Labs and instruments

JRC Battery Energy Storage Testing Laboratory

EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC) BATTERY STORAGE TESTING LABORATORY IN PETTEN, THE NETHERLANDS

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides independent, evidence-based science and knowledge, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. The JRC has six sites in five European countries: Brussels and Geel in Belgium, Ispra in Italy, Karlsruhe in Germany, Petten in the Netherlands and Seville in Spain.

The Petten-based Battery Energy Storage Testing Laboratory (BESTEST) features state-of-the-art equipped facilities for analysing performance of battery materials and cells by cell cycling and performance evaluation under normal, but varying, environmental operating conditions. This facility provides also in-situ thermal imaging, electrochemical measurements, cell preparation, pre- and post-test battery cell tear-down and post-mortem diagnosis.

The laboratory for cell performance testing – with approximately 500 m² laboratory space – comprises the following equipment available for user access:

• Battery testers – used to charge and discharge battery cells and modules
  3 Maccor Bidirectional Battery Testers, 96 channels with various voltage ranges and power. 44 channels are combined with Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscope (EIS).
• 2 climate chambers: Vötsch VCS3 7060-5 – for performing battery cell cycling experiments under controlled environmental (temperature and relative humidity) conditions.
• Integrated temperature chamber: BiA MTH 4.46 – 12 identical temperature chambers for performing battery cell cycling experiments under controlled temperature conditions in the range -40°C to +85°C.
• Micro X-ray computed tomography system: Phoenix nanotom S for analysis of cells or battery electrodes.

Further equipment available in the laboratory include glove boxes (used e.g. for assembly and disassembly of battery cells under inert conditions), Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) equipment combine with FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy) and GC/MS (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy) for analysis of the emitted gases, multichannel potentiostats, an infra-red camera for thermal imaging. Further analytical techniques available at the site – such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) – are also applied to battery materials.

Access to the Joint Research Centre (JRC) is subject to special conditions and requirements that are summarized in the document Information for CERIC users requesting access to the JRC. Please read the document before requesting access to the Battery Energy Storage Testing Laboratory through CERIC open access Calls for Proposals.

Contact: Dr. Andreas Pfrang
Tel. +31 224 56 5047
Email: JRC-PTT-BATTERIES@ec.europa.eu; andreas.pfrang@ec.europa.eu

More information can be found in the laboratory’s webpage.