Battery Power - Summer 2014 - (Page 4)

Industry Outlook Testing Needs and Challenges of Today's Battery Researchers And Manufacturers Antony Parulian, Vice President of Marketing and Sales Arbin Instruments As a global supplier of energy storage testing systems, Arbin Instruments learns about the testing needs of battery researchers and manufacturers before anyone else. As 2014 unfolds, Arbin's product focus continues to be to develop responsive, high quality and technically advanced testing solutions for our customers. Two areas of test equipment we see an increased need for are testers capable of validating longer lasting battery technologies in a shorter period of time, and the ability to test a high number of batteries in a cost effective way. To those ends, we are currently developing an ultra-high precision tester capable of a precision of 0.0005 percent (±50 ppms) for high current (200 amp) batteries, and we have also just released a new series of economical high channel count battery testers (iBT-series) for battery formation and validation testing. High Precision Testing Forecasting a battery's useful life is done with testing devices that cycle the battery between states of full charge and discharge. Batteries for the power grid or automotive applications present significantly different evaluation challenges than those of familiar consumer electronics because of their longer expected lives and higher currents. There is a critical need for breakthrough technologies that can be practically deployed for superior management of both electric vehicle battery and renewable energy storage systems. Testing batteries to the end of life is not plausible if the products are to reach the customer in a timely manner. The validation of new technologies to improve energy storage systems in these applications can require many years of testing, owing to the long life expectations of automotive (10 to 15 years), stationary storage devices (20 to 30 years), medical devices (more than 10 years) and aerospace (more than 15 years). On the other hand, accelerated testing leads to inaccurate prognostics because it does not capture calendar life due to differences 4 Battery Power * Summer 2014 in test condition and real-world applications. For example, the high temperature under which accelerated testing is conducted degrades the battery's life. Research by Jeff Dahn at Dalhousie University and others has shown columbic efficiency (CE) to be a good indicator of battery cycle life. By improving the precision of CE measurements (the ratio of the charge out to the charge in), the high precision tester will make an improvement in the predictive ability of a battery's cycle life with fewer numbers of test cycling. This will in turn enable significant reductions in the time and expense required in the research, development and qualification testing of new automotive and stationary batteries. Arbin Instruments in currently developing a high precision tester that will improve the accuracy of the CE measurement to the precision of 0.0005 percent (±50 ppms). In fact, we are looking to identify and select potential partners based on strategic fit as a part of market and beta testing phase of the product development. After the beta testing phase, we will offer the high precision tester to the general public. The expected benefits in automotive can be envisioned as a reduction in test time by up to 94 percent for automotive power applications. In stationary grid applications, the use of new testing validation protocols will permit extrapolation of battery life without accelerated testing leading to more accurate predictions. High Channel Count Battery Testing Needs In the consumer products industries such as smart phones and medical devices, the battery technologies for this application only requires a one to two years useful life. However, consumer demand for lighter, quicker charging and more flexible batteries is driving battery research and production in these industries to develop and produce at an ever increasing pace. In order to put these products in the consumers' hands in a price competitive www.BatteryPowerOnline.com http://www.BatteryPowerOnline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Battery Power - Summer 2014

Testing Needs and Challenges of Today’s Battery Researchers and Manufacturers
Overcoming the Challenges in the Power Electronics Industry
Changing Focus of Battery Chargers for Differing Battery Chemistries
Demand Increases Worldwide for US-Made Batteries in Emerging Markets
Battery Pack/Assembly Manufacturer
Primary Battery Manufacturer
Secondary Battery Manufacturer
Alkaline
Lead-Acid
Lithium
Lithium-Ion
Manganese
Mercury
Ni-CD
Ni-MH
Silver
Zinc
Aerospace/Aviation
Automotive
Consumer Electronics/Tools
Electric Vehicles
Marine
Medical
Military
Renewable Energy Systems
Standby/Telecom/UPS
Accessories
Battery Assembly Equipment
Cables/Harnesses
Capacitors
Chargers
Coatings
Components
Consulting Services
Converters & Inverters
Dry Rooms
Electrolytes
Enclosures
Forming Systems
Holders
ICs & Semiconductors
Manufacturing Systems
Materials
Monitoring Systems
Power Supplies
Racks/Cabinets
Recycling
Safety Systems & Equipment
Standby Power/UPS Systems
Testing Services
Testing Systems & Equipment
Watering Systems

Battery Power - Summer 2014