction in the cells.

　　The research team will develop a reversible fuel cell that converts hydrogen and oxygen into liquid hydrogen peroxide instead of water. First, electricity is used to power a reversible fuel cell, which converts hydrogen peroxide into hydrogen and oxygen and then stores it, repeating the cycle. The benefit of using hydrogen peroxide instead of water is higher efficiency in the charge and discharge system.

　　Zinc bromine flow battery

　　Primus Power, which makes zinc bromide flow batteries, received a $4 million grant from the California Energy Commission to add power to its 25 kW, 5-hour EnergyPod 2 system.

　　Under the ARPA-E grant, Primus Power will work with the Columbia Center for Electrochemical Energy to exploit the way zinc and bromine behave in batteries, eliminating the need for separators to separate the charged reactants. The new configuration is expected to allow all electrolyte to be stored in a single tank instead of multiple cells, reducing system costs.

　　Thermovoltaic power generation

　　Antora Energy will use electricity to drive resistive heaters to heat the carbon blocks to more than 2,000°C. The carbon blocks will be exposed to thermovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Antora develops a thermovoltaic electric heater that doubles the panel's efficiency through new materials and smart system design.

　　Magnesium manganese oxide power generation

　　A research team based at Michigan State University will develop a modular system that heats magnesium manganese oxide (Mg-Mn-O) particles to a temperature high enough to release oxygen. To generate electricity, the system passes air through particles (now Mg-Mn), triggering a chemical reaction that releases heat to drive a gas turbine generator.

　　Thermal energy storage power generation

　　Here, three projects aim to improve the efficiency of storing electrical energy in the form of heat and then using that heat to drive turbine generators.

　　The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines are collaborating to develop a system that uses electricity to drive a high-performance heat exchanger that will heat inexpensive solid particles to more than 1,100 degrees Celsius. The pellets are stored in insulated silos for up to several days. When power is needed, the hot particles pass through a fluidized bed heat exchanger, heating the working fluid that drives a Brayton Energy combined cycle turbine attached to a generator.

　　Brayton Energy will develop cost-competitive thermal energy storage systems and innovative turbines. Each of the turbomachinery stages is designed to act as both a compressor and a turbine, alternating between charge and discharge cycles. By simplifying the system, this approach promises to increase efficiency and reduce capital costs.

　　To generate electricity, electricity would be used to heat low-cost materials such as sand or concrete. The resulting heat would then be used to heat liquid carbon dioxide, first to supercritical pressure. The heated supercritical carbon dioxide would be expanded through a turbine to generate electricity.

　　Pressurized groundwater to generate electricity

　　Quidnet Energy is developing a method of pumping water into underground pressure-bearing rocks to create high pressure. Through ARPA-E funding, Quidnet can demonstrate the ability to harness high-pressure water underground to generate electricity and find ways to make this accessible to multiple regions across the United States.

　　Of the 10 projects mentioned above, 5 will be completed in 2021 and the other 5 in 2022. Each team must estimate a complete system cost and reference ARPA-E's long-term energy storage goal of $0.05/kWh.

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