BCI YEARBOOK - 2016 by hamptonhalls

San Antonio, USA • May 1-3, 2016

& Special Pre-2016 Convention Report

• The review: the year ahead, the year behind • BCI deepens international presence • Follow our full convention session analysis • Squaring up to the lithium challenge • California, the wild card for lead’s future

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BC I

Bringing the industry together

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CONTENTS

BCI Yearbook & Special Pre-2016Convention Report Battery Council International’s 128th 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 almost 600 delegates heading to San Antonio, Texas should find much to talk about. 4

Editorial Welcome to San Antonio: the Alamo City The BCI viewpoint: the international perspective Find us! Power Mart flat plan for the exhibitors Creating a united front to champion lead Muddled thinking as California tries to come to terms with lead The BCI story The price of lead Lithium in the recycling stream The BCI innovation awards

Hammond Advanced Battery Concepts Black Diamond Structures Glatfelter Aqua Metals Daramic MAC/EnerSys HighWater Innovations Digatron ALABC Abertax Gridtential NorthStar BCI member profile: Superior Battery All the fun of the show Farewell Ann, you’ll be mightily missed

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Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 1

EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

Boldly going into ever newer business areas This year’s BCI meetings come at an important juncture in the lead battery industry — the next big boom in battery sales is before us. For the last couple of decades, a huge volume of new business has come from the emerging markets of the world. When 600 million Chinese joined the middle class, their aspiration to own a car became a reality. The same was true across huge swathes of Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa in fact economic boom matched battery sales one-for-one. This time the next boom in battery sales is returning to the developed economies as utilities and investors look to shift their energy supply from oil and gas to renewables. Already the price of solar is often cheaper, after being installed, than utility-generated electricity, at least at the residential level. And at the grid level, the same may soon be true. And it’s here where affordable energy storage is needed — and needed badly. Storage to balance the electricity grid as it deals with intermittency and other issues and storage as a source of reserve power. Moreover, this huge potential market could eclipse the automotive one in a matter of years. The trouble for the lead battery industry is that lithium is fast becoming the de facto standard. There was a logic for pursuing the idea that lithium, being lighter than lead, could have a role in electric vehicles. But no such logic now, the industry needs to attack the idea that lithium is environmentally green — the fault is that the short-sighted media always confuse Publisher: Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com, +44 7792 852 337

Business development manager June Moultrie june@batteriesinternational.com +44 7528 503 714

Editor: Michael Halls, editor@batteriesinternational.com, +44 7977 016 918

Reception: +44 1 243 782 275 fax: +44 1 787 329 730

Assistant sales manager: Jade Beevor, jade@energystoragejournal.com, +44 1 243 782 275

Subscriptions and admin manager: Claire Ronnie, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com admin@batteriesinternational.com +44 1 243 782 275

2 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

new with better — when it can’t be recycled in any kind of cost-effective way. Here is where the BCI and its convention comes into its own. This is where the industry should regather, rethink commercial strategies and fight back. This year’s innovation award is one such bright point for talking about any fight back. In the opinion of this editor of the 18 entries, all were worth flagging. But it was more than just that. At least five of them had the potential to be gamechangers for the industry — if not disruptive technologies in a larger sense — and which could take the industry boldly going into business areas that have yet to be opened up. Special reports editor Wyn Jenkins wyn.jenkins@serenglobalmedia.com Staff reporters: Philip Moorcroft, William Aslan Design and production: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 1 727 899 360 International advertising : advertising@batteriesinternational.com

The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorised translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322

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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WELCOME TO SAN ANTONIO Delegates visiting San Antonio for the ﬁrst time will not be disappointed — whether it is a taste of lively nightlife, adventurous days or authentic cowboy culture you are seeking.

Welcome to The Alamo City Welcome to the ‘Alamo City’ — so called because its area code is 210. But it’s also known as the ‘Countdown City’ as its area code is 210, a name it shares with Orlando (area code 321). Oddly enough it’s also nicknamed ‘The Big Apple’ — presumably because in the Lone Star State titchy little New York doesn’t count. San Antonio is old by American standards. A Spanish expedition visited the spot on June 13 — Saint Antony’s day — in 1691, though nowadays it’s hard to spot anything of any great age. It’s also one of the fastest growing cities in the US. But it’s heart is lovely. As you stroll along the San Antonio River that winds its way through the streets, it’s an endless contrast to the bustling atmosphere that sprawls the waterside. The infamous culture of the Deep

South is unmistakable throughout this vibrant city. With its locally renowned restaurants offering some of the best Southern food, the endless celebrations that run throughout the year and 300 dayss of io sunshine, San Antonio g always has something happening. It is also a party city thatt likes to stay up late. Theree ng is everything from relaxing ringg bars and lounges offering m the some of the best wines from ill vineyards of the Texas Hill d Country to the animated clubs and live music venuess to keep you entertained. There is also a variety off ng shows to see in the charming theatres in the downtown area i ’ including the ‘San Antonio St Stories’, a series of art plays representing the

culture and diversity in the area. But the fun doesn’t stop in the evening. From the minute the sun rises, San Antonio gets a new lease of life as the museums, galleries and theme parks reopen their doors to visitors. For those looking to escape the bustle of city life for the day, San Antonio has 14,300 acres of parkland and 114 miles of hiking and biking trails to keep you busy. As one of the oldest Spanish co colonised areas in Texas, h heritage is strong throughout the city. Visit the five 18th century old Missions that line the river for a taste of history and learn more about the unforgettable Battle of Th The Alamo. F For the spirited, immerse yyourself in the Fiesta, a parade held every April to honour the heroes of the Alamo. This energetic celebration will have you dancing till the sun goes down. You will be sa saturated in the culture of this d dynamic city, making you feel like a local in no time.

BE A TRUE TEXAN COWBOY When someone mentions the South, an image of a cowboy on his horse may come to mind. The Texas Hill countryside surrounding San Antonio still has a strong cowboy culture that allows visitors to get the genuine Wild West experience. Here are a few ways to live like a cowboy during your stay. VISIT A REAL LIFE CATTLE RANCH

GIVE COUNTRY WESTERN DANCING A GO

WATCH A RODEO

Many ranches in this part of the world are still very much in use and taking a visit to one, like the Enchanted Springs Ranch, allows you to experience nature hikes or horseback riding, before enjoying a classic campfire just like a true cowboy.

A famous pastime in the South; an evening learning how to line dance will make you feel right at home in the country. The 70,000 square foot Cowboy Dancehall in San Antonio has enough room for you to practise your moves and dance the night away, promising a memorable evening.

Soak up the atmosphere at a classic Rodeo Show. San Antonio is home to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. It has proudly hosted this award-winning event for years and gives visitors the chance to see livestock expositions and concert entertainment.

4 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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WELCOME TO SAN ANTONIO

VISIT THE WINERIES …

SAN ANTONIO CUISINE: HOW TO EAT LIKE A LOCAL Josephine Street Café One of the most popular restaurants with visitors and locals alike, Josephine Street has been going strong for 35 years and offers a varied menu of delicious comfort food at an affordable price. It’s a classic Texas “Roadhouse”. What to order: Steak, steak or steak

Biga on the banks Opened by famous chef Bruce Auden, Biga soon made it on to Esquire’s ‘Best Bars and Restaurants’ list. This highly regarded fine dining restaurant has attracted foodies from all over the world cementing its place as one of the best places to eat in San Antonio. What to order The seasonal menu of four to five dish special where you get a taste of everything on offer The Fig Tree The website states ‘San Antonio’s Finest Dining’ and if the testimonials are anything to go by then it’s true. It was turned into a restaurant after the family decided to share their beautiful home with the world. They now offer some classic San Antonio dishes with that fine dining twist. What to order Beef Wellington (Fig Tree style)

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…GET A CULTURE OVERDOSE

…TAKE A DRIVE

Reasons to escape to the Texas Hill Country The rolling countryside of the Texas Hill Country makes it the perfect location for some popular sports including golf, rock climbing and hiking. The 8,600 acre Canyon State Natural Area is close by for beautiful views of Texas or if you’re looking to be more adventurous, one of Texan’s favourite summer sports is tubing. Enjoy ﬂowing down the Guadalupe River, appreciating the views from a different perspective. The Hill Country’s vineyards are a must for wine connoisseurs. With different wine trails and tours to go on, spend an afternoon tasting some award-winning wines from over 30 different wineries The Texas Hill Country has its own culture that is separate from San Antonio. Visit the vast number of antique shops in the area to find some treasured items before grabbing some food in one of the many barbecue restaurants. There are also all

the ranches dotted through the country to visit for that true cowboy experience. Nothing can beat a good American road trip and taking one to the Texas Hill Country will allow you to experience the different traditions, architecture and cuisine in the area. Travelling by car means you can visit more of the quaint towns established there and the array of churches that are a popular attraction throughout the countryside.

WHOOPS, COME BACK SOON AND SEE … Formula 1 fan? San Antonio will be hosting the Formula 1 US Grand Prix 2016. The event is expected to attract 300,000 people to the area meaning a great atmosphere in the city, just make sure you book your stay early. Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead): This is a day where families come together to celebrate the lives of those they have lost and remember the happy memories. Locals will dress up as the dead in skeleton costumes and create decorations for altars created for the deceased. It’s not as morbid as it sounds. It’s a celebration of life which everyone is welcome to take part in with

parades and parties from dusk till dawn. oll Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon: Strictly for the sportier, this event is for you. It’s a classic marathon race with a twist. Along the route off the marathon is a seriess of stages with bands ur playing live music to spur on the runners. u The marathon has you running past some of the most popular visitor attractions in San Antonio so you get the chance to do a bit of sight-seeing too.

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 5

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THE VIEW FROM BCI Batteries International spoke to Mark Thorsby ahead of the convention to review what’s been a busy year for the council — and one of substantial achievement.

International dimension now clearly a force for change and consolidation Mark Thorsby, executive vice director of BCI, says he looks back on 2015 as a sometimes hectic year but one with solid achievements, and most particularly in the way that relationships with other trade associations have widened and provided greater clout for BCI. “It’s been a busy year in many ways for BCI. “Perhaps the most important item of business is the Strategic Alliance we’ve forged with other organizations,” says Thorsby. At the start of the year BCI, the International Lead Association, EUROBAT and the ABR, finalized a cooperation agreement. ”What this means in practice is that we exchange and collaborate on what we do so as to be more effective. Rather than each of us doing the same things, we can coordinate our efforts to minimize duplication of effort. It’s also a very friendly way of bringing us all together.” The first instance of this happened early in the new year when talk emerged that the Californian government was thinking of subjecting lead batteries to review under the state’s new “green chemistry” law, a bit similar to the European Union measure, known as REACH. “Because of our collaboration with the ILA and EUROBAT we were completely ahead of the curve in dealing with the issues,” says Thorsby. “We were able to immediately adapt the European arguments over the safe and responsible use of lead to the Californian situation, making a powerful argument at the onset of the larger conversations. We still face a substantial challenge, but are well positioned to respond.” Moreover the Strategic Alliance has set itself a challenging workload in its efforts to redress the growing media assumption that lithium batteries will automatically replace lead batteries, without the intellectual basis for www.batteriesinternational.com

“Because of our collaboration with the ILA and EUROBAT we were completely ahead of the curve …we were able to immediately adapt the European arguments over the safe and responsible use of lead to the Californian situation, making a powerful argument at the onset of the larger conversations.” POWER. INNOVATION. OPPORTUNITY

This year’s BCI convention is already looking like a success. With over 500 delegates registered before the ﬁnal deadline, as the BCI Yearbook went to press, it is clearly one of the largest events in recent years. “It’s not just about being North America’s most important or biggest event, though scale is important,” says Mark Thorsby, executive vice director of BCI. “It’s about being the most relevant — and in recent years

we’ve shown this to be a fact.” Thorsby reckons that the energy climate landscape is changing in ways that the lead community can beneﬁt. “For the last couple of years, we’ve seen the massive worries about the lack of energy supply disappear but at the same time those previous worries have engendered a greater sense of responsibility — the new mood is one of energy stewardship and with that it’s corollary, energy storage.”

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 9

THE VIEW FROM BCI reaching this conclusion. Thorsby is also forging closer ties with the Canadian Battery Association which met in Toronto, 10 days before the BCI meetings began.

Electronic advancement Although this has clearly been one of the major achievements over the year, BCI has also been busy in on a variety of other fronts. One large labour finally finished has been the shift of BCI’s entire DataBook — which contains a complete catalogue of every aspect of the lead battery product world in North America — think sales, type, distribution, manufacturer, supplier, distributor, even voltages — to an online product. “We’ve been moving from paper to on-line for some time,” says Thorsby. “Now we’re fully there. We want people to see how easy their search can be so we’ve made some attractive offers — this year people can test drive the product for not just our standard 20 years but the full 75 years.” Also electronically has been a huge revamp of the BCI website. “It’s been more than a cosmetic face lift, “says Thorsby. “We’ve looked at the whole of what we provide and put it up there for members to see how useful it can be for their needs”

Blood lead levels Some of the other areas that the BCI has been involved in — and which will continue throughout this year — may not trigger loud splashes in the media but are clearly beneficial for the North American lead battery industry. One significant victory — at least in gaining the high ground in any debate over the subject — is the BCI”s leadership in tackling blood levels of lead of US employees. “By the end of this year we’ve committed ourselves to being 100% below 30μg/dl in blood levels,” says Thorsby. “And we’re almost there. At present 99.1% of battery employees are under the level and we just need to get the remaining 150 or so industry workers — who are between 30μg/dl and 38μg/dl to achieve the target.” This is a considerable achievement for BCI and its members in going above and beyond the present legislation. (And also a landmark shift from where blood levels were 20 years ago.) “The eventual target will probably be zero levels of lead in the blood,” says Thorsby. “That seems to be the eventual government position on this. Irrespective of whether this makes 10 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

There are continuing reverberations from the Exide waste disposal scandal in Vernon, California and a host of new and often irrational threats to the lead battery industry have emerged from the media coverage of the scandal. A host of other Californian green initiatives are exploiting the situation for political gains sense our line is that we want to be a leader in setting standards — and setting across the world too.” For the moment — given that California is pushing the bar ever lower — BCI is ahead of the game in terms of lead levels for battery staff in US requirements and also internationally. However, there are continuing reverberations from the Exide waste disposal scandal in Vernon, California. “A host of new and irrational threats have emerged from the media coverage of the Exide scandal,” says Thorsby. “And a host of other Californian initiatives are exploiting the fact.” State governor Jerry Brown is proposing that $176 million be put aside for a clean-up of the soil near the battery recycling plant. Draft legislation — voted on after the Yearbook goes to press — is talking of imposing a $15 recycling fee on all lead batteries sold in the state. “We are actively arguing this and making headway,” says Thorsby.

Safety with better labelling The issue of labelling so that lithium batteries don’t get into the lead acid

battery recycling stream seems nearer resolution. “But the process itself is a slow one. We have the IEC in Europe and the SAE here in the States going through the approval process, which’ll probably take another year to be finalized,” Thorsby says. “But our concern here is that this isn’t a complete solution — we have no way of ensuring compliance with Asian manufacturers, for example.” As part of the Strategic Alliance’s efforts an information leaflet has been sent to battery collectors, handlers and sorters across North America and Europe, highlighting the serious risk of fire and explosions if lead and lithium is mixed.” And next year — what does Thorsby see? “I’m increasingly positive about the future of our industry,” he says. “For the longest time the media has given the impression that lead was something dirty and becoming irrelevant to everything from the automotive business to energy storage at the megawatt level but now clearly that tide is turning.”

EVERY LITTLE HELPS …

The BCI can point to other minor changes in US rules over the past year. Some of the rules around the handling of batteries make little sense but have been enshrined in state or national law. This year the BCI helped change the Arizona law which established a ceiling of $15 on the deposit battery buyers were required to pay if they do not return a used battery at the point of sale. The “deposit in lieu of trade” requirement of course is meant to encourage recycling, but capping

the available amount is counterproductive. There are now only a handful of US states that continue to set deposit caps. Also the US Department of Transportation has ﬁnally reversed a ruling whereby the delivery of new batteries and the pick up of old ones had to take place on separate carriers. The move, probably created to help the scrap metal industry gain competitive advantage against the distributors’ network, was just inefﬁcient.

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Inbatec is the world leader in formation systems with acid recirculation technology with over 250 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-tocell 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. Contact details Inbatec GmbH, Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 40. 58135 Hagen , Germany Tel.: +49 (0)2331 39650-0 E-Mail: info@inbatec.de Fax: +49 (0)2331 39650-29 Web: www.inbatec.de

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

OMI-NBE is a company specialized in the production and installation of formation and charging systems for any type of lead-acid batteries. We can take care of your batteries coming from the assembly, starting from the acid and water preparation, filling and 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 focus is to give our customers the maximum efficiency and flexibility, an increase in production and productivity, a better quality of the products and a reduction of the costs. Our solutions for your business: • Acid recirculation formation • Advanced water bath formation • Filling process for flooded & AGM • Finishing & dispatching equipment • Acid preparation, storage & recovery • Tubular plates filling, slurry preparation • Auxiliary equipment Contact details: Email: info@omi-nbe.com Web: www.omi-nbe.com Tel. & Fax: +39 0363 901 9811

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. Our highly interactive and innovative approach to automated machine, tool and die, and mold design follows precise safety standards and utilizes the best materials to produce top-of-theline machines and equipment that are built to last in 24/7 environments. Contact details: Jim Gilmour +1 727.522.0515 jgilmour@farmermold.com www.farmermold.com

WIRTZ Manufacturing Stand 401 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, continuouslycast 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

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BCI POWER MART TRADE FAIR 2016 FLOORPLAN Batteries International

Batteries International has been serving the energy storage and battery industry for almost 25 years and has come to be regarded as the definitive source of unbiased news reporting, taking an authoritative stance on all aspects of the business. Batteries International’s editorial team has a reputation for fairness, integrity and impartiality — it’s in the business of trying to serve the $30 billion energy storage industry rather than simply work it for its own good. The batteries business is in a state of flux. All the previous certainties are being challenged. Geographically, manufacturing has moved away from its traditional base in North America and Europe. The work horse of the industry — the lead acid battery — is increasingly being threatened by rapidly developing chemistries funded by governments trying to find out where they can domestic industries a new competitive edge. In this environment there are business opportunities — as well as dangers — galore. Keeping abreast of this rapidly changing world is a must, which makes Batteries International’s fair-minded reporting compulsory reading for the energy storage executive. Batteries International is provided by independent publisher Mustard Seed Publishing. Contact details: 10 Temple Bar Business Park, Strettington, West Sussex, PO18 0TU United Kingdom Tel: +44 7792 852 337 www.batteriesinternational.com Email: publisher@batteriesinternational. com

ENTEK

Sovema SpA

Hammond Group

Stand 209

Stand 303

Stand 325

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 lead-acid batteries for automobiles, golf carts and industrial applications, lithiumion rechargeable and disposable lithium batteries. We are a trusted supplier to leading battery makers in the Asia-Paciﬁc, Europe, and the Americas, and headquartered in Lebanon, Oregon USA, with facilities in the UK 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 Carri Moffatt Tel: +1 541 259 3901 x 7174 www.entek.com

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 LithiumIon 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

MAC Engineering Stand 219

Eagle Oxide

Winter 2015/2016

Issue 97

Autumn 2015

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

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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 Latin America: the next treasure trove for battery growth Ones to watch: the up-and-coming heroes of grid storage Spread the word — the ABC message on the lithium menace

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Summer 2015

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Spring 2015

Picking the new industry leader

Nickel: still an important cog in the energy storage game

Lead squares up to lithium for large scale energy storage

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

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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’?

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Contact details Bonnie Mescal, Customer Services Tel: +1 219 852-7223 email: bmescal@hmndgroup.com

Digatron Power Electronics Stand 319

Stand 411

NEED BUSINESS ACCESS?

Issue 98

Hammond Expanders is the world’s leading developer and producer of preblended expanders for SLI/engine starting, valve regulated, motive power, standby power, hybrid/electric vehicle and solar/ wind power applications. With locations in the USA, UK and Malaysia, Hammond Expanders has the ability to supply your battery company no matter where you may be located. Our expanders are custom packaged to provide you with the easiest introduction to your paste mix per a one bag per batch ratio. They are the most technically innovative and reliable available on the market; with decades of expander formulation and experience under our belt, rest assured that you are getting the highest quality product available.Also we have introduce our world leading new K2 range for today’s Partial State of Charge Applications.

Eagle Oxide Services is a leader in the development, design and service of lead and lead oxide systems throughout the world. Their staff has real world oxide production experience that is used to create the best oxide manufacturing equipment on the market. With hundreds of systems installed in 25+ countries ranging from Ball Mills, Barton Reactors, Litharge and Red Lead Systems to Hammer Mills, lead melt pots, pneumatic and mechanical material conveying, Eagle will fulﬁll your manufacturing requirements from the simplest of needs to the most complex challenges. We are proud to announce that Eagle Oxide has received the JCI Shanghai China Outstanding Supplier Award. Contact details: EAGLE Oxide Services, 5605 West 74th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46278 USA Tel: +1 (317) 290-8485 Fax: +1 (317) 290-8766 Email: eaglesales@eagleoxide.com

14 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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

Digatron Power Electronics: More than hardware and software, formation process control and test data generation; Digatron Power Electronics is a solutions provider for the production, quality control and R&D of batteries, fuel cells, super-capacitors and other energy storage devices. A premier worldwide company with over 200 employees is at your service from our four manufacturing and service locations including Germany, USA, China and India; we are here to assist clients with all its post-assembly needs. Test equipment from cell to pack to system; Production formation and conditioning equipment; Systems engineering including plant layout, material handling, power management Contact details: Digatron Power Electronics, Inc. 50 Waterview Drive Shelton, CT 06484 USA Phone:+1 203 446 8000 Ext 221 Fax: +1 203 446 8015 kyra.materasso@digatron.com www.digatron.com

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BCI POWER MART TRADE FAIR 2016 FLOORPLAN

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Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 15

BCI POWER MART TRADE FAIR 2016 FLOORPLAN KEY — BY STAND NUMBER

KEY — BY COMPANY NAME Accuma Corp

302

Eagle Oxide

411

MAC Engineering

219

Accumation

323

Eirich Machines

102

Microporous

413

102

Eirich Machines

118

Amer-Sil

201

Water Gremlin

202

International Thermal Systems

203

Polymer Molding

204

ACL Laboratories

205

TBS Engineering

206

O M Impianti

207

WEGMANN automotive USA

209

ENTEK International

213

JBI Corporation

217

Kallstrom Engineering

218

Farmer Mold & Machine Works

219

MAC Engineering

220

Johns Manville

221

Bitrode Corporation

222

Akumsan Plastik Urunler

223

Flow-Rite

224

Oak Press Solutions

225

Universal Power Group

226

PINCO

301

Power-Sonic Corporation

302

Accuma Corp

303

Sovema

304

Tulip Molded Plastics Corp

306

Electric Applications Incorporated

308

Bernard Dumas

310

Co-efﬁcient Precision Engineering

312

Hollingsworth & Vose

314

Cobra Wire & Cable, Genuine Cable Group

317

Daramic

319

Digatron Power Electronics

321

Inbatec

323

Accumation

ACL Laboratories

204

Electric Applications Incorporated

306

O M Impianti

206

Akumsan Plastik Urunler

222

ENTEK International

209

Oak Press Solutions

224

ALABC

400

ESCA Tech

410

PINCO

226

325

Hammond Group

Amer-Sil

118

Farmer Mold & Machine Works

218

Polymer Molding

203

400

ALABC

Battery Watering Technologies

414

Flow-Rite

223

Power-Sonic Corporation

301

401

Wirtz Manufacturing

Bernard Dumas

308

Gauthier Non-Ferrous Products

402

Richardson Molding

409

402

Gauthier Non-Ferrous Products

405

DTW Systems

406

LCB Battery

407

Superior Graphite

Bitrode Corporation

221

Glatfelter Composite Fibers

408

Sovema

303

BM-Rosendahl

412

Hammond Group

325

Superior Graphite

407

Centrifugal Castings

416

Cobra Wire & Cable,

Hollingsworth & Vose

312

TBS Engineering

205

408

Glatfelter Composite Fibers

Inbatec

321

Tulip Molded Plastics Corp

304

409

Richardson Molding

Genuine Cable Group

314

International Thermal Systems

202

Universal Power Group

225

410

ESCA Tech

Co-efﬁcient Precision Engineering

310

JBI Corporation

213

Water Gremlin

201

411

Eagle Oxide

412

BM-Rosendahl

Daramic

317

Johns Manville

220

WEGMANN automotive USA

207

Digatron Power Electronics

319

Kallstrom Engineering

217

Wirtz Manufacturing

401

DTW Systems

405

LCB Battery

16 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

413

Microporous

414

Battery Watering Technologies

416

Centrifugal Castings

406

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BCI: INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS The world’s largest bodies representing lead and lead-batteries products have come together to protect and promote the industry in the face of a changing competitive landscape. Here, Andy Bush, managing director of the International Lead Association, describes the motivation behind the union and its immediate goals.

Creating a united front to champion lead batteries The recent collaboration between the world’s major representative bodies for the lead and lead battery industries was prompted by fundamental changes in the marketplace for these products, according to Andy Bush, managing director of the International Lead Association, the global trade association for the lead industry representing the producers of about three million tonnes of lead. The ILA, EUROBAT, BCI, and the Association of Battery Recyclers unveiled a strategic alliance in January to advance the cause of lead batteries in a rapidly changing marketplace. The organizations have worked together informally for many years, but the alliance kick-starts a unified approach that has three objectives: to ensure lead batteries are regarded as the future product of choice; that the benefits of lead-based products and in particular lead batteries are recognized more widely outside the industry; and ,that regulation on batteries better reflects the contribution they can make to a sustainable future. The partnership has come to fruition as a result of fundamental changes in the market for lead-based products. “Increased vehicle hybridization, the advent of lithium-ion in the automotive world and the huge potential in grid storage and renewable energy provide opportunities and challenges which require the lead and lead battery industries to work together more closely,” says Bush. “ILA has undertaken a root and branch review of its work so we can best support the lead industry. Not surprisingly our conclusion was that the future success of the lead industry would be best achieved by ensuring there is a strong future for lead batteries. That cannot be achieved by ILA on its own and that means working more closely with ABR, BCI and EUROBAT,” he says. Bush says the trade www.batteriesinternational.com

ILA’s Bush: pushing forward with life cycle assessment of lead batteries

bodies have identified specific goals that they wish to achieve in the next 12 months. “Among the key priorities this year are the launch of life cycle assessment work on the lead battery in Europe and North America; a communications awareness campaign in North America on the benefits of lead batteries to society; securing a further exemption for lead batteries from the restriction on lead in vehicles under the EU End of Life Vehicle Directive and addressing the threats to lead batteries under the REACH Authorisation process,” Bush says. The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) came under the wing of the ILA in January and has launched a three-year research programme with a renewed focus on fundamental battery science. Bush wants to contradict the positive publicity around competing chemistries and the frequent failure to recognise that lead-acid remains the superior option in many sectors. “There is a lot of talk about competing battery technologies at the moment, particularly

lithium-ion,” Bush says. “However lead batteries deliver the best combination of performance, reliability, cost, safety and recyclability. “We don’t see that changing for some time, but that doesn’t mean that the lead and lead battery industries are complacent. Lead batteries can only meet their full potential if we ensure that there is much greater awareness of what they have to offer. That’s a key part of our programme across the four associations.” Boris Monahov, ALABC program manager, says the main focus of the new ALABC three-year programme is to return to fundamental pre-competitive battery science, aimed at improving the performance and lifetime of lead batteries for their use in hybrid electric vehicles and energy storage applications, such as utility and renewable energy storage. “This is an exciting time for ALABC and it is expected that numerous high quality pre-competitive fundamental science research projects from highly renowned research organizations and battery firms, will provide improved performance in lead batteries,” he says. Monahov says a request for proposals under the new 2016-2018 programme was circulated in January, with all companies with an interest in advanced lead battery development were invited to join and submit research proposals. More than 20 high quality proposals have been received. The ALABC Technical committee is reviewing these proposals, and the projects will be discussed at the ALABC general assembly meeting at the BCI Convention On May 4. Projects under the 2013-2015 programme are nearing completion. The Technical Committee is reviewing proposals submitted under the previous program that aren’t funded, and the prioritized projects will be discussed at the General Assembly. Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 17

BCI CONVENTION AGENDA Ahead of the 128th Convention, Batteries International spoke to David Weinberg, partner at law ﬁrm, Wiley & Rein to explain some of the themes in his own presentation — always regarded as one of the mustattend events.

Muddled thinking as California tries to come to terms with virtues of lead David Weinberg, partner at law firm Wiley Rein, will present at BCI on regulatory developments that have already happened since the last conference and some of those that are pending this year. He says that California will again dominate the talk as the state continues to take its own direction on a number of key environmental issues critical to the batteries industry and the fallout and implications around the now closed Exide smelter in Vernon persists. There have been a few major developments in relation to the Exide plant in particular. Although now closed for over a year, it remains the focus of political attention and remains an issue which could have a big impact on the lead industry in a variety of ways. Last year, many of the issues around the Exide smelter seemed settled. The company settled criminal allegations with the US Department of 18 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

Justice and settled environmental violations with the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Under the terms of those deals, the company set up a $9 million trust fund for cleaning up lead-contaminated soil from 219 homes. The bankrupt company also set aside more than $38 million for closure and remediation of its property in Vernon. This settlement had been widely criticized by campaigners who said that it was nowhere near enough, earlier this year citing that a figure of close to $500 million would be necessary to completely clean up the landscape around the site. This February, amid growing political pressure, state governor Jerry Brown proposed a $176.6 million spending plan paid for by the state to fund expedited and expanded testing and cleanup of residential properties, schools, daycare centres and parks

around the former Exide Technologies facility. “This Exide battery recycling plant has been a problem for a very long time,” said governor Brown in a statement at the time. “With this funding plan, we’re opening a new chapter that will help protect the community and hold Exide responsible.” The $176.6 million plan will ensure all residential properties, schools, daycare centres and parks within the 1.7 mile radius of the Exide Technologies facility are tested and contaminated soil removed where lead levels are the highest and potential exposure the greatest. The money will come as a loan from the state’s general fund. However, Brown also said clean-up costs would ultimately be sought from the parties responsible for the contamination. Weinberg says this has been a political response to the issue and there is a big question-mark over whether www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI CONVENTION AGENDA lead levels in some of the area covered by the plan have anything at all to do with activity at the smelter. However, the creation of this plan and the funding has had several important knock-on consequences, which the batteries industry needs to be aware of, partly because the $176 million will need to be funded somehow. The first knock-on effect has been that draft legislation is being introduced in California that would impose a $15 recycling fee on all lead batteries sold in California, eventually creating a $100 million fund. The State Assembly’s Environment Committee is due to look at the proposal shortly after this story goes to press, but before the BCI Convention. “The legislation would create a new body to oversee the recycling of lead acid batteries. It completely misses the point the fact that lead acid batteries are almost completely recycled already. This legislation is misguided, we hope that we can come to a favourable resolution of some sort,” Weinberg says.

Widder implications On top of this, there are also two important administrative processes underway that could also have important implications for the battery industry. First, governor Brown has directed the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to evaluate leadacid batteries through the Community Protection and Hazardous Waste Reduction Initiative (CPHWR Initiative). The goal of this initiative is to select up to three pilot scale projects which have the potential to reduce hazardous wastes that are generated, treated and disposed in significant quantities in California; identify hazardous wastes generated in California that can pose substantial risks or hazards to human health or the environment; and, identify hazardous wastes that are generated, treated, or disposed in California communities that are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution. Weinberg says lead batteries aren’t suitable for this type of analysis. They are not responsible for large volumes of hazardous waste either in production or recycling. “But this is now being used as a vehicle to again focus on lead acid batteries,” he says. “The Department of Toxic Substances Control is only now getting www.batteriesinternational.com

“The problem for the lead industry is that if California succeeds and demonstrates that its lead-related businesses can survive tougher regulations, it could set an inﬂuential precedent that could become a big deal for the batteries industry. David Weinberg, Wiley & Rein their head around what this means but the concern is that it could lead to proposals to include lead batteries in the green chemistry programme.” The Green Chemistry Initiative or Safer Consumer Products Program, is a new environmental law designed to identify and restrict toxic chemicals in consumer products sold in the state. The law requires a new life-cycle “alternatives analysis” to evaluate alternatives and substitutes for hazardous substances in consumer products based upon their risk during product use and also during their manufacture and after disposal. The state may then condition, restrict or ban the use of those chemicals in the products of concern. While the first three products that are under the Safer Consumer Products program will focus on do not include lead acid batteries, the concern is that lead batteries could ultimately be identified as a “Priority Product”, which will require manufacturers to evaluate the product’s health impacts and consider ways to reduce impacts. “This is potentially a very substantial matter,” says Weinberg. “It is not clear how it might play out but it is one that the battery industry must

pay close attention to over the coming years. “All these new schemes and threats to the lead acid battery industry in the state have in some shape or form been prompted by the row over Exide’s smelter. And the bigger concern is that where California leads, other states and even the federal government may follow. “The issue over Exide was front page news for months and the socalled ‘environment justice’ movement has jumped on the issue, making it a big deal politically,” he says. “Much of it is not logical and is misinformed but that is making little different at the moment. The BCI must try and influence these things where it can and give people the accurate information they need to make the right decisions.” In addition to these new changes in the regulatory landscape in California, two much older issues continue to play out. The first is the plan by California, instigated several years ago, to reconsider general workplace standards for lead exposure. This was initially done against the backdrop of The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) having not updated its own general workplace standards for lead exposure since establishing them 35 years ago.

Yet tighter rules With no change on the agenda, California’s own Division of Occupational Safety and Health took its own initiative and has been working toward tightening these regulations. The problem for the lead industry is that if California succeeds and demonstrates that its lead-related businesses can survive tougher regulations, it could set an influential precedent that could become a big deal for the batteries industry. It is no great surprise that California is going down this route. California has a long track record of working independently of the federal government and setting its own standards on many things. Weinberg says officials have misunderstood the issue. That the standards have not changed since the 1970s is a misnomer. The industry’s own standards are far more rigorous anyway. The lead levels in the blood of a worker in a battery plant is roughly the same as that for the general population in the 1950s. The proposals in California could reduce this standard to somewhere Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 19

BCI CONVENTION AGENDA in the region of a tenth of the current recommended federal levels — around two thirds of the accepted industry standard these days. Some progress has been made on this since last year’s BCI conference, including at least tentative recognition by the agency as to what level of mandates would be economically feasible. There have been some changes in the agency that have slowed things down but Weinberg anticipates that more progress will be made this year. Another issue that has been rumbling along in the background in California relates to air quality standards. In a nutshell, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the air pollution control agency for Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino areas, has been pushing for higher standards — again, way tighter than federal standards. This was relevant because the federal government had decided not to change its standard in relation to air pollution. As such, California’s move to lower the level grabbed the industry’s attention.

20 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

All these new schemes and threats to the lead acid battery industry in the state have, in some shape or form, been prompted by the row over Exide’s smelter. And the bigger concern is that where California leads, other states and even the federal government may follow. The issue is also especially pertinent because of the two smelters and five battery manufacturers in California. Although Exide’s smelter is unlikely

to reopen, RSR still has a smelter in the state, with a good environmental track record, and existing battery factories make a variety of types of lead acid batteries. BCI has been successful in getting a rule adopted that the industry can accept. “It is tough, but we can live with it,” he says. Despite the many challenges in the past year, Weinberg says the industry has enjoyed some successes. Favourable laws backed by the BCI have been passed in Arizona in relation to battery recycling while the Department of Transport has also sanctioned new rules that are supportive and helpful towards battery recycling. In another instance, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an international organization established by the US, Canada, and Mexico under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), has published guidelines for smelters which the BCI has been supportive of — and there have been favourable changes around rules that relate to the way batteries are labelled.

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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. www.batteriesinternational.com

Although the US had lagged 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 close to 300 corporations representing the 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.

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 21

BCI TOPICS: LEAD, PACE OF CHANGE

Lead pricing in ﬂux but slow price rises ahead

Reasons to be positive: more innovation coming

There are three major factors influencing the price of lead globally at the moment, according to Neil Hawkes, lead analyst at CRU, a London-based commodity research consultancy, speaking ahead of the BCI annual conference. Moreover, the story around the price of lead is far more fluid and interesting than many of the other metals at the moment. Lead prices have been drifting downwards for almost a year now, dropping below $1,600 a tonne but also reaching above $1,800 a tonne at times. Hawkes says there are three drivers for this that are pushing all prices down. One of these is a strong US dollar, driven largely by an expectation (now seen with the symbolic rise last December) that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, would start increasing interest rates at some point. “The uncertainty around that has led to a relatively strong dollar, which had pushed down the price of all metals,” Hawkes says. The second macroeconomic driver has been the slowdown of China’s economy where demand for many types of metals will not be as strong as before. “The outlook for China’s economy has been downgraded again and again and lead has been pulled down with the rest of the metals,” he says. There are interesting differences between the way the price of lead has behaved compared with other metals. The price of lead has not fallen as fast or steeply compared with other metals — something Hawkes attributes to it having a less pronounced surplus in contrast with other metals and also the importance of secondary lead supplies. “The secondary side smooths things out to a cer-

Pete Smith, president at Daramic and in charge of Energy Storage — Transportation and Industrial, at sister company Polypore, will give a presentation at BCI from the perspective of a supplier. What makes this a mustattend presentation is that he is a business veteran but also someone who has spent most of his career outside the industry. Smith has now been working in the lead acid industry for around three years. Before that, he worked in semi-conductors and flat panel displays. “When I told people I was moving into the lead acid battery sector, people said to me that I was making a mistake,” Smith says. “The perspective externally is that lithium-ion is going to decimate the industry. Unfortunately, I get the sense that some of the executives in the industry feel the same way.” Yet this sits at odds with what is going on in many ways. Investment levels in the industry are positive at the moment and the new intellectual property has increased dramatically in the past decade, he says. There are two reasons for this. The lead acid model will remain the battery of choice in many parts of the automotive and industrial sectors. It has also responded to the threat posed by lithium-ion in ways that prove the chemistry can provide a very real solution to many emerging needs. Smith will look the development of and innovation around stop-start batteries and batteries in a partial state of charge looking at it from a materials perspective from the lens of a supplier. “I will examine the respective materials used in a lead acid battery and exam-

tain extent,” he says. “You have to factor in the replacement battery market especially on the auto side, which provides a steady flow of scrap feed, regardless of the seasonal swings. This stands lead out from other metals where primary supplies are far more important.” The third driver has been specific to the market: the effect of mine closures across the world. Lower metal prices have led to more cuts at polymetallic (zinc/lead/silver) mines than expected but slowing demand has offset price rises as a result of less primary supply. Many investors are realising that demand is not as bad as had been envisaged and China’s economy will stabilize. Mine closures and cut-backs will ultimately boost the price. Glencore has cut production by around 100,000 tonnes while Doe Run’s mines in Missouri cut production citing the low price of lead and the high operating costs of running a mine in the US because of health and safety regulations. Despite closures, much will depend on wider global factors. “But lead will be higher by the end of the year than we have seen recently,” he says. One dynamic worth watching over the next 12 months is that because of the loss of Herculaneum, the US is importing more lead in recent years, notably from South Korea and Kazakhstan, with shipments from Peru drying up after the extended idling of the La Oroya smelter.

22 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

ine where there has been innovation within those,” he says. “I will show the physical and chemical properties and a timeline of a lead acid battery and organize them by a scale of time and length. That, in turn, will lead us into thinking about where innovation lies in the future and what it might take from a technical perspective. “There are many things that influence the performance of a battery and we will try and understand the important ones that truly improve the performance. People will be surprised at the innovation in the industry when you examine it in this way. It is more than you might think and there is a bigger opportunity as well.” Smith also believes that, in part, innovation has been driven by a response to the threat from lithium-ion — and the industry can still do more to learn from what is happening in that space. There are too many more top universities focused on development in lithium-ion. “You have to ask, which came first: stop start and the partial state of charge or lithium ion? I am pretty sure that lithium ion came first and things moved on from there,” Smith says. “What happened in lithium-ion allowed folks to imagine change was much faster and more fundamental than had been seen before. People said: we can respond. We are not going to just give up on the automotive space.” www.batteriesinternational.com

SAVE THE DATE

BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo April 30-May 2, 2017 Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Jacksonville, FL

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

BCI CONVENTION ISSUES: LITHIUM IN THE RECYCLING STREAM The dangers of lithium batteries entering the recycling stream of lead batteries may be better known — but greater understanding doesn’t mean the issue will go away anytime soon.

Dangerous liaisons A major talking point at the BCI will continue to be the efforts to find a solution that eliminates the risks posed by lithium batteries entering the recycling of lead batteries. The lead recycling and battery industries of North America and Europe — the ILA, EUROBAT, the industrial and automotive battery manufacturing associations, Battery Council International and the Association of Battery Recyclers, have partnered up to advise that lithium batteries should not be sent to lead recyclers and that an approved facility should be used for treatment and recycling this battery chemistry. They are also working on solutions that would prevent lithium batteries inadvertently ending up in lead-acid recycling plants and potentially causing life-threatening explosions. In particular, lookalike lithium batteries pose risks to safety for the lead battery recycling industry. The danger of explosions caused by these batteries getting into the lead-acid battery recycling process puts at risk their efficient collection and recycling. Companies that operate secondary lead smelters are reporting an increase in the number of lithium batteries mixed into deliveries of used leadbased batteries ready to use as feedstock for their recycling process. Alistair Davidson, a director for products and sustainability at the International Lead Association, says a survey of ILA and ABR member companies (ie secondary smelters) was conducted in 2014 to benchmark the scale of the issue of lithium batteries 24 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

entering the used lead acid battery waste streams. The study found that 26 out of 27 companies reported an increase in lithium batteries entering their recycling facilities. They reported incidents or near misses related to fires and explosions during transport, storage, breaking and smelting operations. “The number of incidents in 2013 was approximately 10x higher than over an equivalent period in 2010,” says Davidson. “However, we have now seen a reduction in the number of incidents and are receiving much fewer reports of fires and explosions. “This is partially due to increased awareness at ULAB recycling facilities, which have briefed employees, improved visual differentiation techniques and educated battery collecting and sorting companies using a number of measures including the ILA safety flyer.” A big part of the problem is that some lithium batteries used in automotive and motorcycle applications have the same dimensions and appearance as lead SLI batteries, making them difficult to identify with a visual inspection — especially when received in pallets or bins containing thousands of used batteries. Unlike lead-based batteries — which we are told to increasing rates of yawn that there is a 99% collection and recycling rate in Europe and North America — there is minimal commercial value in a used lithium battery. Rather the reverse. Or at least for large EV batteries. The rule of thumb, used until recently was that 10% of

the cost of the initial battery price was involved in its disposal. A Chevy Volt Battery costing, say $8000 to make would require a further $800 to dispose of it. As a result there is even an incentive to dispose of lithium batteries by comingling them with used lead batteries. A solution is now being sought to allow better identification of different battery chemistries in the US through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and in Europe through the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) with proposals to develop standardized colour-coded labelling. Davidson does not believe the scale of the problem is growing. But as more lithium batteries approach their end of life something needs to be done before a major accident happens.. “As with any issue of serious safety concerns the inferred target is zero accidents or incidents,” he says. The different trade bodies have already cooperated on producing warning leaflet, distributed to battery collectors, handlers and sorters across Europe and North America, explaining the situation. The IEC is working on the development of a labelling system — the best favoured long-term solution is colour coding. This also poses challenges, however, in terms of the anticipated time scale to implement such a system and the potential costs involved. “Unfortunately it may well be several years before any improved labelling of battery chemistry is available,” Davidson says. “Battery manufactures and smelters generally support the labelling schemes and are committed to implementation as soon as possible. “But there are concerns that the costs of such a labelling system may not justify the benefits in aiding collection. Also the opportunities to include additional information through use of) or microchipping could also be evaluated,” he says. “Smelters are also investigating more advanced technologies such as density and x-ray analysis, as well as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and sonic evaluation to differentiate between battery technologies. “As much of the problem relates to improper or inaccurate sorting there is still some education and greater commitment required from companies engaged in this activity to ensure that the ULAB waste stream does not contain stray li-ion batteries,” he says. www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS Last year BCI announced a special award for innovation in the lead battery business. One outright winner and two honourable mentions will be announced on Monday May 2 at the conference.

A bright new landscape as invention comes to the fore BCI is proud to honor industry thought leader, Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz, former CEO of East Penn Manufacturing, by establishing the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award. Announced at the 127th Convention + Power Mart Expo, 2016 marks its inaugural year. Sally believed innovation was a vital part of furthering the industry as well as increasing customer satisfaction and experience.

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

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 2016. Battery Council International received 18 submissions from 17 companies. Each submission was judged on eight areas: sustainability, safety, cost, performance, detail, uniqueness, value and quantifiable. This is how we looked at each submission in terms of greater detail.

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? www.batteriesinternational.com

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 to the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award were asked to include a 90-second video providing additional insight on why their submission was innovative. To view the videos, please visit www.batterycouncil.org/innovationaward. Claire Sereiko Associate Director, Marketing and Communications Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 25

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: HAMMOND GROUP Hammond Group, best known in the battery business for its range of expanders, is advancing the cause of better lead batteries in two ways — K2 a revolutionary expander formulation and providing an open-collaboration research laboratory.

Hammond’s K2 — LAB2: a powerful combination Hammond Group has submitted a joint package of achievements as its entry for the BCI Innovation Award. The first is the continuing expansion of its K2 Expanders, the second is its newly completed Lead Acid Battery Laboratory — known as LAB2. K2 expanders provide lead acid batteries with dramatically improved dynamic charge acceptance while the LAB2 is dedicated to industry technical development. Its goal is to enable lead acid batteries to achieve 80% of lithium-ion’s technical performance. But at just 20% of its cost. Dynamic charge acceptance — the way batteries can accept and rapidly store large influxes of energy — is the next big thing for the lead acid business. It opens up two worlds — that of microhybrids in the automotive sector and the huge new areas of business with grid-scale storage. In laboratory testing and now in production batteries, Hammond has achieved an order-of-magnitude increase in dynamic charge acceptance while simultaneously increasing cycle life — see charts — Figures 1, 2 and 3 show relative comparisons to Hammond’s control samples. The innovation — generically known

as K2 — does not require a change in other battery paste ingredients, grids, or plates. No change in any other material component or process. No new tooling, production technique, distribution, use, scrap characterization, or recycling. K2 represents a new expander family, with no safety concerns or known adverse effects. Moreover, K2 is customizable according to the needs of the batteries being made and their in-service operating conditions. Hammond has a long tradition in producing lead chemicals for a variety of glass, ceramics, colour, and plastic applications. “We’ve always pioneered technical substitutes and advancements in answer to an ever changing market,” CEO Terry Murphy told Batteries International. “We’ve been very successful adapting to industry’s shifting demand for lead-based chemicals.” As an example, almost 50 years ago, Hammond responded to the need to replace red lead-based corrosion inhibitors by inventing and patenting a nontoxic, functional substitute, marketed as HALOX inhibitive pigments. Later the firm’s Halstab division operated as a major US manufacturer of

lead-based heat stabilizers for PVC plastic. When environmental standards changed, Hammond responded with the Plastistab line of heavy metal-free stabilizers. “The point of these examples is that Hammond has a history of developing world-class solutions when lead is challenged,” says Murphy. “This ability to adapt to ever-changing markets has been key to our longevity and growth.” Murphy, who took over as the head of Hammond two years ago and is a long-standing board member, says: “While HALOX and Halstab were very good businesses — and they certainly demonstrated our ability to adapt — I didn’t think they were our future. I saw the need for efficient battery storage and pushed our board of directors for a strategic decision to concentrate on energy storage.” The board agreed and both businesses were sold in 2012. HALOX went to ICL Performance Products and Halstab to Mitsubishi Industries. Since then, Hammond has focused on changing the lead-acid battery chemistry to compete with lithium ion. It also means adapting to changes in sources of lead demand. “Some 30 years ago, less than half of Hammond’s sales were

K2 charge acceptance improvement

Hammond has created from scratch a state-of-the-art laboratory from a disused factory 26 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

Figure 1. K2 Expanders provide a dramatic increase in charge acceptance www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: HAMMOND GROUP to the lead battery industry; today it’s closer to 80%,” says Murphy. The nub of the problem between lead and lithium is mostly a question of price and recyclability. For advanced energy storage — power generation or hybrid vehicles — lithium-ion batteries meet most of the technical requirements, but are too expensive and not recycled. By contrast lead acid batteries are inexpensive and 100% recyclable, but don’t have the necessary cycle life. “On a personal note,” says Murphy, “A major influence on Hammond’s decision to invest in our LAB2 came from Sally [Miksiewicz] who understood these emerging lead acid battery markets better than anyone, which is why East Penn invested in the Ultra Battery. “My first meeting with Sally was scheduled for a quick 30-minute introduction, but ended up lasting several hours, with another follow-up shortly thereafter. We were immediately on the same page — both recognized the need and importance of research to lead the industry forward.” Hammond has amassed an impressive assembly of state of the art equipment in LAB2 — these range from multi-position testing equipment from Maccor and Bitrode, which can test up from mini-cells to SLI batteries to micro-hybrid and stationery testing. There is also general laboratory instruments such as units providing X-ray diffraction, BET Surface Area, UV/Vis spectroscopy. Gordon Beckley, chief technology officer says: “With the equipment we have on offer, the huge amount of algorithms that can be input to detail the types of usage batteries undergo — and why — that can form the starting point for what performance can be. “One huge advantage that we can

bring to bear is a “These applicarapid material and tions require a batelectrode screening tery to perform well process — typically in high-rate partial we can make valid state-of-charge (HRPperformance predicSoC) operations, actions within a couple cepting a wide range of weeks. of charging amps at “This is unheard various states of overof in an industry all charge, and mainwhere typically it tain this quality over takes several months a normal cycle life,” for a clear picture says Murphy. to emerge from re“As a specialty search.” chemical business, I Hammond’s in- “As a specialty felt that Hammond vestment in K2 and had an enormous chemical business, LAB2 is effectively potential to address an attempt at a com- I felt that Hammond this deficiency, so we pany level to compete had an enormous made the investment against the US govand the strategic comernment subsidized potential to address mitment to address advanced battery re- this deﬁciency, so we the PSoC requiresearch which has foment.” Hammond cused on lithium-ion. made the investment investigated the lead The traditional lead and the strategic acid battery princiacid battery suffers a ple failure mode in critical, but certainly commitment to HRPSoC applications not unsolvable, tech- address the PSoC through a materials nical deficiency. When interaction study, testsubject to high-amp, requirement” — Terry ing traditional and irregular re-charging Murphy, Hammond advanced expander intervals — such as materials. energy re-capture from braking, bat“Exploiting insights on material setery life may be seriously shortened, lection, material interaction, and dusays Murphy. ty-specific formulations, Hammond’s This helped form the background work culminated in its K2 family of for Hammond’s thinking in looking at negative plate expanders, available ways to see how a better hybrid vehicle for a wide range of HRPSoC applicabattery could be made to accommo- tions. We’ve discovered a whole new date rapid and intermittent charging class of materials, but it wasn’t just and discharging. Similarly, an energy our new material, or a particular cargrid storage battery must handle the bon, it was the interaction and exact inherent gaps between intermittent dosing of these new compounds that wind and solar energy generation and was central to this technical breakits consumption. through.

Simulated energy storage application

Figure 2. K2 Expanders show extended life cycle life in simulated energy storage application www.batteriesinternational.com

K2 PSoC cycling mprovement

Figure 3. K2 Expanders enable PbA batteries to pass micro hybrid test Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 27

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ADVANCED BATTERY CONCEPTS Advanced Battery Concepts has almost halved the lead used in its battery yet improved its performance by creating what it claims will be the world’s ﬁrst commercially viable bi-polar lead acid battery.

The challenges of commercializing bipolar lead It’s been a long time coming but after considerable product and process development Advanced Battery Concepts says it is close to full scale production and a global roll out of its bipolar technology. Ed Shaffer, ABC founder and chief executive and Don Hobday, business development director say they have solved the problems associated with developing a true bi-polar battery ca-

pable of being widely commercialized. Both have previous experience with bipolar lead batteries having worked for Atraverda, a Welsh start-up that nearly achieved commercial success. Shaffer left in 2008 to set up ABC. Hobday left in 2010. Shaffer says the battery industry has always recognized that if a bi-polar lead acid battery could be manufactured successfully it would have sig-

The ﬁrm has also identiﬁed a big opportunity in energy storage if the cost of storing the energy can be brought down below what it sees as the magic number of $0.07 per kWh cycle. BIPOLAR BATTERIES The theory behind bipolar batteries has existed for almost a century. First developed by Nobel laureate Pyotr Kapitsa in 1924 bipolar designs differ from traditional prismatic designs by replacing heavy metal grids connected by a top-level, cast-on-strap, (Figure (a)) with a conductive plate having positive material on one side and negative material on the other side (Figure (b)). The advantages of bipolar batteries have long been known. • Uniform current density • Increased active material utilization • Higher energy density • Higher power density • Simpler construction However, practical concerns around the actual battery design and manufacture have prevented anyone from developing a commercially viable bipolar battery until now.

28 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

nificant advantages for the battery manufacturer and the end user. “Bi-polar battery designs eliminate grids and top lead and utilize the active chemistry far more efficiently thereby reducing the lead content for same energy, they would be cheaper to make, they would be smaller and lighter, better for the environment, have a faster recharge rate and greater cycle life,” he says. “To be successful a bi-polar battery needs to be commercially scalable, recyclable and robust. We have concentrated our business focus on simplifying materials, product designs and manufacturing processes and are taking bi-polar lead acid batteries to a new level at ABC.” Previous attempts at making a commercially viable bi-polar battery at scale have met with limited success because of a number of problems. These include the inability to seal between cells and failure to seal to the external environment, the use of costly exotic materials to overcome corrosion and conductivity issues, the requirement for an external strengthening structure to provide uniform AGM compression and to overcome cycling stresses which ultimately result in poor performance in terms of energy and power density, cycle life and cost. In addition, new materials, radical designs and new manufacturing processes mean significant restructuring to battery manufacturers’ existing operations and hence slow down and impede adoption. Following five years of development Hobday is convinced that ABC has overcome the past problems associated with bi-polar lead acid batteries. He won’t go into full detail on some of the technology used as the company is still awaiting patents but he says it www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ADVANCED BATTERY CONCEPTS now only uses simple low cost materials already used in the construction of lead acid batteries today. What is clear, however, is that a unique pasting frame structure is employed, “by which paste may be applied to or employed in the substrates so that the appropriate desired electric conductivity can be achieved across the substrate, while also preserving a means suitable for battery shut-down in the event a predetermined temperature condition is met,” according to US patent US 8,357,469 B2. “And further by which adjoining plates can be suitably employed and maintained in spaced opposing relation to each other so that the internal structure creates an external seal such that no additional external structures or devices are required to seal the battery for leakage prevention.” Nevertheless ABC has received a powerful endorsement from Bob Nelson, a lead acid battery expert with almost four decades of experience. Asked to give an independent verdict on the technology, he wrote: “ABC has developed a new approach to bipolar design that avoids several short-comings of conventional bipolar batteries, including: limited capacity, relatively high cost, poor thermal management and unsuitability for many applications. “Given this, combined with excellent demonstrated performance, they have a product line that will be of great interest to the battery industry. I believe it is a truly disruptive technology that will find wide acceptance once it becomes accepted by the industry.” In the past two years, ABC has been working with battery producers to gain more data and establish true proof of concept for the technology. He says the results on all fronts have been very positive. “ABC’s batteries are lighter and cheaper than equivalent batteries in the market today and our partners are really achieving the results we’ve claimed. We have made things simpler and the performance is better,” Hobday says. Validation and testing results have been obtained at ABC’s battery partners and at third party accredited test facilities. “In 2013, our internal test data supported a substantial claim set and since then we have embarked on external validation,” says Hobday. “Battery testing is a lengthy process especially obtaining full cycle life data but we are now very comfortable with where we are.” One of the biggest breakthroughs in the design is that it reduces the lead www.batteriesinternational.com

content in the battery by some 45%. “That reduction, which is attributable to the bi-polar design, means a significant reduction in the battery manufactured costs,” Hobday says. The company has also achieved a higher energy density (50 Wh/kg with a path to > 60 Wh/kg — this compares with 35Wh/kg for the best in class AGM batteries today). It has also achieved higher power — >1000 W/kg while maintaining high energy (>40 Wh/kg), a faster recharge of 1.4x faster, a cycle life of three to six times the current VRLA battery life with a path to greater than 10 times and all at a lower cost. He suggests that it is this innovation that could help them win the innovation award. “Everyone who has tried it can see how successful it is and that it truly has the potential to revolutionize the battery industry. That is what innovation is all about.” Hobday says the company is working with more than one major battery manufacturer and is planning for fullscale production. Launch product will initially target the automotive and stationary power sectors globally. “We can make a very high voltage battery very simply and cheaply and we can also make large capacity batteries. There is no reason this will not be relevant to many sectors very quickly.” Hobday says due to its lower cost and higher performance the technology can move into sectors that had either been using less advanced lead-acid technology or had increasingly been adopting lithium-ion batteries. “We are closing the gap to the performance of lithium-ion at pack level now but at significantly lower cost, with simplified installations and safety advantages. We are a credible alternative.” The potential size of the market that ABC hopes to tap could well stand at $70 billion by 2020. “If we can capture even a 1% market share that is a huge opportunity for us,” he says. “To maximize its potential we need to proliferate ABC’s bi-polar battery technology which is why we are pursuing a licensing strategy.” The firm has also identified a big opportunity in energy storage if the cost of storing the energy can be brought down below what it sees as the magic number of $0.07 per kWh cycle. At this level, it starts to make economic sense to store the energy being produced by power generation during periods of low demand, he says, before moving it back into the grid when needed.

“To be successful a bipolar battery needs to be commercially scalable, recyclable and robust. We have concentrated our business focus on simplifying materials, product designs and manufacturing processes and are taking bi-polar lead acid batteries to a new level at ABC” — Ed Shaffer

“We are closing the gap to the performance of lithium-ion at pack level now but at signiﬁcantly lower cost, with simpliﬁed installations and safety advantages. We are a credible alternative” — Don Hobday Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 29

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: BLACK DIAMOND STRUCTURES Black Diamond Structures brings the nanotechnology known as MOLECULAR REBARTM to lead-acid batteries offering signiﬁcant improvements in battery performance such as cycle life and charge acceptance.

Big battery improvements can be found in small packages Black Diamond Structures is the commercialization vehicle for Molecular Rebar, a nanotechnology, based on a patented form of the discrete carbon nanotube, that offers a variety of improvements to the lead-acid battery industry. The first is a dramatically improved cycle life — with increases of over 50% in cycling. Charge acceptance is also improved by around a quarter and there are also benefits of greater performance in cold temperatures as well as strong resistance to physical and thermal abuse. Perhaps most importantly for the successful introduction of battery manufacturing improvements, Molecular Rebar can be easily incorporated into existing manufacturing process — with no additional capital costs or modifications to production processes. “To understand the importance of our innovative technology, you have to understand the importance of the science behind the carbon nanotube,” says Kurt Swogger, CEO of Molecular Rebar Design and a Black Diamond Structures board director. “Carbon nanotubes first made a big splash in the materials research community in the 1990s. Their unique

structures promised amazing electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties, but these advantages were often only realized at the laboratory scale. Journal articles and patents have, to date, far outpaced adoption of nanotubes in practical applications.

Carbon in lead-acid batteries In recent years, lead-acid battery developers have used activated carbon, graphite, and hybrid lead-carbon electrodes to accommodate higher rates of charge and PSoC operation. These additives show promising results, but frequently require significant alterations to existing production lines and paste-mixing recipes. Determining the optimum carbon composition and implementing the new additions have been challenging. Furthermore, carbon additives present a host of problems: many contain high concentrations of metallic impurities, which can lead to severe side reactions. Their presence in raw materials destined for use in lead acid batteries is therefore strictly regulated. Carbon additives also alter paste rheology, requiring downstream process changes to accommodate the mix.

Figure 1: Finding competitive advantage in the process change 32 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

The Molecular Rebar technology delivers advanced technological solutions at an industrial scale with a minimum of disruption to production. “When we first started thinking about adding Molecular Rebar to batteries, we understood that the processes of mixing, pasting, and curing are well established and have been optimized over decades in the industry,” says Clive Bosnyak, chief scientific officer of Molecular Rebar Design and Black Diamond Structures board director. “We challenged our team to ensure that our product could be incorporated into existing processes without disruption or additional optimization of the manufacturing process,”. Black Diamond Structures and its partner, Molecular Rebar Design, disentangle and functionalize stock carbon nanotubes, making the surface of the tubes compatible with the lead-acid battery operating environment, and opens the ends of the tubes. The process also cleans the carbon nanotubes to reduce the residual catalyst content. The residual metals, which lead to performance problems in conventional advanced carbons, are reduced by more than more than 80% in the finished product. Ease of implementation enables Molecular Rebar technology to be accessible to manufacturers of any size and scale, regardless of their resources in R&D/engineering or their deployable capital. To prepare for use in lead-acid battery pastes, the tubes are uniformly dispersed in an aqueous solution. The final product is a pourable liquid which can be introduced directly into the paste mixing process. “Our extensive field-testing and success with battery manufacturers around the world provides proof of the remarkable performance impact that Molecular Rebar brings to leadacid batteries,” says the firm. www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: BLACK DIAMOND STRUCTURES The Black Diamond Structures team has worked with international manufacturing partners to produce batteries with their additives on standard production lines. “Together, they have demonstrated significant charge-time improvements, widened operational windows, and extended cyclic durability. These characteristics allow manufacturers to meet the ever-increasing demands of new applications,” says the firm. The addition of this product to the negative active material improves charge acceptance and extends lifetime under lab-based cycling protocols and in real-world field trials. These tubes in the positive plates enhance the durability of plates subjected to charge/ discharge cycling still further. “Black Diamond Structures has collected significant performance data from industrially produced 12-V batteries at its own testing facilities, at customer sites, and at third-party testing facilities. The data show reductions in charge times of 25%-75% under constant-voltage conditions and increased cycle life of 25%-300%, depending upon the protocol. Pasting trials have shown that Molecular Rebar can reduce waste and improve production quality,” says Paul Everill, one of the principal team members engaged in the project. Figure 2 shows the cycling of batteries with a C/10 discharge to fixed voltage cutoff and a fixed-voltage recharge, indicating a drastic reduction of recharge time and a simultaneous retention of capacity. “When you observe higher currents during charging, you can’t tell whether you’re helping with charge acceptance, or if you’re just promoting gassing. When you get the capacity back on discharge, cycle after cycle after cycle, you know that the improved charge acceptance is real,” says Jeremy Meyers, a battery developer on the team. “To retain the capacity over dozens of cycles, the current must be going into the charging of the battery at a high rate, not to side reactions. That’s exciting.”

new design windows and creates new opportunities for advanced battery manufacturers that can leverage the product to meet new, more challenging specification demands in advanced automotive, micro-hybrid eVehicles, renewables (solar, wind applications), eMobility (eRickshaw, eBike, mobility assistance) and grid storage. The Black Diamond Structures development team includes polymer scientists, chemists, and battery engineers with decades of experience bringing novel battery designs to market. They have also invested heavily in the capital equipment necessary to help partners bring advanced batteries to market. Figure 2: Recharge time decreases and “We can perform plate analycapacity maintenance during cycling sis and battery performance Note: Cycling tests indicate that Molecular Rebar can decrease analysis that many smaller bat- recharge time 50% while retaining capacity; a mark of true tery manufacturers just aren’t increased charge acceptance (Data from full-scale, 12V, 38Ah set up to do. We have equip- VRLA batteries produced by Lantian Battery Company, China) ment at our facility to perform electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, ferent battery designs require different porosimetry, and electrochemical char- modifications to meet the demands of acterization. We can quickly confirm the market. We work with our partners plate quality and performance,” says to ensure that we can match our best Dru Kefalos, chief marketing officer, technology with their best manufacturBlack Diamond Structures. ing know-how to deliver the best pos“We are well aware that we can’t sible battery to their customers. It’s an apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Dif- exciting time.”

Increased SBA SO101 Cycle Life Performance Figure 3 shows that Molecular Rebar allows significant lifetime improvements under PSOC protocols, such as the SBA cycle. Across a variety of tests, the additive has demonstrated sulfation resistance on the negative electrode and corrosion/shedding resistance on the positive. Molecular Rebar technology opens www.batteriesinternational.com

Figure 3: Increased SBA SO101 cycle life performance Note: Molecular rebar increases the performance of batteries undergoing the JIS SBA S0101 cycling protocol when incorporated into the negative, positive, or negative and positive electrodes. Here, full-scale 12V, 30Ah NS40Z batteries were tested after being manufactured by Paciﬁc Batteries Ltd. (Lami Fiji). No additional modiﬁcations were made to these SLI batteries, other than the addition of the Black Diamonds Structures aqueous solution; these batteries were not designed to undergo the start/stop-like duty load of the SBA, but our product Rebar enables such performance. Formation, testing, and data collection performed independently at JBI Corp, in Genoa, Ohio USA.

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 33

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: GLATFELTER The use of scrim is known to increase cycle life in ﬂooded batteries. But as these results — validated by the world-famous IEES — show, getting the composite mix right is the key to success. This is a shorter version of a longer article found in Batteries International issue 98.

How a composite scrim laminate can extend EFB cycle life The development and use of enhanced flooded batteries (EFB) in stop-start systems is progressing at rapid pace. One of the key improvements required to make EFB viable is increased cycle life, particularly of the positive plate. Any claim to improve such a property must first pass the litmus test of costeffectiveness. Seen in that light one of the promising routes is to apply a scrim material to the surface of the plate in order to reduce the degradation rate of the positive active material during cycling. This particular approach to enhancing battery cycle life is, from a cost point of view, especially attractive. It makes it possible for one product to play two crucial roles: as pasting paper during the production on the pasting line, and then as a retainer scrim significantly increasing battery cycle life once in operation. Glatfelter has developed a unique

composite scrim Dynagrid® NG328 which performs both these functions exceptionally well. The product is a composite laminate made up of two layers, one layer of cellulose fibres adjacent to a layer of polyester (PET) fibres. The Glatfelter inclined-wire paper making technology ensures a laminated product with a perfect interface between the two layers of the above mentioned cellulose and PET.

The IEES study To evaluate the ability of Dynagrid® NG328 to increase the dischargecharge cycle life a study was performed at the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems (IEES), a department of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The investigation was carried out under supervision of Dr Stefan Ruevski with Professor Detchko Pavlov as project adviser. In this article a brief overview is

Dynagrid® NG328 scrim (PET based) increased the DOD 50% cycle life at 40°C by more than 40%. This increase is comparable with glass scrim: Dynagrid® NG328 gave an increase of 43%, glass scrim 44% 9.0

48 41

Voltage / V

C20 Capacity / Ah

given of the results. The evaluation was carried out using batteries made under carefully controlled conditions at IEES. Four battery configurations were tested; these were: 1) a reference without pasting paper applied; 2) standard pasting paper Dynagrid® 313; 3) composite scrim Dynagrid® NG328; and, 4) a glass-fiber based scrim. Two batteries were produced per configuration, giving a total of eight. A 12V, 44Ah battery, L1 container was chosen for the evaluation program. To evaluate unambiguously the impact of the various pasting papers on the cycle life it is important to ensure that failure of the positive plate is the determining factor. (After all, premature failure of the negative plate would obviously invalidate the experiment.) To achieve the desired designed redundancy of the negative plate, each cell was made using a five negative/four positive plate cell configuration. Additionally, a conservative utilization factor of 40% was used when calculating the quantity of dry active material needed

34 27 20

8.3 REF-1

REF-2

DCHRG IN 1

313-1 DCHRG IN 2

313-2

328-1

DCHRG IN 3

328-2

GS-1

DSCHRG 1

GS-2 DCHRG 2

REF-1

REF-2

313-1

CCA IN1, V t = 10s, 300 A

313-2

328-1

CCA1, V t = 10s, 300 A

328-2

GS-1

GS-2

CCA2, V t = 10s, 300 A

Figure 1 (above left): The development of the C20 capacity as cycling progresses. Notes: • Prior to cycling indicated by DCHRG IN1, DCHRG IN2 and DCHRG IN3 • After ﬁrst unit of 120 cycles indicated by DCHRG1 • After second unit of 120 cycles indicated by DCHRG2 Figure 2 (above right): Cold cranking ability, EN current Notes: CCA at -18°C • Prior to cycling indicated by CCA IN1 • After ﬁrst unit of 120 cycles indicated by CCA1 • After second unit of 120 cycles indicated by CCA2 34 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: GLATFELTER for the negative plate. IEES performed the manufacture of; lead paste, positive and negative plates and their dry-curing. Production of lead-oxide, the cast lead grids and battery assembly were carried out externally by a commercial battery producer. Battery filling with electrolyte, formation and final concentration adjustment of the electrolyte were performed by IEES.

FOUR CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY • Dynagrid® NG328 scrim (PET based) increased the DOD 50% cycle life at 40°C by more than 40%. This increase is comparable with glass scrim: Dynagrid® NG328 gave an increase of 43%, glass scrim 44%. • Neither scrim is the cause of ultimate battery failure. Both were still functional at the end of the battery cycle life and capable of functioning to a greater number of cycles. • Visual and SEM analysis of scrim materials show: In the case of Dynagrid® NG 328 the individual fibres are in good condition as evidenced by unchanged fibre diameter. Also fibre to fibre adhesion is still clearly evident at the thermally bonded fibre

Some results from the IEES study The test used to evaluate battery performance was based on the 50% DOD at 40°C as specified in the Volkswagen VE 75073 test protocol. This is a popular test used by many battery producers for doing a first screening of candidate materials prior to performing a full-scale qualification test program when evaluating new battery designs. In addition to the cycle-life determination, C20 capacity, internal resistance and cold start properties were measured initially, (after battery formation), and at the end of each unit of 120 cycles. Here we report the cycle life data, the C20 capacities and some cold start properties. Table 1 illustrates cycle life as measured using the specified DOD 50% at 40°C test. Both Dynagrid® NG328 and the glass scrim evaluated give comparable improvements in cycle life, 43% and 44% respectively. Hence, it is seems reasonable to speculate that both PET scrim of Dynagrid® NG328 and the glass scrim functioned well in containing the positive active mass and that ultimate battery failure

is due to a progressive degradation of active material. The C20 capacity numbers as in figure 1 exhibit a number of striking features. Firstly, the initial capacities of the eight batteries are very close, which argues for a high uniformity in the manufacture of the battery achieved by IEES. This is an important result for the evaluation as we need to avoid production issues determining the outcome of the investigation. Secondly, the impact of applying a composite scrim such as Dynagrid® NG328 on capacity is immediately visible, the C20 capacity of the reference batteries quickly drops off while the rate of reduction in C20 of the “328” batteries is the lowest. Dynagrid® 313

Reference Max. no. of cycles

229

Ave. no. of cycles

223.5

Change per battery

218

224

268

324

313

318.5

Change ave.

Cold start performance is summarized graphically in figure 2. Clearly cold start performance at -18°C is dependent on the number of cycles. Also, the rate in which the CCA values decrease is dependent on whether or not a scrim was applied. Consequently, the ranking of CCA values changes as the DOD 50% cycle test progresses. The reference batteries show the best initial cold start properties. However, after 120 and 240 cycles it is the batteries with Dynagrid® NG328 which show the best CCA values, this applies both for CCA at EN current of 300A and at CCA DIN current 180A (not reported here). Table 3 illustrates the change in ranking as DOD 50% cycling progresses.

Dynagrid® NG 328

246 -

intersections. This despite the highly oxidative test charging at 16V, 40°C. In the case of glass scrim, the individual fibres are likewise in good condition; however the binder dependent fibre-to-fibre adhesion is no longer present as the binder dissolves during the course of cycle testing. • The Dynagrid® NG328 scrim reduces the rate of deterioration of electrical properties during dischargecharge cycling. This results in: better C20 capacity retention, improved cold start properties and lower increase of internal resistance during cycling. In all of these properties the effect of Dynagrid® NG 328 was moderately superior to glass scrim.

20%

307

336

321.5

45%

10%

Glass-scrim

40%

43%

37%

50%

44%

Table 1: DOD 50% tests at 40°C and schedule of electrical properties tested during cycling test.

Initial

C20 (Ref)

C20 (313)

C20 (NG328)

C20 (GS)

After 120 cycles

C20 (NG328)

C20 (GS)

C20 (313)

C20 (Ref)

After 240 cycles

C20 (NG328)

C20 (GS)

C20 (313)

Table 2: Changes in the ranking of C20 capacity values as cycling test progresses.

Initial

CCA (Ref)

CCA (GS)

CCA (NG328)

CCA (313)

After 120 cycles

CCA (NG328)

CCA (GS)

CCA (313)

CCA (Ref)

After 240 cycles

CCA (NG328)

CCA (GS)

CCA (313)

Table 3: Changes in the ranking of CCA as cycling test progresses www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 35

FORMATION EQUIPMENT

Raise your performance

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: AQUA METALS Smelting lead is energy-intensive, expensive and, worldwide, frequently a dirty and polluting process. An alternative is soon to be on offer.

The next step forward for lead recycling Lead smelting recycling without the smelting? That’s what Aqua Metals, a Californian start-up, promises to provide later this year. If achievable then there could be huge benefits — and a huge shake-up — for the entire lead battery industry. The idea, as such, isn’t new; this hydrometallurgical chemistry dates back to the very earliest days of electrolysis. But so far this has never been commercially practical. And many have believed that this will always be the case. Aqua Metals was formed in 2013 by Stephen Clarke, Selwyn Mould and Thomas Murphy, three figures who had already been working together for many years on energy storage technology including flow and bipolar lead acid batteries. They were joined by Steve Cotton as chief commercial officer last year. What they’ve brought to the market is a recycling process which they’ve trademarked as AquaRefining. AquaRefining is a variant of electrorefining or electrowinning — the two are not interchangeable processes — but at their very simplest they are a kind of electroplating. If Aqua Metals’ product is commercially viable, then AquaRefining has the potential to be a game changer for the industry. Aqua Metals will not release further details of its intellectual property — see box — but it is more than likely that a pulp of crushed batteries would be introduced into the electrolytic process. This might be in spongy form to provide the surface area needed for precipitation of lead to occur. There are four immediate business positives to Aqua Metals’ refining process. The first is that AquaRefining appears to be far more efficient than smelting. The amount of energy needed to be input into the system is smaller — making it cheaper by around a third — and because the process is modular it can be tuned to demand. (As opposed to smelters which typically have to be operated with a high-output to make economic sense.) The main process is powered by 38 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

2013 prototype and 2014 prototype: Modiﬁcations to the 2013 prototype (left) resulted in the commercially replicable current version

“But as I conducted the technical feasibility study and saw the hydrometallurgical process in action, I saw this was not just viable but even had a genius quality to it” electricity rather than gas, so the company can claim significant renewable fuel use. Second, AquaRefining is modular — making this a scalable product. The basic unit (see pictures of the 2013 version and its upgrade in 2014) means that the business model offers a different approach to market. Typically smelting requires the smelter to be built on site and in large size. However, AquaRefining can be located at the hub of any distribution network or battery manufacturing location at a scale that suits the amount of lead batteries coming in for recycling. Third, its securities filing last year shows that Aqua Metals’ business model opens up two different revenue streams. The first recycling plant will serve as a base for expansion and further plants will be owner operated, or run on a contract basis as a joint venture or licensing arrangement. It also offers the possibility of a franchise operation, which Cotton says might work well for international expansion. The turnkey aspect to the product is almost certainly vital to the way that Aqua Metals could expand if it decides to develop with a franchise business

model. Lastly — and probably the most important in the longer term — the process itself is environmentally friendly and sustainable. The present legislative climate in Europe and the US is one where emissions and environmental regulations are becoming ever tighter. (As well as frequently irrational to boot.) Moreover, the recent closures of smelters in the US show that the lack of compliance had been routine. The facility — the company dubs it the AquaRefinery — should be upand-running by the middle of 2016 and be able to produce 80 tonnes of lead a day from early 2017, says the firm. The process, says Cotton, will produce ultrapure lead. Steve Clarke, the chief executive, said he anticipated reaching 160 tonnes a day by 2018. The daily output of each AquaRefining module, which consists of six electrolyzer units is, 2.5 tonnes of ultrapure lead which the company says has been independently verified by credible technical third party reviews. Aqua Metals also believes it will be making higher purity lead than primary lead which could redefine the definiwww.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: AQUA METALS tion of primary (mined) lead to include high(er) purity recycled lead. Typically, primary lead commands up to 50% premium over secondary lead LME pricing. Aqua Metals has already established an agreement with Battery Systems, a distribution specialist in the western US with a 200,000 square foot battery storage facility literally next door to Aqua Metals’ new Nevada plant. This agreement will provide up to 100% of the used acid lead acid batteries for feedstock as well as offtake of recycled product for a conversion fee with a provision to convert to a merchant

model in the future. The company says it is also actively working with a diverse supply chain of used lead acid batteries including from large enterprises who are increasingly conscious of where and how their batteries are recycled. Aqua Metals says it has identified further potential locations across the US. John O Wirtz, president of Wirtz Manufacturing Company, said; “The Aqua Metals technology has the capability to change the global lead acid battery recycling industry. It offers a green solution for recycling lead acid batteries which is a game changer by itself.

“But it also offers a lower operating cost structure, and a lower recycling volume requirement allowing all battery manufacturers to control the availability and cost of their lead. Every battery manufacturer should consider the Aqua Metals technology in their long term strategy.” Although the final product is modular — meaning that large recyclers of used lead batteries simply have to buy extra modules to accommodate demand — the likelihood is that smaller battery makers, especially in the developing world, will be early buyers of the system.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? Maggie Teliska, the head of independent testing firm, RyanTel, conducted a review for the US Department of Agriculture — one of the guarantors of a project loan from Green Bank to build the first commercial plant — and confirmed the validity of Aqua Metals’ technology and business. “Initially I was not just sceptical but deeply sceptical about this,” she told Batteries International. “But as I conducted the technical feasibility study and saw the hydrometallurgical process in action, I saw that this was not just viable but real and even had a genius quality to it.” On the basis of her recommendations, the USDA Rural Development Agency has guaranteed 90% of a $10 million commercial loan from Green Bank. Aqua Metals has also been endorsed by investors who though hampered by the NDA could legitimise to Batteries International what Aqua Metals is doing. Rob Romero, the founder of investment firm, Connective Capital described his visit saying he was sceptical of breakthrough new processing technologies, “especially when it comes to a chemical process that is over 100 years old. He later related: “So I hired the best independent electrochemical expert I could find: Ralph Brodd, who has served in technical committees for the Department of Energy, NASA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and is past-president of the Electrochemical Society. Needless to say, he was sceptical too, having seen lots of inventions come and go, trying to purify lead without smelting.

www.batteriesinternational.com

“To allow us to see the commercialscale production pod, the company required both of us to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA), so I’m limited on what I can say. We went to Oakland, and got a demonstration of the commercial-size pod operating at full tilt. “We were surprised,” says Romero. “One look at Ralph told me what we needed to know. We were not only impressed by the ease by which the machine pulled out highly purified lead from the aqueous solution, also how knowledgeable and forthright the CEO Steve Clarke was with us in explaining details about their process.” “We’ve seen the technology in action, have validated it with industry experts and believe that it is immediately scalable,” said Michael Cahill, founder of investment firm Crispin Capital Management, which has taken a long position in Aqua Metals. “The ability to build an Aqua Metals modular facility next to a battery collection centre — removing the need for moving spent batteries to distant, expensive smelting centres — is a compelling business case that could witness mass adoption worldwide.” Batteries International visited Aqua Metals this March, and the management team maintained that it will produce its first product this June — it appears they remain on schedule with a nearly completed AquaRefinery building in Tahoe-Reno, production of AquaRefining modules in Alameda, California was scaling up with the commissioning of equipment at the plant itself and the appointment of lead recycling experts. Who knows recycling history might just about to be made?

The successful IPO of Aqua Metals last summer Comparative recycling costs Lead Recovery Waste Transport Overhead Breaking Used LABs

Smelting

AquaReﬁning

Aqua Metals has not released the amount of savings that the process will generate but a presentation slide gives a possible approximation Source: www.aquametals.com

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 39

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: DARAMIC A good separator is at the heart of a good lead battery. Daramic’s new, high performance polyethylene battery separator enables manufacturers to use less lead in their products without the subsequent reduction in battery performance.

Taking the lead out of lead acid batteries Daramic’s entry into the BCI Innovation Awards is for a product innovation invented about three years ago but with research continuing on further refinements. Called DuraLife®, this helps protect and maintain the quality and performance in battery designs that use less lead content — a technique that many battery producers have adopted as a way of reducing overall cost of their products. DuraLife, is a new, 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. There are also benefits from the DuraLife co-brand campaign which yields more go-to-market tools and selling points on the end-customer communication Dawn Heng, worldwide marketing director for Daramic, says that against a backdrop of ever increasing competition in the lead acid battery market and the encroachment of other cost-effective chemistries into some traditional markets, one of the most impactful actions a battery manufacturer can take is to reduce lead content in the battery. “As the technology has matured, the automotive SLI lead-acid battery market has become more competitive, and battery manufacturers are under pressure from OEM’s to reduce costs,” Heng says. “Traditionally, the path to improving cost competitiveness was achieved by squeezing out components costs, but there is a limited impact that can be achieved, and some approaches can lead to potential quality risks. www.batteriesinternational.com

The benefits and value of DuraLife have been proven by testing in the lab, field quality compliance data, and financial performance that the battery producer can achieve through the product re-positioning “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. 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.”

Thinner grids hit performance The problem is that reducing the thickness of the grid lead can compromise the performance and life of the battery in many applications. Battery manufacturers have previously reduced lead content by making the grid thinner and by improving pasting control with less lead used in the active ingredients. Both options, however, can reduce the life of the battery and damage performance long term. DuraLife is designed to compensate by reducing water loss, which lowers positive grid corrosion ensuring there is less trapped gas which impinges on functionality and improving the TOC and acid stratification. “There are innovative ways to achieve margin improvement by focusing on lead reduction. DuraLife bridges the gap to save lead content costs, while at the same time mitigating the potential quality impact. It is the optimum solution for SLI batteries,” says Heng. Heng says there are many benefits to battery manufacturers beyond the lead content reduction. Many bat-

tery designs that use DuraLife demonstrate superior life performance, meaning battery manufacturers can upgrade their batteries from sub-premium batteries with a longer lifespan and warranty period. This, in turn, allows battery manufacturers to differentiate their product lines and sell batteries at higher margins. Daramic has also launched an innovative way of partnering with battery manufacturers to co-brand the battery with the DuraLife branding. “Working with us allows manufacturers to offer a complete solution to customers while benefitting from the brand and the superior performance the product offers,” says Heng. “This can help our customers improve profitability and increase market share in their respective segments.” Daramic which is releasing DuraLife worldwide, but first launched it in Asia two years ago says it is real world tested. “The benefits and value have been proven by testing in the lab, field quality compliance data, and financial performance that the launching battery producer can achieve through the product re-positioning. This innovation will allow the lead-acid battery to become more competitive versus other technologies and more sustainable for future growth,” Heng says. Heng believes DuraLife could also prove an effective solution in stopstart applications, where he sees an increasing overlap in the innovations occurring in lead acid and lithiumion, the main competitive chemistry in vehicle electrification. Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 41

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: MAC/ENERSYS A recent initiative by EnerSys and MAC Engineering looks set to mark a signiﬁcant step in reducing the levels of lead in the air in the battery workplace

Better pasting machinery to cut lead air from plant ﬂoor The reduction of blood lead levels from battery manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important issue for the industry. Two firms, MAC Engineering and EnerSys, are working together to find ways to reduce lead in air ahead of a possible new, and more restrictive, business climate facing the lead acid battery industry. The challenge is coming from two fronts. The first is the need to ensure that lead acid battery technology can compete commercially with other chemistries. But the more serious threat — and that’s because it could soon be upon us — is that of tighter environmental and health regulation on lead levels. (Irrespective of whether the ever-more stringent rules being introduced are fair or not, more regulations look set to be the new order of the day.) These were two of the major themes of the BCI conference in Savannah last May. But these meetings were more strident than normal — “it’s time for

the industry to speak with a single voice,” said Mark Thorsby, BCI executive vice president at the time. Implicit with this was a call to arms. A time for action. One BCI conference panel session in particular stood out. It was called “Let’s Get the Lead Out: Designing Lead Emission Out of the Manufacturing Process” and was chaired by EnerSys’s Steve Weik, VP for technology and engineering. The purpose behind this presentation was to alert the industry to the growing trend of tighter and tighter rule-making on lead levels in both blood and air. The panellists — a mix of battery manufacturers and machine suppliers — consisted of representatives from Johnson Controls, East Penn, MAC Engineering, BM Rosendahl and Sovema. They talked about the challenges faced by manufacturers and the potential problems manufacturers, suppliers, and producers would have to

overcome if these restrictions become more and more stringent and therefore more and more unmanageable. EnerSys asked several key suppliers to join this discussion about the direction the industry is taking in terms of environmental regulations and what suppliers can do to assist in compliance. Through this panel, EnerSys challenged all machine suppliers to get off their standard equipment platform and join them to help make the working atmosphere cleaner. Doug Bornas and Dan Duffield, two VPs at MAC Engineering, this went beyond mere sloganizing. “We sat down with Steve and talked about what we could do together,” says Bornas. “EnerSys was fired up and ready to do something, so were we! “Perhaps the most important underlying idea was that if we could come up with good ideas for taking this forward the knowledge would not belong to us, as a machinery manufacturer or EnerSys as a battery maker but it

Inset: Fixed oriﬁce paster with full contained cleaning option. Hopper fully enclosed (see top of hopper on next page) with stainless steel tank that funnels all clean off water into drain pump and directly into reclaim pit. Water spraying system for inside of hopper as well as for transfer belts and rolls. Main: FlowMAC parter/brusher, high speed stacker with enclosed robotic off bearing area, fully ventilated area where dust particles will be transported via conveyors to a 55 gallon drum (see picture on top of next page) 42 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: MAC/ENERSYS “Perhaps the most important underlying idea was that if we could come up with good ideas for taking this forward the knowledge would not belong to us, as a machinery manufacturer or EnerSys as a battery maker but it would be open to the whole industry.” would be open to the whole industry.” Following the meetings there was a flurry of ideas and meetings between the two firms. The initial proposal aimed at improving the pasting line— possibly the hardest point to contain lead in the manufacturing process — which immediately looked an early winner. This involved looking at pasting, flash drying, stacking, and the palletizing of plates. If lead and dust could be kept cleaner in this area, both companies believed it would greatly reduce lead in air in the rest of the plant. “Keep the paste where it belongs and nowhere else was the idea,” said MAC’s Dan Duffield who was in charge of getting the firm’s design team up to the point of making technical drawings of the proposed features. “Our target, in the pasting area, is to eliminate as much lead in air as possible.” Sadly Steve Weik, the initial inspiration for getting the project going, was never able to see the fruits of his work. He died in late June. However, his work was picked up by Kevin Jones, director of operations engineering at EnerSys. Part of the process was a disassembling of the existing health and safety precautions such as cages and guards to protect the employee before assembling them again with the changes. This involved designing modifications, closing off any unnecessary openings, using sealed conveyors to transport flaked off paste to sealed drums, extending guards, eliminating places where lead dust can gather, creating more efficient ventilation ports, and leaving as little space as possible for any lead to collect. Because manufacturing lines vary from plant to plant, the thinking was that generic solutions needed to be found — approaches that could be transferred across the industry. The design process and related engineering has been a collaborative one with, as each side admits, imaginative and extensive design www.batteriesinternational.com

work coming from both parties. Around the turn of the year, the new manufacturing line will be installed in EnerSys’ factory in Tijuana, Mexico. It will then be extensively tested. “We’re almost certain that we’ll have achieved a huge leap in reducing levels of lead in the workspace with this initiative alone,” says Duffield. “And that the whole industry can benefit from this. Both EnerSys and MAC say they are excited for the future and for what these changes can help bring to the industry. In a joint statement they said: “We have developed numerous pragmatic and effective measures to reduce lead emissions to the environment, and therefore a genuine hope that the entire battery industry can be a more productive and environmentally safer place in the future.” Both firms also say that this is just part of a longer journey envisaged where all aspects of the battery manufacturing process will be dissected. Thorsby, at the BCI, is positive about the move. “This is a great example of the industry as a whole working together to forge a way ahead. What’s particularly impressive is that it started with a couple of individuals being fired up at BCI and taking it from there — this wasn’t about a series of high level

Conveyor to move any collected dust particles to 55 gallon drum

meetings to decide to get things done nor was it about making someone richer on the basis of this, It was quite simply working out ways for the industry to get lead out of the air.” “The great thing about it is that through the initiative hopefully others will see what MAC and EnerSys have achieved and be inspired to continue their leadership into the future.”

Change leaders: Doug Bornas (l) Kevin Jones and Dan Dufﬁeld

Inset: Top cover with water spray atomizers that ﬁts on top of the pasting hopper for controlled cleaning Main picture: Inlet of high speed stacker, blocked off for safety as well as particle removal, most ﬂat areas removed to help eliminate places where dust particles can collect, conveyor system to aforementioned 55 gallon drum Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 43

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: HIGHWATER INNOVATIONS HighWater Innovations is developing a VRLA technology to challenge the power of NiMH in hybrid electric vehicles and for other power hungry but size/weight-sensitive applications.

Optimizing spiral-wound VRLA cells to deliver higher power in smaller packages Like the best of start-ups, it all began in a garage. And now five years later, the commitment by industry veterans Mike Gilchrist and George Brilmyer to design a better battery is paying off. The two, believing that a lead acid battery capable of powering an HEV was possible, reckoned that design — rather than, say, yet another additive to the pasting mix — would be the key to unlocking the extra power and capabilities needed. Moreover, the product would cost a fraction of the going price for competitive chemistries — the NiMH battery for a Toyota Prius can cost around $3,000. The result has been the ‘GO battery’ where the GO stands for “Geometrically Optimized”. The two have gone way beyond proof of concept to demonstrable, repeatable hand-made batteries suitable as replacements for NiMH for hybrid electric vehicles. About 18 months ago, a patent was issued. Since its early days in 2011, the Tennessee start-up known as HighWater Innovations, has been developing a unique battery for high power appliFigure 1

cations — including finding investor funding two and a half years ago to advance their designs. “The innovation in the GO Battery is its unique low aspect ratio grid,” says Brilmyer. “These grids, complete with multi-current collecting tabs are specifically designed for high power applications (see figure 2). These grids with their short grid-tab current path, result in a wound cell that has disruptively low electrical resistance that is 3X lower than a similar size (Ah) conventional spiral-wound VRLA battery. The resultant wound cell has two tabs per wound lap that creates a structure having four rows of tabs at the top edge of the wound cell. Opposing rows of tabs are the same polarity by design. The development process can be daunting. “You know if one stares at a bipolar battery long enough you

can see its advantages and its faults!” says Brilmyer who with Gilchrist have worked in the battery business for some time including working on bipolar VRLA. “For example, you see the short inter-cell connections for high power. But you also notice that you must build an entire battery (and test it) before you can determine that there is a single bad cell that leads to scrapping the entire battery! “One will also notice that there is no way to balance or sort cells in bipolar. These are all some of the observations that lead to the conceptualization of the GO Battery.” Since in essence they were trying to build a battery from the ground up they looked at other aspects of the design. “The open core is not a fundamental key to our battery design (or our patent) but it is useful in thermal management,” says Gilchrist.

When we tested our ﬁrst cell we knew we were on the right track when the internal resistance of the cell measured just about 1 milli-ohm.

Figure 2

Figure 4

Figure 6

Figure 5 Figure 3

44 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: HIGHWATER INNOVATIONS “We use it for our counter-current air flow system. Air is forced up through the core of each module and then flows down around the outside of the module enabling us to cool the cells in a uniform manner. But, the open core also helps with cell assembly. You probably can’t see this, but we wind on a plastic core and the core stays with the element and goes into the cell.” One unrealized benefit of the plastic core is that the inside wound laps of the element remain tight and in good contact with the separator. This is not the case when winding on a mandrel such as those used in conventional spiral-wound technology. The design then uses conventional cast-on-straps to connect the current collecting tabs in parallel. The resulting four COS and posts create a dual post system of two positive posts and two negative posts per cell as shown in Figure 3. The wound cell, complete with cast-on straps and posts in then heatsealed into a thin, light-weight polypropylene container/cover (Figure 4). After the posts are burned the high power wound cell, complete with its hollow central core is then fitted with terminals designed for stacking and integral thermal management (Figure 5). The two positive terminals extend upward, while the two negative terminals extend down-ward. When the cells are stacked, the flange on the central core mates with the cell above

Our GO Battery cells are now pushing the industry in terms of pulse power and we believe with the right battery manufacturing partner that these limits can be increased by at least an additional 30%” to form a cooling channel. Figure 1 shows a fully assembled 12V GO Battery module. In this construct, the positive termination is at the bottom of the module along with a 90 degree air injection port. Air blown into this end of the module travels up through the central cooling channel and exits the top at the negative end of the module. Subsequently placing a module into a closed-ended thermal management tube uses the closed end of the tube to redirect and reverse the air flow past the exterior of the GO Battery module such as that shown in Figure 6. An example of how this counter-current thermal management system will be deployed in a full 200V module is also depicted in Figure 6. This figure shows a 96 cell battery pack for a 5” x 24” x 26” prismatic requirement such as that might be used in a Ford Escape HEV or in a server rack in a computer server room application. “At the beginning — in our garage days — we needed long and narrow grids so we used continuously cast SLI grids and cut them down by hand,” says Brilmyer. “We built our first winder from wood and PVC pipe. We

had containers/covers machined from ABS and then used epoxy to attach the covers and create the post seals. “A very simple DC power supply was used for formation that we monitored by the hour. In the end, we managed to produce some very good cells. Then we decided to focus on 10-second power and to optimize our cells based on this rather simple premise. When we tested our first cell we knew we were on the right track when the internal resistance of the cell measured just about 1 milli-ohm. Our first set of cells performed better than expected and established our internal benchmark of 10-sec power of 265 watts and 311 W/Kg.” Highwater Innovations now has much better test equipment and have moved on to a custom winder, smaller COS straps, thinner punched grids and an injection molded container/ cover. “Our GO Battery cells are now pushing the industry in terms of pulse power and we believe with the right battery manufacturing partner that these limits can be increased by at least an additional 30%,” says Gilchrist.

the exact same test regime in all situations. In terms of gravimetric and volumetric speciﬁc power, these early results are disruptive and transformational. Note that despite the exemplary performance, these cells were hand-pasted, and therefore there is signiﬁcant room for improvement.

In a hand-pasted plate, the paste is applied on to the grid frame with little or no over-paste. This means that the paste (active material) to grid (inactive material) ratio is lower than typical since machine pasting is required to optimize the paste to grid ratio and to properly compact the paste into the grid frame.

THE RESULTS The results shown below are compelling in terms of specific power, both gravimetric and volumetric. They show a direct comparison of these hand-built cells and five different commercially available VRLA cells/batteries. This comparison was made by using a 10-sec HEV Power Test using Design Specifications

10-Sec Power Pulse Testing (1.6vpc CV Discharge)

VRLA / Brand /

Nominal Capacity (Ah)

Wt Actual (g)

Dimensions

Volume (Liters)

Max Amps

10 Sec Wh

10 Sec Power (Watts)

Specific Power (W/Kg)

Specific Power (W/L)

Go Battery Cell #167 EnerSys Cyclon X-Cell EneSys Cyclon E-Cell Optima Group 34 Yellow EnerSys Group 31 East Penn ETX30L

5.0 5.0 8.0 RC = 120 RC = 188 26Ah

588 362 486 19,587 30,820 9,585

58mm x Dia 85mm 73mm x Dia 44.5mm 100mm x Dia 44.5mm 254mm x 172mm x 198mm 330mm x 173mm x 240mm 168mm x 132mm x 175mm

0.329 0.114 0.156 8.692 13.703 3.883

454.0 84.1 100.3 1,089.0 1,029.0 488.0

1.67 0.33 0.38 21.20 21.90 12.34

601.2 118.8 136.8 7,632.0 7,884.0 4,442.4

1,022 328 281 390 256 463

1,827 1,046 880 878 575 1,144

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Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 45

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: DIGATRON Digatron Power Electronics has launched what it calls the world’s ﬁrst laboratory test system with silicon-carbide technology.

Battery testing’s next leap forward: rethinking switch mode technology Modern electrochemical energy storage devices such as lithium batteries or supercaps must be subjected to extensive performance and safety testing in specialized laboratories to validate their suitability for industrial or automotive application. Since battery capacities keep on increasing the turnover of electricity during charge/discharge cycling tests becomes a significant cost factor for the laboratory owner because traditional cyclers have poor efficiency during charge and during discharge they output 100% of the energy as heat. Additional expenses for air conditioning and noise protection occur. But also floor space becomes an expensive, limiting factor for laboratories as the demand for a high count of circuits increases, for example, for cyclic ageing research.

The few worldwide manufacturers of battery testing equipment have been trying for some time to employ switch mode technology to achieve higher efficiency or energy recuperation. Corresponding circuits continue to struggle with design-related restrictions caused by today’s mono-crystalline silicon semiconductors and large transformers and chokes. “At Digatron Power Electronics we’ve reinvented a battery test system from scratch, to provide Energy Neutral Technology” says Kevin Campbell, chief executive of Digatron. Points of departure were customer demands with regard to energy efficiency, construction size, circuit density, ergonomics, power and dynamic envelope, as well as the latest semiconductor technology derived from military and aeronautics: Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs.

2002

2016

High power density: 48 circuits of 150A / 20V or 200A / 300A peak / 6V in one standard cabinet 46 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

Smaller, more efﬁcient www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: DIGATRON Digatron this year will be introducing battery testers with active frontends and output amplifiers in SiCtechnology in their Repoweren™ UBT (20V) and MCT (6V) lines. These systems provide up to six 1.8kW test circuits in one 4U (178mm) rack module. This is equivalent to an almost 10fold increase of power density compared to any previous designs. Digatron’s Biconditional Energy Supply Tracking (BEST) system ensures optimum energy efficiency under any operating condition,” says Campbell. “This is an innovative process that automatically balances the energy flows between the six circuits and tracks the energy balance of the DC link accordingly, either to regenerate 100% in the DC realm (and top off from AC as needed), or to feed excess energy back to the three-phase grid.

The front is dominated by a central seven inch touch screen that visualizes the current operating status of each circuit and overall system status. Linking it with tablets or smartphones is possible, depending on the customer’s IT infrastructure and policy. The Repoweren™ units can be cascaded in standard 19 inch rack systems. Test circuits can be paralleled up to several kiloamperes. Extra expenses for climatization or acoustic insulation are unnecessary. The regenerative series’ modular construction allows easy servicing and replacement of assemblies. DC cassettes for single cells (6V) and 20V (SLI) can be mixed within the same module. Additional DC cassettes with new voltage and current ranges will be developed in the future. “The Repoweren™ Series is designed to provide several decades

Kevin Campbell, CEO of Digatron

of reliable service when maintained properly,” says Digatron. Its modular construction simplifies complete recycling at the end of its service life.”

Above left: The 6 x 1.8kW unit. Above right: Rear view showing six independent test circuit outputs for single cells (6V) or batteries (20V) of any chemistry

WHAT ARE SILICONE-CARBIDE METAL-OXIDE-SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (SIC MOSFET)

Silicon Carbide is a diamondlike crystal of carbon and silicon. Especially with higher blocking voltages, SiC MOSFETs are superior to conventional IGBTs made from mono-crystalline Silicone (Si). The primary reason

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is the nearly 10 fold disruptive strength and threefold bandgap of SiC over Si. The switching characteristics, the efficiency factor, and the thermal properties of these next generation semiconductors offer the advantages of lower losses, higher operating voltages, and higher operating temperatures in the power conversion system. In switch mode designs the significant increase in switching frequency permits much more compact constructions or higher power densities. In particular with switch mode design, a significant increase in switching frequency leads to

downsizing and high power density. That is also the reason why Digatron employs switch-mode technology in transformer-less power supplies and not just the output stages right now. Conventional semiconductors with low switching frequencies would have necessitated bulky and expensive transmitters thus denying the beneﬁts of a design without a mains transformer. By contrast the Repoweren series’ high-frequency transmitters are roughly the size of three matchboxes, only. Digatron expects SiC based semiconductors to become the de facto standard in inverter designs in the near future.

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 47

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ALABC For the last ﬁve years ALABC — the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium — has been working with automotive suppliers and OEMs to demonstrate that advanced batteries, regen charging and supercharging technology can create breakthroughs in fuel economy.

Demonstrating power and performance One potential landmark in market acceptance of lead-acid in automotive drive trains comes from car maker Hyundai’s recent investigation — the first for an OEM — of how the combination of better lead-carbon batteries, regen power and the use of an electric supercharger together with turbocharging can transform fuel economies. And, importantly, to do so without loss of performance. The aim of the Hyundai project which started in 2013, has been to convert a Kia Optima 1.7 litre diesel and the equivalent Hyundai i40 model into 48V micro/mild hybrids. This project is very similar to the 48V LC SuperHybid project that ALABC had been working on since 2010, but here it was based on a more economical diesel engine with a down-speeded gear box. At its simplest, the Hyundai and LC SuperHybid projects aimed to put a down-sized engine into a vehicle and couple this with down-speeding it through a longer ratio gearbox, so as to save fuel, and hence, CO2 emissions. [Reduced CO2 emissions are an immediate target of European automotive regulators. EU Regulation No 443/2009 sets an average CO2 emissions target for new passenger cars of 130 grams per kilometre. The target

was phased in between 2012 and 2015. A target of 95 grams per kilometre will apply from 2021.] However, this downsizing and downspeeding also finishes up with a vehicle with very poor driving characteristics or a complete lack of ‘fun to frive’! To compensate for this ALABC worked with UK company, Controlled Power Technologies, with CPT’s concept of restoring performance by turbocharging the down-sized engine and to further improve this by electric supercharging to eliminate the turbo lag experienced when accelerating from low engine speeds. Acceleration from a standing start, or when in a high gear, puts emphasis on low revolutions per minute (rpm) torque to accelerate the mass of the vehicle. The key to the reduction in CO2 emissions was to replace the alternator with a belt-driven integrated starter/ generator (B-ISG) so that during deceleration and braking kinetic energy can be recovered and stored in the low-cost lead-carbon battery for use in driving the electric supercharger. This also has the benefit of a much quicker, quieter and smoother start than provided by the conventional mechanical starter. While CPT had vehicles to demonstrate the benefits of both their Speed-

Start B-ISG and electric supercharger separately they had not shown the benefits of the two units together (Figure 1). ALABC then proposed that a project should be put together to build a vehicle to demonstrate the concept together with a low cost lead-carbon battery.

THE CONTEXT The development of lead-carbon battery breakthrough technology has enabled these batteries to be used in high-rate partial state-ofcharge applications as found in hybrid vehicles. It has also been vital to showcase the performance and life of lead-carbon batteries to OEMs to prove their abilities in real hybrid vehicles. ALABC’s involvement in demonstration vehicles has played an important part in this process. The initial work on demonstration projects in high voltage hybrids achieved this goal while the more recent work on the low voltage micro/mild hybrid has put the lead-carbon battery in the forefront of powertrain development for the next generation of low cost, fuel efﬁcient vehicles.

Performance Improvement Base Vehicle

48V Hybrid 3s 0

1.3 m

6s 40

6.6 m 87

km/h

0 60

Distance

97 km/h

[m] 90 100

110

120

130

140

14.3 m 9s

150

Figure 1 (left): Recovery of performance without loss of CO2 beneﬁts. Figure 2 (right): Improved acceleration over the base car 48 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ALABC 105

CO2-Emisions [%]

Work is going on with the 48V LC SuperHybrid project to further refine the system, but Hyundai reported the initial results of their project last year to the Engine and Environment Conference in Graz, Austria. The project with Hyundai involves AVL as integrators, Valeo as suppliers of the electric supercharger and the B-ISG and East Penn as suppliers of the battery pack. In the Hyundai project ALABC was assisted in the funding of the project by several individual members.

100 95

16 %

Base Vehicle 48V Hybrid

90 85 T-HYBRID

80 9

9.5

10.5

Acceleration 0-100 km/h [s]

Figure 3: Early vehicle transient current data

Putting the results together Hyundai’s key conclusions were that the engine power of the base engine was increased from 136 PS to 176 PS (25%) by utilising a larger turbo, but despite the engine downspeeding the acceleration from 0-100kph was reduced by a full second from 10.5 to 9.5 seconds (Figure 2). The 60-100kph figure in fifth gear was reduced to 7.7 seconds from 9.9 seconds, indicating considerable improved driveability. As well as improving the vehicle’s performance, a key result of the project is that the CO2 emissions over the NEDC cycle have been reduced by 16% over the base car — a figure comparable to that obtained with the 48V LC SuperHybrid. Perhaps of equal interest is that this emissions figure is a full 10% lower than the equivalent high voltage gasoline hybrid (Figure 3) and Hyundai es-

timate the cost of the 48V system to be 45€ per % CO2 saved as compared with 100€ per % saved with the full hybrid system — a not insignificant figure in automotive terms when the industry is trying to move from a fleet average of 130g/km CO2 emissions to 95g/km (26%) by 2021. Two public statements by Hyundai are worth noting. • “The 48V Mild Hybrid system has the capability to improve the ‘fun-todrive’ factor by electric-assisted supercharging and the fuel economy of the vehicle by gear box optimization and energy recuperation simultaneously. The implementation of these systems top-down into the vehicle fleet will be a solution to reduce fleet CO2 towards 95 g/km. • “Can 48V bridge the gap between 12V and 800V? Yes, 48V can be a

proper solution to bridge the gap to future Hybrid concepts.” In a climate where the lead-acid battery faces increased competition from other chemistries, the lead-carbon battery can only help raise the profile of the lead battery as a truly sustainable energy storage solution for the automotive industry, while at the same time offering a large opportunity for a substantially increased volume of lead battery sales.

The impact While the initial 48V vehicles are likely to be premium models with Li-ion batteries, the ALABC work with OEMs is indicating that some are not convinced that this is the only way to go and that advanced lead-carbon batteries have a part to play in this market because of their many advantages such as cost, safety and recyclability.

KEY PARAMETERS OF COST AND VALUE In the table below, the various key parameters of the ascending degrees of electriﬁcation are outlined with some calculations as to the add-on cost to the manufacturer and the potential cost per % of CO2 saved. Hybridization parameters System metric Voltage

Micro hybrid 12V

LC Super hybrid Concept1 12- 48V

Mild hybrid 24-130V

Full hybrid 200-270V

Plug-in hybrid 300-400V

e-motor power Regen power

2-3kW 0.5-3.0 kW

3-6kW 3-8 kW

10-15kW ~10 kW

20-50kW ~20 kW

60-70kW 20 kW +

Launch assist e-drive range OEM on-cost *estimate CO2 benefit % OEM cost/ benefit 1 With downsizing/down-speeding

0 0 €150 - €700* 4 -7 % €35 - 100/1%

20 - 35kW 0 €750 -€1500 15-30% €50 - 60/1%

<15kW 0 €1600 - €3000* 8-12% €200 - 250 /1%

>15kW ~ 2 km €3000 - €5000* 15-20% €200 - 250 /1%

>60kW ~ 30 km €6000 - €10000* 20%+ €300 - 500/1%

Note: These figures were prepared during the development of ALABC vehicles and may not reflect up-to-date lithium-ion battery prices in the light of the fact that EV and HEV sales have been nowhere near expectations for the installed capacity. It can be seen that as the degree of electrification increases, the OEM on-cost also increases considerably. This is largely battery-related as in the mild, full and plug-in type of hybrid the batteries are high voltage,

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deploying either nickel metal hydride or lithium-ion chemistry. The very fact that the voltage is above the accepted safety level of 60V also means extra expense in the vehicle to provide the necessary isolation measures. It can be seen that the add-on cost of the 48V LC SuperHybrid concept, while more than for a simple start/stop vehicle, is lower than the ﬁgure for a mild hybrid while being capable of higher emission reductions if the full beneﬁt of

downsizing and down-speeding is used. The recent ﬁgures quoted by Hyundai claim a CO2 reduction of 16% achieved on their 48V T-Hybrid at an on-cost of €45 per % CO2 saved as against a cost of €100 per % in their mild hybrid version which has poorer performance. This would suggest that the low voltage micro/mild hybrid has become a serious competitor for the conventional high voltage hybrid.

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 49

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ABERTAX Abertax has developed a new gel ﬁlling process for PzV and OPzV cells. K-D Merz, the battery expert at Abertax, explains what the innovation means.

Better gel ﬁlling for VRLA batteries Abertax Technologies has developed a new patented gel filling process for use in PzV and OPzV cells which the company says, represents an important breakthrough that could make the manufacturing process cleaner, safer and cheaper while improving the quality of the batteries. Gel batteries — often called valve regulated batteries — are similar to AGM batteries in that they can’t spill or leak liquid, have a deep cycle, a low self-discharge, are safe for use in limited ventilation areas. and may be transported safely without special handling. However, gel batteries cost a little more and they do not offer the same power capacity as AGM batteries. But they excel at slow discharge rates and slightly higher ambient operating temperatures. One of the reasons for their slightly higher price has been the cumbersome process associated with their filling, formation and finishing processes. This is where Abertax has focused its attention. Klaus-Dieter Merz — universally known in the industry as KD —has been with Abertax since 2008 and with gel battery development for some 12 years. He has also had a 28 year career with Exide. Merz says there are three main methods used in gel battery manufacture.

The first is whereby the battery is assembled with formed plates, then filled with a gel/acid mixture and charged. “This is the oldest process and gives good quality products,” he says. “But it has a high cost associated with the tank formation and is not very environment friendly.” Second, there is direct gel formation; the most economic and easiest process. “However, direct gel formation takes a long time and does not result in the best quality product,” Merz says. Finally, there is jar or bloc formation where the battery is filled with liquid acid. After formation, the battery is partly discharged and the acid drained before the battery is re-filled with gel. “This is more complicated and costly and sometimes there’s a variation in cell performance,” he says. Just over a year ago, Abertax looked at improving this last method. The aim was to develop a filling process of the jar or bloc formation without the acid drainage and re-filling process. The solution was what he calls a ‘gel circulation’ process. At first, the cells of a lead acid battery are filled with a sulphuric acid of a specified density, followed by formation. After this the cells are part-discharged and the gel filling method can also be applied to fully charged cells. He notes that precautions are needed

in terms of homogeneous filling. Then, the cells are fitted with a plug/ valve, which has an intake and an outlet duct. The hoses or tubes are connected with a mixing and filling gel container. Then gel from the container is pumped into the cells of the battery through the intake tube, while the outlet tube transports the electrolyte from the top of the cell back to the container. An electrolyte exchange process is done until the SiO2 content is equal in cells and container. “The new method reduces time and cost,” Merz says. “The existing filling and formatting equipment can be adapted to the components and procedures of the invention. Only minor modifications to existing installations for gel battery production need to be done to introduce the cleaner and faster production process.” After lab testing, Abertax made a small test prototype and the first industrial applications were tested in March 2015. The results have been promising and, one manufacturer is already working with the concept, which Abertax has patented. Abertax is in talks with four more potential manufacturers about this. This September the company will publish a paper at ELBC in Malta, after which it will seek more industry feedback. Merz says: “This represents a new and improved step in terms of value regulated technology. There hasn’t been too much innovation in the lead acid business in recent years so this is exciting.”

Gel transport tubes

Acid tank Gel mixing tank

Dead end plug

Pump

Filling plugs OPzV cells

50 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

Valve

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: GRIDTENTIAL Gridtential has developed a silicon-lead battery that offers a real and sustainable alternative to lithium, with clear power and price advantages.

The new gigafactories of silicon-lead beckon Gridtential, a Californian start-up that has taken successful university research and adapted it to the production line, has developed a proprietary technology for an advanced lead battery that replaces the metal grid in current lead battery designs with a silicon substrate. “We’re calling it Silicon Joule Technology,” says Christiaan Beekhuis, chief executive of Gridtential. “The advanced architecture and materials will provide up to two times faster discharge at the same efficiency, two times the greater available energy at the same weight, and up to five times longer life at 80% depth-of-charge compared with traditional lead-acid batteries. “Gridtential is able to target a $100/kWh installed price for its drop-in lead-based battery replacement.” Perhaps most interesting for lead battery manufacturers is the fact that it has the potential to provide breakthrough performance with little disruption to the existing 500GWh global production capacity of the lead battery industry — the early processes of paste mixing and curing are unchanged as is the high investment formation and charging equipment. “The process changes for battery makers occur in the modular stack and seal assembly process that makes the product a manageable transition for a range of battery makers” says Beekhuis. “With respect to the stack and seal assembly, I expect some of the highend battery machine manufacturers to step up here to produce high quality, high speed lines. “To date two battery firms that are serious players are well down the road towards establishing pilot production of Silicon Joule batteries and four others are in the process of evaluating the product.” Gridtential’s business model is www.batteriesinternational.com

based on licensing the technology to customers, which makes its initial capital requirements comparatively light. “Initially we’re focusing on licensing firms involved in the diverse industrial and specialty markets,” Beekhuis says.

“These are the ones that are easiest to bring in as adopters, and some of the markets most challenged by lithium batteries. “But the eventual aim is to tap into the huge automotive sector. The area where Silicon Joule technology could have the greatest impact is in the new 48V power trains for micro- and mild-hybrid vehicles.” One interesting perspective of the licensing model, and the fact that the Gridtential technology can be fitted into existing battery manufacturing lines worldwide, is that it creates the possibility of the industry as a whole providing an almost immediate counter-balance to the so-called ‘gigafactory’ of Tesla. Lead battery gigafactories could be just a couple of years away.

“Gridtential is able to target a $100/kWh installed price for its drop-in lead-based battery replacement”

The eventual aim is to tap into the huge automotive sector. The area where Silicon Joule technology could have the greatest impact is in the new 48V power trains for micro- and mild-hybrid vehicles Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 51

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: NORTHSTAR BATTERY COMPANY NorthStar Battery Company has modiﬁed existing lead battery chemistry to provide a product with extremely high charge acceptance in difﬁcult conditions as well as doubling cycling performance.

The trouble-shooter

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The reﬁned batteries’ electrochemical attributes were an extremely high charge acceptance in abusive conditions, and the ability to provide increased cycling performance when operating in a partial-state-of-charge advantage in hybrid telecom sites disconnected from the electrical grid. Previous wireless telecom installations that ran generators for up to 18 hours a day to charge the battery banks and operate the sites were now capable of reducing the generator runtime to less than four hours per day. The savings in diesel fuel in these remote installations were enormous. The company’s first major Blue Battery installations in the remote areas of Pakistan produced savings for the operator of over $70 million in the first year — simply due to the reduction in diesel fuel required to operate their sites. Over the past two years, NorthStar has installed Blue Batteries throughout the Middle East, Africa, eastern Europe, southeast Asia and South America in those areas with poor electrical grids and where operating conditions are difficult. The chemistry is also pushing cycling performance for AGM telecom batteries to new frontiers — the chemistry delivers over twice the number of cycles seen from conventional lead-acid batteries. This means a longer lifetime

in those areas where the electrical grid is unreliable and the battery is cycling numerous times throughout the day. It also means another area where advanced lead acid batteries are staking territory for the entire industry. The fast-charge capability for leadacid batteries, coupled with the improved cycling performance due to the chemistry and the charging parameters, continues to demonstrate that lead-acid is the most-efficient solution for the vast majority of the world’s wireless telecom installations.

Time to recharge - hours

Cycles

NorthStar Battery Company’s Blue Battery chemistry was developed to address a specific problem encountered by a telecom operator in Bangladesh, where mains electricity was operating less than 50% of the time and the telecom site was averaging 26 electricity outages over any 24-hour period. Conventional batteries didn’t receive enough charge current to operate — the batteries were failing within months. Frank Fleming, chief technology officer of NorthStar, and his team worked with the customer to refine the lead-acid chemistry, changing active material ratios, utilizing a carbonenhanced negative electrode and refining the negative plate expanders. This was named Blue Battery Chemistry by the NorthStar technical team. Its major electrochemical attributes were an extremely high charge acceptance in abusive conditions, and the ability to provide increased cycling performance when operating in a partial-state-of-charge operating condition. After the batteries operated successfully in Bangladesh, NorthStar deployed them in other regions of the world with poor electrical grids. The high charge acceptance of the chemistry, coupled with the chemistry’s fast-charging capabilities and its ability to operate in a PSOC condition, provided a major performance

20%

30%

40% Depth of Discharge

Cycle Life vs Depth of Discharge 52 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

50%

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70%

Depth of Discharge

Time to 100% Recharge, 2.40 VPC www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: NORTHSTAR BATTERY COMPANY NorthStar Battery Company has produced what it calls the Modular 8D Battery, a pleasingly logical way to install heavy batteries for maritime use

Keeping it simple, keeping it effective NorthStar Battery Company’s Modular 8D Battery was developed in response to complaints from battery installers aboard boats and ships who said the typical 8D battery was simply too heavy to maneuver into the holds of their vessels. Steve Burns, the battery design manager at NorthStar, and John Semeniuk, NorthStar’s vice president for SLI Products, worked together to develop a battery that fit the 8D specifications yet could be disassembled into three smaller packages that could be easily carried into the holds of ships and reassembled at their ultimate installation location. It’s a simple but innovative way of thinking regarding a standard product that has been around for a very long time. A conventional 8D lead-acid battery weighs approximately 160 pounds (72.7 kg), much too heavy for one person to handle easily as they are navigating the holds of marine vessels. The NorthStar 8D battery consist of three modules weighing approximately 57 pounds (25.9kg) each, a much-more manageable weight when hauling the modules to their ultimate installation location. The installation kit provided with this modular battery ensures a simple, safe and effective installation. In addition to the modularity and the ease-of-handling, the NorthStar 8D also provides a whopping 3,125 pulse cranking amps, ensuring the cranking power for the vessel is there when needed. Cold cranking amps are rated at 2,250, and the battery provides a reserve capacity of 500 minutes. Simply eye-popping performance. By applying an innovative way-ofthinking to a long-standing problem, the team at NorthStar demonstrated simple, yet effective innovation.

In addition to the modularity and the ease-ofhandling, the NorthStar 8D also provides a whopping 3,125 pulse cranking amps, ensuring the cranking power for the vessel is there when needed

It’s a simple but innovative way of thinking regarding ga ong time. standard product that has been around for a very long www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 53

Visit our website to see how Hammond Group is driving innovation for PbA batteries. www.hmndgroup.com/about/

FOR THE CHALLENGES AHEAD...

Check us out at BCI – Booth #325

BCI MEMBER PROFILE: SUPERIOR BATTERY While US battery manufacturers were retrenching or consolidating in the early 1980s, Randy Hart decided that it was time to launch Superior Battery. Kevin Desmond, battery historian, takes up the story.

Swimming against the stream It wasn’t the greatest of times to set up a new business. It was 1983, the United States was just about to come out of three years of recession. Inflation had spiralled seemingly out of control, interest rates were even higher. Across the US the automotive industry was fighting for its life. Car sales — each of which required a starter battery — had slumped from an average of 11 million a year in the late 1970s to 8 million in 1982. The battery business was in the grip of consolidation to cut costs. But where others saw difficulties, Randy Hart saw an opportunity. And his creation Superior Battery is now a major US battery manufacturer, an award winning exporter and em-

ploys some 200 staff in its Kentuckybased headquarters in Russell Springs. The story starts in August 1956. Randolph Scott Hart was born in Somerset, a city in Pulaski County, Kentucky — about half an hour’s drive from where he was to grow up in Russell Springs. Two things were in his blood from the beginning — engineering and his Christian faith. His father, who once worked as a machinist for Fisher Body in Cincinnati, Ohio moved back to Russell Springs where he was a parttime farmer and also an evangelical Baptist minister. “Growing up on a farm there is always something to work with, repair, or rework in regards to farm equip-

“I chose the name Superior to make me always strive to be better. There’s an old saying: “In a pack of dogs if you’re not the lead dog then the view is always the same!”

In 1983 — aged just 27 — he looked to diversify and he set up the Superior Battery Manufacturing Company, in Russell Springs. He had just a handful of employees — mostly relatives — and his empire was located in a small building on the family farm in the Salem community. www.batteriesinternational.com

ment and machinery,” says Randy. “I’m not sure what age I was when I started playing around with equipment because it seems that I’ve always been around it.” Graduating from the Somerset Technical School, he then studied at Machine School of Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. He then enlisted in the US Air Force where his machining skills were built on further — he reached Status Level 5 (Craftsman) — and worked for a while in the Machine Tool and Die section at Kirtland, New Mexico. This turned out to be highly technical and top secret work. “Our shop at the air force base primarily worked for the Sandia Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico,” he says. “We did machine work according to their specifications and supported them, whether it was manufacturing a part or just a prototype. “Everything was classified. We may be working on a particular part of a prototype one day and another part of it a month later. You had to have a secret security clearance to even work in our shop! I later learned that one of the prototypes was for laserguided bombs. It was during this time I worked on achieving my levels of education in the machining field. This included classroom study, tests, and field work to advance in skill certification.” Having received an Honourable Discharge from the USAF and the Air National Guard, he started the H&B Tyre and Battery Company. He later bought out his partner, changed his partner’s initial B to an H, dropped the tyre work, and continued with the battery business in the wholesale and retail market. In 1983 — aged just 27 — he looked to diversify and he set up the Superior Battery Manufacturing Company, in Russell Springs. He had just a handful of employees — mostly relatives Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 57

BCI MEMBER PROFILE: SUPERIOR BATTERY — and his empire was located in a small building on the family farm in the Salem community. “I chose the name Superior to make me always strive to be better. There’s an old saying: “In a pack of dogs if you’re not the lead dog then the view is always the same!” Batteries were delivered in a 1952 Chevrolet truck. “We bought all the components and basically just put batteries together,” he says. “During the H&H era I’d already started reconditioning batteries in a small building that my dad used for work when I was growing up,” he says. “When I started Superior I built a larger building — though it wasn’t much larger — about 1,600 square feet in size. We continued to assemble batteries for two years and then began to manufacture more of the components of the batteries. By 1985 we’d already had two expansions and continued to increase our capacity and continued to make more of the components.” At the time, the SLI (starting, lighting, ignition) side of the battery industry was struggling and the number of battery manufacturers collapsed from 170 to fewer than 20 today. But all was going well for Superior. In 1986 it carried out its third expansion, adding more modern equipment and upgrades to the existing facility. “By the end of 1991 we had approximately 17,000 square feet and were producing about 1,200 batteries per day,” he says. But then disaster struck. At three in the morning on April 2, 1992 a fire broke out in the battery formation room. The fire raged for hours. And when dawn came at seven o’clock — it would take another hour to put it out — it was clear the factory was completely destroyed. Then the community spirit that often is at the heart of family businesses kicked in. “When we began to rebuild the plant after the fire everyone pitched in. It was quite some thing. There was family, friends, and employees and we all chipped in to get the new factory built,” he says. My wife Lisha helped in all kinds of capacities — including keeping me straight! — and was hugely supportive of the endeavour. Her father owned a concrete construction company, and they did all the concrete work on the new plant. Between the construction crews, family, friends, and some employees of the company, we had quite the crowd working to build the new 58 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

Superior Battery early 1990s, pre-ﬁre

The ﬁre put Superior out of business from April 1992 until July 1993. To go from ashes to a working production line in just 15 months is a major accomplishment. facility.” The fire put Superior out of business from April 1992 until July 1993. To go from ashes to a working production line in just 15 months is a major accomplishment. Oddly enough starting afresh had some benefits too. “I often tell people that the fire burned up all my previous mistakes. I knew it would be difficult because we basically had to start over. At the same time — you’ve a clean sheet to work with,” he says. “When the new plant was designed, I was able to engineer more environmental upgrades and production

flow capacity into the building. This made the new plant more efficient and productive than the old one. I also incorporated more modern and capacity efficient equipment. We not only built back but actually expanded in the process. This would have also been our fifth expansion in 10 years of business.” Moreover, the new plant was over 3½ times larger than the old plant and designed to give Superior the room to grow capacity, if needed. On that July re-opening, the first Superlex Premium Power Batteries rolled out of the brand new production line. www.batteriesinternational.com

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BCI MEMBER PROFILE: SUPERIOR BATTERY

Contemporary shot of Superior, still on the farm in Russell Springs that Randy Hart grew up in

“It was a name that we could trademark and have full authority over it. We were able to use Super from Superior to keep a closer identity,” he says. “Some people have thought that the ‘lex’ was derived from Lexington, Kentucky. But we needed a work for the patent office and ‘lex’ sounded a good suffix! But most importantly this also gave us the ability to offer our customers a complete battery program with a fully-labelled product.”

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH SUPERIOR Superior’s Battery University was established in 2009 as a way to empower battery specialists with education not available from other manufacturers. This day-long seminar includes an extensive factory tour plus an educational component that highlights battery history and technology, chemical make-up, testing methods and troubleshooting charging problems. Participants also receive a variety of sales tools to effectively help communicate the value of Superlex batteries. 60 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

The logo of the red galloping horse, a symbol of power, resonates to the many race horse studs in Kentucky State and the legendary Derby and Oaks that is held annually at Churchill Downs, Louisville. In 2010, the company received the Kentucky World Trade Center Governor’s Award for International Trade Excellence and was named Exporter of the Year in 2011 by ThinkGlobal, publisher of Commercial News US. In 2013, Superior became one of three Kentucky companies to receive an Export Achievement Certificate from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration. Superior’s exports have grown from less than 3% five years ago to 30% of total revenue today. In 2012, the company exported to 26 countries and added jobs because of the increase in trade. Superior owns several trade mark registrations for: Superlex & Design; Advanced GridLoc Technology & Design; and for PFX Technology & Design.

Superior says it is also leading the industry in use of robotics. “Our most significant achievements, however, have been in pioneering revolutionary flooded cell battery technology — specifically, in the creation of PFX, which was introduced in 2012 and delivers extended life, enhanced cyclability and better heat endurance at a competitive cost,” says Hart. PFX was originally an acronym for Primary (lead) Formed (lead strip) and eXpanded (metal) design. It involves extremely clean, highly refined lead and continuous paste mixing technology work with other elements — including expanded grids, micro-process controlled curing, high-performance separators and polyfibre mats — to deliver maximum performance. Superior refines, in-house, the lead alloy used in its batteries, establishing the right chemical composition to increase battery life. Superior has earned ISO 9001-2002 and TS16949 certifications from the International Automotive Task Force, “In the next generation of products

“I often tell people that the ﬁre burned up all my previous mistakes. I knew it would be difﬁcult because we basically had to start over” www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI MEMBER PROFILE: SUPERIOR BATTERY

Group shot including some of the named and unnamed team behind PFX. Working alongside Randy Hart on the system: Tony Wilson: chief design and process engineer, Preston Richardson: plate operations superintendent, Jeff Roy: specialty equipment and process engineer, Jeff Meeks: supervisor of plate production and processing, and Joe Gosser: director of quality assurance. Then for manufacture Craig Jasper: plant manager, Don Phelps: plant engineer, and Robby Stapp: assistant plant manager.

it will finally reach its final intended meaning: Proprietary (lead alloy) Cold Formed-extruded (lead strip) and eXpanded (metal) design.” Now approaching 60, Randy Hart is still working to make Superior ever better and ever larger. “Lisha and I have no children, but I am richly blessed with a close family and great employees. I’ve had numerous hobbies and interests over the past few years but as of today I spend most of my spare time working in my mancave and accessorizing automobiles!” Here he has a show-winning 2002 Ford Lightning truck that he says he likes ‘tinkering’ with — the 5.5 litre engine would put the Tesla Model S to shame coming in with some 700 horsepower. Two common themes seem to be commonplace in the battery world — faith and music, though not always together. However, Randy has combined the two and over the decades he has also travelled and sung with three southern Gospel quartets: first the Spirits Quartet, then the Joymakers Quartet and One Accorde. I’m not sure how I worked that in but I was www.batteriesinternational.com

much younger when I worked in the battery business all week and travelled the weekends touring with my group,” he says. “I plan on staying around a while especially since we are nearing goals

we have worked toward for the last few years. Lisha tells me that I won’t ever be able to completely retire since I have always had a passion for this industry and always trying to make something better.”

With Lisha, his wife and business mainstay. Publicity material for the other side of Randy Hart, highly professional gospel singing (inset) Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 61

Customize your experience in San Antonio! The BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo mobile app and mobile-friendly site are the best way to keep up-todate with event activities. Use it to contact other attendees via messaging, and also to set up in-person meetings, view exhibitor details, browse the schedule of events and more. Search “Battery Council” in your app store, or if you have a BlackBerry or Windows device, visit the mobile website, www.batterycouncil.org/128mobile.

“Networking,” and search for the person with whom you’d like to meet. Want a full list of attendees? Tap “Networking” and “Everyone”. Event reminders will be sent through the app as well, so be sure to turn on your push notifications! Customize your day by using the “My Event” feature. This section offers the opportunity to plan out your time at the BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo, so you can make the most of your trip to San Antonio.

LOG IN: Username: your email address Password: bci2016 Once you have logged in to the app, tap “Networking” to review your profile. Then, tap “Save” in the upperright corner. The networking feature allows attendees to plan meetings in advance with each other. Simply tap

Scan the QR code

Get in the mood with the annual golf o tournament olf The gentle swish of a successful power drive to the n next ext x hole (or bunker) — yes the other side to the BCI Convention + Powerr Martt Ex Expo po is the annual golf tournament. On Sunday May 1, the BCI Golf Tournament gives aattendees ttendees the opportunity to network with colleagues over a game of golf ollf at the Quarry Golf Course. After the tournament concludes, come and ch cheer heer with drinks at the Awards Reception.

62 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

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Please leave your Stetsons and six-shooters at the door BCI Supplier Members host Sunday’s Welcome Reception at the Buckhorn Saloon from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Attendees are invited to kick-off the convention by enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with colleagues. The saloon, said to be visited by Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, offers a unique collection of mounted wildlife and is the perfect introduction to Texas culture.

Health He H ealth lth a and nd ds safety affety t gone m mad? ad? d? Farr from it. Health and safety is hugely hug g important for the industry! Sav v the date for the 2016 Save Environmental, Health and Safety Env C Conference, October 24-26, at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Get the latest updates on battery employee health, safety and environmental protection in conjunction with networking and exploration of the Baltimore area with your family and colleagues. Registration opens in June. For more information, visit www. batterycouncil.org/EHSConference.

The Connections Center

And in the end is our beginning

The ﬁrst rule of conferences — connect, connect, connect. So looking for additional places to connect during the convention? Visit the Connections Center! It will be furnished with tables and chairs for impromptu meetings and offers attendees a place to relax and network. Videos submissions from the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award entrants will be featured on the monitor. The Connections Center will be located in booth #210 in the Power Mart Expo

on Monday, and on Tuesday, it will be located in the foyer. With dozens of exhibitors, the Power Mart Expo will allow attendees to network with partners and obtain the latest information on industry products and technologies. Check your onsite program or the BCI mobile app for the full list of Power Mart Expo exhibitors. The list of attendees is also available for viewing at www.batterycouncil.org/ attendees. Or, view the list on the BCI mobile app.

New kid on the block Steve Cotton, chief commercial officer at Aqua Metals — one of the latest members of BCI — says he’s looking forward to his first convention. Partly it’s because the firm is displaying its revolutionary new way of processing lead batteries without smelting — come to where its sharing with the Wirtz booth 401! — but it’s also because of the event’s reputation. “Anyone who’s anyone in North American lead will be here,” says Steve. “It’s going to be fun as well as useful in getting to know people better. And San Antonio at this time of year will be a perfect spot to chill out.” Aqua Metals’ new technology is highlighted in this Yearbook’s innovation award section. www.batteriesinternational.com

No human directionals à la San Diego meetings needed for this reception, it’s just outside the hotel! The BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo concludes with Tuesday’s Closing Reception, located in the Oak Tree and River Terraces. Take in the gorgeous San Antonio weather while having those last informal chats.

Coming back for more Michael Galyen, president of testing ﬁrm Eclipse Energy, joined BCI last year because he wanted more engagement with the industry he operates in. The Savannah conference was his ﬁrst but clearly won’t be his last. “I gained a lot from a wider perspective — and the 1000 foot view on the big issues ahead for the industry and told by the industry is well worth knowing,” says Mike. “It’s also meeting the people some’ll be familiar names that I hadn’t met in person before. But it’s also reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in a while, meeting new people, or meeting people you have worked with but never met in person.” Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook • 63

BCI TRIBUTE TO ANN NOLL Ann Noll, one of the great institutions of Battery Council International — some would even say greater than BCI! — retired in December after some 37 years with BCI.

Happy retirement Ann — you’ll be missed mightily! Ann said she’d prefer not to be interviewed for this piece. So it’s going to be a surprise for her to know that a host of BCI chairs and executive vice presidents going back to the 1980s rushed forward to talk about working with Ann. “It’s impossible to ever think a bad thought about Ann,” says Dan Langdon, a former chairman of BCI and president of East Penn. “She’s been the most wonderful person to work with — always helpful, always kind and always on the ball. “Some may remember her for her efficiency — which of course I do too — but mostly it was for her kindness and courteousness.” Randy Hart, president of Superior Battery and also a former BCI chairman, said. “I’d agree with every word of that and I’d like to add some on how she worked. Sometimes she could read my mind and the number of times I’d need something and she’d have already got that ready for me was astonishing. She was a model of patience even when we all under pressure at a convention meeting.” Another senior figure said: “She was a princess despite her loveobsession with root beer floats — the only shadow that’d cross her face was when they’d give her a coke float by accident! “Also she had a love of animals — think extended families of anything that needed caring for and could be loved and cherished— she was a swell person to be around.” Mark Thorsby, the executive vice president of BCI, said that in the past five years with her that she’d become “an absolute awesome treasury of information about what we did, how we did it, and why we did it. She was not just a great person to work with but an invaluable treasury of information.” “And, for our own part at Batteries International,” says Karen Hampton, its publisher. “You couldn’t have wanted to work and know someone so utterly special as Ann — we’ll miss you greatly.” 64 • Batteries International • BCI 2016 Yearbook

“... the most wonderful person to work with — always helpful, always kind and always on the ball”

www.batteriesinternational.com

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