Product category:
Capacitors
News Release from: Maxwell Technologies | Subject: BMOD2600-48 module
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 06 October 2005
Multi-cell ultra-capacitor is unveiled
Maxwell Technologies has unveiled a compact, 48V multi-cell Boostcap ultra-capacitor module for heavy-duty transportation and industrial energy storage and power delivery applications.
Maxwell Technologies has unveiled a compact, 48V multi-cell Boostcap ultra-capacitor module for heavy-duty transportation and industrial energy storage and power delivery applications Richard Smith, Maxwell's Executive Vice President for Strategic Business Development, says that the new BMOD2600-48 module consists of 18 x 2.7V Boostcap MC2600 cells based on a recently announced technology breakthrough that enables the cells and multi-cell modules to store more energy and deliver more power per unit volume and last longer than any other commercially available ultra-capacitor products
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 14 Mar 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Smith said: "In addition to meeting or exceeding demanding transportation and industrial application requirements for both watt-hours of energy storage and watts of power delivery per kilogram, these products will perform reliably for more than one million discharge-recharge cycles.
"The proprietary material science on which they are based also significantly reduces manufacturing cost, positioning Maxwell to achieve our stated goal of pricing large cell ultra-capacitors at one cent per farad in multi-million-cell annual volumes".
Smith says that the 48V modules are specifically designed to meet end-user requirements for durability and maintenance-free operation, and have undergone several months of testing and evaluation by selected customers, including ISE, a San Diego-based integrator of hybrid-electric drive trains for buses and other heavy vehicles.
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David Mazaika, ISE's President and Chief Executive Officer, said that the beta units' performance met expectations and was consistent with Maxwell's specifications.
"ISE introduced ultra-capacitor-based drive systems to the heavy vehicle market because they deliver longer operational life and higher braking energy recapture efficiency, resulting in lower fuel consumption and emissions compared with battery-based systems", said Mazaika.
"Availability of the technology in a fully integrated standard package allows us to easily configure energy storage systems with varying voltages to meet the power and energy requirements of a wide range of vehicles".
The BMOD2600-48 modules are encased in a rugged, splash-proof, aluminium chassis.
They weigh 13.5kg and are 13.4 litres in volume (420mm L/200mmT/160mm W).
These durable 'smart boxes' include temperature and voltage monitoring and internal cell balancing that give designers 'plug and play' solutions, plus module-to-module balancing that makes them versatile building blocks for systems with higher voltage requirements.
In March, Maxwell won a next-generation ultra-capacitor cell and module development contract from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), an entity formed by DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors and the US Department of Energy (DOE) to strengthen the domestic auto industry's technology base through cooperative research.
Under that contract, Maxwell is eligible to receive more than $3 million in matching funds from DOE through the FreedomCAR initiative that DOE and the big three US car makers established in 2002 to promote new technologies to reduce passenger vehicles' dependence on petroleum.
Smith notes that, as part of the USABC contract, Maxwell's MC2600 cells and 48V modules are undergoing extensive testing against rigorous auto industry standards for energy capacity, pulse power, abuse tolerance, calendar life and cycle life at DOE's Sandia and Idaho national laboratories.
"This independent third-party testing will supplement and validate the performance and reliability data that we have been generating internally and through customer beta testing", said Smith.
"The MC2600 cell and BMOD2600-48 module are major stepping stones to penetrating the transportation and industrial markets by providing the advanced, low-cost, energy storage and power delivery technology that these applications require".
Boostcap ultra-capacitors deliver up to 10 times the power and longevity of batteries, require no maintenance and operate reliably in extreme temperatures.
In transportation applications, they efficiently recapture energy from braking for reuse in hybrid drive trains, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
They also provide compact, lightweight 'life-of-the-vehicle' solutions to stabilise automotive power networks and power new, all-electric subsystems, such as drive-by-wire steering.
In mission critical industrial applications, where back-up power is critical for continued operation or a soft shutdown in the event of power interruptions, they provide reliable, cost-effective, maintenance-free energy storage.
In wind turbine blade pitch and braking systems, and other industrial applications, they provide a simple, solid state, highly reliable, solution to buffer short-term mismatches between the power available and the power required.
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