Session A5
Paper ID: 6246
Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University
of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is based on
publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any
purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at
the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
THE EMERGENCE OF LIQUID METAL BATTERIES WITH THE POTENTIAL
TO ALLOW GRID LEVEL POWER STORAGE
Chad Matthews, (cam316@pitt.edu), Sanchez 10:00, Stephen Selvidge, (scs98@pitt.edu), Vidic 2:00
Revised Proposal - Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have proposed the idea that liquid metal
batteries being improved by their teams have the capability of competing against current methods for storing large quantities
of electrical energy needed for the power grid. The lithium and antimony and lead alloy liquid metal battery which the MIT
researchers are developing contains a negative electrode of lithium, a molten salt electrolyte, and a positive electrode of an
antimony and lead alloy. This technology would allow for great amounts of energy to be stored therefore allowing power
generating systems, such as solar and wind power, to be far more feasible [1].
Ambri, the company formed by an MIT professor to specifically work on the technology’s advancement, has created a battery
that is the only one on the market in which all three active components are in liquid form during operation, this allows the
battery to handle to high voltages needed in the power grid. The liquid metal anode and cathode and a liquid salt electrolyte.
The three liquid layers naturally separate due to differences in densities between them. The two liquid electrodes rest on the
outside, with a layer comprised of molten salt electrolyte in the middle. The battery is activated at an elevated temperature of
450 degrees Celsius, which is maintained by self-heating during charging and discharging. The inclusion of the lithium
electrode and an antimony and lead alloy significantly improved the process, enabling the activation temperature to reduce by
from around 700 degrees Celsius down to the 450 degrees Celsius opposed to previous versions of Ambri’s battery which used
magnesium and pure antimony [2]. The final result is a cost-efficient source of energy with a considerably long lifespan.
Unlike pumped hydro systems, the only one widely used for utility-scale electricity storage, Ambri’s battery can be used
anywhere despite the lack of an appropriate water source or landscape, such as plains and deserts, both of which lack large
amounts of water, but are otherwise the perfect location for renewable energy generation through wind turbines and solar
panels respectively. Similarly, the battery lacks moving parts which cause a loss in efficiency due to friction and are also prone
to failure.
The base unit is a fully-sealed liquid metal battery cell. The cells are connected using a thermal enclosure, forming what Ambri
calls the “Ambri Core” [1]. Whenever the mechanism is operated every few hours, it is self-heating and does not require any
form whatsoever of external heat to keep the batteries at the designated temperature of 500 degrees Celsius for ideal operation.
The “Ambri System” consists of multiple connected cores of cells and can be connected to the grid with power electronics. The
system’s modular configuration can also be customized to suit the need the battery is being used for [1].
With the Ambri liquid metal battery, power sources such as solar power and wind turbines will be more able to supply the
power grid because the batteries will be capable of storing energy from peak production times, such as in the sunlight for solar
power and when it is windy for wind power. This power once stored will be able to supplement the grid when production is low
such as at night or when it is not windy. The continued improvement of this technology by Ambri should allow these batteries
to become a staple in grid level energy storage. The product achieves a low cost through the use of earth abundant materials
such as lithium, antimony and lead, all of which are cheap to produce, similarly.
We plan to further our research and understanding of the technology through the reading of published journals by those
working and researching at MIT and Ambri, as well as an interview that we have been granted with a former MIT student, now
employed by Ambri, working on advancements to the product.
SOURCES CONSULTED
[1] K. Wang. (2016). “MIT team improves liquid metal batteries for grid-scale storage; lower operating temperature, cost.”
Green Car Congress. (online article)
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/09/20140922-sadoway.html
[2] H. Kim. (2015). “Liquid Metal Batteries: Past, Present, and Future.” Chemical Reviews. (online journal)
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering
2016/01/29
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Stephen Selvidge
Chad Matthews
[3] B. Chung. (2014). “Lithium-antimony-lead liquid metal battery for grid-level energy storage.” Nature. (online article).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v514/n7522/full/nature13700.html
[4] E. Wesoff. (2014). “Is This Ambri’s New Liquid-Metal Battery Materials Formula?” Greentech Media. (online article)
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/is-this-ambris-new-liquid-metal-battery-materials-formula
[5] “Choosing a Topic Video.” University of Pittsburgh. (online video)
http://www.library.pitt.edu/other/files/il/fresheng/index.html
REFERENCES
[1] Ambri. (2016). “Technology.” Ambri. (company website)
http://www.ambri.com/technology/
[2] B. Chung. (2014). “Lithium-antimony-lead liquid metal battery for grid-level energy storage.” Nature. (online article)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v514/n7522/full/nature13700.html
[3] D. Bradwell, H. Kim, A. Sirk, and D. Sadoway. (2012). “Magnesium–Antimony Liquid Metal Battery for Stationary Energy
Storage.” Journal of the American Chemical Society. (journal). 134(4), pp 1895-97
[4] H. Kim, D. Boysen, J. Newhouse, B. Spatocco, B. Chung, P. Burke, D. Bradwell, K. Jiang, A. Tomaszowska, K. Wang, W.
Wei, L. Ortiz, S. Barriga, S. Poizeau, and D. Sadoway. (2013). “Liquid Metal Batteries: Past, Present, and Future.” Chemical
Reviews. (journal)
[5] F. Stefani, T. Weier, T. Gundrum, and G. Gerbeth. (2011). “How to Circumvent the Size Limitation of Liquid Metal
Batteries due to the Tayler Instability.” Energy Conversion and Management. (journal). Vol. 52, Issues 8-9, pp 2982-2986
[6] M. Lamonica. (2013). “A Tiny Startup Called Ambri Wants to Transform Our Energy System with Massive Liquid-Metal
Batteries.” Technology Review. 166.2, pp 48
[7] M. Kane, Ambri. (2016, January 28). Interview
[8] M. Kane, J. Newhouse, and D. Sadoway. (2015). “Electrochemical Determination of the Thermodynamic Properties of
Lithium-Antimony Alloys.” Journal of the Electrochemical Society. (journal)
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ambri. (2016). “Technology.” Ambri. (company website)
http://www.ambri.com/technology/
This webpage is from Ambri, the company responsible for the liquid metal battery, website. This webpage contains
applications for the Ambri battery as well as an imbedded Ted-Talk by Donald Sadoway, founder of Ambri and MIT professor,
in which he explains possible uses for the battery as well as a basic overview of how the battery works which will help us
explain the basics of the technology before deeper analysis.
D. Bradwell, H. Kim, A. Sirk, and D. Sadoway. (2012). “Magnesium–Antimony Liquid Metal Battery for Stationary Energy
Storage.” Journal of the American Chemical Society. (journal). 134(4), pp 1895-97
This online article, from the Journal of American Chemical Society, a peer reviewed journal, was written by Donald
Sadoway and his colleagues at MIT. The article addresses how using the low cost and earth abundant metal of antimony for
the anode will allow the liquid metal battery to achieve far better voltage for the price than previous battery chemistries and
will help us show the usefulness of Ambri battery.
B. Chung. (2014). “Lithium-antimony-lead liquid metal battery for grid-level energy storage.” Nature. (online article).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v514/n7522/full/nature13700.html
This online article, from the peer reviewed journal Nature, was written by the team at Ambri. This article addresses how
the use of an antimony lead alloy for the cathode and lithium for the anode of the battery lowers the necessary running
temperature of the battery by nearly 500 degrees Celsius from the previous magnesium and antimony modal. This article will
let us show pervious problems with the battery.
M. Kane, Ambri. (2016, January 28). Interview
This interview was conducted with Margaret Kane, an engineer graduated from MIT, who currently works for Ambri, the
company responsible for the liquid metal battery. Ms. Kane discussed how the Ambri battery has a longer cycle life span due
its lack of membranes separating the electrodes and electrolyte which are common in conventional batteries. This interview
will allow us to show the advantages of the Ambri Battery over conventional batteries.
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Chad Matthews
M. Kane, J. Newhouse, and D. Sadoway. (2015). “Electrochemical Determination of the Thermodynamic Properties of
Lithium-Antimony Alloys.” Journal of the Electrochemical Society. (journal)
This article was published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, a peer reviewed journal. The article was written
by Donald Sadoway in collaboration with Margret Kane and Jocelyn Newhouse. This article reports the how the electromotive
force increases as lithium antimony batteries increase temperature. This article will allow us to demonstrate how the high
temperatures of the liquid metal battery allow it operate at grid level voltages.
H. Kim, D. Boysen, J. Newhouse, B. Spatocco, B. Chung, P. Burke, D. Bradwell, K. Jiang, A. Tomaszowska, K. Wang, W.
Wei, L. Ortiz, S. Barriga, S. Poizeau, and D. Sadoway. (2013). “Liquid Metal Batteries: Past, Present, and Future.” Chemical
Reviews. (journal)
This online article, published in the peer reviewed article Chemical Reviews, was written by Hojong Kim and Donald
Sadoway, a Professor in Department of Materials Science at MIT. This article explores how the liquid metal battery has higher
voltages than traditional solid electrode batteries due to less Ohmic losses as a result of the liquid phase electrodes. This article
will help us explain the high voltages achievable through the liquid metal battery.
M. Lamonica. (2013). “A Tiny Startup Called Ambri Wants to Transform Our Energy System with Massive Liquid-Metal
Batteries.” Technology Review. 166.2, pp 48
This article was published in Technology Review, a website run by MIT to inform people of current developments in the
academia around the STEM fields. This article addresses possible uses for the liquid metal battery and allow discusses the
history of Ambri and their design for the liquid metal battery. This article will allow us to give applications for the liquid metal
battery and background knowledge on Ambri.
F. Stefani, T. Weier, T. Gundrum, and G. Gerbeth. (2011). “How to Circumvent the Size Limitation of Liquid Metal Batteries
due to the Tayler Instability.” Energy Conversion and Management. (journal). Vol. 52, Issues 8-9, pp 2982-2986
This is an online article published in Energy Conservation and Management, a peer reviewed journal. This article discusses
the problems which Tayler instability, a processes in which a lighter fluid pushes down on a denser one, poses to the scaling of
the liquid metal battery. This article will let us demonstrate problems that engineers will need to overcome for the liquid metal
battery to overcome.
*NOTE: Whenever trying to switch the text to two columns after finishing, Microsoft Word forcibly changed the format
entirely, making it completely unreadable. Text from the left column would appear in the right column and then the next line
would jump back to the left column. After a few hours of consulting with other people and researching how to fix this problem,
we found no viable solution, so I thought it would be preferable to keep it in one column format, leaving it able to be read in
the correct order.
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