The regulations I mentioned only apply to Lithium/ Ion batteries.
Lithium Ion batteries have very high energy density for a small volume so a very small cell can have a greater than 400Wh/L energy density. We have a battery pack for one of our products where the Lithium cell has an energy density above the limit so we had to comply. All the examples you gave we chemistries other Lithium so I think you would be surprised how much energy is contained in a little lithium/ Ion battery. From: ce-test, qualified testing bv - Gert Gremmen [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 3:35 PM To: Tyra, John; Scott Xe; [email protected] Subject: RE: How to determine if battery-operated product is safe or not If I understand well, then almost no batteries/cells do qualify to this 400 Wh/L requirement: Take a lead acid car battery: 12V 85 Ah Size 40 x 20 x 20 cm approx 12 x 85 = 1020 / 12 = 63 WH/L < 100 WH/L I have a LifePo4 Battery on my E-bike: 48 V 20 AH Size appox 25 x 20 x 20 cm 48 x 20 = 960 / 10 = 96 WH/L < 100 WH/l An NiMh AA-cel 1.2V 2.7 Ah size 1.2 O x 5 cm 1.2 x 2.7 = 3.24 / 0.188 = 17 WH/L Lion pack 3.6V 6.6 Ah 3 x AA size 3.6 x 6.6 = 23.76 23.76 / (3 x 0.188) = 42 WH/L Did I understand something wrong ??? Gert Gremmen Ce-test, qualified testing bv Van: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Namens Tyra, John Verzonden: vrijdag 10 juli 2009 20:17 Aan: 'Scott Xe'; [email protected] Onderwerp: RE: How to determine if battery-operated product is safe or not Hello Scott, Here are the Energy Density equations sent to me by METI in Japan 1. We recommend to make sure the energy density by obtaining the design from the battery manufacture because it should be considered necessarily at the design phase by them. Please refer to the following formula and it is subjected to the regulation if volume energy density is over 400Wh/L. Volume Energy Density = ( Rated Capacity * Rated Voltage ) / Outside Size Rated Capacity: The battery capacity C5Ah (ampere-hour) specified by the battery manufacture. The battery capacity C5Ah means it can supply for five hours when the battery is charged, stored and discharged under the condition of JIS C8711 （2006）7.2.1. Please refer to "JIS C8711（2006） 3.5". The discharge stop voltage is specified by the battery manufacture. Rated Voltage: The appropriate voltage. It is used for specifying or identifying the voltage of a unit battery. Generally it is five-hour discharge rate and the average discharge voltage when measuring the rated capacity Outside Size: the outside size for a unit cell. Please refer to the following website in detail. Unfortunately it is Japanese only. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/consumer/seian/denan/kaishaku/haninokaishaku.pdf 2. The battery pack which is more than 400Wh/l per one single cell is subjected to Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act and it needs to be put the circle PSE mark. With in B to B contract it is enough to label the PSE mark either before import or after import. The importers in Japan are responsible to it. Hope this helps, John Tyra Manager Product Safety Group Bose Corporation The Mountain, MS-450 Framingham, MA 01701-9168 phone: 508-766-1502 fax: 508-766-1145 From: Scott Xe [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 12:43 PM To: Tyra, John; [email protected] Subject: RE: How to determine if battery-operated product is safe or not Hi John, Thanks for your useful information. The battery is of soldered connection type lithium 3.7 V 180 mAh which is a low power so we need to make a sensible judgement if it really needs to do any LVD test. Is there any formula to convert the given spec to power density? Thanks, Scott From: Tyra, John [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 2009年7月10日 1:05 To: 'Scott Xe'; [email protected] Subject: RE: How to determine if battery-operated product is safe or not Hello Scott, You did not mention the type of battery you are using but I am guessing it is Lithium Ion?? In this case I don't think there really is any easy way to guarantee safety of a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery pack without extensive testing to current International Standards. Just an FYI the International Regulatory bodies are in the process of revising the current standards to try to make them more stringent due to concerns related to recent field issues. In addition to the UL standards you mentioned I would look at the IEC/EN requirements such as IEC/EN62133. I don't believe there is a energy limit in the UL or IEC/EN standards for required compliance. Japan (implemented in November 20, 2008) and Korea (effective January 1, 2010) have also passed new laws regulating Lithium Batteries where any battery which has an energy density greater than 400W/L must meet specific construction and test requirements. Batteries below this energy density level are exempt. Korean requirements are similar to Japan's Here are the links for the Japan regs http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/consumer/seian/denan/lithium/080703/law.pdf http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/consumer/seian/denan/lithium/080703/cabinet_ord er.pdf http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/consumer/seian/denan/lithium/080703/ministerial _ordinance.pdf http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/consumer/seian/denan/lithium/080703/technical_r equirements.pdf There are also International shipping regulations which have energy level limits and testing requirements. The manufacturer of the cell should be able to provide you with an appropriate test report. To satisfy the testing requirements for the shipping regs. http://www.iata.org/nr/rdonlyres/480246b4-c9a3-4e19-aa94-38ae5472ddf4/0/guid ancedocumentonthetransportoflibatt_2009v21.pdf Hope this helps.... Regards, John Tyra Manager Product Safety Group Bose Corporation The Mountain, MS-450 Framingham, MA 01701-9168 phone: 508-766-1502 fax: 508-766-1145 From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Scott Xe Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: How to determine if battery-operated product is safe or not We have an USB rechargeable battery-operated video clip/MP3 player. As battery-operated products do not fall into LVD directive, what can we apply the basis to determine the product safe or not? Looking at historical safety hazard reports on the market, there was not much any recall on this type of products except the explosion of rechargeable battery pack. However, the possible explosion of rechargeable battery pack cannot be picked up by LVD directive or dedicated UL1642/2054 battery cell/pack standards. Otherwise, Sony did not need to recall millions of battery packs and the said standards are not required the review. What is potential hazard do we need to look at this type of products? As the safety hazard is tied with power energy, is there any reference that there is no safety concern if the power energy is below certain level? Thanks, Scott - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]> - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]>
