An Iowa State University researcher is using a special tool to test the limits of lithium-ion batteries. Todd Kingston says the device called the accelerating rate calorimeter or ARC.
Kingston purchased the ARC with a grant from the U-S Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research. It can safely recreate the conditions that cause batteries to heat up.
Kingston says they can push the batteries beyond their charging limits, or submit them to mechanical abuse.
Kingston is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and says they want to learn how to prevent issues with the batteries.
Waste haulers say lithium-ion batteries have increasingly caused problems with fires in garbage trucks and landfills, and are encouraging everyone to recycle batteries. Kingston says his research could also help in the recycling process.
He says the are testing a range of batteries used for various applications from smaller ones to larger ones used in electric vehicles.
