31 JANUARY 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Battery Bust by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC It seems like not a day goes by we don’t hear something about lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and their problems. For one thing, they have a bad habit of catching on fire - fires that are notoriously difficult to put out. Not that long ago, Li-ion batteries were hailed as a major part of the “green energy” revolution. Now, largely because of safety concerns, many are not so sure about that. Li-ion batteries do have advantages - one of them being able to provide more power in less space, with less weight. One metric used to measure battery power output is watt-hour per unit weight like watt-hour per kilogram. According to Wikipedia, Li-ion batteries can produce 100-265 watt-hours per kilogram. This, in contrast to the lead-acid battery like the starter battery in most conventional internal combustion engine cars, produces just 35-40 watt-hours per kilogram. It’s a significant increase in power vs. weight. See article: https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/10/02/its-been-a-bad-news-week-for-lithium-ion-batteriesn3795295?bcid=8f3ad719f55c3c46816e6c0565bc0891ff31ed68bb4d79419609898303b9379d&lctg=20272765 Other issues need to be factored in here, like safety. Since most of the electrolytes (working fluid) in a lead-acid battery is water and sulfuric acid, it doesn’t burn. But Li-ion batteries can burn and reignite when the water used to put out the fire is taken away. Li-ion batteries can also experience thermal runaway. Wikipedia defines thermal runaway with respect to Li-ion batteries as, “a process that is accelerated by increased temperature, in turn releasing energy that further increases temperature.” According to batterytechonline.com, thermal runaway is an uncontrollable chain reaction in a lithium-ion battery cell which can lead to a fire hazard. Another issue is the energy output of all batteries is greatly reduced during cold weather. Some batteries are better than others in this area, but overall, one gets considerably less energy out of a battery during cold weather because low temperatures reduce the chemical activity within the battery. Cold weather also happens to be where the most demands are placed on said battery, such as heating car interiors. The bottom line is, while batteries work well in quite a number of applications - and they won’t be going away anytime soon - they do not work well as the prime mover for cars. There’s a reason for everything and there is a reason we have the cars and fuels we have. It’s because it’s the most costefficient and least expensive way to make a car given all of the conditions the car will encounter. Like most every business decision, if it is not profitable, we’re not going there. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Tennessee Water Well Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show February 28 - March 1 Gatlinburg, TN Exhibits Scholarship Auction Continuing Education 865-761-4363 tnwaterwellassociation.org and Much More!
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