Regenerating batteries and extending their usable life has become a key part of battery life cycle management
The typical life cycle of a forklift battery is now far removed from the old linear model in which products were purchased, used, then disposed of. Today it includes steps intended to optimise performance, maximise lifespan, and minimise environmental impact.
“Battery life cycle management means overseeing a battery's entire lifespan, from design and manufacturing to usage, maintenance, repurposing, and eventual recycling or disposal,” says Roger Huang, Sales Director at RoyPow USA.
“It involves optimising battery performance, extending its life, ensuring safety, and minimising environmental impact through effective monitoring, maintenance, and recycling strategies. This ensures that batteries are used efficiently and sustainably throughout their life cycle.”
According to Huang, effective programs of this type should involve regular inspections, monitoring performance metrics, capacity testing, balancing cells, temperature management, cleaning terminals, updating software, and replacing worn components.
Asked about his own organisation’s approach to battery life cycle management, Huang explains that RoyPow’s lithium forklift battery life cycle is monitored through the smart cloud platform, which also tracks the health status of each parameter of the battery.
Roypow's lithium forklift battery life cycle is monitored through the smart cloud platform
All RoyPow forklift batteries feature a smart 4G module that allows for battery performance and health monitoring, data analysis, remote control, and more on the cloud platform. This design is intended to effectively maximise battery performance, extend the battery's lifespan, reduce maintenance costs, and promote more sustainable and efficient battery life cycle management.
“These programs are crucial for maximising battery life, ensuring safety, maintaining consistent performance, and reducing costs,” says Huang.
“Proper maintenance prevents failures, extends battery longevity, and minimises environmental impact, making it essential for the reliable operation of critical systems.”
Battery types
While maintenance is important across the board, not all batteries are the same. As one might expect, maintenance requirements vary according to battery type.
“With the right care, lead-acid batteries can last between five to eight years, sometimes even longer depending on the application,” explains Dustin Love, business development manager at FSIP Electronics. “A well-structured maintenance program is key to achieving this longevity in lead-acid cells.”
FSIP Electronics offers a range of products and services designed to maximise battery life and efficiency
According to Love, this typically includes weekly equalise charging – which is a process that limits corrosion and sulfation build-up and ensures all cells within the battery are balanced – as well as a more intensive desulfation cycle that is performed annually.
“A lead-acid desulfation cycle, or reconditioning cycle, typically entails multiple tests and multiple charging cycles. It can take anywhere from 3-15 days to fully recondition a lead-acid battery, depending on the equipment being used,” Love adds.
"With the right care, lead-acid batteries can last between five to eight years, sometimes even longer depending on the application."
Lithium batteries
Because lithium batteries are still relatively new on the scene, their exact lifespans are difficult to accurately quantify. However, according to Love, a well-cared for battery of this type should last for between 10 and 20 years.
He says that, while lithium is often sold as a ‘maintenance-free’ alternative, it is more accurate to say these batteries require a different type of maintenance.
“They usually have a cell monitoring system (BMS) which will need updates and can experience failure,” Love continues. “Also, lithium batteries typically need to communicate with the charger.
“They talk via a Canbus signal. If this signal changes for any reason both the charger and the battery need updating.
“Regarding optimal charging for lithium cells, they can accept a much faster charge than a lead-acid battery, but without much effect on their life cycle.”
In terms of its own offerings, FSIP Electronics offers a range of products and services designed to maximise battery life and efficiency.
For lead-acid batteries, the Xtender Battery Regenerator provides automated, unmanned battery reconditioning through a stringent desulfation process tailored to specific user needs.
In the case of lithium batteries, the company offers high-efficiency CAN-enabled chargers, load banks and a product called the ‘Battery Terminator’, which is a rapid 1,000V-0V discharger that prepares lithium batteries for recycling.
Repurpose or recycle?
In the context of the above-mentioned lifespan expectations, the obvious question is, what next?
For Green Cubes Technology, recycling comes into consideration only when batteries have come to the end of their useful life
With batteries, unlike a lot of other products, recycling is not the only option. According to Robin Schneider, director of marketing at Green Cubes Technology, other options include refurbishment (replacing damaged or worn-out components) and re-manufacturing (completely disassembling the battery, replacing any defective parts, and reassembling it to meet original specifications).
“These options are viable when the battery is no longer performing at peak capacity but still has the potential for further use,” says Schneider. “They should be considered the primary option for a second life of a Li-ion battery.
“Refurbishment or remanufacturing is viable when a battery has degraded but still has usable cells. Cycle life for LFP Li-ion batteries is defined by each manufacturer, usually between 80% and 60% of rated capacity, but this designation is somewhat arbitrary and a battery with 50% capacity is still useful in many applications.”
As Schneider explains, recycling comes into consideration only when batteries have come to the end of their useful life and can no longer be refurbished or remanufactured.
A leading battery supplier, Green Cubes Technology, is committed to battery life cycle management through what the company calls its R3 (Reduce, Refurbishment and Remanufacturing, and Referral to Recycling Programs) services.
Schneider emphasises that, here, ‘reduce’ is always the first priority.
“We provide tools to track battery health and performance and support our partners in maintenance services,” she continues. “With regular inspection and upkeep, Lithium-ion batteries will last longer and can be right-sized for maximum efficiency.”
Repurposing not always necessary
As Ling Peng, chief engineer at BSL New Energy Technology, sees it, while forklift batteries usually can receive a second life, the first step when deciding if this is even necessary should be to fully charge the battery using a balancer.
According to BSL New Energy Technology, balancing can greatly improve a battery's endurance
If there are no significant issues, refurbishment or remanufacturing may not be necessary, and balancing alone can greatly improve the battery's endurance.
“If the battery’s endurance remains short even after balancing, you can analyse the voltage differences between modules and cells during discharge using display data to assess whether refurbishment or remanufacturing is warranted,” says Peng.
According to Peng, there are two scenarios requiring refurbishment or remanufacturing. The first involves reassembling the modules within the battery pack, and the second involves reassembling the individual cells within a module.
The general criterion for cell evaluation is that cells with a remaining capacity of 80% or higher can be reassembled. After reassembly, it’s essential to check the Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) and the overall appearance.
“The first scenario is relatively simple and does not require complex equipment or procedures,” Peng adds. “If only a few modules within the battery pack are damaged, the modules can be reassembled into a new battery pack by performing capacity matching, internal group testing, data selection and assembly.”
The second scenario is more complex and involves dismantling the damaged modules to replace the defective cells before reassembling them.
“This process requires various equipment and procedural steps, including module disassembly, busbar disassembly, cell terminal cleaning, OCV testing, cell capacity testing, data selection, module assembly, and group testing,” Peng continues.
“There are certain safety risks involved, necessitating professional, personnel and protective measures.”
Recycling
As is now the case in so many industries, and so many facets of everyday life, recycling is another important part of the battery life cycle.
Hawker offers monitoring devices, software and reports which monitor a wide range of operational and maintenance items
As Dean Portney, vice president sales and marketing at Hawker says, when a battery is beyond its economic life, it’s time to recycle.
“Choosing a recycler for a particular chemistry is important to ensure the recycling is done safely by a certified recycler and one who recycles the greatest percentage of the product,” says Portney.
“Lead-acid batteries, both flooded and thin plate pure lead (TPPL) have the greatest percentage which can be recycled. Then, in the lithium field, it depends on the particular chemistry.
“Nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries have recoverable metals along with steel, copper and plastics, but Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries do not have recoverable metals, other than steel and copper.”
A battery manufacturer committed to innovative technology and data driven solutions, Hawker is a leader in the field of battery life cycle management.
“We have designed and created monitoring devices, software and reports which monitor a very wide range of operational and maintenance items,” says Portney.
“These items are displayed in the form of warning alerts, life cycle predictions and other management tools to drive the longest life cycle. They can be downloaded on site with smart devices or remotely with our gateways and software.”
Safe disposal
There are cases where recycling is not an option.
Ugowork has become involved in a new era of energy management that aims to reduce carbon footprint and costs
According to lithium-ion manufacturer, Ugowork, batteries that can no longer hold a charge or perform their intended function effectively are of no further use to their owners. At this stage, proper disposal is crucial to prevent environmental harm and to recover valuable materials.
Correct disposal through recycling is essential for all battery types to minimise environmental impacts. For lithium-ion batteries, this involves working with certified recycling partners who are able to safely process the battery, extracting and repurposing resources like lithium, nickel, and cobalt for use in new batteries.
While lead-acid batteries have a more predictable end-of-life, their lead content means that, if not disposed of correctly, they pose greater environmental risks.
“Today’s industry is shifting towards high-performance products to meet safety, productivity, and sustainability goals.”
Innovation & the future
There is a lot to consider when contemplating what the future holds for the rapidly evolving battery market.
According to Philippe Beauchamp, president and CEO of Ugowork, key areas of research and development include advanced battery management systems, real-time data analytics, and enhanced recycling technologies.
“Today’s industry is shifting towards high-performance products to meet safety, productivity, and sustainability goals,” says Beauchamp, pointing to his own organisation’s development of an intelligent management platform, called UgoPilot, as an example.
“The UgoPilot software suite is all about providing clarity. It generates the data-driven insights operations managers need to maximize the use of their fleets and enter into a new era of energy management that truly reduces carbon footprint and costs.”
The Energic Plus regenerator converts sulfation into density and restores battery capacity
TVH, one of the world’s largest suppliers of forklift parts and accessories, is another company with a focus on innovation. According to Cedric Van Lancker, TVH category manager, Energic Plus, one of the company’s private labels and a specialist in the regeneration of batteries, epitomises this.
Energic Plus specialises in advanced flooded, gel, absorbed glass mat (AGM) and nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery regeneration technology.
“Our highly sustainable products are designed to extend the operating lifespan of industrial batteries, significantly reduce maintenance and energy costs, and enhance overall efficiency for our clients,” says Van Lancker.
The Energic Plus regenerator converts sulfation into density and restores battery capacity. This two-in-one device combines discharging and regeneration functionalities into one and offers many more advantages. It simplifies the desulfation process, requires less attention from users and is fully automatic.
“Some of our newest features, such as multi-voltage/current usage and its compatibility with BMS make it an even more innovative product,” says Van Lancker.
“For TVH we invest furthermore with our Energic Plus regeneration program to expand the life cycle of the battery fleet to optimise the investment before the batteries must be replaced and will go towards recycling, the final stage of their lifetime.”
Concluding, Van Lancker effectively summarises the whole purpose of battery life cycle management as it is practiced right now.
“By regenerating batteries and extending their usable life, we significantly reduce the number of batteries that end up in landfills,” he says. “This reduction in battery waste contributes to lower environmental pollution and conserves the resources and energy required to manufacture new batteries.”
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For this report we interviewed the following industry specialists:
Philippe Beauchamp
President and CEO
Ugowork