WO2011005244A1 - Electric energy storage system (eess) - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical charging and discharging system comprising a DC electric current energy source, a computer controlled set of sensors and switches to direct current flow, and a plurality of arrays of capacitors which deliver energy to high capacitance, high dielectric strength storage capacitors which supply extremely high voltage outgoing energy through a distributor system for the longest possible time A first row of capacitors is charged in parallel until the capacitors reach the voltage level of the energy source Next these charged capacitors are connected in series to provide a combined higher charging voltage to a second row of capacitors connected in parallel for charging The process of charging in parallel and discharging in series is repeated as often and over as many rows as required to reach a target voltage at the storage capacitors

Description

SUMMARY

The invention deals with the storage of electric energy. This new concept for an Electric Energy Storage System (EESS) is designed to store electric energy using a system of capacitors. The capacitors should have large dielectric strength as well significant permittivity. The invention also solves the problem of reaching extremely high voltages. The capacitors will be charged using these high voltages which will be significantly higher than presently is possible. To achieve these high voltages, system of capacitors is specifically designed for that purpose are developed.

BACKGROUND

Present situation in the energy situation is becoming more and more precarious. Oil and other sources of the energy are getting more expensive and less available every day. The electric energy production is barely able to keep pace with the increasing demands. At the same time power plants (any type) are able to sell only a portion of the produced electric energy due to the fact that they are unable to store the excess energy produced but not sold. This discrepancy between produced and sold energy is due to the fact that they have to be able to provide adequate amount of energy at times of "brown" periods when their customers use maximal amount of the electric energy. Even with these reserves of the production, they often come in the situation that they cannot serve all their customers and "brown" periods are the result.

Steady growth of human population, accompanied by ever increasing levels of their activity, inevitably leads to the increased demands for and consumption of more and more energy. Our present energy producing capacities would be partially sufficient for foreseeable future if only the losses in our present mode of electric energy production and distribution can somehow be curtailed or minimized. One of the quick and obvious solution would be to develop the technology to efficiently store already produced electrical energy in existing power plants during the low demand periods and again release it in the peak demand periods.

In addition to this, manufacturing facilities experience significant losses due to the interruptions of the electric energy supplies. One of the quick and obvious ways in this direction would be to develop the technology to efficiently store already available electrical energy during the periods of lower demands, and use this stored energy in the peak demand periods.

Present day energy storage systems consist of two major modes of operation:

A. One, transformation of the already produced electrical energy into a different form of energy (static or kinetic) for storage, and transforming said stored energy back into the electrical energy ready for distribution. These are Pumped Hydro Storage, Compressed Air Storage System, Flywheels, to name a few, are out of the scope of this invention. All of those system save only a small percentage of the electric energy due to the loses in transformation of one energy from another (electric energy into mechanical one and back to the electric energy - savings are from low 6% to high 14%).

B. The other way is to store electric energy directly, without transforming it, ready for distribution. In this latter group, secondary batteries were given a lot of the attention by the industry due to their very high energy storage capacity and much higher energy inter-conversion efficiencies than the systems from the former group. Inherently slow electrochemical reactions, mass transfer not conforming to the speed of the electrochemical processes as well as very large amounts of stored chemicals, potential of hazardous chemical spills, are some of the familiar problems that the battery systems have to cope with as well. As an example of the problems with the second approach, after the RegenesysTM electrical energy storage system, using the electrochemical reaction between Na-tribromide and Na-polysulfide, reached a full commercial level and then, when multiple plants of 10 to 20-Mwh capacity were built, all further commercial activity and development was abruptly terminated and abandoned. The reasons for exiting, what initially appeared as a lucrative market, are related to serious safety and environmental concerns about storing rather large quantities of potentially harmful materials.

A. Introduction

Only DC electricity can be efficiently used for charging capacitors with large amounts of electric energy. This energy is stored as static electricity resulting in the lowest losses of energy from dissipation, from changing electromagnetic field, as well as from loses due to heat. Currents will flow only during charging and discharging of the capacitors. During the "dormant" phase the charged capacitors will stay essentially unchanged. Obviously, a small amount of energy will be inevitably dissipated but it is a negligible factor particularly when compared to energy losses using presently available storage systems and the use of the transformers in today's available system.

The essence of the present invention is in the design to use DC source of electric energy instead the AC source for charging the capacitors capable of being charged with very high levels of energy to maximize the energy density contained therein. The specific discussions of the capacitors we suggest to be used see in the second part of the presentation. Also, we patented several new capacitors likely to be used for that purpose.

However, to achieve this high energy density of the capacitors it is essential that high voltages are available for charging the capacitors in addition to the characteristics of the proposed new capacitors with very high permittivity and high dielectric strength which will be discussed later. As those skilled in the art will be aware, a linear increase of the applied voltage results in an exponential increase in the amount of the energy density within the capacitors.

Up to now raising the voltage of an electric current from a low voltage to a high voltage requires transformers. However, they are bulky, lose substantial energy due to strong secondary electromagnetic fields and associated heat. Failures are common due to the significant currents they are constantly handling when AC electricity is used.

The present invention utilizes only DC electricity for charging the capacitors. This enables us to transform the initial lower voltages into selected high voltages used in our storage system as is presented later. These voltages may be from thousands of volts to even millions of volts. The only limitation of the height of the voltage we are able to achieve in the present invention will be determined by the tolerances of the materials used for production of the capacitors (the level of voltage causing the so-called "aura" which is specific for each used material). These specific limits are at present unknown as there is no method to determine them because nobody has thus far used the present invention system to raise the voltages to these new high levels.

B. Components of EESS

Components of the System for charging and discharging new High Energy Capacitors:

I. Source of electric power (we do not produce the electric energy, we only store already . available electric energy) labeled as PS.

II. Capacitors:

a. Capacitors of the charging rows are: labeled from C1 - 1 through C1 - N through CN - 1 tO CN - N.

b. High Energy Density storage Capacitors CS or if more than one is part of the system then CS - 1 through CS - N.

c. Capacitors of the Discharge area:

aa. High capacitance capacitor(s), CH - 1 through CH - N.

bb. Low capacitance capacitor(s), CL - 1 through CL - N.

III. Switches:

a. Switches for charging the individual capacitors of the charging area: SP - 1 through SP - N (these switches may also charge individually each capacitor in the row, particularly if one or more capacitors fail). When more than one charging area are the part of EESS, the switches are labeled as SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N and the last one as SPN - 1 through SPN - N. As will be stated later, these switches will allow that all capacitors in the any charging row are possible to be charged at the same time as they are connected in-parallel.

b. Switches to connect the capacitors of any charging row to be connected in-series after any charging cycle is finished and able to release the power to the next superior charging row of capacitors in a significantly higher voltage than this previous charging row was charged at. These switches are labeled as SS - 1 to SS - N and if there is more than one charging area in EESS then SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N and the switches for the last charging row as SSN - 1 through SSN - N. When the charging from the previous "inferior" row of capacitors to the next "superior" is finished, this next superior row of capacitors is being switched from in-parallel type to in-series type of connections. At that point it is capable to charge either the next "superior" row of capacitors or the Storage capacitors. c. Switches connecting any charging row with the previous charging row of capacitors or with the source of power are labeled as S1 for the first charging row of capacitors to SN for the last charging row of capacitors.

d. Switch for connecting the last charging row of capacitors connected in series for charging the high-energy storage capacitor area, is labeled ST. When more than one Storage Capacitor is present, these Storage Capacitors may be charged also individually or as a group. The Storage capacitors are always connected in parallel. When more than one Storage Capacitors are used (STC - 1 through STC - N), the switches for charging each of them are labeled as S1ST through SNST.

e. Switches connecting the storage capacitor(s) area with the Distributor area are labeled SD. If it is selected that one of the storage capacitors discharges the electricity to the Distributor area while other are either being recharged or not used for charging the Distributor area, there may be separate switches for each of these storage capacitors, SD - 1 through SD - N.

f. Switches connecting appropriate low capacitance capacitors of the Distributor for proper release of adequate voltage to the user are labeled as SLC - 1 through SLC - N. Switches for connecting high capacitance capacitors of the Distributor for proper release of adequate voltage to the user are labeled as SHC - 1 through SHC - N.

g. Switches for connecting the Discharge area with the user SU.

h. Switches for exclusion of any specific capacitor in any charging row are labeled SB - 1 to SB - N or when more than one charging area exists then SB1 - 1 through SB1 - N for the first capacitors. They will be mostly used when any capacitors is found to be malfunctioning and charging row of capacitors through SBN - 1 to SBN - N for the last charging row of this is detected by the computer when the capacitors are individually charged.

Most of the above described switches may be designed as static switches operated by the computer and dedicated for each capacitor and specific functions. They also may be designed that the same system of switches serves successfully several rows of capacitors as stated before and as per needs of the function of EESS. This switching system may be used in more than one row of capacitors thus reducing the overall cost of the system. One has to assume that new and more sophisticated switches will be available as the new technology is developing.

IV. Sensors:

a. Voltmeters and ampermeters.

b. Electric current sensors.

V. Computers with Appropriate Software for Controlling the Operation of the System

C. Composite Parts of EESS a. Outside source of electric power. EESS does not produce electricity - it only stores the electricity provided from outside sources (PS) be they commercial power plants, generators, or any other source available to us. Thus, if the provided source is not in the DC form, it has to be first transformed in such mode to be used in EESS. This part also shares the switch S or S1 (if more than one charging area exists).

b. Charging areas of EESS. This section of EESS is composed of row of capacitors C - 1 through C - N or if more than one charging area is present, then C1 - 1 through C1 - N to CN - 1 through CN - 1 to CN - N. This area shares the switch S with the outside source of electricity or if more than one charging areas exist, the next row of capacitors is always charged from the previous one, then these are labeled S2 through SN. Charging areas also has two kind of switches - one type for connecting the capacitors in-parallel mode (SP - 1 to SP - N or when more than one charging areas exist then SP1 - 1 to SP1 - N through SPN - 1 to SPN - N), and the other to connect the capacitors in-series, SS - 1 to SS - N, or when more than one charging areas exist then SS 1 - 1 to SS1 - N through SSN - 1 to SSN - N.

In addition to these switches, there is another set of switches labeled as SB - 1 to SB - N or if more than one charging area exist then SB1 - 1 to SB - N through SBN - 1 to SBN - N which serve the purpose of exclusion of specific capacitors from any row of capacitors when they malfunction.

Each row of capacitors has sensors for detection of voltage levels, amperage, and for detection of flow of electricity in any particular part of these charging rows of capacitors. They are also managed by computers and switching system.

c. Storage Capacitors. These capacitors are high capacitance and high dielectric strength ones. They are labeled as CS or if more than one then CS1 through CSN. There may be one or more of these capacitors and they are always connected in-parallel. Due to the importance of high voltage for storing very high amount of electric energy, they may have to be rated from several thousand to several million of volts to be able to have absolutely the highest density of electric power stored. They share a switch with the last charging area (ST or STN) as well as one or more switches for connection with the Distributor area of EESS (SD or if a switch for connecting each individual storage capacitor with the Distributor is designed then SD1 through SDN). This way they may release the electricity from all storage capacitors concurrently or from a selected one at one time. The choice of this is a part of the computer software but a possibility that this may be changed by the users is also possible to be programmed.

d. Discharge area for Release of Electricity to User. Storage Capacitors will discharge the energy to the Discharge area through switches SD (or SD1 through SDN when individual storage capacitors CS1 through CSN are the part of EESS). Switches for connecting the set of low capacitance high voltage capacitors and high voltage low capacitance capacitors of the Discharge area (SLC - 1 through SLC - N and SHC - 1 through SHC - N) will be selected by the computer to release appropriate voltage electricity to the user. The capacitors of the Distributor area are connected in-series. This area has another set of switches for proper selection of adequate capacitors to discharge proper voltage of electricity to the user. When more than one voltage has to be released to the user at the same time, a second system of such capacitors may be a part of EESS.

Distributor system may be constructed in two or more different modules: When the discharge of electricity is in a pulse module and is required to be of a high voltage (the high voltage is usual for that system of discharge), this might be done even directly from the Storage capacitors.

Adequate serial connections of these capacitors will insure the maintenance a constant voltage needed for the users purposes. When more capacitors are used in the discharge area, each of the capacitors will be connected in-series with other ones and in-parallel with their source of electricity, which is the Storage capacitor(s).

As the voltage either rises or falls in the Storage Capacitors, computer shall select a proper connection setup of the capacitors of the Distributor part so that user is supplied with the appropriate voltage and has the energy flowing for the longest possible time. Computer software is programmed to release a constant voltage or very low fluctuating voltage electricity. Computer uses switching system that either opens or closes appropriate switches depending on the preset level of outgoing electricity and the available voltage of the incoming electricity from the storage area. It will either open or close specific switches to achieve the desired voltage level to be delivered to the user.

The computer with the appropriate software will control the operation of all switches in the Distributor set of the capacitors as will be done for all other switching functions. It will react on inputs from the user or, if preprogrammed for specific needs, will respond to these needs when specific condition occurs. It will receive impulses from the voltage and the electric flow sensors and will automatically cause that the appropriate opening or closing of the switches are done in the system.

Also, when the storage capacitors appear to be discharged to the lowest allowable level, the supply of the electricity will cease. Actually, when the level of energy approaches predetermined level that the ceasing of the supply will occur in certain time period, the user will be notified that the energy level approaches critical condition and the user will have to decide which action is to be taken (immediate charging of the EESS, if possible, or orderly shutting down the use of the electricity from EESS).

Also, if AC is required for the user, DC output will be transformed into AC mode and enable the user to operate.

D. Operations of EESS

The schematic of EESS is presented in the Fig. 1. This schematic has presented outside power source (PS), three charging rows of capacitors with individual capacitors (labeled as C1 - 1 through C3 - N), only one storage capacitor CS, and Distributor for discharge of electricity to the user with its low capacitance capacitors CL - 1 through CL - 2 and high capacitance capacitors CH - 1 through CH - 4.

Switches for connecting individual capacitors of the charging row in-parallel SP (SP1 - 1 through SPN - N), switches for connecting the individual capacitors of the charging rows in-series SS (SS 1 - 1 through SS3 - N). The switches for connecting the first charging row of capacitors with the outside power source S1 and connecting the second and third charging row of capacitors S2 and S3. Switch for connecting the last charging row of the capacitors with the storage capacitor is designated as ST.

The switch connecting the storage capacitor with the Distributor for release the electricity SD and switches for connecting various combination of low and high capacitance capacitor of the Distributor resulting in proper voltage necessary to the user are SLC and SHC depending on the number of such capacitors in particular design of EESS.

Switch for releasing the electricity to the user SU is shown but possible converter of DC electricity to AC ones is not shown.

There are important switches for exclusion of any particular capacitor from the system, most likely due to its malfunction and these switches are designated from SB1- 1 through SBN - N in this schematic.

In order to achieve the highest possible voltage for charging high energy storage capacitor(s), labeled in this schematic as CS, the present invention has several row of charging capacitors to raise this voltage. For example, if we use twenty capacitors in each row of the capacitors and start with 100 volts of electricity, the storage capacitors will be charges in our example with approximately 800,000 volts upon complete charging. This voltage will allow storage of enormous amount of energy in the storage capacitors. However, this voltage is possible to rise even further to several million volts, provided that appropriate materials are used for construction of the capacitors. Fig. 2. through Fig. 7. illustrate the operation of the system.

1. Step One. If EESS is completely empty at the beginning of the operation (using the presented schematic), switches S1 and SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N are closed and electricity starts charging the capacitor of the first charging row which are connected in-parallel (Fig. 2.). When they achieve full charge the switches S1 and all switches SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N are opened. They do not receive any more electricity at this time. Charging of the first row of capacitors is done in continuous fashion but repeatedly until the capacitors of the entire row reach the voltage of the outside source of electric power. At that point the switching of these capacitors is changed from in-parallel to become in-series type

2. Step Two. At the same time with opening these switches, switch S2, switches SP2- 1 through SP2 - N are closed and switches SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N are closed (Fig. 3.) and the first row of capacitors is connected in-series to the second row of capacitors connected in-parallel. The sum of combined voltages of the entire first row of the capacitors is discharged to each individual capacitor of the second charging row of capacitors. If we use the same example of initial 100 volts, the first row starts discharging the electricity starting with 2,000 volts in this example and even if it has enough power it will not rise the voltage in the second row immediately to full 2,000 volts (depending on the amount of power possible to charge this first row of capacitors) but even if this is not reached immediately, the voltage in the second charging row of capacitors will be rised significantly when compared with the capacitors of the first charging row. Thus, it may take several of these charges that the voltage is rised to full 2,000 volts or close to it. When the flow of electricity stops due to leveling the voltages in both rows of capacitors, the first one connected in-series and the second one in-parallel, then switch S2 and switches SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N are opened. The second and any other "senior" row of capacitors (including the storage capacitors) are charged in a pulls mode.

3. Step 3. Simultaneously with this part of operation, computer closes the switch S3 and also switches SS2 - 1 through SS2 - N and switches SP3 - 1 through SP3 - N (fig. 4.). If the capacitors of the second row are fully charged, the capacitors of the third row are started to be charged with the combined sum of the voltages of the second row of capacitors in the level of 40,000 volts It may take several additional charges that it is achieved this level of voltage but the results is certain that it will be done. When the flow of electricity stops due to leveling the voltages in both second and the third rows of capacitors, the second one connected in-series and the third one connected in-parallel, then switch S3 and the switches SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N are opened.

4. Step Four. Simultaneously with this part of operation, computer closes the switch ST and also switches SS3 - 1 through SS3 - N (Fig. 5.). If the capacitors of the third row are fully charged, the storage capacitors are started to be charged with the combined sum of the voltages of the third row of capacitors in the level of 800,000 volts It may take several additional charges that it achieves this level of voltage but the results is certain that it will be done. When the flow of electricity stops due to leveling the voltages in both third and the storage capacitors, the third one connected in-series and the storage capacitors which are always connected in-parallel if more than one storage capacitors are used, then switch ST is opened.

During these operations, charging of the first and second rows of the capacitors is proceeding as well. Depending on the available amount of outside electricity, these processes may take very short time, may be even milliseconds.

5. Step Five. When the storage capacitors are even partially charged but particularly when they are fully charged, if the user needs the electricity, switch SD is closed and computer will calculate the combination of low and high capacitance capacitors necessary for release of appropriate voltage to the user (Fig. 6.)- For that purpose, it has options of selecting appropriate switches SLC - through SLC - N and SHC - through SHC - N. When AC electricity is required, appropriate converter is added to EESS and these converters are readily available on the market.

When situation arise that a charging row is not possible to be fully charges when the capacitors are connected in-parallel, computer interrupts further charging of such row and starts charging individually each capacitor of such row (Fig. 8 through Fig. 16.). The steps for such condition are as follows:

1. Step One. If we presume that the problem is detected in the first charging row of capacitors (however, the same procedures are done for any other charging row of capacitors), all SP1 switches are opened except the first switch SP1 - 1. Switch S1 is closed allowing the electricity from the outside source to flow only to the first capacitor of the first charging row of the capacitors. When this is fully charged with the voltage level provided by the outside source of power, SP1 - 1 is opened and switch SP1 - 2 is closed. This is repeated until the last capacitor of the first row is fully charged or computer detects the one capacitor which can't be charged, thus detects the malfunctioning unit. In the Fig. 8. through Fig. 14. we selected to present that capacitor #2 in the first row is malfunctioning. At this point all SP1 switches are closed except for SP1 - 2 and charging is again started. When there is not malfunction detected the next step is initiated.

Step Two. Upon detection of such capacitor, switch SB1 - 2 is activated and the capacitor C1 - 2 is excluded from any further charging. EESS software may then start charging second charging row of capacitors with the sum of combined voltage of all capacitors of this row minus one which is excluded from any further function. After that is determined, until EESS is serviced and such capacitors are replaced, this row of capacitors functions normally except for this one malfunctioning capacitor. The computer manages the function of EESS and it is determined upon two conditions of the system detected by the sensors:

1. Whether the voltages in the specific rows of the capacitors are reached as is designed by this particular part of EESS.

2. Presence or absence of the flow of electricity from one charging area to the next one (which is the function of equilibrium of the voltages between two individual rows of capacitors).

When the voltages of each of the capacitors in each row are reached as per maximum voltages designed for this row of capacitors, including the Storage Capacitors, no more charging is done. However, if the capacitors, be they in the first charging row, any additional rows of the capacitors, or in the storage Capacitors, exhibits lower voltage than the system is designed for, further charges are automatically done (unless there is no available outside source of electricity). The described actions are determined by the computer software and are happening in the fractions of second depending on the amount of available electricity.

CAPACITORS BACKGROUND

Capacitors are the most efficient in storing electricity. The reasons for this statement are:

1. They are charged (and discharged) by laws of physics and do not depend on electro-chemical reactions and consequently delays as batteries do.

2. The speed of charging and discharging depends on

a. Conductive abilities of the systems for delivery of electricity (wires, superconductors, etc.), b. The electromagnetic field is constant and not fluctuating when DC is used as opposed to the fast changing of the electromagnetic field as present in AC case, thus further reducing losses of the energy in this situation.

c. On the amount of the available electricity from the power source,

d. Charging and discharging of the electric energy is possible to calculate very accurately to further diminish losses of the energy in these processes.

Plate capacitors and supercapacitors store electric energy electrostatically by polarizing dielectric material between plate electrodes or by polarizing an electrolytic solution, respectively. There are no chemical reactions involved in either type storage of energy in the capacitors mechanism and charge-discharge cycles are fast and highly reversible, allowing for capacitors to have a long life under repeated and prolonged use.

Though supercapacitors may, and probably will, also find a place in our voltage cascading arrays, the subject of this invention is primarily concerned with plate capacitors, where high voltage is used to pack large amounts of energy for storage, according to the equation: E= CV², where E is Energy (in joules), C is capacitance (in farads) and V is electrical potential between plate electrodes (in volts). Consequently, every time the voltage is doubled, the amount of energy stored is quadrupled.

Thus, the simplest device for storing electric charge is a capacitor, which consists of two conductor plates, each storing the opposite charges, separated by an insulator or dielectric. A variety of parameters influence the respective capacity, that is, a measure of the amount of energy that can be condensed between the electrodes of a capacitor. The following are some of these parameters:

a. The effectiveness of dielectric properties of the used materials determines how much charge a capacitor is able to store and it depends on the material the dielectric is made of. The ratio of the electric field strength in a vacuum (E₀) to that with a dielectric medium (E) is called the relative permittivity (E₁) or better known by previously used term, dielectric constant (K).

E(or K)=E₎/E, where E₀SE E(or K)~_1

b) The capacitance (C) of a capacitor is a measure of how much potential (V in volts)

appears across the plates for a given charge (Q):

C=QA/

If a charge (Q) of 1 coulomb causes a potential of I volt across the plates, then the capacitance (C) is I farad (F). Based on relative permittivity (E₁), the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor can be derived as:

C=E₀E, AJD A=surface area of the plate

D=distance between plates

c) The energy stored in a charged capacitor (in joules) is given by:

E='hCV²

From the above equation it follows that a total amount of energy stored is proportional to the square of the potential across the plates.

d) An extremely important property of dielectric materials, used in capacitors, is the dielectric strength, defined as a maximum potential gradient that material can withstand without breakdown. Practically, the dielectric strength is reported as the breakdown voltage, divided by the distance between electrodes, separated by the dielectric. If the voltage across a dielectric insulator becomes too high, the intensity of the electric field may cause sudden collapse of the dielectric medium, i.e. dielectric breakdown (corona) takes effect.

e) The inefficiency of an insulating material under ac conditions is measured by a dissipation factor (a), defined as a degree of dielectric loss, due to a dissipation of energy in the form of heat.

f) The voltage across the plates of a capacitor changes during charging and discharging, resulting in electrical current (i), where:

i=Cdv/dt

g) Dealing with capacitors that store huge amounts of energy may inevitably involve problems of extremely high electric currents. Super conductive materials are therefore considered logical for construction of large capacitative devices, since extremely low or no resistance at all, will prevent energy losses.

All of the elements listed above have to be rigorously taken into account when building a capacitor, especially one that is intended for the storage of huge amounts of electrical charge, such as found in applications for power plants: storing excess energy during low demand periods, and later supplying the grid at critical times of a high demand. In short, storing energy that at present time is simply wasted, dissipated as heat and never used for anything, would become possible, if only suitable and reliable capacitors can be built.

It is evident that merely twenty years ago the material science plainly did not exists at the level necessary to provide materials required for building powerful capacitors economically on a large scale. Only expensive capacitor devices, used mainly in high energy physics applications, were available when we first conceived the idea of large scale capacitative energy storage system. The real quantum leap in material science, related to electrotechnical field, occurred with the discovery of "high" temperature superconductive copper based oxides. These oxides belong to a large family of materials, with crystal structures related minerals named perovskites. At room temperature these copper containing oxides are insulators, but when cooled down to liquid nitrogen temperatures (80 to 120 K) such insulators at some point become superconductive. This important discovery triggered an intense research and development in material science. Especially captivating results were related to structure and fascinating properties of perovskites, leading several years later to the discovery of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) found in some manganese based oxides. Most recently certain titanium based oxides with perovskite structure, exhibited giant dielectric permitivities never before observed.

In addition to novel inorganic, mineral materials, a number of new organic materials have come on stream, with diverse properties ranging from very low to high conductivities, high polarizabilities (resulting in high dielectric permittivity), high dielectric strength and so on. Soon, a quest to build a very high capacity device is going to become a reality; thanks to new materials it is going to be possible to condense extremely large amounts of electrical charge into rather small volume of space.

In summary, the effectiveness of a capacitor is contingent on parameters a) to g) listed above, first, as it pertains to properties of the dielectric material, and second pertaining to the design and geometry of basic elements of a capacitor:

A) Function of Properties of Dielectric Materials - the capacitance (C) is directly proportional to relative permittivity (E₁):

C=Eo'E,A/D

the energy stored (in Joules) in a charged capacitor, with capacitance (C), is directly proportional to the square of potential (V) in volts, between the electrode plates:

E=/ CV² dielectric strength (maximum potential between plates that dielectric material can withstand without breakdown)

B) Function of Design and Geometry capacitance (C) is directly proportional to the surface area of the plates;

Capacitance is inversely proportional to the distance (D) between the conductive plates, enclosing a dielectric material between them.

To build a capacitor capable of storing enormous quantities of electrical energy, as envisioned in our accompanying invention, one has to utilize the latest achievements in material science and theoretical understanding of how a Y design and geometry may optimize the effectiveness of these, state of the art materials and their composites.

An exemplary capacitor will be constructed of materials that show maximum performance for each basic element of a capacitor: material displaying giant dielectric permittivity will be used as dielectric, high temperature superconductors will be considered as electrode plates material, materials displaying colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) and ultra low conductivity materials can serve as components of composites displaying very high dielectric strength properties.

Materials with properties as listed above would then allow optimal geometric configuration, such as the smallest possible distance between plates on account of high dielectric strength. Consequently, high capacitance and high potential will result, with no random dielectric breakdown occurring.

Obviously, a number of compromises will have to be considered. First that comes to mind is a price: any new, qualitative leap in development is going to carry a significant price tag in the initial phase, but when large scale production comes on stream the cost will cease to be a factor, especially considering the benefits. Dielectric Materials

Lately, great advances in new materials with enormously high polarizabilities have been disclosed in the literature. The discoveries were made in both, inorganic and organic materials: either type displays an extremely high dielectric permittivity, a property of a material that determines its ability to become electrically polarized.

As an example of inorganic materials with giant dielectric permittivity, a perovskite related oxide containing calcium (Ca), copper (Cu), titanium (Ti) and oxygen (0) with the formula

CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ displays a dielectric permittivity in excess of 80,000.

In addition to this, unlike most dielectric materials, this oxide retains high dielectric permittivity over a wide range of temperatures, from 100 K to 600 K (-173° C. to 327° C). However, below 100 K or so, a dramatic reduction in dielectric permittivity (about 100 fold) was measured.

On the other hand, and very unexpectedly, no detectable changes in long range crystallographic structure were observed. The temperature dependent reflectance measurements over a wide range of frequencies (20-23,000 cm^"') displaying sharp features at low frequencies due to active infrared lattice vibrations, revealed an anomalous gain in oscillator strength with decreasing frequency and, more importantly, with decreasing temperature. The current hypothesis attributes the giant dielectric phenomenon to an integral barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) effect, manifested by the discrete semiconductive regions, separated by insulating barriers. The anomalous and dramatic reduction of dielectric permittivity at low temperatures suggests a semiconductor-insulator (Sl) transition, thereby effectively terminating the IBLC effect.

Among the highly conjugated cyclic organic compounds and their complexes with metals, one cyclic metallothalocyanine (MtPc) oligomer, with copper as a metal, displayed a dielectric permittivity as high as 10⁵; (Huang, C; Zhang, Q. M; deBotton, G.; Bhattacharya, K. PACS No. 77.04.-s, 77.65.-j 77.84.Lf, 77.84.Jd).

Also, a large number of organic materials for non-linear optics (NLO) applications have been reported in the literature. A common property they all posses is a large polarizability. As a consequence, high polarizability should affect and, in significant measure, augment their dielectric permitivities. By designing novel oligomeric and polymeric NLO molecules, new organic compounds endowed with very high dielectric permittivities become feasible, hence, applicable as dielectric materials in capacitor designs.

Insulating Materials

Electrical insulator is a medium or a material which permits only a small, negligible current to flow through when voltage is applied across. The term "dielectric" is often synonymous with the term "insulator".

Since air has C-, =l, the latest in low x materials usually contain micro- or nano-voids filled with air. It was shown (by IBM) that dielectric permittivity of silicon dioxide, SiO₂, (E=4) can be lowered by generating pores filled with air, in the interior of a thin film cast from a solution of a polysiloxane precursor containing a porogen. After ramping up the temperature, the film was calcined, resulting in SiO₂ coating with E=2.7-2.8.

Mesoporous silica films with pores aligned parallel with the surface of the substrate were fabricated by nano-phase transition of an organic-inorganic nanocomposite under vapor infiltration of tetraethoxy (TEOS) or tetramethoxy (TMOS) silane. If such mesoporous silica would be used in construction of a capacitor, the pores would be oriented orthogonally to the electric field, thereby effectively decreasing the permittivity of the film (SiO₂, E=4, air E=I).

Organic polymeric films with low permittivities, like parylene, are also candidates for use as insulators. Analogously to the case of organic oxide materials, the presence of micro voids filled with air in a film can also significantly lower E. When used in capacitors, the polymeric material is used in the form of a thin film, orthogonally to the electric field. Hence, the permittivity in the lateral direction is of no concern. But, if the airs filled voids have a shape of a flattened sphere parallel to the surface, much larger surface area of low conductivity would be orthogonal to the field direction. By biaxially drawing a stretchable polymeric film, containing microvoids filled with air, the effective E, of the film was shown to be some 30% lower than the value of C_-^" for respective film-forming polymer. Methods for introducing microvoids into polymeric material films were rather active field of development in the early 1970-ties. Microvoids with diameters matching the wavelengths of visible light were used for opacifying purpose in coatings, mainly as substitute for solid opacifiers, like TiO₂. A number of methods for producing microvoid structures were developed: freeze drying, extraction, phase or solvent incompatibility, imperfect packing, etc. Some of these methods could be applied today to form air occlusions in stretchable polymeric materials with low values of E₁. Subsequent biaxial stretching process would result in voids, shaped as flattened spheres, thus reducing even further the respective E₁.

In 1993 for the first time it was reported that certain manganese oxides showed an enormous change in dielectric resistivity when a magnetic field was applied. The effect observed in these oxides-the manganese perovskites-was named "colossal magneto-resistance" (CMR), i.e. a small change in an applied magnetic field dramatically changes the electric resistance of the material. Perovskite manganites have a general formula:

R_tA_MMnO₃ where R=La, Pr, or Nd, ACa, Sr, Ba, or Pb. Conduction in these materials is explained by the "double exchange" mechanism, where the conductivity results from the process of electron hopping back and forth between neighboring Mn ion. This process is at maximum when V magnetic moments of Mn ions are aligned parallel and at minimum when they are anti-parallel. Hence, when ferromagnetic, these materials are conductive, and when antiferromagnetic they display an insulating behavior. Such transition is a function of temperature and some recent publications show that conduction in these materials is predominantly O₂ hole-driven. In spite of a large number of scientific studies, resulting in better understanding of mechanisms playing a role in an onset of CMR, applications of this phenomenon have not yet kept up with the pace of the research efforts.

Nonmetallic Conductive Materials

Those materials like polypyrols, polythiophenes etc., are doped in order to interrupt the conjugation and become electron-conductive materials. For more than one reason, polyaniline doped with sulfonic acids, thereby converted into metallic-like conducting polymer ("emeraldin"), is a conductor of choice: low cost, simple preparation, easy incorporation into the electric devices, light weight compared to metals, and high, metal-like electron conductivity, give it an edge over other polymeric conductors. A recent report describes them as very conductive.

When certain conjugated organic polymers like polyanilines, and flexible, stretchable polyaniline films doped with sulfosuccinic acid esters. Such stretchable polymeric conductor coupled with stretchable insulating polymers, containing air-filled microvoids, mentioned earlier, would result in a dad-like material that can be biaxially stretched into a film applicable for capacitor building: a conductive film enclosed in a g barrier, with an increased dielectric strength and resistance against voltage breakdowns. Among the inorganic, non-metallic conductors by far the most fascinating and intriguing are the high temperature superconductors.

The theoretical understanding of superconductivity is extremely complicated, as it should be, for a material that at some point on the temperature scale completely lose their resistance and begin to conduct electricity with no loss of energy. In the case of metals with normal conductive state becoming superconductors at the liquid helium temperatures (boiling point: 4.2 K or -268.9° C), at the present time there is rather good theoretical understanding of the physics behind the phenomenon. According to the BCS Theory (Bardeen, Cooper, Schrieffer), atomic lattice vibrations (phonons) alter the flow of electrons in such a way that they start moving in coherent pairs (Cooper pairs) through the conductive material. Under the influence of phonons, the electrons are screened and separated by some distance. When the first electron of a Cooper pair passes by a positive ion in the crystal lattice, the mutual attraction of the opposite charges causes vibration (phonon emission) to pass from ion to ion, until the other electron of the pair absorbs the vibration (phonon absorption). It is this exchange that keeps the Cooper pairs together. Since electrons are indistinguishable particles, the pairs are constantly forming and breaking and only for the sake of illustration the concept of permanently paired electrons is used. When atoms of a crystal lattice oscillate as positive and negative regions, electrons, despite having the same charge, are pulled together in pairs and then pushed apart without undergoing a collision.

As long as the temperature is very low, the existence of Cooper pairs is not disturbed by weak molecular motions. Above a certain temperature-critical temperature (T,)-the vibrations in the lattice become violent enough to break up the pairs, hence loss of superconductivity.

Bellow the T, the resistivity is exactly zero and there is no loss of electrical energy.

Therefore the superconductors are capable of carrying very large currents, as opposed to normal conductors. However, there is a maximum current that can pass through a superconductor:

when the amount of current exceeds the limit-Critical Current Density (J,)value, the material ceases to be superconductive and it reverts to the normal state.

If a superconductor is placed into a magnetic field (H), the field will be "pushed" out of the material and it will remain on the outside, around the superconductor as long as the temperature is below Tj. The reason for this phenomenon is that a magnetic field induces surface current in the superconductor, which in turn creates a magnetic field exactly opposite to the incident field. The superconductor thereby becomes perfectly diamagnetic, keeping all of the magnetic flux outside of its interior. This magnetic exclusion is the cause of the Meisner Effect, which is actually a demonstration, where a small permanent magnet levitates above a superconductor. Depending on the strength of the magnet and the temperature the field H may eventually begin to penetrate the superconductive material, resulting in nonsuperconducting regions. At a given temperature when a strong enough magnetic field is reached, the superconductivity reverts to a normal state. This is known as the Critical Magnetic Field (H.).

There are two types of superconductors, Type I and Type II. Very pure metals like lead, mercury and tin are examples of Type I superconductors. Type II, the high temperature superconductors, are represented by rare earth copper oxide materials, belonging to a class known as perovskites, which in the normal state display mechanical and physical properties of ceramics. The key elements to the behavior of these materials is the presence of layered CuO₂ planes, with Cu atoms forming a square lattice and 0 atoms formed between each nearest-neighbor pair of Cu atoms.

Most ceramic materials are considered good electrical insulators. YBCO compounds, also known as 1-2-3 compounds, are very sensitive to oxygen content. (Y Ytrium, B=Barium, C=Copper, O=Oxygen). In fact, the material with the formula YBa₂Cu₃O, can go from a semiconductor to a superconductor, YBa₂Cu₃O, without losing its crystalline structure.

The rest of the atoms, rare earth atoms (Y), dopants and excess Cu and O, lie in charge reservoir layers, separating the CuO₂ layers. These charge reservoir layers control the oxidation state of the planar copper ions, which is either Cu^e+ CfCu³+. The Cu^e; ion has a single unpaired 3d electron (spin ¹/2), while in Cu" state all 3d valance electrons are paired.

"High" temperature superconductors are formed when "undoped parent compound", with properties of insulative antiferromagnetic material, is "doped with holes". In an undoped state all of the planar coppers are in the Cu^e+ state, with one unpaired spin per site. The unpaired spins arrange themselves into the antiferromagnetic order, where neighboring spins are antiparallel. The insulating character is mostly the result of a high-energy cost of putting the extra electrons ("double occupancy") on Cu atoms. Removing electrons or adding holes to these materials destabilizes antiferromagnetic order and relieves the electronic congestion, transforming thereby insulators into conductors.

Often times phase diagrams are used to keep track of these large qualitative changes in properties, by subtle changes in chemical composition the solid lines are phase boundaries.

Type I superconductors have values of critical field strength (H_e,) too low to be very useful (pure lead: H, 800 gaus). Type Il materials, on the other hand, have much larger critical field strengths that can measure up to tens of tesla units (1 tesla T= 10⁴ gaus). YBCO superconductors have values for H₀₂ for instance, as high as 100 T (10⁶ gaus).

The superconducting state is determined by three equally important factors:

1. Critical temperature (T₁); 2. Critical field (H.);

3. Critical current density (J_r).

All of these parameters are very much interdependent on the other two critical values present. In order to maintain the superconductive state all three parameters are required to stay below their critical values, all of which depends on given material.

Design of Capacitors

In order to build capacitors capable of storing high amounts of energy, one must start with the best components material science and solid state physics have to offer. The price is secondary when proof of concept is the goal; the economy of scale will eventually take care of the price problem.

We envision two basic approaches to designing a capacitor using the same materials but arranging them in different geometrical configurations:

a. Percolative composite material.

b. Layer-by-layer deposition of high dielectric permittivity materials, interspersed with a multi-layer, tile like, flat film materials possessing a high dielectric strength.

a) Percolative Composite Material.

Properties of random systems composed of different materials are determined by the spatial distribution of the system components, especially when the system is near a critical point and is about to begin a structural phase transition. Specifically, the mathematical model deals either with site percolation or bond percolation.

Cluster is a set of occupied sites mutually connected. Spanning cluster has an element at two opposite edges of the site matrix.

p is occupation probability.

p. is critical site occupation probability.

At p<p,, spanning clusters never occur.

At p>p,, spanning clusters always occur.

p=p is a critical point where a qualitative transition in behavior of a system occurs: typically, between ordered and disordered states. In our case the transition is from no spanning clusters to always spanning.

Since the amount of energy stored in a capacitor is directly proportional to the voltage squared (EE=¹/2 CV)₁ the dielectric strength plays a crucial role in determining the final efficiency of a capacitor. In a percolative composite approach [C. Huang, Q. M. Zhang, F. Xia, Q. Wang, J. Su-Polymer Preprints, 2003, 44 (2) 363], both dielectric permittivity and breakdown voltage were significantly increased. Also, it was found that if a composite contains metal particles coated with an insulator, at a concentration f, close to the point of percolation, there is a marked increase in dielectric permittivity of the composite. Compared with the approach of high dielectric permittivity particles (dielectrics) dispersion in a polymer matrix, the percolative composite method requires much lower volume of the filler in order to raise the permittivity substantially above that of a matrix. Another huge benefit is that these composites can withstand a relatively high breakdown field even at compositions near the percolation threshold.

Syntheses of insulated metal nanoclusters have been reported in the recent literature. Various metals (Ni, Co, Cd₁ noble metals, etc.) were dispersed and stabilized in the form of nanoclusters and stabilized in the form of nanoclusters and subsequently coated with insulating molecules (E. Tena et al., Chem. Mat, 2003, 15, 1607-1611 ; D. Kim, et al., Chem. Mat., 2003, 15, 1617-1627-are just a couple of examples).

Relatively simple preparation of metal nanoclusters by reduction of respective salts and their subsequent stabilization with, e.g., Na-Oleate, results in an insulated metal nanocluster, that can then be used in building a percolative composite material with high dielectric permittivity and dielectric strength.

Instead of metals, a fine dispersion of polymers possessing a metallic conductivity, encapsulated with polymers of low permittivity, will result also in useful material for building capacitors by a percolative composite method.

Yet another approach that will be applicable for metal cluster dispersion formation in solid insulators, such as AI₂O₃, SiO₂, HfO₂, etc., is self-assembly of mesoporous metal-metal oxide templated solid solutions (A. Ozin and coworkers, JACS 2000, 122 (37), 8932-8939). A self-assembly of anionic yttrium-zirconium glycolate with metallic salts or complexes such as nickel chloride, nitrate or acetate, hexachloroplatinate, etc., led to formation of mesoporous platinum- or nickel-yttria-stabilized-zirconia material. On calcination at 600° C. the organics are lost and metal-yttriastabilized-zirconia mesoporous material was obtained as a result. Such an approach may turn to be a general way to synthesize metal-metal oxide composites for use in capacitors.

Another innovative method of making percolative nanocomposites described by the same group [G. A. Ozin et al., JACS 2003, 125 (17) p. 5161-5175] features a one-pot, soft chemistry, surfactant-assisted co-assembly to obtain La^Srx.MnOa (LSM)/Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ) nano composites. The material possesses sub-hundred nanometer grain sizes for each phase. The method utilizes co-assembly of aqueous-based precursors of each component which are at the end incorporated into the nanocomposite in a single synthetic step. As synthesized, the product is an amorphous mesostructured organic/inorganic composite, which is then transformed into a mesoporous inorganic oxide with nanocrystalline YSZ walls upon calcination at 450° C. Further calcination above 600° C. led to collapse of the mesopores, followed by crystallization, resulting in final perovskite phase at temperatures above 1 ,000° C.

This method which uses no preformed composite component particles, may be of general interest, especially in the case of dielectrics synthesis for building capacitors. A one-pot synthetic route is potentially very relevant: no need for two separate synthesis and high temperature calcination steps, hence low energy and time cost. The ratios of the components of the nanocomposite may be adjusted at the beginning of the synthesis to correspond to the values of percolation threshold.

And finally, the same approach may also be relevant in synthesis of superconductor/ /colossal magnetoresistance material (CMR) percolation composites, which we propose to be used as dielectrics for building high energy capacitors. The other proposal is to make electrode plates of capacitors from the same or similar high temperature superconductive material. The advantage of electrodes being superconductive is obvious, since there is no resistance when such capacitors have to endure very high electric currents during charge/discharge cycles. The methods of forming superconductive films are already known in the art, and they, among the others, are selected from reactive co-evaporation, off-axis sputtering, MBE (molecular beam epitaxy), CVD (chemical vapor deposition), laser ablation, etc.

The proposal of making superconductor/CMR composites for dielectrics is not as obvious. Earlier in the text we have described giant dielectric permittivity materials and mentioned that their high permittivity values are practically constant in the 100-600 K region. Unfortunately, their E of close to 10⁵ is reduced 100-fold below cca 100 K. C. C. Homes et al. (arXiv:cond-mat/ /0209367 Vl 16 Sep. 2002) rationalize this phenomenon as semiconductor-to-insulator (Sl) transition, leading to expansion of the insulating domains and commensurate reduction of E. This phenomenon severely limits applicability of giant dielectric materials in construction of superconductive capacitors. But we still propose the use of these giant e materials with newly discovered high temperature superconductors; with T. values of over 120 K₁ still sufficiently higher than 100 K (Sl-transition).

On the other hand, the proposed composite embodying nanoclusters of a superconductive Cu oxide perovskite material dispersed within a CMR (Colossal magnetoresistance material) phase, at below the percolation threshold concentration, would maintain a structure that will exhibit internal barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) effect way below 100 K temperatures. At these conditions, say below 90 K, superconductivity would be fully developed and CMR materials would act as insulators.

It is the transition phase above the CMR transition critical temperature that is most intriguing and interesting, where extremely powerful magnetic fields around superconductive nanoparticles exist, and which in turn affect colossal magnetoresistance of surrounding material. These phenomena are quite unexplored but taken together they may lead to unexpected properties and behavior of materials: a percolative composite comprising nanoparticles (from 1-10 nanometers) of CMR (Colossal Magneto Resistance) and HSC (High temperature Super Conductors), materials, respectively, may exhibit extremely high E₁. (relative permittivity) and dielectric strength, to mention a few. Syntheses of metal nanoclusters are numerous in the literature. Synthesis of nano sized metal oxides have also been described in the literature (Pozniak, S. K.; Kokorin, A. I.: Kulak, A. I. Electroaanl. Chem. 1998, 442, p. 99 and Shchukin, D. G.; Caruso, R. A. Chem. Mat. 2004, 16, p. 2287). Equally intriguing and, so far, hardly at all experimentally verified, is the answer to a question: what happens when a fully charged high-energy superconductive capacitor is brought to a temperature higher than the respective T, of the material. It is already evident that perovskite materials undergo very little, if at all, structural changes during these transitions. Only the electrons and crystal lattice elements interact exclusively in this process. The laws of quantum mechanics govern the energy transfers. How such an energy-packed system may revert to a ground state is an interesting question. Are there some quantum mechanically forbidden pathways for reverting to the beginning state (not unlike photo and thermal pathways in pericyclic reactions in organic chemistry)? What kind of material would that turn into, with all that polarization of electronic cloud and no conductors in site to convey it? Would it become a supercapacitor again if cooled down in the liquid N₂? Or, more logically, how catastrophic a release of all that energy will be, if none of the above holds? If any of these hypothetical cases materialize, the outcome would be extremely interesting from a purely theoretical, to a definitively practical point of view: from having a safe energy-storage system, if polarization is maintained, to a very sensitive and safety burden storage system, if a catastrophic reversion to the starting state is a consequence of a sudden loss of cooling provision.

Brief Description of Drawings:

Fig. 1 : General schematic of the system. Switch for connecting the system with the outside source of power is labeled as PS. Capacitors of the Charging areas are labeled as C (C1 - 1 through C1- N, C2 - 1 through C2 - N, C3 - 1 through C3 - N) and in this schematic only one capacitor from each row is specifically labeled - C1 - 1 , C2 - 1 and C3 - 1). Storage Capacitor is labeled as CS. High capacitance capacitors of the Discharge area are labeled as CH (in this schematics there are four of them). Low capacitance capacitors of the Discharge area are labeled as CL (in this schematics there are two of them). Switches for the connections of the capacitors in-parallel for the charging areas are labeled as SP (there are several of them and will be specifically labeled as SP1 -1 through SP1 - N₁ SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N and SP3 - 1 through SP3 - N respectively). Switches for the connections of the capacitors in-series for the charging areas are labeled as SS (again there are several of them which will be labeled as SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N₁ SS2 - 1 through SS2 - N and SS3 - 1 through SS3 - N correspondingly). Switches connecting charging areas with their particular source of electricity (outside source of power or with the previous charging area) are labeled as S1 , S2, and S3 respectively. Switch for connecting the last charging area with the storage capacitor is labeled as ST. Switch for connecting the storage capacitors with the discharge area is labeled as SD. Switches for exclusion of any malfunctioning capacitors of any charging area are labeled as SB (from SB1 - 1 through SB1 - N₁ SB2 - 1 through SB2 - N₁ SB3 - 1 through SB3 - N₁ respectively). Such switches for other capacitors of the storage and discharge area are not shown on this schematic but will be a part of the system. Switch for connecting the system with the user is labeled as SU. Certain parts of the system are not shown in the schematic like rectifiers, converters, sensors, etc. The following schematics of the operation of the system (Fig. 2. through Fig. 7.) will have shown the designation of only the active operational switches. Fig. 8. Through Fig. 16. presents in the similar manner the operation of the system when there is a malfunction of one of the capacitors. Fig.2 Charging of the capacitors of the first charging row. PS has available power and the switch is closed, S1 is closed and that results in charging of the entire first row of capacitors from C1 - through C1 - N because switches SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N are closed. All other switches are open. Fig.3. Upon completed charging of the first row of capacitors, switch S1 is opened thus disconnecting the system from the outside source of power, SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N are opened and switches SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N are closed creating that the first row of capacitors are connected in-series. Simultaneously S2 is closed and switches SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N are closed allowing that charges of the serially connected capacitors of the first row is discharged to the individual capacitors of the second row. The voltage of the charge from the first row of capacitors to the second row capacitors is the sum of voltages of the first row of the capacitors discharging into the individual capacitors of the second row of capacitors. Depending on the number of these capacitors in the first row, they discharge to the second row of capacitors electricity which is the sum of voltages of the first row of capacitors. Thus, e. g., if there are twenty capacitors in the first row and the outside source discharges the electricity with 110 volts, the second row of capacitors is charged initially with 2,200 volts. There may be several such charging that the capacitors of the second row develop full charging of 2,200 volts.

Fig 4. This drawing shows that capacitors of the second charging row received maximal charge available from the first row of capacitors and there is no more flow of electricity because the voltages are evened. Switching of the second row of capacitors is changed from in-parallel charging into in-series connections (switches SP2 are opened and switches SS2 - 1 through SS2 - N are closed resulting again that a sum of the voltage of the second row is discharging the power to the capacitors of the third row (if this is reached the maximum charging and again this row has again twenty capacitors, the discharged voltage of the entire row of capacitors into the second row will be the sum of 2,200 volts of each capacitor resulting in the maximum voltage of 44,000 volts). The capacitors of the third row are connected in-parallel. S3 switch id closed allowing the electricity to flow from the second row to the third row of capacitors. Also, switch S1 is again closed and capacitors of the first row are connected in-parallel (switches SP1 - 1 through SP1— N are closed) and are being again recharged from the outside source of power. Switches ST, SD, and SU are opened and no electricity flows in these areas.

Fig. 5. This schematic shows that second charging row is again being charged from the first one with the sum of voltages of the first row of capacitors (SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N closed). Switch S2 is closed for that reason as well as switches SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N are also closed allowing charging in-parallel this second row of capacitors. Switches SS3 - 1 through SS3 - N are closed connecting the capacitors of the third row to be connected in-series and switch ST is closed allowing the charging of the storage capacitors with the sum of voltages of the third row of capacitors. When, in time, the maximal charge is delivered to the storage capacitor and the starting voltage of the outside power source is, for example 100 volts and twenty capacitors are in each charging rows, maximal voltage in the storage capacitor may reach up to 800,000 volts, resulting in a very high density of energy of this whole system.

Fig 6. This schematic shows recharging the first row of capacitors from outside power source with the switches SP 1 - 1 through SP1 - N closed and S1 also closed. Second row of capacitors are charging the third row and SS2 - 1 through SS2 - N are closed. S3 is closed allowing the electricity to charge capacitors of the third row with switches SP3 - 1 through SP3 - N being closed. Due to the condition that previous charging of the storage capacitor results that it is releasing the electricity to the user and SD and SU are closed. The user is connected to the system and is supplied with power.

Fig. 7. This schematic shows that row two of the charging rows is charged from row one of capacitors (switches SP2 - 1 through SP2 - N and switches SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N are closed) as well as the storage capacitor is being charged from the third row of capacitors (switch ST closed, switches SS3 - 1 through SS3 - N also closed and switches). Also, user is supplied by electricity from the storage capacitor (switches SD and SU are closed).

Fig. 8. Next few schematics show the situation when one row of capacitors is not possible to be charged, most likely due to the malfunctioning one or more capacitors. We selected to show this situation using the first row of charging capacitors. After certain predetermined time when charging does not achieve appropriate voltage, computer stops using charging of this row of capacitors connected in-parallel (before the computer determines that there is such condition, S1 and SP1 - 1 through SP1 - N were closed). S1 switch stay closed during the entire procedure.

Fig. 9. After such determination is done by computer, S1 stays closed, and switches SP1 are being closed successively from the first to the last one. This particular schematic shows that

SP1 - 1 is closed and the rest are opened. When adequate charging is achieved, this switch SP1

- 1 will be opened,

Fig. 10. and switch SP1 - 2 is closed. In this presentation we selected to show that C1 - 2 is malfunctioning and can't be charged and after a predetermined time computer opens this switch and

Fig. 11. closes the next switch, SP1 - 3. When the third capacitor is fully charged SP1 - 3 is opened and

Fig. 12. the next switch SP1 - N-2 is closed. Again, when this capacitor is fully charged, the switch SP1 - N-2 is opened and

Fig. 13. Switch SP1 - N-1 is closed and when this capacitors is fully charged the switch

SP1 - N-1 is opened and

Fig. 14. the last switch for parallel charging, SP1 - N, is closed. When this last capacitor is fully charged, Fig. 15. computer closes all SP1 switches except for the SP1 - 2 which is determined to be malfunctioning and repeat the charging in-parallel this row of capacitors.

Fig. 16. Due. to the fact that it has information that C1 - 2 capacitors is malfunctioning, it engages SB1 - 2 to bypass this capacitor from further charging and closes switches SS1 - 1 through SS1 - N to connect the capacitors in-series for charging the second row of capacitors. This charging continues without the capacitor C1 - 2 and until it will be replaced, it will not be again used for charging of the system.

Claims

What is Claimed is:

1. An electrical charging and discharging system comprising: an electrical energy source, said energy source comprising direct current,

a plurality of arrays of capacitors, said capacitors being conductively connected together, in rows, in parallel and serial type of connections,

a first set of switches for connecting said arrays of capacitors with an outside source of electricity,

a second set of switches, one type for connecting said capacitors in-parallel mode and another type for connecting said capacitors in-series,

a third set of switches for excluding specific

malfunctioning capacitors from any row of capacitors,

each row of said capacitors having sensors for detecting voltage and amperage levels, and for detecting flow of

electricity in any particular part of charging rows of said capacitors, said sensors being managed by a computer and

switching system,

a plurality of storage capacitors, said storage capacitors having high capacitance and high dielectric strength, said storage capacitors sharing a switch with a last charging area as well as switches for connection with a distributor system, said distributor system having a plurality of different modules and as the voltage changes in said storage capacitors, said computer selects a proper connection setup of said capacitors of said distributor system thereby supplying the appropriate voltage and energy for the longest possible time.

2. An electrical charging and discharging system of

claim 1 wherein said computer selects a proper connection setup of said capacitors of said distributor part of said computer using a switching system that either opens or closes appropriate switches depending on the preset level of outgoing electricity and the available electricity from said storage area, thereby supplying the appropriate voltage and energy flow for the longest possible time.

3. An electrical charging and discharging system of

claim 1 wherein charging of the first row of capacitors is done by connecting said capacitors with said energy source in direct current form while the capacitors are connected in parallel and charged with continuous electricity in repeated times and each of said capacitors of a first row achieving the level of voltage of said energy source.

4. An electrical charging and discharging system of

claim 1 wherein additional charging rows of capacitors and storage capacitors are charged in a pulls mode from charging area where said capacitors are connected in-series, thus

resulting in reaching any voltage level required by a user without using transformers for that purpose, such high voltage only limited by the tolerance of the used materials for

construction of the capacitors, any row of said capacitors, when ready to charge the next superior row of capacitors, is then connected in-series thereby resulting in the sum of all capacitors in this particular row and releases the power to the next superior row of capacitors thereby resulting in

significantly higher voltage form than was present in the individual capacitors of the inferior row and when the capacitors of the newly charged row of capacitors are then connected in series, the new voltage to be delivered is significantly higher.

5. An electrical charging and discharging system of claim 1 wherein said storage capacitors are charged in pulls mode, every new pulls will raise the voltage in said storage capacitors until a peak is reached.

6. An electrical charging and discharging system of claim 1 wherein said capacitors are comprised of a dielectric interface layer of organic materials having very high dielectric permitivities comprising exclusively organic compounds,

consisting of a polymeric material possessing a high

polarizability and possessing high insulating, and high

dielectric strength incorporated into a percolative composite material able to be charged with enormous amounts of electric energy when high voltages are used for such charging.

7. An electrical charging and discharging system of claim 6 wherein said polymetric material is selected from the group of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon polymers, fluoro polymers, homo polymers/co-polymers, having linear/branched structures, one of said polymers being poly (vinylidene flouride trifluoroethylenechlorotrifluoroethylene ) terpolymer, and manganese oxide-based ceramic material having colossal magneto- resistance, whereby a strong magnetic field induces an extremely large electrical resistance in said material, whereby at

temperatures below 100 K the copper-based superconductive

material displays superconducting properties, including the expulsion of the magnetic field from the interior of

superconductive nanoparticles and manganese based nanoparticles gain an extremely high electrical resistance as a result of extremely high magnetic fields surrounding superconducting nanoparticles, thereby resulting in extremely high relative parmitivities and dielectric strength, thereby permitting that extremely high voltages are being used for charging as well as that superconducters decrease heat related dissipation of the energy.

8. The capacitors of claim 6 wherein high dielectric permitivity materials being deposited layer-by-layer and

interspersed with a multi-layer, tile-like, flat material

barriers that possess a high dielectric strength, said materials being strong insulators, said materials being good conductors comprising metals highly conductive organic polymers not mutually and conductively connected thereby being able to receive very high density of electric energy when charged with extremely high voltages.