Battery solutions for reefer trucks temperature monitoring: Escort case study
Batteries that work under extreme temperatures are helping Escort's monitoring systems ensure their client’s perishable or refrigerated food respect the ‘cool chain’.
Saft LS 14500 – A Lithium-Thionyl-Chloride (Li-SOCl2) battery solution able to sustain extreme temperatures.
Key benefits for Escort
• A fully autonomous solution for up to 4 years, ie, the entire lifetime of the sensors, whatever the temperature
• Fast, cheap and easy installation of the equipment: no cabling or complex electronics required
• A solution that requires no maintenance and therefore no additional service costs
• A modular and adaptable solution that allows Escort to reduce the number of components used.
Features of Saft’s power solutions
• A non-rechargeable battery technology that can be deployed in any climatic zone and endure extreme temperatures
• A battery solution, with an extremely low self-discharge for an extended operating life up to 4 years
• Stable and reliable battery performances, even in harsh conditions, with no maintenance
• A battery that can work in various environmental, conditions, and be used in many different use cases
By combining high-end electronic hardware with cutting-edge software algorithms and reliable batteries such as Saft LS 14500 Lithium-thionyl-chloride batteries, we create benchmark smashing devices that earns deserved trust.
Anton Turkin CEO of Escort Monitoring SystemsWhat is the challenge for Escort? Monitoring the temperature inside reefer trucks that run long-distance deliveries of perishable or refrigerated products to ensure they remain unspoilt.
Reefer trucks are refrigerated trailers designed to transport perishable goods. They operate on an active cooling system, a closed system that collects and pumps heat throughout the course to maintain a steady temperature. Proper maintenance and tracking of the ambient temperature are paramount to ensure the products remain unspoilt and that the trucks fuel consumption remains at the lowest possible level.
Escort Monitoring Systems, a Russian technology company, has been running a full-scale production line of trusted IoT and complex telematics equipment for many years. Their Escort Monitoring Systems provide all the necessary tools helping their clients to optimize and make a better use of their resources through efficient data collection and reporting.
One of their devices, the ‘Escort TL-BLE’ measures the ambient temperature and luminous flux, mainly inside reefer trucks that run long-distance deliveries. The device processes the light intensity collected—measured in lumens—and transmits it to a receiver via a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection. The Sensor needed to rely on a power supply that could provide the sensors’ stable operation in wide temperature ranges (-40°C to +50°C) and various climatic zones. An autonomous solution was also important as the necessary cabling to equip one vehicle with such a solution can be 5 to 7 meters, making the installation significantly more costly and complicated. Finally, Escort was looking at a maintenance free power solution with the sensors’ 4 years lifetime, which meant no additional service cost.
What is the solution? Saft LS Li-SOCl2 primary lithium batteries
Escort chose Saft’s LS 14500 primary lithium battery, a reliable and compact —AA size— cell with more than double the output voltage of a standard alkaline AA battery. The bobbin construction of the cell makes it particularly suited for low power applications that require shallow continuous pulsed currents. LS cells can withstand a broad range of temperature fluctuations (- 60°C to + 150°C) making them ideal for use in remote locations and extreme environments.
LS batteries also offer a high energy density that can be restored for up to 20 years – 4 years in the case of Escorts’ TL-BLE application.
When tested, Saft LS 14500 were the batteries that offered the best results whilst being reliable and sustainable. And to cap it all, the battery solution offered greater flexibility, which allowed Escort to also use it in other applications, a significant advantage when manufacturing a range of solutions at scale.