Battcon: Battery reliability or liability

The Battcon International Stationary Battery Conference is a three-day, noncommercial, technical event for storage battery users from a broad range of industries. It also features a two-day trade show packed with storage power-related vendors, plus optional seminars.

Users, manufacturers of batteries and battery test equipment, installers, researchers, and standards and safety experts attend the conference to learn about and discuss the latest industry developments. The conference runs Monday to Wednesday, May 16 to 18, 2011, at the Swan and Dolphin Resort, in the Orlando, Florida area.

The registration fee gives you three days of presentations (papers, panels, workshops), the two evening trade show, three nights hotel, two dinner receptions, breakfasts, lunches, and the conference proceedings.

Battcon offers three preconference seminars that focus on battery basics, advanced techniques, or a special topic. These optional Sunday seminars let you brush up on skills, discover new directions the industry is taking. Papers and panels address manufacturing, maintenance, and testing issues and are of particular interest to data center, power, telecom, and UPS industry personnel.

Some of the presentations:

• Lithium ion batteries for stationary applications: A safety perspective.
• Changing the utility way of doing business: An update on the upcoming changes of NERC PRC-005.
• Thomas Edison had it right when he said that his nickel-iron batteries would last 100 years.
• New concepts in battery monitoring and maintenance at nuclear plants.
• Energy storage for utility applications: Leveraging commercial lithium-ion polymer batteries.
• Comparing apples and oranges: Guidance on the adoption of new technologies.
• Battery and subsystem elements of an HVDC system for the telecommunications and data networks. First, do no harm.
• New rules sparked by fires aboard aircraft are imminent. Is your company prepared to avoid getting burned?
• Early warning of fire and hydrogen gas threats in battery spaces.
• Dealing with common battery maintenance problems.

Panels

Battery fact or fiction. Rules of thumb, general principles, and battery common wisdom. The panel will judge some of the common battery wisdom “facts.”

Emerging battery technologies and stationary applications. Panelists will provide their judgments on the suitability of various emerging technologies for the full spectrum of stationary applications and will provide guidance on comparing the new technologies with traditional choices.

Liability or reliability? The panel will explore the issues related to battery system reliability and the best practices currently used to obtain this. As companies struggle with cost reductions, the tradeoff between cost and benefits of various maintenance and battery management programs will be explored.

A battery-backed UPS is only as good as its batteries. This will be an interactive session where we will encourage the audience to share their knowledge and experience to help us understand the challenges of designing, installing, and maintaining a UPS battery installation.

New issues facing utilities. This audience-driven workshop will provide participants the opportunity to share thoughts, ideas and experiences as well as gain knowledge from fellow electric utility peers on key stationary battery and dc auxiliary power system issues facing the electric utility industry today. Key topics will be (1) Measures that can be taken to increase stationary battery and dc auxiliary power system reliability through design, installation and maintenance practices; (2) NERC PRC-005-02 compliance; and (3) Smart Grid implementation and what affect implementation may have on existing battery systems and future installations.

Telecom Battery Open Season/Session. This audience participation session will discuss the major problems associated with telecom batteries, from supplier problems to user abuse. Also, appropriate backup times for various types of telecom services in an evolving competitive and regulatory market

Ask the Experts. A panel of experts dedicated to resolving any remaining questions and issues you may have from previous presentations and panel discussions.

Paul O’Shea

For more on Battcon at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL, call 888-828-8850 or 407-934-4000, or visit www.battcon.com.