ISRO to transfer Lithium ion battery technology to Industries for mass production
ISRO'S Rocket science arm Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), thiruwanantpuram, Kerala has decided to transfer it's very own technology to the qualified Industries and startups in automobile Sector on non-exclusive basis for RS 1 crore. This project aimed to accelerate the Development of battery power electric vehicles indigenously and reduce dependency of technology on other countries.
Key points
VSSC has issued a RFQ(Request For Quotation) inviting qualified Industries and startups to use it's lithium ion cell technology to produce a range of Li-ion cells for variety of use, specially for electric vehicles. The transfer of this technology will help in establishing production facilities of a range of battery sizes, battery capacity, energy density and power density, catering to entire spectrum of power storage requirements of EVs.
Need of this initiative
Today Li-ion cells are used in many compact handy electronic appliances such as mobiles, laptops, cameras, power Banks etc. in addition to industrial and research organizations. And almost all of those are imported from China, South Korea and Taiwan. This initiative will reduce the cost of appliances in India complemented with Li-ion batteries. This initiative is also a part of central government's plan achieve 100% EVs in country by 2030.
EPIC: A new Planet is discovered by Indian PRL Scientists
Scientists from Indian Physical Research Laboratory(PRL), Ahemdabad have discovered a new long distance planet, orbiting a sun like star. It's the first time ever any Indian Institution has discovered a planet with it's hosting star. Both the planet and star have been named EPIC. With this discovery, India joined handful of countries who have discovered planets with their hosting stars.
EPIC Planet
The planet has been named as EPIC 211945201b(or K2-236b) and host star has been named as EPIC 211945201(or K2- 236). EPIC planet is six times bigger than earth and revolving at 600 light years away. It's found It rotates at closer orbit to it's host star and takes 19.5 days to complete a rotation.
EPIC planet is smaller than the Saturn but bigger than the Neptune. It's 27 times heavier than earth and Radius is about six times the Earth's. About 60% of It's mass is made up of heavy elements like ice, sillicates and iron. The Planet is unlikely to be inhabitable because of it's high surface temperature of about 600° C.
Discovery Method
Discovery was made using PRL-Designed PARAS(PRL Advanced Radial velocity Abu sky Search) spectrograph. PARAS is first of it's kind spectrograph in the country that can measure the mass of a planet revolving a star. It is interated with 1.2 meter telescope located at PRL's Gurushikhar Observatory at Mount Abu Rajasthan. Very few such spectrograph exist around the world (mostly in US and European) which is capable to measure so precisely.
Significance
The discovery of EPIC planatory system adds to sparse catalogue of 22 other confirmed exoplanet systems that have mass and Radius in range between Saturn and Neptune. This will help in understanding the formation mechanisms of sub Saturn and super Neptune kind of planets which are very close to host star.
About PRL
Physical Research Laboratory is a research institute for space and allied Science and is mainly supported by Department of Space Technology (DST), Government of India. It conducts research programs on astronomy and astrophysics, atmospheric science and aeronomy, solar system, Earth science and theoretical physics. It was founded by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai in 1947 and is situated at Ahemdabad, Gujrat.
CSIR Lab to give technology for India's first Indigenous lithium ion battery project
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research lab has signed a Memorandum of Agreement(MoA) with RAASI Solar Power Pvt Ltd for transfer of technology for India's first Lithium ion battery project. The agreement was signed by CSIR's Central Electro- Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.
Key Points
CSIR has developed India's first Indigenous lithium ion battery technology with the help of it's other labs. CSIR has registered a patent for this technology. This technology has a potential to reduce cost, complemented with proper supply chain and manufacturing process for mass production. According to the MoU RAASI Group will set up manufacturing facility for the lithium ion cells at Krishnanagri district of Tamil Nadu near Banglore.
Benefits over lead acid cells
Like all other types of batteries it also made up of a cathode, an anode an electrolyte as a separator and current collectors. Lithium ions moves from cathode to anode at the time of diacharge and vice versa. But it's beneficial in the sense that it's compact and light in comparison to other batteries for the same output. It is 100% efficient in both charging and discharging operation. While lead acid cells have only 70% efficiency. Lithium ion cells completely discharges i.e 100% as compared to 80% of lead acid cells. It's life cycle is more than 5000 while lead acid cells have only 400- 500 life cycle.
Lithium ion battery supplies constant voltage throughout it discharge process. But in Lead acid cells voltage drops consistently as it discharges. On the other hand it's clean and doesn't affect environment like lead acid cells, as lead is harmful element for human and animal's health. Also It can supply power without the help of any physical wire means i.e wireless.
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