Battery safety innovation offers new opportunities for green energy storage

Dual-Gard is an innovative, dual-stage pressure relief solution that combines pressure equalization with emergency venting.

Monday, January 16, 2023

Dual-Gard is an innovative, dual-stage pressure relief solution. It enhances safety, design, and performance in batteries and BESSs by combining pressure equalization with emergency venting in a single, robust, scalable device.

This offers double protection against the greatest safety concern in lithium-ion batteries: the risk of propagation. The breathing membrane offers ongoing pressure equalization to prevent swelling and contracting, while the metal rupture disc or vent activates within milliseconds for rapid, full-bore pressure relief. This reduces the risk of overshooting the desired relief pressure and allows a fast evacuation of heat and pressure before adjacent batteries are affected.

Dual-Gard also enables a simpler, more efficient battery design. The space-saving device reduces the number of pressure relief components needed. Controlling vent gases becomes simpler, with fewer inventory, integration, and assembly costs. Being just millimeters thick, Dual-Gard meets or exceeds most protrusion requirements, both outside and inside battery enclosures.

Robert Jackson, Divisional Segment Manager for Industrial Markets, said: “What excites me about Dual-Gard is that it brings new options to the table for battery and BESS designers. Unlike many solutions on the market, Dual-Gard is available in a range of sizes to suit different designs. The breathing membrane can be scaled up or down to accommodate different flow rates. Unlike plastic devices,the metal rupture disc is long-lasting, impervious to UV light, and will not melt and restrict air flow during an outgassing event. Thanks to these innovative features, Dual-Gard removes the need to make compromises battery enclosures. From green renewable energy solutions to the transportation of the future, Dual-Gard supports the design of safer, cleaner energy solutions."

Dual-Gard’s patent pending design is unique in being fully customizable for use in lithium-ion batteries,battery enclosures and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs).