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Test chamber helps ensure consumers get power when they need it most
You are not the kind of person who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are ... trudging through snowbanks to get to your car in the bleak morning hours, when even the most hardy of souls is tucked safely away, dreaming. You put the key in the ignition, frosty breath rising up in an interior that feels even colder than it is outside. And ... the engine turns.
It’s a moment like this that the researchers at Johnson Controls’ cold-climate test facility in Hanover, Germany, live for because it is here lead-acid batteries are put through their paces in a subzero environment.
Frigid Facility
At the facility, batteries are attached to test machinery that gauges electrical charges under simulated cold conditions in a temperature-controlled chamber, right down to minus 29 degrees Celsius. For most tests, however, batteries are gauged during a 24-hour period at minus 18 degrees Celsius to test battery discharge. The 24-hour period is used so the battery is acclimated to the set temperature in the test chamber.
According to Eberhard Meissner, Ph.D., director of Research and Development for Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe, subjecting batteries to the cold embrace of the testing chamber yields information that can be used by Johnson Controls and automotive customers, creating a common language for specifications.
“The target is not to emulate a real-life situation but to quantify better performance,” Meissner says of the testing. “The benefit for automakers is that they can compare different makes, different suppliers or different designs by the same supplier—if they have alternative designs. So you have a [consistent] evaluation of performance and you can check the cost for the individual performance when you look for a battery. Then [the automakers] can make a benefit-to-cost ratio and find the match they’re looking for.”
Meissner says Johnson Controls benefits, too. By testing different climates, the company can design batteries independent of specific automaker requirements. Who knows? That might yield a battery design that provides even more power under harsh conditions.
It’s a moment like this that the researchers at Johnson Controls’ cold-climate test facility in Hanover, Germany, live for because it is here lead-acid batteries are put through their paces in a subzero environment.
Frigid Facility
At the facility, batteries are attached to test machinery that gauges electrical charges under simulated cold conditions in a temperature-controlled chamber, right down to minus 29 degrees Celsius. For most tests, however, batteries are gauged during a 24-hour period at minus 18 degrees Celsius to test battery discharge. The 24-hour period is used so the battery is acclimated to the set temperature in the test chamber.
According to Eberhard Meissner, Ph.D., director of Research and Development for Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe, subjecting batteries to the cold embrace of the testing chamber yields information that can be used by Johnson Controls and automotive customers, creating a common language for specifications.
“The target is not to emulate a real-life situation but to quantify better performance,” Meissner says of the testing. “The benefit for automakers is that they can compare different makes, different suppliers or different designs by the same supplier—if they have alternative designs. So you have a [consistent] evaluation of performance and you can check the cost for the individual performance when you look for a battery. Then [the automakers] can make a benefit-to-cost ratio and find the match they’re looking for.”
Meissner says Johnson Controls benefits, too. By testing different climates, the company can design batteries independent of specific automaker requirements. Who knows? That might yield a battery design that provides even more power under harsh conditions.
