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Salem, MA, June 22, 2022 — Titan Advanced Energy Solutions (‘Titan’), a pioneer in ultrasound-based battery management and diagnostics solutions, was awarded the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize in the third and final phase of the national competition. The multi-year competition seeks to fund American entrepreneurs who develop innovative processes and technologies that, when scaled, have the potential to profitably capture 90% of all discarded lithium-ion batteries in the United States.
While the competition was seeking to maximize the recycling rates for lithium-ion batteries, Titan’s submission was focused on extending the lifetime use of these batteries before recycling them. By enabling batteries to have a second life in energy stationary storage applications, Titan reduced the need for new batteries in these markets where technical requirements could be satisfied with used EV batteries.
Titan’s solution combines an innovative battery diagnostics technology, ScorpionTM, with an online EV battery marketplace, battago.com. Together, these products create the first EV battery marketplace built around objective third-party validation on the condition of batteries sold, establishing transparency and trust in this nascent industry. This critical objective is realized by validating the true condition of a battery through highly accurate ultrasonic testing, thus attesting to its market value.
“Many discarded EV batteries continue to have a lot of life left in them," says Kevin Kononenko, product manager at Titan. “Through our solution, we enable a thriving second-life battery market by connecting buyers with sellers, providing access to battery diagnostics capabilities, and supporting the complex logistical and regulatory process to ship batteries wherever they need to go.”
The challenge of evaluating the condition of individual modules and cells is a great one. Existing technologies face trade-offs between high costs of detailed battery scanning and intrinsically low confidence offered by cheaper approaches. The speed with which results can be obtained remains another factor that leads to compromises. This generates guesswork and assumptions that hinder commercial activity and market growth.
Titan's first breakthrough response to the problems facing the used battery industry was the diagnostics solution, ScorpionTM, that uses ultrasound technology to diagnose used electric vehicle batteries with high accuracy, evaluating their charge, degradation, and safety parameters in just a few seconds. ScorpionTM is the first commercial technology to combine accuracy, speed, and a scan-as-a-service model, decreasing the industry’s reliance on costly battery testing units with high CAPEX and infrastructure needs.
“As ScorpionTM was being developed, the lack of a rapid, accurate, and cost-effective State of Health battery test for this potentially vast market became apparent. We came up with the BattagoTM to solve our own battery sourcing challenges,” says Titan’s co-founder and president Sean O’Day. “Millions of EV batteries are out there, many with much life left in them, but a centralized platform to reliably find, source, and diagnose them did not exist.”
Titan’s fresh approach to the problem was quickly recognized by many players in the industry, as well as government agencies charged with safety, efficiency and innovation in the energy sector of the US economy. As part of the prototype development, Titan worked with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to advance the development of our battery characterization efforts, and to expand the library of EV batteries that Scorpion TM can diagnose.
As demand for energy storage and battery-powered products continues to rise, the effective and efficient manufacture, use, transport, and recycling of batteries has become a national imperative.
“Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the growing demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system,” said Jennifer Granholm, the US Secretary of Energy, in a press release on 2 May. “President Biden’s historic investment in battery production and recycling will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations.”
While further regulations are being considered, government agencies are also directly involved in identifying and supporting viable solutions that can help implement and sustain regulatory efforts. Titan is the recipient of numerous government awards and SBIR grants, the most recent one focused on developing an early warning system to identify dangerous lithium-ion batteries and prevent thermal runaway events. Titan’s ultrasound-based technology supports the entire lifecycle of the battery, providing valuable intelligence on its condition and enabling higher safety control, higher capacity/range, longer battery life, and much faster, less expensive diagnostics and testing.
About the Battery Recycling Prize
The $5.5-million Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technologies Office and the Advanced Manufacturing Office. The Prize complements DOE’s research conducted at the ReCell Lithium Battery Recycling R&D Center, as well as efforts to develop the next generation of advanced electric vehicle battery technologies that significantly reduce cost, weight, volume, and dependence on critical materials such as cobalt. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) serves as the administrator of the Prize. To learn more about the Battery Recycling Prize, please visit https://americanmadechallenges.org/BatteryRecycling.
Titan Advanced Energy Solutions
Titan Advanced Energy Solutions was founded in 2016 by technology entrepreneurs Shawn Murphy and Sean O'Day. Today, the Titan team has engineered a breakthrough technology by applying the proven science of ultrasound to lithium-ion batteries. We delve deeply into the inner workings of batteries to provide intelligence on any battery's state of health, state of charge and safety profile — at any stage of its life and in real time. Our ultrasound technology leads to safer, longer-lasting and better-performing batteries, all at a fraction of the cost of legacy battery technologies, while maintaining a greener overall footprint.
Media Contact:
Flavia Calvar
Titan Advanced Energy Solutions
flavia@titanaes.com
Related Links
Battago.com — Titan's marketplace where businesses can buy and sell used EV batteries
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