Altech’s SNC Batteries Deliver Exceptional Safety Performance Under Extreme Test Conditions

Altech Batteries’ (ASX: ATC) sodium nickel chloride (SNC) technology has demonstrated exceptional chemical stability and mechanical resilience in safety validation tests simulating potential field hazards during storage, transport, or operation.

Independent testing exposed the batteries to a range of scenarios including drop and impact tests, direct fire exposure, rod penetration, over-charging, and submersion, recording no explosions, thermal runaways, or uncontrolled reactions.

The results confirm SNC technology to be intrinsically safe, thermally robust, and chemically contained, even under conditions beyond international certification standard specifications.

Comprehensive Testing

Three fully-charged SNC battery cells remained structurally intact when subjected to a 30-minute gasoline fire reaching 850° Celsius, with no explosion or rupture of the cell casing and no leakage or release of internal materials.

A hot, fully-charged SNC battery module delivered the same results with only minor mechanical weakening when exposed to the same fire with flames extinguished within one minute.

When the battery module was pierced with a 20 millimetre steel rod and then exposed to water, an external reaction generated steam and a small amount of vapour after 23 minutes, which gradually dissipated over four hours with no explosion or violent reaction.

The same module when dropped from a height of 10 metres onto a steel pole to simulate an impact at approximately 30 miles per hour suffered only minor denting, with the casing staying intact and no rupture, leakage, or loss of structural integrity.

Overcharging Tolerance

Altech charged the SNC battery to 145% of its nominal voltage for one hour (45% higher than US safety standards), with no swelling, venting or thermal reaction experienced, confirming the battery’s tolerance to over-voltage conditions and intrinsic electrochemical stability.

No explosion, fire or thermal reaction occurred in crash tests simulating impact with a utility pole at 48 kilometres per hour, confirming the chemistry’s strong structural integrity and inherent safety under severe impact.

Ballistic testing exposed the battery module to shotgun and rifle rounds, producing only brief smoke with no ignition or explosion, confirming the chemistry’s tolerance to extreme mechanical abuse.

Safe SNC Technology

“These independent abuse tests confirm what long-term field data has been telling us for years — that our sodium-nickel-chloride technology batteries are exceptionally safe,” managing director Iggy Tan said.

“This level of intrinsic safety is a major differentiator for SNC technology, which we have positioned to meet growing demand from regulators and customers for non-flammable chemistries.”

“We are proud to demonstrate that our SNC batteries can endure conditions well beyond certification limits while maintaining integrity and performance,” Mr Tan added.

“This should give confidence to partners, insurers, and end-users that SNC systems can deliver a long cycle life and temperature tolerance, as well as unmatched safety.”