Filtration specialist Donaldson makes a range of battery venting systems—safety systems designed to allow gases to escape from an EV battery pack during an emergency situation.
Launched at the recent Battery Show in Germany, the company’s Dual-Stage Jet is a new design that provides enhanced pressure equalization and ingress protection under normal operating conditions to allow gases to escape at rates of approximately 100 liters/second at 100 mbar when necessary. According to Donaldson, the new system is so efficient, it can reduce the number of vents required on a battery pack by up to 90%.
“Customers were telling us that they needed even higher degassing rates than what was available on the market, so the Donaldson Vehicle Electrification Development engineering team came up with a unique, creative design where the poppet and cap can be jettisoned to instantly produce a much larger opening for gas to escape and help mitigate thermal runaway,” explains Shane Campbell, Product Manager for Vehicle Electrification at Donaldson. “The pressure then rapidly decreases inside the pack, greatly reducing the risk of damage to additional cells and giving occupants extra time to escape from the vehicle.”
Dual-Stage Jet is available in two distinct configurations—screw-in/bolt-on or with quarter-turn bayonet fittings. Agricultural and other heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers are likely to choose the former, which can offer more flexibility for use in bulkier battery packs, whereas the lighter bayonet fittings are suitable for the automotive sector, and provide clear haptic feedback of proper installation.
“The option of multiple attachment methods is important to our customers, who want something that integrates really easily with their existing pack, and with application engineers all over the globe, we’re located near the OEM wherever they may be,” says Matt Goode, Engineering Manager for Vehicle Electrification Development at Donaldson.
Vehicle manufacturers can customize the design to their precise needs in partnership with Donaldson’s application engineers. “Our customers often have different thicknesses of aluminum for their battery pack housing, but it’s easy for us to make an almost identical part that has a small change in the leg length when required,” says Goode.
The vent is designed to offer a simple solution to the tricky problem of performing a leak test on a product expressly designed to provide effective ventilation. Temporarily sealing the vent using the supplied leak-check cap is all that is required for manufacturers to carry out tests themselves.
“Quality and reliability are top of our customers’ agenda, and our new vent really fits the bill,” says Shane Campbell. “Dual-Stage Jet enables us to serve more of the global EV market by offering our customers even greater choice to match their specific applications. Our Dual-Stage Burst design is still available, with a high opening pressure (25 liters/second at 300 mbar), while Dual-Stage Jet occupies the medium-pressure section of our portfolio.”
Source: Donaldson
