The overheated batteries in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are not symptomatic of lithium-ion energy storage systems per se, but are due to the use of a special cathode technology in the batteries for the commercial aircraft. This is the view of renowned battery expert Sven Bauer. He is the co-founder and current sole owner of the Batterien-Montage-Zentrum(www.bmz-gmbh.de), an internationally recognized system specialist for the development and production of intelligent lithium-ion batteries. Bauer warns against demonizing lithium-ion technology because of the incidents.



"Lithium-ion batteries are not fundamentally more dangerous than other battery technologies. However, there are different anode and cathode materials that are used. In the past, lithium-ion cobalt batteries with cobalt cathodes were widely used and this is actually a dangerous technology," said Bauer in an interview with the specialist medium "Elektronikpraxis".



However, it is precisely this technology that is apparently used in the batteries of the Boeing 787. "The aim here was probably to tease out the last bit of capacity," says Bauer about the reasons for this decision. Many of the Dreamliner's functions are operated electrically, meaning that the aircraft's electrical system has a capacity of 1.5 megawatts - enough to supply around 400 households with electricity. However, according to Sven Bauer, even with this cathode technology there are ways to prevent a dangerous thermal runaway, i.e. the development of an almost uncontrollable fire. "This works, for example, by separating the cathode and anode using ceramic separators that melt at a certain temperature and bind the ion flow so that the cell never reaches more than 170 degrees Celsius, i.e. below the burning temperature of lithium of 173 degrees," explains Bauer.



Contrary to media reports, the incidents with the Boeing 787 apparently did not result in a thermal runaway despite the battery overheating: "Otherwise nothing would have been left of the aircraft," says Sven Bauer. You can find the entire interview at http://tinyurl.com/ac2e6cj.



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