A focus of concern for several Industries out there is the condition of the batteries that power their assets. If a battery fails, then the vehicle or electric-powered equipment it energizes is down for a period, affecting the company’s productivity. Moreover, if the battery is damaged, then a new battery must be purchased, and the business has to absorb the costs.

Stocking an inventory of replacement batteries can provide a quick remedy. However, the business must absorb the additional costs as well.

What if a business experiences a massive failure of its fleet’s batteries? The entire operation could be impacted, resulting in much downtime that leads to a catastrophic productivity issue and a significant expense hit on the company’s budget.

In the United States today, there are more than 5.4 million fleet cars and more than 11.7 million fleet trucks, vans, and SUVs. Of these fleet trucks, about 3 million are commercial or utility vehicles. Many of those fleet vehicles depend on a battery for power. Therefore the battery must perform well.

 

Why Batteries Fail

Several things can go wrong in a battery that can result in its damage. They include:

• Exhaustion of the active chemicals – The depletion of a battery’s active chemicals is a common occurrence that can be remedied by a recharge.

• Change in the molecular or physical structure of the electrodes – While the structure of the active chemicals remains unchanged, it can be damaged over time and cause a reduction in the chemical action resulting in an unusable battery.

• Breakdown of the electrolyte – This can occur due to overheating or over-voltage.

• Electrode plating – This occurs in lithium-ion batteries and is due to low-temperature operation or over-current occurring during charging. This can cause a reduction of the Lithium metal on the anode of a battery, causing a permanent capacity loss and ultimate short circuit.

• Increased Internal Impedance – The internal impedance of the cell of a battery increases over time and crystals form that negatively affect the surface area of the electrodes.

• Reduced capacity – This is a common occurrence due to the aging of the battery’s cell. However, the capacity can be restored through deep discharges.

• Increased self-discharge – The appearance of crystal in the active chemicals of the battery can result in swelling of the electrodes. This increases pressure on the battery’s separator and results in a rise in the self-discharge of a cell. This increases as the temperature of the battery rise and lead to damage to the battery.

• Gassing – Typically caused by over-discharging, it can result in loss of the active chemicals, and the released gasses could explode.

• Pressure build-up – High temperatures within the battery cause the build-up of pressure resulting in the rupture or explosion of the cells. A release vent within the battery permits the gas to escape releasing the pressure. A pressure build-up can lead to short circuits.

• Penetration of the separator – Penetration of the separator of dendrite growth and contaminates, burrs on the electrodes or softening of the separator due to overheating can cause short circuits.

• Swelling – As pressure on the cells of a battery increases, overheating can occur, causing some cells to swell. This could result in loss of capacity as well as problems in containing the cells inside the battery.

• Overheating – It is a continuous problem and is a significant reason why batteries fail. It can lead to permanent changes to the chemicals inside the battery; causing gassing, swelling, and distortion of the cell casing. Also, it can adversely affect the battery’s electrolytes. Preventing overheating is essential for securing a long life for a battery.

• Thermal runaway – Chemical action doubles for every 10°C increase in temperature. Temperature can then rise in a cell. As temperatures increase, the electro-chemical action quickens, and the impedance of the cell is reduced, causing higher currents and even higher temperatures destroying the battery.

Assuring that the battery continues to perform appropriately depends upon the ability to manage and monitor its operation. Therefore, businesses are recognizing that this is not just a cost issue but a safety issue as well. An exploding battery can injure workers and lead to a variety of problems that can affect the existence of a business.

The Remedy

The remedy to these problems is an accurate and efficient method of battery management and monitoring.

A technology that provides this is battery management telematics. Industries with assets and equipment that require batteries to operate them can leverage telematics in a battery monitoring and management system to view real-time information that pertains to all of their battery-powered assets. Real-time information can alert businesses when temperature changes exceed a certain threshold based upon the battery type, avoiding overheating problems that lead to battery damage and even battery explosions.

This investment allows users to identify the overall health of their fleet’s batteries through automatically distributed reports or real-time alert notifications so that the operational efficiency is never at stake. Telematic systems that track the health of batteries through reporting and alert notifications also assist in creating a battery management program as well as a maintenance schedule that prevents problems from ever arising.

In Conclusion

Batteries of all shapes and sizes exist in a variety of industries today and large quantity. The most minimal interruption of its power can still harm a business’s bottom line. In a time where cutting costs and seeing immediate cost savings is becoming critical for operations to remain profitable, the smallest asset, like batteries, has become an essential piece to facilitating the efficiency and longevity of fleet operations.

Consult with an Access representative to find out more about how telematics products can assure the full life of your fleet’s batteries and the protection of your personnel from possible injury.