Safety testing of lithium ion batteries for navy devices

Lithium ion battery technology is being introduced into power supplies used by our armed forces for a variety of applications. In many cases, the same cells and design parameters that support commercial battery packs are being used in military battery packs. This approach is expected to result in a major decrease in the total life cycle cost of the equipment these batteries support. On June 13, 1991, NAVSEA issued INST9310.1B1, which states that all lithium battery powered equipment must undergo safety evaluation and approval prior to fleet use. This safety program governs a process whereby approvals are issued for lithium batteries to be used in specific equipment on ground facilities, surface combatants, air combatants, and/or submarines. The Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) manages the program. The chief technical advisors are Code 644 at NSWC Carderock Division and Code 609A at NSWC Crane Division. This paper describes three battery designs that incorporate lithium ion technology, and the results of battery safety tests conducted in accordance with navy requirements.     

Safety tests of lithium 9-volt batteries for Navy applications

COTS batteries are relatively inexpensive, readily accessible, and extremely versatile. These attributes allow the military to save time and money during the research and development stages. Of these COTS batteries, a 9-Volt (9 V) lithium/manganese dioxide battery is the subject of this paper. This 9 V battery has the ability to provide a low magnetic signature, which is very important to the Navy for many applications, Also, it is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed at the unit level; however, these UL tests cannot be directly related to the safety of these 9 V batteries when they are combined in various series and parallel configurations. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock was tasked to rate the safety of several such specialized battery packs. It was found that packs consisting of two 9 V batteries in parallel were relatively safe, experiencing no violent behavior. Battery packs with six 9 Vs in parallel vented and deformed the 9 V batteries, but no smoke or flames were noticed. A battery pack with thirty 9 V batteries, 2 in series with 15 legs, experienced venting, smoke, and flames under certain circumstances, After testing, the six and thirty 9 V packs were required to include the addition of various safety devices