Co-founder and vice president, Mil Ovan talks about latest developments at the carbon foam battery developer
Open Access Article Originally Published: January 24, 2006
You can sense that Mil Ovan believes the company he helped spin off of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar is on a roll. It's obvious in his voice and in the flurry of email press releases being broadcast out of Peoria, Illinois. And when you've got a battery technology that could be a serious game changer, one that slashes the weight and increases the energy and durability of the most common automotive battery in the world, he probably has a right to be just a tad excited.
First, just as 2005 was closing, the U.S. Patent Office issued Firefly Energy a patent on its carbon foam and graphite foam battery core technology.
Next the company successfully recruited to its board of directors two senior executives from its parent, Caterpillar including its Chief Technology Officer and the head of its OEM Solutions Group.
Then, it was invited to make a presentation to a one-day energy independence conference in Chicago hosted by Senator Richard Durban where Ovan pitched the concept of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids using Firefly batteries.
Finally -- and I had to wait until today before I could post this interview -- the company has just received $2.5 million in funding from the U.S. government to "ruggedize" its battery for military applications.
Phew... and it's still only January.
Okay, to briefly recap, the Firefly battery is a lead-acid-type battery where the solid lead lattices or plates, which are what make the battery so heavy, are replaced by lightweight carbon or graphite foam. This not only reduces the weight by half to two-thirds, but also greatly increases the effective surface area over which the electrochemistry of the battery can take place. According to Ovan this accomplishes two things: the energy density of the battery can be substantially increased, while eliminating sulfurization of the negative plates that prevents the battery from accepting a charge.
"If you're putting now a graphite material in these batteries that material is not corroding and participating in the chemistry like lead metal grids do.
"And second, there is always this quest for more power and capacity in a lead-acid battery," he stated. "Typically what one would do is if you want to put more chemistry in there, you'd need to add more lead grids in there to support that chemistry."
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3 comments so far...
20-Mar-2006
15286
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Well, I've listened to last interview with FireFly and they will market two sorts of batteries:
-carbon foam
-graphite foam
If I undestood it well - the more power surge capable graphite is a high end product for millitary/aerospace/plugin hybrids so they need some more research on them..
The more energy capable carbon foam are announced to hit the stores in Electrolux products in Q3-4 2007. So if there will be a 6-12V 60-200Ah golf cart version that's all we need. Provided that electrolux will be able to sell some spare ones which might be a problem in the first years..
Posted by: Dubious Character
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26-Jan-2006
12441
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Sounds like we could use them in our EVs since we use 6V golfcart batteries now for big Amp hour capacity. I can't wait.
Jim
Posted by: Jim Stack
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25-Dec-2007
59723
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EFFPOWER and ATRAVERDA and Firefly could form a high performance lead battery consortium.
EFFPOWER already has a high performance battery.
Atraverda uses titanium conductors. Both use bipolar plates for a short direct current path.
Firefly can also design such a path.
Posted by: Henry Gibson
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