12 Technical consultants Ryan Maughan is an award-winning engineer and business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in the High-Performance, Heavy-Duty and Off-Highway Automotive markets. Prominent in the development of Power Electronics, Electric Motors and Drives (PEMD) for these demanding applications, he has successfully founded, scaled and exited three businesses in the electric vehicle space. He is currently CEO of eTech49 Limited, an advisory business specialising in disruptive hardware technology in PEMD. In addition, he is Chairman of EV North, an industry group representing the booming EV industry in the north of England, a board member of the North East LEP and an adviser to a number of corporations. Danson Joseph has had a varied career in the electrical power industry, having worked in areas ranging from systems engineering of photovoltaic powerplants to developing the battery packs for Jaguar Land Rover’s I-Pace SUV. With a PhD in electrical machines from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Danson has focused on developing battery systems for automotive use. After completing the I-Pace project he formed Danecca, a battery development company with a focus on prototyping and small-scale production work, as well as testing and verifying cells and packs destined for mass production. Dr Nabeel Shirazee graduated from Leicester University in 1990, where he studied electrical and electronic engineering. An MSc in magnetic engineering followed at Cardiff University, where he continued his studies, earning a PhD and developing a permanent magnetic lifting system that has been patented by the university. His interest in magnetics led to a patented magnetic levitation system that was awarded the World’s No 1 Invention prize at INPEX in the USA. In 1999, he founded Electronica, a magnetics research and design consultancy. Since then, he has been involved in various projects, including the design of an actuator motor for a British aerospace company. He has also licensed the levitation technology in France. Ryan Maughan Danson Joseph Dr Nabeell Shiirazee Researchers in the US have developed a solid-state lithium-air battery cell with a potential energy density of 1000 Wh/kg (writes Nick Flaherty). The capacity is potentially four times that of the current lithium-ion battery technology used in heavy-duty vehicles such as aircraft, trains and submarines. The electrolyte is a mix of polymer and ceramic materials that takes advantage of the ceramics’ high ionic conductivity and the high stability and high interfacial connection of the polymer. The electrolyte is based on Li10GeP2S12 nanoparticles embedded in a polyethylene oxide polymer matrix. The result allows for the critical reversible reaction that enables the battery to function – lithium dioxide formation and decomposition – to occur at high rates at room temperature. It is the first demonstration of this in a lithium-air battery. “We found that solid-state electrolyte contributes around 75% of the total energy density,” said Mohammad Asadi, Assistant Professor of chemical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. “That tells us there is a lot of room for improvement, because we believe we can minimise that thickness without compromising performance, which would allow us to achieve a very high energy density.” Prof Asadi said he plans to work with industry partners to optimise the battery’s design and engineer it for manufacturing. The prototype cell is rechargeable for 1000 cycles with a low polarisation gap, and it can operate at high rates. BATTERIES Lithium-air’s quadruple potential The Grid March/April 2023 | E-Mobility Engineering 11 Coreless technology shrinks current sensor Melexis has used a digitally controlled, coreless technology that shrinks the size of a current sensor, writes Nick Flaherty. The MLX91235 sensor eliminates the need for a ferromagnetic core, enabling the measurement of larger currents flowing through external primary conductors, including busbars. The MLX91235 is smaller than typical sensors and eliminates hysteresis-related measurement errors. The differential measurement of the magnetic field between two internal sensing elements provides accurate current feedback. With a 500 kHz bandwidth and 2 μs response time, the sensor is suitable for high-speed applications, such as motorcontrol and converter applications. It offers more precise and sophisticated compensation, resulting in a more accurate, smoother output. Calibration is configured via a standard, serial peripheral interface (SPI), allowing this in-situ via any microcontroller unit. Built-in, 16 bit, over-current detection (OCD) allows for asymmetric thresholds and includes two configurable ranges. It has a configurable detection time with a minimum duration of 2 μs and an optional debounce strategy, which helps to avoid false positives in harsher electromagnetic compatibility environments. The MLX91235 is ISO 26262-compliant as an ASIL B Safety Element out of Context. This goes beyond the ASIL B requirements with a built-in selftest (BIST) that can be triggered via the SPI interface, enabling the report of temperature, under-voltage and mechanical stress. The Grid January/February 2025 | E-Mobility Engineering
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4