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Power Applications for Consumer Electronics

Overcoming the Challenges to Commercialization of Batteries for Portable Devices

March 28-29, 2018 | Fort Lauderdale Convention Center | Fort Lauderdale, Florida


The demands and requirements of battery power for wireless devices have increased exponentially over the past decade. These increased demands have created significant market opportunities for battery developers. This track will focus on the latest technological advancements in portable power for smartphones, tablets, laptops, medical devices and power tools. The conference presentations will provide an in-depth analysis of emerging new battery chemistries, pack designs and battery management systems. In addition, an examination of the latest charging technologies and advances in safety will be addressed. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to network with the complete battery development ecosystem, from principal scientists to device manufacturers.

Wednesday, March 28

1:30 pm Battery Shep Wolsky Battery Innovator Award and Tribute & Plenary Keynotes

1:45 Past, Present and Future of Lithium-Ion Batteries. Can New Technologies Open Up New Horizons?

Yoshio_NishiYoshio Nishi, PhD, Executive Alumni, Sony Corporation

Mr. Yoshio Nishi is retired senior vice president and chief technology officer of the Sony Corporation. He graduated in 1966 from the Faculty of Applied Chemistry of the Department of Technology at Keio University in Tokyo and immediately joined Sony, where he rose through the ranks to become corporate research fellow, vice president, and president of the company’s materials laboratories. In 1991 his team succeeded in the commercialization of the first lithium-ion secondary batteries (LIB). In 1994 he received technical awards from the Electrochemical Societies of both Japan and the United States in recognition of his contributions to LIB technology. In 2014, Dr. Nishi was awarded the Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering for pioneering and leading the groundwork for today’s lithium-ion battery. Since the early 1990s, LIBs were introduced into various mobile devices and we were reasonably confident that our customers would be satisfied with their performance. Shortly afterwards, however, we noticed that there were some discrepancies between the performance we offered and that expected by our customers. Dr. Nishi will discuss here what LIB users really require from secondary batteries.

2:05 Global Electrification and LG Chem

Denise GrayDenise Gray, CEO, LG Chem Power

Denise Gray is President/CEO of LG Chem Power Inc. (LGCPI), the North American subsidiary of lithium-ion battery maker, LG Chem (LGC), Korea. In this position, she has overall responsibility for the strategic direction, engineering, and business development activities for the North American market. The majority of her professional career, nearly 30 years, was spent at General Motors in the USA. Director of Battery Systems Engineering, Director of Transmission Controls Engineering, Director of Powertrain Controller Engineering, Director of Powertrain Software Engineering, and development of powertrain and vehicle electrical systems were her core engineering responsibilities. A review of the current global trends in vehicle electrification and automotive battery technologies will be presented. This will be carried out highlighting LG Chem’s participation in the various segments from materials, cell and cost points of view.

2:25 Addressing Key Battery Issues from a Thermodynamics Perspective

Rachid_YazamiRachid Yazami, PhD, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Program Director, Energy Storage, Energy Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Rachid Yazami is a French Morrocan scientist best known for his research on lithium-ion batteries and on fluoride-ion batteries. He is the inventor of the graphite anode (negative pole) of lithium-ion batteries. In 2014 Rachid Yazami, John Goodenough, Yoshio Nishi and Akira Yoshino were awarded the Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering for pioneering and leading the groundwork for today’s lithium-ion battery. In this presentation, we will show how online thermodynamics data collection and processing addresses the SOC and SOH determination. We found a universal rule, which applies to all LIB tested at any SOH (ageing), that is the SOC is a linear function of entropy and enthalpy. Linearity coefficients are LIB chemistry and SOH dependent. Therefore, the thermodynamics assessment method teaches on the type of cathode material and on the degree of anode and cathode degradation as the battery ages.

2:45 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

OEM Application-Driven Development

3:30 Organizer’s Opening Remarks

Craig Wohlers, Executive Director, Conferences, Cambridge EnerTech

3:35 Chairperson’s Remarks

James Kaschmitter, CEO, SpectraPower

3:40 Zhuhai Coslight Power Battery (EV/HEV/ESS/PT) Solution

Tony Li, Ph.D., Director, R&D, Zhuhai Coslight Battery CO., Ltd., China

Compared with other types of Li-ion batteries (prismatic, cylindrical), pouch type Li-ion batteries have the advantage of size flexibility (very low cost to customize new dimension), high specific energy density and better safety performance. Zhuhai Coslight’s mainstream MP NCM EV cell can achieve >2000 cycle life with 242Wh/kg gravimetric energy density, and will be further increased to 277 Wh/kg by 2018 through new chemistry introduction. While, mainstream NCM HEV cell can achieve ~5000W/kg power density with >100Wh/kg gravimetric energy density and >2500 cycle life.

4:10 Lithium Ion Battery Impedance Studies

Kamal Shah, Director, Platform Architecture Management Client Computing Group, Intel Corp.; Chairman, Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group, EBLWG

This talk will discuss a simple lithium ion battery impedance model and battery impedance studies under various conditions. It will then propose steps and motivation for further studies.

4:40 Quality Philosophy in the Manufacture of Lithium Ion Batteries

Bruce Miller, Technology Strategist, Dell

The manufacturing processes employed in the creation of lithium ion cells are quite convoluted and intricate. To ship a good consistent product, the process design and control methodology employed must be quite rigorous. Attention to detail is important from end to end. In actual practice, two manufacturing processes may appear to be equivalent, but the implementation approach can significantly affect the output of the process. A few real world examples will be used to illustrate the points.

5:10 Networking Reception in Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

6:10 Close of Day

Thursday, March 29

7:45 am Registration Open

7:45 Interactive Breakout Discussion Groups with Continental Breakfast

Participants choose a specific breakout discussion group to join. Each group has a moderator to ensure focused discussions around key issues within the topic. This format allows participants to meet potential collaborators, share examples from their work, vet ideas with peers, and be part of a group problem-solving endeavor. The discussions provide an informal exchange of ideas and are not meant to be a corporate or specific product discussion.

TABLE 1: Future Electrode Manufacturing for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Jianlin Li, PhD, Research Scientist, Energy & Transportation Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

TABLE 2: Battery Storage Integration into the Electric Grid

Vivian Sultan, Professor, Information Systems and Business Management, College of Business and Economics, California State University, Los Angeles

TABLE 3: Li-Ion Battery Safety: Prediction, Prevention, Levels and Legalities

John Zhang, PhD, Senior Technology Executive Officer, Asahi Kensai Group, Japan

TABLE 4: Conductive Additives for High Rate LIB Performance

Rob Privette, Vice President, Energy Markets, XG Sciences

TABLE 5: Battery Charging, What Features Will Be Required in the Future?

Naoki Matsumura, Senior Technologist, Intel Corporation

TABLE 6: Battery Safety Testing and Simulation

Brian Barnett, PhD, Vice President, CAMX Power

TABLE 7: Battery Degradation and Safety

Craig Arnold, PhD, Director, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University

TABLE 8: Lessons Learned from the Samsung Galaxy Note7 Battery Safety Events

Shmuel De-Leon, CEO, Shmuel De-Leon Energy, Ltd.

8:45 Session Break

Innovation & Design in Next-Gen Consumer Electronics Applications

9:00 Chairperson’s Remarks

Kamal Shah, Director, Platform Architecture Management Client Computing Group, Intel Corp.; Chairman, Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group, EBLWG

9:05 Internal Safety Motifs for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Sean Andrews, PhD, Staff Engineer, Qualcomm

As battery energy densities continue to increase, so do the risks of catastrophic failure. While there exists many external circuits designed to prevent such occurrences, safety methodologies integrated within the cells themselves offer more effective, passive solutions. The work presented here covers both academic and industrial efforts in producing effective safety technologies within electrochemical cells.

9:35 Balancing the Need for High Capacity and the Desire for Fast Charge in Consumer Electronics

Walter van Schalkwijk, PhD, Principal Battery Scientist, Microsoft

Chroma ATE10:05 New Battery Test Capability Maximizing Test Coverage

Mike Costello, Vice President, Engineering, Chroma ATE, Inc.

Rudy Sterbenz, Chief Systems Architect, Chroma ATE, Inc.

To accelerate new battery chemistry commercialization, a battery tester was developed to focus on maximizing test coverage. Each resource includes the following: Flexible test programming with Python or GUI, 1usec sample rate, 60 ppm charge/discharge accuracy, CE, and EIS. This presentation will dive into the technical details of the HW and SW inside the tester. Veritas: No compromise, just truthful data.

10:35 Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

11:20 Cell Internal Shorts as Next Frontier of Battery Safety: Types, Prevention and Detection inside Battery Pack

Yevgen_BarsukovYevgen Barsukov, Head, Algorithm Development, Battery Management Systems, Texas Instruments

Present battery packs have sophisticated protection against external device faults, leaving cell internal short as the last frontier that needs to be addressed. Depending on the type of internal short, it can be either prevented by improved cell-state aware charging controls such as MaxLife charging, or in some cases detected in early stages, giving the manufacturer exact knowledge of time and type of failure. This would allow the manufacturer to take quick corrective action and avoid potential costly recalls.

11:50 Increasing Battery Cycle Life through Charging Algorithm to Reduce IOT Cost of Ownership

Naoki_MatsumuraNaoki Matsumura, PhD, Senior Technologist, Intel

IOT devices expect Li-ion batteries to have a long cycle life because they may be used in areas where battery replacement is not easy. This session talks about a method to extend battery cycle life through battery charging algorithm. This is expected to reduce the cost of ownership as it enables less battery replacement.

12:20 pm A Unique Lithium Technology to Power the World’s Smallest Fully Implantable Spinal Cord Neurostimulator

Erik Scott, PhD, Bakken Fellow, Technical Fellow, Direct of Advanced Development, Medtronic

Medtronic is a world-leader in implantable medical devices with over forty years of experience in battery R&D and manufacturing for demanding applications. In 2017, Medtronic released its newest generation of implantable neurostimulator. The IntellisTM spinal cord stimulator uses the proprietary OverdriveTM lithium-ion battery technology, specifically designed for the critical requirements of miniaturized implantable devices. OverdriveTM technology enables miniaturized cells that can be recharged very rapidly while showing negligible capacity fade over many years of continuous use. The solution is also tolerant of deep discharge, unlike traditional lithium ion chemistries. Highlights of performance data, modeling approach and technical insights from development of OverdriveTM technology will be discussed.

12:50 Session Break

1:00 Networking Luncheon (Sponsorship Opportunity Available) or Enjoy Lunch on Your Own

2:00 Dessert Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

2:30 Chairperson’s Remarks

Bruce Miller, Technology Strategist, Dell

2:35 Building Next-Generation Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries

Jie Xiao, PhD, Chief Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories

Dr. Xiao will discuss the recent progress of high energy lithium sulfur batteries supported by Battery500 program. Cell-level challenges in Li-S batteries will be discussed. The fundamental science behind cell fabrication and the proposed solutions will be explored.

3:05 Healing of Lithium Metal Dendrites in Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

Lu Li, Research Assistant, Nikhil A. Koratkar Group, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

I will describe how self-heating (Joule heating) can be used to anneal and heal lithium metal dendrites in lithium-sulfur batteries. Operation of the battery at high operating current densities (i.e. high charge-discharge rates) will be used to heat the lithium dendrites. Above a critical activation temperature, surface diffusion and migration of Li atoms is triggered resulting in a morphology change of the dendrites into a smooth film-like morphology, which eliminates the risk of dentritic shorting of the electrochemical cell.

3:35 Ultra-High Temperature Li-Ion Battery

James_KaschmitterJames Kaschmitter, CEO, SpectraPower

SpectraPower, in partnership with Covalent Associates, has developed a unique Li-ion battery that is capable of cycling at elevated temperatures up to 200OC. The battery incorporates several unique components, including binder-less electrodes, a specially formulated ionic liquid electrolyte and a non-woven separator.

The Road to Commercialization

4:05 Accelerating the Commercialization and Launch of New Battery Materials with Special Focus and Emphasis on Manufacturability of New Materials and Designs

Curtiss Renn, PhD, Senior Scientist, Polaris Laboratories LLC

There are tremendous developments associated with new materials to enhance the performance of rechargeable batteries and many challenges that make the transition to full production difficult and time consuming. Polaris Labs works with a variety of developers and strives to help them move quickly through the development process to full production. We point out areas to consider in the assessment and processing of new materials as well as considerations to ease the transition to full production.

4:30 PANEL DISCUSSION: The Cost of Quality in Advanced Battery Development and Manufacturing

Moderator: John Wozniak, President, Energy Storage and Power Consulting

Panelists: Bruce Miller, Technology Strategist, Dell

Brian Cunningham, Engineer, U.S. Department of Energy

Curtiss Renn, PhD, Senior Scientist, Polaris Laboratories LLC

Additional Panelists to be Announced

The development of durable and affordable advanced batteries for use in automotive, consumer electronics and stationary applications drives R&D activities. This panel of experts examines the true cost of quality and how approaches to the development of advanced batteries must be adapted to avoid the significant pitfalls on the road to commercialization.

5:30 Close of Conference