Battery testingConfigured for your cells

Battery Safety and Performance Testing Systems

Adiabatic calorimetry for thermal runaway and safe operating limits; isothermal calorimetry for heat generation and efficiency. From a single cell component to a full pack — four instruments on one WinISO platform.

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What do you need to do?

1Test safety & thermal runawayBTC-130 · BTC-500 2Measure heat generation & efficiencyiso-BTC · iso-BTC+

Not sure which? Compare the range side by side ↓

Safety · Adiabatic

Battery safety & thermal runaway testing

BTC-130 & BTC-500 — adiabatic calorimetry for mechanical, electrical and thermal abuse testing. Screen cell components and small cells on the bench, then take full cells, modules and packs to runaway in a 500 mm containment chamber.

Battery performance & efficiency testing

iso-BTC & iso-BTC+ — true isothermal calorimetry with integrated charge–discharge cycling, measuring heat release, efficiency and thermal mapping across C-rates and temperatures, from coin cells to large formats.

The BTC-130 and BTC-500 — adiabatic safety testing from cell components to full packs

A battery only reveals its worst behaviour when it is pushed past its limits. Adiabatic calorimetry holds the sample in conditions where no heat escapes, so the self-heating, gas generation and pressure rise you measure are the ones a real cell would produce. The BTC-130 screens cell components, coin cells and small cells early in development; the BTC-500 subjects full cells, modules and small packs to mechanical, electrical and thermal stress inside a 500 mm containment chamber, with an integrated camera recording the runaway as it happens. Every system is fully customisable to your requirements.

Bench-top · Ø130 × 200 mm · ambient to 500 °C

BTC-130

Screen the thermal stability of cell components, coin cells and small cells under adiabatic conditions — catching low self-heating, rapid pressure rise and toxic-gas risks early, before full cell development. Understanding how individual components behave under temperature is what turns early thermal data into safe cell-design decisions.

Large-scale · Ø500 × 500 mm · −40 to 500 °C

BTC-500

Subject cells, modules and packs to mechanical, electrical and thermal stress and capture precise thermal-runaway data under real, worst-case conditions. Engineered for true adiabatic accuracy — 316 stainless steel with an aluminium heat spreader and H.E.L’s HLC calibration for effectively zero heat loss — and built to contain.

Environmental chamber

Holds a set temperature — the cell’s own heat is carried away
Self-heating is damped by the surroundings
Onset and runaway rates are under-estimated
No pressure or gas data from the cell itself

Adiabatic calorimeter

Tracks the sample temperature so no heat is lost
Self-heating develops as it would in a real cell or pack
Onset temperature, dT/dt, T_cr and adiabatic temperature rise measured directly
Pressure rise, gas evolution and propagation captured with the exotherm

Worst-case data is what safe operating limits and mitigation strategies are designed against.

Shared across both configurations

Adiabatic conditions — no heat is lost to the surroundings, so a runaway develops as it would in a real cell, module or pack
Mechanical, electrical and thermal stress testing: overcharge, over-discharge, external short circuit, nail penetration and rapid charge / discharge
Establishes safe working temperature, voltage and current from adiabatic temperature-rise and over-charge / over-discharge testing
Detects the indicators that matter early — low self-heating temperatures, rapid pressure increases and toxic-gas production
Robust 316 stainless-steel construction, engineered to withstand explosions during worst-case testing
Data acquisition up to 10,000 Hz, so the fastest events in a runaway are captured, not averaged away
Heat capacity (MCp) and adiabatic temperature-rise measurement, plus self-heat rate (dT/dt) and critical temperature (Tcr)
WinISO equipment control and data logging, with automated safety monitoring and user-configurable shutdown

Adiabatic testing tells you when a cell starts to self-heat, how fast it accelerates and what it releases when it fails. That is what safe operating limits, cell design and pack mitigation are built on.

Onset temperatureSelf-heating rate (dT/dt)Adiabatic temperature riseOvercharge & over-dischargeExternal short circuitNail penetrationThermal runawayCell-to-cell propagationPressure rise & gas evolutionHeat capacity (MCp)

Case study: runaway testing on a 790 Ah utility-scale cell →

BTC-500 installed in a battery testing laboratory — The BTC-500 in a battery testing laboratory — containment vessel, services and instrumentation

Close-up of the BTC-500 test chamber lid and instrumentation — Instrumented chamber lid: thermocouples, gas lines and cycling connections into the containment vessel

Cylindrical lithium-ion cells being prepared for testing — Cylindrical, prismatic and pouch cells — tested as they are, not as milligram samples

790 Ah utility-scale battery cell tested in the BTC-500 — The BTC-500 — used to complete thermal-runaway testing on a 790 Ah utility-scale cell

Standards & compliance

UN 38.3SAE J2464ECE R100 Rev3GB/T 36276-2023SAND2017-6925AIS 048:2009

Testing on the BTC-130 and BTC-500 is aligned to these battery safety standards and protocols. Test methods are built as WinISO recipes, so a validated protocol is repeated exactly, run after run.

Specifications

Specification	BTC-130	BTC-500
Measurement type	Adiabatic calorimetry
Format	Bench-top	Large-scale, floor standing
Temperature range	Ambient to 500 °C	−40 to 500 °C
Test chamber	Ø130 mm × 200 mm high	Ø500 mm × 500 mm high
Cell & sample sizes	Cell components, coin cells, small pouch & cylindrical cells	Cylindrical, prismatic & pouch cells, and small modules
Typical use	Component and small-cell hazard screening — thermal stability before full cell development	Full-scale safety testing of cells, modules and packs under worst-case conditions
Heat loss	—	0% — aluminium heat spreader with H.E.L’s proprietary HLC calibration, compensating for the environment in real time
Thermal-runaway camera	—	Integrated — visually captures runaway and cell-to-cell propagation
Containment	Robust 316 stainless-steel construction, engineered to withstand explosions	Containment vessel, N₂ purge and automatic shutdown — built to withstand high-capacity cell explosions
Data acquisition	Up to 10,000 Hz
Instrument size (W×D×H)	700 × 600 × 800 mm	1200 × 900 × 1980 mm
Options	Integrated charge cycler, nail-penetration testing, heat-capacity evaluation, spherical test cells for component testing	Chamber options, integrated charge cycling, nail penetration, external shorting, automated gas analysis
Standards alignment	UN 38.3 · SAE J2464 · ECE R100 Rev3 · GB/T 36276-2023 · SAND2017-6925 · AIS 048:2009
Software	WinISO equipment control, data logging and analysis

MoreLess

Highlighted rows are where the two instruments differ — everything else is common to both. A dash means the feature is not part of that instrument’s standard specification. Every system is configured to your requirements; final values confirmed on specification.

Ask a specialist about the BTC-130 or BTC-500 Compare the range side by side ↓↑ Back to top

Isothermal calorimetry · Battery performance testing

The iso-BTC and iso-BTC+ — isothermal calorimetry for heat and efficiency

Every inefficiency in a cell ends up as heat. Isothermal calorimetry holds the cell at a set temperature and measures exactly how much heat it releases while it is charged and discharged, so efficiency, C-rate behaviour and the effect of chemistry, electrodes and ageing can be quantified rather than estimated. The iso-BTC covers coin to small pouch cells on the bench; the iso-BTC+ extends the same technique to larger formats and higher capacities, with higher sensitivity, up to 200 W measurable power and advanced thermal mapping. Every system is fully customisable to your requirements.

Bench-top · 255 × 275 mm · −20 to 90 °C

iso-BTC

Measure heat generation and efficiency with true isothermal calorimetry and integrated charge–discharge cycling — revealing how chemistry, cell type, temperature and age drive real-world performance across small to medium cells, with optional thermal mapping for hot-spot detection.

Floor standing · 350 × 350 mm · 200 W

iso-BTC+

Advanced isothermal calorimetry for larger cells and higher capacities — higher sensitivity for subtle thermal changes, up to 200 W measurable power across two 100 W zones, and advanced thermal mapping with multipoint sample temperature measurement. Suited to research and quality control alike.

Shared across both configurations

True isothermal calorimetry — heat output measured under stable, real-world temperature conditions rather than inferred from a temperature rise
Integrated charge–discharge cycling records electrical performance and heat evolution simultaneously, on the same time base
Reveals how chemistry, electrodes, cell format and cell age drive heat generation and efficiency
Heat release profiles, battery efficiency and charge / discharge capacity across C-rates and temperatures
Cycle-life performance measured with the thermal signature that goes with it
Thermal mapping locates regions of higher heat generation and hot spots, so thermal management can be targeted where it is needed
Custom battery adaptors for a wide range of cell sizes and formats
WinISO equipment control and data logging, with automated safety monitoring and rapid data capture

Heat is the honest measure of a cell’s efficiency. Measure it under load, at the temperature the cell will actually see — then design the thermal management around real data.

Heat release profilesBattery efficiencyCharge / discharge capacityEfficiency vs temperatureHeat at different C-ratesCycle-life performanceThermal mappingHot-spot detectionHeat capacity (MCp)

Why isothermal calorimetry matters for EV manufacturing →

iso-BTC thermal plate assembly — The thermal plate assembly — the cell is clamped between temperature-controlled plates

Large-format cylindrical cell in the iso-BTC+ chamber — A large-format cell in the iso-BTC+ chamber — the same technique, scaled up

Instrumented battery cell with thermocouples — Instrumented cell: cycling connections and multipoint temperature measurement

Pouch cell prepared for isothermal testing — Pouch, prismatic, cylindrical and coin formats, held by custom adaptors

Specifications

Specification	iso-BTC	iso-BTC+
Measurement type	Isothermal calorimetry
Format	Bench-top	Floor standing
Temperature range	−20 to 90 °C
Test chamber	255 × 275 mm (W × D)	350 × 350 mm (W × D)
Cell & sample sizes	Coin, cylindrical, small prismatic & small pouch cells	Cylindrical, prismatic & pouch cells — larger formats and higher capacities
Maximum measurable power	—	200 W (2 × 100 W zones)
Sensitivity	Standard isothermal sensitivity	Higher sensitivity — detects subtle thermal changes
Thermal mapping	Optional	Advanced, with multipoint sample-temperature measurement
Charge–discharge cycling	Integrated charge cycler — performance and heat evolution recorded together
Data acquisition	Up to 10 Hz
Instrument size (W×D×H)	600 × 550 × 750 mm	1200 × 900 × 1980 mm
Options	Integrated charge cycling, heat-capacity evaluation, thermal mapping, custom battery adaptors
Software	WinISO equipment control, data logging and analysis

MoreLess

Highlighted rows are where the two instruments differ — everything else is common to both. A dash means the value is not part of that instrument’s standard specification. Every system is configured to your requirements; final values confirmed on specification.

Ask a specialist about the iso-BTC or iso-BTC+Compare the range side by side ↓↑ Back to top