New Battery Prototype Facility Opens Its Doors To Energize Innovation

The University of Texas at Dallas gave stakeholders a first look at a new facility designed to help researchers and industry partners fast-track energy storage innovation and close supply-chain gaps in battery manufacturing.

Local, state and federal government officials and industry partners toured the Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (BEACONS) 15,000-square-foot facility at an April 23 event. The BEACONS facility is designed to facilitate the development and commercialization of new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, and train workers for jobs in the energy storage industry. The U.S. Department of Defense provided a $30 million award to establish an energy storage systems campus at UT Dallas. This campus will leverage and stimulate over $200 million in private capital to accomplish the BEACONS mission.

“The opening of the BEACONS battery prototype and commercialization center marks a milestone in The University of Texas at Dallas’ initiative to advance battery technologies and develop the necessary workforce to meet industry and national security demands,” said Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, vice president for research and innovation, professor of bioengineering and co-principal investigator of BEACONS. “We look forward to working with industry partners to fast-track energy storage innovation.”

UT Dallas is collaborating with partners that include Associated Universities Inc. and LEAP Manufacturing, a consortium of energy storage companies working to develop and manufacture advanced battery technologies in the U.S. and with academic university partners.

The facility includes a 3,500-square-foot dry room, which is a lab kept at below 1% relative humidity (RH) — the measure of water vapor in the air — to protect moisture-sensitive materials and processes during battery manufacturing.

Other features include:

• A solid electrolyte room — a 400-square-foot specialized area for handling and processing solid materials that are used as electrolytes. The room is kept at below 0.25% RH to protect materials that are highly sensitive to humidity.
• Multiple flexible production lines to facilitate rapid development and testing of new battery technologies.
• Workspaces for training and industry collaboration.

Dr. Tom Campbell, co-founder of LEAP Manufacturing and a co-principal investigator for BEACONS, said the facility aims to provide hands-on learning experiences for students and to connect researchers and industry partners advancing energy storage technology for a range of applications.

“Today it’s not a finish line; however, it’s a starting point,” Campbell said. “This is about building, making and competing globally without relying on foreign supply chains.”