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BATTERIES & CHARGERS
IOXUS USTART ULTRACAPACITOR: BETTER VEHICLE BATTERY PERFORMANCE
The constant starting and stopping of vehicle motors consumes an excessive amount of fuel and rapidly degrades components. This testimonial from David Andeen, senior director, Product Line Management, Analog Devices, explores the IOXUS uSTART ultracapacitor that couples with a battery to provide high power during start and stop events, reducing fuel consumption, component degradation, and improving overall system performance.
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tart, stop, start, stop - trucks, cars, and all high power motion machines, such as cranes, constantly start, stop, and need to be restarted. A typical vehicle uses 10 times the amount of power to start, when compared
to idling. In addition, these machines require peak power at various times, such as when using hydraulic pumps, further contributing to the unevenness of power consumption. The accumulation of harsh operation means consumption of fuel, wear and tear on systems, and exhaustion of the components. While harsh operation almost always results in greater fuel consumption, more frequent breakdowns, and higher maintenance costs, one innovative company reverses this paradigm with their smart ultracapacitor for automotive and large machine applications, feeding and storing bursts of energy. Further, the result offers improved system performance.
IOXUS SOLUTION TO MOTOR STARTS AND STOPS Enter IOXUS, the industry leader in ultracapacitor cell and module manufacturing, and their innovative uSTART ultracapacitor. The uSTART ultracapacitor is a Smart Power ultracapacitor module for automotive and transportation applications that utilises the benefits of an ultracapacitor in combination with a traditional battery, creating a hybrid electrical system. The uSTART ultracapacitor connects in parallel with an automotive battery, shown in Figure 1, and provides high current during starting (cranking) and all other large current consumption scenarios, leveraging the fast discharge capability of the ultracapacitor. The battery provides power when current requirements are low and works in combination with the alternator to charge the
Figure 2. IOXUS’ latest uSTART v5 Smart Power ultracapacitor.
Figure 1. Configuration of the IOXUS uSTART ultracapacitor within a vehicle battery system.
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uSTART ultracapacitor. Overall, the uSTART ultracapacitor actively manages the vehicle battery’s energy profile, providing a stable voltage across all operating conditions. The benefits of an ultracapacitor extend to a wide variety of areas. Most importantly, by accommodating high currents, the uSTART ultracapacitor prevents transients in the primary voltage. This stability reduces the wear and tear on the overall system, meaning longer operation of the vehicle without replacing components. The starter motor and battery both run much longer because avoiding both over- and under-voltage and current conditions protects the magnets and windings in the starter motor and protects the chemistry of the battery. Regenerative braking systems benefit by accommodating a wider range of power levels for charge acceptance, also provided by
ultracapacitors. The entire electrical system can be downsized. Overall, these benefits result in less raw material mining, consumption, and distribution of rare earth and other critical elements. As a final benefit, the carbon for the ultracapacitor comes from renewable natural resources.
However straightforward, these benefits do not translate into a simple development. Among the many challenges, the Smart Power ultracapacitor manages power across the entire system, both detecting and responding to demand conditions, such as a starting event, and managing the charging of the battery itself. These events require sourcing and sinking energy quickly, within milliseconds. The development requires consistent control of a complex array of gates through a multitude of load scenarios. Electromagnetic interference
Spring 2024 UKManufacturing
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