BTC-500 | Large-scale, battery testing, adiabatic calorimeter
The BTC-500 is a large scale adiabatic calorimeter designed for advanced battery safety testing of cells, modules, and packs under extreme conditions. It enables precise evaluation of thermal runaway behavior, safe operating limits, and thermal propagation with high speed data acquisition and integrated imaging. The BTC-500 provides comprehensive insights to support safer battery design and large scale validation.
Battery Performance and Safety Testing Specifications
Overview
Define Safe Operating Limits
Identifying safe operating limits is critical to preventing thermal runaway in large battery systems. The BTC-500 enables comprehensive battery safety testing by applying thermal, electrical, and mechanical stresses to cells, modules, and packs. It provides detailed insights into safe working temperatures, maximum voltage and current limits, and the effects of external short circuits and mechanical abuse.
Advanced capabilities such as thermal mapping with up to 16 measurement points, high speed data acquisition up to 10,000 Hz, and operation at temperatures as low as minus 40°C ensure accurate and reliable data capture. Additional features including video imaging and off gas collection further enhance safety analysis.
Explore Thermal Runaway and Propagation
Understanding thermal runaway and how it propagates within battery systems is essential for safe design. The BTC-500 allows controlled initiation of thermal runaway within a cell using mechanical or electrical triggers, enabling detailed study of propagation within modules and packs.
Data from these tests supports modeling of thermal behavior, identification of decomposition onset temperatures, and quantification of heat release. Integrated video capture provides real time visualization of failure events, while gas analysis offers further insight into reaction mechanisms. This enables the development of effective mitigation strategies to ensure heat dissipation exceeds heat generation.
Performance Testing
The BTC-500 supports performance characterization under extreme operating conditions. Automated cycling allows evaluation of long term stability and the limits of repeated use, while puncture and abuse testing provide insight into structural integrity.
With an extended temperature range exceeding 1000°C and integrated imaging of thermal events, the system enables direct comparison of safety performance across different battery designs, supporting robust validation and development.
Application Notes:
On-Demand Webinars:
- Key Benefits of isothermal and adiabatic calorimetry battery testing
- The Use of Isothermal Calorimetry in Battery Performance Testing
Blogs:
- Best Publications on Battery Testing to Read Now – Part 1
- Best Publications on Battery Testing to Read Now – Part 2
Videos:
- Heat Wait Search Video Using H.E.L Battery Testing Calorimeters (BTC)
- With The H.E.L BTC 130 the maximum temperature of the environment which results in a battery thermal explosion that can be predicted by placing the sample in the BTC and performing well-established adiabatic tests. This involves stepwise heating, followed by a wait-and-search period that can be used with cells and large battery packs alike to determine the maximum safe operating temperature.
Technical Literature
The following is a list of supporting Technical Literature.
Thermal Runaway Testing of 790Ah Utility Scale Battery Cells Using the BTC 500
Integration of mass spectrometry to characterize the gas evolution of batteries in thermal runaways using adiabatic calorimetry.
Assessing the suitability of H.E.L’s BTC-500 for small battery testing
Publications
The following are a list of some technical publications which highlight the use of the equipment.
A comprehensive insight into the thermal runaway issues in the view of lithium-ion battery intrinsic safety performance and venting gas explosion hazards
Gang Wei, Ranjun Huang, Guangxu Zhang, Bo Jiang, Jiangong Zhu, Yangyang Guo, Guangshuai Han, Xuezhe Wei, Haifeng Dai
01-Nov-2023
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306261923010152(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Revealing the multilevel thermal safety of lithium batteries
Gaojie Xu, Lang Huang, Chenglong Lu, Xinhong Zhou, Guanglei Cui
01-Oct-2020
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2020.06.004(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Study on the Performance of Parallel Air-Cooled Structure and Optimized Design for Lithium-Ion Battery Module
Shuai Pan, Changwei Ji, Shuofeng Wang & Bing Wang
28-Jul-2020
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-020-01020-x(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
In-Operando Impedance Spectroscopy and Ultrasonic Measurements during High-Temperature Abuse Experiments on Lithium-Ion Batteries
Hendrik Zappen, Georg Fuchs and Alexander Gitis and Dirk Uwe Sauer
22-Apr-2020
https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries6020025(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Study on thermal stability of nickel-rich/silicon-graphite large capacity lithium ion battery
Hang Li, Xiangbang Kong, Chaoyue Liu, Jinbao Zhao
01-Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114144(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Prediction of the heavy charging current effect on nickel-rich/silicon-graphite power batteries based on adiabatic rate calorimetry measurement
Hang Li, Chaoyue Liu, Xiangbang Kong,Jun Cheng, Jinbao Zhao
01-Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.226971(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Measurements in abusive tests on lithium ion polymer cells
F. Bianchi; B. Tevenè
14-May-2015
https://doi.org/10.1109/I2MTC.2015.7151419(Subscription or purchase maybe required for full access)
Downloads
The following are a list of available downloads.
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