Batteries and Other New

Power Opportunities

Melina Ho
30th September 2020

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Housekeeping
• Please mute your microphones.

• Post any questions in the chat – will be answered at the end.

• This webinar will be recorded.

• All recordings and presentations will be on the website shortly after

the webinar here: www.crowcon.com/webinars

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Introduction
• Technologies of Interest
• Li-ion batteries
• Hydrogen cells

• Why
• Developing needs and accessibility

• Dangers and Case Studies

• What’s next

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 Introduction
Chemical Electrochemical Electrical
Ammonia Hydrogen Classic Batteries Flow Batteries Supercapacitors

Drop-in Vanadium Superconducting Magnetoc

Methanol Lead-Acid Li-ion Zn-Br
Fuels Red-Ox Energy Storage (SMES)
Synthetic Synthetic
Li-Polymer Li-S Zn-Fe
Fuels Gas Natural Gas

Na-NiCl2 Na-Ion
Mechanical
Na-Cd Na-S Compressed
Flywheels
Air

Gravity Liquid Air

Pumped
Hydro
Column
Stack
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Introduction

Battery cells
Hydrogen cell

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 Technologies of Interest: Energy Storage
Why?
• Paris Climate Agreement - Renewable energy push, reducing dependence on fossil
fuels
• Reduce power outages (power on-demand)
• Reliable and accessible
 Data centre back-ups
 Back-up supply- Medical and military
 Cars/ transport
 Commercial products, phones, computers
• New business models
• Selling power to the grid or P2P platform
• Selling stand-by/ back-up power
Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia

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Batteries: Outlook

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Batteries: Key Players
Tesla (USA) NextEra Energy China remains the largest battery
LG Chem (Korea) RES producer in the world. Followed by
BYD (China) Neoen Korea, Japan and USA.
CATL (China) AES
Panasonic (Japan) Engie
SAIC Pivot Power
NEC Energy Solutions EDF
Nidec ASI ESS Inc
Wartsila Primus Power
Noriker Power Samsung SDI
Statera
Zenobe

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 Li-ion Batteries: How they work
A battery is made up of an anode,
cathode, separator, electrolyte,
and two current collectors
(positive and negative).
The electrical current flows from
the current collector through the
device being powered to the
negative current collector.

The movement of the lithium ions creates

free electrons in the anode which creates
a charge at the positive current collector.  
The electrolyte carries positively
charged lithium ions from the The anode and cathode
anode to the cathode and vice store the lithium.
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versa through the separator. 9

Hydrogen Cells: How they work
Fuel cell systems are:
• A clean, efficient, reliable,
and quiet source of power. 
• Do not need to be
periodically recharged like
batteries
• Continue to produce
electricity as long as a fuel
source is provided. 

Source: Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association

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Hydrogen Cell vs Li-ion Battery
Range: 620 miles
Recharge Time: 44 minutes
Emissions: None (from car)
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Range: 1,000 miles
Recharge Time: ~3 minutes
(like traditional refueling)
Emissions: Water (from car)
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Dangers: Batteries
Numerous dangers:

Li-ion fires (H2 & light hydrocarbons)

Toxic gas leaks (HF, CO, CO2)
Toxic chemicals/ acids
Explosion risks from gasses emitted from charging devices

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Dangers: Battery Fires
Thermal Runaway:
Fire/ explosion

Short circuit Electrolyte Battery separator Temperature increases

inside battery gases released breaks down uncontrollable
(80-150⁰C)

Temperature Increases
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 Dangers: Battery Fires

Arizona Energy (Li-ion) South Korean Solar Station,

Storage Facility Fire, April August 2019
2019

Fires can happen regardless

of size of battery
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Dangers: Batteries- Case Study
Arizona, USA 2MW Energy Storage Facility, April 2019

“The McMicken disaster unfolded in two distinct but related

events. First, a single battery rack caught fire and burned — an
occurrence that battery engineers refer to as thermal runaway.
Second, an explosion rocked the enclosure when first
responders opened the door.

The parties have not released the cause of the fire, but they
quickly identified where it occurred: one particular rack,
containing 14 battery modules. The monitoring systems
detected a voltage drop across those modules, followed by an During investigation, the company
increase in temperature.” observed that battery cells exposed to
– Greentech Media heat released flammable gases –
which caused an explosion
9 responders suffered injuries with at least one suffering
serious chemical and thermal burns and trauma in the
explosion
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Dangers: Batteries- Case Study
In 2018, 23 battery energy storage fires were reported in
Chungnam Solar Station, South Korea, August 2019

“The system caught fire two days after increasing the state-
of-charge to 95% from 70%.

The issue appears to have been poor management of

batteries, rather than anything inherently unsafe in the
batteries themselves.  Battery maker LG Chem Ltd.,
requested all storage sites equipped with their batteries
lower the SOC back to 70%.”

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Dangers: Battery Bi-Products
Workplace Exposure Limits Relative Density
OSHA- PELs
(taken from EH40, Jan 2020) Air = 1
Chemical LTEL (8hr TWA) STEL (15- Min. TWA) LTEL (8hr TWA)
Substance
Formula ppm ppm ppm
Ammonia NH3 25 35 50 0.59
Carbon Dioxide CO2 5000 (0.5%) 15000 (1.5%) 5000 1.53
Carbon Monoxide CO 20 100 50 0.97
Chlorine CL2 0.5 0.5 1 2.5
Chlorine Dioxide CLO2 0.1 0.3 0.1 2.3
Diborane B2H6 0.1 - 0.1 0.96
Ethylene Oxide ETO C2H4O 5 - 1 1.52
Hydrogen Cyanide HCN 0.9 4.5 10 0.94
Hydrogen Chloride HCL 1 5 5 ceiling* 1.3
Hydrogen Fluoride HF 1.8 3 3 0.92
Hydrogen Sulphide H2S 5 10 20 ceiling* 1.2
Nitrogen Dioxide NO2 0.5 1 5 ceiling* 2.62
Ozone O3 - 0.1 0.1 1.6
Phosgene COCL2 0.02 0.06 0.1 3.48
Silane SiH4 0.5 1 - 1.3
Sulphur Dioxide SO2 1 1 5 2.25

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Dangers: Battery Bi-Products (HF)
Hydrogen Fluoride (Gas), Hydrofluoric Acid (Liquid)
The electrolyte in a lithium-ion battery is flammable and generally contains lithium
hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) or other Li-salts containing fluorine. In the event of
overheating the electrolyte will evaporate and eventually be vented out from the battery
cells.
A study found that commercial lithium-ion batteries can emit considerable amounts of HF
during a fire and that the emission rates vary for different types of batteries and SOC
levels.

HF can penetrate through the skin and affects deep skin tissue and even bone and blood.
Even with minimal exposure, pain and symptoms may not present for several hours, by
which time damage is extreme.

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Dangers: Hydrogen
• Big danger with lead acid batteries is that it releases H2
during charge.
• Explosive risk (LEL=4% Vol, UEL= 74% Vol)

• Can have H2 fixed detectors at a custom ppm range for

early detection
• Less dense than air so ensure fixed devices are high up
within the space to ensure maximum chance of detecting
H2

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Case Study 1:
Formula 1 Team
Gasses:
HF, H2, CO2 & CO

Mini Sample System:

Battery technology subjected to high
temperatures in a controlled and sealed
environment.
H2, CO2 and CO, Gasses are emited
during certain conditions
These are taken from the environment to
external fixed gas detectors and readings
are analysed
HF detectors in storage areas

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https://www.boldvaluable.tech/products/formula-1-ess-batteries/
 Case Study 2: Power
Stations
Gasses:
H2

Lead acid batteries are used to start turbines.

Batteries are stored in series in several 25m²
rooms.
Hydrogen is emitted when they are charged
which needs to be monitored to prevent build
up and reduce explosion opportunity
• XgardIQ with remote sensors (upto15m)
 Collector cone for light gases
 Relay output to control ventilation fan

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 Case Study 3: Southern
UK University
Gasses:
HF & CO

Li-Ion battery development centre

Need CO fixed gas sensors to monitor for
leaks in terms of fault detection to avoid
fires
Fixed HF detection in storage areas to
monitor for HF leaks

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 Case Study 4: Battery
Development Centre
Gasses:
HF & CO

Similar story as previous example.

Fixed CO detection for fault notification,
pre-fire alert and feedback loop integration.

HF also used in storage areas to monitor

for HF.

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Further Reading
IEC 62133
Safety Requirements for Rechargeable Cells
and Batteries used in Portable Devices

Battery disposal and recycling

Currently most batteries end up in landfills even though Li-ion batteries
can be recycled.
In landfills battery may leak toxic chemicals into groundwater or short-
circuit and burn.
Dispose used battery safely to e-waste bin

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Where to we go from here

Many plants have battery storage as back-up power:

• Power plants
• Data centre
• Hospitals or military camp with back up power storage
• Car manufacturing especially electric vehicle
• E-waste collection and recycling
• Research institutes and universities

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Next Webinar
7th October 2020 8:30am BST
How to Sell the Gas Pro TK
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