News

Ultracapacitors Supply Energy Recuperation, Power Assist in Hybrid Mining Shovel

September 10, 2013 by Jeff Shepard

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. announced today that it is supplying ultracapacitors to Caterpillar for a high-efficiency energy management system that supports Caterpillar's fuel-saving hydra-electric technology in the industry's largest-ever hydraulic mining shovel, the new Cat® 6120B H FS. The 1,400-ton shovel's innovative energy management system incorporates 98 of Maxwell's 125-volt ultracapacitor modules to efficiently absorb energy during brief shovel movements and rapidly deliver stored electrical energy on demand to supplement the main power system.

"Caterpillar's use of ultracapacitors to support this energy-saving technology in the mining industry is a further demonstration of the versatility of our products across an increasingly diverse spectrum of industrial and transportation applications," said David Schramm, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer.

Unlike batteries, which produce and store energy by means of a chemical reaction, Maxwell's ultracapacitor products store energy in an electric field. This electrostatic energy storage mechanism enables ultracapacitors to charge and discharge in as little as fractions of a second, perform normally over a broad temperature range (-40 to +65C), operate reliably up to one million or more charge/discharge cycles and resist shock and vibration. Maxwell offers ultracapacitor cells ranging in capacitance from one to 3,000 farads and multi-cell modules ranging from 16V to 125V.