Developing energy storage systems of the future

SPP individual projects on Carnot batteries approved

Sustainable sources provide energy when the natural conditions are right - for example, solar radiation, tides or wind. Supply and demand do not always match, but efficient technologies to store energy on the order of gigawatt hours are still lacking. Carnot batteries offer a possible solution. In April 2022, a corresponding priority program was established, coordinated by UDE. Recently, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved 17 individual projects with a total funding amount of about 6.5 million euros.

In Priority Program 2403 "Carnot Batteries: Inverse Design from Market to Molecule," scientists are approaching the optimal battery from an unusual angle: using a "top-down methodology," the goal is to develop what is needed - not what is considered feasible with current resources. "Economics provides the necessary targets for future energy markets, on which we then base scientific and technical research," says Materials Chain member Prof. Dr. Burak Atakan, explaining the concept. The head of the "Thermodynamics" department at the UDE Institute for Energy and Material Processes is the coordinator of SPP 2403. Of the 17 individual projects at 15 locations*, two are located at the UDE: Atakan's working group is dedicated to the working fluid of the batteries, which will mainly consist of hydrocarbons. In the coming years, the team wants to find out which mixtures are needed beyond that, and in what composition, to achieve the best possible result. "We are investigating very many parameters: Temperature, pressure or mixture composition are just a few of them - this is a big challenge not only in our subproject," says Atakan.

https://www.uni-due.de/2023-07-10-dfg-bewilligt-projekte-zu-carnot-batterien