
Understand and Prevent Battery Fires and Explosions – and Avoid Costly Failures Like the Samsung Note 7
Modern batteries (eg Li-Ion) contain hazardous chemicals & they heat up during use: this combination always has the potential to cause fires & explosions. This presentation will focus on improving the understanding of how these incidents occur, what can be done to avoid them & how the risk can be minimized during early stage design.
The Samsung Note 7 phone & Boeing Dreamliner airplane fires are very costly examples of how even large corporations fail to understand the potential fire risk of batteries.
The solution lies in knowledge of heat generation rate during normal use & information about safe boundaries such as temperature, discharge rate & overcharge, in realistic situations that represent actual use conditions. Data from commercial batteries of different types will be used to illustrate these points.
A relatively new technique will also be discussed with data, which allows total heat output during discharge to be measured on-line and this can be used both for design and battery modelling. Examples of the data will be provided.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Why battery fires & explosions occur
• How to design safer batteries though understanding of heat generation
• Video evidence of batteries under explosive conditions
• How better thermal management systems can be designed – based on heat measurement from isothermal calorimetry
• Laboratory instruments suitable for testing and data generation
Presenter
Dr. Jasbir Singh – Managing Director at Hazard Evaluation Laboratory
Jasbir is a chemical engineer specializing in thermal hazards and calorimetry, traditionally for the chemical industry but now increasingly involved in battery safety, especially Li-ion EV and related types.
A graduate of Imperial College (London), where he undertook PhD into combustion and explosions, his experience includes many years in process design for the chemical and petrochemical industries. He is currently developing test methods and instruments for use in design of battery thermal management systems.
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Energy Storage RTE Tutorial Course 2/3: Ampere-Hour (Ah) RTE and Voltage Polarization Energy Losses
Many aqueous systems have water electrolysis to contend with, and above 70-80% SOC, RTE losses from this competing reaction can be significant. Management of these losses has been evolving for decades, and there are now tried and tested methods mostly related to charging algorithms & partial state of charge (pSOC) cycling. These methods will be reviewed. Relevant for every battery chemistry, Cell Voltage factors, will be separated into eight different components, four each, for the cathode and anode. These will be presented & described. The variables that affect them will be reviewed, including the effects of age & cycling and methods for their ongoing measurement. Techniques to reduce and mitigate polarization will be detailed & possible benefits will be quantified in terms of RTE & cost for different scenarios.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Ah Efficiency losses in aqueous systems
• Types of Voltage Polarization losses for all systems
• Strategies and plans for reducing & mitigating efficiency losses
• Improvement potential for different systems
Presenter
Dr. Halle Cheeseman – Founder/President at Energy Blues LLC
Dr. Halle Cheeseman earned a PhD in Electrochemistry & Corrosion from the University of Nottingham in UK, graduating in 1985. She has held several executive positions in the battery industry over the past 32 years, including Sr. VP of R&D at Spectrum Brands and VP of R&D at Exide Technologies. Her specific battery experience includes Lithium Ion, Zinc Air, Nickel Metal Hydride, Nickel Iron, Alkaline and Lead Acid, focusing on Consumer, Industrial, Automotive & Renewable Energy applications. In July 2017, Dr. Cheeseman founded Energy Blues LLC, an energy storage consulting cooperative comprising 20+ subject matter experts.
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Update on Zinc Hybrid Cathode Battery Technology: Lessons Learned from Demo Projects with Major Utilities in US & Europe
With no economical means to store energy, the utility distribution network has typically been overbuilt and continually expanded to serve peak demand, though only a fraction of that infrastructure is used on an average day.
Working closely with utility partners like AEP and Con Edison, Eos Energy Storage has evaluated the economics of battery storage on the distribution system, with compelling results. Using first-hand knowledge of system costs and specifications, it was found that a utility-owned battery system can break even with a conventional T&D upgrade of ~$5M, or less when monetizing available market revenues.
In this webinar, Eos will share an update on commercialization of its zinc hybrid cathode battery technology and share lessons learned from deployments with major utilities in the US and Europe, from initial business case analysis to commissioning a turnkey product.
This webinar will focus on the following key topics:
• Discuss how energy storage can be leveraged as a utility distribution asset and market resource
• Share Eos’s experience in deploying energy storage systems at utility sites in the US and Europe
• Update on performance and path to commercialization for novel zinc hybrid cathode battery technology
Presenter
Philippe Bouchard – Vice President, Business Development at Eos Energy Storage
Philippe joined Eos after 5 years of in-depth experience leading emerging technology and regulatory initiatives within the utility energy industry. While working previously within Southern California Edison’s Advanced Technology Organization, Philippe co-authored SCE’s Smart Grid Deployment Plan and managed a $3 million portfolio of diversified R&D and technology evaluation projects. Philippe brings an interdisciplinary background in chemistry and environmental sciences, and graduated with a B.A. from Pomona College.
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