ELBC - Final issue! 2018 by hamptonhalls

September 4-7, 2018

16ELBC, Vienna

Why lead batteries must stand out from the rest A generation on: the ELBC through the years

Michael Mayer, ELBC founder remembered

Vienna: more than just coffee, cakes and opera

ALABC unveils new research and communication plan

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EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

16ELBC: the place to be For the past three decades each new wave of energy storage technology has predicted that the lead battery would be defunct within a generation. Yet, as this pre-conference guide for ELBC shows, the lead acid battery industry refuses to go away. It’s not just that the world can’t let it fade into nothingness — there is, after all, no feasible replacement to it from the point of view of price, safety and recycleability. The alternatives presented over the last generation now seem so old fashioned nickel, fuel cells, supercaps. Once pointed to as the Next Big Thing in the market they have remained on the sidelines. And perhaps, equally interestingly, have not gone away. There is room at the table for all. The only real challenger in all this has been the rise and rise of lithium ion battery technology which, despite the lead market’s fervent wishes — let’s shut our eyes and perhaps it’ll go away — now looks to be a real challenger in the market place. In the long run at least. The chemistry, despite a huge number of hiccups, from exploding cars and laptops, to grounded airliners to $4 billion recalls of mobile phones, has, nevertheless gone from strength to strength.

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But at last we’re starting to see a more balanced approach to its place in the world of energy storage. The recent policy position by the ILA underlines a new theme in the marketplace. Put simply lithium ion batteries will have a place — as will lead — in the future energy storage universe that is rapidly coming towards us. It’s not longer a dismissal by either side of the industry that lead/lithium will be irrelevant. Both will have important roles to play in the drive to integrate renewable energy into the electric grids and transport of the future. The question that ELBC will be debating this year is probably a very simple one — how important a role will each play in the future? The recent rebranding — or should it be called repurposing? — of the ALABC suggests that there are research projects ahead that could reshape the lead battery business in as little as five years. And this is why we at Batteries International have been so enthusiastic in supporting this, the 16th ELBC in Vienna this September. Mike Halls, Editor, Batteries International

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 3

CONTENTS 16 ELBC: LEAD ACID, TIME TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD The 16th European Lead Battery Conference in Vienna could well be the most influential lead event this side of the new millennium, even surpassing the spectacular meetings in Paris four years ago.

Vienna — more than coffee, cakes and waltzes

EDITORIAL

WELCOME TO VIENNA! Warmest greetings from the City of Dreams — Austria’s capital city

VIEW FROM THE CHAIR Andy Bush, head of the organizer ILA, talks about this year’s themes and presentations

ALABC INSIDER The way the ALABC operates is fundamentally changing

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• The ILA’s new director of communications, Hywel Jarman, talks planning • ELBC favourite Neil Hawkes talks about future lead pricing • Ecoult and the UltraBattery advances • Daramic and the search for yet better separators. (See also Six to Watch on page 41.) A generation of ELBC meetings later: was it good for you too? 22

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME: THE ELBC STORY It was 30 years ago today...and the LDA taught the industry to play. Why did ELBC emerge out of nowhere to become — with the Asian Battery Conference — the key event to attend?

ENERGY STORAGE TIMELINE

It’s been a turbulent three decades for the battery business: years of innovation, unexpected dead-ends and predictions of doom. Yet the industry continues to grow and thrive Bang! Bang! You’re dead! 30 years of predicting lead’s demise 28

ILA FOUNDER MICHAEL MAYER REMEMBERED

GREATS OF LEAD ACID: ERNST VOSS Ernst Voss, discoverer of α−PbO2 was one of a larger team that solved the PCL problem

EXHIBITION GUIDE, 46-63

Michael Mayer remembered: how the ELBC was founded 43

Our comprehensive listing of exhibitors in the main hall includes a full run down of sponsors in this preconference guide and an alphabetical and numerical list of which firm can be found — and where!

Publisher Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com, +44 7792 852 337

Business development manager June Moultrie june@batteriesinternational.com +44 7775 710 290

Editor: Michael Halls, editor@batteriesinternational.com, +44 1 243 782 275

Reception Tel: +44 1 243 782 275 Fax: +44 1 787 329 730

Advertising executive: Jade Beevor jade@energystoragejournal.com +44 1 243 792 467 Supplements editor: Wyn Jenkins, wyn.jenkins@serenglobalmedia.com, +44 1 792 293 222

Contributors Paul Crompton, Louise Wright Subscriptions, admin manager: Claire Ronnie, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com admin@batteriesinternational.com +44 1 243 782 275

Asia editor: Debbie Mason debbie@batteriesinternational.com

International advertising representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com

Production/design: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 1 727 811 842

The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorized translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322 (c) 2018 Mustard Seed Publishing, UK company no: 5976361. Printed in the UK via ThisismethodUK

Disclaimer: Although we believe in the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this magazine, Mustard Seed Publishing makes no warranties or representation about this. Nor should anything contained within it should be construed as constituting an offer to buy or sell securities, or constitute advice in relation to the buying or selling of investments.

4 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

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DESTINATION: D ESTINA ATION:: 1 16 6E ELBC LBC CV VIENNA IENNA

Vienna City of Dreams Louise Wright takes an affectionate look at Austria’s capital city.

The Statue of Johann Strauss in Stadtpark, Vienna

Think Mozart, Freud, Wittgenstein, Strauss (both Strauss I and Strauss II) add in Klimt, Berg and much, much more and you have a glimpse of the cultural mix that is just a fraction of the artistic side to one of Europe’s finest capital cities. (And of note to the more brainy of batterymen, this is the birthplace of Martin Karplus whose thesis A quantum-mechanical discussion of the bifluoride ion helped win him the Nobel prize for chemistry.) But Vienna is more than a city for the brainboxes and artists of the world. It’s been recognized as the world’s best city to live in — for the ninth consecutive year — owing to its high standards in education, healthcare, and personal freedom.

Its history began with the Roman invasion of the region in 15BC — who named it Vindobona — and since then it has been squabbled over for centuries. The Romans, the Lombards, the Slavs. Avars, the Magyars, Babenburgs, the Hapsburgs, the Ottomans and of course Napoleon have all fought over it, defended it and ultimately lost it. Indeed the very origin of the Austrian flag dates back to the bloody Battle of Ptolemais in 1191 where this time the Austrians were fighting on the crusades. Its red and white colours are taken from the story that Duke Leopold V of Austria, blood-soaked from battle, returned with only a strip of white remaining under his sword belt.

Fine dining, Viennese style The Marina Restaurant, Marina Wien The Marina Restaurant, on the banks of the Danube, offers a unique dining experience in terms of cuisine and atmosphere. The seasonal menu comprises Viennese specialties such as beef goulash and schnitzel, alongside Mediterranean cuisine. They have three terraces overlooking the water — ideal for a hard day talking electrolytes to colleagues.

Café Central Coffee houses are integral to Viennese culture and described as “places where time and space are consumed, but only coffee is found on the bill.” The Café Central has played host to many notables for more than a century, including Trotsky, Lenin, and Freud, who became known as the ‘Centralists.’ Here they would engage in debate or play chess over a cup of coffee.

6 • Bat Batteries Batter teries ies International • 16 E ELBC LB Show Guide • Summer 2018 LBC

Würstelstand am Hohen Markt Vienna’s the birthplace of the wiener — the hot dog — so you’d expect them to be good. And at the Hohen Markt they are generally considered to be the best in the world. They’re usually served with either a sweet süss mustard, a spicy scharf mustard, and bread. Their spicy, cheese, and smoked hot dogs come very highly recommended.

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DESTINATION: D ESTINATION:: 1 16 6E ELBC LBC V VIENNA IENNA And now for something completely different …

It’s a dog’s life

Wine in Wien The Klosterneuburg Abbey, situated on the Danube, offers the best of battery excursions: history, art … and wine. Leaving aside the 900-yearold monastery, its marbled Baroque halls and collection of objets d’art that rival Vienna’s foremost museums and galleries, Klosterneuburg is Austria’s oldest wine estate and still produces over 50 different wines and spirits. If you visit you’ll descend some 36 meters underground to view centuries old fermentation cellars.

There are over 52,000 dogs registered in Vienna and the city disposes of 1,100 tonnes of dog poop each year. So although our canine friends are allowed in everywhere — upmarket boutiques to posh restaurants — their droppings have to be poop-scooped up immediately. Fines start at €225 ($260) and climb according to an arbitrary scale of messiness, size and location.

Getting around Almost all forms of public transport fall under the same organization (WienerLinien), so the tickets you buy cover all public bus, train, tram, and subway services. If you buy a ticket from A to B, it doesn’t matter if you take the tram, train, or bus. You can mix your modes of transport to make the journey. The Vienna Pass with Travel includes free entry to around 60 tourist attractions. You can opt to add in a 24, 48 or 72 hour travel network card at purchase.

• The Viennese enjoy around 2,000 00 hours of ballroom dancing annually, alllyy, mN eew w as the capital’s Ball Season runs from New Year’s Eve to Shrove Tuesday. • The real-life Maria von Trapp was as as born in Vienna in 1905. • Vienna is often called The City of Music as it was home to Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss,, and Brahms (but not Lizst). • Austrian children can leave school aged 15, drink beer aged 16, but have to w wait aaiit tittill illll 1188 till they can try alcoholic spirits. • One of the symbols of the city is the Wiener Riesenrad — the oldest stt working Ferris wheel in the world. • The humble PEZ candies were developed during a period when ssmoking mookkiingg m was prohibited in Austria. The dispenser was designed to look like a lighter and bore re tthe re he he slogan: No Smoking — PEZing Allowed. weed. d. • The snow globe was patented andd invented in 1900 by Erwin Perzy whoo was trying to develop a surgical lamp. p. p. • The oldest surviving daily newspaper in the world is Wiener ZZeitung, eeiituung ng which was founded in Vienna in 1703.

Music in the air at Mozarthaus To the cultured among us — those that watched Amadeus in the movie theaters in the 1980s — we all know that Mozart spent most of his life in Vienna. Find out more at the Mozarthaus where he and his family lived from 1784 to 1787 in a space comprising four large rooms, two smaller ones, and a kitchen. This was his most opulent apartment and contains a musical clock made around 1790, which plays a tune that Mozart composed for the clock itself. Other notable compositions penned within these walls was the opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, and three of the Haydn Quartets.

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• Don’t feed the pigeons. Vienna has a task force of street spies called “Müllbeobachter” ouu who will impose on-the-spot ﬁnes if yyou s, s, cause a mess by feeding the pigeons, ﬂy tip or leave dog poop un-poopscooped.

Creepy things that go bump in the night… Check out the darker side to the capital. One underground walking tour explores Vienna’s subterranean world. One tour highlight is the crypt of St Michael’s Church. Inside are the remains of more than 4,000 dignitaries. Here you can rub shoulders with the aristocrats of a bygone era, as some of these mummiﬁed corpses are still in their burial ﬁneryy or complete p with wig. g

Batteries International • 16 E ELBC LBC Sh Show ow Guide • Summer 2018 • 7

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16ELBC: VIEW FROM THE CHAIR Andy Bush, head of the International Lead Association, the organizer of ELBC since it was founded in 1988, provides an overview of the thinking behind the event.

Where scale and capabilities combine The first ELBC was held some 30 years ago in Paris and it’s grown from a small tight-knit group of various industry bodies to a much, much larger event. Here in Vienna, at the 16th European Lead Battery Conference, we are welcoming the largest number of delegates we have ever seen. As our programme of more than 70 speakers demonstrates, this is a global industry that not only provides essential energy storage today, it is providing solutions for tomorrow’s energy storage requirements. Amid the shifting global trends in electrification and decarbonization our technology promises an innovative future with all the challenges and opportunities that accompany disruptive change. We face barriers and challenges, but none are insurmountable if, as an industry we co-ordinate and align our efforts, country by country and continent by continent. That requires a clear vision demonstrating that lead batteries are just as important to our world’s future energy storage needs as they are today’s essential choice for so many vital applications. As we will hear during the conference, demand for energy storage is set to increase substantially in the foreseeable future and lead batteries are one of the few technologies with the scale and capability to meet that demand. That is a message that needs to be heard loud and clear by legislators and policy makers in Europe the US and beyond. One of our greatest challenges is that our collective voice has not been heard widely enough by decisionmakers and influencers. We are a technology and an industry that has been taken for granted. Amid the clamour for new solutions and technologies we have too often

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“Demand for energy storage is set to increase substantially in the foreseeable future and lead batteries are one of the few technologies with the scale and capability to meet that demand” been overlooked. Many policy makers openly say they see us as yesterday’s solution. We need to demonstrate that a range of technologies — including lead and lithium batteries — will be required in the future. And that while we continue to compete fiercely there is room for these technologies to innovate, improve, compete and thrive alongside each other. But in Europe some legislators are trying to restrict the use of lead in batteries through chemicals legislation which threatens to set an end date for lead battery production. Such short-sighted moves are wholly disproportionate, artificially distort the market, and suggest a lack of joined-up thinking. This, in the short-term, is our greatest challenge and we must de-

fend our technology vigorously and demonstrate that we are not only a responsible industry, but one that is already well regulated. All we are asking is the opportunity to compete on a level playing field with other technologies. We are the first to applaud the EU’s efforts to support battery innovation, but it is critical that all battery technologies are included in any strategic thinking and planning. While we continue to defend our industry, future energy storage needs demand further innovation and technology improvements. It is through the breakthroughs and technological developments showcased at this conference, and through the work of our consortium for battery innovation, ALABC, that we are seeing the future opportunities emerge. Cutting-edge research working collaboratively with governments, universities and other partners are key to making the technological leaps that will take us to the next stage in our industry’s development. While existing markets remain strong there is much more potential for performance improvements in existing and new applications. Later this year we will be publishing our industry’s roadmap setting out how we intend to drive performance improvement and set targets for the next few years. The future potential for our industry is immense. Lead batteries have the ability to support smart cities, to store and distribute renewable energy, to utilise power stored in back-up across a range of applications, and to transform communities by providing reliable energy storage anywhere in the world. It is a story where lead batteries are the intelligent energy storage solution, connecting to the future. I hope you will work with us and play your part in telling the story.

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 11

16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: ALABC Batteries International spoke to Alistair Davidson, a director at the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium, on its future reorganization plans.

A new chapter opens for ALABC It’s all change at the ALABC. The research organization, founded a quarter of a century ago to fight the any-chemistry-but-lead plans of US car manufacturers, is refocusing its research and mission. “We are rebranding and modernizing ALABC — absolutely,” says Alistair Davidson, director of products and sustainability at the ALABC. “Its purpose as a pre-competitive research organization isn’t changing, and that’s important because it has a good legacy and has achieved a lot in 26 years. “But the challenges of electrification, decarbonization and the requirements for the future have changed. Now is the right time to develop the next chapter for ALABC as a global innovation group for advanced lead batteries.” Davidson says the body’s new programmes will be rolled out fully in 2019 but it is already a long way down the road in terms of defining the direction of travel — and several exciting initiatives will be unveiled ahead of the ELBC meetings in September. “The fundamental purpose of the organization remains the same but we have developed a new narrative and new programmes to help find the highest priorities for research work that will make a true difference to this industry,” he says. Davidson says that there will be three elements to the ALABC’s new focus: pre-competitive research, communications and marketing, and a renewed focus on tests and standards in the industry and their suitability to lead batteries. In terms of pre-competitive research Davidson says that ALABC intends to carefully pick topics and themes that are based on improvements for end-users, and look to involve these in the research programme. “We’ve already started a series of

“They key difference is that we will be starting with the end user and the needs of the market and working backwards from there. It is about helping the whole industry improve but in line with what will be required by customers.” workshops around the world with our members that will help us develop a technical roadmap for the research that is needed. It must be driven by the needs of the market and based on what will be required of batteries in the future and where the end users want us to be,” Davidson says. “We will then refine those targets and seek research goals to help us achieve those aims. “They key difference is that we will be starting with the end user and the needs of the market and working backwards from there.”

Getting to know you ... Davidson says the industry’s achievements must be better communicated — and not just within its existing client base but further afield.

“For example, the automotive sector might know what we are doing — they understand lead batteries — but the energy storage market, as an example, might not understand us so well. “The utility and renewable energy storage market has huge potential. Lithium will be a key player but the expected demand will be so great that there will be opportunities for other chemistries. For this we’ll need our developments to be understood by that audience. Hywel Jarman, the new director of communications at the International Lead Association, will have an important role to play and will discuss this topic at a presentation at the ELBC called ‘Telling the story: the future for lead batteries’.

12 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

The third area ALABC will focus on revolves around the nature of the tests and standards used by industry to determine the performance of different types of batteries. The ALABC is building an inventory of all the tests and standards globally and assessing whether they reflect the modern capabilities of lead batteries. One test, for example, appears to show that lead batteries under partial state of charge for micro hybrids have issues with gassing and water loss. Yet, says Davidson, this is likely a function of the way the test is performed as these issues are often not seen when vehicles are on the road. He also says tests should highlight or give weighting to the extent to which the materials used can be recycled. These initiatives will not properly kick in until 2019 but a lot of preperatory work is being done now. Further partnerships and initiatives will be unveiled ahead of ELBC in September. Above all, he says the changes are also designed to refresh and rebrand the ALABC. “The consensus was that the ALABC had become dated and this process is about modernizing it and ensuring its programme is relevant and helpful to the industry. “We will retain an academic focus in much of our work but we also need to work on areas that will make a tangible difference to our customers and position lead batteries as the technology of the future.”

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16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: ILA VIEWPOINT Lead batteries have a vital future role in the energy storage future — if only the industry can better communicate what can be done. Batteries International spoke to Hywel Jarman, director of communications at the International Lead Association.

Reasons to be positive: the new mission directive Lead acid batteries will have a vital role to play in the energy landscape of the future, but more must be done to communicate their advantages and potential, Hywel Jarman, director of communications at the ILA will tell delegates this September. In a presentation called ‘Telling the Story: the future for lead batteries’, Jarman says he will cover many of the bigger issues affecting the industry and its potential — from climate change to renewable energy to the wider transformation in the energy landscape. He will then look at the role lead batteries can play in this environment — but he will also re-iterate the theme that the industry also has an image problem, which it must work hard to change. “Lead batteries are probably seen as the work horse of the energy world — they have been around for a long time and many industries rely on them heavily. But, in contrast, lithium batteries are often seen as the thoroughbred racehorse in comparison, they are seen as more glamorous,” Jarman says. “But that is because we as an industry have not done enough to highlight the great job and many innovations that have occurred in recent years. So that will also be a big factor in how we fit in to this new landscape in the future.” There are some extraordinary examples of this. For example, the European Commission recently published an action plan on batteries that almost entirely focused on lithium. “The awareness of lead batteries is almost zero in some very important places,” he says. “We need to up our game and communicate our good work to decision makers and policy makers. There are hundreds of examples of good research and innovation that have been done and we need to communicate that. It is not about competing with other tech-

“It is not about competing with other technologies but banging the drum in our own right” Hywel Jarman, International Lead Association nologies but banging the drum in our own right.” In the renewable energy space, for instance, the growth potential is massive and only lithium and lead batteries stand any chance of meeting this demand. “We can do a lot in this space yet many solar energy companies do not see lead batteries as part of that picture — we need to improve the way we communicate with target sectors not familiar with what we can offer.” He describes his presentation as being something of a call to action to the industry, but also one that will recommend more cooperation between different bodies and parts of the industry. Jarman says the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium will play a crucial role in the future but that all industry

14 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

bodies need to play their part in identifying opportunities and communicating the good things the lead acid battery industry is doing. He will also touch on some of the regulatory threats the industry faces. “In Europe, the red tape is growing; in the US, there are also initiatives underway that could harm the lead industry. In some instances, we are being lumped into directives designed to manage chemicals or toxic materials without consideration being given to the wider impact this would have. “We need to be helping regulators join the dots on these things,” Jarman says. Possibly one of the industry’s best kept secrets is its phenomenal success at creating recycling systems, where lead batteries are almost 100% recycled in many countries — an achievement in stark contrast to lithium-ion batteries where recycling is not just necessary but costly. The supply side of lead is far more secure than other chemistries, he says, which often rely on mines in politically unstable countries and also lack the recycling system that lead has. “It is a good story that needs to be broadcast load and clear and more widely. “These are important messages that we must repeat: our recyclability and reliability. We suffer from this image of being the incumbent technology that has not changed or innovated for a long time but that misconception risks the future potential of this industry.” “We might not be the sexiest metal but we are not in the old people’s home just yet. There is a lot of life in this chemistry and we are a cradle to grave metal where every part of our lifecycle stands up to scrutiny. And if we get those messages across we will have a very big role to play in the energy industry going forward.”

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16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: LEAD MARKET OUTLOOK

Picture for lead demand to continue positive near term, prices to drift lower Media enthusiasm for a future dominated by electrical vehicles paints a misleading picture over the place of lead and, in particular, its price. Batteries International spoke to Neil Hawkes, lead analyst at CRU for his views on why the price will rise further before falling by year end. A peak in the price of lead in the early summer will be followed by a slow drift downwards until the end of the year — will be a major theme of the presentation by Neil Hawkes, the lead analyst at CRU, the metals consultancy, Hawkes believes too that the battery industry must be prepared to give other sectors — particularly the automotive one — a reality check. He says that too many in the battery business are getting carried away with the potential of other chemistries to transform the industry and he stresses that lead does and will continue to play a key role for some time. Hawkes says he has sat in many events covering topics such as the electrification of vehicles and has been amazed at how naïve people can be to the reality of how quick things can change. And that’s not forgetting some of the drawbacks of chemistries such as lithium-ion and cobalt. “Often in this talk of the promised land of renewable energy and its storage there is no mention of lead. People get carried away and seem to think all vehicles will become electrified over night,” he says. “They see lead as the loser in this but the point is that the vast majority of vehicles are still conventional and thus use lead batteries. The current step along the vehicle electrification path for most manufacturers is stop start technology anyway, which uses even more lead. “So the picture for lead in the short and medium term is very positive. But all that gets lost in headlines of government targets on electric vehicles, many of which are unrealistic. There are many challenges with that including customer range anxiety and the

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Prices should peak in the second half of 2018, but will then drift lower by the end of the year availability of charging stations. “Meanwhile, there is also a great story for lead in industrial batteries. That said lithium is taking share away from lead here too.” He said such conversations are important because they also inform how demand may pan out and that plays a big part in determining the price of lead. The price of lead has been relatively high during the past 12 months — and Hawkes believes it could reach a new high in the second half of 2018. Demand for lead has remained reasonably robust this year, however, supply has remained tight in some markets, especially in China where some smelters have been closed or ca-

pacity restricted mainly due to an attempt to tackle pollution. “In China, we have seen more and more restraints on smelters as they attempt to deal with pollution. It seems they want the more modern operations to do more and continue but they are targeting the older sites,” he says. “But this has had a bigger impact than anticipated – they have been tougher than people thought they would. And that has tightened availability – they are not running out of lead but it has caused prices to increase in China and the LME has followed suit.” But once pricing peaks in the middle of the year — possibly in the $2,500s per tonne or even breaking $2,600/t, Hawkes believes it will start to dip again. In part, this is because the long spell of high prices has finally filtered through to prompt a number of mines to start to increase production of lead and zinc again. “So after many years, and three years of production falling, the mines are starting to produce more and everyone will be watching to see exactly how much,” he says. “It will be interesting to see how quickly that turns things around but it should certainly ease any nervousness in the market about where the next tonne is coming from and that will filter through to the pricing.” By the time of the ELBC in Vienna in September, he anticipates that pricing will have peaked and that prices will be coming off again: “I can’t see how prices can sustain a rally as mine production rises again but it will be fascinating to see just where they head later this year, particularly during seasonally stronger autumn demand.”

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 15

The Battery and Energy Storage

CONFERENCE WATCH MONTHLY The deďŹ nitive guide to battery energy storage conferences and meetings for the year ahead

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE Contact Jade Beevor jade@energystoragejournal.com

16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: ECOULT/GRIDTENTIAL John Wood, chief executive of Ecoult, will deliver a talk on ‘Applying UltraBattery to Energy Storage’ and the role of lead in future battery markets.

Facing down the challenge from lithium ion Lead batteries are being challenged from lithium ion in new energy storage markets as well as in some traditional lead acid markets despite the fact that, in stationary applications, traditional lead batteries and advanced lead batteries (such as the UltraBattery) can have major advantages. John Wood, CEO of Ecoult, a subsidiary of East Penn says: “In many markets where lithium ion is not a demonstrably better chemistry, it is nevertheless gaining share through consistent focus on research of specific new application requirements and a willingness to meet customer expectations in system development, monitoring, control and reporting,” he says. Many lead batteries in the field are underperforming compared to their potential cycle life and operating characteristics — the reason

UltraBattery systems, operated in PSoC, have demonstrated equivalent and better energy performance than competing, non-lead acid technologies

being that the batteries are operating with no monitoring or control methods to prevent prolonged exposure to modes of operation that allow accelerated degradation. Systems with fully monitored cells reporting in real time to the cloud and determining (automatically or through intervention) are the best operating regime for every battery, he says. Ecoult has used global field and lab data to dive into the modes of degradation of lead batteries. This research has led to sophisticated algorithms that can sustain the health of systems that consist of strings of lead batteries by best practice string and individual battery use and maintenance. “The goal is to monitor the batteries and to keep control systems informed of the battery capabilities to maintain application availability and optimize performance,” he says.

MARKETS AND TRENDS: BLENDING INCREMENTALISM WITH STEP CHANGE John Barton, the chief executive of Gridtential, promises to offer a provocative session, and will highlight innovation theories and illustrate how both explorers and exploiters are essential for material change. “Are you an explorer or an exploiter? Should your technology development focus on evolution or revolution? How can we prepare our 100 year old industry to capitalize on vast emerging opportunities while defending against signiﬁcant impending threats?” he asks.

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“Incrementalism certainly has its place in history, as does disruption. What can we learn from a blended strategy successfully used in other industries facing similar market factors? “To chart the future course of energy storage, we must step back from our traditional approach to battery development and consider the interconnected future — taking into consideration an array of technologies and a conﬂuence of factors.”

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16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: ECOULT “This may take the form of deciding to use reserve capacity in the battery, momentarily throttling current to a system under stress, bringing a generator online before a crisis, putting off refresh cycles until a more suitable time or any number of other real-time interventions.” Wood says the UltraBattery is one of the key technologies extending the application range for lead acid well beyond the traditional markets of car starter batteries, motive power support and standby for critical loads. “In most stationary applications, the advanced lead battery can be the most suitable chemistry. Lead batteries have natural advantages: they boast a well priced product, a globalized manufacturing base, safe transportation, good temperature tolerance, robust operation in difficult environments, long life and cradle-to-cradle sustainable and profitable recycling, reuse and recovery,” he says. “The renewable and energy storage boom has introduced new challenges to almost every battery installation.

“Customers now expect some level of PSoC operation and high-quality, real-time reporting and monitoring of cells in the ﬁeld. The lead battery industry is perfectly positioned to take up the challenge of extending its application range and modernizing its customer experience.” Customers now expect some level of PSoC operation and high-quality, real-time reporting and monitoring of cells in the field. The lead battery industry is perfectly positioned to take up the challenge of extending its application range and modernizing its customer experience.” Wood says Ecoult’s systems, using the UltraBattery, are being applied to the full range of stationary applications needed in the growth of energy storage markets, supporting grid stability, renewable integration and microgrids. UltraBattery systems, operated in PSoC, have demonstrated equivalent and better energy performance

than competing, non-lead acid technologies, even in the most power and energy intense applications, including the US frequency regulation market. During this period the UltraBattery technology partners — CSIRO, Furukawa Battery, East Penn Manufacturing and, recently, Exide Industries — have continued to enhance the chemistry and the production technology of UltraBattery sharing insights gained together. Ecoult has also been enhancing its monitoring, management and control methodologies to maximize performance and longevity, Wood says.

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Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 19

16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: DARAMIC Kevin Whear, vice president of technology at Daramic will describe how the ﬁrm has made various breakthroughs in the ability of lead acid batteries to operate in a partial state of charge and also bettering dynamic charge acceptance.

Pushing back the boundaries of PSoC and DCA Kevin Whear, vice president of technology at Daramic, will update ELBC delegates on the company’s latest advancements in getting lead acid batteries to perform better in a partial state of charge — and how it has made breakthroughs in dynamic charge acceptance performance. In a presentation called ‘Advancement in Separator Development for Batteries Operating in Partial State of Charge’, Whear will discuss the implications of the challenging demands on lead acid batteries — and what Daramic has been doing to meet these demands. In the last five years specifically, the industry has witnessed electrification playing a more and more important role and the lead acid battery has been asked to deliver more power in an efficient and sustainable manner from automotive, motive power and not forgetting deep cycle applications. As a result, the battery is working in a more stringent environment than ever before and operating in a partial state of charge. This has meant challenges on acid stratification, poor charge acceptance, reduced electrical performance of the battery and likely result in shorten life In this presentation, a review will be given of the global market and technology challenges associated with partial state of charge. It will describe the mechanism of how those problems happened and the impact to the battery and battery ecosystem.

Daramic has developed several solutions to overcome some of these challenges in recent years. Daramic EFS, its new line-up of separators, for example, is specifically designed to support start-stop vehicle battery by reducing battery internal resistance and improving voltage drop and CCA.

Daramic RipTide

“We have now increased battery life by two to three times in a partial state of charge” — Kevin Whear, Daramic Through the separator’s lens, potential solutions will be offered by Whear with respect to ways whereby lead acid batteries can be enhanced with leveraging the motion nature in certain key applications and therefore, can be used more efficiently in these applications without sacrificing life and performance. He will also indicate the new lead acid battery lab test method to better simulate the working environment of battery in the field and bridge the gap between lab data and actual market performance.

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Meanwhile, Daramic RipTide combines the latest innovations of Daramic with novel separator profile designs using advanced computational fluid dynamics computer modelling to enhance enhanced flooed product durability. It does this by reducing acid stratification in partial state of charge environment which is more typical in a start-stop application.

In essence, it uses motion to mix the acid s within the battery by using a series of ‘ribs’ integrated into the battery’s design. At ELBC, Whear will describe some further innovations it has now made on this front. One of the problems Daramic encountered was that although the acid was being mixed, the batteries were still not lasing as long as they should because the negative active material was swelling. To realise the full effects of the acid being mixed, they needed to understand what was causing this and how to reduce it. They achieved this by putting even more ribs in place on both the separator and the connection between the positive and negative plates.

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16ELBC PRESENTATIONS: DARAMIC

“We have found opportunities in start stop but it is a question of whether we can all work together to make it clear that lead acid batteries can have a role to play here” — Dawn Heng, Daramic “I will discuss what we have now achieved on this front at ELBC,” Whear says. “We have now increased battery life by two to three times in a partial state of charge.” It has also been working with OEMs and battery makers on new test methods and equipment leveraging vehicle movement to best simulate the working conditions of those batteries, which are put on the shuttle table or rock table for testing rather than a traditional static/ stationary way. New carbon separator technology Daramic has also developed what it calls Carbon Coated Separator Technology. This reduces sulfation crystal growth, delivering a more active surface area on the plates for improved conductance of the electrode. In short, it has created a separator that will increase the amount and speed of electrification.

The Carbon Coated Separator Technology stemmed from analysis of carbon’s use in improving dynamic charge acceptance coupled with a patented application process. As part of the process, a team of electrochemists studied the fundamental effects of carbon inside enhanced flooded lead acid batteries including its support in advancing electrification in start-stop vehicles. The innovation has the potential to benefit the batteries industry because of the improved dynamic change acceptance at the cell and battery levels versus standard separators that it delivers. Carbon applied directly to the separator, using a proprietary method, while being in contact with the negative active materials shows increased dynamic change acceptance at the cell and battery levels versus standard separators, the company has discovered. This has been proven to slow the growth of lead sulfate crystals, which otherwise tend to grow more rapidly in batteries continuously operating in partial states of charge. Daramic has come up with the solution to all this: a carbon coat-

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ed separator with a lower water loss feature that supports dynamic charge acceptance, while lower water loss. Whear will explain the latest on this innovation and the market’s reaction to the improvements it has made in charge acceptance. “The reaction has been very positive, people have been amazed by the improvement,” he says. “The big breakthrough has been in the way we are using these ribs and the impact they are having on the battery. We have achieved a much faster charge acceptance and much longer life in a partial state of charge. We will show delegates how they need to reconsider what lead acid batteries are capable of as a result.” Dawn Heng, global marketing director of Daramic, who will be attending but not presenting at the ELBC, says these breakthroughs are just the latest in a long journey for the company. Daramic has worked in the lead acid battery/separator industry for more than 85 years and, in that time, he says. it has served as an ever-growing list of new and improved products in a wide range of applications, he says. Heng believes that the lead acid battery industry will be undergoing an innovation revolution in the next five to 10 years that was unheard of decades ago. New emerging applications and technical requests such as start-stop/enhanced flooded battery (EFB), partial state of charge (PSoC), higher power output, deep cycling are driving the industry from a stagnant development to a pioneering innovation. Specifically, Heng says that Dara-

mic is working closely with major car OEMs in Europe and Asia to understand the needs/trends and the challenges in start-atop/EFB application. The obvious application of this innovation is in the automotive sector. Heng says that he sees the biggest opportunity in start-stop vehicles and hence the firm’s close partnership with OEMs in recent years. Heng also outlines a number of other applications for these innovations. Forklift trucks, for instance, could benefit greatly from faster charging and operating efficiently in a partial state of charge. There are many examples of where renewable energy application could benefit too — in areas where sunshine is not a constant, the batteries used for storing energy would almost always be in a partial state of charge. “Dynamic charge acceptance is also critical in these scenarios,” he says. There is a bigger picture here. In many parts of the energy storage industry, there is a growing notion that lithium-ion batteries must represent the best solution whereas, in fact, in light of recent breakthroughs, this is not always true. “We have found opportunities in start stop but it is a question of whether we can all work together to make it clear that lead acid batteries can have a role to play here,” he says.

Carbon applied directly to the separator, using a proprietary method, while being in contact with the negative active materials shows increased dynamic change acceptance at the cell and battery levels versus standard separators. Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 21

ELBC: THE HISTORY

The ﬁrst 30 years are the hardest

From discovering the perils of Polish vodka ... to dining on islands used by James Bond villains ... to uncovering the pleasures and pitfalls of ad hoc Australian choirs (infamous or otherwise), the ELBC has had it all. But mostly it has been at the heart of bringing an industry together, and, as a consequence, resolving some of the toughest scientiﬁc and technical questions challenging the lead battery world. The European Lead Battery Conference has had a remarkable and often colourful history — but its importance to the development of lead batteries since the first event in Paris in 1988 cannot be underestimated. It is equally remarkable not just for the way it has created intellectual debate when nothing had existed before but just how affectionately both the pioneers and seasoned attendees speak of the event. Clearly, they also associate the ELBC with forming long and important friendships and they have enjoyed

the social side, which is sometimes quite extraordinary; but they are also quick to praise the technical advancements that have often resulted from the meetings of minds at the event. And these have helped the entire global lead battery community.

Secrecy and paranoia The ELBC also led the way in terms of helping open a forum where the lead battery industry could talk to each other. The sharing of information and ideas in such an open way has not always been encouraged by the batteries

Before the ﬁrst ELBC in 1988, it was rare for technical personnel and sometimes senior management in the battery industry to attend conferences. Adversaries from other companies rarely met. Publications were discouraged and even prohibited in some companies.” 22 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

sector — for a long time many companies positively protected their ideas and baulked at the idea of speaking freely on technical issues. Now-retired industry veteran Ken Peters, who is widely credited with helping develop the valve-regulated lead-acid battery, recalls that the ELBC was a pioneering and controversial idea when it first set out to bring senior battery executives together. “Before the first ELBC in 1988, it was rare for technical personnel and sometimes senior management in the battery industry to attend conferences,” he says. “Adversaries from other companies rarely met. Publications were discouraged and even prohibited in some companies.” That said, there were some small battery workshops and symposia that proved exceptions to this attitude, such as those held at meetings of the International Power Sources Symposium (UK), the Electrochemical Society

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ELBC: THE HISTORY (USA) and The Faraday Society. But these were involved in pure research, very academic and rarely attended by engineers, chemists or metallurgists from industry. This mentality was understandable in a sense. At that time, the industry was dominated by a small number of big battery companies including Exide, Varta, JCI, Chloride, GM, Delco, Tungstone, and the Swedish, French and Spanish Tudors. But in reality, the first four of these, with their worldwide subsidiaries, effectively controlled the global lead battery industry. The manufacturers were protective of their work and any research that could give them a competitive advantage. “Their cautious confidentiality was understandable since they all developed, produced and tested new materials — such as alloys, additives, separators — and new manufacturing processes extensively before using them in their products. They were seeking improved, more reliable, performance and durability,” Peters says. Even as the industry started to change and more third-party suppliers emerged, the battery industry retained a suspicion of sharing information and giving away trade secrets. “Only a few years before the first ELBC meeting, independent supplies of separators, additives and alloys became available but most had specifications defined by the battery companies and a restriction on who they could supply,” Peters says. “Consequently, companies were suspicious of conferences and the exchange of technical information.”

A game changer in Asia The idea of what would eventually become the ELBC was conceived against this backdrop of secrecy by Michael Mayer (see profile on following pages) who, working for the Lead Development Association (LDA) — now the ILA — was maintaining regular communication with the main battery companies through providing information and assistance where possible. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he started organizing half-day informal seminars at the LDA’s offices in Berkeley Square, London, to which he invited representatives from European battery companies. Around 40 to 50 people would attend and discuss a wide range of topics such as dry charging, wrought grids and alloys.

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The famous Australian choir at the Geneva ELBC (far right is guest soloist Prof. John Appleby from Texas A&M)

“Held every few months they were affable and useful without confidentiality being breeched or being contentious,” Peters says. But it took another catalyst for the concept of the ELBC to truly emerge. In August 1986, the first Asian Battery Conference (1ABC) took place in Hong Kong. Industry veteran David Rand says that in May 1985, Jerry McAuliffe, director of the Zinc and Lead Asian Service, and John Manders and Pasminco Metals, invited him to help in setting it up. Some 180 delegates attended the event. The ABC acted as a catalyst for the European event’s formation, with positive feedback and a good response to the seminars prompting the LDA and key industry figures to turn Mayer’s planning into the solid reality of the European Lead Battery Conference. Rand had some years earlier already met Mayer, who was promoting lead batteries at a BCI conference in Munich. He invited Rand to speak at one of the LDA events in London. They also both attended 2ABC in Singapore in August 1987. “It was there that Michael invited me to help him and Ken Peters form the first European Lead Battery Conference (1ELBC),” says Rand. “This

was held in France in September 1988 and some 220 delegates attended.” The three conspirators became lifelong friends and in discussing topics and themes for discussion at ELBCs enjoyed many escapades together, especially when it involved an atmosphere of old ale and steam trains. On the back of the 1ELBC success, an early organizing committee of sorts started meeting to review offers for papers and consider programmes for future meetings. Some of those individuals included Ken Peters, Michael Mayer, Maura McDermott — still the conference organizer today — and industry veteran David Rand. “It was obvious from the number of offers of papers received that there was great interest in discussing common problems and experiences and, moreover, confidentiality could be maintained,” Peters says. “Some meetings later, I can’t remember precisely when, a more formal selection committee was formed to put the programme together.” In those days, the proceedings from such events were published in the Journal of Power Sources and also distributed in book form by Pasminco Metals. This biennial practice, which

The ABC acted as a catalyst for the European event’s formation, with positive feedback and a good response to the seminars prompting the LDA and key industry ﬁgures to turn Mayer’s planning into the solid reality of the European Lead Battery Conference. Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 23

ELBC: THE HISTORY continued up to 11ABC in 2005, stopped in 2007 after the journal publisher decided that the papers were not attracting sufficient citations, especially when compared with other battery chemistries. It’s not surprising that many today would advocate a return to the status quo of yesteryear.

Keeping focus despite growth Since those early and very heady days, the event has grown in terms of its sophistication and number of delegates.

Nevertheless, its technical focus and format in many ways has remained little changed. Demand for papers reached the point that the decision had to be made where necessary to run two sessions in parallel to enable more content and more speakers to participate, while allowing delegates to choose the topics in which they were most interested. “There was no theme as such but similar topics were grouped in the five halfday sessions and holding these in parallel, or having several halls at the same

time, was contentious,” Peters says. “The compromise, which was very successful, was to have two sessions dedicated to the suppliers and equipment manufacturers in parallel with two sessions which mostly covered more basic research and technical work. Both were uniformly well attended.” The initial concerns of the battery manufacturers with respect to confidentiality were eventually allayed as they understood the advantages of such an event — and started to see its

LOGISTICS, VENUES, GUITARS AND SING-SONGS Since the first ELBC in Paris, the event has visited many European cities, developed an exhibition — and a quite special gala dinner — that has gone from strength to strength. Peters credits much of the work in this area to Maura McDermott, the conference organizer through thick and thin. “The numbers of delegates grew and there was great competition and interest in the choice of venue, which was handled by Maura and her team,” Peters says. “Then a highly successful exhibition was organized by Allan Cooper and demand for exhibition space has grown ever since.” McDermott has been fully involved since the second ELBC in Brussels in 1990. She undertakes all the administration on the event: coordinating speakers, exhibitors — and making that tough decision each year as to where to host the event. McDermott admits that her greatest challenge every year is finding a suitable venue to host the event. While it is too small for some of the bespoke exhibition centres around Europe, designed to host thousands of delegates, it is too large for many hotels. “And we like to have a certain layout, with everything on one level,” she says. She estimates that whereas the first event in Paris attracted around 200 attendees, Brussels increased this to around 220. To put this number in context, the 16ELBC in Vienna in September 2018 is expected to set a new record with more than 750 delegates expected to register and McDermott says the numbers could even exceed 800 with last-minute guests. An important development for the ELBC was the addition of an exhibition, which has also enjoyed strong growth. She says that from around 19 booths in its first year the event has now reached more than 100 exhibitors. “In the early days it was very academic in its focus; while much of the content still is, one of the big changes has been the exhibition we now do and that has meant a lot more networking and face-to-face time for people,” she says. As more exhibitors and suppliers attended, many started hosting their own dinners and entertainment external to the event itself. With the increasing attendance, the supply companies sought local castles, palaces or well known local hostelries to entertain their customers.

24 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

“It is a case of just going to see what is available in different cities in Europe. We would get lost in a venue that is too spacious,” says McDermott. “And, of course when we do find a venue, getting the right dates can be difficult. We book two to three years in advance, but even then it can be difficult to get the dates we want.” The conference did originally experiment with putting on activities for the spouses and partners of delegates — city tours and other social activities. But these were scrapped after it became apparent these individuals preferred to organize themselves. “We did a few in the early days but there was not much take up and it became apparent that a lot of the ladies who were attending already knew each other and preferred to organize themselves,” she says. “They were used to seeing each other at events and so would be quite happy catching up and organizing themselves.” The gala dinner McDermott is also responsible for what is arguably the highlight of the event — the closing dinner of the ELBC, which has only gained in status in the eyes of delegates over the years. She admits there is pressure to ensure this gala night is delivered to a high standard every year and that everyone enjoys it — and, of course, it is delivered within budget. “This event has very much changed over the years but

Deafening applause greets ILA ladies after singing “(Seven Little Girls) Sitting in the Back Seat”

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ELBC: THE HISTORY increasing popularity globally. The event pioneered the way for similar conferences launched later, perhaps the most notable being the creation of LABAT in Bulgaria and the start of other conferences in India and China.

Must-attend events But the increasing attendance and willingness to present some details of their work demonstrated their popularity and opportunity for discussing common problems without revealing

confidential details. ABC became an instant must-attend event, ELBC followed in its footsteps. “Programmes tended to follow industry changes and trends. Delegates welcomed the opportunity to hear about other people’s problems and successes and, hopefully, came away with helpful ideas for their work,” says Peters. “In this respect the concept of ABC and ELBC and the following successful series was new and created a template for industry conferences worldwide.”

Organizing team hard at work

we work with local companies to see what is possible. But they always seem to go well and people seem to enjoy them regardless,” she says. The gala dinner has become a focal point of the event, but it has changed drastically in its nature; in its early days, delegates were often persuaded to perform — something that Peters says he does not miss! “The highlight of the week was the conference dinner when everybody let their hair down,” says Peters. “For some years it was common practice for teams from countries to take part in a sing-song on the stage but these became repetitive and tedious and from about 5ELBC, professional entertainers were engaged to perform a cabaret.” One group made an impression for many years, often dressing up in ‘Australian national dress’ — a cowboy hat with dangling bottle corks to ward off the ﬂies — to lead a sing-song. It was a difﬁcult act to do as in reality only one of them was Australian. “One year,” he recalls, “the wives of the ELBC organizing team got involved with a group of them singing the ‘(Seven Little Girls) Sitting in the Back Seat’ with accompaniment.” Geoffrey May, director of FOCUS Consulting, says the social events of ELBC have always been memorable — and some especially so. “In Istanbul we had a dinner on the James Bond island and sang the ‘Wheels on the Bus’ on the boat back to the mainland to the

puzzlement of many non-English delegates,” May says. “In Edinburgh the Programme Committee all wore kilts, which was a spectacle — especially Boris Monahov in a kilt!” One Edinburgh delegate said: “Dave Prengaman, Mark Stevenson and Ralf Beckers looked even better in their kilts! Mark claimed he had Scottish roots — presumably his family had been deported from there a century beforehand — and I guess Dave and Ralf just liked the look of the check pattern.”

ELBC organizers and friends in Edinburgh. Far right, Ken Peters, two to his left David Rand, centre Mike Mayer

A memorable night dining under the stars in the grounds of the Verdala Palace at 15ELBC in Malta

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Moderation in excess And there have been times that, despite the efforts of the organizers, the events of the gala dinner have gone too far. One industry speaker recalls how events took an unfortunate turn after the gala dinner at Warsaw. “The other tables had left and then suddenly the waiters brought out enough vodka shots for all the delegates … but there were barely 40 remaining. “The result was mayhem an hour later,” he says. “But it was all good in the end. Friendships can be forged in the most ridiculous circumstances!” Another recalled a memorable night at the closing evening of 15ELBC in Malta. “It was magical. Dining outside at night. Stars above and opera singers wandering among the tables belting out the most amazing songs. It was unforgettable.”

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 25

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ELBC: THE HISTORY But these conferences were more than just a template for others. They became a hugely useful forum for the entire industry. Neil Hawkes, lead analyst at CRU, the commodity analysis firm, has attended ELBC for some 20 years — he went to the first one in 1996. He says he likes the consistency the event has maintained in terms of its structure and the real value for him is securing face-to-face time with a high number of senior executives in a short space of time. “The conference hasn’t really changed in terms of its ethos and structure,” he says. “The format usually has people like me on the first morning presenting on the market more generally — the big themes of the moment — and then it goes to much more technical content after that. “But it has grown into a huge event using that formula and has become more formal by necessity as a result. In the early days, it was a more relaxed atmosphere with fewer people, now I sometimes feel like I am speed dating with the meetings there! “But the real value has always been meeting the lead producers that go there. I find it a very friendly conference from that perspective. It is very sociable compared with comparable conferences I attend.” Geoffrey May, director of FOCUS Consulting, who has only missed a couple of events since the start, says the conference’s commitment to staying true to its roots has stood it in good stead. Now, with its steady growth over the years both in numbers and stature, May believes ELBC is an unmissable event. “In an era where conferences are produced rather like stage shows and marketed to the audience to attract

The ﬁrst ABC and later ELBC events pioneered the way for similar conferences launched later, perhaps the most notable being the creation of LABAT in Bulgaria and the start of other conferences in India and China. www.batteriesinternational.com

delegates and exhibitors, ELBC is organized on more traditional lines with a call for papers and only the keynote speakers are invited by the organizing committee,” he says. “The call for papers brings in a large number of offers of papers and the

Technical Programme Committee has to sift through the offers. New research is given a high priority and the quality of the work, the reputation of the authors and the relevance to current issues is important in selecting the papers.”

SOLVING THE PCL PROBLEM

Some of the various Alpha-Beta members in Berlin at 9ELBC

The ELBC — or at least some of its founders and attendees — also played a pivotal role in solving one of the industry’s great challenges. At the ﬁrst LABAT Conference in June 1989, Ernst Voss (Varta) and David Rand founded the AlphaBeta PbO2 Society. The object: ‘for lead battery scientists to collaborate in grappling with the ever-emerging demands that new applications place upon the science of lead batteries’. To this day, the members often meet for dinner parties at ELBC, ABC and LABAT meetings. In the 1990s, it had become clear that premature capacity loss (PCL), whereby the life of a lead battery is drastically shortened under deep cycling, was becoming a major concern for the lead battery industry and was holding back its growth. The issue proved more prevalent in designs that used grids made from antimony-free or lead-calcium alloys to reduce water loss. Moreover, it was independent of plate design or how the paste was applied. The problem occurred with both ﬂooded batteries and then with

the new wave of VRLA technology developed in the early 1980s. Recognizing the seriousness of PCL, a number of key industry ﬁgures, all heavily associated with the ELBC and predominantly members of the Alpha-Beta Society, including Kathryn Bullock, Ian Dyson, Frank Fleming, Herbert Geiss, Michael Mayer, Eberhard Meissner, Pat Moseley, Bob Nelson, Ken Peters, David Prengaman and David Rand, formed a study group to attempt to solve this challenge. Prompted by this action the ALABC instituted the World Study Group into Premature Capacity Loss of LeadAcid Batteries in 1993, chaired by Rand. Solving the problem was no easy task, it took many years and involved many individuals but it is now widely acknowledged that the work of the ALABC and the uninhibited ad hoc discussions at ELBC gatherings were key factors in ultimately solving this puzzle. “The ﬁnal piece of the puzzle was ‘compression’. This parameter was pointed out by Alpha-Beta Society member Paul [Rüetschi] and gave us ways to defeat PCL,” Rand said.

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 27

ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS

Bang, bang … not dead, “Too good a story to fact check.” A phrase — too their shame — commonly used in the newsroom of one UK newspaper. But like Mark Twain’s famous quip that reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated, for the last 30 years, and more, talk of the death of the lead battery industry has persisted, reinventing itself with each passing fad of the battery business. It’s been over-hyped by enthusiasts for whatever new chemistry is in

vogue or needs to be marketed, and unchecked by those that should know better. David Wilson, a former head of the International Lead Association, says that the death of the lead acid battery had been anticipated from his very first years in the industry. An overview of the past 30 years of battery development is almost impossible to give without taking sides over which chemistry should be promoted

28 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

... or which will achieve dominance in the next 30 years and the discussions that will surround 32ELBC. Talk about “horses for courses” — energy storage suited to its application — has always missed the point. The battery of choice for the car — with some billion running around the world as we speak — is the lead acid battery. Despite the arrival of competing chemistries many forecasts suggest that the number of automotive lead batter-

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ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS

Since the ﬁrst ELBC in 1988, one consistent accusation thrown at the lead industry is that it’s and out-of-date technology, an industrial relic only to be eventually ﬂung into the dustbin of history.

but thriving ies driving around the world will reach 2 billion by 2035. Stop-start cars powered by lead will be the coming wave of business for at least the next decade, probably two, despite various governments wanting to ban ICE vehicles completely. That said, irrespective of their strength as a commercial product, lead batteries now compete in a world where other chemistries or technologies dominate — and rightly so. Think

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fuel cells, nickel EV batteries, lithium in all its variations, sodium sulfur… But before the lead battery manufacturers get too excited, there is still a clear and present threat to the industry’s existence. Lithium ion has gradually advanced up the energy chain from being the powerhouse in laptop computers and the earliest mobile phones to powering home tools, to golfcarts and even to claims by car makers such asTesla

that they will eventurlly power the cars of the future. But this threat may already be overegged. The need for energy storage in the coming years will be immense. There will be room at the table for lead capacity, in size, as well as lithium too. And, as this technological history of batteries shows, the world of innovation continues to throw up new opportunities and challenges for all chemistries. >

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 29

ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS

The 1990s New battery technologies enable the development of cordless and portable devices (power tools, mobile phones, lap-top computers, PDAs, digital cameras, personal care items) and consequently boost demand for batteries. Increased volumes bring prices down, reinforcing demand. Attempts at using lead batteries for electric vehicle with General Motor’s EV1 programme that eventually failed showed there was the potential for EVs. Ford’s Ecostar programme running a ﬂeet of over 100 cars, in the early 1990s looked at sodium sulfur batteries — then a very novel battery — but eventually diverted research into fuel cells as a source of power. Meanwhile, great strides were being made in lead battery manufacturing with everything from better formation systems to better paste making was arriving. 1990

1991

Commercialization of the NiMH battery after a relatively short period of development of only four years helped by the fact that the new NiMH cells could be made using the same equipment that had been used to manufacture NiCad cells.

Carbon nanotubes or Buckytubes discovered by the Japanese electron microscopist Sumio Iijima who was studying the material deposited on the cathode during the arc-evaporation synthesis of fullerenes. Buckytubes can exhibit either semiconducting or metallic properties. They also have the intrinsic characteristics desired in nanomaterials used as electrodes in batteries and capacitors, a tremendously high surface area (~1000 m2/g), good electrical conductivity, and very importantly, their linear geometry makes their surface highly accessible to the electrolyte. Buckytubes have the highest reversible capacity of any carbon material for use in Lithium-Ion batteries.

1990 The first volume introduction of lithium secondary cells for consumer applications after over 10 years of development. 1991 Welsh firm Atraverda founded to commercialize bipolar lead acid battery using Ebonex ceramic — a metallic-type conductor having a conductivity comparable to carbon but with superior oxidation resistance. The crystal structure of the titanium suboxides make for a combination of corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance and electrical conductivity. Commercialization of the product was troubled by management conflicts and the advantages of the battery such as reduced levels of lead were hampered by difficulty in putting on to a commercial production line.

1991 Swiss scientist Michael Grätzel and coworkers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology patent the Grätzel solar cell a regenerative battery depending for its operation on a photo-electrochemical process similar to photosynthesis. 1992 Austrian born Karl Kordesch of Can-

30 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

ada patents the reusable alkaline battery the so called (RAM) Rechargeable Alkaline Manganese battery. Kordesch holds 150 patents on battery and fuel cell technology. 1993 John Cooper working at the Lawrence Livermore Labs patents the Zinc Air refuelable battery, using a cell chemistry first demonstrated by Heise and Schumacher in 1932. The battery is charged with an alkaline electrolyte and zinc pellets which are consumed in the process to form zinc oxide and potassium zincate. Refuelling takes about 10 minutes. This short refuelling times possible with mechanical charging are attractive for EV applications. The spent electrolyte is recycled. 1994 Bellcore patent on Plastic Lithium Ion (PLI) technology granted. Lithium polymer cells with a solid polymer electrolyte. The solid state battery.

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ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS 1995 English stuntman, swimming professional and inventor Trevor Baylis devises a method of producing a practical longlasting supply of electricity from a wind-up spring. Using springs to generate electricity is nothing new, but before Baylis’ invention, the energy tended to be produced for only a short duration. Baylis devised a clockwork battery by connecting the spring through a gear box, which releases the energy slowly to a dynamo. This was later adapted to feed the energy into rechargeable cells.

1995 Introduction of the pouch cell made possible by lithium PLI technology. 1995 Duracell and Intel developed the Smart Battery system for Intelligent Batteries and proposed the specification with its associated SMBus as an industry standard. 1995 On-cell battery condition indicator or fuel gauge for consumer primary cells introduced by Energizer. 1995 BMW abandons flywheel energy storage after a test technician is killed and two others injured when the containment enclosure weighing 2,000Kg failed to protect them from shrapnel when a high speed rotor failed. 1996 Researchers Theodore Poehler and Peter Searson at The Johns Hopkins University demonstrated an all-plastic battery, using doped polymer, polypyrrole (five membered ring structured organic molecule, capable of redox reactions) composite electrodes in place of the conventional electrode materials. 1998 48MWh Sodium sulfur load levelling battery delivering 6 MW for 8 hours installed by NGK for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

DEAD BUT STILL KICKING … It’s not just Mark Twain that was fortunate enough, if fortunate is the word, to read their obituaries. Other famous people have seen history’s view on their lives or been reported while still alive. Ernest Hemingway, for example, put together a scrapbook of his obituaries and is said to have read them after breakfast every morning while drinking a glass of champagne. He had apparently died in a plane crash. Baseball star Joe DiMaggio once watched a news flash of his death on the television. Luckily he was still alive when a retraction was announced. The world of politics has had a fair share or misreported deaths. Honourable mentions include US presidents, George Bush (father and son) as well as Gerry Ford and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, UK prime minister David Cameron, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as well as muchwished-dead Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. One of the more bizarre events was that of English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge who over-heard two men in a coffee shop discuss-

32 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

ing his death after reading the newspaper. But the all-time winner of falsely reported deaths is not Pope John Paul II — who in one closely checked for accuracy <sarcastic font here!> obituary talked about his love of racing — but the lead battery business. Or near death, anyway. For the past three years mis-informed journalists have been enthusing about electric vehicles as The Next Big Thing which has already arrived. Even though every aspects from the price of the battery, to their recycling, to the charging of them, are serious issues. And issues that a generation of misinformed and populist politicians have been seeking to exploit.

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ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS

The 2000s The decade was spent (again) forecasting that lead was dead arriving at the conclusion from a variety of sources — mostly the rise of fuel cells and the application of NiMH in electric vehicles. Towards the end of the decade however vast insertions of US government money mainly into lithium ion chemistry caused a speculative investment spike in electric vehicles which mostly was to end in tears in later years. 2000 Indian chemist Sukant Tripathy working at the University of Massachusetts demonstrates polymer photovoltaic cells for making flexible solar panels using nanotechnology 2001 Russian scientists work on development of lead carbon battery comes to the start of commercialization and eventual creation of Axion Power. The PbC, is similar to a standard lead acid battery but uses the standard lead acid battery positive electrode and a supercapacitor negative electrode. The specific type of activated carbon it uses has an extremely high surface area and has been formulated for use in electrochemical applications. During charge and discharge, the positive electrode undergoes the same chemical reaction that occurs in a conventional lead acid battery. The main difference in the PbC battery is the replacement of the lead negative electrode with an activated carbon

electrode that, being a supercap, does not undergo a chemical reaction at all. 2002 Various patents filed on nanomaterials used in lithium and other batteries to achieve increases in charge and discharge rates of 10 to 100 times. 2002 Commercialization of solid state Lithium polymer thin film batteries based on patents from ORNL.

plug on the Regenesys battery project before the battery was completed after it spent $250 million over 14 years. 2003

2003 Teeters, Korzhova and Fisher working at the University of Tulsa in the USA patent the nanobattery so small they can fit 60 of them across the width of a human hair. 2003 RWE the German multi-utilities group, the new owners of National Power (now renamed to Innogy) pulled the

The world’s biggest battery was connected to provide emergency power to Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city. Without power lines between Alaska and the rest of the US, the state is an electrical island. The $35 million rechargeable battery contains 13,760 large Nickel-Cadmium cells in FOUR strings weighing a total of 1,300 tonnes and covering 2,000 square metres. The battery can provide 40MW of power for up to seven minutes while diesel backup generators are started.

2001 John Smalley working at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Lab announced the development of nanowires, organic molecules called oligophenylenevinylene (OPV). These molecules are essentially “chains” of repeating links made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms that allow a very fast rate of electron transfer down the chain acting as extremely ﬁne, low resistance wires only one molecule in diameter.

34 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

2003 Finnish metallurgist Rainer Partanen patents the rechargeable aluminium air battery using nanotechnology to achieve very high energy densities. 2004 Toshiba demonstrated a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) small enough to power mobile phones. The fuel cell provides an output of 100mW from a cell measuring 22x56x4.5mm. A single charge of 2cc of methanol will power an MP3 player for 20 hours.

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ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS 2005

2005

CSIRO researchers David Rand and Lan Lam awarded patent for the UltraBattery. This is a hybrid device that combines ultracapacitor technology with lead-acid battery technology in a single cell with a common electrolyte. Physically, UltraBattery has a single positive electrode and a twin negative electrode – one part carbon, one part lead, in a common electrolyte. Together these make up the negative electrode of the UltraBattery unit, but specifically the carbon is the electrode of the capacitor and lead is the electrode of the lead-acid cell. The single positive electrode (lead oxide) is typical of all lead acid batteries and is common to the lead acid cell and the ultracapacitor. This technology (specifically the addition of the carbon electrode) gives UltraBattery different performance characteristics to conventional VRLA batteries. In particular UltraBattery technology suffers significantly less from the development of permanent (or hard) sulfation on the negative battery electrode – a problem commonly exhibited in conventional lead acid batteries.

US firm Firefly Energy received first of several US patents for its carbon-graphite foam lead acid battery technology based on a material sciences innovation discovered by Caterpillar Inc. Unlike conventional lead acid batteries, this lasted longer, is smaller, weighs less because of the reduction of lead, sheds heat more effectively and can be re-charged faster. Unfortunately Firefly was unable to commercialize the technology.

2005

2006

Korean bioengineer Ki Bang Lee working at Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, developed a paper battery powered by urine for use as a simple, cheap and disposable power source for home health tests for diabetes and other ailments.

Researchers at MIT’s Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES), John Kassakian, Joel Schindall and Riccardo Signorelli succeeded in growing straight single wall nanotubes (SWNT) with diameters varying from 0.7 to 2 nanometres and

2005 Masaharu Satoh working at NEC in Japan reveals details of a high C rate Organic Radical Battery (ORB). This is a low capacity battery which runs for only a short period but can be charged and discharged at 100C. 2005 Fraser Armstrong working at Oxford University demonstrated the prototype of a biofuel cell which uses as fuel the small amounts of free hydrogen available in the atmosphere and an enzyme to promote oxidation, rather than an expensive catalyst.

lengths of several tens of microns (one thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 100,000 times as long as they are wide) which they used to make enhanced double layer capacitors with major performance improvements. 2007 Apple launched the iPhone, a revolutionary, Internet capable smartphone. With the idea of a rechargeable battery that is not removable — capable of lasting the life of the phone — this was to set the benchmark for battery management systems and batteries for the next decade and beyond. 2007 Sony announces the Sugar Battery, a Biofuel Cell using glucose as its fuel with enzymes for catalysts. It consists of an anode and a cathode separated by a proton-conducting membrane. A renewable fuel, such as a sugar, is oxidised by microorganisms at the anode, generating electrons and protons. The protons migrate through the membrane to the cathode while the electrons are transferred to the cathode by an external circuit. The electrons and protons combine with oxygen at the cathode to form water. 2008 American inventor Lonnie Johnson discovered a breakthrough new method of turning heat into electrical energy which he used in the design of a new form of thermoelectric battery.

2003 Worldwide battery sales — a snapshot • Total world sales value $48 billion. • Sales value of small rechargeable batteries $7.6 billion. • More than 110 million automotive lead acid batteries were manufactured for more than 650 million vehicles on the world’s roads. 81% of sales were to the replacement market. • Sales value of industrial batteries for traction and standby power applications - $14 billion • 500,000 electric bicycles per year sold in China. • The HEV/EV battery market is expected to grow at an AAGR of more than 50% to nearly $250 million in 2008. • Total battery demand expected to exceed $60 billion by 2006 and $65 billion by 2008.

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Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 37

Bringing the industry together

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Meet the team

Mike Halls, Editor Mike, a former journalist with the UK newspaper the Financial Times, has been involved in journalism, publishing and print for three decades. “I’m particularly fond of writing about the batteries industry,” he says. “It’s an unusual mixture of being fast-paced but slow to change — and friendly too. What’s more there’s always something more to learn.”

Claire Ronnie, Ofﬁce Manager and Subscriptions Claire’s our unflappable person — she’s the go-to girl for subscriptions or account enquiries. Go ahead and challenge her!

Karen Hampton, Publisher In her recent years of working within the battery business Karen has become a well known figure at conferences — not least as our social butterfly. “My job,” she says, “is to get the maximum benefit for our advertisers to make sure their name and brand is out there, while maintaining the integrity, fairness and excellence our publication is renowned for.”

Antony Parselle, Designer Better known in the office as ‘Ant’ he’s been working in magazine design and layout since the early 1990s. Not so good on showing his best side however

June Moutrie, Business Development Manager She’s our accounting Wunderkind who deals with all things financial — a kind of mini Warren Buffett.

Jade Beevor, Advertising Manager Jade, who joined the team in early 2015, is already getting a feel for the industry. “This is an incredible business we’re in,” she says. “These people are literally changing the future of our lives — and the planet too!”

Jan Darasz, Cartoonist Jan has an international reputation as a cartoonist able to making anything — including an electrolyte! — funny. And as for LiCFePO4 ...

Wyn Jenkins, Supplements Editor Don’t let his boyish charm deceive, Wyn’s been a journalist and respected editor on major financial titles for some 20 years. When not heading his own publications firm, Seren Global Media, he looks after our supplements.

Kevin Desmond, Batteries Historian Actually more than just a historian on batteries as he’s written about many things. He’s the inspiration behind our Batteries Hero section.

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ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS

The 2010s The 2010s have been characterized by a huge R&D spend in lithium ion battery chemistry. Investment, mainly from governments and particularly that in the US, that had seemed wasted at the start of the decade returned to bite the lead acid battery community which had suffered from minimal research programmes with exceptions coming from substantial time and investments coming from ALABC, East Penn, Hammond and Trojan. Incremental changes in the price point per kWh for lithium versus lead batteries narrowed the competitive gap between the two chemistries. The sudden arrival of renewable energy in scale in the mid2010s caught utilities off guard but meant that grid balancing functions were needed to account for intermittency and the arrival of residential PV electricity has started to change business models forever. Lead lost out to lithium, though, given the industry is still emerging there is scope for advanced lead batteries to have room to compete. What lead lost to lithium it made up in spades with EFB and VRLA batteries throwing off the challenge of pure electric vehicles as they dominate the large and still rapidly growing stop-start market. 2011

2012

Researchers Yu-Chueh Hung, WeiTing Hsu and Ting-Yu Lin at the Institute of Photonics Technologies at Taiwan’s National University (TNU) working with Ljiljana Fruk at the Centre for Functional Nanostructures at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, demonstrated a photo-induced write-once read-manytimes (WORM) organic memory device based on DNA biopolymer nanocomposite (published in AIP Applied Physics Letters). In other words they showed that DNA can be used as a data storage medium.

Researchers, Donald Sadoway and David Bradwell, working at MIT produced working prototypes of a liquid metal battery using magnesium-antimony molten salts. 2013 Hammond releases K2 range of expanders offering a step change in lead acid battery performance particularly in terms of cyclability in partial state of charge and offering performance benefits that can be adjusted to varying temperature ranges and demands.

2012 2013 Following on the previous year’s research in Taiwan’s TNU and Karlsruhe’s KIT, Harvard researchers George Church and Sri Kosuri took a major step towards producing a practical DNA Data Storage device by successfully storing 700 terabytes of data (5.5 petabytes) in a single gram of DNA.

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Mechanical methods of storing energy come to the fore — many had been around in various forms for some time — with ingenious methods for compressing air, exploiting gravity and flywheels.

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 39

ENERGY STORAGE MILESTONES: THE PAST 30 YEARS 2014 Aqua Metals demonstrates a novel way of recycling lead acid batteries without the use of smelting. Commercialization of the technology is stalled later on. 2015 Bipolar batteries make a spectacular return to the limelight with two firms in particular Advanced Battery Concepts and Gridtential providing viable alternatives to regular lead batteries. ABC developed GreenSeal technology, a full suite of patented technologies and simplified production processes, to enable the construction of reduced lead content, high performance, lower cost lead batteries in existing formats for today’s and newly enabled future markets. Commercial adoption follows. Gridtential introduces its Silicon

Joule technology. This is a substrate that replaces the grid in a battery, resulting in a large reduction in the amount of lead required and better performance. Like ABC’s bipolar batteries most of the regular production of the battery can be built on existing plate making lines, modified assembly lines and existing formation/finishing lines. 2016 BCI launches innovation award. Hammond wins award for further development of its K2 range of expanders and opening up its E=MC2 laboratory to serve the battery industry.

2017 NorthStar wins BCI award for its remote monitoring technology. This allows battery users to review the battery’s health and status at anytime from anywhere. The embedded battery sensor communicates with both site technicians and power systems, to ensure correct installation and settings. The device was launched for the telecom sector, but will be expanded to new segments. 2018 Gridtential wins BCI award for its bipolar battery solution.

Contributed by Barry Lawson from his Electropaedia web site www.mpoweruk.com, Batteries International staff, and suggestions from readers.

MUST-SEE PRESENTATIONS, A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE Elsewhere in this Show Guide details of other interesting presentations are given. Here however are some of the idiosyncratic picks of the Batteries International newsroom for reasons as varied as the subject matter or the eloquence or charm of the speaker. There may be several contributors to the paper but only the person delivering the presentation is given here.

Six to watch at ELBC THE BIG MARKET PICTURE PREDICTING THE FUTURE FOR LEAD BATTERIES David Shaffer. Wednesday 9.10 The assessment of total cost of ownership varies widely across different energy storage applications. This presentation reviews various energy storage applications including automotive, grid-scale utility, material handling and standby power to try and predict a realistic view for the future demand for lead batteries under various geopolitical and macroeconomic scenarios.

40 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

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SIX TO WATCH GLOBAL MARKET TRENDS FOR INDUSTRIAL LEAD BATTERIES Nick Starita Wednesday 13.10 This paper uses industry sales data and information gathered from industry experts to analyse the global stationary and motive power battery markets. It examines the trends and market drivers for each of the markets by region, application, and product line to draw conclusions about the future business outlook.

THE FUTURE REAL-TIME STUDIES OF SULFATE GROWTH AND DISSOLUTION ON NEGATIVE ELECTRODE MATERIALS USING HIGH ENERGY X-RAY DIFFRACTION Tim Fister

A NOVEL CARBON FIBRE BASED NEGATIVE ELECTRODE FOR HIGH DCA AND LOW WATER CONSUMPTION: AN UPDATE ON TECHNICAL PROGRESS Stuart McKenzie Wendnesday 14.15 OEMs have an unmet demand for high dynamic charge acceptance and low water consumption batteries that help reduce CO2 emissions for homologation, but also go on to to deliver customer benefits in terms of improved fuel economy — real world DCA improvements. ArcActive’s carbon fibre based electrodes are unique in their ability to deliver both homologation and real world benefits via high and sustained DCA, while still providing low water consumption results along with similar performance on other tests. This presentation will focus on the latest test data and next steps as we move closer to the commercialization of this technology.

Thursday 13.55 The size, shape and connectivity of active crystal species are key production parameters for maximizing charge-acceptance and extending the lifetime of lead acid batteries. The reactive nature of lead acid batteries during operation or even at open-circuit conditions, requires probes that can extend investigative methods to real-time, in-situ conditions. The presentation will discuss recent work using operando diffraction to measure the growth and dissolution of lead sulfate both on model lead and metal sulfate electrodes, and on pasted grids from a motorcycle battery. Beyond the correspondence between crystal growth and dissolution kinetics with the electrochemical response, the focus will be directed towards evolving heterogeneities measured in sulfate size and crystal habit as well as variation in stateof-charge at the pack level during operation. Highlights of the advantages of modern synchrotron x-ray sources will also be discussed, together with a brief outline of how planned upgrades will provide an unprecedented look at atomic level growth/dissolution processes.

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MICRO-ALLOYED CONTROL OF LEAD ACID BATTERY ACTIVEMATERIALS AND RESULTING IMPROVEMENTS IN BATTERY PERFORMANCE THROUGH IN SITU ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES Matthew Raiford Thursday 14.20 Lead sulfate dissolves slowly in lead acid battery operation, and this ratelimiting step strongly contributes to several common failure modes and recharge issues. Given that understanding of the dissolution and crystallization mechanisms of the active materials is sparse, a special effort has been taken by RSR Technologies to probe the forces that govern the formation–dissolution of lead sulfate. In-situ synchrotron experiments have been undertaken to complement a targeted battery testing regime that includes SEM-based crystal formation monitoring. This scheme delivers necessary information to map lead formation and dissolution directly to performance of materials during battery testing.

The presentation will report the performance characteristics of batteries using SUPERSOFTHYCYCLE. (An alloyed soft lead used to produce leady oxide that is well suited for battery cycling applications) in terms of differences in crystal formation when compared with counterparts made with conventional leady oxides. The effect of micro-alloying (addition of alloying elements at very low levels) is discussed pertaining to lead battery phases like lead oxide and lead sulfate. Furthermore, the effects of different additives on crystal formation will be discussed and how targeted study can accurately describe how different components in leady oxide and sulfate work together.

CARBON OVERVIEW THE ’EXTRA-CARBON EFFECT’: ITS FUNCTIONS AND MANAGEMENT Patrick Moseley and David Rand Thursday 11.10 The addition of extra carbon to the negative mass of lead acid batteries that are intended for use in emerging hybrid electric vehicle duties can provide improvement in two aspects of performance. The carbon — either intimately mixed with the negative active-material or included as a separate component attached to the plate — can enhance dynamic charge efficiency and mitigate divergence in the states-of-charge of the unit cells. The inclusion of supplementary carbon does, however, promote hydrogen evolution and failure due to the loss of water from the electrolyte solution. Current research efforts are directed towards methods by which this disadvantage can be overcome without losing the benefits that the addition of carbon provides. The presentation will cover the extensive research that has been conducted to understand the mechanism by which the extra carbon operates, the additional studies that have sought to identify the best types and optimum amounts of carbon that should be used, together with the most effective manner for their deployment.

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 41

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conical cable bushing seals gradually

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ŝŶĚŝǀŝĚƵĂů ĐĂďůĞ ĐŽŶŶĞĐƟ ŽŶƐ ĨƌŽŵ ϭϬ mm² up to 95 mm²: z ĞǆŝƐƟ ŶŐ ĐĂďůĞƐ ĂƌĞ ƐĂĨĞůǇ ƌĞƚƌŽĮ Ʃ ĞĚ ďǇ ƐĞůĨͲŝŶƐƚĂůůĂƟ ŽŶ ŽŶ ƐŝƚĞ z ƚŚĞ ŝŶŶŽǀĂƟ ǀĞ ŝŶƐƵůĂƟ ŽŶ ƐĞĂůƐ ƚŚĞ ,^z^ ĐĂďůĞ ůƵŐ ƉƌĞĐŝƐĞůǇ z ĐĂďůĞ ůƵŐ ĂĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐ ƚŽ /E ϭϯϲϬϬ z no additional surface treatment necessary z direct contact between pole screw and cable lug z ĐĂďůĞ ĂĚũƵƐƚŵĞŶƚ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ĞǆĐŚĂŶŐĞ ŽĨ ŝƐŽůĂƚŝŽŶ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ŶĞǆƚ ůĂƌŐĞƌ Žƌ smaller HSYS cable lugs

ƐĞĐƵƌĞ ƐĞůĨͲŝŶƐƚĂůůĂƟ ŽŶ ŽŶ ƐŝƚĞ͗ z shorten cable accordingly z crimp the cable lug onto the cable z ĂĚũƵƐƚ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƐƵůĂƟ ŽŶ ĐŽŶĞ ƚŽ ĐĂďůĞ ĚŝĂŵĞƚĞƌ z ƉƵůů ŝŶƐƵůĂƟ ŽŶ ŽǀĞƌ ĐĂďůĞ ůƵŐ z Į ǆĞĚ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƉŽůĞ ƐĐƌĞǁ

ƌĞĚƵĐƟ ŽŶ ŽĨ ŵĂŝŶƚĞŶĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ĨŽůůŽǁͲƵƉ ĐŽƐƚƐ͗ z ƉĞƌŵĂŶĞŶƚ ƉƌŽƚĞĐƟ ŽŶ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ĐŽƌƌŽƐŝŽŶ͕ ƌĞƐŝĚƵĂů ĐƵƌƌĞŶƚƐ z ƵƐĞ ŽĨ ĞǆŝƐƟ ŶŐ ĐĂďůĞƐ z ĐŽůŽƌĞĚ Ěŝī ĞƌĞŶƟ ĂƟ ŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚƐ ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ĂĚĚŝƟ ŽŶĂů ŵĂƌŬŝŶŐ z ĚĞƚĂĐŚĂďůĞ ĐŽŶŶĞĐƟ ŽŶƐ

PI_HSYS_E_06

KƵƌ ĐŽŵƉĂŶǇ ŝƐ ĐĞƌƟ Į ĞĚ ĂĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐ ƚŽ /E E /^K ϵϬϬϭ͘ &Žƌ ŵŽƌĞ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟ ŽŶ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ǀŝƐŝƚ ŽƵƌ ǁĞď ƉĂŐĞƐ Žƌ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ ƵƐ ĚŝƌĞĐƚůǇ͘ www.hagemann-systems.com • Tel.: +49 (0) 202 / 94 60 90 70 • kontakt@hagemann-systems.de

MICHAEL MAYER, 1934-2016 On the 30-year anniversary of the ELBC conferences we remember the life of Michael Mayer — its founder — who spent a lifetime in and around the lead battery business. His belief that the industry should behave as an intelligent, supportive community lives with us today through the legacy of his creation: the European Lead Battery Conference.

Remembering Michael Mayer: founding ﬁgure behind ELBC Michael Mayer — known to almost three generations of lead battery veterans — died suddenly in the early morning of Tuesday November 1. He was 82. Although he had attended the previous ELBC in Edinburgh he was unable to attend 15ELBC in Malta. He had worked for the lead acid battery industry for most of his life spending much of his early career with Johnson Controls working in the US and abroad, and later with the Lead Development Association. Michael is best remembered as the inspiration behind the creation of the European Lead Battery Conference (ELBC) in 1988. What was reckoned as a slightly improbable venture for the Lead Development Association — he joined in 1979 — turned out to become one of the most successful and useful lead battery conferences in the world. Michael was born at Herne Bay in Kent on July 5, 1934, to Stella and Cornelius Mayer. The two were an unusual combination. His mother Stella was a mix of Scottish and English while Cornelius, an American national, had an unusual ancestry, including Japanese and had spent years of his life abroad. They were later blamed as the source of the travel gene in the family. Michael’s childhood was spent between Kent and the north-east US where his father worked for Globe Union (later to become Johnson Controls). He went to school at King’s College Canterbury in the UK and then took a degree in Mathematics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania — a highly unusual step for a young man in the early 1950s. He graduated in 1955 and for a little while afterwards also taught at the college. It was in the US where he developed

Michael had a life-long passion for the sea and sailing

his lifelong interest in sailing — as an undergraduate he sailed down to Grand Cayman and Jamaica — together with a passion for flying. Although many in the industry will remember his love of sailing and steam engines, few knew he held a qualified pilot’s licence and for many years was an inveterate flyer. One of his earliest jobs was working at Alcan in Canada. It was there, in Montreal, in 1959 that he met his wife, Cameilia — but always best known as Kim. They were to be together until her death in 2014. They returned to the UK, where he worked for Urwick Orr, a management consultancy firm and married shortly afterwards. Children followed promptly. Kirk was born in 1962 and then his daughters, Sian in 1964 and Juno two years after that. The names are unusual as Michael and Kim decided that their children would have four letter names that

“You couldn’t have met a more genuine or amiable person to be with — whether you were talking about science, steam trains, mobility scooters or just life” www.batteriesinternational.com

could not be abbreviated. Their plan was thwarted — as soon as Sian went to school she was called Si. Michael was a passionate family man and held an unwavering dedication to everything to do with his children. Later on his love of sailing and his family came together with the ownership of three successive yachts, he named them Kiano 1, 2, 3 — the boat names being a jumble of his children’s names. In 1971 Michael went to help his father who was the head of Globe Union’s satellite office in the UK — which served the company’s business in Europe. This was a tiny operation by today’s standards but then a reflection of the commercial and professional isolation that characterized the lead acid battery business. Michael had responsibility for battery technology and equipment sales. When Globe was absorbed by Johnson Controls in 1978, he became marketing manager for Europe and Asia. During this time with Globe Union and Johnson he lived in Milwaukee. But it was at Globe Union that Michael also first started to travel extensively in eastern and central Europe. “It was the beginning of his much larger mission — and one that he probably wouldn’t have acknowledged as a mission — to bring the battery community together,” says a friend. The turning point for his professional life — and effectively that of the battery industry he supported — was his decision to return to the UK and take up a full-time job with the Lead Development Association (now the International Lead Association, ILA). His job was to head up the lead battery side of the association’s initiatives and activities. “He was an ideas man through and through,” says David Wilson, the former head of the ILA. “And some of his ideas proved to be gems. It’s people with ideas that drive things forward. A good example of this was the way he created the ELBC and spent time in ensuring

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 43

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MICHAEL MAYER, 1934-2016 that the subjects that needed to be addressed by the industry were on the programme.” One of Michael’s earlier initiatives to publicise the LDA was the creation of a seminar programme identifying key issues that affected the then huge lead battery business that existed in the UK. The history of the ELBC is a curious one. It was as much Michael’s initiative to develop these seminar programmes and put them on an international stage as realising the potential already being tapped by the Asian Battery Conference which held its first meetings in 1985. It was the right idea at the right time. The late 1980s were difficult ones for the battery industry to feel happy about discussing their proprietary methods. Ken Peters, VRLA pioneer and then a senior figure in Chloride, recalls: “until 30 to 40 years ago most lead acid battery makers — and there were many in business around that period — used their own in-house technology for processing procedures. Everything from paste mix, to density to formation conditions, they developed or set their own specifications for components such as alloys, additives or separators. “The result was considerable secrecy about the various technologies. It was all rather silly because there was considerable commonality for the major products, mostly due to the interchange of technicians and engineers between companies, but there were few battery conferences or seminars at that time.” This is where Michael first made his mark given that, at that time, companies weren’t even keen to allow employees attend industry meetings. But the need was there. With Peters’ assistance — and friendship; the dedicated administrative enthusiasm of the LDA’s newly joined Maura McDermott; and Michael the three used to meet up off the motorway at Stratford-upon-Avon. It was half way between Chloride’s headquarters for Peters in Manchester and those of the LDA in Berkeley Square in London. Given the success of the seminars — and the industry need — Michael’s next step was to formulate the idea of a conference that would reach across Europe in a similar fashion. Michael, working with David Rand, a foremost battery electrochemist and eventually to become a lifelong friend, drew up a programme with Peters that looked at the nitty-gritty of what the industry needed. The result was the first ELBC meetings in Paris in 1988. They proved to be an immediate suc-

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“He was energetic, sociable, charismatic. A family man, a good friend and one who enthused others with his own energy” cess. “By introducing sessions and debates which dealt specifically with manufacturing aspects of lead acid batteries (such as tools, machinery, equipment and the like) the range of interest was extended beyond those offered by the traditional technical meeting and it satisfied the demand for information in these areas,” said a colleague after the event. Another contemporary said: “Michael deserves all the credit for bringing the whole industry together in ways that had never happened before. His enthusiastic diplomacy won us all over and by the time of the third or fourth ELBC the meetings had been set in stone as mustattend events.” ELBC was only part of Michael’s remit. While working at the LDA/ILA he played a key role in breaking ground for newcomers to join the international lead community. He travelled extensively. His contribution was particularly noticeable in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of eastern and central Europe. “It started in the 1970s when the Cold War was still raging,” said a colleague. “It was difficult for those on the other side of the Iron Curtain, as it was called at the time, to come across to the West and talk about their business and it was largely credit to Michael that so many of the industry found introductions here. “And of course the ELBC meetings, coming as they did with the opening up of Russia and eastern Europe, had a huge influence in bringing the industry together.” Although Michael tried to retire around his 70th birthday, he remained active until the end in his involvement with ELBC. This year’s meeting in Malta was the first he missed. Michael received the International Lead Association award at the Edinburgh 2014 ELBC meeting for a lifetime’s services to the industry. Speaking to Batteries International that summer, he said: “I’ve been profoundly grateful to this industry for all that it has given me — it’s been more than a way of earning money, it’s been about forging long and deep friendships with people from around the world.” “It’s been also about trying to get the best out of batteries and the best they can do for all of us ... but mostly it’s the

friendships.” “Michael got on with everybody,” says David Wilson, “ he was personable and the life and soul of the party. It may sound like hyperbole but he probably knew more people in the lead acid battery business than anybody else in the world.” Michael is also fondly remembered as the co-founder of The Electric Boat Association. A seminar on electric boats that he gave for the LDA in 1981 turned into the association the following year. Ironically Michael never owned an electric boat and was passionate about sailing. Michael, the man, was a complex and highly likeable individual. “He was energetic, sociable, charismatic,” says Laurie Gardiner, chairman of TBS who knew him from the 1980s. “A family man, a good friend and one who enthused others with his own energy.” Similar tributes have come from all over the world. “You couldn’t have met a more genuine or amiable person to be with — whether you were talking about science, steam trains, mobility scooters or just life,” says David Rand, the former head of battery research at CSIRO. In his last years and with increasing immobility he spent a great deal of time — like the great Batteryman he was — looking at a multitude of ways that would extend the range of his electric buggie. “His buggies reached as far as Sainsbury’s and back but he wanted to get it as far as Waitrose, which he thought was a far better supermarket,” says one of his daughters. “It’d also put him in reach of a train station and that would fill his head with ideas of escape!” Michael Mayer was a one-off. A man of intelligence, ability and charm and also a figure that helped shape communications in the modern battery landscape. He is sorely missed. ■

“The ELBC meetings, coming as they did with the opening up of Russia and eastern Europe, had a huge inﬂuence in bringing the industry together”

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 45

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

16 ELBC CONFERENCE AND

H MMOND THE CHANGE CATALYST

Bitrode Corporation

Hammond Group, Inc.

Sovema SpA

Booth: 5/6

Booth 11

Booth: 5/6

BITRODE CORPORATION, a Sovema Company, is a leading manufacturer of battery charging and testing equipment with over 50 years of industry experience. By partnering with customers to integrate their unique requirements into each product, Bitrode is consistently able to meet the changing needs of a sophisticated market. The firm offers an extensive product line of formation and laboratory test equipment, user-friendly software and manufacturing automation tools appropriate to all battery applications and chemistries. The firm’s manufacturing and engineering facility is based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA with sales and support offices in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition, Bitrode cultivates relationships with industry sales and supply networks around the globe, providing all customers with timely and knowledgeable service. The firm’s focus on quality and commitment to providing superior technical support drives them to be the best full-service manufacturer of formation charging and test equipment for both large and small cell markets. Contact details: +1 636 343 6112 info@bitrode.com www.bitrode.com

Founded in 1930, Hammond Group, Inc. (HGI) is a battery additives/oxides and specialty chemical company that is advancing hybrid automotive and renewable energy markets through proprietary battery chemistry. HGI supports these emerging markets with two US manufacturing operations in Hammond, IN and another in Pottstown, PA. HGI also has International operations in Gateshead, England; and another in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Be sure to stop by our booth and talk with our specialists about how HGI can help your company overcome technical challenges. We offer technical assistance programs which allow our customers to utilize our experts to augment their research efforts, reduce capital expenditure and ﬁxed costs, and rapidly develop new products. Contact details: www.hmndgroup.com Email: customerservice@hmndgroup.com Tel: +1 219 931 9360

46 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

Founded in 1969, SOVEMA is one of the most significant and diversified battery equipment manufacturers in the world, able to supply individual equipment for specific processing operations, as well as complete lines for the entire production cycle, using an integrated technological approach starting from the study of factory and departmental lay-out, through to product know-how and plant commissioning by specialized staff. In 2008 SOVEMA acquired BITRODE CORPORATION, the world’s most respected supplier of electric power conversions systems for EV/HEV battery testing, as well as production and test systems used in the manufacturing of batteries; in 2011 SOVEMA set up “SOLITH” a new branch for Lithium-Ion battery machines development in Bologna. SOVEMA is implementing its equipment range more and more, as to improve its market leadership and serve any kind of energy storage manufacturers. Contact details: Tel: +39 045 633 5711 Web: www.sovema.it Email: sovema@sovema.it Fax: +1 203 446 8015

www.batteriesinternational.com

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

EXHIBITION LAYOUT

Abertax Technologies

Entek

ITS

Booth: 79

Booth: 86/87

Booth: 22

ABERTAX Technologies Ltd. was set up to research, design and produce innovative products. It started its operation by assisting bfs (Batterie Füllungs Systeme GmbH). Today we have a number of innovative patented products for use with the: • • • • •

Battery Monitoring System (BMS, e2BMS) Capacitive Level Sensors (CLS) Gas Release Valves (GRS) Magnetic Water Valve (MV) Intelligent Battery (IB)

All products are primarily aimed for use within the battery environment. Further in our range we offer Magnetic Valves (MV) for industrial cleaning machines and for Roof Tanks / Water Storage Tanks. Research and Development is an ongoing process with a team of electrical, electronic and chemical engineers with more than 25 years of experience in battery technology. Teamwork and collaboration ensures we deliver customer satisfaction which is the basis for our success. Contact details: Abertax Technologies Ltd. KW17A, Corradino Industrial Estate PLA3000, Paola, Malta TeL:: +356 23 678100 Fax: +356 21 808

www.batteriesinternational.com

For more than 30 years, ENTEK has been an innovator and leading global designer and producer of microporous battery separators for leadacid and lithium batteries. Our separators are used in lead-acid batteries for automobiles, golf carts and industrial applications, lithium-ion rechargeable and disposable lithium batteries. We are a trusted supplier to leading battery makers in the Asia-Paciﬁc, Europe, and the Americas, and headquartered in Lebanon, Oregon USA, with facilities in the United Kingdom and a joint partnership in Indonesia. ENTEK was founded on the principle of being ‘the best supplier to our customers and the best customer to our suppliers’ and our focus on customer service has been key to our success. Our capacity, technical ﬁeld support, quality systems, logistics teams and local warehousing ensure our customers enjoy on-time and in-full reliability of supply. We continuously invest to grow with our customers and offer the product customization our customers rely on for their success. Contact details: Web: http://entek.com Tel: +1 541 259 3901 Email: cbeutelschies@entek.com

International Thermal systems is an industry leader in curing and drying lead acid battery equipment. Our HydroCure™ Humidity Drying Chamber and FlashMaid™ Plate Dryer both have proprietary technology that deliver drying and curing performance that is unmatched. Have a high ambient but need a low temp cure? Stop by our stand #22 to learn how we are using chillers in the curing process. ITS is the only manufacturer that designs and sells self-cleaning ﬂash dryers. ITS International Thermal Systems drying chambers and plate dryers are recognized in the battery industry as the leader in reliability and innovative design. Our engineers will design a custom machine speciﬁc to the application guaranteeing peak performance upon startup. Our Aftermarket Parts & Services department is available for preventative maintenance and replacement parts. Experience the Best from ITS! Visit our website at internationalthermalsystems.com. Contact details: Matthew Zea Matthew.Zea@itsllcusa.com 414.672.7700 Internationalthermalsystems.com

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 47

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16 ELBC CONFERENCE AND

Inbatec Booth: 45

Formation systems with acid recirculation technology

MAC Engineering

BFS

Booth: 13

Booth: 25/26

The Inbatec Modules – We form your batteries Inbatec is the world leader in formation systems with acid recirculation technology with more than 350 systems in operation worldwide. Our formation modules are reliable and proven and are used by many lead-acid battery manufacturers around the world. Your beneﬁts: • Closed formation system allows complying with MAC values and environmental regulations • Precise acid gravity and temperature control results in very uniform cell-to-cell voltage • Shorter formation time means higher productivity, less space requirement and lower work in progress / inventory • Self-contained and independent modules – to be supplied only with concentrated acid, demineralised water, compressed air, electrical power • Whole acid management is done inside the module • Production capacity grows step-by-step The Inbatec formation process combines uniform and repeatable quality with high productivity and environmental compatibility. The Inbatec modules – the benchmark for lead acid battery formation. Contact details: Inbatec GmbH Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 40, 58135 Hagen, Germany Tel.: +49 (0)2331 39650-0 Fax: +49 (0)2331 39650-29 E-Mail: info@inbatec.de Web: www.inbatec.de

MAC Engineering has supplied the lead acid battery industry with high quality downstream battery making equipment since 1965. We offer complete systems for feeding, pasting, flash drying and stacking any continuous or gravity cast plate making technology. From motorcycle and automotive batteries, to industrial and traction, we have equipment to handle any size of battery production. New equipment solutions are now available for punched grids. MAC also offers finishing line equipment for automated Cast on Strap, acid filling, leak testing, heat sealing and more. Contact us today for more information on what we can do for you. Contact details: Doug Bornas Tel: +1 269-925-3295 E-mail: dbornas@mac-eng.com www.mac-eng.com

50 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

Since 1981 bfs focuses on the development and production of automatic water refilling systems for industrial batteries. Based on the patented bfs-plug, its functionality and flexibility characteristics make it inimitable. Constant quality at high quantities is the base for the world-wide success of bfs. With an unmatched product variety, bfs offers series products in top quality for the entire battery industry. Over 37 years, bfs has established itself as the worldwide market leader. Today, more than 11 million plugs are produced and sold on a yearly basis. bfs presents the new standard push-in plug IV together with 7 lengths of float housings which translates all experiences from the field in the past years. Contact details: Phone: +49 8131 3640-0 Web: www.bfsgmbh.de E-mail: info@bfsgmbh.de

www.batteriesinternational.com

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

EXHIBITION LAYOUT

Eagle

OMI Impianti

Booth: 21

Booth: 70/71 Raise your performance with OMI-NBE Formation & Finishing Equipment!

AUTOMATION - OXIDE PRODUCTION - MATERIAL HANDLING - SERVICE EAGLE, a global leader in the design and manufacture of production and automation equipment. With over 25 years of experience working with battery manufacturers, material handling and oxide production systems, Eagle has the expertise to meet your battery production needs. We are the lead oxide experts! From barton to ball mill systems, red lead and litharge furnaces, melt pots, ingot conveyors, pneumatic transfer systems, and integrated controls, to automated assembly cells, palletizers, and material handling systems, Eagle is your equipment and service team provider. Competition in energy storage continues to increase. The ability to produce batteries with higher performance, at lower cost, and with lower environmental impact is a constant challenge. Eagle’s knowledge of lead oxides and manufacturing automation makes Eagle the strategic business partner you need in this competitive market!

OMI-NBE work in the ﬁeld of engineering and technologies for the production and charge of different type of batteries (AUTOMOTIVE, INDUSTRIAL, FLOODED or AGM & VRLA), proposing partial or complete solutions, which satisfy the customer’s requests drawing to a consolidated and innovative know-how. From the smallest equipment to a complete project for a new plant for the battery charging, we are able to study and supply to you with the best solution for your requirements thanks to our technical knowledge and experience, following your indications if you have any preference about the process, or giving you different choices based on our wide offer. We can take care of your batteries coming from the assembly, starting from the acid and water preparation, forming them with our water cooling systems or with the acid recirculation formation system, test and prepare your high quality batteries for the shipment to your ﬁnal client and user.

Our solutions for the battery business: •

ACID RECIRCULATION FORMATION, fast formation for all your ﬂooded batteries, plus many more advantages thanks to the integrated processes, and up to 20% saving on energy consumption.

•

ADVANCED WATER BATH FORMATION, with batteries handling through free rollers, motorized conveyor belts, or with our exclusive TRAY SYSTEM, from fully automatic system to manual system.

•

FILLING PROCESS FOR FLOODED & AGM BATTERIES: Filling, levelling or recirculation stations, for car and truck batteries, for industrial cells, and for AGM & VRLA batteries.

•

FINISHING & DISPATCHING EQUIPMENT: dumping stations, washing and drying tunnel, poles brushing, HRD and dielectric test stations, and many more.

•

ACID PREPARATION, STORAGE AND RECOVERY: automatic and ﬂexible systems, with continuous or batch preparation, based on your preference.

Contact details: Email: info@omi-nbe.com Web: www.omi-nbe.com Tel. & Fax: +39 0363 901 9811

Contact details: Web: www.eagleoxide.com Email: sales@eagleoxide.com See Us at Booth 21

www.batteriesinternational.com

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16 ELBC CONFERENCE AND

Penox

Farmer Mold

Daramic

Booth: 28/36

Booth: 77

Booth: 67

PENOX Group: manufacturer of full range of Pb oxides, dedicated to lead-acid batteries & supplier of engineering services. Partnering with all major automotive and industrial battery companies covering standard SLI, AGM and EFB applications as well as industrial battery systems for traction, UPS, solar and other energy storage systems. Innovation: PENOX new product development centre in Germany in operation with a number of new advanced functional additives for energy storage systems under development. PENOX has invested in additional technical personnel extending its competence to the industrial battery segment and intensiﬁes co-operation with independent institutes and universities. Battery Additives: optimisation PAM/NAM for EFB and AGM batteries, our team will explain the advantages of using TBLS+ in combination with expander mix PE-110HCA for improved porosity. Please attend to Ian Klein’s presentation about the latest results at the Supplier Forum at 16ELBC in Vienna and visit PENOX at booths 28+36! Contact details: Thorsten Peters Global Sales Director tpeters@penoxgroup.com

Family owned and operated since 1938, Farmer Mold & Machine Works specializes in the design and manufacturing of any type of machinery, including battery assembly equipment, parts casting equipment, and plant automation and process engineering. Further, if you need something that’s not already in our current product line, Farmer can work with you to create custom machinery for your speciﬁc applications — whether a new technology or reﬁning an existing process. Our portfolio of machinery not only sets the standard within the industry but is ever-growing. Plus, Farmer provides sales and support for acid dilution systems, plate curing ovens, and semi- and fully automated material handling equipment to several industries worldwide. Our highly interactive and innovative approach to automated machine, tool and die, and mold design follows precise safety standards and utilizes the best materials to produce top-of-the-line machines and equipment that are built to last in 24/7 environments. Contact details: Jim Gilmour +1 727.522.0515 jgilmour@farmermold.com www.farmermold.com

54 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

Daramic is the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of battery separators for automotive, industrial and specialty lead-acid applications. As the inventor of polyethylene separator, Daramic has led the way in developing innovative technology for the global leadacid battery industry nearly 90 years • Innovation: Our scientists and engineers continue to break new ground in the development of advanced separator technology. Our 3 global innovation centers in Owensboro, US; Sélestat, France and Bangalore, India are dedicated to innovation to meet ever-changing industry needs • Local Supply From A Global Perspective: 10 Manufacturing facilities and 7 Sales ofﬁces located in 8 different countries provide local service from a global perspective • Reliability: State-of-the-art processes and manufacturing equipment deliver consistent, reliable product quality • Full Automotive Solutions: Leverage the innovation synergy from its sister companies, the world’s largest li-ion battery separator makers, that position us to provide full solutions for automotive battery applications from basic SLI to Start-Stop to Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Contact details: Website: www.daramic.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

EXHIBITION LAYOUT

Batek Makina Booth: 52/53

CMWTEC technologie GmbH Booth: 102 / 103

Accumalux Booth: 84

ACCUMALUX is a Luxembourgish company founded in 1976, specialized in plastic injection molding solutions for the battery industry. The company produces boxes, lids and accessories for SLI, traction and standby batteries. Our area of expertise covers the development and production of battery sets using a variety of plastic materials, but also the design and construction of molds for the automotive and other technical industries. With customer satisfaction at the heart of its concerns, ACCUMALUX strives for continuous innovation, development of new solutions and valueadding activities. With its largely automated production facilities in Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Russia, the ACCUMALUX Group supplies its high quality products to the major battery manufacturers throughout the world. We look forward to meeting you at the 17ABC to present our last innovative solutions, such as OPzS battery sets with clip system, MFL lids and heavy duty boxes with new ﬂexible ribs.

CMWTEC technologie GmbH has been operating for over 36 years on the national and international markets and has a reputation for high quality standards, reliability and experience in mechanical engineering. CMWTEC is still expanding and we continuously develop our products further on and are going with large steps into the future. Latest product designs are our AGM/EFB Finishing Line with DataManager Software for collecting all important data like test results, ﬁlling volumes and height control measurements. See at our both a live presentation of the NEW HRD Test Machine with improved HRD process The High Performance Line with an output of 20 batteries per min with a modular based design and the combination 5-in-1 machine with fully automatic battery type set-up is just a small overview what we did in the last 3 years for our customers. Our AGM Finishing Line Equipment, ECO (Economic) Line Equipment, single machines and complete lines have been successfully installed worldwide over several decades. The quality stamp “Made in Germany” on all our machines stands for stability and sound workmanship. Stay interested what’s coming next

Contact details: ACCUMALUX S.A. B.P. 2153, L-1021 Luxembourg Tel: +352 36 70 62 Email: sales@accumalux.com Website: www.accumalux.com

Contact: Michael Wipperfürth, Sales Manager Phone: +49 6431 99240 Mobile: +49 175 221 3034 Web: www.cmwtec.de Email: mi.wipperfuerth@cmwtec.de

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batek designs and manufactures machinery for both the plate making and assembly departments of lead acid battery plants. Precision engineering is combined with experienced workmanship to build state of the art machinery to serve the battery industry. The production premises of the company are located in Istanbul, and contains all rudimentary advanced CNC manufacturing machineries and tools. Batek’s founders, who had been working for the battery manufacturing equipment industry for more than two decades, set up the company in 2002. Design, manufacturing, servicing and logistics are all carried out in this expanded plant. In all there are 50 skilled and motivated staff are putting their utmost effort to ensure best quality and servicing for our valuable customers. Batek runs a sophisticated ERP system to ensure consistency in quality for all parts of the company’s business activities. We offer enveloping and stacking machines, cast-on-strap machines, assembly lines, container hole punchers. Besides this we offer, cast-grid plate making equipment, parting and brushing machines, acid ﬁllers, battery palletizers, container depalletizers and custom machinery and automation systems. Tens of battery manufacturers around the world have already experienced the BATEK quality. We are proud to be part of the achievements of our customers. Contact details: Yunus Emre Mah. Iskenderpasa Cad. No: 21 Sancaktepe, Istanbul Turkey Tel: + 90216 484 80 44 (43,42,41) Fax: +90216 484 80 35 Email: batek@batekeng.com www.batekeng.com

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 55

www.wirtzusa.com

THE NAME YOU KNOW FOR PLATE MAKING IS THE NAME TO KNOW FOR AUTOMATION You may not think of Wirtz when you consider robotics or automation, but we can offer you customized solutions for your automation needs. Wirtz is a Fanuc approved robotic integrator, and Wirtz has supplied 2 specially designed systems which integrate vision and robotics for high speed plate stacking for both lead calcium and pure lead plates. Both systems are accepted, installed and operating.

Plate stacks are even frontto-back and side-to-side ready to be palletized

The 1st system is a high speed motorcycle plate stacker which stacks motorcycle plates at over 700 plates per minute. It utilizes a vision system, multiple high speed spider robots and a palletizing robot. Each plate is re-oriented during the stacking process so the plate stacks are neat and orderly. The 2nd system stacks both automotive and UPS plates made with pure lead grids at speeds up to 300 plates per minute. It utilizes a vision system, multiple high speed spider robots, a palletizing robot in a gantry system for palletizing. Wirtz has other more conventional installations for off-loading automotive pasting lines and ingot casting machines. Wirtz can work with any robot supplier to develop a solution to meet your needs. Call your Wirtz sales representative today.

INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

16 ELBC CONFERENCE AND

Zesar Booth: 74

ZESAR has a reputation for being one of the most reliable high-specification battery equipment and technology suppliers in Europe. Its founder, Mr Zeki set up what was to become Zesar in 1976 by creating the company SARICAM Kalipcilik. In 1986, SARICAM formed a joint venture with a hydraulic pump producer under the name ATA SARICAM. This developed battery machines and equipment and the new venture successfully made its first exports to TUDOR, the battery firm, in Spain. In 2002, Zeki reorganized ATA SARICAM and formed ZESAR. His idea was simple: to specialize in certain segments of the battery manufacturing process and Zeki decided to concentrate on the assembly processes of battery manufacturing starting from plate enveloping. In 2008 ZESAR started to use its own patented designs in machines. The following year, the company launched EVOLINE; its low cost high performance new generation assembly line. In 2011, the Robotic Transfer System was introduced to make the whole assembly process fully automatic. What makes ZESAR unique is its ability to develop machines with customized requirements. By working closely with battery producers and listening to their particular needs, every machine can be specifically designed and additional features included. Although core characteristics remain unchanged, each and every machine will have a different identity due to this process. Contact Zesar Imes Sanayi Sitesi A Blok, 101 Sokak No:13 Yukarı Dudullu Istanbul/TURKEY Tel: +90 (216) 540 05 79 Fax: +90 (216) 364 51 60 info@zesar.com.tr

BM-Rosendahl

WIRTZ Manufacturing

Booth: 40

Booth: 24 / 32

BM-Rosendahl is a global supplier of lead-acid battery manufacturing solutions. Our portfolio ranges from enveloping/wrapping & stacking and cast-on-strap equipment to the assembly of automotive, motorcycle, industrial and e-mobility batteries. We offer ahead-of-the-curve technology with the most advanced machinery, equipment and service and the highest quality standards. To ensure a quick and reliable reaction to continuously changing market requirements, BMRosendahl has established a worldwide network with sales, service and logistic centers in Austria, the USA, South Korea, India and China. If you’re looking for a highly inventive partner with a strong service record, a partner who not only understands the complexities of specialized products and requirements but is also ambitious and sophisticated enough to address your needs to the spot, then visit us at our booth #40! Contact details: Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH Schachen 57, 8212 Pischelsdorf, Austria Phone +43 3113 5100-0 ofﬁce.bm@rosendahlnextrom.com www.rosendahlnextrom.com

58 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

The WIRTZ group of companies provides global solutions to the world-wide battery manufacturing industry. With state-of-the-art equipment designed and developed by; WIRTZ (gravity-cast, continuouslycast and rolled, punched grid and plate production); OXMASTER (ball-mill and barton oxide production systems, and paste mixing equipment); LEKO (semiautomatic and high speed fully-automatic battery assembly lines); CONBRO (battery ﬁlling and formation plants); and BATTERYRECYCLING (turnkey battery breaking lead and plastic recycling systems, including paste desulphurisation). At BCI, WIRTZ will demonstrate their commitment to automatically control, and continuously improve critical process variables, in order to ensure that their resulting battery products are of the highest QUALITY, DURABILITY and PERFORMANCE. Contact: WIRTZ Manufacturing Company Inc.. 1105 Twenty-Fourth Street Port Huron, Michigan 48061-5006 USA Tel: +1 810 987 7600 Email: sales@wirtzusa.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN

EXHIBITION LAYOUT

Hagemann Systems GmbH Booth: 43

Oak Press Solutions Inc Booth: 15

Oak Press Solutions Inc will be highlighting their lineup of Battery Grid Punching Systems. Oak punching systems can be configured for production volumes from 500,000 to 5,000,000,000+ batteries per year. Oak systems can produce lug-in strip or lug-out panels for SLI applications, multi-panel strips for E-Bike or motorcycle applications. The battery grid punching tooling from Oak incorporate many exclusive features including the patent pending embossed border tooling, quick change tooling and independently adjustable tooling stations. Oak has been designing and building high speed punching systems for over 50 years at their facilities in Sturgis, Michigan, USA. In addition to the facilities in Sturgis they also have technical support facilities in China, Europe and India. Oak’s experience in the battery industry consists of 16 battery grid punching systems and 35 battery grid punching dies to date. (more than all other battery equipment suppliers combined) Stop by Booth 15 to learn more about the fieldproven Battery Grid Punching Systems from Oak. Contact: Oak Press Solutions Inc. Contact: Kent Lancaster Office: +1 269-651-8513 Mobile: +1 269-268-3116 Email: klancaster@oakpresses.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

Hagemann Systems GmbH develops, produces and distributes rubber, plastic and metal products and their compound parts. We offer a wide range of innovative products with high quality standards for automotive, energy storage and generating, electrical and rail vehicle industries. Our advanced systems, quick response times and a distinctive service entitlement make us a qualiﬁed manufacturer of these special products. With our big knowledge of different production methods and under expertise of new solution approaches, we offer our customers integral solutions from one source. For us, not only the pure product is in the focus, we think complex, taking into account of concurrent affecting boundary conditions, such as warehousing, transport costs, energy efﬁciency, simply the total TCO Contact: Jens Trimborn Tel.: +49 (0) 202/ 9460907-0 Fax: +49 (0) 202/ 9460907-11 email: jens.trimborn@hagemann-systems.de web: www.hagemann-systems.de

WANTED AN OLD TECK COMICO, ROCHE, SOVEMA EXPANDER LINE. ALSO REQUIRED OLD BATTERY MFG EQUIPMENTS: CHARGERS, PASTERS, CASTERS ETC PLEASE EMAIL:

Sorﬁn Yoshimura Booth: 14

Sorfin Yoshimura is the largest independent trading company serving the worldwide lead acid battery industry. Sorfin Yoshimura has offices in the USA, Japan, China, France, and Brasil in addition to agency cooperation in several other countries around the world. We are a global company sourcing the best machinery, materials, and technical services for your battery factories specific needs. Sorfin Yoshimura offers our customers the benefit of our decades of lead acid battery industry experience. We serve hundreds of customers throughout the world each year and customize our services for each and every factory. We are constantly combing the world for the latest innovations in both materials and machinery; seeking to add vendors to our already vast network. When you choose Sorfin Yoshimura, you will quickly identify the unique combination of commercial savvy and engineering know-how that has enabled us to become the company that we are today. Contact: Sorfin Yoshimura NY Contact: Paul Fink, President email: sorfin@sorfin.com Tel: + 1 516 802-4600 Fax: + 1 516 802-4601/4602 www.sorfinyoshimura.com Sorfin Yoshimura Tokyo Contact: Tom Yoshimura, President email: tokyo@sorfin-yoshimura.jp Tel: + 81 03 5575-3111 Fax: + 81 03 5575-0826 Sorfin Yoshimura Qingdao Contact: Ms. Lisa Li; President email: qingdao@sorfin-yoshimura.cn Tel: + 86 532 8597-1191 Fax: + 86 532 8597-1192 Sorfin Yoshimura Europe Contact: Pierre de Costa Lobo email: paris@sorfin-yoshimura.fr Tel: + 33 01 7815-2715 Fax: + 33 01 7841-6778 Sorfin Yoshimura Brasil Ltda. Contact: Mr. Mauricio Ferrentini Email: saopaulo@sorfin.com.br Tel: +55 11 3152-2223 Fax: +55 11 3151-2225 We look forward for you to contact Sorfin Yoshimura. The Source of Power!

battery2018s@gmail.com

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 59

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16 ELBC FLOORPLAN KEY — BY COMPANY NAME Company

Site No.

Abertax Technologies Limited

Accuma

60/61

Accumalux Group

HADI-Group – HADI Maschinenbau GmbH – HADI Offermann Hagemann Systems Hammond Group Inc

65/66 43 11

HOFMANN POWER SOLUTIONS

Accumation GmbH

Hollingsworth & Vose

Accurate Products

Huang Yan Giant Star Mould Factory

Addenda LLC

ICS Srl

Imerys Graphite & Carbon

Inbatec GmbH

ITS – International Thermal Systems Battery Manufacturing Equipment Division

AIB Kunstmann GmbH Akümsan

54/55

ALABC

Alfa Kutu Ve Plastik San Tic Ltd

95/99

Alpha Beta Fiberglass Product Co., Ltd

12a

77a 12 93 10a

Jiangsu Dongshun New Energy Technology Co., Ltd

JiangSu JinFan Power Technology Co Ltd

Associated Electro-Chemicals Pvt Ltd

Jiangsu Sanhuan Industry & Commerce Co., Ltd

18a

Ateliers Roche

Jiangsu Zunsion Automation Technology Co., Ltd

Amer-Sil SA

ATI SpA

106

Atomized Products Group, Inc.

Batek Makina

52/53

Bernard Dumas SAS

Better (Xiamen) Power Technology Co., Ltd.

bfs batterie füllungs systeme GmbH

25/26

Biasin Srl BI-FORCE Technology Battery Production Equipment Manufacturing

CEMT

40 107 85 11a 31 35 102/103 7

Continuus-Properzi SpA

104

Converted Products Inc

DEGANI ALDO Company Digatron Power Electronics DITEC Engineering

67 1 44 1

Dross Engineering

Eagle Oxide Services

EBC Korea Co Ltd and OMI-NBE

ECOBAT Technologies Ltd

Eirich

LA PNEUMATICA S.R.L

Daramic

Chem Resist Group Ltd Co-efﬁcient Precision Engineering

Kustan

Mecondor

Changxing Jinrun Dazheng Machinery Co Ltd CMWTEC technologie GmbH

KraftPowercon India Pvt. Ltd.

Manika Moulds Pvt Ltd

101

CAM Srl

Kobratec

Black Diamond Structures

Cabot Corporation

MAC Engineering

5/6

Borregaard Lignotech

Källström Engineering Systems

Bitrode BM Rosendahl

JINXIN (ZIBO) Power Material Co., Ltd

59a

Microporous Moojin Service Co., Ltd

41 58/59

MSS

MTH - Metalltechnik Halsbrucke GmbH & Co KG

Oak Press Solutions Inc Ofﬁcina Meccanica Romanese

15 16a

OMI-NBE

OMI-NBE and EBC Korea Co Ltd

Orion Engineered Carbons Owens Corning Passoni-Alpha Penox Group GmbH Pinco SA Pyrotek Quanzhou Yucry Trafﬁc Appliances Co., Ltd Shandong Jinkeli Power Sources Technology Co., Ltd.

34 59b 33 28/36 2 1a 16 59c

Shandong Province Shenxian Industrial Co., Ltd.

Shandong Xinxu Group

Sinoma Science & Technology Co Ltd

105

Sistem Makina Industrial Furnaces

18 14

EnerG2 Technologies

Sorﬁn Yoshimura Ltd

Engitec Technologies SpA

SOVEMA GROUP S.p.A.

5/6

TBS Engineering

8/9

Entek

86/87

EROZ Environ Engineer Pvt Ltd

TERRANOVA PAPERS SA

Farmer Mold & Machine Works, Inc

TODU Ltd

FERRAZZA Industrial Power Control

UK Powertech Ltd

FRIMAX

Water Gremlin

Frötek-Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Wirtz Manufacturing

GBT Co. (Qingdao Green Energy Technologies Co., Ltd.)

Xiangyang Lham Precision Tech Co Ltd

Glatfelter CFBU

Yingkou Zhongjie Shida

Golden Sunlight Power Equipment Technology Co Ltd

Zesar

Goonvean Fibres

Zhejiang Hongda Special Rubber Products Co., Ltd

www.batteriesinternational.com

100 24/32 14a

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 61

7KH ODUJHVW JOREDO JDWKHULQJ RI OHDG EDWWHU\ H[SHUWV LQ Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Centre, Vienna

16th European Lead Battery Conference & Exhibition Vienna, 4-7 September 2018

800+ 100+ 50+ 50+ delegates

exhibitors

speakers

countries

Registration is now open! Pre-Conference Workshop

Do Current Standards and Test Methods for Leadâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Acid Batteries 3URSHUO\ 5HÈµ HFW 0LFUR +\EULG $XWRPRWLYH 'XW\" Tuesday 4 September 2018, 14.00 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 17.00

OUR GOLD SPONSOR

OUR SILVER SPONSORS

OUR BRONZE SPONSORS

Further information

Maura McDermott, International Lead Association, Bravington House, 2 Bravingtons Walk, London N1 9AF United Kingdom

+44 (0) 20 7833 8090 +44 (0) 20 7833 1611 HOEF#LOD OHDG RUJ www.ila-lead.org/16elbc

16 ELBC FLOORPLAN KEY — BY BOOTH NUMBER Site No.

Company

ECOBAT Technologies Ltd

DEGANI ALDO Company

JiangSu JinFan Power Technology Co Ltd

DITEC Engineering

Shandong Xinxu Group

FERRAZZA Industrial Power Control

LA PNEUMATICA S.R.L

52/53

Pyrotek

54/55

1a 2

Pinco SA

Better (Xiamen) Power Technology Co., Ltd.

JINXIN (ZIBO) Power Material Co., Ltd

Mecondor Batek Makina Akümsan Zhejiang Hongda Special Rubber Products Co., Ltd Accumation GmbH

58/59

Moojin Service Co., Ltd

5/6

Bitrode

59a

Eirich

5/6

SOVEMA GROUP S.p.A.

59b

Owens Corning

Co-efﬁcient Precision Engineering

59c

Shandong Jinkeli Power Sources Technology Co., Ltd.

7 8/9

TBS Engineering

10 10a 11 11a

Accuma

Kobratec

Shandong Province Shenxian Industrial Co., Ltd.

ICS Srl

BI-FORCE Technology Battery Production Equipment Manufacturing

Hammond Group Inc

CAM Srl

60/61

Ateliers Roche

65/66

HADI-Group – HADI Maschinenbau GmbH – HADI Offermann

Hollingsworth & Vose

Daramic

Alpha Beta Fiberglass Product Co., Ltd

Bernard Dumas SAS

MAC Engineering

Addenda LLC

Sorﬁn Yoshimura Ltd

OMI-NBE

Xiangyang Lham Precision Tech Co Ltd

OMI-NBE and EBC Korea Co Ltd

EBC Korea Co Ltd and OMI-NBE

Atomized Products Group, Inc.

12a

14a 15

Oak Press Solutions Inc

Quanzhou Yucry Trafﬁc Appliances Co., Ltd

16a 17

Ofﬁcina Meccanica Romanese GBT Co. (Qingdao Green Energy Technologies Co., Ltd.)

18 18a

Sistem Makina Industrial Furnaces Jiangsu Sanhuan Industry & Commerce Co., Ltd

TODU Ltd

Engitec Technologies SpA

Eagle Oxide Services

ITS – International Thermal Systems Battery Manufacturing Equipment Division

Accurate Products

24/32 27 28/36 29

Zesar

Goonvean Fibres

Converted Products Inc

Farmer Mold & Machine Works, Inc

77a

HOFMANN POWER SOLUTIONS

EnerG2 Technologies

Abertax Technologies Limited

EROZ Environ Engineer Pvt Ltd

Glatfelter CFBU

ALABC

batterie füllungs systeme GmbH

Dross Engineering

TERRANOVA PAPERS SA

Accumalux Group

Penox Group GmbH

Cabot Corporation

Wirtz Manufacturing

25/26

Jiangsu Dongshun New Energy Technology Co., Ltd

86/87

Entek

Amer-Sil SA

CEMT

Chem Resist Group Ltd

Passoni-Alpha

Frötek-Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Orion Engineered Carbons

Kustan

Changxing Jinrun Dazheng Machinery Co Ltd

Jiangsu Zunsion Automation Technology Co., Ltd

Golden Sunlight Power Equipment Technology Co Ltd

Huang Yan Giant Star Mould Factory

MTH - Metalltechnik Halsbrucke GmbH & Co KG

Källström Engineering Systems

BM Rosendahl

Microporous

FRIMAX

Associated Electro-Chemicals Pvt Ltd

Biasin Srl

AIB Kunstmann GmbH

100

Water Gremlin

Hagemann Systems

101

Black Diamond Structures

Yingkou Zhongjie Shida

KraftPowercon India Pvt. Ltd.

95/99

Alfa Kutu Ve Plastik San Tic Ltd Manika Moulds Pvt Ltd

102/103

CMWTEC technologie GmbH

UK Powertech Ltd

Digatron Power Electronics

104

Continuus-Properzi SpA

Inbatec GmbH

105

Sinoma Science & Technology Co Ltd

Imerys Graphite & Carbon

106

ATI SpA

MSS

107

Borregaard Lignotech

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018 • 63

16 ELBC: THE GREATS OF LEAD ACID

Voss: discoverer of α-Pb02 Ernst Voss who died in 2004 had a long and distinguished history in the lead battery business and a close association with ELBC and was part of the Alpha-Beta Society team that resolved the premature capacity loss problem that plagued the industry in the early 1990s. Ernst Voss was born on August 29, 1923, in Nortorf in the state of Holstein in Germany. Like many of his generation his life was disrupted by the Second World War — he was drafted into the army in 1942 and taken prisoner in 1944, and detained in the US until the Armistice. Unable to study chemistry at Hamburg University — all the places were occupied in 1946 — he obtained a free chemistry university place with studies in classical philology at Hamburg University. But he started studying chemistry full time in 1948 and finished in 1953 with the Diplom-Chemiker degree. In 1955 he was awarded a doctorate from the same university. His doctoral thesis, devoted to structures of hexafluorometallalates, was inspired by the lectures of professor Hans Heinrich Bode. As with David Rand, who had a mentor in John Agar, it was Bode who supported Voss in his electrochemical ambitions by finding him a post as co-researcher in the central research laboratory of Accumulatoren-fabrik at Kelkheim near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. That same year was also momentous as he married Ruth Steiner. Their daughter Erdmuthe was born in 1958, their son Wolfgang in 1963. For nine years, Voss researched lead acid batteries in depth. In 1964, he became manager of the department for product research and development and widened his activities to include studies on nickel cadmium cells. In 1973, he was appointed manager of the technology department for primary and new systems and his researches were starting to bring him more international reputation. This position allowed him to become acquainted with many different types of primary systems including zinc carbon, alkaline manganese, zinc silver oxide, and lithium organic cells. Despite this extra work Voss still pursued his research and studies on both lead acid and nickel cadmium cells.

In 1978, Voss was made department director and received authorization to represent VARTA Batterie in legal matters. During 1976–77, he joined a research programme in lithium iron sulfide molten salt batteries at the Argonne National Laboratory in the US. He then established and inaugurated a similar program at VARTA’s R&D lab. This work was continued for many years under his supervision. Voss was appointed director of the research and development centre of VARTA Batterie in Kelkheim in 1981, which involved information, planning, patents, government contracts and contacts with universities. Mainly Voss worked at understanding the behaviour of lead acid batteries. He was the inventor, or a co-inventor, of 47 patents. These included: Brightening and stabilizing the color of metal salts of naphthene and ethylhexanic acids and their solutions (1957–1960); lead storage battery with solidified electrolyte and process of making same (1963–64); galvanic cell with solid fluoride ion-conductive electrolyte (1975–1976); and polyacetylene cell

with ceramic solid electrolyte (1983– 1985). His work was reported in 54 papers published in various prestigious scientific journals. In one early paper he reported with H. Bode his discovery of α-PbO2 in Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, Berichte der Bunsengesellschaft für physikalische Chemie 60 (1956): 1053. α-PbO2 is distinguished from the α-PbO2 modification by its capacity and lifetime. Practically he dealt with phosphoric acid additives for lead acid batteries. Together with August Winsel he developed the “Kugelhaufen Modell” (aggregate-of-spheres model) of the PbO2-PbSO4 electrode, explaining the capacity dependence on currents and additives on a theoretical basic. In 1985 he was elected to work as an expert on batteries and fuel cells for the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate XII, in Brussels. In 1987 Voss collaborated with Hiroshi Shimotake as general editor of Progress in Batteries and Solar Cells. He also worked on the editorial board of the Journal of Power Sources. Voss retired from VARTA Batterie in September, 1988, after 33 years with the company. He continued to work for VARTA as consultant until 1993 and was, among others, responsible for scientific grants of the HerbertQuandtStiftung der VARTA. During this time he was still active in attending international battery conferences. During the LABAT meeting in 1989, Voss was selected to become the first recipient of the prestigious Gaston Planté Medal, awarded by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

In an early paper written with Hans Bode about his discovery of α-PbO2 in Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, Berichte der Bunsengesellschaft für physikalische Chemie, α-PbO2 is distinguished from the α-PbO2 modiﬁcation by its capacity and lifetime.

64 • Batteries International • 16 ELBC Show Guide • Summer 2018

www.batteriesinternational.com

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