Leading Innovation across the Energy Value Chain

“There is no single solution to the many challenges of future energy harvesting”
-Thierry Perchet, Huntsman

World energy consumption is forecast to triple by 2050 – never has the need to find a new source of power and energy been greater. New materials science must also rise to the challenges of the new era of energy and power generation.

Huntsman research and development teams in the US, Europe and China are looking at a range of creative and innovative solutions. Recently the company won a major award for two new resin systems for graphite composite fuel cells for large-scale production of automotive and stationary power applications, which will be available in late 2009/2010.

These fFuel cCells have been developed in partnership with GrafTech International holdings as part of a Department of Energy sponsored program. Since the conversion of fuel to energy takes place via an electrochemical process, the process is much cleaner, quieter and up to three times more efficient than burning fuel. 

Wind and sun
In the area of wind energy, Huntsman predicts that the market will continue to grow extremely rapidly over the next few years. The European Union has already made the implementation of wind energy a high priority, with the aim of generating 20 percent of annual energy production from renewable sources by 2020.

Likewise, the US is turning to wind energy, with an average growth of over 25 percent in the last two years. Since the start of modern wind energy technology, Huntsman has developed a range of adhesives for securing wind turbine blades. These include new generation nanotechnology materials based on truly submicron particles that can form bonds with dramatically improved fatigue resistance when compared to traditional solutions.

Solar heating and solar power, each with their own distinctive technologies, will also see a rapid increase in usage as we continue to seek alternative sources of energy. There will be a massive increase in solar power arrays to produce electricity from sunlight. In future, whole areas of roofing may have photovoltaic cells installed, producing a significant proportion of the energy for the building. Since 2002, the production of photovoltaic electricity has doubled every two years. This is an area of growth where Huntsman is actively working with partners in order to help to improve the efficiency and bring down the production costs of photovoltaic modules.

Transmission
Power transmission and distribution is another segment to which Huntsman has contributed with several innovative insulation materials: Araldite HCEP, a hydrophobic epoxy resin for outdoor insulators, has gained market share from ceramic insulation because it enables the manufacturer to produce lighter weight insulators that are water repellent. Insulators made of Araldite HCEP show better toughness, resulting in less damage, and they need less maintenance and provide high arc resistance.

Based on the market success of this new resin, Huntsman has developed a semi-flexible version: Araldite S-HCEP, which can be used as cost-effective housing material for composite insulators. It provides several technical advantages compared to liquid silicone rubber; for instance, it is resistant against bird and rodent attack. It has high tracking and erosion resistance and shows much less leakage of current in salt fog tests. It has currently been introduced into the worldwide T&D market.

Energy saving in lighting applications is another main trend in industry. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) will become the next generation of lighting. OLEDs are large, paper-thin, flexible and lightweight devices, consuming 70 percent less energy compared to current light bulbs and providing new opportunities for design and architectural integration. Huntsman is developing the important encapsulation materials and barrier layers for these devices.

There is no single solution to the many challenges of future energy harvesting, but we can anticipate multiple solutions such as wind, wave, fuel cells and solar cells to see large scale commercialization on a global basis. It is certain that these new technologies will demand new materials – a challenge that we are prepared to meet.

Thierry Perchet is Global Energy Marketing Manager, Huntsman Advanced Materials. He has over 25 years of experience in engineering and materials science in composites and adhesives, beginning with R&D and followed by sales and marketing. Perchet is now responsible for all Huntsman global marketing activities in wind power and electricity management.