Alberta Oilsands: now they are mining Lithium and Vanadium from the oil deposits, and that means better batteries and fuel cells
Oilsands research could be 'game changer' for renewable energy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/vanadium-shell-oilsands-renewables-1.4608208
Originally from South Africa, JT Steenkamp doesn't usually enjoy brisk Canadian winter weather, but this year is different for the engineer who is testing out a new type of battery at Shell Canada's research centre in Calgary. The battery is built using a little-known metal found in bitumen, and the technology could represent a pivotal moment for both the oilsands industry and the renewable energy sector.
An unusually frigid prairie winter is perfect for his research.
"Coming from a sub-tropical country, it's a very confusing series of emotions I'm going through wanting these cold snaps for the first time in my life because it means I get to beat up this battery as much I want," said Steenkamp.
Shell's project aims to extract a metal called vanadium from bitumen and use the material to produce large, utility-scale electricity storage for the renewable energy sector, which has struggled with ways to store large amounts of energy in a stable, reliable way.
"If successful, it could be an absolute game change. It will prove that we are capable of delivering renewable energy game-changing ideas not in spite of traditional energy but precisely because of it.," said Steenkamp.
Steenkamp has constructed what's called a vanadium redox flow battery inside a garden shed, which is powered by solar panels above the research centre. The battery is run through continuous cycles of charging fully, then draining completely. Data is collected to gauge its performance, which so far is promising, according to Steenkamp.
So far, the vanadium battery can only hold a charge of six kilowatt hours, enough to run a hairdryer for about four hours. It would need to be much larger to store electricity from a wind farm or solar field, but Steenkamp says this type of battery can easily be scaled up.
"Biggest challenge is the cost," Steenkamp said. "It's the classic problem of flow batteries and why we are here: Can you find this stuff in enough quantity and at a low enough cost to make large-scale energy storage viable?"
'Cautiously optimistic'
Vanadium is a largely obscure metal often used in making steel. It retains its hardness at high temperatures, so it's ideal for making drill bits, engine turbines and other parts that generate heat.
In the oilsands, Vanadium is one of the metals that comes out of the ground with bitumen. The concentration is quite low: a barrel of bitumen would contain just 30 millilitres of vanadium, on average, experts says. But multiplied by the millions of barrels of production from the oilsands every day, Steenkamp says there is a "boatload" of vanadium.