Performance, power and customization: lithium batteries designed for the needs of the industrial sector at Bauma

Bauma 2022 is fast approaching, and it will be dominated by the topics of sustainability and digitisation. From 24 to 30 October, the main international players in the construction machinery, earth moving and mining sector will come together at Messe München to present their most recent innovations.

Among them, electrification of equipment will be one of the main trends: a strategy by now shared by the majority of industrial sectors, led by ever-increasingly stringent sustainability policies and encouraged by benefits such as eliminating polluting emissions, lowering maintenance costs, eliminating noise, and the excellent performance offered by the latest generation of lithium industrial battery packs.

But while industry has opened its arms to electric conversion in general terms, which applications are currently most involved in this process, and why? We will provide an overview of the need for electrification of the main sectors which will be at the centre of Bauma 2022, where interest is moving towards electrification of ever-increasingly compact vehicles, with high-voltage industrial batteries and high power capacities.

Electrification with lithium battery packs in the construction sector: off-highway vehicles and material handling at maximum power

Correct management of energy consumption is a key element for the electrification of vehicles such as heavy duty side loaders, or even concrete trucks, excavators, cranes and mini cranes operating in the construction sector and on building sites. Due to the nature of their daily work, these vehicles tend to consume large quantities of energy and require good run time and power. It is therefore key to focus on the high energy density of the industrial battery pack, which will allow as much energy and power as possible to be stored in a limited volume.

Applications in the construction field also require a high level of safety; in this case, industrial battery packs featuring LFP chemistry come into play. They are the most suitable lithium technology for the sector of industrial machines, due to their high decomposition temperature and slow release of heat, a combination which guarantees great stability and run time.

Finally, in order to optimise performance it is important to equip these applications with a remote monitoring system, which offers continuous, automatic remote control of the battery pack. It is not by chance that Bauma will be the launch platform for the latest evolution of the Flash Data Center, our proprietary remote monitoring system which makes use of the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to guarantee the interconnection of the more than 15,000 Flash Battery lithium battery systems operational around the world.

DISCOVER FLASH DATA CENTER LIVE AT BAUMA
HALL A5 – BOOTH 339

The Flash Data Center collects battery operating data in real time, 24/7, allowing for self-diagnosis, predictive maintenance and remote verification of the application’s actual consumption: a key added-value feature, especially in the prototype phase for implementing increasingly efficient vehicles in a sector such as off-highway, where the trend is towards electrification of compact applications and the challenge is becoming high levels of mechanical and electronic customisation.

High performance for the railway sector

The railway sector is currently highly selective in terms of regulations and safety. Not to mention the growing focus on reducing CO2 emissions and noise pollution. This is why increasing numbers of manufacturers in the railway sector see the future of their business in electrification. Railway applications with lithium batteries indeed offer high levels of energy efficiency, reduce operating costs for scheduled maintenance to zero, and eliminate pollutant emissions. But that’s not all!

Industrial battery packs with lithium iron phosphate chemistry, combined with intelligent battery management systems, make these applications safe, efficient and suitable for carrying out operations such as construction, servicing and maintenance of overhead lines for railways, or for road-rail combination use.

What’s more, railway applications are often required to operate in environments which involve significant restrictions in terms of pollutant emissions and noise as well: this is why electrification with lithium battery packs is becoming an increasingly necessary choice.

Added to all this are the advantages linked to the high levels of efficiency and performance of Flash Battery lithium batteries, with a service life exceeding 4,000 cycles, the ability to perform partial charges and discharges and proprietary control electronics, the Flash Balancing System, which allows the battery to remain balanced and efficient from all points of view. This is thanks to an ultra-fast balancing system which operates at high power (20 A), both actively and passively, guaranteeing speed and performance during charging.

To each agricultural vehicle, its own customized lithium battery

Mechanical and electronic customization is one of the main requirements for the electrification of agricultural machines: a sector featuring strong growth, particularly in the wine, livestock and urban green space maintenance sectors, where the trend is towards achieving zero emissions with compact, powerful electric vehicles featuring high energy-density lithium battery packs, made to the mechanical and electronic requirements imposed by the structure, size and needs of the application.

In both the wine-growing and livestock farming sectors, for example, the electrical machinery used to harvest the grapes or feed the animals in their stalls – as well as matching the performance of their ICE equivalents – brings with it numerous benefits linked to the elimination of C02 emissions, fine particulate matter and toxic gases which pollute both the environment and the health of animals and operatives.

Added to this are the lower noise levels and research into high-voltage battery packs, where Flash Battery’s experience, with a department dedicated exclusively to mechanical and electronic customisation, has over time carved out a leading role in the creation of lithium battery packs customised in both size and format, with high energy densities and advanced safety systems.

Another pair of agricultural applications where the numerous advantages offered by lithium electrification are widely appreciated are machines for maintenance of urban and green spaces, for example wood chippers/shredders, and lifting/handling equipment, such as telehandlers for agricultural and industrial use.

The former are making ever-greater use of hybrid and full-electric systems, above all in terms of zero emissions and zero noise, while lifting/handling equipment is focused on high-capacity high-voltage industrial battery packs (on the order of 600 V), high levels of customisation and the need for extended run times, which can range from six to eight hours, depending on the battery pack used.

Bauma 2022: Flash Battery’s lithium battery production at the service of the next generation of industrial machinery

As manufacturers of lithium battery packs specialised in the industrial machines and electric vehicles segment, we couldn’t miss an event as important as this! You will find us at Hall A5 – Booth 339 in Bauma 2022, where we will be showing off the latest Flash Battery lithium industrial batteries dedicated to the off-highway, earth moving, railway, heavy duty material handling, AWP, cranes and industrial vehicles segments.

Customized Italian-made lithium batteries since 2012

The high level of customisation of our lithium industrial battery packs and our focus on the industrial machinery market have always been our greatest strengths. Alongside our proprietary technologies, these factors have allowed us to position ourselves among the main lithium battery manufacturers in our sector, and to respond in an effective and reactive manner to electrification requests from OEMs and manufacturers by offering customised battery systems (over 500 different models) on the basis of the specific requirements of each vehicle.

Space, footprints, voltages and capacities are customised to meet requirements, following consolidated internal industrial practices composed of eight customisation stages, in which all company areas – from sales & marketing right through to the design, custom and production departments – work together to achieve perfect integration of the components, in order to supply a safe, high-performance lithium battery pack with a long operational lifespan.

Bauma will therefore be the perfect opportunity to show off some completely customised examples of lithium industrial battery packs which meet the needs of different industrial sectors:

Combining performance, power and the highest levels of safety in a battery pack is possible

Every sector has its own specific requirements, but there is one aspect which is in and of itself essential for the entire universe of industrial vehicles and machinery: safety. This is why we have chosen to focus on LFP chemistry for all our lithium battery packs, as its intrinsic high decomposition temperature and slow release of heat guarantee safety and stability even under the most strenuous conditions. This, combined with intelligent control electronics which monitor the temperature of every cell inside the pack in a constant and broad manner, ensures high levels of performance and reliability for the vehicle.

But if you have heard that while LFP chemistry guarantees safety and long life cycles it is not renowned for its high energy density, you may be surprised to learn that our R&D department has made huge strides in this direction, too! At Bauma, our technical staff will show you Flash Battery’s third-generation cells, which we have implemented in all our lithium batteries and which in just two years have allowed us to increase the energy density of our battery packs from 134 Wh/L to 207 Wh/L in order to store ever-greater amounts of energy in a compact space and satisfy the electrification requirements for more and more compact and energy-intensive applications, providing them with full autonomy and power, while guaranteeing the high levels of safety which set us apart.

Have we piqued your interest? Would you like to know more about our technology? We will be expecting you at Bauma from 24 to 30 October, Hall A5 – Booth 339, where you will have the change to see Flash Battery’s lithium battery packs customised for the widest range of industrial segments. Come and see us to discover the best electrification responses to your needs and requirements.

Watch here the photogallery of the event: