BCI Yearbook 2019

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA • April 28-30, 2019

BCI Yearbook & Special Pre-2019 Convention Report

AT S 14 U H E T SE OO B

Improvement + initiative = Innovation

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BC I

Bringing the industry together

IN N FU OV LL AT LI ION ST A IN W GS A R

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Welcomes you to New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA • April 28-30, 2019

BCI Yearbook & Special Pre-2019 Convention Report

• One year on, BCI’s Moran reflects • The review: the year ahead, the year behind • Follow our convention session analysis • Kubis, new projections for the industry • Weinberg: lead and the Trump factor

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BC I

Bringing the industry together

IN N FU OV LL AT LI ION ST A IN W GS A R

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• The communication campaign kicks off

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CONTENTS

BCI Yearbook & Special Pre-2019 Convention Report

Battery Council International’s Convention and Power Mart Expo, looks yet again to be the hottest meeting of the North American lead (and more) battery community this year. With an exciting agenda covering many issues that urgently need to be discussed, and not forgetting the newly introduced innovation awards, the 600 plus delegates heading to New Orleans, Louisiana should find much to talk about.

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Editorial: The lethal cocktail of misunderstanding 2 Welcome to The Big Easy: taking New Orleans to heart 4 View from the chair: BCI’s Moran, reflects on the year gone by 7 Lisa Dry: updates on the North American communications campaign 8 Profile: Zesar, aiming for the world’s top 5 by 2020 14 Annual regulatory review with David Weinberg: The Trump factor is positive for lead 30 Lead prices to stay weak for the year ahead, reckons CRU’s Hawkes 33 Why transportation batteries are poised for rapid growth, reports Ray Kubis 34 INNOVATION AWARD NOMINATIONS

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37 Review: A bright new landscape as invention comes to the fore RSR Technologies: Closing the performance gap with lithium-ion 38 Microporous: Boosting dynamic charge acceptance 41 Narada: A new approach to grid-level frequency regulation 42 Abertax: Achieving an optimal charging regime 44 Battery Rescue Australia: A safer way to recycle lead acid batteries 45 Daramic: Simulating the effect of movement on batteries 46 Philadelphia Scientific: Doubling the capacity of battery charging rooms 50 Power Sonic: Introducing he demand response module system 51 TerraPure: Solving Li-ion danger in the recycling process 52 Voltific: Universal battery sizing becomes a reality 54 Profile: TBS Enegineering, stepping out into the spotlight 48 The Quarter Century Club: the great and the good of BCI 56 The BCI story 60 FIND US HERE! POWER MART BOOTH PLAN FOR EXHIBITORS Bitrode Corporation, MAC Egineering, Eagle Oxide, Sovema Farmer Mold, Hammond, Wirtz, Batteries International ENTEK, OMI Impianti, Daramic Inbatec, Digatron, Sorfin

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 1

EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

A lethal cocktail fed by misunderstanding Ask any respectable battery engineer about the correct mixing technique for a lead paste and you could expect a good half hour talk on additives, preparations and curing. Ask that same expert about NCM811 lithium pouch production and a blank look will cross their face.

Now ask their lithium counterpart about why the cast-on strap machine was such a boon to battery production and a similar blank look will appear. Possibly with a smirk as it sounds rude.

The fact is that there is a huge divide between the knowledge of two different battery chemistries.

From the lead side there is the impression that the lithium mob are Johnny-come-Latelys with an unproven technology that is dangerous, over-hyped and probably bad for the complexion.

From the lithium side, lead professionals are fogies from a land where time stood still. Experts on steam trains while the rest of the world is flying 747s.

And for this editor to sound both a prig and a hypocrite, this is both a shame and a disgrace.

Ignorance is never something that people should be proud of. But ignorance of two technologies that are competing with each other for business is remarkably naïve.

It’s also just plain dumb.

Walk around any lead factory, lithium facility or automotive plant and the level of security is astonishing. You leave your cell phones by the door Publisher: Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com +44 779 852 337 Editor: Michael Halls, editor@batteriesinternational.com +44 7977 016 918 Assistant sales manager: Jade Beevor, jade@energystoragejournal.com +44 1243 782 275 Business development manager June Moultrie, june@batteriesinternational.com +44 7528 503 714

Reception: +44 1 243 782 275 Subscriptions and admin manager: Claire Ronnie, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com admin@batteriesinternational.com +44 1243 782 275 Special reports editor Wyn Jenkins, wyn.jenkins@serenglobalmedia.com +44 1792 293 222

2 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

(possible photos), briefcases in the locker room (more hidden cameras), metal detectors may be used and there will be areas of the plant that will be strictly off limits to all but the technical bods.

The reason for this security is quite simply knowledge is power. Knowledge is better sales. Better profits. Put bluntly, better all round.

What’s needed now is not necessarily everyone to go back to their textbooks and master their rivals’ chemistries. But what’s needed is for everyone to get the big picture.

And, as our keynote speakers will show on Monday and Tuesday this week, this big picture is an exciting one. Energy storage could quite literally be the key to saving this planet.

Staff reporters: Andrew Godfrey, Debbie Mason Design and production: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 1604 632 663 International advertising representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com

The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorised translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322 © 2019 Mustard Seed Publishing, UK company no: 5976361. Printed in the UK via Thisismethod UK

Disclaimer: Although we believe in the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this magazine, Mustard Seed Publishing makes no warranties or representation about this. Nor should anything contained within it should be construed as constituting an offer to buy or sell securities, or constitute advice in relation to the buying or selling of investments.

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FAIRWAYS AND GREENS

www.entek.com Booth #9

BCI 2019 • New Orleans

Welcome to New Louise Wright looks at what is arguably one of the most exotic and extraordinary cities in the US.

B

The French Quarter Just a short walk from the hotel, it is one of NOLA’s most historic neighborhoods. Its bohemian charm is only upstaged by its French-Colonial architecture, including the mansion of sadistic slave owner Madame LaLaurie.

ut first a word of warning. You could face jail if you ignore local bylaws… so no riding a bike onehanded, no feeding uncooked garbage to your hogs, and no stealing someone else’s alligator.

New Orleans is famous for its Mardi Gras, jazz and Creole cuisine and unfortunately in recent years for one of the most tragic storms in the US. Built on the cotton trade, it has been the Gulf of Mexico’s busiest port since the 1700 and was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in 1718.

In 1762, Louisiana surrendered to the Spanish. For the next 40 years — when paradoxically most of the French quarter was built — it was a Spanish colony, before being restored to the French in 1803 prior to the Louisiana Purchase, when it became an official part of the US. Despite being the largest city in the Confederacy, New Orleans was seized by Union troops during the Civil War. Freed slaves were brought into the political process in the Reconstruction era, only to be expelled after the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s.

The city boomed in the 1900s. The city’s famous streetcars were electrified, and jazz took over the dance halls. Its eclectic beginnings inspired the likes of Tennessee Williams, Anne Rice, and chef Jean Galatoire.

The French Quarter

NOLA Brewing Co

City Park

NOLA Brewing Co, The Garden District Visit the Tap Room to try around 20 beers, including their longstanding Blonde Ale and their punchy Moon Shoes IPA (7% ABV). There’s indoor seating, an outdoor patio, and they often have typical BBQ fare on offer.

City Park Shake off the cobwebs in City Park’s 1,300 acres of oak trees and sculpture. The New Orleans Museum of Art, one of the oldest fine arts museums in the city, is on-site.

The Sculpture Garden includes works by Henry Moore, Rene Magritte, and Barbara Hepworth, and there’s the famous Morning Call Café, founded in 1870, to take a break.

Where to eat?

Galatoire’s Restaurant

Galatoire’s is one of Bourbon Street’s oldest and finest restaurants. Little has changed — including their menus — since it first set up in 1905. It specializes in French and Creole cuisine, focusing on shellfish and seafood dishes. After dinner, why not try a Café Brulot Diabolique, or “Devilishly Burned Coffee”?

This brandy-based delight comes with the fanfare of being flambéed at your table.

The restaurant does operate a dress code,

Galatoire’s

The Maison

4 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

so a jacket may be required. It’s also best to book in advance as the ornate downstairs dining room is very popular.

209 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130-2204 Tel: +1 504-525-2021 The Maison

Spread over three levels, The Maison provides an end-to-end solution to eat, drink and be merry. They offer everything from a Sunday jazz brunch to a Burlesque night (not for the

Frenchmen Street

faint hearted). Resident jazz bands are on hand to entertain and tables can be pre-booked.

Their restaurant boasts such Cajun classics as jambalaya, crawfish tails, and the classic shrimp and grits. They have a selection of traditional New Orleans cocktails… whiskey. What else?!

508 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116-2024 Tel: +1 504-371-5543 Frenchmen Street

Want to escape the tourist trap of Bourbon Street? A more authentic experience is just around the corner.

Famed for its jazz and blues clubs, Frenchmen Street is where the locals tend to go. If you find yourself getting carried away, you’re also permitted to dance – something prohibited on Bourbon Street.

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BCI 2019 • New Orleans

Orleans

The Big Easy!

Getting around the Big Easy

Did you Know?

• Famous sons of New Orleans are jazz great Louis Armstrong, musician Harry Connick Jnr and president John F Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald • New Orleans’ nicknames include ‘NOLA’ (New Orleans Louisiana) and “The Big Easy”, owing to its relaxed atmosphere

Tram vs Mamil Unless you’re in a hurry, the best way to travel is by tram. Both the bus and tram service are operated by RTA and, unless stated, tickets are interchangeable.

Taking the streetcar offers a more scenic option, while the buses are airconditioned. Trams are also busier over the weekends.

Four streetcar routes are available, service the bulk of the city and depart around every 20 minutes. More than 30 bus lines are available.

A three day Jazzy Pass costs $9 either bought on board, online, or through their GoMobile App. Buses run until around midnight, trams are 24-hr.

A $7 day pass including rides on the ferries to cross the Mississippi is also available.

Visit www.norta.com

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MAMIL (Middle-Aged Men In Lycra)!

One healthy alternative to street cars and cab rides is a guided bike tour.

Three tours are available. Creole and Crescent goes through the French Quarter, St Louis Cemetery, Armstrong Park and Congo Square.

The Garden District tour takes you Uptown to visit Lafayette Cemetery, 19th century Antebellum mansions and celebrity homes and explores the roots of Mardi Gras.

The Marigny-Bywater tour takes you into unchartered tourist territory, led by locals. Based around its backstreets, you’ll learn about “real” Voodoo, see some street art, and visit a couple of bars en route.

Visit https://neworleansbiketour.com

• The first Mardi Gras took place in 1699 and was originally a religious holiday • The Animals’ version of the song the House of The Rising Sun was called after a New Orleans brothel • Alcohol is available all day Bars can stay open all night and liquor is sold not only in liquor stores but grocery stores as well • Drinking on the street is allowed in plastic cups so bars frequently provide patrons with plastic to-go cups • Easy Rider, starring Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, and Dennis Hopper, features the St Louis Cemetery • Jazz developed from a blend of blues, ragtime, European, and African styles

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 5

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To a stress free, personalized solution.

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INDIA: sales@sorfin-yoshimura.in

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BCI: THE BIG PICTURE Kevin Moran, has been the executive vice president of Battery Council International since February 2018. We asked him to give us some highlights from the past 14 months.

BCI — moving forward Moran admits the past 14 months have been something of a learning experience, and he has spent a lot of time “blocking and tackling” as BCI deals with legislative and regulatory issues in an evolving battery market.

“The team here at BCI are all firstrate. They have been an invaluable support on numerous occasions. I can’t thank them enough,” he says.

“We have regulatory and legislative challenges all across the board; but it is a case of ensuring we have the necessary resources and keep our focus in critical areas such as California.

The industry is in a period of change, but the challenges are not dissimilar to those in other sectors such as the chemicals industry.”

But where possible he hopes to en-

KEVIN MORAN

Moran is based in BCI’s Washington, DC office, and took over from Mark Thorsby. He was a director in the Chemical Products and Technology Division at the American Chemistry Council, and spent two and a half years as legislative director at Bipartisan Policy Advocacy Network.

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Before that, he was director of the Washington office for the Western Governors Association, and counsel to former senator. Jon Kyl. His professional career began in Arizona, where he practised law, primarily representing large copper mining companies.

hance his connections with partner organizations such as the International Lead Association, EUROBAT, the Association of Battery Recyclers and the Canadian Battery Association. “BCI is not standing alone, we can lend support to our partners when they need it, and they will assist us when we need the support,” he says. “Our coordination has helped, and will continue to assist, the industry’s global efforts.”

A key part of the BCI’s function, he says, continues to be lobbying. California alone has several pieces of regulation and legislation with the potential to harm the industry, for example its Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is again looking at tightening regulations around air quality and blood lead limits.

Moran also talks about the 2016 California Lead Acid Battery Recycling Act, which came in to fund clean-ups where lead-smelting operations had caused contamination.

The act imposed a $1 fee per battery on consumers at the point of sale, and manufacturers had to pay an additional $1 on all qualifying batteries sold in the state. Proposed legislation extends the timeframe and doubles the manufacturer fee to $2 in 2022.

BCI is also still battling against lead being included on a list of restricted or banned chemicals under the Green Chemistry Initiative or Safer Consumer Products Program, an environmental law designed to identify and restrict toxic chemicals in consumer products sold in the state.

A cornerstone of BCI’s approach to advocacy has been the launch of the Advancing Lead Batteries Communications Initiative, a joint project with the ILA that promotes lead batteries.

Moran says Lisa Dry and her group have done a fantastic job in reaching policymakers to showcase the many positive aspects of lead batteries. “Unfortunately when many people think lead batteries, they still think old technology — they don’t realise the advances that have been made. We need to interject ourselves

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 7

BCI: THE BIG PICTURE “When you look at renewable energy, for example, energy storage will be critical to the future of that sector. I worked in energy policy for almost 20 years and I know there are around 15 different types of generation but no standard policy on the best way of storing that to balance the grid.” into the conversation and ensure the world knows about all the great innovations we are doing and how important we are to the future of so many technologies,” he says.

“When you look at renewable energy, for example, energy storage will be critical to the future of that sector.

I worked in energy policy for almost 20 years and I know there are around 15 different types of generation but no standard policy on the best way of storing that to balance the grid.

“We have an incredibly complex electric grid — it is possibly the most complex machine ever built. We do not know if any single battery chemistry can meet the anticipated demand, so we want to make sure all are available.

“My hope is that BCI will be able to be more proactive in lobbying the federal government and the states to ensure lead has a future in energy storage markets.”

This year’s conference may be Moran’s second event, but it is the first in which he has had input into the agenda. Early on, they decided to highlight the innovation taking place in the industry.

“The BCI team does a fantastic job and we really put our heads together this year on some of the speakers we could get to make this event really special,” he says. For example, Pam O’Brien has put together a panel that will focus on the role of lead batteries in next generation vehicles — a critical topic.

He says he is pleased that BCI was able to secure both Paul Dabbar, under secretary for science at the US Department of Energy, and Curt Hebert, former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as keynote speakers.

Dabbar is the department’s principal leader on fundamental energy research, energy technologies and science, with direct management over a majority of the department’s national labs. Moran says he expects Dabbar will give the conventioneers useful insights into the government’s direction in terms of research funding and strategies in energy storage.

With nearly unprecedented experience as a former state legislator and regulator as chairman of FERC, and as a very senior utility executive, Hebert will provide insight in his presentation on potential markets and regulatory issues to watch for lead batteries in energy storage applications.

“I am really thrilled with the line-up of speakers we have pulled together. I think it will be a fantastic conference with innovation as its over-arching theme,” says Moran.

The Advancing Lead Batteries Communications Initiative, launched in 2017, entered a new phase this year, moving from the digital realm to having a more physical presence, explains Lisa Dry, director of strategic communications at Battery Council International.

Entering a new phase in communications When Lisa Dry became director of strategic communications for BCI in August 2017, she was the first person specifically hired to drive its Advancing Lead Batteries Communications Initiative.

The campaign, “Essential Energy Everyday”, highlights four key attributes of lead batteries: they are sustainable, essential, innovative and safe. It was launched to make BCI’s approach to communications more positive, educating policymakers and key stakeholders about the battery industry while correcting misinformation and misassumptions.

8 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

Before her appointment, Dry was a senior director of product communications at the American Chemistry Council, a role she says had similarities to the lead battery industry in that this too was an oft-misunderstood industry.

A key part of Dry’s job is to ensure there is regular open communication between the advisory group formed to oversee the initiative, which comprises individuals from East Penn, EnerSys, Exide Technologies, Gopher Resource, Interstate Batteries, Johnson Controls, RSR Corporation, Teck Metals, The Doe Run Company and

the International Lead Association.

She also has regular contact with partner organisations such as the ILA, EUROBAT, the Association of Battery Recyclers and the Canadian Battery Association.

“A big part of my role is facilitating regular communication to keep the trains running and on the right tracks,” she says. “Members are all highly engaged with this project but we also have regular calls with other bodies to discuss material we are working on to see if we can add any value and even repurpose it for use in our own markets.”

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BCI: THE BIG PICTURE The initiative originally had a very digital presence but that is starting to change. This year, there has been more direct engagement in a number of ways, with the BCI focusing its efforts on a number of key dates and occasions.

One of these, scheduled to take place just ahead of National Battery Day on February 18, saw BCI representatives give a first ever briefing for the organization on Capitol Hill.

California Rep. Mark Takano (Democrat) and New York Rep. Chris Collins (Republican), who are co-chairs of the Advanced Energy Storage Caucus, both attended and agreed that the need for research into energy storage was an area of alignment for both parties.

Dry says this was a big achievement for BCI. It was the first time it had given a direct address of this nature to politicians. “I extended the invitation to people with my fingers crossed but I was delighted with the outcome,” Dry says.

“It was great as we are not an active lobbyist in that sphere and we make no financial contributions to politicians, but this showed there is keen interest in batteries and energy storage. It was a great start to the year for us.

“The lead battery industry is very much part of the circular economy.

As we know, its recycling rates are the best of any commodity and that sits in sharp contrast to lithium batteries.

We will highlight these positives supported by pieces on social media and on our website.”

Later in the summer, BCI will issue an updated economic impact study on the lead battery industry to examine its positive impact on the US economy in terms of job creation and taxes paid. She says the last such report was based on 2016 data but had the highest engagement of anything it has ever published on the Essential Energy Everyday website.

“We suspect it will show some positive growth and an increase in numbers across the board,” she says.

BCI will also publish a new report to coincide with America Recycles Day on November 15, for which it will partner a number of different companies such as McDonald’s, PepsiCo and the National Waste & Recycling Association to produce educational materials that will be shared with schools in some states.

Dry says that while the purpose of the ALBCI has always been to be

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proactive, it is taking things to a new level in 2019. And she says she is positive about the difference it will make.

“We have a great story to tell; this industry has a long track record and so much of the economy relies on lead batteries. We just need to remind peo-

ple why they trust and rely on lead batteries while also highlighting the many amazing innovations taking place as people improve the performance of these products all the time.

Some of the scientific innovation is amazing.”

“The lead battery industry is very much part of the circular economy. As we know, its recycling rates are the best of any commodity and that sits in sharp contrast to lithium-based batteries. We will highlight these positives supported by pieces on social media and on our website.”

LISA DRY

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 9

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN Bitrode Corporation

MAC Engineering

Booth: 12

Booth: 14

BITRODE CORPORATION, a Sovema Company, is a leading manufacturer of battery charging and testing equipment with over 50 years of industry experience. By partnering with customers to integrate their unique requirements into each product, Bitrode is consistently able to meet the changing needs of a sophisticated market.

The firm offers an extensive product line of formation and laboratory test equipment, user-friendly software and manufacturing automation tools appropriate to all battery applications and chemistries.

The firm’s manufacturing and engineering facility is based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA with sales and support offices in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition, Bitrode cultivates relationships with industry sales and supply networks around the globe, providing all customers with timely and knowledgeable service.

The firm’s focus on quality and commitment to providing superior technical support drives them to be the best full-service manufacturer of formation charging and test equipment for both large and small cell markets.

Contact details: +1 636 343 6112 info@bitrode.com www.bitrode.com

Eagle Oxide

MAC Engineering has supplied the lead acid battery industry with high quality downstream battery making equipment since 1965.

We offer complete systems for feeding, pasting, flash drying and stacking any continuous or gravity cast plate making technology.

From motorcycle and automotive batteries, to industrial and traction, we have equipment to handle any size of battery production.

New equipment solutions are now available for punched grids. MAC also offers finishing line equipment for automated Cast on Strap, acid filling, leak testing, heat sealing and more.

Contact us today for more information on what we can do for you.

Contact details: Doug Bornas Tel: +1 269-925-3295 E-mail: dbornas@mac-eng.com www.mac-eng.com

Sovema SpA Booth: 13

Booth: 40

AUTOMATION - OXIDE PRODUCTION - MATERIAL HANDLING - SERVICE EAGLE, a global leader in the design and manufacture of production and automation equipment. With over 25 years of experience working with battery manufacturers, material handling and oxide production systems, Eagle has the expertise to meet your battery production needs. We are the lead oxide experts!

From barton to ball mill systems, red lead and litharge furnaces, melt pots, ingot conveyors, pneumatic transfer systems, and integrated controls, to automated assembly cells, palletizers, and material handling systems, Eagle is your equipment and service team provider.

Competition in energy storage continues to increase. The ability to produce batteries with higher performance, at lower cost, and with lower environmental impact is a constant challenge. Eagle’s knowledge of lead oxides and manufacturing automation makes Eagle the strategic business partner you need in this competitive market!

Web: www.eagleoxide.com Email: sales@eagleoxide.com See Us at Booth 40

12 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

Founded in 1969, SOVEMA is one of the most significant and diversified battery equipment manufacturers in the world, able to supply individual equipment for specific processing operations, as well as complete lines for the entire production cycle, using an integrated technological approach starting from the study of factory and departmental lay-out, through to product know-how and plant commissioning by specialized staff.

In 2008 SOVEMA acquired BITRODE CORPORATION, the world’s most respected supplier of electric power conversions systems for EV/HEV battery testing, as well as production and test systems used in the manufacturing of batteries; in 2011 SOVEMA set up “SOLITH” a new branch for Lithium-Ion battery machines development in Bologna.

SOVEMA is implementing its equipment range more and more, as to improve its market leadership and serve any kind of energy storage manufacturers.

Contact details: Tel: +39 045 633 5711 Web: www.sovema.it Email: sovema@sovema.it Fax: +1 203 446 8015

www.batteriesinternational.com

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 13

PROFILE: ZESAR Profile: Zesar

Aiming for the world’s top 5 by 2020 — Zesar “With our two factories and a total area of 5,000m2, and the fact that we invest 5% of our income in R&D, we will be in the world’s top five battery equipment manufacturers by 2020,” says CEO Zeki Sarıçam.

W

ZESAR CEO Zeki Sarıçam

ith its commitment to innovation, research and quality, few would doubt it — and the company has plans to double its manufacturing area to 10,000m2 to meet customer demand.

Zesar develops bespoke equipment for customers in 25 countries.

The more complicated the demand, the more Zesar rises to the challenge, only last year installing a unique plate washing tunnel for Greek battery maker Systems Sunlight, the first of its kind in the world.

It didn’t stop there: the firm’s brand new Acid and Gel Filling Machine was also designed specifically for Systems Sunlight.

Zesar’s Waterbath Formation Tanks are sold all over the world, each with different capacity and dimensions, and its enhanced Curing Chamber can provide ready-made plates that can be used in production within just 20 hours.

“We always like to listen to our customer needs and requests,” says Sarıçam. “We have worked with Asian and African markets for many years and we’ve been developing our market in Europe, already adding customers from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Poland, and more.”

The family-owned business has reached its heady heights since it was founded in 1975

by Zeki Sarıçam.

Set up as Sarıçam Moulding, it provided grid casters to the main battery producers in Turkey.

Forty years later, its range of patented designs had expanded exponentially, and its second factory was built in Manisa — and later this year, it’s set to double.

Satisfied customers mean more confidence in our products and in our company.

Our quality policy ensures we will see 10-year growth, and we guarantee customer satisfaction by providing maximum quality with minimum cost.

14• •Batteries Batteries International • BCI 2019Guide Yearbook 2 International • India 2019

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PROFILE: ZESAR

Profile: Zesar

We have been supplying the best battery equipment and technology in Europe since 1976, supplying turnkey projects to our customers to ensure they are equipped with the most efficient, time and cost-saving modern machines.

ZeSar Timeline 1975 The Zesar Factory

SARIÇAM MOULDING is established by Mr. Zeki Sarıçam to provide grid casters to the major battery producers in Turkey.

1980

SARIÇAM MOULDING builds its first GRID CASTING machine.

1983

SARIÇAM MOULDING builds its first HEAT SEALING machine.

1986

SARIÇAM MOULDING enters a joint venture with a hydraulic pump producer and re-establishes itself as the ATA SARIÇAM COMPANY.

1990

SARIÇAM MOULDING exports to TUDOR/India and TUDOR/Spain for the first time.

2002

ATA SARIÇAM changes name to ZESAR with the ambition to fully support battery manufacturers and their needs.

2008

ZESAR begins using its own patented designs in its machines.

2009

ZESAR receives a subsidy grant from government to help the company launch EVOLINE, a low-cost, high-performance new generation assembly line.

2011

The introduction of the Robotic Transfer System (RTS) makes the whole assembly line process fully automatic.

ZESAR Watherbath Plant

2014

ZESAR operates its first successful handover turnkey project.

2015

ZESAR opens new factory in Manisa, Turkey.

COme anD See US

in londrina, Brazil, 26-28 may FeniBaT, the 4th national and international Batteries Fair and Conference and in Bali, indonesia, 3-6 September 18 asian Battery Conference

www.batteriesinternational.com www.batteriesinternational.com

BatteriesInternational International • •BCI 2019 Yearbook Batteries India Guide 2019••15 3

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Hammond Group, Inc.

Booth: 46

Booth 18

Family owned and operated since 1938, Farmer Mold & Machine Works specializes in the design and manufacturing of any type of machinery, including battery assembly equipment, parts casting equipment, and plant automation and process engineering.

Further, if you need something that’s not already in our current product line, Farmer can work with you to create custom machinery for your specific applications — whether a new technology or refining an existing process.

Our portfolio of machinery not only sets the standard within the industry but is ever-growing. Plus, Farmer provides sales and support for acid dilution systems, plate curing ovens, and semi- and fully automated material handling equipment to several industries worldwide.

WIRTZ Manufacturing at the 14ELBC; Our highly interactive and innovative approach to automated The WIRTZtool group Companies provides solutions the world-wide machine, andofdie, and mold designglobal follows precisetosafety battery manufacturing industry. With state-of-the-art equipment designed and standards and utilizes the best materials to produce top-of-the-line developed by; WIRTZ (gravity-cast, continuously-cast and rolled, punched grid and plate production); OXMASTER andinbarton oxide production machines and equipment that are (ball-mill built to last 24/7 environments. systems, and paste mixing equipment); LEKO (semi-automatic and high speed fully-automatic battery assembly lines); CONBRO (battery filling and formation Contact plants); anddetails: BATTERYRECYCLING (turnkey battery breaking lead and plastic recycling systems, including paste desulphurisation).

Founded in 1930, Hammond Group, Inc. (HGI) is a battery additives/ oxides and specialty chemical company that is advancing hybrid automotive and renewable energy markets through proprietary battery chemistry. HGI supports these emerging markets with two US manufacturing operations in Hammond, IN and another in Pottstown, PA. HGI also has International operations in Gateshead, England; and another in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Be sure to stop by our booth and talk with our specialists about how HGI can help your company overcome technical challenges. We offer technical assistance programs which allow our customers to utilize our experts to augment their research efforts, reduce capital expenditure and fixed costs, and rapidly develop new products.

Contact details: www.hmndgroup.com Email: customerservice@hmndgroup.com Tel: +1 219 931 9360

Jim Gilmour

727.522.0515 At+1the 14ELBC, WIRTZ will demonstrate their commitment to automatically control, and continuously improve critical process variables, in order to ensure jgilmour@farmermold.com that their resulting battery products are of the highest QUALITY, DURABILITY www.farmermold.com and PERFORMANCE. WIRTZ Manufacturing Company Inc..

1105 Twenty-Fourth Street Port Huron Michigan 48061-5006 Booth 29 USA Tel: +1 810 987 7600 Email; sales@wirtzusa.com

NEED BUSINESS ACCESS?

WIRTZ Manufacturing

The WIRTZ group of companies provides global solutions to the world-wide battery manufacturing industry.

With state-of-the-art equipment designed and developed by; WIRTZ (gravity-cast, continuously-cast and rolled, punched grid and plate production); OXMASTER (ball-mill and barton oxide production systems, and paste mixing equipment); LEKO (semi-automatic and high speed fully-automatic battery assembly lines); CONBRO (battery filling and formation plants); and BATTERYRECYCLING (turnkey battery breaking lead and plastic recycling systems, including paste desulphurisation).

At BCI, WIRTZ will demonstrate their commitment to automatically control, and continuously improve critical process variables, in order to ensure that their resulting battery products are of the highest QUALITY, DURABILITY and PERFORMANCE. Contact details: WIRTZ Manufacturing Company Inc..

1105 Twenty-Fourth Street Port Huron, Michigan 48061-5006 USA Tel: +1 810 987 7600 Email: sales@wirtzusa.com

16 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

Issue 98

Winter 2015/2016

Issue 97

Autumn 2015

Issue 103

Spring 2017

Issue 104

Summer 2017

West African Black Rhinoceros

Diceros Bicornis Longipes Ofcially extinct 2011

DeLight Breidegam Jr

Corporate extinction Adapt to survive: the changing US model Solar battery challenge Rugged endurance trials in Australia’s Outback Smelting’s death knell Aqua Metals’ technology offers viable alternative

Dreamweaver research How separators can beat the nail penetration test BCI Innovation Award MAC/EnerSys, Zesar/LTE reveal latest entries

Bringing the industry try together

www.batteriesinternational.com national.com

Issue 96

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Celebrating the memory of a life well lived, a company well founded, an industry well served

The stars cross the firmament: Ray Kubis moves to start-up

Ones to watch: the up-and-coming heroes of grid storage Spread the word — the ABC message on the lithium menace

Bringing the industry try together

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Summer 2015

Issue 95

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Bringing the industry together

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Cybersecurity 2017: the latest in hacking

Software to tie intelligence with distributed energy

Enabling fast formation of lithium ion batteries

Bringing the industry try together

www.batteriesinternational.com national.com

CO

Spring 2015

Issue 105

Lead squares up to lithium for large scale energy storage

Fondly remembered Electrochemist genius Al Salkind passed away in June Profile: Lampe-Önnerud Mixing innovation, ability and commercialization

Developing world telecoms to embrace energy storage

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One direction, two chemistries: China's confusion of solutions

When supply and demand collide, the coming cobalt supply crisis

Carbon and the negative plate: exclusive book extract tells all

Doug Brennion, the forgotten bipolar technology genius

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Winter 2017/2018

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The CEO interview Srivastava and Leclanché’s bid for world dominance

Jeanne Burbank’s legacy Battery pioneer whose lead insights are still with us

The new titans of lead Ecoult’s UltraBattery take lithium on — head to head

Capacitors come of age Will supercaps be the next miracle ingredient ‘x’?

Bringing the industry together

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ST E LA TH

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FROM LES TA

Masters of illusion

Lithium batteries: soon to be as recyclable as lead?

New uses for an established chemistry

Island microgrids Replacing costly diesel for renewables and batteries

The sudden rise of the bipolar battery

The BCI innovation award

Picking the new industry leader

Nickel: still an important cog in the energy storage game Liquid power The next generation of flow batteries is starting to emerge

The new pecking order

Turning that light bulb moment into a reality

Latin America: the next treasure trove for battery growth

RK E DA TH

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Lead battery industry mourn passing of Detchko Pavlov 'With respect Mr President, it's business as normal'

The coming shake-up for the world of UPS

Bringing the industry try together

www.batteriesinternational.com national.com

$50/e40

The mysterious world of energy storage pricing

17ABC: full coverage of the lead event of the year

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East Penn's Dan Langdon retires, Chris Pruitt takes over as CEO A life in energy storage: Shep Wolsky dies aged 91

The promise of the year ahead: what 2018 means for us all R Thorsby steps down as EVP for LA D SO Battery Council International RL

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WO OM S FR ON SS Y LE $50/€ $50/€40 / 40 TTER BA

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2019 BCI

fully-automatic battery assembly lines); CONBRO (battery filling and formation plants); and BATTERYRECYCLING (turnkey battery breaking lead and plastic CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN recycling systems, including paste desulphurisation).

At the 14ELBC, WIRTZ will demonstrate their commitment to automatically control, and continuously improve critical process variables, in order to ensure that their resulting battery products are of the highest QUALITY, DURABILITY and PERFORMANCE. WIRTZ Manufacturing Company Inc..

1105 Twenty-Fourth Street Port Huron Michigan 48061-5006 USA Tel: +1 810 987 7600 Email; sales@wirtzusa.com

BOOTH 29

BOOTH 18

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51 BCI THEATRE

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 17

www.wirtzusa.com

WIRTZ PASTERS DELIVER WORLD CLASS RESULTS, MORE PRODUCTIVITY AND MORE PROFIT Take a good look at these expanded metal plates which were pasted on a Wirtz SBP steel belt paster.

They are perfectly flat and as you can see the stacks of 50 plates are all completely even. The thickness and weight control is incredible — each stack of 50 plates is within plus or minus 2 grams. That’s plus or minus 2 grams per 50 plates! There is no paste on the top or bottom frames or the lugs.

Punched, Expanded or Continuous Cast plates can be produced at up to 200 feet per minute, or 60 meters per minute

The Wirtz steel belt paster is a precision machine which guarantees exact plate thickness control.

It can be supplied as a stand-alone paster or as our new SBP Combo paster cutter in a single space saving frame. The plate cutter can be either electronic or mechanical. It is designed to run at up to 200 feet per minute and can run at that speed with the Wirtz high speed robotic plate stacker. Our patented feature “On the Fly” thickness control allows thickness changes to be made while the machine is running.

To learn more on how Wirtz can improve your plate quality and your production output, call a Wirtz sales representative at +1-810-987-7600 or email sales@wirtzusa.com.

INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN Entek

OMI Impianti

Booth: 9

Booth: 19

Raise your performance with OMI-NBE Formation & Finishing Equipment!

For more than 30 years, ENTEK has been an innovator and leading global designer and producer of microporous battery separators for lead-acid and lithium batteries. Our separators are used in leadacid batteries for automobiles, golf carts and industrial applications, lithium-ion rechargeable and disposable lithium batteries.

We are a trusted supplier to leading battery makers in the AsiaPacific, Europe, and the Americas, and headquartered in Lebanon, Oregon USA, with facilities in the United Kingdom and Asia. ENTEK was founded on the principle of being ‘the best supplier to our customers and the best customer to our suppliers’ and our focus on customer service has been key to our success.

Our capacity, technical field support, quality systems, logistics teams and local warehousing ensure our customers enjoy on-time and in-full reliability of supply. We continuously invest to grow with our customers and offer the product customization our customers rely on for their success.

Contact details: Western Europe & South Africa Marcus Ulrich mulrich@entek.com +49 (40) 325 902 76 Eastern Europe & North Africa Steve Gerts sgerts@entek.com +44 (0) 191 268 5054 North & South America Greg Humphrey ghumphrey@entek.com +1 541 259 3901 Asia Christophe Thuet cthuet@entek.com +86 183 0211 9036

OMI-NBE work in the field of engineering and technologies for the production and charge of different type of batteries (AUTOMOTIVE, INDUSTRIAL, FLOODED or AGM & VRLA), proposing partial or complete solutions, which satisfy the customer’s requests drawing to a consolidated and innovative know-how.

From the smallest equipment to a complete project for a new plant for the battery charging, we are able to study and supply to you with the best solution for your requirements thanks to our technical knowledge and experience, following your indications if you have any preference about the process, or giving you different choices based on our wide offer.

We can take care of your batteries coming from the assembly, starting from the acid and water preparation, forming them with our water cooling systems or with the acid recirculation formation system, test and prepare your high quality batteries for the shipment to your final client and user.

Our solutions for the battery business: • ACID RECIRCULATION FORMATION, fast formation for all your flooded batteries, plus many more advantages thanks to the integrated processes, and up to 20% saving on energy consumption.

• ADVANCED WATER BATH FORMATION, with batteries handling through free rollers, motorized conveyor belts, or with our exclusive TRAY SYSTEM, from fully automatic system to manual system.

• FILLING PROCESS FOR FLOODED & AGM BATTERIES: Filling, levelling or recirculation stations, for car and truck batteries, for industrial cells, and for AGM & VRLA batteries.

• FINISHING & DISPATCHING EQUIPMENT: dumping stations, washing and drying tunnel, poles brushing, HRD and dielectric test stations, and many more.

• ACID PREPARATION, STORAGE AND RECOVERY: automatic and flexible systems, with continuous or batch preparation, based on your preference.

Contact details: Email: info@omi-nbe.com Web: www.omi-nbe.com Tel. & Fax: +39 0363 901 9811

Daramic Booth: 41

• Local Supply From A Global Perspective: 10 Manufacturing facilities and 7 Sales offices located in 8 different countries provide local service from a global perspective Daramic is the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of battery separators for automotive, industrial and specialty lead-acid applications. As the inventor of polyethylene separator, Daramic has led the way in developing innovative technology for the global leadacid battery industry nearly 90 years • Innovation: Our scientists and engineers continue to break new ground in the development of advanced separator technology. Our 3 global innovation centers in Owensboro, US; Sélestat, France and Bangalore, India are dedicated to innovation to meet everchanging industry needs

20 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

• Reliability: State-of-the-art processes and manufacturing equipment deliver consistent, reliable product quality • Full Automotive Solutions: Leverage the innovation synergy from its sister companies, the world’s largest li-ion battery separator makers, that position us to provide full solutions for automotive battery applications from basic SLI to Start-Stop to Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Contact details Website: www.daramic.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN

BOOTH 41 BOOTH 9 BOOTH 19

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 21

Visit us at booth 18

WWW.HMNDGROUP.COM InnovatIon award wInner

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN Inbatec

Digatron Power Electronics

Booth: 34

Booth: 35

Formation systems with acid recirculation technology The Inbatec Modules – We form your batteries Inbatec is the world leader in formation systems with acid recirculation technology with more than 400 systems in operation worldwide. Our formation modules are reliable and proven and are used by many lead-acid battery manufacturers around the world.

Your benefits: • Closed formation system allows complying with MAC values and environmental regulations • Precise acid gravity and temperature control results in very uniform cell-to-cell voltage • Shorter formation time means higher productivity, less space requirement and lower work in progress / inventory • Self-contained and independent modules – to be supplied only with concentrated acid, demineralised water, compressed air, electrical power • Whole acid management is done inside the module • Production capacity grows step-by-step The Inbatec formation process combines uniform and repeatable quality with high productivity and environmental compatibility. The Inbatec modules – the benchmark for lead acid battery formation.

Digatron Power Electronics is an international group of companies with engineering, manufacturing and service facilities located in Germany, the United States, China and India.

Digatron develops and manufactures computer-controlled test and formation equipment for all kinds of batteries, ranging from batteries for mobile phones to automotive batteries to huge submarine batteries. But also for other kinds of electrical energy storage devices like fuel cells, supercaps and hybrid systems Digatron supplies high dynamic test and load simulation systems.

The combination of heavy duty power electronics in linear or switch mode technology along with digital controllers, data acquisition and comprehensive management software is what makes Digatron unique in this field.

Contact details: Digatron Power Electronics GmbH Tempelhofer Str. 12-14 52068 Aachen, Germany Phone +49 241 16809-0 Fax +49 241 16809-19 sales@digatron.de www.digatron.com

Contact details: Inbatec GmbH Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 40, 58135 Hagen, Germany Tel.: +49 (0)2331 39650-0 Fax: +49 (0)2331 39650-29 E-Mail: info@inbatec.de Web: www.inbatec.de

Sorfin Yoshimura Call us for a meeting!

We look forward for you to contact Sorfin Yoshimura.

The Source of Power!

Sorfin Yoshimura is the largest independent trading company serving the worldwide lead acid battery industry.

Sorfin Yoshimura has offices in the USA, Japan, China, France, and Brasil in addition to agency cooperation in several other countries around the world.

We are a global company sourcing the best machinery, materials, and technical services for your battery factories specific needs.

Sorfin Yoshimura offers our customers the benefit of our decades of lead acid battery industry experience. We serve hundreds of customers throughout the world each year and customize our services for each and every factory.

We are constantly combing the world for the latest innovations in both materials and machinery; seeking to add vendors to our already vast network. When you choose Sorfin Yoshimura, you will quickly identify the unique combination of commercial savvy and engineering know-how that has enabled us to become the company that we are today.

24 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

Contact details: Sorfin Yoshimura NY Contact: Paul Fink, President email: sorfin@sorfin.com Tel: + 1 516 802-4600 Fax: + 1 516 802-4601/4602 www.sorfinyoshimura.com

Sorfin Yoshimura Tokyo Contact: Tom Yoshimura, President email: tokyo@sorfin-yoshimura.jp Tel: + 81 03 5575-3111 Fax: + 81 03 5575-0826

Sorfin Yoshimura Qingdao Contact: Ms. Lisa Li; President email: qingdao@sorfin-yoshimura.cn Tel: + 86 532 8597-1191 Fax: + 86 532 8597-1192 Sorfin Yoshimura Europe Contact: Pierre de Costa Lobo email: paris@sorfin-yoshimura.fr Tel: + 33 01 7815-2715 Fax: + 33 01 7841-6778 Sorfin Yoshimura Brasil Ltda.

Contact: Mr. Mauricio Ferrentini Email: saopaulo@sorfin.com.br Tel: +55 11 3152-2223 Fax: +55 11 3151-2225

www.batteriesinternational.com

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN

BOOTH 35

BOOTH 34

Call us for a meeting!

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 25

for a

Formation Systems with

Acid Recirculation Technology

better formation www.inbatec.de

2019 BCI CONVENTION AND POWER MART EXPO – FLOORPLAN KEY — ALPHABETICALLY BY COMPANY

49-50

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Accuma Corp 31 Accumation GmbH 44 BERNARD DUMAS 24 BI Force 25 Bitrode Corporation 12 BM-Rosendahl 48 Centrifugal Castings 23 CG Thermal, LLC 47 Cobra Wire & Cable (a division of EIS, Inc) 1 Co-efficient Precision Engineering Inc. 2 Daramic 41 Digatron Power Electronics Inc 35 Eagle Oxide Services 40 Entek 9 Farmer Mold & Machine Works, Inc 46 Flow-Rite Controls 28 Gauthier Non Ferrous Products 37 Glatfelter 27 Hammond Group, Inc. 18 Hollingsworth & Vose 21 Inbatec GMBH 34 International Thermal Systems 17 JBI Corporation 42 Johns Manville 4 Kallstrom Engineering Systems AB 16 MAC Engineering and Equipment Company, Inc. 14 Microporous 6 O.M. Impianti SRL 19 Oak Press Solutions Inc. 33 Orion Engineered Carbons 20 PINCO SA 43 PowerTech Water 51 Pro Charging System 5 S & V Industries/MSS India 49 Shandong Jinkeli Power Sources Technology Co., LTD 38 Sovema Group S.P.A. 13 Superior Graphite 22 Superior Signals Inc 36 TBS Engineering Group 45 Tulip Richardson Manufacturing 3 Tulip Richardson Manufacturing 7 UK PowerTech 26 Water Gremlin Company 8 Wegmann Automotive USA 11 Wirtz Manufacturing 29

KEY — BY STAND NUMBER 1

Cobra Wire & Cable (a division of EIS, Inc)

18 Hammond Group, Inc.

35 Digatron Power Electronics Inc

2

Co-efficient Precision Engineering Inc.

19 O.M. Impianti SRL

36 Superior Signals Inc

3

Tulip Richardson Manufacturing

20 Orion Engineered Carbons

37 Gauthier Non Ferrous Products

4

Johns Manville

21 Hollingsworth & Vose

38 Shandong Jinkeli Power Sources Technology Co., LTD

5

Pro Charging System

22 Superior Graphite

40 Eagle Oxide Services

6 Microporous

23 Centrifugal Castings

41 Daramic

7

Tulip Richardson Manufacturing

24 BERNARD DUMAS

42 JBI Corporation

8

Water Gremlin Company

25 BI Force

43 PINCO SA

9 Entek

26 UK PowerTech

44 Accumation GmbH

11 Wegmann Automotive USA

27 Glatfelter

45 TBS Engineering Group

12 Bitrode Corporation

28 Flow-Rite Controls

46 Farmer Mold & Machine Works, Inc

13 Sovema Group S.P.A.

29 Wirtz Manufacturing

47 CG Thermal, LLC

14 MAC Engineering and Equipment Company, Inc.

31 Accuma Corp

48 BM-Rosendahl

16 Kallstrom Engineering Systems AB

33 Oak Press Solutions Inc.

49 S & V Industries/MSS India

17 International Thermal Systems

34 Inbatec GMBH

51 PowerTech Water

28 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

= mc

2

At ENTEK, we are working tirelessly to move the battery industry forward. We have expanded capacity to keep up with monumental growth in Asia. Our scientists are working on technologies that will revolutionize battery storage and efficiency. Our customer care team is delivering on its promise of 100% on-time and in-full delivery. And our pr production team continues to raise the bar, increasing efficiency and quality.

So, whether your battery is powering a storage grid, an automobile or an e-bike, ENTEK will be there, working with our customers to innovate, improve and invigorate the battery universe.

Yeah. We know about energy.

See you at Booth 9 at BCI in New Orleans US • UK SINGAPORE • INDONESIA

+1 541 259 3901 (US) +44 (0) 191 268 5054 (UK) +65 (0) 9757 9621 (Singapore) +62 21 823 2295 (Indonesia)

www.entek.com

NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE

Why Trump is a double The BCI convention wouldn’t be the same without the much-anticipated presentation

by David Weinberg, partner at law firm Wiley Rein, who offers a unique update on regulatory matters. This year, he will argue that the Trump administration — of which this publication is politically neutral — has given the industry breathing space. But many challenges remain.

The Trump administration’s approach to certain aspects of regulation combined with its failure to populate many key government agencies with staff prepared to push a clear agenda has actually given the lead-acid battery sector an element of breathing space — at least in comparison to what would likely have happened under a Clinton administration.

That’s the view of David Weinberg, who will share his perspective on the regulatory threats and challenges facing the battery sector. This year, he says,

he will spend some time looking at an overview of what Trump has meant for the sector.

“I will talk in part about how the Trump regime’s antagonism to burdensome regulation has given the lead battery industry the time to address some core concerns that it may not have had the chance to had there been a Clinton administration instead. It has had the chance to breathe,” he says.

Weinberg says the priorities of the Trump administration have been different. It has a deep-rooted dislike of

anything seen as intrusive or unnecessary, while “encouraging industry people to take advantage of opportunities and discouraging them from assuming a permanent relief”.

One example he offers is that the administration has delayed the implementation of lead regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the national chemicals management law.

In the recent naming of 20 “high priority” products, which had the potential to bring lead under its remit, lead was not included.

“I will talk in part about how the Trump regime’s antagonism to burdensome regulation has given the lead battery industry the time to address some core concerns that it may not have had the chance to had there been a Clinton administration instead. It has had the chance to breathe”

30 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE

-edged sword for lead Another example has been the failure to drive forward proposed new occupational health standards, which also had the potential to impact the lead battery industry. He stresses, though, that this remains a big issue in certain states, including California, and could be driven forward at that level.

As well as stalling regulatory changes, he says that the Trump government has failed or been very slow to staff up a number of federal agencies with political appointees. Usually, an administration appoints individuals with a specific remit to drive forward a certain agenda.

This has only happened in a few agencies, generally those in which Trump has a personal interest, such as international trade.

“This has basically allowed many agencies to carry on doing what they see as their routine mandates without political direction,” Weinberg explains. “In reality this leads to a hiatus in many cases with little progress on key things. It is far more typical that new administrations put in place individuals with an agenda specific to the agency and a desire to get certain things done.

“The mindset of the administrations prior to this was increasingly around things like ‘environmental justice’ for communities that might have been exposed to pollution in whatever form. Those things are just not as big a priority for this administration.”

He says all this has resulted in a change in the rhetoric used from a so-called ‘War on Lead’ ‘to an Action Plan on Lead’.

“That shows you the difference in approach. There has been a real change in emphasis. It is not given the same importance as it would have had under the Democrats.”

Despite this respite of pressure at a federal level, however, the industry still faces many challenges at a state level with California, as ever, leading the way.

The industry is still waiting to discover if lead will be included on the Green Chemistry Initiative, or Safer Consumer Products Program, in California.

The law requires a new life-cycle ‘alternatives analysis’ to evaluate al-

www.batteriesinternational.com

ternatives and substitutes for hazardous substances in consumer products based not only on their risk during product use, but also during their manufacture and after disposal. The state may then condition, restrict or ban the use of those chemicals in products of concern.

While the initial products being considered under the Safer Consumer Products Program do not include lead acid batteries, the concern has been that they could ultimately be listed for attention, which would require manufacturers to evaluate their product’s health impact and consider ways to reduce it.

The concern is that if lead gets caught up in this, it would have the potential to disrupt the distribution channels that the industry relies on both for the distribution of the product and the way in which lead acid batteries are recycled.

“It is a big unknown. The industry is still waiting for a decision,” he says. “At a federal level, lead was not included in the roughly comparable TSCA list, but it is unclear how California will react to that. There appears to be no heavy pressure for lead to be included but we cannot be sure.”

California has also been tightening its own standards as implemented by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. But this has also been in a hiatus, Weinberg explains, which is frustrating because the BCI spent a lot of time previously working with the state to get these guidelines to something reasonable.

He says the issue was initially considered against the backdrop of The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration having not updated its own general workplace standards for lead exposure since establishing them 35 years ago.

With no change on the agenda, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health took its own initiative and has been working towards

tightening these regulations.

But California has often acted as a pioneer and driver of such standards and other states have often followed, especially if it is seen as demonstrating that its lead-related businesses can survive tougher regulations.

Weinberg says any such changes should consider just how high standards are now. He says the idea that standards have not changed since the 1970s is a mistake. The industry’s own standards are far more rigorous that those set by regulators anyway. As such, the lead levels in the blood of a worker in a battery plant are roughly the same as they have been for every member of the population in the 1950s.

Meanwhile, on the legislative side, moves are afoot to extend the timescale and scope of the California Lead Acid Battery Recycling Act of 2016.

A fund was created for the clean-up of areas contaminated by lead-acid batteries, under which consumers are charged a $1 fee per vehicle battery, including marine batteries, at point of sale. Under a pending proposal, manufacturers would pay an additional $1 fee on all applicable batteries sold in the state.

The money from the fees will be used to clean up areas of the state that have been contaminated by the production and recycling of lead acid batteries.

“That is another big issue for the industry, the timeline is immediate, and it is very likely some sort of legislation will be moved forward,” he says.

Meanwhile, New York, Washington and Oregon all look on track to pass more rigorous standards under their own Divisions of Occupational Safety and Health or other authorities.

“We might have had some respite at a federal level but these are all battles the industry must ensure it stays on top of. Between California and New York you are looking at a very large percentage of the US population.”

“At a federal level, lead was not included in the roughly comparable TSCA list, but it is unclear how California will react to that. There appears to be no heavy pressure for lead to be included but we cannot be sure.”

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 31

NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE

Bearish on lead but a good thing for battery industry

Neil Hawkes, lead analyst at CRU International, explains why he is bearish to varying degrees on the price of lead — both in the short and long term — but why this may also bring positives to the industry.

Hawkes will make a relatively bearish prediction for lead prices at this year’s annual conference, explaining why prices could be flat or continue to fall in the short and long term.

A year ago, lead prices looked shaky. After fluctuating for a few months, they reached a six-year high of $2,600/t in early 2018 before dropping to around $2,300/t at the time of the BCI, the lowest point in at least six months.

A lot has changed since then. In the first quarter of 2019, the price averaged just above the $2,000/t mark, having recovered slightly on the $1,880/t low hit in October 2018. The price has been driven down by a variety of factors including economic and political uncertainty and an improvement in mine production in several parts of the world.

“This means a swing from a deficit market to a surplus market. That

32 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

is something I can see continuing for the next few years, meaning yet more downward pressure,” Hawkes says.

“We are seeing it at around $2,000/t mark at the moment and I can see new lows being tested in the middle of the year. I don’t think it will collapse but it is hard to see how that bearish sentiment will change during the year. That is not necessarily a disaster for lead — it may make it more competitive in relation to other chemistries.”

Hawkes will explain some of the forces causing this downward pressure, including uncertainty caused by trade wars between the US and China and US president Trump’s imposition of trade tariffs (on steel, 25% and aluminium, 10%).

“That spooked investors, and it was combined with a slowdown in the Chinese economy and a slowdown in demand for lead in China,” Hawkes says.

There has also been a deterioration in the strength of the E-bike market as it has matured, and the Chinese government has been pushing lithium-ion batteries instead of lead-acid, and the telecoms sector is being steered towards replacing back-up power batteries with lithium rather than lead.

All this outweighs the fact that lead supply is tightening in China more generally, mainly due to lower capacity utilization and extended smelter shutdowns due to environmental concerns. Consequently refined lead output, like demand, has also declined.

At the same time, mine production outside China has been increasing to meet demand for primary zinc. Primary supplies are a more important price driver in zinc than in lead, with secondary production accounting for around 10% of global refined zinc production, compared with around 60% of global refined lead production.

“But this means more supply of lead and that puts downward pressure on the price as well,” Hawkes says. “There have been a few bumps but overall, mine supplies have continued to increase.”

He says Brexit has also been a factor, with the continued uncertainty making it difficult to anticipate.

But Hawkes says there are several reasons for the lead battery community to be positive. Although electric and hybrid vehicles will continue to gain market share, he says it will be the 2030s before this really accelerates.

“Lead acid will still be needed for some time to come, plus the technology of this chemistry is improving all the time,” he says.

He says lower lead prices could improve the competitive dynamic between lead and lithium, especially as the cost of raw materials associated with lithium is predicted to increase.

“The more cost-effective lead batteries are, the more competitive they will be. Add into that the advances taking place plus the fact that lead is one of the most recycled commodities on the planet, and the industry has a strong business case going forward,” Hawkes says.

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NOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE

The transportation batteries sector set for steep growth

Ray Kubis, chairman of Gridtential and a director of EcoBat Technologies, will explain to BCI delegates why the automotive battery sector is set for rapid growth — and discuss the challenges and opportunities this will mean.

The growth trajectory of the transportation batteries sector is set to steepen even more over the next five years, driven in part by a rise in electrified urban delivery vehicles and low speed electric vehicles.

This is a trajectory that will create both challenges and opportunities for the lead-acid battery sector globally as well. While lithium batteries will benefit proportionally more than lead-based products from this growth, it may not be where many in the industry expect.

Those will be just some of the themes of a presentation Ray Kubis, chairman of Gridtential and a director of EcoBat Technologies, will give at the BCI annual conference this year.

34 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

He says it is clear that pure electric and hybrid vehicles will drive growth in large battery demand increases.

Last year, Kubis predicted that the value of the automotive battery sector will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20% for the next five years to reach $128 billion globally by 2022. Underneath that growth, he said energy content would grow by 10% a year to reach one terawatt of battery capacity a year.

This year, he will update those forecasts to 2023 and look further into certain sectors. He will also predict how much of the growth will use lithium chemistry versus how much is likely to use lead-acid.

Kubis has developed a model that

takes in a number of factors and data to predict and track the growth of the automotive battery sector, taking in the whole continuum of electrification, from e-bikes to e-buses and trucks.

The model is based on speaking to a number of senior diverse sources in the industry and adding this to sector data on every available relevant sector and country. “It is ambitious, but so be it,” he says.

This year, the model has been updated so it is more focused around the capacity of battery energy needed rather than the number of vehicles that require a battery. The kilowatt hours in a battery can vary dramatically and only by assessing the market on this basis can a more accurate growth prediction be made.

This year, he has also managed to get more insight into the growth trajectory of commercial trucks including electrified urban delivery vehicles.

He says the latter is seeing rapid growth, driven by the rise in ecommerce and subsequent rapid rise in deliveries.

In Asia, low-speed vehicles are a critical and widely used form of transport, in the west there has been a steady rise in the use of vehicles such as golf carts.

“There are well over 40 million of these vehicles in India and China alone and they are critical to the economy in terms of transporting people and also for industrial and consumer deliveries. They typically used lead-based batteries and this sector is growing fast. We have used a lot more sources for the data, ranging from interviews with industrial battery companies to trade associations for a number of sectors.”

He suggests that though few will be surprised that lithium will be the bigger winner, they may be surprised about in what areas and how that might play out in the real world.

He will also assess how far advancements in electrification are driving improvements in emissions and a reduction of CO2. He says regulatory pressures and government incentives will also play an important role in determining the pace of change in different parts of the world.

“I’ll profile some of the developments in this space and some of the vehicles now available. I think it will surprise people just how small the engines in some of them are,” he says.

“Some of the technologies that have been developed are very impressive.”

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS Four years ago, BCI announced a special award for innovation in the lead battery industry. The 2019 winner will be announced on Monday, April 28 at the opening of the conference.

Invention comes to the fore as new and lively wave of innovators emerge This year, 11 companies submitted entries for the 2019 Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award.

Thank you to Abertax, Battery Rescue, Customized Energy Solutions, Daramic, Microporous, Narada, Philadelphia Scientific, Power-Sonic, RSR, Terrapure and Voltificfor bettering the industry through innovative thinking.

T

he Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award celebrates innovation in equipment, processes, services and products that advance the lead battery industry.

Submissions were opened in December and remained open until February 2019. Battery Council International received eight submissions. Each submission was judged on eight areas: sustainability, safety, cost, performance, detail, uniqueness, value and quantifiablity.

Sustainability – Does the submission show environmental stewardship and /or innovative recyclability? Submitters were asked to provide tangible aspirations, goals and objectives in helping to create a greener tomorrow.

Safety — Does the submission show product or process stability and the ability to be safely commercialized?

Submitters were asked to demonstrate a clear commitment to the best interest of the general public and industry from a safety standpoint.

Cost — Can the submission be easily commercialized, provide cost-optimized advantages and be an affordable alternative to existing technologies and processes?

Performance — Does the submission meet or exceed the needs for application and industry requirements?

Submitters were asked to demonstrate how the innovation meets its intended key objectives, goals and benefits as well as other outstanding attributes.

Detail — Does the submission provide adequate information that thoroughly explains the innovation?

Uniqueness — Is the submission the first of its kind to market or rarely used by other organizations?

How does it differ from existing products? Submitters were asked to provide information about similar applications and clearly define what makes this product, process or discovery unique or innovative.

Value — How does the submission directly benefit the lead battery industry? Can the value be quantified with numerical data, such as material reduction or pollution avoided? Can the product be utilized outside of the company that created it?

Quantifiable — Does the information provided meet the criteria and clearly describe in numerical data the key measurable areas. Submissions that provided actual data received a higher score.

Those who submitted an entry were asked to include a 90-second video providing additional insight on their innovation.

To view the videos and learn more visit www.batterycouncil.org/innovationaward

Michael Borgeson Membership and Operations Coordinator

“Innovation is the thing that gives you the opportunity. It’s the promise of our future.”

Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 37

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: RSR TECHNOLOGIES RSR Technologies has developed SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE, an engineered suite of micro-alloying additions, which enhance the cycling and charge acceptance of the active material in a lead acid battery — closing the performance gap on lithium-ion in the process.

Closing the performance gap with lithium-ion RSR Technologies, a subsidiary of the engineering unit of Eco-Bat Group, the largest producer of lead in the world, has developed a ground-breaking lead alloy for the active material of lead acid batteries that potentially doubles the cycle life of lead batteries.

The new product, branded and patented as SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE, contains an engineered suite of micro-alloying additions, which enhance the cycling and charge acceptance of the active material in a lead acid battery. Known as 009, it is a grid alloy engineered for higher use temperatures, developed by RSR Technologies following a long history of development.

Tim Ellis, the president of RSR Technologies, says SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE is now undergoing trials with half a dozen companies in North America and Europe after initially being launched in the South African market.

He anticipates it will be fully available

commercially by the end of the third quarter.

This global launch follows it already going into commercial production at the South African lead battery firm Auto-X, the maker of the Willard brand of batteries. Tests showed it doubled the cycle life of lead batteries and greatly reduced water loss, something Ellis says will revolutionize parts of the market.

He says the improvement in performance that this product delivers has the potential to help lead acid batteries level the playing field with its main competitor, lithium-ion batteries.

“The fact is that lead acid batteries now have a real competitor in the form of lithium and this can help it compete on performance,” Ellis says. “For such a dominant and widely used technology, lead acid batteries were pretty poorly understood. What we have done is apply science to better understand how they work and, as a result,

move their performance closer to what it should be.

“Lead batteries have many other advertences over lithium, especially the success with which they are recycled, and the availability of the raw material compared with lithium.

“Lithium has always had great cycling and great energy but higher cost and nowhere near the recyclability of lead,” says Ellis. “Lead is less expensive and more recyclable but didn’t have the energy or the cycling. Now it can maintain its low cost and improve its cycling and energy as well.

“If we can improve the performance of lead, without having to reinvent the product, this represents a boost to the entire industry. We are very excited about the potential of what we have achieved here.”

A prestigious history

RSR Technologies has around 16 full time staff, around a third of them with

DOD 17.5% testing of Willard Batteries with and without SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE show the improvement offered by crystal modifying leady oxide.

38 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: RSR TECHNOLOGIES PhDs. It focuses on new product development and environmental and analytical chemistry for a variety of types of batteries – it has a much wider scope than focusing only on lead and lithium.

The foundations of the work that resulted in the development of SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE began with David Prengaman, the president of RSR Technologies until five years ago, when he retired and Ellis took the reins. Along with Matt Raiford, a senior process engineer, and the rest of the team at RSR, he has since moved that work forward.

In his earlier years with RSR, Prengaman completed extensive work to remove and analyze impurities in lead. This gradually moved to focus on the effect of adding selected alloys or ‘dopants’ to lead, and assessing the effect on the performance of the batteries in which they are used. Over the years, Ellis estimates that the company tested more than 100 combinations of different alloys in this way.

The tests would focus on the capacity of batteries, their dynamic charge acceptance and their cycle life.

“We tested these things extensively to see what would improve the performance of batteries and we realized that certain combinations would make a big difference to the electrical performance,” Ellis says.

He stresses that the level of the dopants being added is tiny. But he says that in some instances cycle life was improved by some 40%, dynamic charge acceptance by a factor of two and capacity by 10%.

The breakthrough

The big breakthrough, however, came when the company secured access to an Advanced Photon Source synchro-

“The fact is that lead acid batteries now have a real competitor in the form of lithium and the SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE can help it compete on performance.” Tim Ellis tron, which is housed at the Argonne National Laboratory and is used in a huge range of scientific disciplines.

This allowed it to accurately assess the effect of the proportions of the microalloying additions on the micro-structure of the active material. Although the technology had previously been applied to lithium, RSR was the first to apply it to lead.

In essence, it allowed them to watch the performance and evolution of the active material micro-structure in the batteries as they cycled in real time by using the APS synchrotron, allowing far more accurate analysis of the dynamics of crystallization phenomena occurring in the battery during charge/discharge cycling.

“How and why crystals do, or do not, dissolve is key to improving performance in applications,” Ellis says.

“Prior to using this, we knew there was an improvement in performance, but we did not know why. This allowed us to see exactly what was going on and the effect it was having on the battery.

“We were able to do this x-ray analysis of the battery plate as it went through the charge and discharge cycle, so we could understand exactly what was going on in the lead. That allowed us to understand how to better engineer the metals to make them more efficient.”

Ellis says the ANL welcomed the idea of looking at lead. In the laboratory experiments that followed,

when the SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE alloy was placed against a control lead element typical of standard lead batteries, the careful selection of microalloying additions and removal of specific contaminants were found to directly aid in changing the PbSO4 to a more easily dissoluble crystal form — thus prolonging battery life.

The cyclability test was based on a specification of a 17.5% depth-of-discharge; normally the cycle rate would be between 800 and 900, Ellis said.

Using the RSR alloy it did up to 1,600 cycles.

These developments allowed the company to take things to the next step and work with Auto-X in South Africa. The results have been very positive, leading to the expansion into North America and Europe.

“This is real; it is not a promise or something that may or may not work.

It is real now,” Ellis says.

He adds the response from the market has been very positive so far, and admits that the pricing of the product will be critical in its uptake by the wider market. But he believes the use of this product will become the new norm for the market, closing the performance gap on lithium-ion in the process.

“It’s only just now being marketed, but for us it’s already standard. It was a game changer to us — and I believe there’s still more development to follow.”

Product

One Hour Capacity (mA-Hrs/mg)

MHT Cycle Life (Cycles)

Dynamic Charge Acceptance (A/A*hr)

DoD 17.5% Cycles

DoD 50% Cycles

DoD 100% Cycles

Control

74

8,000

0.21

3,000

810

765

SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE® Patent 20170317351

84

42,000

0.49

4170

1140

990

Test Method

BCI

EN 50342:2015

EN 50342:2015

BCI

BCI

BCI

Improvement

13.5%

x5

x2

39.0%

40.7%

40.1%

Performance summary of SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE performance in 2V test cells.

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 39

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: MICROPOROUS Microporous has developed a product that boosts the dynamic charge acceptance in lead acid batteries without the need for complex changes to the battery — and it can be used with its separator products.

Boosting dynamic charge acceptance Separator product developer Microporous has come up with a dynamic charge acceptance booster for lead batteries that works without changing the negative active material.

The DCA Booster Mat can be bundled with its SLI or industrial separators and is suitable for the growing enhanced flooded battery market. It allows charge acceptance optimization and is suited to High Rate Partial State of Charge requirements for start-stop applications.

The company is still in the testing phase, but hopes to have completed prototype investigations in the next 12 months. It will then start developing partnerships with battery companies to evaluate the product.

Divya Tiwari, technical manager at Microporous, says the innovation can also be applied to other markets and applications. “At the same time, this separator component offers excellent charge acceptance in industrial markets such as motive power, where opportunity charging is required,” she says.

Tiwari says the Booster Mat fits tightly against the negative plate surface to add a powerful three-dimensional buffer layer that shuttles charge to and from the NAM. Initial testing demonstrates a 300% improvement in DCA over the control.

Microporous began 80 years ago as American Rubber Company, which created and patented the first rubber battery separator. It became Microporous Products in 1991 and, since then, has developed and patented numerous separator products while expanding its operations globally.

Tiwari says the company has for years explored ways in which carbon could improve lead-acid battery performance and tried to solve some of the problems previous studies had encountered.

“We put our concept to work in 2018. We saw the need for improved DCA in lead batteries and the immi-

www.batteriesinternational.com

Microporous’ Tiwari, “innovation can be applied to other markets’

nent threat of Li-ion in start-stop vehicles. Previous studies have shown that mixing carbon into the NAM has its drawbacks and we looked for a better solution,” says Tiwari.

She says the work had four main aims: to improve the DCA in batteries; to do this without negatively affecting cold cranking amps; to do this with minimal impact on water consumption; and to eliminate the need for special NAM formulations.

Other individuals who deserve credit include Jeff Chambers, product development manager, who specializes in membrane technology and has de-

signed battery separators for 20 years.

Tiwari has worked in the lead acid battery industry for six years and has a background in chemical engineering, with experience in lead acid battery design and testing carbon formulations. But she stresses the work around the innovation was very much a team effort.

The main point of the Booster Mat was to address low DCA, “Improved DCA allows for more efficient opportunity charging, which reduces undercharging and increases cycle life,” Tiwari says. “For EFB battery design, improved DCA removes the phenomenon of battery walk down, which is often seen in automotive batteries used in start-stop operations.

“This innovation could reduce stratification. An additional benefit is that battery manufacturers have a readily available and versatile mechanism for carbon formulation additions to the negative, which do not involve significant processing complexity that occurs with direct addition to NAM.” Tiwari says the benefits could be far reaching, reducing the environmental impact of some products and slowing the erosion of market share by lithium-ion batteries. “The technical benefits outlined above will lead to potential energy savings, better environment sustainability and reduced risk for warranty exposure,” she says.

There is some way to go, and Tiwari says the company is still assessing the Booster Mat’s impact on different batteries and how to manufacture it most efficiently.

The main point of the Booster Mat was to address low DCA, one of the major problems with lead batteries. When used in different applications, this could have a significant impact on the performance of different types of batteries.

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 41

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: NARADA Narada has partnered energy storage operator Upside Group in an innovative frequency regulation project, which represents the first large-scale application of lead-carbon batteries in grid-level frequency regulation energy storage systems.

A new approach to gridlevel frequency regulation The frequency regulation project was for the German power grid and the installation, at Langenreichenbach, has a planned construction capacity of 75MW. The installed capacity of the first phase of the project is 16.4MW, and the peak energy storage capacity can reach 25MWh. This project consists of 18 containers, and the battery consists of 10,584 units of 1200 Ah lead-carbon valve regulated cells. It is powered by nine inverters, each of which can provide 1.8 MVA. Narada was one of the pioneers in terms of developing lead-carbon battery energy storage systems in energy storage. In recent years, Narada has begun promoting commercial energy storage power plants by means of “Investment + Operation”. The company says this project is a symbol of transformation, representing the first investment and operation model project in the overseas market.

It says it elected to do this project in Germany because the utilization of renewable energy in the country is one of the most advanced in the world. Its power grid frequency regulation market is thus a mature power market auxiliary service trading market. The company says its entry to the German energy storage market marks the beginning of Narada’s entry into the global market.

The project was driven by the Narada Project Development Team, which was responsible for the finance and development of the entire project. It says it believes that the application of lead carbon batteries in energy storage systems is groundbreaking.

“This project is the first large-scale application of lead-carbon batteries in grid-level frequency regulation energy storage systems, and is of exemplary significance worldwide,” the company said. “In mitigating the power consumption of the local power grid, it adjusts grid balance, saves energy and

42 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

And it provides electricity for local residents.”

Narada will now cooperate with Upside to finish building the project, with a total investment of around €42 million ($47 million). It will also incorporate advanced battery technology as well as a PCS system.

The company said the project will help Narada better understand this sector. It now wants to be heavily involved in the storage market of frequency regulation to promote energy storage systems throughout Germany and then Europe.

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ABERTAX Abertax has developed a charger that can communicate with batteries to establish which has been connected to a charger, gather data from the battery and then programme the optimal charging regime for that specific battery.

Achieving an optimal charging regime Abertax has developed a patented innovation involving the Abertax Battery Management Systems (e2BMS), which is designed to identify which battery, from a number of batteries, has been connected to a charger, and also gather relevant battery data allowing it to programme the most efficient and economic charging profile possible.

It allows a battery and the charger to communicate to ensure an optimal charging regime is delivered.

The product works by first identifying the particular battery and then adjusting its charging profile to suit that battery’s specific requirements.

This transfer of data from battery to charger takes place wirelessly through the Abertax e2BMS. “The charger will be able to charge the individual battery with the ideal and most efficient parameters depending on the particular battery’s requirements,” says George Schembri, president of Abertax.

Schembri says the development of the product started about 18 months ago. It was developed in collaboration between the research & development team at Abertax with charger manufacturer Industrie Elektronik Brilon in Germany.

The aim was to achieve the optimal charging regime to charge batteries depending on their requirements, extending the life time of the battery in the process.

He stresses that the most innovative part of the patent is the fact that the charger first needs to identify which battery is actually connected to it from a number of available batteries, each equipped with the Abertax e2BMS. It does this by delivering a series of voltage and current pulses to the battery.

It then asks the battery to send out the required data wirelessly through the e2BMS. Such data would typically

44 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

include information such as the battery ID, battery Ah, nominal voltage, ambient and battery temperature, full voltage, half voltage, current, state of charge (SoC), and electrolyte level (for flooded batteries).

Battery Monitoring System – ABERTAX® e2 BMS

“Based on this data, the charger then adjusts its charging regime to charge the battery at its optimum requirements. This data is then continuously demanded by the charger periodically during its charging operation, typically even every second, in order to continuously change its profile accordingly to the best possible,” Schembri says.

Schembri says the product can achieve something that has long been a goal of battery manufacturers. “Charging a battery at its right requirements is an ideal scenario,” he says.

“Having a battery communicating with its charger to provide the re-

quired data to charge it at the right charging profile will have a huge impact on the lifetime and battery performance besides saving time and energy.

“On top of this, our innovation has the added important benefit that the charger would identify automatically the particular battery that is connected to it from a number of batteries.”

This could be particularly useful in an industrial scenario, he says, where, for example, an enterprise has a number of battery-driven vehicles such as forklifts, for example. They would connect any forklift battery to the charger and the rest would be done automatically. Without any intervention, the charging profile would be adjusted.

“The data transmitted by the battery to the charger first compels the charger to identify that particular battery, then communication between the battery and charger takes place and all the required data is transferred so that the charger would provide the ideal charging profile to suit the battery conditions. It therefore means better control of all battery/charger operation.”

In terms of the timeline of the innovation now, further R&D work is under way at Abertax where, Schembri says, the company has invested heavily in developing a very strong team.

“New products and improvements to existing products are always in the pipeline,” he says.

“Having a battery communicating with its charger to provide the required data to charge it at the right charging profile will have a huge impact on the lifetime and battery performance besides saving time and energy.” www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: BATTERY RESCUE AUSTRALIA Battery Rescue Australia has developed a safer and more environmentally friendly way of transporting used lead acid batteries.

A safer way to recycle lead acid batteries The Battery Transport & Storage container from Battery Rescue Australia provides an environmentally friendly, safer and more convenient method for storing and transporting used batteries.

The company was established as a demonstration battery collection business by its sister company Uniseg Products, using a BTS container developed by Uniseg as a safer, more environmentally sustainable and efficient method of storing and transporting used lead acid batteries destined for recycling.

Battery Rescue initially operated its closed loop battery collection service in Perth, but on the back of demand from regional mining companies it has now expanded the service to remote regional locations in Western Australia.

Battery Rescue’s customers include used battery generators, auto workshops, government councils, equipment and machinery hire companies, battery sales companies, transport companies and yacht clubs. They use the product to store their used batteries and when full, Battery Rescue switches the container with an empty unit. The full containers are ready for immediate transport to the recycler and require no additional wrapping, strapping or labelling as dangerous goods.

The product was developed by inventor, entrepreneur and managing director Fenton Goddard, who noticed when helping a friend in his recycling business that the transport and storage of used lead acid batteries was

www.batteriesinternational.com

neither safe nor efficient.

Goddard has designed, manufactured and commercialized several successful, new and unique products and business operating systems in the automotive industry. These include the Autoarc, a unique direct-current welding machine; Robowash, an automatic industrial parts washing machine; and the Aquajet and Washpod, both automatic parts washing systems.

The BTS container, which has been provisionally patented, was a result of the need to find a solution for transporting batteries.

General manager David Bush joined the board in October 2013, took responsibility of the day-to-day running of the battery collection service and looked into solving the logistical challenges of operating a closed loop container pool for large, remote mining operations.

Bush and Goddard are committed environmentalists eager to see Battery Rescue help reduce the danger and impact on the environment caused by the unsafe and illegal transport, storage and disposal of all types of batteries.

“The containers provide an environmentally superior, safer and more convenient method for storing and transporting their used batteries,” says Bush. “The use of battery-powered 4G IoT technology has enabled us to overcome many of the transport challenges to large mine sites in remote areas.”

Bush says many mining companies such as BHP are seeking a safer,

regulation-compliant solution for the onsite storage and transport of used lead acid batteries (ULAB), while also reducing their environmental impact.

Storage of ULABs on wood pallets in the open, harsh environment of North West Australia results in acid leaking while in storage and subsequent transport.

“In addition, the difficulties and inconvenience of preparing batteries for regulation compliant transport on wood pallets from site has led to widespread non-compliance in the mining industry,” Bush says. “This task is not easy and combined with variations in workers’ attitudes and training, nonavailability of the required materials and tools (heavy-duty wood pallets, plastic wrap and straps, strapping tools and 30mm non-conductive separators) and it becomes apparent why compliance requirements are rarely being met.”

The product offers benefits including better safety loading and transport; improved environmental outcomes by eliminating acid leaks (containing high lead levels); more convenient and efficient stacking of batteries; regulation compliance and reduced legal risks; and improved battery recycling rates from remote mine sites.

Bush says it could be used globally.

Battery Rescue Australia’s next goal is to expand the service to further Western Australian mine sites. Its future goals then include expanding to other Australian states and implementing the automatic unloading and washing of BTS containers at an Australian battery recycler.

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 45

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: DARAMIC AND HUFF TECHNOLOGIES Daramic has partnered Huff Technologies to design a mechanism by which the effect of motion on lead acid batteries can be easily assessed and analyzed.

Simulating the effect of movement on batteries Daramic and Huff Technologies have developed a way of better simulating how batteries perform in the real world by simulating how they move around during everyday use.

The Daramic Shuttle Table has been designed to mimic real world scenarios during testing. It was developed because the companies acknowledged that in all types of environments, vehicles and the lead acid batteries they use are constantly moving.

Together, they have developed a proprietary testing method along with innovative new machinery to allow battery manufacturers to test their products in a real-life scenario. The technology is able to test up to 12 group 31/L3 batteries simultaneously and the user can select a variety of different programmes offering different types of movements and cycles.

The system allows for a direct comparison between batteries based on different working patterns and battery environments.

It will enable the testing and validation of a variety of passive acid mixing devices, the company said, as well as many standard industry tests performed while the batteries are in motion. This includes the testing of tall motive power and deep cycle batteries, while providing a safer battery testing environment.

The company also highlights a number of operational designs. These include an advanced control panel, which allows the programming of desired parameters including acceleration and the time between movements and cycles.

Data is then collected via an external drive and transferred using USB ports on the machine. A versatile tslotted rail system allows for quick and adjustable tie down of batteries of multiple configurations and sizes.

Daramic has featured in the innovation awards since their inception in 2016 and has always been a strong contender to gain top ranking. Last

46 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

year the firm showcased its latest product using Carbon Coated Separator Technology. This reduces sulfation crystal growth, delivering a more active surface area on the plates for improved conductance of the electrode.

Carbon applied directly to the separator, using a proprietary method, while being in contact with the negative active materials shows increased dynamic change acceptance at the cell and battery levels versus standard separators,” said Matt Wolski, product marketing manager, Daramic at the time.

“This has proven to slow the growth of lead sulfate crystals, which otherwise tend to grow more rapidly in batteries continuously operating in partial states of charge.”

The innovation supports OEMs’ goals of reducing CO2 emissions over the next decade. “The separator advancements allows batteries to be improved in vehicles that have advanced architectures such as start-stop, which in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In its first submission for the BCI innovation award, Daramic showcased its DuraLife product which has since been widely adopted, especially in Asia.

DuraLife, is a high performance polyethylene battery separator. Its design improves battery performance, improves efficiency and yield during battery assembly and, most importantly, compensates for lack of performance or lifespan in battery designs where manufacturers are looking to reduce the amount of lead.

Traditionally, the path to improving cost competitiveness was achieved by squeezing all components costs, but there is a limited impact to be achieved, and some approaches can lead to potential quality risks.

“The fact is that the majority — often over 70% — of the material cost of making a lead acid battery can be attributed to the cost of lead, Dawn Heng, global marketing director of Daramic told Batteries International at the time of the awards. “We can look at the cost of the other materials, but we are then only targeting less than 30% of the overall opportunity.

If we can help reduce the lead content, then we can really give significant value to the battery manufacturer.

“The problem is that reducing the thickness of the grid (lead) can compromise the performance and life of the battery in many applications. DuraLife helps solve that problem.”

www.batteriesinternational.com

PROFILE: TBS ENGINEERING GROUP

Stepping out into the spotlight Afterwards they called it their light bulb moment.

“We were exhibiting at the Asian Battery Conference in Kuala Lumpur,” says Chris Hanes, Group Director, Marketing and Growth. “And we looked around at all the other booths and came to a stunning realization.

Although TBS Engineering is one of the largest, best and longest established lead battery firms in the industry, anybody new, who did not know who we were, would have little idea of the scope of our business.”

The epiphany moment had its immediate consequences. A board meeting resulted in a restructuring that focused on greater industry presence, accelerated growth and marketing and, for want of a better term, delivering ‘thought-leadership’.

“TBS Engineering has a reputation for being a market leading engineering firm with its roots in designing and making high quality equipment for the lead battery manufacturing industry and a strong after-sale service, that’s been our core strength,” says Hanes.

“We needed to show that innovation is one of the core competencies of today’s lead battery industry.”

Chris Hanes, Group Director, Marketing and Growth 48 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

“But look around the business today and you can see that we are an industry that needs leadership and direction and is in need of a change of ethos.”

A rush of initiatives followed that light bulb moment in 2017. In terms of marketing the industry (and not just itself), TBS launched “Positively Charged” last summer.

“This was designed to show how the lead battery market was not going to go away and if industry estimates are to be believed — that we’ll have two billion cars driving the roads by 2035 and most of them will be lead based — this industry has a great future ahead,” says Hanes.

“We wanted to show that lead batteries have helped cars become greener. Start-stop and regenerative braking, for example, are new norms for the automotive industry that save millions of gallons of petrol worldwide and countless tonnes of carbon dioxide.

“We needed to show that innovation is one of the core competencies of today’s lead battery industry.”

As part of this, TBS has aligned itself more closely with trade bodies such as Battery Council International and the International Lead Association. It recently joined the Confederation for Battery Innovation (previously known as the ALABC) and plans to be an active member of several trade committees that serve the industry. “We’ve got the knowhow and the expertise, there’s no need to keep it all to ourselves,” he says.

As part of its revamp, TBS decided to fast-track three products such as the next generation of its cast-onstrap technology known as COS 8S that it had been developing — these should be emerging over this year

www.batteriesinternational.com

PROFILE: TBS ENGINEERING GROUP and 2020. “They play to our core strengths, which are cast-on-strap, assembly and plate-making automation equipment,” says Hanes, “but should take our existing product lines to new levels.”

As part of this new drive, the firm opened its US service centre last September. This is three miles from East Penn, the US battery manufacturing giant and a customer of the firm since 1987.

“In addition to the technicians that are based there, we’ve built a full catalogue of spare parts, meaning we can comprehensively and readily service customers” he says.

This isn’t to say that TBS has been sitting on its hands for the past few years. In 2014 it invested £1 million ($1.3 million) in research and development, which is paying off. And last year the firm moved into its new headquarters, a 100,000 square foot engineering and manufacturing facility costing £15 million.

TBS continues to expand geographically. It’s been working in China for more than a decade and has 27 permanent staff in the country. Its plans

“Look around the business today and you can see that we are an industry that needs leadership and direction, and the whole industry is in need of a change of ethos.” to establish a second service centre in the Asia Pacific region are advanced, with the location yet to be finalized.

“We’ve almost finished a feasibility study,” says Hanes. “And that’s positive. The Asia Pacific region is going to be one of the most attractive markets in the world for energy storage in the years to come.”

If growth is a major theme of this revamped organization, how it will achieve this is still being debated.

“Our present plans are for organic expansion of our capabilities but we’re open to an acquisition — pretty much anywhere in the lead battery manufacturing process — if the right opportunity presents itself,” says Hanes.

Certainly the company’s acquisition strategy has been successful in the past. In 2004 it bought Tekmax,

the world’s largest provider of battery plate enveloping equipment, and two years later it launched its HiTek plate enveloping machines. Its acquisition of the Cominco Battery Group in 2011 made it a world leader in plate making.

David Longney, Group Managing Director, said: “TBS is on a remarkable journey. We pioneered cast-on strap technology and continue to lead the way in automation and innovation in our sector, from machines that produced just one battery per minute 30 years ago, to up to 10 a minute today.

“We’re at the start of another exciting era for us developing the latest innovations in world-leading lead acid cast-on-strap, assembly plate making equipment for our customers.”

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Autumn 2018

The game changer!

Lead squares up to lithium for large scale energy storage

Island microgrids Replacing costly diesel for renewables and batteries

Fondly remembered Electrochemist genius Al Salkind passed away in June Profile: Lampe-Önnerud Mixing innovation, ability and commercialization

Bringing the industry together

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The CEO interview Srivastava and Leclanché’s bid for world dominance

Jeanne Burbank’s legacy Battery pioneer whose lead insights are still with us

The new titans of lead Ecoult’s UltraBattery take lithium on — head to head

Capacitors come of age Will supercaps be the next miracle ingredient ‘x’?

Bringing the industry together

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Masters of illusion

Lithium batteries: soon to be as recyclable as lead?

New uses for an established chemistry Liquid power The next generation of flow batteries is starting to emerge

ALABC, Argonne to explore uncharted R&D waters

Picking the new industry leader

Nickel: still an important cog in the energy storage game

ARK ED TH

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Lead battery industry mourn passing of Detchko Pavlov 'With respect Mr President, it's business as normal'

17ABC: full coverage of the lead event of the year The coming shake-up for the world of UPS

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East Penn's Dan Langdon retires, Chris Pruitt takes over as CEO A life in energy storage: Shep Wolsky dies aged 91

The promise of the year ahead: what 2018 means for us all Thorsby steps down as EVP for Battery Council International

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The next revolution

New chemistries, approaches challenge ascendancy of lithium

The mysterious world of energy storage pricing

E LENG AL R CH LA SO

Annual innovation awards: an in-depth look at the contenders Last impressions: Thorsby reflects on his time at the Battery Council

First impressions, Moran talks over the challenges as BCI's new EVP E DA Lead acid to break new ground TH in East African microgrids OM

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Virtual power plants: the new nexus of renewables, grids, energy storage

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Farewell Ken Peters, unsung hero of VRLA possibilities

ELBC proves conference talk of the year — an insider's view

Borish Monahov retires, steps down as ALABC head

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Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 49

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: PHILADELPHIA SCIENTIFIC Philadelphia Scientific has developed a ‘charger splitter’ capable of doubling the capacity of a typical battery room, offering a much better return on investment in the process.

Doubling the capacity of battery charging rooms Philadelphia Scientific’s iBOS Charger-Splitter is used in tandem with the iBOS [Intelligent Battery Organising System] battery room management system, effectively using one charger to charge multiple batteries, and increasing the charging capacity of a battery room.

The Charger-Splitters are installed on to conventional battery charging systems and when a battery is charged, a flashing LED alerts operators to disconnect it and plug it in to an uncharged battery. This enables the sequential charging of two batteries with one charger.

One of the biggest investments in a battery room is the cost of the chargers. They’re an essential piece of equipment but are only used an average of 22% of the time. The iBOS ChargerSplitter makes it possible to utilize unused charger capacity and halve the number of chargers to charge a battery fleet.

The company estimates that, for sites with 20 chargers or more, it will more than pay for the entire iBOS system with money left over.

Alerts are displayed on the remote operations display to ensure the switch gets done and reports on the iBOSWorld website track user performance using the system.

Marketing manager Andy Napoleon Hill says the need for a product like this has been apparent for some time and the research that led to the innovation was a response to that need.

But there were several technical challenges that the company needed to overcome.

The company claims that its data, from more than 25,000 chargers under management worldwide, show that the typical conventional charger is used only 15%-20% of the time.

This means a big opportunity to increase charger utilization and decrease their idle time. In some cases, Charger-Splitters will enable battery room managers to reduce the number

50 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

iBOS 2 – Battery Management System (above. Philadelphia Scientific charger-splitter (right)

of chargers used by a third to a half the company estimates. For the average battery room, that’s an annual saving of tens of thousands of dollars.

It estimates that warehouses and DCs that are planning a new battery room can achieve 50% savings on charger purchases because they will require only one charger for every two batteries, not one charger per battery.

For battery rooms that must increase capacity by purchasing more batteries or trucks, half the number of chargers will be required than if ChargerSplitters are not being used. ChargerSplitters also provide an ideal solution when managers do not want to install costly extra power infrastructure to support additional chargers in a battery changing area.

Charger-Splitters are also a perfect fit for applications where there is a seasonal use of rental batteries. Battery room managers can leave open rack positions next to their current batteries and just add batteries when needed.

“The need for the product has been

around for a while but the refinement to the product to provide the best and most cost-effective solution was a little while in the making. The work was started to help solve some of the pain points our customers fed back to us with regard to the lack of options for increasing capacity, price and electrical infrastructure,” Hill says.

“Increasing or even doubling the charger utilization will have a great environmental impact as there are fewer resources required to service the same or even a bigger battery room by working smarter.”

Hill says the product is now in the feedback stage with customers. “But the product is solid and tested to destruction so there will likely be few further developments to the offering unless there is a specific customer need,” he says.

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: POWER SONIC Power Sonic has developed a demand response module capable of delivering savings and clean, reliable power to a large range of customers.

Power Sonic’s DRM system Power Sonic’s DRM is an innovative energy storage system suitable for the smart management of medium and high voltage electrical grids, which the company says will pay for itself after four years.

President Brian Crowe says the solution delivers savings and clean, reliable power to a large range of customers.

“Our DRM system enables fast response times to variations in demand and supply, helping maintain grid stability and ensuring reliable, high-quality energy supply response through a range of applications,” Crowe says.

“Based on current demand side response markets the DRM would pay for itself after four years. This is down to the speed in which it can respond to demand signals from the grid. With different financial models available including leasing and the ability to generate revenue from day one tied into long-term contracts with the grid, the DRM doesn’t just offer an innovative solution for energy storage but also a great investment as a stand-alone asset.

“Power-Sonic is capable of managing the energy to meet all demands according to the requirements set by the utility provider.”

The applications supported by the system include emergency backup in the event of a power interruption; with micro grids, a localized grid that can operate independently; renewable energy, the system facilitating seamless integration with renewable power generation sources; and reserve capacity, the DRM system providing power and energy capacity to the power grid as a stand-alone asset.

Other challenges it can address include peak shaving, frequency regulation, load levelling, renewables capacity firming and power quality, resulting in less energy consumption, more of the grid resilience, better power quality,

monetary savings and income generation. The company says it can stabilize the grid to manage the consumption and production of renewable energy.

Power-Sonic has also developed a web-based integrated battery monitoring and management system, integral to the DRMS system, which monitors the temperature, resistance and voltage of every single battery in the system. The BMS calibrates the charging voltage of all the batteries with the chargers’ target value, keeping all batteries within optimal voltage operating range. This guarantees the availability and capacity of every battery at 100%.

Power Sonic says it also has solutions from kilowatts to megawatts. “For stable transmission and distribution, the power grid operators need a real-time match between electricity supply and consumption,” he says.

In terms of safety, the company says the DRM system is fully compliant with grid systems to import and export power in line with the voltage and frequency regulations of grid suppliers. This includes frequency tolerance, DFFR, FFR and EFR schemes available in most countries and this has been demonstrated in the UK and Turkey.

In the UK, this was demonstrated with UK energy providers Electricity North West, National Grid and Grid Beyond.

It also stresses that all products are manufactured to comply with EU Directives concerning performance, safety, frequency emissions compatibility (EMC Certification), voltage peaks, over voltage and static charges (EN62040-12008).

The cost of running an independent DRM compared to building a new power station is significantly less, the company stresses. The cost per MW is typically between $800,000 and $1 million, while a typical income per MW is typically between $120,000 and $200,000 net per year excluding a power purchase agreement. On this basis, it claims a typical return on investment is between four and five years. When combined with a 10-year lease plan, this could prove to be cost neutral, the company claims.

A key part of the DRM system is a unique bi-directional power converter that provides a dual function storage capability. This enables energy during the day to be stored in cyclic batteries, then converted and fed back into the network as usable AC current, which is fed back into the grid.

“With different financial models available including leasing and the ability to generate revenue from day one tied into long-term contracts with the grid, the DRM doesn’t just offer an innovative solution for energy storage but also a great investment as a stand-alone asset.” Brian Crowe www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 51

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: TERRAPURE Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly becoming mixed up into the recycling process for lead-acid batteries, causing safety issues and other risks. Lead acid battery recycling company Terrapure has developed a solution.

Solving Li-ion danger in the recycling process Terrapure has developed a product to detect and remove lithium-ion batteries from the lead recycling stream, an innovation that has important implications for the sector given the significant safety risks posed by lithium-ion batteries mistakenly ending up in the lead recycling process.

Called the Li-ion detector, or LI Detector, it uses high-frequency radio waves to detect lithium batteries by scanning for their unique charging and protection circuitry. If detected, they can be easily removed by hand or automatically.

More than 1 million tonnes of lead acid batteries are recycled every year in North America alone. One of the early steps in the process is battery breaking, which involves disintegrating the batteries mechanically so the acid can drain out.

This is normally a reliable and safe process; however, problems can occur when batteries other than LABs accidentally enter the process. The biggest risk is from lithium-ion batteries.

Upon entering the breaking process, they can explode in contact with the acid, causing damage to equipment and exposing plant personnel to potential harm.

Michael Paszti, vice president of innovation, technology and business development, says separating LIBs from LABs is a challenging task as they often look identical or very similar.

“The LAB recycling industry has proposed several ideas to identify LIBs but all require tagging or colour coding of LIBs at their point of manufacture. Getting all LIB makers around the world to agree to modify their designs at additional cost will be difficult if not impossible. In addition, none of these solutions applies to the countless LIBs already in use,” he says.

Work on the LI Detector started in 2017 with the first commercial tests happening in September 2018 and

52 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

Terrapure LI detector

Terrapure has several handheld functioning prototypes.

Paszti is the inventor on the patent filing while Benoit Deschesnes, vice president of manufacturing, was also heavily involved. Deschesnes has spent his career in metallurgy and manufacturing. Today he leads Terrapure’s largest lead smelter operation in Montreal, Quebec.

“This is a huge safety advance for the industry with the capability to protect people as well as equipment from explosions and fires,” Paszti says.

The LI Detector can be a permanently mounted device or handheld and installed or employed at any point right up to the entry of the battery breaker.

It works by detecting a unique feature of LIBs that is not found in LABs. An alert sounds when a LIB is in close

proximity. The alert can trigger automatic actions including isolation of the battery in question, or simply alert an operator to manually intervene.

Paszti says the technology can be used to safeguard waste processing and recycling facilities from the hazards of lithium-ion batteries.

“Fires are a common occurrence in waste and recycling processing facilities, often a result of lithium-ion batteries getting accidentally mixed in.

By detecting and removing these using the LI Detector, catastrophic fires and property loss can be avoided,” he says.

Paszti says Terrapure is working with its lead battery industry peers to understand their preferences and needs so that design elements such as portability and detection range can be prioritized in subsequent versions of the device.

www.batteriesinternational.com

ADVANCED BATTERY CONCEPTS – GREENSEAL® ALLIANCE Advanced Battery Concepts (ABC) along with multiple equipment and materials suppliers have launched an industry-wide alliance to improve the competitiveness of lead batteries with the adoption of GreenSeal® bipolar battery manufacturing.

Advanced Battery Concepts announces GreenSeal® Alliance Clare, Michigan based ABC said members of the GreenSeal® Alliance will collaborate to streamline manufacturing processes and expand knowledge for GreenSeal® bipolar technology.

“GreenSeal®, already the leading bipolar lead battery technology, is rapidly emerging as the primary method of lead battery manufacture” said Dr. Ed Shaffer, CEO and Founder of ABC, in a statement. “The formation of the GreenSeal® Alliance—the first and broadest collaboration of its kind in the lead battery industry—marks an important milestone in the indus-

try’s adoption of bipolar technology.

By bringing together a diverse, nonexclusive group of suppliers, the alliance will bring together the expertise needed to support the transition of lead battery manufacturers to GreenSeal® bipolar battery production”.

Alliance members will have access to details of ABC’s revolutionary GreenSeal® technology, insights into new research areas, direct access to GreenSeal® licensees, opportunity to use ABC’s extensive R&D facilities to evaluate their product ideas directly in GreenSeal® batteries and the abil-

ity to suggest and participate in joint research projects with multiple members. The members will also give and receive public promotion and marketing for alliance members’ capabilities and supporting technologies through the Alliance website.

The alliance will be headed by Jerry Artache, Commercial Director and Reed Schick, Director of Intellectual Property, both of ABC. Mr. Artache is responsible for driving the commercial aspects for the alliance, while Dr. Shick will head the technical components of the program.

Bringing the Industry Together for Better Batteries!

The GreenSeal® Alliance is a group of co�panies with a co��on o��ec��e��� to pro�ote and i�pro�e lead �a�eries throughout the world using GreenSeal® BiPolar Technology

TOGETHER

For more information or to join visit: www.greensealalliance.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 53

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: VOLTIFIC VOLTiFiC Technology has developed universal battery sizing software that can be accessed by anyone with Internet access — which could revolutionize the jobs of battery engineers in terms of time and efficiency.

Universal battery sizing becomes a reality VOLTiFiC Technology, a technology company that solves complex battery problems, has developed a universal battery sizing software that allows for the faster, more efficient and more accurate sizing of batteries. It can also be accessed by anyone with internet access.

The company’s founders, Sepehr Mogharei and Ali Heidary, were engineers by trade, working in the electronics industry. During their careers they had noted a scarcity of information and expertise around batteries.

They formed VOLTiFiC to devise a unified way of determining battery capacity.

Mogharei has held a series of management positions across a range of companies, and taken senior lead positions on engineering and electronics projects.

Heidary earned his MBA in Strategic Management at UBC. Ali co-founded PAQ Engineering, which provides engineering design and training services for the critical backup industry.

The VOLTiFiC cloud platform has been developed as a solution. It is designed to allow anyone to size or service industrial batteries regardless of technology, manufacturer, chemistry or application. Central to this is the new software, Mogharei says.

“We developed a universal battery sizing software than can be accessed by anyone with an internet access,” he says. “A typical battery sizing software from a manufacturer can produce between five and 20 battery system designs within 20% of the requirements. Compare that to hundreds of

solutions that VOLTiFiC can generate within 5% of the requirements.

The software adheres to international battery standards and allows for deep analysis of battery performance.”

Mogharei explains that currently, battery sizing is performed by appli-

“This is a universal battery sizing software than can be accessed by anyone with an internet access ... the existing approach of contacting the manufacturers is outdated.” cation engineers and battery system designers to determine what commercially available battery would be needed for the application. But he explains that the process is disjointed and time consuming.

“At the moment, the sizing process requires contacting individual battery manufacturers for guidance or using proprietary software provided by manufacturers, if available,” he says.

“This outdated approach to sizing is time consuming, as specification requirements need to be read/entered for each manufacturer. It also produces limited battery solutions that force designers to choose larger battery capacity size than required. This translates to a larger footprint and higher capital costs for projects.”

In terms of how the innovation might potentially benefit the battery industry, Mogharei explains it will mean better informed users and engineers, and it will simplify the process of designing and sizing a battery system from the feasibility phase to procurement.

It also means application engineers will be able to iterate through designs much more quickly, leading to a more efficient battery selection. In turn, it will mean that project design and delivery timelines will shorten as engineers are able to get to their final designs more quickly.

It will also mean less wastage in battery system design. “Engineers are able to optimally size batteries for their application,” he says.

“Our solutions go beyond the goal of making the lives of battery engineers, technicians and designers less difficult. Optimized battery size and reduction of operational waste not only increases battery usage and energy storage, but it also helps reduce one’s carbon footprint on a global scale,” he says.

In terms of the timeline for the company’s development, he explains that the company is still at an early stage — but it is moving quickly.

“This work started in 2017 and early versions were first released in early 2018 on our website. We are working on expanding the software to include all emerging applications, such as energy storage and electric vehicles. A full support API is also in the works and scheduled to be released in summer of this year,” he says.

“Our solutions go beyond the goal of making the lives of battery engineers, technicians and designers less difficult. Optimized battery size and reduction of operational waste not only increases battery usage and energy storage, but it also helps reduce the carbon footprint on a global scale,” Sepehr Mogharei 54 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

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Plan to Attend the

2020 BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo April 26-28, 2020 The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa 101 Montelago Blvd Henderson, NV 89101

330 North Wabash Avenue Suite 2000 Chicago, IL 60611 Phone: +1.312.245.1074 www.batterycouncil.org info@batterycouncil.org

BCI BATTERY VETERANS

The quarter century club — battery heroes reunited What is it with the US obsession with crack-of-dawn meetings? And breakfasts too. Was a whole nation raised on farms in the mid-West? This year, BCI, deciding that last year’s earlier breakfast start at 7.00am for the quarter century club was just about right has kept the timing unchanged.

This year the quarter century club — those BCI members who have supported the institution for 25 years and not forgetting the few that have even clocked up a half century — will be welcomed by Hal Hawk, president of Crown Battery and a former head of BCI. After the presentation of the quarter century and half century pins, Dan Breidegam chairman of East Penn will give a few words.

“The quarter century club is a fine tradition to uphold,” one BCI veteran told Batteries International. “It’s more of a friendship than anything else. We get together and have a good time.”

ROLL OF HONOUR ROBERT J AARON, JR GUY T (TOM) ABATA HUBERT ABNER CHARLES-LOUIS ACKERMANN TERRY AGRELIUS WASEEM AHMAD DICK AMISTADI T W ANTHONY DANIEL P ASKIN GEORGE W AYRTON K M AZHMAGANBETOV JOHN P BADGER DON BARNARD BILL BARNES STEVE BARNES ROGER BARR CARLOS L BARRENECHE JAMES H BARRETT SIMON BASTACKY GIUSEPPE BAUDO WALTER BAUER BERNIE BEALS ROLF BECKERS GORDON BECKLEY DAVID BEIDLER CLEVE BENNETT ROGER BERGER ROBERT BERTRAM BILL BESSIRE JOHN A BITLER JOSEPH A BLACK ROBERT BOBBETT WERNER BOEHNSTEDT STEVE BOLANOWSKI JIM BOUCHARD DOUGLAS J BOUQUARD RICHARD BOWERS DOUG BRADLEY J ROY BRAY WILLIAM BRECHT MITCH BREGMAN DANIEL D BREIDEGAM ALBERT BRICE EDDIE BRICE HENRY BRICE BERT BRIDGEWATER GEORGE BRILMYER JOHN BRODHACKER A J BROGAN

DOUGLAS BROWN GARY G BRYAN ROBERT H BUESING KATHRYN R BULLOCK RICHARD A BURKARD CHARLES A BURKHART, II N KENNETH CAMPBELL KEVIN CAMPBELL TERRY CAMPBELL ENRIQUE CARREON ATTILA CARUSO RANDY CASSTEVENS GERARD CHAIX CARMEL M CLEMENTSON GEOFFREY CLEMENTSON G A CLERICI MICHAEL J COAD ISRAEL COHEN BRUCE A COLE JEROME F COLE GEORGE COLLINS JOHN CONNELL ALLAN COOPER LEE COWAN ROBERT C CRAWFORD SCOTT CRERAR MICHAEL CROSS CLIFF J CROWE JERRY V CROW BOB CULLEN HUGH CULLIMORE THOMAS A CURTIS PETER DAN JERRY DARLING JAMES C DeBRAY DON J DEL DOTTO BUD DeSART JOHN L DEVITT MALCOM DEWAR DIANNE DICKEY ROBERTO DIENER, JR JOSEPH F DONAHUE WALLACE M DOBBINS THOMAS J DOUGHERTY JAMES W DOUGLAS THOMAS S DOUGLAS, III GERALD Z DUBINSKI, SR GERALD (JERRY) DUERKSEN DAN DUFFIELD FRANK DUMAS BRAD DWAN HAROLD J EBERLY

56 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

P MICHAEL EHLERMAN BILL ELLIS HERB ELLIS BERNARD J ELZER, JR JOE ESSING PETER FABER JIM FAIST HELMUTH FAUST EUGENE P FINGER PERCY W FISCHEL ARNOLD FISCHER ROBERT FLICKER CHUCK FOWLER ROBERT W FRITTS ED FREY KYO FUCHIDA ROBERTO GARCIA LAURIE GARDINER SILVANO GELLENI HARVEY S GERSHENSON FOLCO GIBELLINI CHUCK GIESIGE WILLIAM C GLOVER RICK GODBER FRANCOIS GONNARD ROBERT GONZALES RAY GOODEARL ROBERT J GRACE ROBERT W GREENFIELD MICHAEL E GREENLEE BILL GREENWOOD TROY A GREISS OSCAR GRISCHKOWSKY STEPHEN J GROSS BRIAN GUNNIN JOSEPH T GUSHUE NEIL HALE VINCENT M HALSALL RANDY HANSCHU KARL E HANSLIK JAMES S HARDIGG JASPER HARDIN A M HARDMAN TERENCE EDWARD HARNETT KEITH HARNICK ROBERT B HARRINGTON MICHAEL R HARRISON PIERRE HAUSWALD HAL HAWK B A HILL DARRELL HIMMESOETE

MASATSUGU HIRANAGA DON HODGES LES S HOLDEN L SAM HOLDEN ERIC HOLTAN JOHN H HOOVER DENIS S HOWARTH KENT HUDSON DON HULL DOUGLAS F HUTTON KIYOTAKA IKAWA EMMETT R JAMIESON JOE JARVIS SAM JASSIN JOSEPH J JERGL JIM JOHNSON RICHARD JOHNSON JEFF JORDAN JEFFREY JUDS LARS KALLSTROM JOHN TC KAN JAMES KANDA RICHARD KAPPES TETSUNARI KAWASE SHUJI KAWATA WILLIAM A KEITH WILLIAM J KENNEDY RAY J KENNY HEINZ-ALBERT KIEHNE JIM KLANG DAVIS KNAUER MARK ALLAN KNOWLTON ARTHUR G KOCH LEE N KOENIG ALAN KOHLER PAUL KOLISNYK PHILIP KOWALSKI KLAUS H KRAFT WAYNE KRICK RAY KRUSING EDWARD M KSENIAK RAY KUBIS DOUG LAMBERT URBAIN LAMBERT TIM LAWLOR ALFRED C LAZAGA RICK LEIBY RICHARD LENTINE GUIDO LEVATI BRIAN LEWIS MARLENE M LEWIS BILL LINCOLN

ROBERT A LIND BOB LINDSAY DAVID LONGNEY JAMES W LORIO, MD CHI-HWA LU ACHIM LULSDORF DAVID LUND JOHN LUTES REX E LUZADER LOUIS J MAGDITS JOSEPH MAJESKY SERGIO MALACON JOHN E MANDERS KEN MARSHALL EDWARD M MARWELL DONALD A MASSELLE ELLEN MAXEY GEOFFREY J MAY MICHAEL MAYER BO McCANN KELLY McCANN ROBERT G McCLELLAN STEVE McDONALD JOE McKINLEY JACK McLANE CHARLES K McMANUS DAVE MCMULLEN TIM McNALLY HARRY D McVEY S WILLIAM MEEHAN TOSHIO MEGA DANIEL A MELVILLE TROY MENGEL K D MERZ GERHARD MEYENBURG ROBERT MICHAEL CARL F MIELKE LARRY MIKSIEWICZ RON MIKSIEWICZ ARDELLE E MILLER, SR JEANITH L MILLER TOM MILLER NORM MILLER PETER MILLION JOHN A MILLS TOM MINNER CHERYL MINOR, PHD GARY MITCHENER S K MITTAL HARUKA MIURA MICHAEL E MOELLER RICK MOODY

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI BATTERY VETERANS

BORIS MONAHOV DAVID MORRALL K MURATA JOHN MURPHY GEORGE NADER-LATUFF LOUIS NAGY JOHN NEES RAYMOND NEVIN ARNIE O NILSSON GEORGE E NOEL JAY NORTHEY PHIL NOZNESKY KAZUO OKADA DONALD L OKESON AYKAUN OKUMA AL O’NEAL STUART W ORR THOMAS L OSWALD S CLARK OTTERNESS TERRY R OXENREIDER PHIL PACHECO SYNG L PAIK WILLIAM M PALLIES JAY K PARMAR ALFRED J PAUTLER WILLIAM U PAYNE ROBERT J PENSYL BOB PEPPERS GLENN PERRINI KATHY PERZEE KATHY PETERSON PETER J PETERSON SERGIO PEZZOTTI WILLIAM PICCIOLO DONALD L PIERSON WILLIAM T POLLARD VERNON J POTTS RAMA PRASAD RAY R DAVID PRENGAMAN DON PRIEBE ED PUCKETT JOSE M PUIG VINCENT PUSATERI PETE QUINLAN DONALD RABON DARYLL RARDON STEVEN RAU MICHAEL E REED THOMAS J REILLY BART REITTER RUDY RENFROW ROBERT P RESTREPO DOUGLAS GORDON RIST JOSEPH RIVERA JUNIOR ROCKHOLD S TUCKER ROE CHAD ROGERS NELSON ROMBEIRO BILL ROORK URI ROSENSHEIN JAMES B ROSKI BYRON ROTHPLETZ, JR JAMES RUBRIGHT ARNIE Y SAKAI JOAO A MESTRE SALVADOR WILEY C SANDERS, JR MARTIN SANNASI GARY SANTASPIRIT MANUEL SANTOS KENNETH SCHADLER LARRY SCHEINBAUM AL SCHMIDT JOHANNES SCHNEIDER ROBERT R SCHOEBERL ANTON SCHWETZ J QUINN SELSOR ROBERT D SEMMENS JAHAR SENGUPTA

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DAVID M SHAFFER JERRY SHASSERRE JOHN R SHAW JOHN SEMENIUK JAMES I SIKORA ROBERT D SIMONTON BOB SLAUTTERBACK GEORGE SMITH KEVIN SMITH TOM SMITH JIM SNOOK DONNA SNYDER PAUL J STAAB, III JOHN STANPHILL RICHARD M STARK FRANCOIS STEFFENS MARK STEVENSON JIMMY STEWART GEORGE STRATIS JD SURRETTE KENNETH A SUTTON LEE SWAIN JOSEPH F SZABO LAURIE SZPARA TAKAOMI TAKII OSWALDO TAMAYO GARY TAYLOR GIOVANNI TERZAGHI FELIX TESHINSKY FREDERICK TESHINSKY JAMES H THRASH RALPH TIEGEL JIM TOEWS KEITH TOLL TOM TOMKINS DOUGLAS R TUPLING FRANCISCO TRINIDAD FROSTY TUNNELL JAMES TUNNELL DENNIS ULRICH B Z UYTIEPO STEPHEN L VECHY AL VINCZE BURCHARD VON CAMPE ANDY WADDELL BARRY WALKER DONALD WALLACE WILLIAM WALTER AKIO WATANABE K FRED WEHMEYER DAVID WEINBERG MARK WELS DON WENSINGER, II JOHN WERTZ EVAN R WESCOE WILLIAM H WESTON, JR KEVIN WHEAR STEVE WICKMAN PETER WILKE J WORTH WILLIAMS BOB WILLIAMSON DAVID WILLIAMSON DAVID WILLIS DON WILSON TODD WILSON RICK WIMBERLY LAWRENCE B WINDISCH MARK WINSLOW DAVID A WINTERBOTTOM JOHN O WIRTZ DONALD A WOJTON MIKE WONCH TERRY E WUSSOW DAVE YANIK TOMMY YOUNGBLOOD TERUHISA YUASA KENNETH E ZALECKI PIOTR ZENCZAK

ONE-HALF CENTURY CLUB GUY T (TOM) ABATA

CLYDE D ELIUM

R DAVID PRENGAMAN

CARLOS BARRENECHE

BILL GREENWOOD

EDWARD PUCKETT JO-

ROLF BECKERS

JOHN HOOVER

HANNES SCHNEIDER

J ROY BRAY

LEE KOENIG

RALPH TIEGEL

GEORGE COLLINS

JOSH LIVERMORE

KEITH TOLL

ALAN COOPER

GARY MITCHENER

ROGER WINSLOW

LEE COWAN

SERGIO PEZZOTTI

JOHN DEVITT

JOHN R PIERSON

SADLY NO LONGER WITH US HECTOR VALDEZ AGUILAR

SCOTT GAMSTER

ROBERT N QUENELL

J GEORGE GANGE, JR

WILLIAM RASMUSSEN

JOHN ANDERSON

ROBERT GARWOOD

WIN REINEMANN

PETER C ASPINALL

JOSEPH GATTO

TURNEY L RICH

IRA C (BUD) BAERINGER

DICK GODBER

JOHN RICKOLT

PAUL S GODBER

CHARLES R ROGERS

CHARLES GRAVES

MALCOLM E ROSS

LAWRENCE HAHN

TONY SABATINO

WILLIE BEASON

ANDREW C HARDTKE

LARRY BENNETTS

CELWYN HOPKINS

BERNARD SCHEINBAUM

TOM B BLAIR

NORMAN HOYT

HENRY SCHEINBAUM

DAVID BODEN

ROLAND A JOHNSON

MARVIN SCHEINBAUM

JERRY BOYLAN

CHARLES E JUSTICE

WILLARD SCHREINER

DON BRANDT

JAMES H KELLETT

JOHN SEARCY

DeLIGHT E BREIDEGAM

DON KEMPTER

ARTHUR SINGER

JOHN A BRUZAS

MARK KNOWLTON

PAUL STAAB, SR

SAL CANGELOSI

JOHN KOSSOW

PAUL STAAB, JR

HARRY CHANNING

EMIL KOVACIK

NED L STAUFFER

GUY CLUM

J T LAWRIE

GREG STEVENS

JOHN CORCORAN

BIRKE M LUCKENBILL

ROBERT W STOLL

MAX CORNBLATT

JAMES K MASON

EARL E STOUT

E B CORNETTE

BEN McKINNEY

JAMES V STUPPIA

ELLSWORTH P DAVIS

DONALD C MELNIK

JOHN J SURRETTE

ANDY DIETRICH

SALLY S MIKSIEWICZ

BILL SZAKACS

JUAN DORIGA

JIM MILLER

ED TAYLOR

FRANK DRAVES

FRANK MORGAN

ERNEST GEORGE TIEGEL

W J (BILL) EBERLE

EDWARD N MROTEK

CLYDE D ELIUM

TOM MURANAKA

JAMES H ENGLISH

JOSEPH J NOBLES

JOHN EDGAR FARMER

PETER NOZNESKY

WILLIAM N FLETCHER

EGON E NURMET

LAURENCE FRY

JOSEPH A ORSINO

PAUL-ARMAND GAMMENTHALER

ROBERT L PUCKETT

SYDNEY BANKS LAWRENCE R BARTLETT

K N PIKE

RICHARD P TIPPEY ED TURNER G E TURNER PETE VIVIANO BYRON A WADDELL MICHAEL J WEIGHALL ARVIN WELCH DON WENSINGER

FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT AND NOW RETIRED GRAHAM G ANDER-

JAMES R JESKIE

NAWAZ M QURESHI

SON, JR

DANIEL LANGDON

RODNEY SHANE

ART BALCERZAK

JOSH LIVERMORE

MICHAEL SHAW

EARL E BUSDIEKER

PETER MALONEY

ROBERT D SWAIN

DANIEL J FETHEROLF

ANN NOLL

MIKE TOLE

ROBERT FINN

MICHAEL O’MALLEY

JAN WINSLOW

MALCOLM J GAVANT

JOHN R PIERSON

Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook • 57

BCI MEMBER COMPANIES

The great and the good US MANUFACTURERS

ESCA Tech • Milwaukee, Wisconsin

LignoTech • Toronto Ontario, Canada Penox Mexico • Nuevo Leon, Mexico

C&D Technologies • Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

Farmer Mold & Machine Works • Saint Petersburg, Florida

Crown Battery • Fremont, Ohio

Ferriere Di Stabio • Las Vegas, Nevada

TBS Engineering • Gloucester, United Kingdom

Dyno Battery • Seattle, Washington

Flow-Rite Controls • Byron Center, Michigan

Teck Metals • Toronto Ontario, Canada

East Penn • Lyon Station, Pennsylvania

Froetek Plastic Technology, USA • Winston Salem, North Carolina

Termaco • Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu Quebec, Canada

Glatfelter Composite Fiber • Lillian, Alabama

Terrapure Environmental • Mississauga Ontario, Canada

EnerSys • Reading, Pennsylvania Exide Technologies • Milton, Georgia Interspace Concorde Battery • West Covina, California

Gopher Resource • Eagan, Minnesota

Johnson Controls • Glendale, Wisconsin

Gridtential Energy • Santa Clara, California

WEGMANN Automotive (Germany) • Murfreesboro, Tennessee

NorthStar Battery • Springfield, Missouri

Hammond Group • Hammond, Indiana

Wood Mackenzie • Surrey, United Kingdom

Trojan Battery • Santa Fe Springs, California

Hazelett Corporation • Colchester, Vermont

US Battery • Martinez, Georgia

Hollingsworth & Vose • East Walpole, Massachusetts

Yuasa Battery • Reading, Pennsylvania

INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURERS

Greenwich Metals • Greenwich, Connecticut

Rosendahl Nextrom • , Austria

International Thermal Systems • Milwaukee, Wisconsin JBI Corporation • Genoa, Ohio M A Industries • Peachtree City, Georgia

US MARKETERS Action Batteries Unlimited • Omaha, Nebraska Atlasbx America Corporation • Nashville, Tennessee

Acumuladores Duncan • Venezuela

MAC Engineering & Equipment • Benton Harbor, Michigan

Acumuladores Moura • Pernumbuco, Brazil

Microporous • Piney Flats, Tennessee

Batteries Plus • Hartland, Wisconsin

Banner • Austria

Midtronics • Willowbrook, Illinois

Battery Systems • Garden Grove, California

Changxing Haijiu Battery • , China

Oak Press Solutions • Sturgis, Michigan

Continental Battery • Dallas, Texas

ENERYA SA De CV • Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Omni Oxide • Indianapolis, Indiana

Factory Motor Parts • Saint Paul, Minnesota

Mutlu Aku Ve Malz San • Istanbul, Turkey

GS BATTERY (USA) • Roswell, Georgia

Surrette Battery • Nova Scotia, Canada

Palico Instrument Laboratories • Stacy, Minnesota

Yacht Battery • Taichung, Taiwan

Polymer Molding • Erie, Pennsylvania

LCB Battery • Aledo, Texas

Powerlab • Terrell, Texas PRO Charging Systems • La Vergne, Tennessee

Leoch Battery Corporation • Marietta, Georgia

Ramboll Environ • Atlanta, Georgia

Metra Electronics • Holly Hill, Florida

Richardson Molding • Columbus, Indiana

US SUPPLIERS

AutoZone Parts • Memphis, Tennessee

Interstate Batteries • Dallas, Texas

AAA National Office • Heathrow, Florida

RSR Corporation • Dallas, Texas

Northeast Battery & Alternator • Auburn, Massachusetts

Accuma Corporation • Statesville, North Carolina

Sanders Lead • Troy, Alabama

Performance USA • Miami, Florida

Sorfin Yoshimura • Woodbury, New York

Advanced Battery Concepts • Clare, Michigan

Superior Graphite • Chicago, Illinois

Power-Sonic Corporation • San Diego, California

Amistadi Associates • Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Traxys North America • New York, New York

Atomized Products Group • Lovingston, Virginia Auto Meter Products • Sycamore, Illinois B2Q Technologies • Jamestown, Rhode Island

The Doe Run Company • Saint Louis, Missouri Tulip Molded Plastics • Milwaukee, Wisconsin Water Gremlin • White Bear Township, Minnesota Wirtz Manufacturing • Port Huron, Michigan

Canadus Power Systems • Twinsburg, Ohio Centrifugal Castings • Milwaukee, Wisconsin Club Assist • Lake Mary, Florida Cobra Wire & Cable • Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania Daramic • Charlotte, North Carolina Doyle Shamrock Industries • Holland, Ohio Eagle Oxide Services • Indianapolis, Indiana

Reaco Battery • Johnston City, Illinois Remy Battery • Milwaukee, Wisconsin Staab Battery • Springfield, Illinois Sterling Battery • Boise, Idaho Swift Industrial Power • Knoxville, Tennessee US Lead • Winter Garden, Florida

Bitrode Corporation • Saint Louis, Missouri Black Diamond Structures • Austin, Texas

Ramcar Batteries • Commerce, California

Universal Power Group • Coppell, Texas

INTERNATIONAL SUPPLIERS Abertax Technologies • , Malta

Voltz Power • Naples, Florida

Bernard Dumas • Creysse, France

INTERNATIONAL MARKETERS

Co-efficient Precision Engineering • Ottawa Ontario, Canada

Canadian Energy • Alberta, Canada

DHC Specialty Corporation (Taiwan) • Johnson City, Tennessee

Magnacharge Battery Corporation • Ontario, Canada

Eclipse Energy • Greenfield, Indiana

Gauthier Non-Ferrous Products • Montreal, Quebec

Electric Applications • Phoenix, Arizona

Kallstrom Engineering Systems • Eslov, Eslov

ENTEK International • Lebannon, Oregon

58 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

THE BCI STORY Battery Council International started in Chicago in the 1920s. And although the organization’s name is relatively new, and its host locations have been varied, it has consistently championed the lead acid battery industry.

Changing times It all started one wet, grey day on January 29, 1924. That day — one of the warmest that month hitting a still unbeaten record 3˚C above zero — a small group of battery manufacturers met in Chicago.

Their objective: to consider whether the organization of a battery manufacturer’s association was worth the effort. And if so what would be its initial remit and purpose.

Interestingly enough some nine decades later, the two topics of discussion that day are still relevant to what was later to become the BCI: how to promote a better understanding among battery manufacturers through an open discussion of their common problems; and, how to educate US consumers on the proper care of their batteries.

A more formal meeting took place two months later and was attended by some 25 manufacturers and battery suppliers — where the manufacturers were called ‘active’ members and the suppliers ‘associates’.

In June the association took its name as the National Battery Manufacturers Association (NBMA).

The association soon started to prove its worth. In the US, battery manufacturing employed some of the most dangerous practices in the world — hand painting lead paste on to plates, for example.

At the turn of the 1920s, for example, lead poisoning was accepted as a risk that went with the job; even though it was reckoned that it was six times more dangerous to work in a US plant than a UK one and 18 times more dangerous working in the US than in Germany.

One of the earliest studies moving to mitigate the risk: Lead Poisoning in a Storage Battery Plant, was commissioned by the National Battery Manufacturers Association in 1933 and — unusually at a time when ethnic and racial background was ignored, made a point of showing that the dangerous work in the mixing room of the plant was done by African Americans or migrants (93%) versus the 7% by white Americans. Although the US had lagged

60 • Batteries International • BCI 2019 Yearbook

behind Europe in industrial hygiene in the 1910s, by the 1930s it had become a global pacesetter in working practices and the NBMA, to its credit, was one of the instruments for such change.

But this is not to say that the early founders or members of the NBMA were saints. US Light and Heat (which helped found the association) as well as the Lead Industries Association were roundly criticized — along with other well known US and UK brands — when they set up operations in Australia where health standards were allowed to be as lax.

In echoes of the present situation in China, the reason for the shift to production in Australia was simple: it was an uncomplicated way to circumvent federal import tariffs on batteries. The difference of course being that BCI members are now on the side of the angels and are helping China’s battery industry to adopt international work and safety rules.

In May 1940 the association changed its name to the Association of American Battery Manufacturers reflecting

its focus on the continent. Battery industry participation from Europe — then engulfed in war — would have been slight.

To better reflect the post-war environment and increasing global reach of the organization, the association changed its name again to Battery Council International. Four years later it held its first overseas convention in London. Attendance was huge: 32 countries were represented with some 600 delegates.

In 1976, BCI came full circle and returned to relocate its headquarters in Chicago — in the intervening years, the organization had set up operations in Ohio, New Jersey, and California.

At that time the management firm of Smith, Bucklin and Associates was retained to manage the affairs of BCI. Today BCI membership consists of corporations representing almost 100% of North American leading lead acid battery manufacturers, recyclers, marketers and retailers, suppliers of raw materials and equipment as well as expert industry consultants.

BCI ‘S INFORMATION GOALS BCI provides a governmental, legislative liaison service for the industry and has established itself as the collective voice of its members and an authoritative source of battery-related information.

BCI maintains an extensive statistical programme. BCI compiles raw data on automotive battery production shipments (original and replacement) at the manufacturer level and inventory level.

This compilation enables members to gauge their performance against those of the industry as a whole. BCI also provides its members with annual distribution reports that allow

members to keep abreast of everchanging channels of distribution.

Since 1990 BCI has been collecting and disseminating a monthly report on US industrial battery and charger sales.

The programme consist of five active reports.

• Motive power battery sales • Net sales of diesel locomotive starting batteries • Industrial truck battery charger sales • Standby power battery sales • Stationary battery cell report Members only receive the industrial battery reports in which they participate. In 2001, BCI began reporting North American sales data.

www.batteriesinternational.com

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