Sodium-ion Batteries for Transport Shall Undergo UN38.3 Test
Sodium-ion Batteries for Transport Shall Undergo UN38.3 Test,
Un38.3 Test,
▍What is cTUVus & ETL CERTIFICATION?
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), affiliated to US DOL (Department of Labor), demands that all products to be used in workplace must be tested and certificated by NRTL before being sold in market. Applicable testing standards include American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards; American Society for Testing Material (ASTM) standards, Underwriter Laboratory (UL) standards, and factory mutual-recognition organization standards.
▍OSHA, NRTL, cTUVus, ETL and UL terms definition and relationship
OSHA: Abbreviation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is an affiliation of US DOL (Department of Labor).
NRTL： Abbreviation of Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. It is in charge of lab accreditation. Up to now, there are 18 third-party testing institutions approved by NRTL, including TUV, ITS, MET and so forth.
cTUVus： Certification mark of TUVRh in North America.
ETL： Abbreviation of American Electrical Testing Laboratory. It was established in 1896 by Albert Einstein, the American inventor.
UL： Abbreviation of Underwriter Laboratories Inc.
▍Difference between cTUVus, ETL & UL
| Item | UL | cTUVus | ETL |
| Applied standard |
Same |
||
| Institution qualified for certificate receipt |
NRTL (Nationally approved laboratory) |
||
| Applied market |
North America (US and Canada) |
||
| Testing and certification institution | Underwriter Laboratory (China) Inc performs testing and issue project conclusion letter | MCM performs testing and TUV issues certificate | MCM performs testing and TUV issues certificate |
| Lead time | 5-12W | 2-3W | 2-3W |
| Application cost | Highest in peer | About 50~60% of UL cost | About 60~70% of UL cost |
| Advantage | An American local institution with good recognition in US and Canada | An International institution owns authority and offers reasonable price, also be recognized by North America | An American institution with good recognition in North America |
| Disadvantage |
|
Less brand recognition than that of UL | Less recognition than that of UL in certification of product component |
▍Why MCM?
● Soft Support from qualification and technology: As the witness testing lab of TUVRH and ITS in North American Certification, MCM is able to perform all types of testing and provide better service by exchanging technology face to face.
● Hard support from technology: MCM is equipped with all testing equipment for batteries of big-sized, small-sized and precision projects (i.e. electric mobile car, storage energy, and electronic digital products), able to provide overall battery testing and certification services in North America, covering standards UL2580, UL1973, UL2271, UL1642, UL2054 and so forth.
The meeting of UN TDG held from November 29 to December 8, 2021 has approved a proposal which is concerned about amendments to sodium-ion battery control. Committee of experts plans to draft amendments to the twenty-second revised edition of the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and Model Regulations (ST/SG/AC.10/1/Rev.22).
Revision to Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
2.9.2 After the section for “Lithium batteries”, add a new section to read as follows: “Sodium ion batteries”For UN 3292, in column (2), replace “SODIUM” by “METALLIC SODIUM OR SODIUM ALLOY”. Add the following two new entries:
For SP188, SP230, SP296, SP328, SP348, SP360, SP376 and SP377, modify special provisions; for SP400 and SP401, insert special provisions (Requirements for sodium-ion cells and batteries contained in or packed with equipment as general goods for transportation)
Follow same labeling requirement as lithium-ion batteries.Amendment to Model Regulations
Applicable scope: UN38.3 is not only applicable to lithium-ion batteries, but also sodium-ion batteries
Some description contained “Sodium-ion batteries” are added with “Sodium-ion batteries” or deleted of “Lithium-ion”.
Add a table of test sample size: Cells either on standalone transportation or as components of batteries are not required to undergo T8 enforced discharge test.
