Today’s advanced technology systems require substantial power and energy for operating complex electronics and communications to deliver real-time data, diagnostics, and enable immediate decisions for end-users. Applications in remote locations particularly depend on reliable and efficient power, as isolated areas present logistical burdens for maintenance and repairs. End-users need assurance they can depend on the energy source to power their applications, whether on board the user’s vehicle or powering surveillance equipment across the globe.
Such complex equipment demands high technology batteries built with advanced chemistries. It is important to ensure these batteries are catered to the specific application, and meet the objective run time over the system’s expected lifetime. Proper selection and battery sizing includes the need to address high power versus high energy, consideration for the operating environment, and usage profile.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery systems prove to be an ideal solution compared to traditional lead-acid batteries. In the past, lead-acid sufficed for heavy-duty vehicle fleets and various industrial applications including, but not limited to, trains and buses. These vehicle batteries supplied just enough power required for the operation of ancillary equipment and engine starts. As other systems have been added to these vehicles, the legacy lead-acid battery solution has proven to be impractical for the needs of present day applications. Stakeholders in today’s digitally-driven society must consider the power demands of on-board systems within such applications, such as communication, imaging, sensors, and other on-board equipment. Furthermore, traditional lead-acid batteries are not designed to withstand multi-hour missions running on battery power only, which will cause a deep discharge to the battery. The high-power demands and deep discharge are the main downfalls with lead-acid batteries, reducing lifespan and leading to premature failure of the battery.
Applications are becoming more and more complex as they grow even more compact. This, combined with the addition of communication and control systems, jammers, and mission-critical sensors, direct replacement with Li-ion battery systems, becomes necessary to support the increased power demand. The Li-ion systems are smaller and lighter, while also providing more energy to the user with the ability to support long run times with only battery power. Today’s Li-ion replacement systems can provide the power equivalent to two lead-acid batteries—with just 50 percent of the volume and 25 percent of the weight. These Li-ion systems will also support the need for deep discharging and last, typically, five times longer, meaning less maintenance and replacement over the life of the application.
As today’s applications require increasing amounts of power and energy, Li-ion advanced chemistry batteries are the desired choice for energy storage with its ruggedized, cost-effective choices. Li-ion chemistry supports cold starting capabilities and delivers an overall better shelf-life with essentially no maintenance required. Additionally, Li-ion batteries include an integrated smart battery management system that can report to the user the state of the battery, such as the state of charge, run time remaining, state of health, or detect issues within the battery. Other advanced smart features are available for these sophisticated applications allowing for communication back and forth with the application. Additionally, intelligent features can perform operations such as activating internal heaters in cold environments, enabling smart communication of the battery and its charge source, optimizing the charge cycling and increasing the overall life of the battery. The improved life cycle and advanced smart features are simply a handful of technical benefits of advanced Li-ion batteries.
Li-ion chemistry provides excellent efficiency for energy storage systems, and is compatible with renewable energy applications. These battery systems store energy from an application’s solar panels or within a hybrid gen set, thus storing energy much more efficiently than traditional battery chemistries. Overall, the well-suited Li-ion chemistry is paramount for providing vital, reliable power in remote locations.
Advanced technology Li-ion batteries are also ideal for innovative applications, such as high-altitude balloons and remote surveillance equipment that require efficient power in small and isolated environments. Fitted with self-monitoring, these Li-ion batteries warn equipment users when close to a failure mode—ensuring batteries are not replaced prematurely. Built-in smart functionality enables programming for the battery to turn itself off toward the end of a discharge and save the essential power needed for the engine to restart or provide some emergency power to an application.
When choosing a battery chemistry, safety considerations are top-of-mind for all stakeholders. For expeditionary applications, storage capacity, intelligence, and weight are also priorities. Generally, phosphate-based Li-ion is safer than commonplace and other readily available alternatives.
Lithium iron phosphate technology allows for scaling of performance enabling customization for various applications, with the respective voltage and power demands—all while providing a high level of safety and abuse tolerance. Such technology prevents oversizing of battery systems—ultimately optimizing the total cost of ownership via weight savings, which also turns into cost and environmental efficiencies. The chemistry make-up for these types of battery systems help stakeholders rest assured their applications are equipped to withstand the harshest environmental conditions, with the utmost security and safety. Additionally, the design of lithium iron phosphate technology and supporting battery system proves resistant to mechanical and electrical abuse. On a military vehicle, for example, end-users need reassurance that if a Li-ion battery is damaged, the safety of the crew will not be affected by the damaged battery’s resulting effects.
With these types of advanced chemistry Li-ion systems implemented in military ground vehicles and hybrid gen sets with proven success, stakeholders are discovering the efficiency and safety possibilities available for additional applications. The technology has the potential to support medical outposts for example, powering patient monitoring equipment, electronics for surgery instruments, and sterilization tools. Outside the military environment, the advanced chemistry battery solutions also have the capability to assist with water purification and providing remote power for disaster relief.
It is important to remember every application has distinctive requirements, therefore it is crucial for stakeholders to carefully evaluate specifications for battery systems during the initial planning stages of a project. Li-ion technology is prevailing in today’s digitally and instant gratification driven world. With Li-ion’s compact, reliable, and safety driven designs, and serving as a drop-in replacement for legacy battery solutions, stakeholders should investigate opportunities to utilize advanced Li-ion chemistries in their applications.
