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www.us-tech.com


August, 2016


Market for Lithium Ion Batteries is Booming


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Continued from page 1


cially suitable for compact, light- weight power sources. It is also used as a medication to treat serious men- tal illness.


Unfortunately, the high energy


storage capacity that we all want from lithium batteries is accompa- nied by its explosive nature, and it is incredible that there have not been more incidents of exploding laptops and electric vehicle fires that we ex- perienced some years back with ear- ly adopters of the technology. The re- active chemistry of a lithium battery is carefully managed by design and control features within the individ- ual cell and in the collection of indi- vidual cells that make up a custom battery pack. Under extreme abuse condi-


tions, it is possible for damaged or malfunctioning components, short circuits, or other events to start a thermal runaway process that devel- ops a rapidly rising pressure, leading to an explosive release of that pres- sure from the cell. To achieve the required power


output of an application, individual battery cells are combined into a sin- gle, turnkey energy pack such as those used in electric vehicles. If an individual cell within a pack is com- promised and overheats or causes a fire, it can then cause a similar reac- tion in adjacent cells requiring that battery pack to be vented. To optimize application safety,


lithium battery manufacturers pro- vide protective design and control features as well as last resort venting mechanisms for each metallic cell, as well as for battery packs. Traditional pressure relief techniques used in legacy battery designs, such as crimped seals or seams in the battery enclosure that will open to relieve pressure, are significantly less reli- able with next generation low mass/high energy lithium chemistry cells and battery packs. This has left battery manufacturers searching to


provide more reliable, stable pres- sure relief technology at the low pres- sures demanded for low mass battery and battery pack products.


Explosive Growth Interest in using battery tech-


nology alongside energy conservation and renewable resources has become so widespread that electric car sales and residential back-up power sales are soaring and are likely to fuel the future. Among the paramount fully- electric vehicle manufacturers, Tesla Motors has enjoyed dramatic success with its Model S sedan, which is pow- ered by over 7,000 lithium ion bat- tery cells bundled into packs. As bat- tery manufacturers continue to inno- vate spurred by the growth in con- sumer demand, higher energy com- bined with lower mass is the guiding design principle for the next genera- tion of lithium ion cells. Less visible applications will al-


so contribute to the mass deployment of next-generation lithium ion cell and battery pack technology. Lithium- based batteries are used in industries where electric motors are used to lift and drop heavy objects, or where standby power is needed for critical applications, such as in medical suites and data centers. The rechargeable capability of lithium ion cells allows the energy consumed to lift, for exam- ple, a shipping container, to be recov- ered when the container is lowered back to ground level. Global demand is escalating


rapidly, in particular due to new ini- tiatives from the Chinese govern- ment that are driving the move to- ward electric vehicles as a national strategy and challenging the historic dominance of Japanese manufactur- ers in the lithium battery industry. Since energy is of such strategic im- portance, this Asian lead is being off- set increasingly by a hectic pace of development in North America and in Europe.


Rupture Disks for Venting Although battery cells and


packs typically contain active and passive safety devices and protection


Continued on page 40


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Contents


Tech-Op-Ed ........................... 4 Tech Watch ........................... 10 Supply Chain ........................... 12 People.................................... 14 Business News......................... 16 Business Briefs........................ 17 Management......................... 18 EMS .................................... 20 ElectronicMfg. Prods............. 24 Production............................ 42 Partnering............................. 44 Distribution........................... 46 New Products....................... 74 High-Tech Events................... 84 Editorial Calendar............... 84 Avertisers Index................... 86


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Web: www.SonobondUltrasonics.com • Email: Sales@SonobondUltrasonics.com


Special Focus: Production and Packaging....... 48


Product Preview: NEPCON South China............. 58


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