Pilot Plant

We have designed a pilot plant capable of manufacturing our current collectors for use in lead acid batteries. We use reticulated vitreous carbon (“RVC”) plates to create current collectors for use in our proprietary lead acid batteries. RVC is an electrically conductive, highly porous, rigid, open cell, pure carbon, foam structure with a high melting point, high chemical inertness, and low bulk thermal conductivity. RVC has an exceptionally high void volume (97%), a high surface area combined with self supporting rigidity, low resistance to fluid flow, an ability to hold infused materials, and superior resistance to very high temperatures in non-oxidizing environments.

The manufacturing process to create a current collector will include manufacturing the RVC plates, casting a top frame and tab, bottom and side frames on the individual RVC plates, and depositing the lead tin alloy on the RVC plate by electroplating. Once this process has been completed, the individual plate is suitable for use as a current collector. We believe that the manufacturing process and machinery necessary for applying battery paste onto the individual RVC foam plate, curing the individual RVC foam plate, and insertion of them into a battery case and completing the manufacturing of our battery is substantially similar to existing processes, methods, and machinery commonly used in the manufacture of a typical lead acid battery.

We have completed the engineering, design and installation of equipment necessary to manufacture RVC plates. This system manufactures RVC in billets in a batch process and the blocks of RVC are then cut and sliced into the proper size for individual current collectors.

During the week of August 7, 2006, we successfully manufactured billets of reticulated vitreous carbon that were cut and sliced into the proper size for individual current collectors.

Below is a picture of Joey Jung, our Chief Technology Officer, and a trimmed billet of reticulated vitreous carbon that was manufactured on August 10, 2006.

We have installed the equipment and machinery and purchased the supplies necessary for the production of RVC. We use a Horizontal Airflow Utility Oven with Stat-350 Microprocessor Based Controller oven and a Thermal Products Solutions Blue M Treat All Furnace that has a 2050°F maximum operating temperature (pictured below) to manufacture RVC. We manufacture RVC in billets in a batch process and the blocks of reticulated vitreous carbon are cut and sliced into the proper size for individual current collectors. The system is designed to permit production of 5000 reticulated vitreous carbon plates of 6 inches by 6 inches by 3 mm per month. The manufacturing process is manual rather than automated but will be fully capable of scale up with additional manpower and additional equipment.

Wirtz Manufacturing Company, Inc., a company which specializes in designing and building equipment used to manufacture lead-acid batteries, has built us various prototype molds to cast the top lead frame and tab onto the uncoated RVC foam plates. Wirtz has completed the engineering and has machined a double panel casting mold designed to cast a lead top frame and tab, a bottom, and two side frames on uncoated RVC foam plates. Wirtz tested this casting mold and used it to successfully cast lead top frame with lug, two side frames and a bottom frame on uncoated RVC foam plates.

We modified this casting mold and designed and built in our pilot plant a casting station that permits an operator to cast top, side and bottom lead frames on uncoated RVC foam plates. We have successfully performed casting operations with this casting station and mold.

Below is a picture of the double panel casting mold designed and manufactured by Wirtz.

Below is a picture of our manual casting station with the operator casting a frame on an individual RVC foam plate.

Below is a picture of a two uncoated reticulated vitreous carbon plates onto which the mold cast a lead top frame with lug, two side frames, and bottom frames.

This double cast panel is now ready to have the lead tin alloy deposited on it by electroplating.

Wirtz has begun the process of engineering a machine that is designed to use a similar mold in a manufacturing machine that will cast at high speed the top frame, lug side, and bottom frames on individual reticulated vitreous carbon foam plates.

Technic, Inc. is an engineering and manufacturing firm which specializes in designing and manufacturing electroplating equipment. We purchased from Technic, Inc. a lead tin plating system to apply lead tin plating to our RVC plates. The system includes the necessary hoist with motorized trolley structural support steel with trolley track and electrical tag line, steel tanks with locating saddles and twin 60 inch air blow-off manifolds, rectifiers, and its accessories for the plating system. We also purchased air agitation blowers and air handling ducts for the system. The electroplating system and air agitation equipment has been delivered and installed in our pilot plant. The plating system is a manual line capable of plating 250 current collectors per eight hour shift. Management believes the plating system will demonstrate that the electroplating of the current collectors can be performed efficiently. Technic, Inc. has provided us with designs and proposals to increase the system capacity by adding nine additional plating stations, additional rectifiers, an automated hoist and a computer controlled, programmable, automation package that would increase the system capacity to plate approximately 1000 to 1200 current collectors per eight-hour shift.  By increasing the number of tanks and other equipment and machinery, the electroplating system's capacity could be further increased.

We have operated the electroplating system and performed a series of test runs to deposit the lead tin alloy on RVC plates onto which the top frame and tab, bottom and side frames have been cast by our casting station and mold. Based on those test runs, we modified the equipment and following those modifications, during the month of December 2006 we have performed additional test runs to develop the proper electrolysis bath chemistry and power settings to uniformly and consistently successfully deposit the lead tin alloy on our RVC current collectors.

Below is a picture of our electroplating system with a rack of twenty four double cast panels being lowered into the plating tank.

Wolf Meyerfeld, former director and president of Power Technology, Inc. inspects the electroplating machine in the pilot plant with Joey Jung, Chief Technology Officer:

We believe completing our pilot plant and manufacturing our current collectors will demonstrate to established battery manufacturers the viability of our technology.