Traditional Block Style Batteries

Overview

One of the most common battery formats manufactured by Military Batteries Australia are traditional block style batteries. These are custom manufactured in any size / dimensions as per the specifications provided by our customers. They are manufactured for critical power back up (UPS) applications especially in hazardous location applications where both lead acid and consumer use commonly available but potentially a “fire hazard” lithium batteries are prohibited from use.

A few customer examples showing where this type of battery is used in real life applications is outlined as follows-

Specialised Underground Mining Machinery batteries
Batteries have been manufactured to the exact specifications provided by a mining consultancy company in Perth. These batteries are provided to their mining company end user customer. The batteries are a long narrow high safety LNCM battery rated at 24V 440Ah per battery block. The batteries each measure approximately 1.4 metres in length and are used to provide power to PLC’s as well as a variety of electronics used to provide power for underground mining machinery. The battery provides sufficient power to run the machine while underground for periods of up to 7 days continuously before the machine resurfaces and the battery is recharged. The battery is manufactured from 2mm thickness marine grade aluminium secured with 316 grade stainless steel machine screw fasteners. As with all batteries manufactured for professional use by Military Batteries Australia, this battery is fully serviceable and repairable. Preventable maintenance ensures the highest level of battery reliability and ensures that any potential developing battery problems can be easily diagnosed and the problem corrected before the battery reliability would be jeopardised.

In another real-world example, high voltage LiFePO4 batteries from the Mining Oil Gas Industrial (MOGI) series are manufactured for Shell QGC to provide critical UPS backup power at gaseous mine sites. Each battery is rated at 110V 15Ah with 22x batteries connected in parallel and fitted into each battery cabinet to provide power for a UPS. Only high safety military grade lithium batteries were specified and allowed to be used for this application due to the hazardous location. For this reason, lead acid / AGM batteries (as most commonly used with UPS systems) are strictly prohibited at these sites due to the hazardous nature of explosive hydrogen gas which is released during the charging of lead acid batteries. The MOGI series of batteries are manufactured using the original American patented LiFeBatt USA 40138 LiFePO4 cell which has been updated several times since the original Phostech licenced cells were introduced to Australia in 2007. With over a decade of use in Australia batteries utilising this cell have been well proven for safety and reliability over many years. Since these batteries are not of the sealed, throw away type made for general consumer applications, the MOGI series of lithium batteries have undergone many revisions and improvements over the years. The latest revision as specified and manufactured for Shell incorporate a remote monitoring card so that all battery alarms can be monitored remotely by MODBUS / RS485. Each battery also provides the option of fitting a SIM card so that should any battery trigger a preset alarm level the battery will send a SMS message to a field service technician so as to check the battery and rectify any developing problem before the battery would fail at a critical site.

At the request of the Australian Government, high safety critical back up UPS batteries were manufactured and installed in Parliament House, Canberra. These batteries were manufactured, supplied and installed on site at Parliament House by the government’s ACT electrical contractor, PESCE Pty Ltd. Due to the space limitations these batteries were manufactured as a tall narrow battery block.