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Dr. Bortrum
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https://www.gofundme.com/s3h2w8 |
08/01/2007
Batteries in the News
As one who worked many years on lithium batteries, I have been dismayed by the spate of recalls of lithium-ion batteries by the likes of Dell, HP and other computer companies. As we’ve noted earlier, the problem seems to have been a flaw in the manufacture of the batteries that resulted in bits of metal that can short out the batteries internally, leading to fire or explosion.
You can imagine my surprise when I saw an AP article in the July 30 Star-Ledger by Yuri Kageyama. The article was headlined “Hybrid train blows whistle on global warming in Japan”. Following the lead of Toyota and its hybrid Prius, the East Japan Railway Company was scheduled to put into service this week a small two-car hybrid train on a 49-mile route in a rural mountain resort area of Japan. The train seats 49 but will hold over a hundred people including standees.
The train combines diesel and battery power, with the battery being charged when the train slows down, much as the hybrid auto’s battery is charged on braking. What surprised me is the battery. It’s a lithium-ion battery mounted on top of the train. Naturally, I’m wondering whether the battery consists of cells made in the same manner as the cells in the computer and cell phone batteries. Or is the design of the train batteries such that there are no chances for metal shards to form and short out the beattery? Aside from the obvious concerns given the recent problems, I’m concerned about the temperatures reached by batteries mounted on top of the train. I assume that, being in a mountainous area the batteries don’t get too hot.
Another battery item made the headlines last week when Vice President Cheney went into the hospital for a replacement of the battery in his cardioverter-defibrillator. According to an AP article by Deb Reichmann in the July 28 Star-Ledger, the device was implanted in Cheney six years ago. Cheney thus provides a highly public data point on the useful life of what I presume is a lithium battery in his defibrillator. The lithium batteries in these heart devices are not lithium-ion rechargeable batteries but are nonrechargeable. I assume that the life of a defibrillator battery will depend on if and how often it has to deliver a shock to the heart. No such data were given for Cheney’s device.
The article in the paper implies that the surgeons somehow take out the battery and replace it with a new one in the cardioverter- defibrillator. I find this quite surprising, if true. The implanted heart devices are hermetically sealed units and I find it hard to believe that they don’t replace the old unit with a new one.
Finally, along medical lines, my wife has been in hospital and rehabilitation settings for the past week, having had back surgery. The surgery was of the “minimally invasive” type and was supposed to be “same day” surgery. The former seems accurate but the same day part is decidedly off the mark! Old Bortrum has a lot to do and will sign off here. Honey, hope you come home soon.
Allen F. Bortrum
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