Infrastructure

TADIRAN lithium batteries revitalize aging infrastructure

America’s crumbling infrastructure is a growing concern. 

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), trillions of dollars are required to repair and maintain roadways, bridges, tunnel, waterworks and energy infrastructure. Repairing and revitalizing our nation’s infrastructure involves many hard-to access locations that demand battery-powered solutions offering decades of maintenance-free performance even in the harshest environmental conditions. 

Decision-makers need actionable real-time data to conduct non-destructive evaluations for stress and deterioration, AI-enhanced predictive modeling, and real-time traffic flow data, to name a few.

Industrial grade high energy lithium batteries are ideally designed for remote infrastructure applications. As the lightest non-gaseous metal, lithium offers the highest specific energy (energy per unit weight) and energy density (energy per unit volume) of any chemistry. Lithium batteries are also non-aqueous, enabling certain cells to offer an extended temperature range of –55°C to 125°C.

Tadiran bobbin-type lithium thionyl chloride (LiSOCl2) batteries deliver up to 40-year operating life due to high energy density and extremely low self-discharge (just 0.7% per year) caused by harnessing the passivation effect. By contrast, inferior quality bobbin-type LiSOCl2 batteries are less effective for remote infrastructure applications because their self-discharge rate is up to 3% per year, making 40-year battery life impossible. Here are some common examples:

High pulse application – AMR/AMI metering

Water utilities commonly deploy AMR/AMI meter reading devices to identify leaks, track customer usage and billing, and allow for remote shut-off and reactivation. These devices operate mainly in a standby mode, waking up periodically to transmit and receive data.

When high pulses are required, PulsesPlus™ batteries combine a standard bobbin-type LiSOCl2 battery with a patented Hybrid Layer Capacitor (HLC). The battery and HLC work in parallel, with the battery supplying low background current while the HLC supplies high pulses up to 15 A to initiate data queries and wireless communications, with the HLC eliminating the voltage drop that normally occurs when a pulsed load is initially drawn. The HLC also offers a unique end-of-life voltage curve plateau that can be interpreted to deliver low battery status alerts.

Low rate application – structural stress sensor

Resensys SenSpot structural integrity sensors measure stress, strain, tilt, inclination, vibration, displacement, deformation, temperature, and humidity in various applications, including bridges, tunnels, large commercial buildings, towers, and pipelines. This device draws only microamps of energy while sampling data once a minute, and uses a proprietary low power communications protocol to minimize energy consumption.

Resensys chose Tadiran TL-5902 ½ AA batteries that feature an annual self-discharge rate of less than 1% per year, providing a minimum guaranteed service life of 10 years, with the device rated to work much longer. SenSpot sensor detect erosion within the concrete aggregate surrounding bridge abutments, with TLM Series batteries being chosen for their extended service life and their ability to deliver bursts of high rate energy.

High rate application

On behalf of PennDOT, electrical engineers from the University of Pittsburgh developed a sensor that detects erosion within the concrete aggregate that surrounds bridge abutments, or “bridge scour.” 

Over time, waterflow erodes aggregate, especially during high water events. PennDOT employed multiple wireless sensors housed in watertight ¾” PVC tubes that were strategically placed into vertically oriented holes bored into the aggregate. Each sensor was individually encoded to denote the criticality of the location.

To provide PennDOT with an early warning system in case of a potential structural failure, each device remains in standby mode with the battery activating only when the sensor is dislodged and turns horizontally, enabling the device to transmit emergency RFID signals to a nearby transceiver. TLM-1550HP battery enables these potentially life-saving devices to remain inactive for extended years but then reliably power up to deliver short bursts of high rate energy.,