Ultra Long-Life Aurora Zinc-Air Battery Unveiled

US firm Eos Energy Storage has unveiled a zinc-air battery design with a projected lifespan of no less than 30 years.

Known as the Aurora, the technology's soon to be available to order and, according to its developers, it has applications within many fields. These include electric vehicles, utility power storage and the armed forces, along with ‘major industrial and commercial enterprises.'

The Aurora zinc-air battery's components resemble those of conventional alkaline batteries except in place of the standard manganese dioxide content, there's a thin-air electrode. The battery uses ambient air for cathode reactant purposes and, according to Eos Energy Storage, this is both a cost and a space-saving measure, with a higher achievable capacity-to-volume ratio compared to standard batteries.

The company adds that its product is stable, able to be recycled and, above all, safe. Furthermore, zinc is a readily-available metal, meaning there's a plentiful pool of it for future use.

Aurora Zinc-Air Battery

The zinc-air battery concept isn't unique to Eos Energy Storage, since similar technologies already power small consumer devices like watches and hearing aids. Even so, zinc-air batteries haven't before been used for deep-cycle energy storage, since their efficiency's generally been low and their operational life limited.

Eos Energy Storage claims to have countered these issues with the Aurora zinc-air battery. For example, there's an integrated electrolyte management and autonomous filling and healing system in place that prevents electrolyte degradation and prolongs the battery's lifespan.

Long-Life Zinc-Air Battery

So far, under test conditions, the Aurora's carried out more than 2,000 cycles, all the while maintaining its quality. That's a greater number than any previously recorded for a power device of this type while a staggering 10,000 cycles is the ultimate projected lifespan, allowing it to carry on working for three decades.

An initial production run of this long-life zinc-air battery is to occur this year, with the delivery of megawatt-scale systems forecast for 2013.

"Eos' proprietary rechargeable zinc-air battery will initially be sold for $1000/kW and $160/kWh, and is electrically rechargeable with a life of over 10,000 cycles (30 years) with a full duty cycle and at full depth of discharge", the company states on its website.

Aurora zinc-air battery image courtesy Eos Energy Storage and reproduced with grateful thanks

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