April 12, 2018 | The 35th International Battery Seminar took place March 26-29 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In addition to the in-depth tutorials, presentations and poster sessions, more than 100 exhibits showcased some to the latest technology in the battery industry. The products and services they represent ranged from battery assembly and testing equipment to material suppliers and software providers.
As the Battery Power Online team toured the exhibit hall, we collected a small sampling of the products and technologies that were on display. (This is by no means a comprehensive list nor are we endorsing these particular products and companies.) –The Editors
Novonix high precision chargers provide low noise and high accuracy source and measurement electronics catered to making precision measurements of coulombic efficiency. Novonix offers systems up to 20A of output current for testing large format Li-ion cells built for EV or grid storage applications. When used with a properly temperature-controlled cells, the system has the ability to measure columbic efficiency with 20 ppm precision and 50 ppm accuracy. It is critical when evaluating cells to have high precision and high accuracy to ensure measurements are reliable and repeatable. As companies develop better cell technologies, the use of high precision charger systems allows for comparison measurements of cell performance in a few weeks instead of months or years of long term cycling.
The U1LiFe 24V series from Inventus Power features lithium iron phosphate technology with customized safety circuitry, fuel gauges and firmware design. It is a lighter weight, drop-in replacement for U1 size, 24V battery applications, such as medical carts, portable X-rays, patient monitoring, uninterruptible power supplies, utility carts and e-mobility devices. It features an integrated microprocessor to provide host communication (SMBus 1.1), integrated cell and pack protection, and cell balancing circuitry. With a cycle life in the thousands (up to 10 times over sealed lead acid) maintenance time and costs are reduced, delivering a low cost of ownership over the lifetime of the battery.
HIOKI’s BT4560 Battery Impedance Meter is able to determine Li-ion battery reliability in 10 seconds. Traditionally, the internal resistance of battery cells is measured by pre-charging the battery, then passing large currents and measuring the voltage drop. Pre-charging the battery, however, usually takes several minutes. The BT4560 eliminates the need for charging or discharging by measuring the internal impedance at a low frequency of 1 Hz or below (AC-IR measurement), enabling significant reduction in the time required for measuring battery cells. The BT4560 assures the quality of battery cells by investigating both electrolyte resistance and reaction resistance with a two-point measurement at high and low frequencies. In this way, it helps to improve quality and extend the service life of Li-ion battery modules.
The CT0550 from PEC is an 80-channel cell tester designed for both testing and evaluating cells for high volume, such as repetitive cycling, incoming goods inspection, and validation. Preparing a test can be done off-line on a desktop PC, running PEC’s LifeTest app. The PC communicates with the Cell Tester over Ethernet to load the test regime and upload the measurement data. Every channel is independent and uses a power MOSFET to obtain a high accuracy, reliability, and flexibility. Every group of five channels is controlled with 1 microprocessor. Each channel can run a different test regime. The 80 channels of 5V, 50A are mounted in one test rack. The system supports current, voltage, power, and resistive based loads, with a minimum pulsing width of 10 msec.
The Gruner AG Relay 850 is a high current relay for 100A continuous load with capability to break high over-currents of up to 5,000A. The relay is available in monostable and bistable versions. The monostable version features a normally open contact. To save power and reduce coil heating it is possible to hold switching position by applying a PWM signal after activation. The bistable version features an integrated permanent magnet and is always in a defined switching position. Therefore, there is no loss of information in case of power failure. The advantage of the bistable version is the pulse driven operation of a few milliseconds, coil heating can be neglected. The relays are designed and manufactured in accordance to international standards of IEC 61810-1.
Pyrotek’s Li-ion battery grade graphite is greater than 99.995% pure graphite. It is produced by furnaces with the most consistent industrial-scale thermal purification and graphitization processes available. Pyrotek furnaces are capable of temperatures of 3,000°C with +/-50°C variation, as opposed to other technologies with variations in excess of +/-200°C. Through tightly controlled and consistent thermal parameters, Pyrotek’s uniform battery-grade graphite delivers predictable battery performance.
Unifrax’s FryeWrap LiB (Li-ion battery) performance materials are a family of high-temperature, lightweight materials that are designed to aid in the prevention of thermal runaway propagation in lithium-based battery applications along with providing electrical and thermal protections with the battery pack. Unifrax combines material science with industry knowledge to tackle one of the most important safety issues in today’s large format Li-ion battery applications. From cell-to-cell interstitial thermal batteries, to whole pack electrical protections, Unifrax delivers an engineered platform to make lithium-based battery packs safer. The base of the technology starts with Unifrax’s fiber manufacturing techniques. Unifrax produces multiple fiber chemistries such as alkaline earth silicate fibers and polycrystalline fibers. Dependent upon the desired characterization of the finished product, the fibers can be converted into different forms with varying options for additional enhancements.
For more information on the 35th International Battery Seminar please visit http://www.internationalbatteryseminar.com/.
