Lithium batteries (how they Work)
Lithium batteries are now used on everyday items that we
take for granted, such as cell phones and lap tops. You can now find them in things
like lawn mowers and are available for mobility scooters and motor cycles. At
the moment they are very expensive to buy compared to lead acid batteries, and
so the take up has not been so great. I think though that eventually all
battery driven products will be of similar technology to Lithium-Ion batteries
and hopefully the price of a replacement will be coming down.
These batteries have not yet stood the test of time and they
have already caused problems with overheating and setting on fire, the main
risk of fire coming from the battery overheating, they can also explode. Even
the batteries that power your mobile phone should be kept out of warm places
such as your pocket or they risk setting on fire. The big problem is that the
batteries have a very fragile coating in the partitions so if they are
punctured and the battery is damaged, then a nasty fire can occur or in some
cases an explosion.
Lithium-Ion batteries are very light in weight compared to
lead acid batteries; I could not believe how light they are, one of the other
differences is that they can give out much more power. The Lithium-Ion battery
mainly consists of two electrodes that are separated by an electrolyte. These
batteries transfer an electric charge from the lithium metal cathode through
the electrolyte which is made of an organic liquid containing lithium salts across
to a carbon cathode.
Lithium-ion batteries mainly contain a metal coil and a flammable lithium ion fluid.
Very small metal
fragments are floating in the liquid. The contents of these batteries are under
pressure, so if a metal fragment accidentally penetrates a partition that keeps
the components separate or if the battery is
If a fire breaks out it is then possible for the fire to
spread quickly to any other lithium battery that may be close by. Another type
of fire that can happen is to the point of thermal runway, where the heat that
can build up in the battery actually exerts pressure on the battery; this too
can cause an explosion, all frightening stuff.
To my amazement I learned recently that airlines still carry Lithium batteries on their cargo
And passenger flights, some countries though such as the USA
have banned them from being transported, because of the high risk that they
propose. The problem as I have stated is that if one battery catches fire then
it can spread at speed to the batteries nearby, say in a consignment on a
pallet in a cargo hold.
In my opinion though, the body that governs air safety, will
ban the carrying of these dangerous batteries on all flights across the World.
A test was carried out using a Boeing 727 air frame and exploding Lithium
batteries, tore the plane apart and blew off the flight deck door. As I have
said earlier in the article, I would have thought that these batteries would
have been tested for a longer period before used on say a garden lawn mower,
however only time will tell and the speed at which the battery developments are
coming through then we may not even be using Lithium-Ion batteries in the next
two or three years. For more information see… http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/lithium-ion-battery1.htm
Eric Roberts
Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the
Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery company
www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk. I have worked for a couple for national tyre
companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a
garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and
Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their
related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and
Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.
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