ARC® Accelerating Rate Calorimeter
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ARC® Accelerating Rate Calorimeter The World Benchmark Battery Testing Calorimeter Systems

Lithium batteries are hazardous - it is important to determine both the effect of heat on lithium batteries and the heat that results from their use and abuse

THT / Thermal Hazard Technology Introduction Adiabatic Calorimetry provides vital thermal data in battery development, safety, performance, efficiency and life. The lithium-ion battery was first commercialized in 1991 by Sony and Asahi Kasei. Offering what was considered acceptable stability combined with excellent energy density, the lithium-ion battery became a key component in the portable electronics revolution. As the energy density of these cells gradually increased to fulfil the power demands of new applications, dangerous thermal runaway events became more common. Researchers...

System Choice Batteries come in many shapes and sizes. THT uniquely provides instrumentation to test components to large EV batteries in one system. This novel modular design allows extra features to be added as necessary without prohibitive upgrade costs. All feature advanced safety mechanisms, including automatic door locking, fume extraction, a software independent heating fail-safe and blast-proof reinforced steel enclosure. ES ARC • orld's best-selling and benchmark W adiabatic calorimeter • alorimeter choice: C Standard only • ample range - components to small S pouch/cylindrical...

EV+ ARC • Largest system • Calorimeter choice: Standard, EV and EV+ • Sample range: components (standard calorimeter) to small modules (EV+ calorimeter) • EV+ calorimeter designed to fulfil requirements of Sandia 2005-3123, SAE J2464, USABC / FreedomCAR and UN & UL tests • Working volume: 1.93m3 The ARC system can be divided into 2 parts: The Blast Box - Where the experiment is carried out The Electronics - For control and data acquisition (1) Blast Box A. The Calorimeter Assembly Where the sample is tested B. Optional Modules and Cabling Additional equipment is fixed to the inside of the...

Chamber dimensions 9cm diameter x 10cm depth 25cm diameter x 50cm depth 40cm diameter x 44cm depth Temperature range Ambient* to 600°C Ambient* to 450°C Ambient* to 300°C Thermocouple specification Resolution 0.001°C Precision <0.2% Accuracy 0.7% Resolution 0.001°C Precision <0.2% Accuracy 0.7% Resolution 0.001°C Precision <0.2% Accuracy 0.7% 0.25m3 blast box 0.57m3 blast box 1.25m3 blast box Control modes Adiabatic Ramping Isothermal Isoperibolic Step Isothermal Adiabatic Ramping Isothermal Isoperibolic Step Isothermal Adiabatic Ramping Isothermal Isoperibolic Step Isothermal Control /...

Component Testing • tandard calorimeter. S • esting of anode and cathode materials, component T mixtures, lithiated carbon, delithiated oxide and electrolyte. • Allows evaluation of the change in self-heating of the material, including novel formulations, particle size and particle shape. Effect of Increasing Component Particle Size dT/dt (°C/min) Tube bomb Cell Testing The simplest battery ARC test is a “heat-wait-seek” thermal abuse experiment run in either an“open” or “closed” configuration. Open Test • ell placed directly in the calorimeter chamber with a thermally isolated holder to...

Closed Test • Cell placed inside a sealed canister which is then placed in the calorimeter chamber. • Gases resulting from the test are captured inside the canister. • Heat from these gases transfers into the canister and the temperature rise in the canister gives an indication of the thermal energy contained in the venting gases. • Pressure and cell voltage are measured providing information about the condition of the cell throughout the test. 18650 Thermal Abuse Data 180 Canister Selection • As a general rule, a cell may generate 3 bar per amp-hour at peak pressure, but this can vary...

The nail penetration test is an industry standard method to simulate an internal short in a cell

Nail Penetration & Crush • ption allowing testing on small to large cells. O • vailable in pneumatic or motorised form. A • peeds from 0.5mm/sec to 10cm/sec. S • orces up to 34000N. F 18650 nail penetration test Spark Generation • he severity of a thermal runaway and cell decomposition T can depend on the presence of a spark. Without a spark, flammable gases may fail to ignite. In a real world failure scenario it is likely that an ignition source would be present. • he SGU uses a spark-plug to create a continuous spark source T at a single point. In order to correctly position the spark...

Abuse Testing Short Circuit • hort-circuit option (SCO) allows remote shorting of cells in S the ARC. • hort is carried out through a low impedance contactor box. S • hort circuit current can be independently measured at high S frequency via a current transducer to verify the severity of the shorting current. • esigned to carry a load of up to 2750A for 10 seconds. D • CO activation button on electronics unit. S External short circuit test Temperature, Voltage and Current as a Function of Time • RC tracks rapid heating of cell during A overcharge procedure to maintain adiabaticity. Start of...

Video Monitoring • ir cooled high resolution camera for close proximity filming. A • ideos can be generated using ARC software where pictures are taken at V specified intervals (good for long tests) or in real time using separate video capture software. • ptional IR camera with IR transparent window for in-situ thermal imaging. O • R is used to determine the spatial temperature distribution on the surface of the I battery. In cycling tests this could help determine the areas of significant heat generation (e.g. the tabs). X and Y axis correspond to each pixel of the image, Z axis is the...

Performance Tests Heat Capacity For design of thermal management systems in any battery application it is necessary to quantify the heat production rate during use. Measurement of heat production from ARC data requires knowledge of the sample’s heat capacity. If the average heat capacity of the battery is known, the temperature and temperature rate data can be converted to heat/enthalpy (joules) and heat rate/power (watts). The heat capacity option enables this. • ange of heater mats for different cell sizes. R • hin Kapton-insulated heater. T • n the fully automated form the power supply...