George Brilmyer is a Ph.D. electrochemist with over 45 years experience in the battery industry with significant hands-on research in Pb and Alkaline batteries. He is also well-versed in most of the technology involved in primary & secondary batteries, fuel-cells, electroplating and electrochemistry. As an electrochemist, he can show you how to utilize cyclic voltametric techniques to evaluate your product and its effectiveness or compatibility / non-compatibility (aka the “ECC Test”) in a battery.
This website presents numerous ways that Dr. Brilmyer may assist you (for a fraction of the cost of adding a full-time PhD to your staff) in developing new products & processes or addressing production & performance issues. Project work may be conducted at your location or mine, by the day or by the hour. A very reasonable monthly retainer will keep Dr. Brilmyer available for your phone calls and questions. Domestic or international travel is always an option.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Brilmyer by email or phone to discuss your requirements and receive a quotation.
ELBC 2024 in Milan was a fantastic conference! To help you utilize all the technical and market information that was presented, I have written the ELBC 2024 Conference Report. In this report, I summarize each presentation in just a few sentences and present their conclusions in a format designed especially for the executive.
Use these summaries of the technical presentations to innovate your products even further. You can also use the marketing presentation summaries to assess and confirm your own corporate direction and investment decisions. For example, your management team may find it very interesting how much of an opportunity there is in the new Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) market. If properly addressed, the Pb industry should be able to make double digit CARG instead of the normal 2-3%.
Whether you attended the conference or not, this report will be useful. I have attached a sample page of my 14-page conference report for your review. Please check it out and then order your copy today by responding to this email. An invoice will be sent (cost is only $199 US), and the report will be delivered to you by email quickly and efficiently. Payments accepted by Check or PayPal.
ELBC 2024 Conference Report – SAMPLE PAGE (1 OF 14)
Neil Hawkes (CRU) – Can Pb Turn Its Resilience into Brilliance in the Seismic Energy Shift that is Underway? Neil stated that Pb prices are stable now around $2100/ton after a low at $1800/ton in 2022. He believes that emission cuts are not going to hit the 2030 target in the EU. EV sales are flattening with single digit growth. He presented a list of EV slowdown drivers and believes there will be double digit growth in HEVs. He asks, “Is there room for Pb in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)?” If Pb only takes 1% of total BESS market this will still be a huge number. For example, a 1 TWh BESS market with a Pb share at 1%, will equal 10 GWh of Pb batteries! He noted that Pb prices are more about recycling than mining, which is the opposite of Li. He says that Li cannot be the only choice for BESS and that Pb batteries will be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Neil says that Pb will continue to be resilient but probably not brilliant. His presentation on the ELBC website has many more charts related to the world markets for Pb. After his presentation he received the ELBC award for his contributions to the Pb industry over the last 35 years.
Martin Sabin (KPMG Consulting) – Battery Energy Storage Systems- BESS Market Outlook for all Battery Technologies until 2035. Martin explained that CBI / ILA commissioned KPMG to write this report on the BESS market, both front and back of the meter. KPMG identified core Key Performance Indicators such as cycle life, safety, efficiency etc, and then they rated 7 different battery systems against these KPI’s. Lithium and Pb rose to the top in terms of cost. They stated that Flow Batteries look great in terms of “perceived” cycle life (I, personally, question these flow battery cycle-life estimates). Their report contains a huge amount of data and analysis, but to summarize, KPMG believes the Pb industry has a massive opportunity, but Pb must 1) Improve the long-term cost of storage (LCOS) by increasing cycle life), 2) Offer standardized “turnkey” systems (the battery is typically only ~40% of the total cost) and 3) Include a BMS for not only system integration but also to maximize cycle life. With these improvements at hand, the Pb industry should then focus on the Behind the Meter market (residential and industrial) because of the inherent “safety” of Pb (compared to Li). Their full report describes this massive market in detail.
Bernhard Riegel (Hoppecke Batterien) – EuroBat Innovation Roadmap 2035. Bernhard began by stating that the EuroBat program considers all EU policy regulations and raw materials issues. Global ESS market target for Pb batteries will be 800 GWh by 2050. He also believes that Na will be 250 GWh. Drivers for innovations are 1) End-user demand, 2) Policy to electrify, 3) Sustainability and circularity, 4) Digitization and 5) Battery Passport implementation. Their white-paper can be downloaded from the Eurobat website. He concluded by saying that the EU policy makers should A) Make Europe resilient by opening-up technological evolutions in all battery technologies, B) Strengthen Europe’s competitiveness while ensuring a global level playing field, and C) Continue to focus on achieving a sustainable circular economy.
Paul Everill (Black Diamond) – Product and Process Improvements Enabled by Molecular Rebar Products. Black Diamond is celebrating their 10th year of providing world-class products that are REACH certified and considered non-hazardous by the US EPA and US Department of Transportation. Paul mentioned that Molecular Rebar is used to improve the performance of the NAM in Pb Batteries and Li-ion anodes and cathodes. In Pb batteries, MR has improved the performance of Enhanced Flooded, Advanced Traction and Deep Cycle by reducing sulfation, improving PSOC performance and by reducing capacity inconsistency. He added that PbLite is their first process additive that users report reduces waste, increases manufacturing output, increases pasting rates and reduces variability.
George@batt-tekconsulting.com
(423) 202-8467
