Case Study: Heated Lithium Battery for Freezer Truck Environments

Overview

A major food manufacturer operations a large fleet of delivery trucks for their products.Due to the nature of food products,the insulated vehicle cargo area needs to be kept the trucks ta such a low temperature of -10F. In order to keep the trucks at such a low temperature the fleet is connected to an electrical grid at night in order for the refrigeration freezers to be run overnight.

The Problem faced by the food manufacturer was the pallet jacks used by the delivery workers; specifically the battery power strategy being used. The extreme cold temperature were causing the actual battery electrolyte to freeze which in turn prevented the battery from operating. Even worse, it was causing permanent damage to the battery and greatly shortening the battery’s life.

Instead of taking the preferred direction of keeping the pallet jacks in the trucks, the delivery employees had to pull the pallet jacks into the warehouse at nights. After charging overnight in a normal temperature the pallets jacks were loaded back into the trucks in the morning before the deliveries began. So not only did they take up space in the warehouse, they also required additional steps and time out of the busy schedules of the delivery employees.

The Lithium SAFEFlex Solution

Green Cubes Technology (Green Cubes) produces many different power solutions and was approached to offer a solution to improve the efficiency of the manufacturer’s delivery operations. The manufacturer had past unsuccessful attempts of trying to use blankets to keep the batteries warm and using specialized battery chemistry formulas for cold temperature operation.

The v solution was to pair a Lithium battery, which has superior cold temperature performance, with an internal heating system. The two unique features together provided on overall battery system which would operate flawlessly in the extreme cold environment.

For the battery chemistry, Green Cubes Lithium SAFEFlex Lithium Iron Phosphate(LSP) was selected due to its excellent cold temperature performance, along with its high cycle, and safe operation. The zero maintenance LFP makes it possible to keep the pallet jacks in the trucks without any need of watering or cleaning the acid residue typical of flooded lead acid batteries.

The internal heater system was designed to operate during the overnight charging inside the trucks. When the battery temperature was lowered, the intelligent Green Cubes control system would enable the heaters to prevent the battery temperature from reaching a temperature too low to charge and prevent cell damage.

The heated lithium battery system is another example that demonstrates how Green Cubes Technology’s engineering team’s experience and ingenuity help provide world class power products to support our customers.