Proof of concept of an all manganese flow battery by the University of Freiburg Germany is a welcome development and noted by Southern Hemisphere Mining’s technical team, who are working to advance the company’s Los Pumas Manganese Project in Chile towards producing and supplying the product direct to battery manufacture.
The Los Pumas Manganese Project has a mineral resource estimate of 23.7Mt @ 7.81% Mn (4% Mn COG) – (ASX release 25 March 2011 – Resources & ASX 2 February 2011 – PEA).
The proof of concept was reported by Mark Hutchins from pv-magazine.com on 11 June 2021
Scientists in Germany fabricated an all-manganese flow battery, which they say serves as a proof of concept for the potential of such devices. Their results working with various battery configurations show that cheap, abundant manganese has plenty of potential for flow battery applications; and is worthy of further investigation in the frame of developing sustainable energy storage technologies.
Flow batteries present an attractive alternative to lithium-ion in stationary storage, offering longer lifetimes and lower degradation. Since the batteries aren’t suitable for electric vehicles or consumer electronics, the market size is much smaller than lithium-ion. Flow batteries, however, are gaining market share in stationary storage projects designed to support regional grids and boost consumption of renewables generated power.
To date, most of these projects have relied on vanadium or zinc-bromine flow batteries. There is, however, a wealth of other materials with the potential to be used in flow batteries, and scientists are hard at work narrowing down those that offer the best potential for the highest performance, the lowest cost and the least environmental damage.
Manganese is a relatively cheap and abundant element, already to set to play an increasing role in lithium-ion batteries amid growing concerns over the supply chain and toxicity of cobalt and nickel. A group of scientists led by Germany’s University of Freiburg decided to investigate manganese for flow batteries, achieving some impressive results.
For more of the findings please read the full article here.
Image of University of Freiburg courtesy of PV Magazine.
Last week Southern Hemisphere Mining presented its EV Battery Market plans for Los Pumas (which is 100% SUH owned) and an all-manganese flow battery offers another potential use for its manganese resource.
News Release
Date: 14 June 2021 | ASX Code: SUH
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Southern Hemisphere Mining Limited is a successful copper-gold explorer in Chile, the world’s leading copper producing country and one of the most prospective regions of the world for major new copper discoveries.
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