BCI Yearbook 2020 - Bringing the conference to you!

Virtual convention edition • April 2020

BCI Yearbook Special 2020

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Working hard for all our customers

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The measure of a company is how they work in times of need

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Improvement + initiative = Innovation

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Bringing the industry together

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• Miksad: the regulatory perspective unfolds • Dry: exploding the myths about lead • Inside Hammond’s SureCure • Full listings of the Innovation Awards • The TBS Engineering perspective • Full BCI committees, members listing

Designed to connect Engineered to last

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CONTENTS

2020 BCI Yearbook & Special Virtual Convention Report Battery Council International’s 132nd Convention and Power Mart Expo may have been hijacked by the viral pandemic. But rather than postpone or cancel the meetings, the council has opted to hold a virtual convention via the internet. It’s an ambitious and brave move but it’s in times like these that the whole industry needs to keep talking to each other. This is not a time for retrenchment, but dialogue.

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Editorial: Difficult times, yet it’s time to communicate 3 Roger Miksad: Braving a yet more complicated landscape of lead regulation 6 Lisa Dry: Lead batteries: Getting the messages out 12 Hammond’s SureCure TTBLS seed crystals offer key to greater formation effficiency 16 Lights, camera ... TBS: Profile of TBS Engineering Group 20

INNOVATION AWARD NOMINATIONS Review: A bright new landscape as invention comes to the fore 12

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ArcActive: Achieving the dream of high DCA and low water loss 23 Abertax: Adding another aspect to lead’s green credentials 24 CMWTEC: Combining impedance and high current testing in one package 25 Daramic: The joys of separator customization 26 Flow-Rite: Keeping the finger on your batteries’ pulse 28 Mega Amps: Stratification can be a good thing?

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Power-Sonic: Have lead battery, will travel — to travel 32 Pro Charging: Using algorithms to extend battery life 34 21

TBS: Reaping the benefits of better automation 36 Wirtz: Recycling batteries in a one step shop 37 1-800 Battery, Chittarangan Ghoush, Very: plus details of the judging panel 38

www.batteriesinternational.com

The Quarter Century Club: Battery heroes reunited

39

The business of running the business: Inside BCI’s committee system

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BCI members directory: The great and the good of BCI

42

The BCI story

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Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 1

CONTENTS Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

Difficult times, yet time to communicate Another year, another BCI convention. But this year what a difference!

With a brutal, viral plague stalking the planet there was never any question that the plan for our annual meeting in Las Vegas would — or could — ever happen.

The BCI board decided that it still needed to fulfil its brief, to communicate what it does to serve North America’s battery community.

The result has been this year’s first ever virtual convention.

This is indeed a brave move as it could backfire spectacularly — and especially since ours is an industry that is not (shall we say?) particularly well known for its appreciation of the joys of the internet!

Yet these are the facts. Now, more than ever, we need to communicate with each other.

We need to keep open the lines of communication between ourselves and our customers.

The normal knee-jerk reaction to the market downturn that we might normally expect to face is to pull in our horns. Retreat. (And to keep these mixed metaphors flowing … to not put our heads above the parapet.)

It may be instinctive yet this knee-jerk reaction is flawed. Deeply.

This is the time to shout about why — and how — this industry is helping the world out during this virus crisis.

Lead batteries are helping emergency services across the planet, from enabling the distribution of food to the most vulnerable people in society, to transporting Publisher: Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com +44 779 852 337

Business development manager Juanita Anderson, juanita@batteriesinternational.com

Editor: Michael Halls, editor@batteriesinternational.com +44 7977 016 918

Reception: +44 1 243 782 275

Assistant editor: Debbie Mason, debbie@batteriesinternational.com +44 1243 782 275 Sales manager: Jade Beevor, jade@energystoragejournal.com +44 1243 782 275

www.batteriesinternational.com

Subscriptions and admin manager: Claire Ronnie, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com admin@batteriesinternational.com +44 1243 782 275 Special reports editor Wyn Jenkins,

essential items and emergency services to where they are most needed, to backing up the world’s iCloud records, to ensuring the continuity of electrical supply to hospitals in every corner of the globe. Add to these the banks, the electrical generation systems, the critical communications systems and … so much more.

So this is truly the time to shout out about what we do! This is no time for slumping into an unproductive retrenchment (as was the case in the 2008 financial downturn).

One lead battery veteran told us, just weeks ago, that the firms that come out of this viral horror most strongly will be the ones proven to have been most active while the industry has struggled through these extraordinarily difficult months of an unprecedented era. An interesting thought. wyn.jenkins@serenglobalmedia.com +44 1792 293 222 Staff reporter: Hillary Taylor-McCaffery hillary@batteriesinternational.com Design and production: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 1604 632 663 International advertising and representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com

The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorised translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322 © 2020 Mustard Seed Publishing, UK company no: 5976361. Printed in the UK via Thisismethod UK 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.

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 3

BCI: THE REGULATORY CHALLENGES BCI executive vice president and general counsel Roger Miksad, a former partner at law firm Wiley Rein, has worked for and with the council for almost a decade. He spoke to Debbie Mason about the range of work he is involved in and the difficulties faced.

Braving a yet more complicated landscape of lead battery regulation Q: Inevitably the last few months has been dominated by the coronavirus crisis. How has that affected the activities of BCI? RM: Like every other association and business organization on the planet, we’ve had our work cut out for us by the coronavirus in terms of helping our members deal with restrictions and helping educate state and federal regulators about the critical role that lead batteries play, in particular in critical infrastructure needs that underpin most other activities in the US. When we started to see the Covid-19 business curtailment orders coming out of various state governments, BCI quickly engaged with regulators, elected officials and our members — we don’t have a federal mandate for this, just guidance.

We made sure that we were recognized and in position to keep our businesses and manufacturing facilities open with appropriate worker safety measures added to make sure

we were able to deliver the batteries needed for those vital machines and services.

We had to explain to the federal and state agencies that supply chains rely on batteries to start internal combustion vehicles, and rely on batteries to move forklifts and other equipment handling machinery.

Batteries are critical to the continuity of telephone systems, mobile phones, emergency call centres and also hospital equipment — generators, UPSs — this is all life-critical equipment for handling dips in power, or when moving patients between rooms so ventilators and other devices can run while they’re not plugged in, as well as plug any power gaps while large generators bring power back.

Q: What about the health implications for workers in the light of the crisis?

RM: One thing the lead battery industry isn’t a stranger to is the kind

of precaution now being enforced on industries which before now didn’t need them — like handwashing, protective clothing and masks.

We are one of the few non-medical industries where our workers have mandatory handwashing training, so we are confident in our workers’ ability to maintain handwashing practices, and we hope they’re taking the lessons they’re learning at work home to their families and teaching them how to do it properly.

At the same time they’re wearing respiratory PPE, they are trained in how to use that, and so they are well protected. Many of our members have taken additional steps beyond what is normally in place — we’ve seen BCI members setting up lunchrooms to make sure workers stay the recommended six feet apart, and ensuring even on the factory floor they’re staying six feet apart.

The number of staff onsite has also been reduced so that office staff work from home.

ROGER MIKSAD ON REGULATION OF LEAD As a lawyer, it’s true I find the regulation surrounding lead to be interesting in that despite the industry being so well established and longstanding, new and unique problems continue to appear again and again.

It stems from the fact that we’re reliant on one chemical, lead.

While our use of it is well established, reliable, well contained and safe in our facilities, that

6 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

chemical has other historical uses that are not so.

It requires us to be very diligent in our use of the chemical as well as ensuring that regulations issued by public demand for action are rational and grounded in science that adequately protects the public, while ensuring that responsible users of lead like our industry are able to continue serving the needs of the American people and those of the rest of the world.

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI: THE REGULATORY CHALLENGES Q: Do you see further changes on the horizon?

RM: The federal government has been very clear it won’t be making any national declarations other than what they’ve already designated, with things like the military, or hospitals.

Whether that changes within the next 24 hours or four weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised; it’s impossible to predict with certainty anything now.

But where we have seen states implement stay-at-home orders, BCI has either directly lobbied and advocated that lead battery manufacturing and recycling needs to be recognized as a critical manufacturing sector, or we have supported any individual’s efforts if they’ve asked for our support.

Battery recyclers are also critical for battery manufacturing given that 80% or more of the lead used to make batteries is supplied by them.

Q: Over the past year BCI has been working on multiple fronts to track, monitor, lobby, advise and support its members. As is so often the case in the US, the work often seems to begin with California, the country’s biggest economy by far and often a leader in legislative change.

What’s your perspective on this?

RM: The ultimate aim is to provide science-based counselling to regulators and legislators in the hope that any regulations are implemented in a rational manner and do not harm the industry, which directly and indirectly employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

California tends to run its own agenda on its own terms. Some parts of the country follow, some don’t, but for states with a similar demographic it does set the model for a lot of the country.

That’s why we spend so much time making sure California is doing things in a rational manner.

Q: The state’s occupational safety and health administration, CAL-OSHA, was given a deadline of this September to finalize its rules surrounding lead in the workplace, although with the virus outbreak it is not clear if this will be extended. What do you think is happening?

RM: To the best of our knowledge www.batteriesinternational.com

We made sure that we were recognized and in position to keep our businesses and manufacturing facilities open with appropriate worker safety measures added to make sure we were able to deliver the batteries needed for those vital machines and services.

CALIFORNIA’S NEED FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Q: What’s your take on California’s need for critical infrastructure?

RM: Every year wild fires devastate millions of acres in California, with numbers going up and down but in 2015 and 2017 exceeding 10 million acres.

The fires have shown to the state government the fragility of the electricity infrastructure with the need during drought season for utilities to shut off large portions of the grid to protect against fires starting.

There’s also the damage done to the grid causing power losses during a wild fire.

We’ve seen an increasing focus

from regulators and legislators on ensuring that critical infrastructure has backup, and they’re the same discussions we’ve been having more recently with coronavirus.

All those factors come into play even more so in California, where they’re looking at legislation that would increase the duration that cellular phone towers are required to maintain operation for, without a grid source of electricity, from one day to three days.

As legislation comes out, if it’s adopted, it will mean huge opportunities for storage and backup to serve those needs. Particularly in applications where lead batteries are proven and safe, we think they are going to offer the best choice.

The fires have shown to the state government the fragility of the electricity infrastructure with the need during drought season for utilities to shut off large portions of the grid to protect against fires starting.

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 7

BCI: THE REGULATORY CHALLENGES

California tends to run its own agenda on its own terms. Some parts of the country follow, some don’t, but for states with a similar demographic it does set the model for a lot of the country. That’s why we spend so much time making sure California is doing things in a rational manner. based on documents released by CAL-OSHA they appear to be continuing to work with the revised rule draft that CAL-OSHA developed and BCI commented on in 2016, and that model is roughly similar to the federal model — it changes a couple of numbers and adds a couple of key features.

These include what are called secondary engineering control air limits — SECALs — which provide relief for certain lead battery manufacturing work areas from the more onerous air lead levels that will be imposed in other areas.

That was a key effort of BCI, to get SECALs incorporated into that rule in 2015-2016, and it appears they’re continuing with that concept.

Some issues have yet to be resolved or legislated on despite being

identified as possible areas of focus some years ago.

The Safer Consumer Products programme, under California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control’s Green Chemistry programme, has long suggested that lead batteries should be entered in its work plan as a ‘potential priority product’.

But if lead batteries were included on the priority product list it would impose substantive burdens on the lead battery industry to conduct a rigorous alternatives analysis, which the law requires industry to conduct and pay for.

The state then takes that alternatives analysis and can decide on an unlimited gamut of potential restrictions, either on the use of a product or the manufacture, up to

and including a ban.

No chemical or product has completed the chemistry review yet so we don’t have a good prediction of the types of restrictions the state will be looking at but it is a potentially industry curtailing process.

It’s just California, but California is the single largest economy in the US and as we’ve seen from other industries, product manufacturers may feel it makes business sense to manufacture products to the same standard as that of California.

However, while lead batteries are still on this work plan, no decision has yet been made and for two years the department has identified other chemicals as higher priorities.

BCI has continued to meet with DTSC and provide updates on R&D efforts and we believe that engagement is fruitful and constructive — the DTSC staff are much better educated on the lead battery markets and industries than they were three or four years ago.

We are hopeful that will be reflected in the decision they come out with.

We are consistently optimistic that the decisions will be made ‘soon’.

Q: California has two state-wide policy mandates that present critical opportunities for lead batteries — the goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2035, and the state’s problem with wild fires. Could you tell us more about how BCI is holding aloft the lead battery sector as a go-to technology to support both of these goals?

RM: Moving an economy the size of California to renewables and other clean energy sources will require a massive investment by the state in energy storage.

The market for those storage technologies is really just getting off the ground and California is only just starting to invest in large-scale projects. It is still involved in the planning stages of how much energy Continued on Page 10 >

The market for storage technologies is just getting off the ground and California is only just starting to invest in large-scale projects. It is still involved in the planning stages of how much energy storage it might need and how much it will contribute to its overall goal. Based on the models, we believe no single energy storage technology can meet all the demand.

8 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

PROFILE: TBS ENGINEERING GROUP

Lights, camera … TBS “Providing competitive advantage for our customers is what we aim to achieve. We believe that four development principles in the design of our product lines … naturally result in delivering this advantage.”

Afterwards they called it their light bulb moment.

“We were exhibiting at a conference in Asia,” says Chris Hanes, Group Director, Marketing and Growth for TBS Engineering. “And we looked around at all the other booths and came to a stunning realization.

“Although TBS is one of the largest, best and longest established lead battery firms in the industry, anybody new, who did not know who we were, would have little idea of the scope of our business.”

The epiphany moment had its immediate consequences.

A board meeting resulted in a restructuring that focused on greater industry presence, accelerated growth and marketing and, for want of a better term, delivering ‘thoughtleadership’.

“TBS Engineering has a reputation for being a market leading engineering firm with its roots in designing and equipment automation for the lead battery manufacturing industry and a strong after-sale service, that’s been our core strength,” says Hanes.

Hanes believes that the core principles of its product development needed to be communicated more effectively — so that there was a clear hallmark of TBS thinking on its product lines.

“Providing competitive advantage for our customers is what we aim to achieve. We believe that four development principles in the design of our product lines — automation will increase result in faster production levels, more efficient working techniques should be a goal in themselves, and that worker safety and environmental responsibility are obligatory — naturally result in this competitive advantage.

“Products such as our Automatic Plate Loader — which is featured in this year’s BCI award nominations —are a natural extension of this.

Here we looked at one part of the manufacturing line and could see that it needed automation for all these reasons: from the point of view

www.batteriesinternational.com

Chris Hanes, Group Director, Marketing and Growth for TBS Engineering of being better for the environment and employees’ health [taking workers away from an area where lead dust would be in the air], to achieving faster and more efficient production.”

As part of its revamp, TBS decided to fast-track other products such as its next generation of its cast-onstrap technology known as COS 8S that it had been developing. “They play to our core strengths, which are cast-on-strap, assembly and platemaking automation equipment,” says Hanes, “but should take our existing product lines to new levels.”

Hanes says creating this next generation of battery making machines comes about by a collaborative process with leading battery manufacturers such as East Penn and Exide through such things as analysing workflows, desired output levels, the space available for the machinery and the like.

Hanes believes the end result is that battery manufacturers trust TBS to deliver what’s needed. “This is a clear advantage the lead battery business over the lithium one,” he says. “As an industry we have long relationships in place having worked with customers through bad and good times.” TBS Engineering was set up over half a century ago.

But that’s not to say that all is well for the lead battery business and Hanes believes that the industry needs leadership and direction and is in need of a change of ethos.

As part of its epiphany moment,

TBS has aligned itself more closely with trade bodies such as Battery Council International and the International Lead Association. It joined the Confederation for Battery Innovation (previously known as the ALABC) and plans to be an active member of several trade committees that serve the industry. “We’ve got the know-how and the expertise, there’s no need to keep it all to ourselves,” he says.

If growth is a major theme of this revamped organization, how it will achieve this is still being debated.

“Our present plans are for organic expansion of our capabilities but we’re open to an acquisition — pretty much anywhere in the lead battery manufacturing process — if the right opportunity presents itself,” says Hanes.

Certainly the company’s acquisition strategy has been successful in the past. In 2004 it bought Tekmax, the world’s largest provider of battery plate enveloping equipment, and two years later it launched its HiTek plate enveloping machines. Its acquisition of the Cominco Battery Group in 2011 made it a world leader in plate making.

David Longney, Group Managing Director, said: “TBS is on a remarkable journey. We pioneered cast-on strap technology and continue to lead the way in automation and innovation in our sector, from machines that produced just one battery per minute 30 years ago, to up to 10 a minute today.”

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 9

BCI: THE REGULATORY CHALLENGES < Continued from Page 8

storage it might need and how much it will contribute to its overall goal.

Based on the models, we believe no single energy storage technology can meet all the demand. But lead batteries are a particularly good fit for the needs of that market — they have the advantage of upfront costs, availability, temperature resistance, fire resistance, and they have a proven track record.

BCI has been engaged with utilities and other stakeholders to ensure lead batteries are properly considered and included in all the evaluation and

planning that is being gone through.

As an association we believe in the advantages of lead batteries, but at the end of the day it will be a business decision by those members who want to approach those goals and those markets.

BCI’s mandate is to ensure that lead batteries are not written out of the programme simply because we’re an established technology and not a whizz bang new boy in town.

We expect regulators to enable a level playing field for competing technologies, to look at specifications and performance parameters and

increasingly pay attention to fire safety requirements as well as end of life requirements.

Regulators — especially in places like California — are considering how best to ensure the technology they are implementing doesn’t contribute to environmental issues, and the proven recyclability of lead batteries is, we think, an increasingly important factor.

Q: What’s your view of how the federal level looks at lead?

RM: The Trump administration has been as good as its word in sticking

AN EYE ON WASHINGTON With one eye on California, another BCI eye has had to be cast over the state of Washington, where it appears the intention is to re-write the entire rule book on occupational lead safety.

Unlike the other states we’ve been involved with, such as California and Michigan, Washington has taken the approach that it won’t just update the science and healthbased limits with lead in air and blood, they’ve decided for reasons which BCI disagrees with to rewrite everything from the ground up.

We think they’re going in the wrong direction. It’s not that their intention is inappropriate, but the way they’re implementing the changes is unnecessarily complicated and really the draft that is currently written is inscrutable — you can’t understand it.

The bigger problem is that if they follow that path to completion, they will be the lone state with a model that doesn’t work the same way as all the other 49 states, which means it will be very difficult for employers in Washington to have a lead safety programme that is at all similar to the one they have in other states.

It remains unclear why they decided to take that path — they understand that BCI is always ready to work with regulators to ensure there are science-based updates to the lead standards, but they 10 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

disagree with where those updates come out.

We don’t think that Washington has substantiated the need to re-write policy from the ground up, particularly in light of the impact it will have on Washington businesses being out of sync with the rest of the country.

The current federal framework, in place in all 50 states although with slight adjustments in Michigan, provides a single trigger for workers to be tested if they work in areas of a facility where the lead in the air is above a certain amount.

Washington has moved to a model where a worker would be subject to various parts of the rule — and there are three different tiers to their rule — as opposed to the federal model, which has only two tiers — based on around 16 different potential triggers.

These include touching a material with a certain amount of lead in it, grinding a material with a different amount of lead in it, welding a

material with yet a different type of lead in it — the examples just go on and on.

And they’ve set those numbers at levels so low that in discussion with instate business groups, we believe every single employer in Washington state will be required to have a lead compliance safety plan to abide by it.

We think it’s ill-advised for them to deviate so strongly from the nationally accepted framework for lead.

BCI has been one of the most, if not the most, active voices in various stakeholder public meetings that have occurred over the last three and a half years. We’ve been at almost all of those meetings to argue for a rational science-based update to the rule. It just appears that the Washington Department of Occupational Safety and Health appears committed to following a path for reasons they have internally.

BCI will continue to be present at all meetings concerned.

We don’t think that Washington has substantiated the need to re-write policy from the ground up, particularly in light of the impact it will have on Washington businesses being out of sync with the rest of the country. www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI: THE REGULATORY CHALLENGES process whenever it feels it’s right — it doesn’t have to wait for them to finish.

BCI has been in touch with OSHA for the past five years — we know them well — and to the extent that we’re able to offer them assistance and guidance, we do.

Q: And TSCA — the Toxic Substances Control Act?

The Trump administration has been as good as its word in sticking to a deregulatory — or at least, less regulation focused — path … that said, federal attention to lead, while perhaps less than might have been the case under a different administration, is continuing. to a deregulatory — or at least, less regulation-focused — path.

That said federal attention to lead, while perhaps less than might have been the case under a different administration, is continuing.

The primary focuses for BCI at a federal level are two regimes that will come into play at some point. The first is OSHA — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The second federal regime is TSCA — the Toxic Substances Control Act. Q: So how has BCI interacted with OSHA? RM: OSHA has been very public in its intention to revisit the occupational rules at a federal level — it’s on their regulatory agenda. It’s been there on the backburner for the entire Trump administration, and other agencies have been tasked with starting work on underlying science and opinions that OSHA will rely on.

There are a number of other bodies that OSHA will consult before

making any decisions.

One is the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), an organization of federal and state regulators and other industrial hygienists who are all working on updating their lead-in-air recommendations.

Another is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which writes a toxicology profile on hundreds of chemicals, and its profile on lead is in the process of being revisited.

Finally the National Unit for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH), a sub unit of the Centers for Disease Control, is in the process of updating its recommendations for lead-in-air limits.

None of the processes is binding, but each is expected to be considered carefully — and OSHA can make its own decisions regardless of whether these processes are completed.

The work is going on behind the scenes to support an OSHA ruling, although OSHA can introduce a

BCI has been engaged with utilities and other stakeholders to ensure lead batteries are properly considered and included in all the evaluation and planning that is being gone through. www.batteriesinternational.com

RM: This works to a plan on which a certain number of chemicals must be under review by the EPA at any one time, and mathematically this means lead must be due for review sometime in the next 20 years.

The EPA is required to prioritize certain types of chemicals above others and lead ticks many of the prioritization criteria.

We have seen, however, EPA recognizing that lead is regulated by numerous other federal programmes, unlike many of the other chemicals on the list, and EPA does seem for now focused on higher priority chemicals.

But we know, because the law requires it, that lead will go through the TSCA programme at some point. So we are monitoring the other chemicals, learning our lessons and keeping our plans up to date for if and when they might add lead to the list of chemicals for review. That is a potentially hugely disruptive process and we just have to plan for it because we know it’s coming.

Finally there’s NAAQS — the National Ambient Air Quality Standard — which EPA is required by statute to revisit every five years.

The Trump administration recently announced that they would be revisiting that this year — the timeline is likely to be extended given the circumstances but they are required to do it.

In past administrations it’s been long, convoluted and painful for industry to participate in it.

The current administration, based on recent examples set by other chemicals, appears to be more willing to engage with stakeholders from all sides, industry as well as public health, and it has also moved more rapidly than previous administrations, completing it in two years rather than four.

We don’t yet have a schedule or plan but we are actively monitoring and engaging on behalf of our members to ensure that the rules stay grounded in science and are rational.

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 11

INSIDE BCI: COMMUNICATIONS Lisa Dry hit the ground running when she took over as BCI’s communications director a couple of years ago. A lot has been achieved. And, she says, a lot more still needs to be done — and will be done, when it can be done. Debbie Mason reports.

Lead. Exploding the myth, exploring the value …

It is highly unlikely that anyone or anything will emerge untouched from the Covid-19 pandemic, and for BCI’s communications director Lisa Dry, it has meant a lot of the work she’s been doing to highlight lead batteries as an essential product will have to go on hold.

But it won’t stop altogether, and speaking to Batteries International, Dry explained some of the valuable methods she and her team have been using to battle for lead batteries — and that there are signs it is beginning to work.

Dry was brought in at the end of August 2017 after the need for a communications programme was identified by the International Lead Association and BCI — a programme specifically to inform and educate policy makers about lead batteries and why they are an essential product.

They began by finding out what the feelings on the ground actually were. They talked to policy makers and people in the industry, and organized research activities and focus groups.

“We defined the ‘four main pillars’ of lead batteries — that they are safe, essential, innovative and sustainable,” she says.

“Then we needed to get the message out, so we launched our website Essential Energy Everyday, and started creating materials around our messages — like fact sheets, information briefs on different topics, such as the circular economy and lead batteries for renewable energy.

“We also established social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and we used paidfor advertising on them to target policy makers in Washington DC and California, which is a perpetual concern.

“It wasn’t always directly to policy

12 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

“We defined the ‘four main pillars’ of lead batteries — that they are safe, essential, innovative and sustainable. Then we needed to get the message out, so we launched our website Essential Energy Everyday” makers. With LinkedIn, for example, we can reach other influential people who see our messaging and become something of an amplifier to tell the story to people who are already listening to them.”

Dry also says the geofencing BCI has done — using GPS technology to trigger responses when devices enter or leave particular areas, essentially targeted advertising pop-ups when specific buildings or areas are entered, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Energy,

Congress and the Senate.

“We’ve done that with any new or exciting material, such as with the economic impact study [showing how much lead batteries contribute to the US economy] or the National Recycling Rate Study. These are big campaign themes that we want to be sure policy makers see — we will do the geofencing to make sure we push it in their direction.

“It’s not inexpensive but we make sure it’s targeted.

“Also last year and this year we have had our briefings on Capitol Hill on energy storage. This year we focused a lot on telecoms and data centres and new research on charging stations for EVs. We chose speakers who could talk on topics that we know Congress is interested in, and while last year’s briefing was very successful — this year’s was even better because the room was literally standing room only.”

Evidence of success This kind of work doesn’t come cheap, and Dry says they did turn down one option, which for a sixfigure sum would have carried out focus groups in a bid to gauge how successful it had been.

“We felt, based on anecdotal information from our members and the reception from policy makers, that we are making inroads and that money could be better spent continuing the programme, so we opted not to do it,” Dry says.

“But we haven’t seen any negative regulatory policies come out against lead batteries.

“When you look at the high awareness there is around lead with water and with paint, we feel our programme has contributed to helping people understand that lead batteries are different. That means that they understand the lead is

www.batteriesinternational.com

INSIDE BCI: COMMUNICATIONS contained within the batteries, and they do not have the same health concerns that these other uses have.

“We also see interest from the Department of Energy in funding projects for continued research into lead batteries, and that’s helped us to believe that we are making a difference.

“And in California we believe they were on the verge of placing restrictions on lead batteries in 2017 and 2018, but they were very interested in what we had to tell them — and it hasn’t happened.”

Dry is referring to the potential listing of lead batteries as a priority product, which would have huge implications for the industry in finding alternatives and meeting other criteria.

“While last year’s briefing to Congress was very successful — this year’s was even better because the room was literally standing room only”

“But we haven’t seen any negative regulatory policies come out against lead batteries. When you look at the high awareness there is around lead with water and with paint, we feel our programme has contributed to helping people understand that lead batteries are different” COMMUNICATIONS AND THE CORONAVIRUS EFFECT Early this year, BCI launched what it called a ‘thought-leadership’ series called Essential Insight, wherein industry figures such as CBI’s Alistair Davidson, Argonne’s Tim Fister and EnerSys’s David Shaffer wrote guest blogs about the industry and what they were doing.

“We thought we’d try to put a face on our Essential Energy Everyday programme and we have a couple of others ready to push out once we get to a more normal time, but at the moment we think people are just too distracted with other things to pay too much attention,” says Dry. “At the beginning of March we decided we would hold back on our social media a bit and focus on messages about essentiality — so now we’re talking about how lead batteries are essential as back-up power for hospitals, provide transport for first responders and now we’re all working at home how vital they are as back-up in communications.

“We’re also thanking the workers in the industry, we’re putting posters

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up in facilities to say thank you for keeping the country going — it’s important for industry to recognize this at a time when people are nervous.”

Sponsorship events that had been listed will probably not happen now.

“We will probably pull back our work for the remainder of the year,” she says. “Last year we sponsored a couple of events with external stakeholders like the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, but we think we will probably not do that again this year because travel is going to be so

restricted. Who knows when we will be able to do that again.

“We don’t know yet what the true disruption is to the economy and what’s going to happen so we want to keep it at a maintenance level of communications, to keep on with the things that have worked in the past, and try to stay in tune with the marketplace and policy makers.

“It’s also an election year in the US so getting attention of policy makers means competing with way too many other things that are closer to their own personal interests.”

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 13

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It can be supplied as a stand-alone paster or as our new SBP Combo paster cutter in a single space saving frame. The plate cutter can be either electronic or mechanical. It is designed to run at up to 200 feet per minute and can run at that speed with the Wirtz high speed robotic plate stacker. Our patented feature “On the Fly” thickness control allows thickness changes to be made while the machine is running.

To learn more on how Wirtz can improve your plate quality and your production output, call a Wirtz sales representative at +1-810-987-7600 or email sales@wirtzusa.com.

INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.

CONFERENCE IN PRINT: HAMMOND GROUP Hammond Group researchers have analysed the way that PbO2 conversion during formation can be overcome for cured positive plates with 4BS crystals. The research was led by Dr Marvin Ho with contributions from Thomas Wojcinski, Maureen Sherrick, Dave Petersen and Gordon Beckley.

Study of TTBLS seed crystals with treatments to improve formation efficiency Modern applications demand that a battery delivers robust performance with increased cycle life. Typically, the life of the lead-acid battery is limited by the positive plate due to such factors as corrosion, active material shedding etc. Positive active material (PbO2) with stronger structure is desired to extend the cycle life of lead acid batteries.

The structure of the PAM is determined by the phase composition, morphology of crystals and density of paste. Past research works have shown that positive paste containing tetrabasic lead sulfate crystals (4PbO.PbSO4, TTBLS or 4BS) has a stronger

OVERVIEW Positive plates manufactured with Tetrabasic Lead Sulfate (TTBLS or 4BS) seed crystals have been studied and proven to improve the cycle life of the lead acid battery. But the more difficult PbO2 conversion during formation is the key drawback of cured positive plates with 4BS crystals. The R&D team at Hammond Group has developed a process to apply treatments on 4BS seed crystals to increase PbO2 conversion during formation and still maintain or extend the cycle life of the battery. This paper presents the data collected from the analysis of cured and formed plates in both controlled laboratory-scale experiments and in full productionscale battery trial.

16 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

positive active material structure and longer life compared to paste with classical technology including tribasic lead sulfate crystals (3PbO. PbSO4, TBLS or 3BS).

4BS crystals in the positive active material ensure longer life performance of the battery, but they also reduce the conversion rate of PbO2 during formation which leads to lower initial capacity of the battery. To compensate for the lower initial capacity caused by inefficiency of formation, longer formation is a typical method used by lead acid battery manufacturers.

But this method will reduce the production rate and add extra cost to the manufacturing process. Several approaches have been proposed to improve the PbO2 conversion during formation. One of these approaches is to add an additive, such as red lead, to increase the conversion to PbO2, however red lead is not readily available in all parts of the world.

Hammond’s R&D team has developed a process of modifying their industry-proven 4BS seed crystal additive (SureCure®) to maintain the positive active material durability and consistency required for long service life in multiple applications such as: stop/start, renewable energy, golf car, e-rickshaw, etc. and to increase the formation efficiency of newly formed batteries.

Experiment and results Hammond’s 4BS crystal seed (Standard SureCure®) is made with a chemical process followed by a milling step to produce the specified

particle size (~ 1 μm). This material is used as the base material in this study. Once the standard SureCure® material has been produced to within the proper particle size specification, a final finishing treatment is applied.

The purpose of treatment is to control the crystal growth of 4BS seeds (such as SureCure® crystals) during the curing process, while still providing seed sites to assist in the uniform controlled growth of 4BS crystals within the positive active material. There are two treatments (120 and 140) applied to the base SureCure® crystal and studied in this paper. These treated crystals are called Treated SureCure® 120 and Treated SureCure® 140 later in this paper.

Studies of crystal growth with different curing profiles were carried out in the laboratory. The curing profiles studied in this paper are 55˚C with high humidity (>95% RH) for 48 hours and 75˚C with high humidity (>95% RH) for 24 hours. Both profiles also include a 24-hour drying step after the high humidity step.

Samples were taken from the curing chamber over the course of the curing process and analyzed to characterize physical properties, phase composition and morphology of the positive active materials.

Standard SureCure®, Treated SureCure® 120 and 140 were studied following this test plan, and the results are presented in this paper.

Battery trials were carried out as part of a production trial at a major battery manufacturing site. The

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CONFERENCE IN PRINT: HAMMOND GROUP 6V deep cycle battery (~230Ah at 20HR rate). All test and control batteries were formed at the same time to eliminate the variations from the process.

Cured plates were collected after the curing process and formed plates were collected from autopsying batteries after formation. These plates were analyzed in the lab employing techniques which focused on the chemical composition, phase composition, BET surface area and morphology of the active material mass. Electrical testing of the assembled batteries followed the dynamic load profile cycle life procedure as recommended by the BCI Deep Cycle and EV Battery Technical Committee in recent publications.

The detailed testing procedure is shown below:

Dynamic Cycle Life Procedure – 6V GC2 Size

Treated SureCure® was added to a standard mixer (2,400 lbs) with leady oxide, water, sulfuric acid and fiber to make the positive paste. Test plates were made with the paste described above. The addition rate of Treated SureCure® is 1% versus leady oxide.

The control plates were produced with 4BS crystal seeds from other sources besides Hammond and the same loading (1%). Both control and test plates were placed on racks and cured side by side in the same curing room to reduce variations during curing process.

The negative plates were collected from normal production and used in both control and test batteries.

Then, both the control and test positive plates were assembled with negative plates into control and test batteries. The battery size is a typical

Figure 1

Cured material characteristics from laboratory investigations Positive plates containing Treated SureCure® will exhibit similar characteristics to plates containing Standard SureCure®. This includes a typically brighter orange hue and harder, more durable active material surface.

Figure 1: A comparison of Cured Positive plates sampled during the curing process for both Standard (Standard Hammond SureCure®) and Treated SureCure®120.

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BENEFITS The treatments and novel 4BS seed crystal materials developed

by Hammond Group provide several benefits to battery performance: • Increased PbO2 conversion (or higher efficiency) with the same formation profile • Produce cured material with similar or better PAM cohesion strength (drop test) • Create higher BET surface area which leads to higher initial performance of the battery (initial capacity) • Deliver longer cycle life with lower recharge factor (108%) • Offer an optimized solution when combined with advanced expander for PSoC applications • Certain treatments may slow the crystal growth and conversion of the active mass to 4BS at low temperature (≤55˚C) curing profiles. Higher curing temperatures will resolve this issue.

By combining Treated SureCure® and advanced expander together into the battery’s design, an optimized solution can be achieved for partial state of cycling (PSoC) applications.

Changes of phase composition during curing Figures 2 and 3 on the following page show the X-ray diffraction analysis of active material from cured plates with the addition of Standard Hammond SureCure®, Treated SureCure® 120 and Treated SureCure® 140. Figure 2 shows the effect of various treatments on the conversion of tetrabasic lead sulfate (4BS) content in positive active material during the curing process at 55˚C and 95% RH over the course of 48 hours plus drying. It is shown that Treated SureCure® 120 experiences delayed 4BS conversion.

Treated SureCure® 140 shows the same 4BS crystal conversion rate as standard SureCure®.

Conversely, Figure 3 illustrates the crystal growth of Standard SureCure®, Treated SureCure® 120 and Treated SureCure® 140 during curing at 75˚C with the same RH conditions and a 24-hour wet phase

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 17

Figure 5

Figure 2

Figure 3: Phase changes of 4BS crystal growth during the curing process at 75˚C for both Standard SureCure® and Treated SureCure® Additives

Figure 4

Figure 2: Phase changes of 4BS crystal growth during the curing process at 55˚C for both Standard SureCure® and Treated SureCure® Additives

Figure 3

CONFERENCE IN PRINT: HAMMOND GROUP

Figure 4: Standard SureCure® @75˚C

Figure 5: Treated SureCure® 120 @75˚C

plus drying. All three additives have similar crystal conversion rates when cured at 75˚C. These results demonstrate that the high temperature accelerates the crystal conversion (or crystal growth) and suppresses the delay experienced

by Treated SureCure® 120. No steam is required which means most curing rooms can be set to properly cure positive plates using Treated SureCure®.

Figures 4-6 show the SEM pictures of positive active material from cured plates as produced with addition of Standard SureCure® (Figure 4), Treated SureCure® 120 (Figure 5) and Treated SureCure® 140 (figure 6). Both treatments (120 and 140) did change the way 4BS crystals grow and show different crystal appearance when compared to that seen in the Standard SureCure® additive.

Cured and formed active material characteristics from battery production trials Cured plates from the battery production trial were collected after the curing process and analyzed in the Laboratory. Table 1 shows the characterization results of both control and Treated SureCure® 120 cured positive plates from this production trial. The control plate here is the plate with 4BS seed crystals from another source used by the manufacturer. The control material has a higher 4BS reading from XRD, lower BET surface area and slightly higher weight loss in drop testing.

Although the control material has a higher XRD reading, it does not ensure stronger cohesion inside the positive active material. These results give evidence to support that Treated SureCure® 120 did indeed change the way that the 4BS crystals formed during curing as seen initially in the laboratory trial. The treatment leads

Figure 6

Table 1. Analysis of cured plates from battery production trial

Figure 6: Treated SureCure® 140 @75˚C

18 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

Test

Plate with Typical 4BS crystal seeds

Plate with Treated SureCure® 120

Weight Loss (%) from Drop Test

4.23

3.89

BET – SA (m2/g)

0.74

0.84

Relative Weight (%) of 4BS - XRD

78.8

65.5

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CONFERENCE IN PRINT: HAMMOND GROUP

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Plate with Typical 4BS crystal seeds

Plate with Treated SureCure® 120

BET – SA (m2/g)

2.45

6.12

Weight (%) of Lead Sulfate

18.1

4.20

Weight (%) of PbO2

81.1

94.6

Initial Capacity (Ah) @ 75A DCH before Cycle Test

99.4

117.5

Figure 8

Test

Figure 7

Cycle life test Treated SureCure® was developed to increase cycle life performance through improved charging efficiency of the positive plate in conditions when high passive lead sulfate content is present. Both control and test batteries were placed into a constant temperature water bath and tested under the dynamic load profile cycle life procedure recommended by the BCI Deep Cycle and EV Battery Technical Committee.

Figure 9 shows the results of this cycling regime on both the control and test (with Treated SureCure® 120) batteries from the production trial. Both sets of batteries received 108% overcharge during cycling and received a full recharge before being capacity checked at a 75A discharge rate. As shown by the testing data, the test batteries delivered much longer cycle life compared to control batteries.

Since both batteries used the same negative plates from production, the extended cycle life is attributed to the change in the positive additive materials, specifically Treated SureCure® 120 in this case.

Also, this result provides further evidence that Hammond’s treatment to the 4BS crystal seeds will provide additional benefit to overall performance at lower overcharge (108%) conditions.

Table 2. Analysis of formed plates from battery production trial

Figure 7: Positive Formed Material with Treated SureCure®120

Figure 8: Positive Material with other 4BS Seed Crystals

Figure 9

to higher surface area and stronger PAM even though the relative 4BS reading from the XRD measurement is lower.

Table 2 shows the results of formed plate characterization and initial battery testing results from test batteries constructed during the production trials. Positive plates with Treated SureCure® 120 demonstrate higher BET surface area, and PbO2 conversion is shown to be more efficient when compared to the control plates. This explains the higher initial performance (capacity) of the battery with plates containing Treated SureCure® 120 as shown in the table.

These same samples of positive active material were then imaged using Hammond’s on-site scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipment. From Figures 7 and 8, a clear difference in the micro-crystal structure and ordering of the PAM particles between the samples is observed.

Figure 9: Cycling performance of control and treated SureCure®120 test batteries

Dr. Marvin Ho is Hammond’s CTO and vice president of R&D responsible for the advancement of lead-acid battery electrochemistry through the development of innovative performance additives and lead oxides. He has over 25 years of experience in energy storage technologies such as fuel cells, nickel based and lead-acid battery systems, he has worked with leading research institutes including IEEES at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Trinity College in Ireland.

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 19

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS Five years ago, BCI announced a special award for innovation in the lead battery industry. The 2020 winner will be announced on Monday, April 27 at the opening of the virtual conference.

Invention comes to the fore as new and lively wave of innovators emerge This year, 13 companies submitted entries for the 2020 Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award.

Thank you to 1-800 Battery, Abertax, Arc Active, CMWTEC, Daramic, Flow-Rite, Chosh Brothers, Mega Amps, Powersonic, ProCharging, TBS, Very and Wirtz for bettering the industry through innovative thinking.

T

he Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award celebrates innovation in equipment, processes, services and products that advance the lead battery industry.

Submissions were opened in December and remained open until February 2020. Battery Council International received 13 submissions. Each submission was judged on eight areas: sustainability, safety, cost, performance, detail, uniqueness, value and quantifiablity.

Sustainability – Does the submission show environmental stewardship and /or innovative recyclability? Submitters were asked to provide tangible aspirations, goals and objectives in helping to create a greener tomorrow.

Safety — Does the submission show product or process stability and the ability to be safely commercialized?

Submitters were asked to demonstrate a clear commitment to the best interests of the general public and industry from a safety standpoint.

Cost — Can the submission be easily commercialized, provide cost-optimized advantages and be an affordable alternative to existing technologies and processes?

Performance — Does the submission meet or exceed the needs for application and industry requirements?

Submitters were asked to demonstrate how the innovation meets its intended key objectives, goals and benefits as well as other outstanding attributes.

Detail — Does the submission provide adequate information that thoroughly explains the innovation?

Uniqueness — Is the submission the first of its kind to market or rarely used by other organizations?

How does it differ from existing products? Submitters were asked to provide information about similar applications and clearly define what makes this product, process or discovery unique or innovative.

Value — How does the submission directly benefit the lead battery industry? Can the value be quantified with numerical data, such as material reduction or pollution avoided? Can the product be utilized outside the company that created it?

Quantifiable — Does the information provided meet the criteria and clearly describe in numerical data the key measurable areas? Submissions that provided actual data received a higher score.

Those who submitted an entry were asked to include a 90-second video providing additional insight on their innovation.

To view the videos and learn more visit the BCI home page.

Michael Borgeson Membership and Operations Coordinator

“Innovation is the thing that gives you the opportunity. It’s the promise of our future.”

Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz

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Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 21

2021

Plan to attend the

+

power mart expo April 25-27, 2021 Naples Grande Beach Resort 475 Seagate Dr. + Naples, FL 34103

Learn more at www.batterycouncil.org.

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ARCACTIVE Decarbonization of the world’s energy sources necessarily involves both affordability and better energy storage — two goals at the heart of ArcActive’s offering for the award.

Achieving the dream of high DCA and low water loss

A

rcActive was founded on a simple concept: help make the decarbonization of society affordable. As an example of how hard decarbonization is, despite the efforts of policy makers and regulators, the proportion of fossil fuels in the global energy mix in 2017 (81%) has remained virtually static since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 (also 81%)!

ArcActive believes that decarbonization will occur naturally if the carbon intensity of products is reduced in a way that costs consumers no more, or even a little less, than existing products.

The business was founded in 2011 on the intellectual property developed by associate professor John Abrahamson at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

The IP relates to a novel carbon fibre material, and early applications that were investigated included low energy light bulbs, ultracapacitors and solar cells before deciding on a novel, carbon fibre-based negative electrode for the lead battery.

To be specific, ArcActive has re-engineered the negative electrode of the lead battery to remove the lead grid and replace it with a non-woven carbon fibre fabric into which traditional lead active material is inserted.

The benefit of this innovation is that it solves the number one technical challenge facing the industry; achieving high and sustained dynamic charge acceptance while having very low water consumption.

ArcActive batteries are unique in being able to achieve the very high DCA targets promoted by the CBI of 2A/ Ah, which maximizes the CO2 benefits of micro hybrid vehicles, while still achieving very low water consump-

tion results of less than 3g/Ah. ArcActive batteries perform as well as normal EFB and AGM batteries on other automotive tests; that is, there is no compromise in performance in moving to ArcActive’s technology. There is a modest on-cost in moving to this material, but there is a strong value proposition for car makers to adopt (a low cost option for CO2 reduction).

Just as important as the performance levels of the innovation is the ability to manufacture the electrodes at speeds and volumes required to be commercially relevant in the lead battery industry.

Developing the core processes has been a focus at ArcActive since its founding in 2011, and we are pleased to say that while work continues on this front, we have relevant, high volume throughput processes that enable the electrodes to be made at the very fine tolerances demanded by automotive applications.

This combination of superior technical performance and highvolume manufacturing processes has allowed ArcActive to secure partnerships with some of the leading battery companies in the lead battery industry, who are working towards taking this technology to market as we speak.

While ArcActive’s focus has been on achieving high DCA for micro hybrid car batteries, the technology is also probably very well suited to other partial state of charge applications. To this end we have early but promising results for use of the battery in PSoC applications to support renewable

energy generation, which again show that ArcActive’s negative electrodes do not appear to degrade in PSoC use.

Given the trend towards lead batteries needing to perform well in PSoC applications (automotive, battery energy storage systems, forklifts etc) ArcActive’s technology is ideally suited to allow lead battery technology to thrive and prosper even with the threats posed from Li-ion and evolving market requirements.

The benefit of this innovation is that it solves the number one technical challenge facing the industry; achieving high and sustained dynamic charge acceptance while having very low water consumption. www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 23

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: ABERTAX The problem of dealing with lead in battery accessories — typically which don’t enter the recycling chain — has been solved by Abertax.

Adding another aspect to lead’s green credentials

T

he standard lead-acid battery is considered practically 100% recyclable. However, the use of lead-containing accessories for batteries, such as level sensors in flooded batteries, can be a concern.

Lead has been the ideal material to use in such applications.

The level probe can still be used for future new and replacement batteries.

However, in most cases, the trend is to dispose of the probe and not pass it through the lead battery recycling process.

Abertax has always been concerned with the use of such a material.

“Our R&D department has been actively busy for a number of years developing an alternative,” says George Schembri, president of Abertax.

This was far from an easy task. The following specifications were set out: • Able to withstand the very aggressive nature of the electrolyte: battery acid at elevated temperatures.

• Be stiff enough to withstand normal usage.

• Preferably out-live at least three to four battery changes.

• Can be cut to size by the installers.

• Not a health hazard in handling.

“The best material found to finally conform to the Abertax specifications that are much sought after and accepted within the industry proved to

24 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

be the carbon fibre-reinforced-resin,” says Schembri.

“This material by far out-performed all others tested.”

The aim was to do away with traces of lead from external parts of flooded batteries and this is where the testing phase of the project was begun.

It had to be proven that the sensor not only worked, but should be costeffective in production, and totally safe to use; anything that could trigger a dangerous fault would not result in any harm such as causing a fire to ignite within the sensor.

All three separate paths are protected: Probe to positive (+) Probe to negative (-) Positive to negative.

The sensor is also protected against reverse polarity.

If installed correctly, a 100% leakproof installation is obtained. This is achieved through the use of the special “Gauge-Guard”, manufactured out of unique material ensuring a tight seal between the sensor and battery lid, leaving a dry, acid-free and “safe-to-

handle” battery surface.

Other special important features are: • Special terminals (WLW) for bolted connectors, offering a perfectly sealed connection to the terminals.

• Supply wires fed from opposite ends of the sensor housing, providing maximum possible isolation and eliminating wire loops within the sensor.

• Protection against voltage-transients and electromagnetic interference.

• Manufactured from tried and proven acid-resistant materials throughout, including flexible grommets at each wire entry point.

This work is a major improvement on the existing Abertax CLS level sensor for flooded batteries. For more than a year now it has undergone stringent field tests and has been proven to perform perfectly.

This product is now ready for the market.

It is being manufactured very feasibly, with enormous advantages over the existing product. It not only eliminates the metal lead from the outside of flooded batteries, but also during the manufacturing and assembly process, frees the operators from exposure to lead. The same holds for technicians installing the probes on the batteries themselves.

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: CMWTEC CMWTEC has produced an improved high rate discharge process that provides a suite of new end-of-line testing indispensable for process control.

How to combine impedance and high current testing in one package

C

MWTEC has developed a new end-of-line testing machine for lead-acid batteries together with newly developed water-cooled modular e-load modules with highly efficient process control software. This project was developed with the Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin over a period of two years.

“After commissioning and running our first EOL machines for two of our customers, we were able to collect a lot of real battery data from the production lines and examine each individual measurement on site,” says Michael Wipperfürth, sales manager at CMWTEC. Reliability is the most important feature of automotive batteries. To ensure reliability, all batteries are subjected to a load test before shipping. Energy losses must be minimized. The batteries are tested for a few seconds at high current. The resulting voltage determines a pass or fail compared to the nominal values.

Wipperfürth says this new development is the key to combining impedance and high current discharge testing in one device and one software.

“This test combination was previously only possible in the laboratory,” he says. “But we are now bringing it into the production line and significantly increasing quality control at the production site. Thanks to adaptable test profiles, our EOL can now detect the most common faults within five seconds.”

Mohammed Al-Ogaili, project manager development at CMWTEC, says: “We can find out so much more about the battery by combining discharge with impedance and DC internal resistance testing.

“It shows how additional evaluation criteria such as internal DC resistance, impedance and discharge curves over time can be implemented. The test profiles are easy to configure, and the results can be easily evaluated.”

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The internal resistance Ri of a battery can reflect its own characteristics, which include the state of health of the battery and the state of charge. Therefore Ri should be considered with some caution, as it depends on the measurement method, the state of the battery and the temperature.

However, all batteries of a type with relatively the same production process should have Ri values within a definable tolerance band.

Then the deviating batteries can be picked out in a differentiated way. “We can assess the variation of the battery on the basis of a comprehensive consideration of the deviation of the internal resistance in combination with other typical test profiles using a HRD test,” says Wipperfürth.

The integrated system for measuring the internal resistance in CMWTEC’s EOL tester offers new possibilities for battery fault diagnosis in addition to monitoring the voltage and current performance during the HRD (High Rate Discharge) test.

This method can also provide new ideas for extreme fault diagnosis and performance prediction of batteries

depending on the different test profiles for each battery and statistically analyze the measurements.

“The new flexible, compact and robust design of the machine with integrated electronic, water-cooled E-load modules and touch screen is suitable for operation in a variety of difficult environments and saves space on the production line,” says Wipperfürth.

“Best-fit test clamps and pneumatic gripper ensure a perfect connection.

The intelligent design of the test clamp allows the integration of a Kelvin test probe for the HRD/Impedance test combination.”

The modular design of the electronic load enables HRD testing in the range of 500 amps up to 3000 amps and more. The water-cooling system is located below the conveyor unit to save space.

The EOL control software, which is housed in a separate panel, is PLCcontrolled software. The main screen displays valuable information from the production batch.

It is possible to configure the various test profiles with the battery type setting editor.

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 25

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: DARAMIC Daramic continues to expand its separator range, which has been specifically tailored to the way batteries are used in a variety of applications.

The joys of customization

M

uch of Daramic’s recent research and testing has focused on improved separator design using different formulations and ribs that improve acid mixing and reduce acid stratification. This in turn reduces water loss and limits grid corrosion.

The result has been a range of products such as Duralife, Ricklife and now HiCharge, which are specially designed to operate in specific and sometimes more difficult working conditions.

HiCharge is designed for tubular batteries. This separator helps to extend battery life in motive power applications through a special water-loss feature and unique profile design.

As motive power batteries experience increased operations in partialstate-of-charge, Daramic HiCharge helps defend against accelerated grid corrosion and acid stratification, thus increasing battery life.

It has three particular features that make it stand out: a serrated rib pattern, a closer rib pitch, and a low water loss property.

This results in five specific benefits.

• Enhanced acid circulation and improved acid mixing (less acid stratification) • Lower acid displacement • Lower water loss • Even plate spacing and no up moving under vibration • Uniform element compression with closer rib pitch.

“We’re expanding and improving our product range, gaining from the continued breakthroughs made by our R&D team. Progress continues to bear fruit and it’s a trend that we see accelerating. Most particularly it’s with the improvements we’re making in our RipTide product,” says Dawn Heng, global marketing director for Daramic.

“We envisage the partial stage of charge cycle life for a standard SLI and EFB battery to advance from 500 cycles to around 1600 in the next one to two years with our new RipTide product. This will spill over to other separators as time goes by. We’re particularly enthusiastic about the progress we’re seeing with carbon additives.”

26 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

Daramic also continues to focus on tailoring separator designs for the use of batteries in different regions. In March 2013 it set up its Asian Technical Centre in Bangalore that was specifically charged with exploring how to make improved battery separators for the Asia region.

“Our research centre gave us a unique chance to develop on-the-ground and test new products,” says Heng. “Local use of the battery, the difference in the way batteries will be deployed, are never going to be the same as in the western world. Everything from the depth of discharge and related partial state of charge is at odds with the way that batteries work elsewhere.

“There’s also a huge range of different applications for batteries in Asia, for example — just think of the range nowadays from two wheelers to cars to trucks to e-rickshaws.

“You can’t simply take a template product from the US or Europe and put them as separators in Indian batteries,” he says.

“Just think of the different road surfaces in the country, the different driving patterns, the different temperature and climate conditions. Separators play a vital part in the cycle life and performance of a battery and in many parts of Asia demands on the battery are very rigorous.”

“We’re expanding and improving our product range, gaining from the continued breakthroughs made by our R&D team.

Progress continues to bear fruit and it’s a trend that we see accelerating.”

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Leaders in Battery Ancillaries

ABERTAX® Technologies Ltd · KW17A Corradino Industrial Estate · Paola PLA 3000, Malta Tel +356 23 678100, +356 21660606 · Fax +356 21 808625 · info@abertax.com · www.abertax.com Int. Patent Protection on all Products. Product made in the European Union.

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: FLOW-RITE CONTROLS Flow-Rite Controls has created Advanced Battery Steward, which allows real-time monitoring of the health of a fleet of batteries.

Keeping the finger on your batteries’ pulse T he ability to be connected to information about everything without requiring human-tohuman or human-to-computer interaction has become part of human life.

IoT — the Internet of Things .

With that in mind, Flow-Rite created Advanced Battery Steward, which monitors and tracks the health of batteries in real time. Advanced Battery Steward gives customers the ability to see how their batteries are functioning in their current state at any mome.

This eliminates the guesswork on when batteries need to be watered.

“This technology allows you to save time and gives you peace of mind about how your fleet is working, without having to send out service techs for unnecessary check-ups,” says Mark Herrema, engineering director at FlowRite.

“Our sensor technology gives you accurate reports of your batteries and ensures you don’t miss a single issue.”

The sensor technology comes with a wide variety of features, which include: • A fluid level to let the user know when maintenance needs to be done.

• Full voltage and half voltage to determine when an imbalance or battery issue may be present.

• Voltage and current draw to analyze how and when a battery is being used.

• Watering events to record when the maintenance tasks are done.

• Battery pack temperature to identify misuse of the battery pack.

• Battery pack or vehicle impacts to pinpoint vehicle abuse.

The monitoring system is specifically designed for the deep cycle battery with extremely low power consumption. The unit also pulls power from the entire battery pack, avoiding load imbalances. The integrated level probe and watering valve also pass SAE J1495, ensuring safety standards.

After collecting the information from the battery, the data is transmitted to either the cloud for global analysis via

28 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

the internet or the data is transferred to the vehicle for instant feedback.

It also stores the data with a date stamp, tracking the history of the battery pack.

“We understand that staying connected is critical, which is why you can see your fleet’s data on our web portal or right at your fingertips via our ABS app,” says Herrema.

“ You can view this data in real time, anywhere, 24/7. You can also customize your settings to get the specific information you need from your fleet.”

Flow-Rite says it has seen early success with this technology from its customers and is proud to have developed a solution to help them monitor, track, and control their fleet faster and smarter.”

“We understand that staying connected is critical, which is why you can see your fleet’s data on our web portal or right at your fingertips via our ABS app” Mark Herrema, engineering director at Flow-Rite

www.batteriesinternational.com

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: MEGA AMPS Mega Amps’ corporate statement — see the headline below — flies in the face of accepted logic; but could it just be the next step forward for the battery industry?

Stratification. Yes it can really be a good thing!

M ega Amps has developed a patented electrolyte manipulation innovation for flooded lead-acid batteries dubbed EQLYTE, (EE-KEW-LITE). This is coupled with an intelligent controller that serves to optimize electrochemical hydrodynamics by increasing the availability of reaction constituents and overcoming reaction rate limitations caused by diffusion, migration and geometric hindrances of battery plate design to yield an optimized electrolyte/activemass interface.

The novel electrolyte circulation technology responds to charge versus discharge separately, by means of the sensing controller to perform a quasidosing function.

Depositing high density electrolyte, typically settled in the lower regions of the flooded battery as a result of stratification, to directly above the active plates to allow for the more dense electrolyte to gradually settle through the active battery block, causes an increased availability of H2SO4 for the discharge reaction more uniformly across the battery plates.

This ultimately results in more than 25% more discharge capacity gained through improved utilization of the active materials.

According to Neill Human, chief technology officer for Mega Amps: “The utilization rate of the active material of typical flooded batteries is governed by a whole host of processes. We know that electrolyte dynamics in current flooded designs have major capacity and life expectancy limitations.

“We have found a simple way to integrate a next-level electrolyte management process and mechanism to address some key performance limiting aspects of the flooded battery, where for the very first time, the true utilization of active materials is uniform across the surfaces.

“This is a profound statement, be-

30 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

cause in today’s lead acid batteries, the true depth of discharge of the active mass is an average DoD across the battery plate length, where the actual DoD will range in accordance with electrolyte concentration gradients as a result of stratification.

“This is proven by the latest study conducted with the synchrotron use at Argonne National Laboratory in conjunction with Electric Appliance Incorporated.”

Using the same principle in reverse for battery recharge, by actually allowing stratification, it now improves battery recharge efficiency and battery longevity by optimizing PbSO4 solubility, where the solubility of PbSO4 is directly correlated to the electrolyte relative density and it is well known that at lower density ranges PbSO4 will be up to three times more soluble than ranges above 1.24 specific gravity, found as we approach higher levels of state-ofcharge during battery recharge.

“Saying something like: “stratification can be a great thing” would usually raise all the eyebrows in a room full of battery experts, but it does not make it any less true,” says Human.

Having the ability to create a responsive electrolyte environment has led Mega Amps to increase electrolyte volumes below the active block.

This is done by means of an extended prism or sediment trap area, thereby encouraging stratification of the battery electrolyte during charging and leveraging stratification to extend battery cycle life by significantly improved PbSO4 solubility, whereby the bulk of the active block is surrounded by a lower overall electrolyte density and thereby a reduction in the life-limiting aspects of sulfation is overcome.

“Mega Amps has been developing lead-acid enhancement technologies for the last decade with a focus on electrodes and component interfaces, and through these developments realized the critical role electrolyte plays as the third active ingredient,” said Frank Pretorius, director.

“Sometimes the best discoveries are of those things that have been right in front of you the whole time.”

EQLYTE boosts a standard flooded surface motive traction cell gravimetric energy density from a low 33Wh/kg to approaching 45Wh/kg without changing or increasing any active material ingredients or components.

Mega Amps has its headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK with its R&D arm in Cape Town, South Africa.

The company has moved to integrate the technology with battery manufacturers.

The first commercial products are already being sold in South Africa.

Mega Amps says it is exploring potential partnerships with a number of global manufacturers.

“We have found a simple way to integrate a next-level electrolyte management process and mechanism to address some key performance-limiting aspects of the flooded battery”

www.batteriesinternational.com

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: POWER-SONIC Power-Sonic has created a first for the lead battery industry — a mobile charging station for electric vehicles. Its potential to grow with the burgeoning EV market huge.

Have lead battery, will travel — to travel W

orking in collaboration with Mobilis TBI, in The Netherlands, Power-Sonic has designed and manufactured a mobile charging station for electric vehicles.

Travelling by electric vehicle is sustainable; however, generating your own green electricity on location to charge your electric vehicle is even more sustainable. The first version of this green mini-power plant was commissioned in November 2019.

Mobilis TBI wants to significantly reduce its CO2 footprint and is aiming for an almost entirely electric vehicle fleet by 2025 at the latest. As part of this initiative it began to investigate how it could involve its project locations.

Mobilis TBI quickly discovered that this would be challenging due to the majority of project locations either not having a suitable grid connection or it was far too expensive to install a fixed electricity supply for a temporary period.

Jeroen Ritzer van Dither, sustainability coordinator at Mobilis TBI, consulted various companies within the market and he was often told, “but” or “we can’t”. Mobilis TBI then contacted Power-Sonic, which rose to the challenge with great enthusiasm.

The e-co2tainer (pronounced Ecotainer) is a mobile unit where drivers can charge their electric cars at project locations. The required electricity is generated with solar panels and wind turbines on top of the unit and a generator placed inside the unit, which works exclusively on biofuel.

It is a completely independent off-grid solution.

One e-co2tainer can charge six cars at the same time. It stores the self-generated energy in redundant batteries, and if

one battery has to be charged, the other battery will take over the power delivery.

Power-Sonic has engineered the eco2tainer for the future. Lead acid batteries are the technology of choice for this solution based on their recyclable properties. The solar panels and wind turbines are the primary energy sources and the biofuel installation acts as a backup in the event of insufficient capacity.

In 2020 Power-Sonic will continue to work with Mobilis TBI so that other applications, such as piling machines, can extract electricity from the e-co2tainer on project locations.

They will also be developing a smaller version of the e-co2tainer that is modular and can be scaled in series, depending on customer demand.

The current 40ft containerized solution can be transported to any location at any time. No special exemptions are required for their transportation. Mobilis and Power-Sonic expect a lot from this innovative EV charging unit and plan a commercial rollout of the product.

René Assies, managing director for Power-Sonic EMEA, says: “The solution is suitable for temporary and green power supply in remote places. The potential to further roll out this concept is enormous. With the introduction of our first EV charging unit, we want to create support in the market.

“We want to be able to help enable businesses within areas of restricted capacity such as sea ports and air ports to transition to electric vehicles without the worry of excessive costs or lack of power. The EV charging unit can be customized for larger fleet vehicles such as HEVs as well.”

Lead acid batteries are the technology of choice for this solution based on their recyclable properties. The solar panels and wind turbines are the primary energy sources and the biofuel installation acts as a backup in the event of insufficient capacity.

32 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

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BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: PRO CHARGING SYSTEMS Pro Charging Systems has developed a battery optimization system which aims to eliminate premature failure due to an unbalanced pack where batteries are used in series.

Using algorithms to extend a battery’s life P

ro Charging Systems’ battery optimization system (BOS) is a technology that uses active balancing technology to manage batteries wired in series. The use of this system will provide maximum run times and exponentially extend battery life.

The available run time for electronics and other powered accessories is dictated by the weakest battery in a series configured battery pack.

Other systems that utilize passive balancing techniques drain the strong batteries to match the level of the weakest battery, which only balances batteries and does not increase run time.

“The BOS is unique in that it shuttles energy between batteries to ensure equal state of charge before, during, and after charging,” says Alan Tuttle, vice president for prod-

uct development at Tennessee-based Pro Charging Systems.

“This innovation enables maximum performance and run time from the battery system. Depending on battery health and overall condition, the BOS can increase runtimes by 300%400% compared to a system running without the BOS. The BOS can be bought as a stand-alone unit or incorporated directly into an on-board battery charging system.”

The firm says the BOS will actively balance a system of batteries in series, no matter how far out of balance they are to begin with, to a point at which all individual battery voltages are within <= 0.0017 VPC of each other (.010 VDC on 12V scale). Amperage displacements of up to 7.5 amps between batteries are possible.

Using a proprietary battery selection and prediction (BSAP-24) algorithm,

the BOS is compatible with all leadacid batteries, as well as lithium batteries.

There are more than 40 different algorithms that the system can pick from to provide optimum active balancing.

The active balancing process may be observed in real time and monitored by the end user by use of the ProView Link app on either Android or iOS platforms. State of charge (SOC), pack voltage and individual battery voltages are displayed as well as the relative position of each battery in the series configuration.

In addition, battery balance counters below the image of each battery provide a direct indication of the level of attention each battery demands.

This provides the user with a clear understanding of the state of each battery in the pack.

“The BOS is unique in that it shuttles energy between batteries to ensure equal state of charge before, during, and after charging” Alan Tuttle, vice president for product development, Pro Charging Systems

34 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

BRINGING THE INDUSTRY TOGETHER FOR BETTER BATTERIES The GreenSeal® Alliance is a group of companies with a common objective: to promote and improve lead batteries throughout the world using GreenSeal® Technology.

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: TBS ENGINEERING GROUP TBS Engineering’s Chris Hanes explains why the firm’s Automatic Plate Loader will make a difference to part of a battery manufacturer’s production processes.

Reaping the benefits of better automation T he TBS Automatic Plate Loader has been developed over the last two years as part of TBS Engineering’s underlying business ethos of creating breakthroughs in manufacturing that, they say, accelerates the genius of their customers.

“We’re all aware that the lead battery faces a huge set of challenges in the future,” says Chris Hanes, group director for corporate growth at TBS. “Our response to this has been a thoughtful one, we’ve concentrated on delivering better performance … in effect that means greater speed, automation and efficiency and that translates into competitive advantage.

“Rather than design products that would need, perhaps, a restructuring of the factory, we look at maximizing the potential of the existing plant and plant space. And this is exactly what our Automatic Plate Loader does.”

The machine has been developed to feed plates into the TBS HiTek enveloping and stacking machines. Two identical robots de-palletize plates, put them through plate shufflers to separate each individual plate and load them on to the TBS HiTek enveloping and stacking machine. One loader handles positive plates, the other, negative ones. The robots also move empty pallets from the loading stack to the empty pallet stack.

The system consists of a plate gripper head with a quick-change robot tooling head. This pneumatically operated unit is designed to grip and pick up a group of plates.

A laser scanning camera is used to map the stacks placed on the loaded pallet prior to processing. The stack image is displayed on the two monitors and reject stacks identified.

The reject criteria after scanning is based on height and spacing between stacks.

There are two plate shuffler assemblies mounted within the plate

36 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

shuffler unit. Each one contains three pneumatically operated push bars: valley, mountain and alignment along with a vibrating table. These are designed to separate sticking plates within a stack and then re-align them for loading into the HiTek. There is also a pallet ripper head with a quick-change robot tooling head. This pneumatically operated unit is designed to grip an empty pallet so it can be picked up and moved.

The process starts by the robot moving to a safe position and requesting plates. Three pallets loaded with plates are fork-trucked into the loading area through a light curtain. The fork truck then removes the three empty pallets from the previous set.

Once clear the operator restarts the process. The robot runs a scan of the top pallet to determine the position of

all the stacks and check that there is enough clearance between each stack for the grippers to pick the stacks up cleanly.

The robot then proceeds to unload the stacks into the plate shuffler.

Whilst the shuffler is working through its process the robot returns to the pallet and loads a stack into the second shuffler. It then removes the shuffled stack from the first breaker and loads the HiTek. This continues until all the stacks on the pallet have been removed.

At this point the robot changes tooling to the pallet gripper so the empty pallet can be picked up and placed in the empty pallet stack. The robot then changes back to the plate gripper head and repeats the process. Once all pallets are empty the system requests a new set of pallets.

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS: WIRTZ MANUFACTURING Wirtz Manufacturing unveiled a complete plug and play recycling system last September that fits into a 40-foot container. It has the potential to revolutionize developing world recycling of lead batteries.

Recycle batteries in one stop mobile shop B attery Recycling Systems, one of the Wirtz group of companies, has developed the RTR (Ready To Run) series of equipment for recycling lead-acid batteries, which the company says arrives on site, pre-assembled and mounted on a skid in a shipping container, can be commissioned for production in less than a day and offers four product separation streams — metallic lead, paste, separators and polypropylene.

The RTR can recycle from one tonne and up to 20 tonnes of lead batteries a day, and is ideal for small recyclers, said vice president for sales and technology Doug Lambert.

Presenting the system at the 6ISLC in Indonesia last September, direc-

tor of engineering Rob Wirtz said the RTR “is all operated from a single control panel”.

“It cuts cost, time and resources and we give every installation our full global support,” Wirtz said.

At a recent Indian ILZDA convention in New Delhi delegates reckoned that its potential for deployment in developing countries was huge. “This could be a step, admittedly a small step, to countering the illegal recycling of batteries that is so prevalent in our country,” said one delegate.

The system is housed in a 40ft-shipping container and is able to separate the battery into metallic lead, lead oxide, separators and polypropylene.

“Our newly developed RTR model

is a fantastic small-scale, complete assembly breaking and separation system, which eliminates the typical onsite costs of installation, electrical, plumbing, lengthy start-up, and the like by delivering a ready to run, fully assembled skid mounted system that can be started within a day after arriving at your facility.”

Battery Recycling Systems, which makes and supplies all the separate components of a lead-acid battery recycling system — such as bag house air filtration, breaking and separation, paste desulfurization, cascade refining process equipment, effluent treatment plants and rotary furnaces — has more than 70 installations worldwide, Wirtz said.

“Our newly developed RTR model is a fantastic smallscale, complete breaking and separation system, which eliminates the typical onsite costs of installation, electrical, plumbing, lengthy start-up, and the like; by delivering a Ready To Run, fully assembled skid mounted process that can be started within a day after arriving at your facility.”

www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 37

BCI INNOVATION AWARDS

Three firms provided the following information about their products: Software as a service (Saas) retailing product Richard Keller, for 1-800 Battery wrote: “1-800 Battery says it is the first e-commerce marketplace/ Saas platform that focuses on the unique problems of retailing lead acid batteries on the internet. We’re the pioneer of a disruptive business model. Connecting geo-located consumers with independent retail brick and mortar and mobile service providers. We call this ‘disconnected omnichannel’. We turn where to buy into … buy now!”

Removing pasting process, innovative charging mechanism Chittarangan Ghosh as an individual submitted two entries.

• “A novel pair of lead acid battery electrodes is proposed which are bagged in a terelyne cloth bag without having used any pasting to avoid paste mixer, pasting machine and oven etc. By increasing the active material ratio to structural material, a higher energy density is achieved. Use of a bag system for both negative and positive plates protect them from the shedding of active materials.”

• “A battery charging method is provided which includes a combination of CC and CV modes to reduce the emission of harmful gases, conserve electrical energy and extend the life of flooded type lead acid batteries during Jar formation.

Initial charging is done in CC mode to achieve a higher state of charge.”

IoT powered inventory management Veronica Goudzward at Very, wrote: “Interstate Batteries teamed up with Very to design and build an IoT powered inventory management system to track the location of their batteries in retail stores and mechanic shops across the US. With this new system drivers can use much smaller, more fuel-efficient trucks and drive shorter routes because of the more efficient inventory management the solution enables.

Interstate Batteries envisioned a cloud-based system that would identify all of the batteries in stores, know which ones got sold and be able to identify how long each battery had been on the shelf.

Very proposed a solution that attached a Bluetooth tag to each battery that would communicate with a hub in each retail location. The hub would then transmit data about each battery to Interstate’s cloud based solution, populating dashboards with all of the relevant data about the batteries at the store.

The Judging Panel This year’s judging panel consisted of Dick Amistadi, president of Amistadi Associates, Don Karner, president of Electric Applications Incorporated, Boris Monahov, consultant for Monks Battery Consultants, and Geoffrey May, principal for FOCUS Battery Consulting discussed the submissions and elected the winner on February 24

Dick Amistadi

Don Karner

38 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

Boris Monahov

Geoff May

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI MEMBER COMPANIES

The great and the good of the lead battery industry Battery Council International divides its membership into three categories — manufacturers, suppliers and associates.

MANUFACTURERS

Eagle Oxide Services

Terrapure Environmental

Eclipse Energy

The Doe Run Company

Acumuladores Duncan

Electric Applications

Traxys North America

Acumuladores Moura

Engineered Plastics

Banner

ENTEK International

C&D Technologies

ESCA Tech

Clarios

Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Crown Battery

Ferriere Di Stabio

Wirtz

Dyno Battery

Flow-Rite Controls

Wood Mackenzie

East Penn

Froetek Plastic Technology USA

EnerSys

Gauthier Non-Ferrous Products

ENERYA

Glatfelter Composite Fiber

Exide Technologies

Gopher Resource Greenwich Metals

Action Batteries Unlimited

Interspace Concorde Battery Company MUTLU

Gridtential Energy

Surrette Battery Company

Hammond Group

US Battery Mfg

Hazelett Corporation

Yacht Battery

Hollingsworth & Vose

Battery Systems

International Thermal Systems

Best Battery

JBI Corporation

Canadian Energy

Kallstrom Engineering Systems

CBC/Crown Battery of Canada

Lee Puckett

Changxing Haijiu Battery

LignoTech

Club Assist

Yuasa Battery

SUPPLIERS

AAA National Office Abertax Technologies Accuma Corporation Advanced Battery Concepts AECOM Amistadi Associates Aqua Metals Auto Meter Products B2Q Technologies

M A Industries MAC Engineering & Equipment Microporous Nederman MikroPul

Tulip Richardson Manufacturing Water Gremlin WEGMANN Automotive

ASSOCIATES

Atlasbx America Corporation AutoZone Batteries Plus

Continental Battery Factory Motor Parts GS Yuasa Energy Solutions

Nippon Sheet Glass Battery Separator Business Unit

Interstate Batteries

Oak Press Solutions

Leoch Battery Corporation

Omni Oxide/Addenda

Magnacharge Battery Corporation

LCB Battery

Bernard Dumas

Palico Instrument Laboratories, a division of CalT

Bitrode Corporation

Penox Mexico

Northeast Battery & Alternator

Black Diamond Structures

Polymer Molding

Performance USA

Brown & Brown Business Development

Powerlab

Power-Sonic Corporation

Canadus Power Systems

PRO Charging Systems

Ramcar Batteries

Carlson Tool & Mfg

Ramboll Environ

Centrifugal Castings

Reaco Battery

Rosendahl Nextrom

CMWTEC Technologie

RSR North America

Remy Battery

Cobra Wire & Cable, a division of EIS

Sanders Lead Company

Co-efficient Precision Engineering

Sorfin Yoshimura

Daramic

Superior Graphite

DHC Specialty Corporation

TBS

US Lead

Digatron Power Electronics

Teck Metals

Universal Power Group

Doyle Shamrock Industries

Termaco

Voltz Power

39 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

Metra Electronics

Staab Battery Sterling Battery Swift Industrial Power

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI BATTERY VETERANS

The quarter century club The virtual conference being held this year will provide one unexpected blessing to those battery veterans not brought up in the prairies of the US mid-West. So no crack of dawn meetings this year or looking at your colleagues working their way through breakfast as dawn greets the convention’s annual feature, the BCI quarter century club.

The special meeting — typically held late (at 7am) to accommodate the European members’ irrational need to lie in bed — is for those BCI members who have supported the institution for 25 years and not forgetting the few that have even clocked up a half century in the business.

“The quarter century club is a fine tradition to uphold,” one BCI veteran told Batteries International many years ago. “It’s more of a friendship get-together than anything else. We get together, crack a few jokes and have a good time.

“And of course the dawn chorus is always quite spectacular at the end of April.”

ROLL OF HONOR — BCI QUARTER CENTURY MEMBERS (as of April 2020) A J BROGAN A M HARDMAN ACHIM LULSDORF AKIO WATANABE AL O’NEAL AL SCHMIDT AL VINCZE ALAN KOHLER EnerSys ALBERT BRICE ALFRED C LAZAGA ALFRED J PAUTLER ALLAN COOPER ANDY WADDELL ANTON SCHWETZ ARDELLE E MILLER, SR ARNIE O NILSSON ARNIE Y SAKAI ARNOLD FISCHER ARTHUR G KOCH ATTILA CARUSO AYKAUN OKUMA B A HILL BARRY WALKER BART REITTER BERNARD J ELZER, JR BERNIE BEALS BERT BRIDGEWATER BILL BARNES BILL BESSIRE BILL ELLIS BILL GREENWOOD BILL LINCOLN BILL ROORK BO McCANN BOB CULLEN BOB LINDSAY BOB PEPPERS BOB SLAUTTERBACK BOB WILLIAMSON BORIS MONAHOV BRAD DWAN BRIAN GUNNIN BRIAN LEWIS BRUCE A COLE BUD DeSART BURCHARD VON CAMPE BYRON ROTHPLETZ, JR CARL F MIELKE CARLOS L BARRENECHE CARMEL M CLEMENTSON CARRI MOFFATT CHAD ROGERS CHARLES A BURKHART, II

CHARLES K McMANUS CHARLES-LOUIS ACKERMANN CHERYL MINOR, PHD CHI-HWA LU CHRIS PRUITT CHUCK FOWLER CHUCK GIESIGE CLEVE BENNETT CLIFF J CROWE DAN DUFFIELD DANIEL A MELVILLE DANIEL D BREIDEGAM DANIEL P ASKIN DARRELL HIMMESOETE DARYLL RARDON DAVID A WINTERBOTTOM DAVID BEIDLER DAVID LONGNEY DAVID LUND DAVID M SHAFFER DAVID MCMULLEN DAVID MORRALL DAVID RITTENHOUSE DAVID WEINBERG DAVID WILLIAMSON DAVID WILLIS DENIS S HOWARTH DENNIS ULRICH DIANNE DICKEY DICK AMISTADI DON BARNARD DON HODGES DON HULL DON J DEL DOTTO DON PRIEBE DON WENSINGER, II DON WILSON DONALD A MASSELLE DONALD A WOJTON DONALD L OKESON DONALD L PIERSON DONALD RABON DONALD WALLACE DONNA SNYDER DOUG BRADLEY DOUG LAMBERT DOUGLAS BROWN DOUGLAS F HUTTON DOUGLAS GORDON RIST DOUGLAS J BOUQUARD DOUGLAS R TUPLING DR GEOFFREY J MAY DR GERHARD MEYENBURG DR GIOVANNI TERZAGHI

40 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

DR LES S HOLDEN DR PETER FABER DR PIOTR ZENCZAK DR S K MITTAL DR WERNER BOEHNSTEDT ED FINK ED FREY ED PUCKETT EDDIE BRICE EDUARDO BURGIO EDWARD M KSENIAK EDWARD M MARWELL ELLEN MAXEY EMMETT R JAMIESON ENRIQUE CARREON ERIC HOLTAN EUGENE P FINGER EVAN R WESCOE FARID AHMED FELIX TESHINSKY FOLCO GIBELLINI FRANCISCO TRINIDAD FRANCOIS GONNARD FRANCOIS STEFFENS FRANK DUMAS FREDERICK TESHINSKY FROSTY TUNNELL G A CLERICI GARY G BRYAN GARY MITCHENER GARY SANTASPIRIT GARY TAYLOR GEOFFREY CLEMENTSON GEORGE BRILMYER, PhD GEORGE COLLINS GEORGE E NOEL GEORGE NADER-LATUFF GEORGE SMITH GEORGE STRATIS GEORGE W AYRTON GERALD (JERRY) DUERKSEN GERALD Z DUBINSKI, SR GERARD CHAIX GIUSEPPE BAUDO GLENN PERRINI GORDON BECKLEY GREG HUMPHREY GREGG BENNETT GUIDO LEVATI GUY T (TOM) ABATA HAL HAWK HARRY D McVEY HARUKA MIURA HARVEY S GERSHENSON HEINZ-ALBERT KIEHNE HELMUTH FAUST HENRY BRICE HERB ELLIS HOWARD MEYERS

HUBERT ABNER HUGH CULLIMORE ISRAEL COHEN J QUINN SELSOR J ROY BRAY J WORTH WILLIAMS JD SURRETTE JACK McLANE JAHAR SENGUPTA JAMES B ROSKI JAMES C DeBRAY JAMES H BARRETT JAMES H THRASH JAMES I SIKORA JAMES KANDA JAMES RUBRIGHT JAMES S HARDIGG JAMES TUNNELL JAMES W DOUGLAS JAMES W LORIO, MD JASPER HARDIN JAY K PARMAR JAY NORTHEY JEANITH L MILLER JEFF JORDAN JEFFREY JUDS JEROME F COLE JERRY DARLING JERRY SHASSERRE JERRY V CROW JIM BOUCHARD JIM FAIST JIM JOHNSON JIM KLANG JIM PEDERSEN JIM SNOOK JIM TOEWS JIMMY STEWART JOAO A MESTRE SALVADOR JOE ESSING JOE JARVIS JOE McKINLEY JOHANNES SCHNEIDER JOHN A BITLER JOHN A MILLS JOHN BRODHACKER JOHN CONNELL JOHN E MANDERS JOHN H HOOVER JOHN L DEVITT JOHN LUTES JOHN MURPHY JOHN NEES JOHN O WIRTZ JOHN P BADGER JOHN R SHAW JOHN SEMENIUK JOHN STANPHILL JOHN TC KAN

JOHN WERTZ JOSE M PUIG JOSEPH A BLACK JOSEPH F DONAHUE JOSEPH F SZABO JOSEPH J JERGL JOSEPH MAJESKY JOSEPH RIVERA JOSEPH T GUSHUE JUNIOR ROCKHOLD K D MERZ K FRED WEHMEYER K M AZHMAGANBETOV K MURATA KARL E HANSLIK KATHRYN R BULLOCK KATHY PERZEE KATHY PETERSON KAZUO OKADA KEITH HARNICK KEITH TOLL KELLY McCANN KEN MARSHALL KENNETH A SUTTON KENNETH E ZALECKI KENNETH SCHADLER KENT HUDSON KEVIN CAMPBELL KEVIN SMITH KEVIN WHEAR KIYOTAKA IKAWA KLAUS H KRAFT KYO FUCHIDA L SAM HOLDEN LARRY MIKSIEWICZ LARRY SCHEINBAUM LARS KALLSTROM LAURIE GARDINER LAURIE SZPARA LAWRENCE B WINDISCH LEE COWAN LEE N KOENIG LEE SWAIN LOUIS J MAGDITS LOUIS NAGY MALCOM DEWAR MANUEL SANTOS MARK ALLAN KNOWLTON MARK SHERWOOD MARK STEVENSON MARK WELS MARK WINSLOW MARLENE M LEWIS MARTIN SANNASI MASATSUGU HIRANAGA MICHAEL BERGER MICHAEL CROSS MICHAEL E GREENLEE MICHAEL E MOELLER

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BCI BATTERY VETERANS

— battery heroes reunited MICHAEL E REED MICHAEL J COAD MICHAEL MAYER MICHAEL R HARRISO MIKE WONCH MITCH BREGMAN N KENNETH CAMPBELL NEIL HALE NELSON ROMBEIRO NORM MILLER OSCAR GRISCHKOWSKY OSWALDO TAMAYO P MICHAEL EHLERMAN PAUL FINK PAUL J STAAB, III PAUL KOLISNYK PERCY W FISCHEL PETE QUINLAN PETER DAN PETER J PETERSON PETER MILLION PETER WILKE PHIL NOZNESKY PHIL PACHECO PHILIP KOWALSKI PIERRE HAUSWALD R DAVID PRENGAMAN RALPH TIEGEL RAMA PRASAD RAY RANDY CASSTEVENS RANDY HANSCHU RAY GOODEARL RAY J KENNY RAY KRUSING RAY KUBIS RAYMOND NEVIN REX E LUZADER RICHARD A BURKARD RICHARD BOWERS RICHARD JOHNSON RICHARD KAPPES RICHARD LENTINE RICHARD M STARK RICK GODBER RICK LEIBY RICK MOODY RICK WIMBERLY ROBERT A LIND ROBERT B HARRINGTON ROBERT BERTRAM ROBERT BOBBETT ROBERT C CRAWFORD ROBERT D SEMMENS ROBERT D SIMONTON ROBERT FLICKER ROBERT G McCLELLAN ROBERT GONZALES ROBERT H BUESING ROBERT J AARON, JR ROBERT J GRACE ROBERT J PENSYL ROBERT MICHAEL ROBERT P RESTREPO ROBERT R SCHOEBERL ROBERT W FRITTS ROBERTO DIENER, JR ROBERTO GARCIA ROGER BARR ROGER BERGER ROLF BECKERS RON MIKSIEWICZ RUDY RENFROW S CLARK OTTERNESS

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S TUCKER ROE S WILLIAM MEEHAN SAM JASSIN SCOTT CRERAR SERGIO MALACON SERGIO PEZZOTTI SHEILA RYLES SHEILA RYLES SHUJI KAWATA SILVANO GELLENI

ONE-HALF CENTURY CLUB ALAN COOPER BILL GREENWOOD CARLOS BARRENECHE EDWARD PUCKETT GARY MITCHENER GEORGE COLLINS GEORGE NOEL HOWARD MEYERS J ROY BRAY

JOHANNES SCHNEIDER JOHN DEVITT JOHN MILLS JOSH LIVERMORE KEITH TOLL LEE COWAN LEE KOENIG PAUL FINK R DAVID PRENGAMAN

RALPH TIEGEL ROBERT N QUENELL ROLF BECKERS ROGER WINSLOW SERGIO PEZZOTTI SILVANO GELLENI TOM ABATA

SIMON BASTACKY STEPHEN J GROSS STEPHEN L VECHY STEVE BARNES STEVE BOLANOWSKI STEVE McDONALD STEVE WICKMAN

HALF CENTURY MEMBERS SADLY NO LONGER WITH US CLYDE D ELIUM DAVID P BODEN DeLIGHT E BREIDEGAM

ED TURNER JERRY BOYLAN JOHN R PIERSON

MARK A KNOWLTON SAL CANGELOSI WILLIAM J EBERLE

STEVEN RAU STUART W ORR SYNG L PAIK T W ANTHONY TAKAOMI TAKII TERENCE EDWARD HARNETT TERRY AGRELIUS

NEW MEMBERS OF THE BCI ELITE ED FINK, EAST PENN MFG. • 25 YEAR GEORGE NOEL, TULIP RICHARDSON MANUFACTURING • 50 YEAR

AL O’NEAL, CROWN BATTERY MFG. CO. • 50 YEAR DAVE RITTENHOUSE, GLATFELTER • 25 YEAR YUUKA MORIYA, YUASA BATTERY• 25 YEAR

TERRY CAMPBELL TERRY E WUSSOW TERRY R OXENREIDER TERUHISA YUASA TETSUNARI KAWASE THOMAS A CURTIS THOMAS J DOUGHERTY THOMAS J REILLY THOMAS L OSWALD THOMAS S DOUGLAS, III TIM LAWLOR TIM McNALLY

RETIRED WITH DISTINCTION ANN NOLL ART BALCERZAK DANIEL J FETHEROLF DANIEL LANGDON DAVIS KNAUER EARL E BUSDIEKER GRAHAM G ANDERSON, JR HAROLD J EBERLY

JAMES R JESKIE JAN WINSLOW JOSH LIVERMORE MALCOLM J GAVANT MICHAEL O’MALLEY MICHAEL SHAW MIKE TOLE NAWAZ M QURESHI

PETER MALONEY ROBERT D SWAIN ROBERT FINN RODNEY SHANE ROGER WINSLOW WAYNE KRICK

TODD WILSON TOM MILLER TOM MINNER TOM SMITH TOM TOMKINS TOMMASO SANTORO TOMMY YOUNGBLOOD TOSHIO MEGA TROY A GREISS TROY MENGEL URBAIN LAMBERT URI ROSENSHEIN VAL HOLLINGSWORTH VERNON J POTTS VINCENT M HALSALL VINCENT PUSATERI WALLACE M DOBBINS WALTER BAUER WASEEM AHMAD WILEY C SANDERS, JR WILLIAM A KEITH WILLIAM B WYLAM WILLIAM BRECHT WILLIAM C GLOVER WILLIAM H WESTON, JR WILLIAM J KENNEDY WILLIAM M PALLIES WILLIAM PICCIOLO WILLIAM T POLLARD WILLIAM U PAYNE WILLIAM WALTER YUUKA MORIYA Z UYTIEPO

QUARTER CENTURY MEMBERS SADLY NO LONGER WITH US ANDREW C HARDTKE ANDY DIETRICH ARTHUR SINGER ARVIN WELCH BEN McKINNEY BERNARD SCHEINBAUM BILL SZAKACS BILL YEDLICKA BIRKE M LUCKENBILL BYRON A WADDELL CELWYN HOPKINS CHARLES E JUSTICE CHARLES GRAVES CHARLES R ROGERS DICK GODBER DON BRANDT DON KEMPTER DON WENSINGER DONALD C MELNIK E B CORNETTE EARL E STOUT ED TAYLOR EDWARD N MROTEK EGON E NURMET ELLSWORTH P DAVIS EMIL KOVACIK ERNEST GEORGE TIEGEL FRANK DRAVES FRANK MORGAN G E TURNER GREG STEVENS GUY CLUM

HARRY CHANNING HECTOR VALDEZ AGUILAR HENRY SCHEINBAUM HOMER H WOODRUFF, JR IRA C (BUD) BAERINGER J GEORGE GANGE, JR J T LAWRIE JAMES H ENGLISH JAMES H KELLETT JAMES K MASON JAMES V STUPPIA JIM MILLER JOHN A BRUZAS JOHN ANDERSON JOHN CORCORAN JOHN EDGAR FARMER JOHN J SURRETTE JOHN KOSSOW JOHN RICKOLT JOHN SEARCY JOHN W WIRTZ JOSEPH A ORSINO JOSEPH GATTO JOSEPH J NOBLES JUAN DORIGA K N PIKE LARRY BENNETTS LAURENCE FRY LAWRENCE HAHN LAWRENCE R BARTLETT MALCOLM E ROSS MARVIN SCHEINBAUM

MAX CORNBLATT MICHAEL J WEIGHALL NED L STAUFFER NORMAN HOYT PAUL S GODBER PAUL STAAB, JR PAUL STAAB, SR PAUL-ARMAND GAMMENTHALER PETE VIVIANO PETER C ASPINALL PETER NOZNESKY RICHARD B YOUNG RICHARD P TIPPEY ROBERT GARWOOD ROBERT L PUCKETT ROBERT N QUENELL ROBERT W STOLL ROLAND A JOHNSON SALLY S MIKSIEWICZ SCOTT GAMSTER SYDNEY BANKS TOM B BLAIR TOM MURANAKA TONY SABATINO TURNEY L RICH WILLARD SCHREINER WILLIAM N FLETCHER WILLIAM RASMUSSEN WILLIE BEASON WIN REINEMANN

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 41

BCI BATTERY VETERANS

The business of running Ray Goodearl Hammond Group,

Batteries Council International has seven committees that are designed to advance the variety of needs of its membership.

Some are merely administrative, for internal use, while others are active internationally or work at a technical level.

Although the committees meet throughout the year, typically appointments to the committee are verified at the annual convention.

These are the committees: • Technical Committee • Databook Committee • Deep Cycle and EV Battery Committee • Product Information Committee • Industrial Battery & Charger Committee • Marketing Committee • EHS Committee

Joe Semens Interstate Batteries Danny Martinez Leoch Battery Corporation Arnold Gillert Microporous Marilyn Tarbet Power Systems Research LeAnn Fisher Power Systems Research Michael Moeller Remy Battery, Richard Jonach Rosendahl Nextrom George Noel Tulip Richardson Mfg David Wyrick Tulip Richardson Mfg Bob Santella Universal Power Group, Kathy Peterson Voltz Power Dave Beidler Yacht Battery Tammy Cooper Yacht Battery

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

AyKaun Okuma Yuasa Battery, Robert Gruenstern Interstate Batteries

Joel High Yuasa Battery,

Dwayne Shumate, AAA National Office

Joe Semens Interstate Batteries

David Brown Yuasa Battery,

Matthew Lum, AAA National Office

Joseph Badger JBI Corporation

Jim Harper, AutoZone

Zachary Hofelich JBI Corporation

Scott Vlatkovich, B2Q Technologies

James Klang Klang Battery Technologies

Luis Cedeno Acumuladores Duncan

Andrew Kallfelz, B2Q Technologies

Baixi Wei Leoch Battery Corporation

Antonio Munoz Acumuladores Duncan.

Yoshiaki Machiyama, Battery Association of Japan

George Brilmyer Microporous

Dick Amistadi Amistadi Associates

Pam O’Brien, Battery Council International

David Mihara Microporous

John McMillion Auto Meter Products

Brady Hardin, Bitrode Corporation

Alan Tuttle PRO Charging Systems

Mike Gathman Auto Meter Products,

Steven Swogger, Black Diamond Structures

Chris Humphries PRO Charging Systems

Han Le AutoZone

Tim McNally, Borregaard LignoTech

Timothy Ellis RSR Technologies

Pam O’Brien Battery Council International

Joe Liedhegner, Clarios

Joseph Li Superior Graphite

Steven Swogger Black Diamond Structures

Paul Korinek, Clarios

Carl Wakefield Sure Power

Tim McNally Borregaard LignoTech

Negin Salami, Clarios

Pascal Ferron Surrette Battery

Jon Anderson C&D Technologies,

Gary Seale, Club Assist US

Shawn Peng Trojan Battery

Joe Liedhegner Clarios

Polly Test, CoreApps

Mark Ros Trojan Battery

William Ross Clarios

Mike Fraley, Crown Battery Mfg

Jesus Perez Trojan Battery

Angelo Tsagalis Clarios

Nicholas Shelton, Daramic

Keith Toll Tulip Richardson Mfg

Paul Korinek Clarios

Neal Golovin, Daramic

Fred Wehmeyer US Battery Mfg

Negin Salami Clarios

Brian Stanhaus, Digatron Power Electronics

Terry Agrelius US Battery Mfg.

Mike Fraley Crown Battery Mfg

Davis Knauer, East Penn Mfg

Zack Cox US Battery Mfg.

Nicholas Shelton Daramic

Kevin Smith, East Penn Mfg

Sales Taiwan Yacht Battery

Neal Golovin Daramic

Clark Frederick, East Penn Mfg

Sales PA Yacht Battery

Darby Rockney DHC Specialty Corporation

Robert Flicker, East Penn Mfg Carol Wolfinger, East Penn Mfg

DATABOOK COMMITTEE

DEEP CYCLE AND EV BATTERY COMMITTEE

Kevin Campbell Digatron Industrie-Elektronik Brian Stanhaus Digatron Power Electronics

Sean Hendrix, Eclipse Energy

Lee Cowan Accuma Corporation

Davis Knauer East Penn Mfg

Philip Shumard, EnerSys

Paul Perkins Adair Graphic Communications

Clark Frederick East Penn Mfg

Gregory Humphrey, ENTEK International

Bill Peretto Adair/Printwell

Sean Hendrix Eclipse Energy

Rick Pekala, ENTEK International

Reid Cates AutoZone

David Roberts Eclipse Energy

Robert Waterhouse ENTEK International

Scott Vlatkovich B2Q Technologies

Carri Moffatt ENTEK International

John Miller Exide Technologies

Andrew Kallfelz B2Q Technologies

Gregory Humphrey Entek International

Michael Berger Exide Technologies

Jill Johnson Battery Council International

Rick Pekala ENTEK International

Kevin Lynch Exide Technologies

Michael Borgeson Battery Council International

Robert Waterhouse ENTEK International

Jim Gilmour Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Chuck Fowler Changxing Haijiu Battery

John Miller Exide Technologies

Terry Hartman Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Greg Moffitt Changxing Haijiu Battery

Michael Berger Exide Technologies

Mark Herrema Flow-Rite Controls,

Jeffrey Juds Clarios

Eric Sledge Exide Technologies

Rob Fritts Fritts Consulting

Paul Korinek Clarios

Kevin Lynch Exide Technologies

Ingo Koch Froetek Kunststofftechnik

Chris Hough Clarios

Jim Gilmour Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Eddie Reyes GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Gary Seale Club Assist US

Mark Herrema Flow-Rite Controls,

Ray Goodearl Hammond Group,

Bill Walter Daramic

Todd Cowan Flow-Rite Controls,

Gordon Beckley Hammond Group,

Mark Hough East Penn Mfg

Rob Fritts Fritts Consulting

John Wertz Hollingsworth & Vose

Alan Kohler EnerSys

Dan Moomaw Gridtential Energy

Boris Monahov ILA - ALABC

Lee Wilson Exide Technologies

Eddie Reyes GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Matt Raiford International Lead Association - CBI

Rob Fritts Fritts Consulting

Bill Cunningham GS Yuasa Energy Systems,

Kirt Ruby Interstate Batteries

Peter Quinlan GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Ray Goodearl Hammond Group,

42 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

www.batteriesinternational.com

BCI BATTERY VETERANS

the business Gordon Beckley Hammond Group,

Pam O’Brien Battery Council International

Terry Campbell US Battery Mfg.

Enjin Gao Hammond Group,

Steven Swogger Black Diamond Structures

Bob Santella Universal Power Group,

John Wertz Hollingsworth & Vose

Jon Anderson C&D Technologies,

David Weinberg Wiley Rein

Boris Monahov ILA - ALABC

Joe Liedhegner Clarios

Bruce Ash Yacht Battery

Matt Raiford International Lead Association - CBI

Angelo Tsagalis Clarios

Robert Gruenstern Interstate Batteries

Mike Fraley Crown Battery Mfg

Tammy Cooper Yacht Battery

Joe Semens Interstate Batteries

Mark Kelley Crown Battery Mfg.

James Klang Klang Battery Technologies

Nicholas Shelton Daramic

Baixi Wei Leoch Battery Corporation

Darby Rockney DHC Specialty Corporation

George Brilmyer Microporous

Brian Stanhaus Digatron Power Electronics

Paul Lacroix Midtronics,

Doug Bouquard East Penn Mfg

Mike Troy Midtronics,

Larry Miksiewicz East Penn Mfg,

Walter Kozlowski C&D Technologies,

Alan Tuttle PRO Charging Systems

Mark Sherwood East Penn Mfg.

Scott Morris C&D Technologies,

Chris Humphries PRO Charging Systems

Jim Rubright East Penn Mfg.,

Carrie Harding C&D Technologies,

Timothy Ellis RSR Technologies

Sean Hendrix Eclipse Energy

Chuck Fowler Changxing Haijiu Battery

Joseph Li Superior Graphite

David Roberts Eclipse Energy

Greg Moffitt Changxing Haijiu Battery

Shawn Peng Trojan Battery

John Buchanan Ecoult Solutions & Services

Joe Liedhegner Clarios

Eric Rueter Trojan Battery

Steve Spaar EnerSys

Claudio Morfe Clarios

Allen Stoneberg Trojan Battery

Gregory Humphrey Entek International

Adam Muellerweiss Clarios

Jesus Perez Trojan Battery

Robert Waterhouse ENTEK International

Keith Toll Tulip Richardson Mfg

John Miller Exide Technologies

Dragomir Culav Clarios

Fred Wehmeyer US Battery Mfg

Michael Berger Exide Technologies

Donald Wallace US Battery Mfg

Eric Sledge Exide Technologies

Terry Agrelius US Battery Mfg.

Kevin Lynch Exide Technologies

R. Steven Kay US Battery Mfg.

Gary Taylor Exide Technologies

Michael Coad US Battery Mfg.

Jim Gilmour Farmer Mold & Machine Works

Zack Cox US Battery Mfg.

Ingo Koch Froetek Kunststofftechnik

Donna Snyder East Penn Mfg

Ian Edmonds Universal Power Group,

Peter Quinlan GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Randall Reyer EnerSys

Jim Morath GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Adam Bressler EnerSys

Eddie Reyes GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

Dan Askin ESCA Tech,

Jason Chesek AutoZone

Bill Cunningham GS Yuasa Energy Systems,

Alfons Westgeest EUROBAT

Kevin Williams AutoZone

Gordon Beckley Hammond Group,

Rene Schroeder EUROBAT

Pam O’Brien Battery Council International

John Wertz Hollingsworth & Vose

Gert Meylemans EUROBAT

Greg Moffitt Changxing Haijiu Battery

Matt Raiford International Lead Association - CBI

Michael Casper Exide Technologies

Ellen Maxey Clarios

James Klang Klang Battery Technologies

Eric Royse Continental Battery Mfg

Baixi Wei Leoch Battery Corporation

Tucker Roe Daramic

Alan Tuttle PRO Charging Systems

Mark Hough East Penn Mfg

Chris Humphries PRO Charging Systems

Donna Snyder East Penn Mfg

Shawn Peng Trojan Battery

Alan Kohler EnerSys

Mark Ros Trojan Battery

Dave McMullen EnerSys

Jesus Perez Trojan Battery

Steve Binks International Lead Association - Europe

Robert Boss Ford Motor

Keith Toll Tulip Richardson Mfg

Ed Frey Interspace Concorde Battery

Peter Quinlan GS Yuasa Energy Solutions,

David Wyrick Tulip Richardson Mfg

Julian Iannini Interspace Concorde Battery

Ray Goodearl Hammond Group,

Fred Wehmeyer US Battery Mfg

Ross Gardiner Interspace Concorde Battery

Kirt Ruby Interstate Batteries

Zack Cox US Battery Mfg.

David Willis Interstate Batteries Recycling

PRODUCT INFORMATION COMMITTEE

Paul Staab Staab Battery Mfg Carl Wakefield Sure Power

MARKETING COMMITTEE

Joel High Yuasa Battery, David Brown Yuasa Battery, EHS COMMITTEE Andrea Ratermann Bitrode Corporation

Julie Robinson Club Assist US Hal Hawk Crown Battery Mfg. James Anderson Crown Battery Mfg. Gene Tucksen Dyno Battery Troy Greiss East Penn Mfg

Lacey Chitwood Exide Technologies Gary Taylor Exide Technologies Ray Goodearl Hammond Group, Andy Bush International Lead Association Jasim Chowdhury International Lead Association

John Fields Nederman MikroPul John Semeniuk NorthStar Battery

Jose Hansen Doe Run

Alistair Davidson International Lead Association

Carlos Estrada NorthStar Battery

David Godber Trojan Battery

Hywel Jarman International Lead Association

Russell Kemp Ramboll Environ

Trojan Battery Trojan Battery

Stacey Hargrave Interstate Batteries

Kathy Peterson Voltz Power

Marisa Frear Interstate Batteries

Ami Lee Yacht Battery

David Willis Interstate Batteries Recycling

Dave Beidler Yacht Battery

Tod Lyons Interstate Batteries Recycling

Tammy Cooper Yacht Battery

John Howes Redland Energy Group

Wayne Krick Yuasa Battery

Bruce Murray RSR Corporation

Joel High Yuasa Battery,

Sheila Ryles Teck Metals

Terry Agrelius US Battery Mfg.

Tammy Stankey Doe Run

Terry Campbell US Battery Mfg.

Dawnmarie Martin Trojan Battery

Mary Gail Scott Water Gremlin Co

Klaus-Dieter Merz Abertax Technologies

Trojan Battery Trojan Battery

David Weinberg Wiley Rein

Dick Amistadi Amistadi Associates

Fred Wehmeyer US Battery Mfg

INDUSTRIAL BATTERY & CHARGER COMMITTEE

www.batteriesinternational.com

Manuel Andrade Ramcar Batteries, Carl Raycroft RSR Corporation Pascal Ferron Surrette Battery Maggie Crocker Doe Run Randy Casstevens Trojan Battery

Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook • 43

THE BCI STORY Battery Council International started in Chicago in the 1920s. And although the organization’s name is relatively new, and its host locations have been varied, it has consistently championed the lead acid battery industry.

A history of change It all started one wet, grey day on January 29, 1924. That day — one of the warmest that month hitting a still unbeaten record 3˚C above zero — a small group of battery manufacturers met in Chicago.

Their objective: to consider whether the organization of a battery manufacturer’s association was worth the effort. And if so what would be its initial remit and purpose.

Interestingly enough some nine decades later, the two topics of discussion that day are still relevant to what was later to become the BCI: how to promote a better understanding among battery manufacturers through an open discussion of their common problems; and, how to educate US consumers on the proper care of their batteries.

A more formal meeting took place two months later and was attended by some 25 manufacturers and battery suppliers — where the manufacturers were called ‘active’ members and the suppliers ‘associates’.

In June the association took its name as the National Battery Manufacturers Association (NBMA).

The association soon started to prove its worth. In the US, battery manufacturing employed some of the most dangerous practices in the world — hand painting lead paste on to plates, for example.

At the turn of the 1920s, for example, lead poisoning was accepted as a risk that went with the job; even though it was reckoned that it was six times more dangerous to work in a US plant than a UK one and 18 times more dangerous working in the US than in Germany.

One of the earliest studies moving to mitigate the risk: Lead Poisoning in a Storage Battery Plant, was commissioned by the National Battery Manufacturers Association in 1933 and — unusually at a time when ethnic and racial background was ignored, made a point of showing that the dangerous work in the mixing room of the plant was done by African Americans or migrants (93%) versus the 7% by white Americans. Although the US had lagged

44 • Batteries International • BCI 2020 Yearbook

behind Europe in industrial hygiene in the 1910s, by the 1930s it had become a global pacesetter in working practices and the NBMA, to its credit, was one of the instruments for such change.

But this is not to say that the early founders or members of the NBMA were saints. US Light and Heat (which helped found the association) as well as the Lead Industries Association were roundly criticized — along with other well known US and UK brands — when they set up operations in Australia where health standards were allowed to be as lax.

In echoes of the present situation in China, the reason for the shift to production in Australia was simple: it was an uncomplicated way to circumvent federal import tariffs on batteries. The difference of course being that BCI members are now on the side of the angels and are helping China’s battery industry to adopt international work and safety rules.

In May 1940 the association changed its name to the Association of American Battery Manufacturers reflecting

its focus on the continent. Battery industry participation from Europe — then engulfed in war — would have been slight.

To better reflect the post-war environment and increasing global reach of the organization, the association changed its name again to Battery Council International. Four years later it held its first overseas convention in London. Attendance was huge: 32 countries were represented with some 600 delegates.

In 1976, BCI came full circle and returned to relocate its headquarters in Chicago — in the intervening years, the organization had set up operations in Ohio, New Jersey, and California.

At that time the management firm of Smith, Bucklin and Associates was retained to manage the affairs of BCI. Today BCI membership consists of corporations representing almost 100% of North American leading lead acid battery manufacturers, recyclers, marketers and retailers, suppliers of raw materials and equipment as well as expert industry consultants.

BCI ‘S INFORMATION GOALS BCI provides a governmental, legislative liaison service for the industry and has established itself as the collective voice of its members and an authoritative source of battery-related information.

BCI maintains an extensive statistical programme. BCI compiles raw data on automotive battery production shipments (original and replacement) at the manufacturer level and inventory level.

This compilation enables members to gauge their performance against those of the industry as a whole. BCI also provides its members with annual distribution reports that allow

members to keep abreast of everchanging channels of distribution.

Since 1990 BCI has been collecting and disseminating a monthly report on US industrial battery and charger sales.

The programme consist of five active reports.

• Motive power battery sales • Net sales of diesel locomotive starting batteries • Industrial truck battery charger sales • Standby power battery sales • Stationary battery cell report Members only receive the industrial battery reports in which they participate. In 2001, BCI began reporting North American sales data,

www.batteriesinternational.com

For 55 years, MAC Engineering & Equipment Company, Inc. has sold more than 4500 machines, in over 300 customers, in 81 different countries bringing the MAC Advantage worldwide.

MAC ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT COMPANY, INC. Visit www.mac-eng.com to see how we can bring the MAC Advantage to you!