Innovative technology stores and gives mobility to electricity – Daily News – Funchal

Research Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro developed the project

It’s called Modular Device Electric Energy Storage (DMAE) and aims to reduce the resistance option for electric car. Simplistically, consists of a metal structure that houses lithium-ion battery – the same as fitted to electric cars – and that is to be inserted into a mobile truck. Developed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEM) of the University of Aveiro (UA), the Management System and DMAE control, is the brain that makes feasible the innovative features of the device.

Reduce waiting times to load the car, overcome the limitations arising from the power grid and enable business models arising from the storage of electricity, will be the distinctive features of this technology, being mobile, not only can meet the drivers who have opted for an ecological car as well make the electricity storage in any central renewable energy production.

The DMAE will become an electric truck running energy storage, such as a tanker stores fossil fuel. Although dependent on the type and capacity of the batteries that are inserted into the DMAE, the idea is to be able to supply simultaneously ten electric cars in fast mode. That is, until ten vehicles will be at the same time to load 80 percent of the capacity of your battery, a higher number than that currently takes place in sections of the national electric charging network. The total number of electric vehicles can be fueled by a load of DMAE depends on the energy you have stored and also the load condition of the vehicles, but on average the DEM points a DMAE can carry at least three dozen vehicles.

“The batteries inserted in the device are interconnected by a power electronic network, intelligently, forming a dynamic array of batteries,” explains José Santos. The researcher responsible for developing the management system and DMAE Control said that “the array is dynamic because the interconnections inside and links with the outside of the device are monitored and managed by the Management and Control System in real time.” DMAE can thus perform multiple functions with the energy stores.

The project, partially supported by a Valley Innovation, lasted a year and was developed in partnership with D2M-Energytransit company, which belongs to patent the DMAE. The tests performed by the prototype built in DEM lab gave results that meet the expectations of the company and confirm the innovative properties of DMAE.

electricity storage is an old ambition of the electric sector and, as explained the DEM investigator, “the advantage of DMAE concept, is the considerable storage capacity [up to 4 MWh for the best battery electric vehicles currently existing], is not the result of a large battery built from scratch, but the grouping existing batteries. ” The costs are so “notoriously inferior”.

Considering the association of DMAE concept with the swap model stations (existing in some countries), where the cars exchange the battery instead of waiting for loading partial, the modularity of the device gains greater advantage. By the rotation of the batteries inserted in it (in exchange for the station received in the swap) the lifetime of DMAE increases greatly, increasing its sustainability.

The drivers gain doubly, because they see reduced the time to reset total autonomy (estimated less than five minutes to exchange operation) and the reduction of the limitation of autonomy, leading concern for drivers.