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Marine Log Workers
AYK’s batteries are being deployed on the excessive profile zero-emission equipment retrofit of the container vessel, FPS Waal.
Andorra headquartered AYK Marine batteries has seen success within the marine battery business due partly to innovation in design, security and driving down manufacturing prices.
AYK, established by marine battery pioneer and electrical engineer Chris Kruger in 2018, is seeing a surge in demand since opening a brand new state-of-the-art automated manufacturing plant in Zhuhai, China, in July this 12 months. The 5,000-square-meter manufacturing facility ramps up AYK’s manufacturing capability to 300MWH a 12 months, with means to increase to 1GWH. Its opening was seen as a big second within the evolution of the marine battery business and noticed speeches from Wärtsilä, Fjord Maritime Norway, Vulkan Group, Inexperienced Energies E-Ship and the Maritime Battery Discussion board.
Inventor, pioneer, innovator
Talking with the Marine Log, Kruger mentioned the corporate is reporting an instantaneous return on the funding with a 400% enhance in quotations within the second half of 2023.
“All method of vessels are coming to us on the lookout for battery options,” he mentioned. “We’re successful work to provide container vessels, automotive and passenger ferries, tugs and barges. There’s additionally growing demand from the superyacht sector which needs inexperienced options which might be secure and reasonably priced. With the drive to decarbonize inland waterways and quick sea delivery, we’re planning for 10 years of rising demand, underpinned by our dedication to security and affordability.”
And right here is the rub for AYK. Drawing on Kruger’s intensive 15 years of expertise, the AYK workforce has seen firsthand how battery know-how has advanced from costly and dangerous NMC—nickel, manganese, cobalt—to the a lot much less unstable LFP—lithium-iron-phosphate cells. Consequently Kruger, has been witness to a lot trial and error. He says he needs to bust myths round LFP, together with its power density. He says LFP can go toe to toe with NMC on power density and critically be safer, particularly utilizing AYK’s battery design. NMC alternatively has already been chargeable for fires with one battery financial institution catching fireplace on a passenger ferry in Norway because of overheating and thermal runaway. Fortunately no-one was injured.
“Secure” LFP bests “unstable” NMC
“NMC batteries have gotten increasingly more hazardous and an accident ready to occur in my opinion,” mentioned Kruger. “Density calls for are growing which runs a better danger of fireplace as a result of violent response of NMC. The larger the demand placed on the system the larger the danger of cell runaway creating extremely flammable chemical compounds. LFP, alternatively, is a basically secure chemistry. LFP doesn’t create oxygen so the danger of fireplace is massively decreased.”
Kruger has honed the AYK’s methodology and strategy by way of a number of roles in each the automotive business and marine. He believes, given the complexity of the know-how, it’s tough for brand spanking new companies, with out a minimum of 10 years of expertise, to interrupt into the marine battery market.
Within the automotive sector, he led the workforce that developed the battery for the Fisker Karma, one of many world’s first manufacturing plug-in hybrid electrical automobiles that bought largely within the U.S. However in 2010, even earlier than that automotive went on sale in 2011-12, he had moved on to be director of engineering at Corvus, the place he developed and put in the battery for the primary NMC hybrid propulsion ferry, Princess Benedikte, and the primary fully-electric ferry, Ampere. He says NMC was used on the time because it was the one actual chemistry accessible, however innovation in LFP is proving a recreation changer.
Chasing innovation dream
With the conviction that LFP batteries are the longer term Kruger determined to chase his dream and strike out on his personal entrepreneurial enterprise with AYK Power. Along with his workforce of shut advisers and engineers the corporate has a transparent view on the way forward for the marine battery market. Impressed by Edison’s wizards of Menlo Park the AYK workforce is pushing the boundaries of what’s doable in LFP marine battery know-how.
“In a conservative business like maritime it’s a must to show you might be secure and you might be reasonably priced,” he mentioned. “This is the reason we arrange in China. China is the very best place on the planet for the battery business. It has the expertise, abilities, provide chain and infrastructure. Critically it understands security. For me lots additionally got here down to cost. Among the pricing round batteries is loopy. I wish to change that, therefore coming to China the place we are able to drive down prices for our prospects. We imagine we are able to drive decarbonization by encouraging quicker adoption of battery know-how by providing a way more aggressive value. That is the thrill of innovation – bringing an invention to a mass industrial market.”
Kruger says the AYK workforce began by designing the battery administration system (BMS) from the bottom up. Backed by enterprise capital funding, the workforce got down to design a battery—each its {hardware} and software program—that might profit from his expertise of each design and set up work throughout his earlier appointments.
“It was not simple going,” he mentioned, however in 2020 “I had a bit of luck”. That got here from making contact with battery cell maker EVE, which was eager to design a battery that would safe marine type-approval from class society DNV and had already devoted two years to the try.
After many conversations between the 2 organizations, Kruger’s counterpart at EVE laid down a problem: “You say you’ll be able to develop a type-approved battery, now show it.”
Kruger got down to just do that: In alternate for area in EVE’s licensed lab and using its take a look at tools, AYK would do the remaining. Utilizing EVE’s cells alongside AYK’s BMS, Kruger and his workforce designed, constructed and examined a marine type-approved battery in simply six months, which was “fairly a feat,” Kruger mentioned. AYK paid for and sourced all of the {hardware} and retained mental property within the remaining design.
The artwork of design
That design now types the premise of AYK’s vary of eight battery variants, all of them utilizing the identical battery know-how and security options. He says the simplicity of the AYK design allows them to innovate at pace with 9 new batteries already designed and an additional 9 in growth which may very well be launched inside months.
A part of AYK’s design secret and security is the selection of cell chemistry. All its batteries use LFP cells equipped by EVE, making the corporate distinctive in utilizing that cell construction in all its merchandise. It’s cheaper than NMC which is the most typical battery chemistry, and LFP will ultimately be “the bridge chemistry to take us to the following era of strong state batteries,” Kruger believes.
The Chinese language battery business additionally shares Kruger’s conviction that LFP is safer. China is not going to permit NMC cells for use for any utility that entails transporting folks.
Since LFP is safer the battery design doesn’t have to incorporate constructions to enhance the protection at a system degree. NMC cells have a larger power density however as soon as they’re put in into batteries together with their cooling preparations, their modular power density is lower than that of an LFP battery, Kruger identified. “We will fill many of the module with precise battery”, he mentioned.
They’re additionally much less vulnerable to thermal runaway and, ought to it occur, “it’s not a violent response that escalates very quick,” he mentioned. In case that occurs, AYK’s battery modules have an computerized water-based response system put in.
Water is used as a result of it has a big phase-change power worth and within the occasion of a battery overheating, a sprinkler contained in the module is activated. This can flood the affected module—not all the financial institution of batteries—and since they function at a low voltage of about 40V, electrical conduction by way of the water will not be a hazard.
AYK has patented this association in China, and Kruger mentioned that it exceeds class necessities for battery fireplace safety, which name just for detectors within the battery compartment. As well as, AYK’s batteries have three smoke detectors inside every module—two should activate earlier than a response is initiated—and the modules are IP67-rated enclosures, every with a blow-out port to launch any gasses that construct up inside.
That is linked to an extraction duct with a fan to take away any flammable gasses from the battery to be vented exterior whereas any water may be drained through a becoming on the duct piping.
Offers drive decarbonization
AYK’s has not too long ago made offers with the business’s prime integrators, together with Wärtsilä and Siemens. In the meantime, shipyard shoppers embrace Holland Shipyards Group, the place its batteries are being deployed on the excessive profile zero-emission equipment retrofit of the container vessel, FPS Waal, operated by Future Proof Delivery. At time of going to press the profitable integration of the battery system on the FPS Waal has led to new orders with Holland Shipyard Group.
“Right here, the FPS Waal’s diesel engines will probably be changed with PEM gasoline cells, storage for his or her hydrogen gasoline, two AYK excessive density DNV-approved Aries lithium batteries and an electrical drive practice. The order is the primary time that AYK batteries will probably be used alongside gasoline cells, making it a landmark contract for the corporate,” Kruger mentioned.
One other deal is seeing AYK provide Norwegian aquaculture know-how provider, Fjord Maritime, to transform an oil platform provide vessel (PSV) to a containerized battery powered dwell fish provider (LFC). On this occasion, AYK labored with Fjord to developed a particular containerized battery answer for the vessel which is owned by the Firda Seafood Group, which can also be based mostly in Norway.
The DNV Class authorized 1MWh Power Storage Answer (ESS) will probably be fitted right into a container together with Fjord Maritime’s Fjord Hybrid answer. The container is additional geared up with all needed security and auxiliary programs.
“Containerized batteries are set to be one of many greatest improvements within the maritime business within the subsequent 5 to 10 years,” says Kruger. “Containerized batteries have a number of advantages. They are often put in simply on deck with out taking area beneath deck and incurring advanced battery room security necessities. Moreover, the retrofit course of is straightforward and doesn’t require the vessel to be out of service for very lengthy. When operational the batteries may also then be swapped round with absolutely charged replacements rapidly at shore aspect charging facilities. As well as, the containerized energy answer is future proof. When a brand new extra highly effective battery know-how is developed, or a distinct type of energy is launched, the container may be tailored for that goal.”
U.S. and European manufacturing facility enlargement
Trying to the massive image, AYK says its automated manufacturing mannequin may be replicated elsewhere on the planet. Within the U.S., the place AYK’s gross sales director Ed Carney, relies, for instance, the Jones Act encourages home sourcing for U.S.-built ships, so if that market opens up, an automatic manufacturing facility may very well be constructed to satisfy it.
In Europe, too, an identical plant may very well be constructed rapidly. A web site has already been recognized and an automatic manufacturing line may very well be operational simply six months after building begins, Kruger mentioned.
Kruger is pleased with what he and his workforce at AYK have achieved in only a few years. “Now we have constructed the most secure battery system with one of many highest power densities within the business”, he mirrored. And its price—already one of many lowest—will maintain taking place due to manufacturing capabilities.”
However he additionally confused his batteries’ ease of set up and commissioning. “From the bottom up, we designed our battery to permit distant entry,” which allows distant help throughout commissioning and distant software program updates. As soon as put in, bugs and faults may be fastened remotely and knowledge may be simply uploaded to The Cloud for storage and processing. “We imagine we’re the very best and we’ll work very exhausting to stay the very best,” he mentioned.
