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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

EcoloCap Battery Test

Summary

Ashish Arora
March 18,
18 2010

A leading engineering & scientific consulting firm dedicated to helping our clients solve their technical problems.
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

Introduction
ƒ Exponent was retained to characterize the charge and
discharge performance of EcoloCap’s 720 Ah battery
ƒ Exponent
E t performed
f d a series
i off charge
h and
d di
discharge
h
tests to determine the energy (Ah) of the 720 Ah
battery at various charge/discharge currents at room
temperature
ƒ Exponent also characterized the temperature of the
battery at selected locations on the battery enclosure
duringg the charge/discharge
g g tests
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

Introduction
ƒ Exponent’s testing was limited to charge/discharge
currents up to 235 A (C/3.06)
ƒ All ttests
t were performed
f d on a single
i l battery
b tt received
i d
for testing
ƒ The
Th tested
t t d bbattery
tt did nott contain
t i abbattery
tt
management system for protection
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

Battery Information

ƒ Nominal Capacity: 720 Ah

ƒ Number of cells: 3
ƒ Cell Configuration: 3S1P
(3 series 1 parallel)
ƒ Nominal Voltage:
g 12.0 V
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

SUMMARY
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Summary
ƒ The measured battery energy (Ah) exceeded the
battery’s rating of 720 Ah under all test currents
ƒ The battery
batter was
as tested for charge/discharge currents
c rrents upp to
235 A (C/3.06)
ƒ The peak battery temperature was recorded on the top
of the battery near the battery terminals
ƒ The peak temperature was recorded at 53˚C at a current of
235 A
ƒ The peak battery post temperature was recorded at
75˚C
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Summary
ƒ The peak battery post temperatures were higher than
th peakk ttemperatures
the t measured
d on the
th battery
b tt
enclosure for all tests performed
ƒ The battery posts (positive and negative) were observed to
have dislodged from their manufactured position during the
235 A charge test. This resulted in a lower overall efficiency
of the battery at a current of 235 A likely due to heat related
capacity losses
ƒ This mayy have also resulted in variations in the ppeak batteryy
post temperatures measured during the tests
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Summary
The evaluation conducted by Exponent is documented in
this presentation. Should additional information become
available or should additional testing or analysis provide
further insight, Exponent reserves the right to amend these
conclusions.
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

INSTRUMENTATION
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Instrumentation
ƒ Batteryy Voltage
g ƒ Battery Front Top Temperature
ƒ Battery Current (T Front Side Top)
ƒ Battery Positive Terminal ƒ Battery Front Center
Temperature (T Pos Term) Temperature (T Front Side Ctr)
ƒ Battery Negative Terminal ƒ Battery Left Side Center (T Left
Temperature (T Neg Term) Side Ctr)
ƒ Battery Top Left Temperature (T ƒ Battery
B tt RearR Side
Sid Center
C t (T Rear
R
Top Left) Side Ctr)
ƒ Battery Top Right Temperature ƒ Batteryy Back Side Top
p ((T Back
(T Top Right) Side Top)
ƒ Battery Top Center Temperature ƒ Battery Back Side Center (T
(T Top Ctr) Back Side Ctr)
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Instrumentation
ƒ The temperature, voltage and current was recorded
using a Fluke Hydra Logger (Model N0. 2045)
ƒ The data was
as recorded at a sampling frequency
freq enc of 1 H
Hz
ƒ The battery current was measured using a 2005-S LEM
current transducer
ƒ Closed loop compensated current transducer based on the hall
effect
ƒ 2000 A nominal, 3000 – A maximum, 100 kHz bandwidth
ƒ A 0000 (4/0) AWG wire was used to connect the
b tt to
battery t the
th power supply/electronic
l / l t i load
l d during
d i theth
tests
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Th
Thermocouple
l Locations
L ti
Top Left Top Right

Pos Term Top Ctr

Neg Term

Front
Side Top

Front Side
Center
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Thermocouple Locations
i
Right Side
Ctr

Back Side
Top

Back Side
Ctr

Left Side
Ctr
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T
Terminal
i l Connections
C ti
Voltage
M
Measurementt
Terminal
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TEST PROTOCOL
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P t l
Protocol
1. The batteryy was discharged
g at a constant current of
100 A until the battery voltage dropped to 9 V
2. The battery was then charged using a power supply
set for an open circuit voltage of 12.6 V and the test
charge current
ƒ Charging
Ch i was terminated
t i t d once the
th charge
h currentt ddroppedd
to 70 ± 5 A
3 The battery was then discharged using the test
3.
current until the battery voltage dropped to 9 V
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Test Runs
ƒ Steps 1-3 of the test protocol (Slide 17) were performed
for the following currents:
ƒ 100 A
ƒ 150 A
ƒ 200 A
ƒ 235 A
ƒ All tests were performed at an ambient temperature of
22 ± 3˚C.
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TEST RESULTS
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Test Results
Peak
Max/Min of Peak Peak
Negative Ambient
Measured Measured Positive
Current Efficiency Post Temperature
Test Energy Battery Surface Post
(A) (%) Temperature (˚C)
(Ah) Temperatures Temperature
(˚C)
((˚C)
C) ((˚C)
C)

Charge 752 26/30 33 32 22

100 98
Discharge 739 28/39 39 34 24
Charge 750 28/39 44 43 24
150 98
Discharge 735 28/39 47 40 24
Charge 735 29/45 52 54 22
200 98.5
Discharge 724 29/45 61 45* 23
Charge 760 31/53 66 66 22
235 95
Discharge 724 29/59 75 60 24
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Charge/Discharge Energy (Ah)

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Efficiency (Discharge Capacity/Charge Capacity)

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Temperature Data Summary

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BATTERY POST (POSITIVE

TERMINAL)) AFTER THE 235 A
TEST
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TEST DATA
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100 A TEST DATA

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100 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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100 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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100 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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100 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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150 A TEST DATA

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150 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

150 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

150 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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200 A TEST DATA

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200 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

200 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

200 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

200 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

235 A TEST DATA

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235 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

235 A Ch
Charge – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

235 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Current
t&T
Temperature
t
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1000435.000 A0F0 0310 PR07

235 A Di
Discharge
h – Voltage,
V lt C
Currentt & C
Capacity
it