State of Charge Testing on 17 Wh Lithium-ion Cells

Details

• Creators:
  Keslar, Daniel
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center. Fire Safety Section
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Hazardous Materials Safety
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Lithium batteries
  • Fuel cells
  • Material aging
  • Thermal degradation
  • Freight transportation
  • Short circuits
  • State of Charge (SOC)
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/TC-26/22
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/pfj4-cz09
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Description:
  This report details the testing and analysis of intercepted UN 3480 lithium-ion cells to determine their as-delivered state of charge (SOC). Aviation regulations mandate that such cells must not exceed 30% SOC when transported as cargo to mitigate severe fire hazards. In February 2025, a package containing UN 3480 lithium-ion cells was shipped by aircraft from Hong Kong to Karlsruhe, Germany. Upon arrival, the cells were observed to have previously experienced a thermal event, as the outer packaging and cells within the package had clear signs of char damage. Furthermore, the outer packaging was noted to have several puncture holes. The shipper's remaining packages were intercepted and removed from the transport network until further analysis could be conducted. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (AXH) contacted the FAA's Fire Safety Branch to assist in the analysis. Ten packages containing lithium-ion cells from the same shipper were shipped to the William J. Hughes Technical Center, where testing was conducted to calculate the as-delivered SOC. The analysis revealed that 16 of the 18 evaluated cells significantly exceeded the 30% regulatory limit, with functional cells averaging a SOC of 60.36%.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93612/dot_93612_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 429.67 KB]
• Collection(s):
  FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9521314aee42a000bc25e5671fb9bd8c042eb327e3c8cc6f80105f92729eb336a990b896752be8d18c3f17a11070809f1787be6a4d5a3f2907faa0234ea61298