Evaluate Battery Performance and Safety with
JEIO TECH Battery Test Chamber
(Interbattery Europe in June 2024)

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In today's world, batteries are essential to our lives. They are used in a wide range of industries such as automotive, computing, telecommunications, and alternative energy markets, as well as extensively in mobile devices like smartphones and laptops. With increasing environmental awareness, there has been a rise in demand for electric vehicles as an alternative in energy supply. Lithium-ion secondary batteries used in electric vehicles require various evaluations in performance and safety testing compared to nickel-hydrogen batteries due to their ability to store high-density energy.

Battery Test Standards

There are various standards for evaluating battery performance and safety. International standards related to batteries include IEC, ISO, UN, UL (United States), and JIS (Japan). Let’s look at a few of them.

Battery Assessment Methods

1. Performance Testing

Lithium-ion secondary batteries are primarily evaluated through performance and safety tests. Performance testing, out of them, is designed to confirm essential characteristics of lithium batteries and measure performance metrics such as battery capacity and output. Safety tests include temperature characteristics, constant current load characteristics, storage life characteristics, and cycle life tests, etc.

① Temperature Characteristics and Constant Current Load Characteristics Test
The temperature characteristics test is utilized to confirm the input and output capacity of the battery under various temperature conditions, including discharge and charge characteristics concerning temperature.

② Storage Life Test
This test measures the loss of battery charge state when the battery is stored for an extended period under given temperature conditions. Test batteries are stored in a constant temperature chamber, and remaining capacity and recovery rate are measured before and after storage.

2. Safety Testing

Safety testing involves evaluating whether the battery can ensure safety during normal operation or in case of malfunction. This includes electrical, mechanical, and environmental tests. As battery charging involves chemical reactions and is influenced by temperature, charging the battery at higher temperatures than standards can lead to thermal runaway due to the safety degradation of the internal crystal structure of the battery. Therefore, the final requirement of safety testing is to "design the battery to prevent leakage, ignition, and explosion."

① Electrical Test
These tests evaluate electrical performance and safety, including continuous charging, internal and external short circuits, overcharging, and forced discharge tests. The continuous charging test simulates normal usage conditions, while the other tests fall under abuse tests.

② Mechanical Tests
These tests confirm safety when mechanical forces are applied externally to the battery, including vibration, impact, shock, crush, and drop tests. Vibration tests simulate normal usage conditions, while other tests examine abuse conditions.

③ Environmental Tests
These tests subject lithium batteries to varying temperature environments for a specified duration to confirm no cracking, leakage, or fire.

JEIO TECH’s Battery Test Chamber

It is crucial to evaluate the performance of lithium-ion batteries through various tests described above and prevent any potential hazards beforehand. Furthermore, most safety tests aim to ensure that lithium batteries do not crack, leak, or catch fire, it is very important to select an appropriate environmental test chamber to ensure user safety and a safe testing environment.

JEIO TECH’s battery test chambers can be used to perform various tests including temperature cycling tests, altitude tests, and heat resistance tests. They are equipped with separate safety devices to protect against ignition and explosion, which may occur during the testing processes.

One common concern in environmental testing is the release of flammable gases in case of thermal runaway. Flammable gas release occurs very quick in an instant at high pressure, and lithium battery materials provide all elements required for a fire (heat from chemical reactions, flammable gas fuel, and oxygen produced by the battery itself). Therefore, extinguishing a fire caused by battery-generated oxygen is very challenging. Nitrogen gas(GN) purging and CO2 extinguishers can effectively prevent the spread of flames to other chamber components while they cannot prevent thermal runaway. Also, pressure relief vents can rapidly release gases emitted during battery failure to protect the chamber.

These are commonly used safety features, and for specific purpose, additional measures like fire and smoke detection and suppression systems, gas monitor(H2, O2, CO), door interlock switch(to prevent opening during testing or after an event), N2 or CO2 flushing systems to minimize fires, reinforced chamber floor to withstand high heat, and internal cooling system to control battery and pack temperatures are helpful. You can see the safety features of JEIO TECH’s battery test chamber in the figure below.

JEIO TECH is committed to researching and developing products equipped with the most comprehensive standards and optional safety equipment for safe and reliable battery testing. Let us know your requirements, we will offer the right solution based on the expected risk levels and potential risk occurrences according to the type of battery to be tested.

Download JEIO TECH's battery test chambers catalog below:
Download

* If you need any questions or assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at:
SP Team: spsales@jeiotech.com

In June, you can see our battery chamber in person at Interbattery Europe, held in Messe Munich, Germany. "Interbattery" is Korea's largest battery exhibition, first launched in 2013, and has expanded since 2023 beyond Asia, presenting new and exciting opportunities in Germany, Europe—a crucial market for the industry, including planned battery cell production, module and pack assembly, equipment suppliers, and much more.

Just a couple of weeks ago, from March 6th to 8th, JEIO TECH successfully participated in Interbattery Korea and showcased our battery chamber, chiller (recirculated cooler) for battery testing, and up to battery storage cabinet.

Come and visit JEIO TECH in June 2024 at Interbattery Europe in Munich, Germany. See with your own eyes how our chambers look and what functions they have, and consult with our experts for more details.

Date: June 19th (Wednesday) – 21st (Friday)
Place: Messe Munich, Germany
Hall/Booth: To Be Announced (We will inform you shortly)
Find more about Interbattery Europe: Link

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