Lithium batteries have grown in use in the oil services and downhole industries. While lithium-ion batteries are starting to be used, the industry still relies extensively on lithium metal chemistries that use thionyl chloride or sulfuryl chloride for LWD, MWD, GWD, subsea, buoys, memory and other applications. Use in high temperature wells is also increasing, driving the increase in the use of high temperature cells.
EBL is an international battery consulting and services company headquartered in Canada and serving over 70 oil/gas producing countries. We have been in business for 25 years and provide full lifecycle services for lithium batteries–storage, handling, use and finally end-of-life management, at the warehouse, laboratory, workshop, rigsite or vessel. Our clients include the largest oil services and battery manufacturers in the industry.
Lithium Battery Management and Permits
A written corporate standard specifically targeting lithium batteries of all chemistries forms the baseline for any program. EBL can develop guidelines and manuals for full life-cycle management of lithium metal batteries including storage, handling, use, and end-of-life management at the warehouse, laboratory, workshop, rig-site, or vessel.
Lithium Cloud® Management Platform”
Tiered Lithium Battery Training
Through its affiliated company, EBL offers three levels of training for effective battery safety program: (1) Awareness; (2) Technician Safety, and (3) Battery Safety Officer (BSO). On-site training courses presented by EBL have been an industry standard for battery handlers and users in industry and oil services. Our staff will work with you to identify applicable training requirements for compliance and develop and implement a customized training program. Curriculum ranges from 30 minutes to 3 days and can either be provided in the workplace or a web-based training program may better suit your needs. The BSO curriculum is 3 days of training including classroom, regulatory, and hands-on modules. Onsite training is available in various languages. Web-based training is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and many other languages.
Local Permit and Liaison
Used or unused lithium batteries intended for recycling or disposal are often controlled by the OECD transboundary regulations and the Basel Convention. Shipments of lithium metal batteries are subject to transboundary movement requirements under OECD and the Basel Convention. EBL is uniquely qualified to provide in-country permit expedition services for waste lithium batteries. A typical scope for in-country expediting would include EBL personnel visiting the country, or sending one of its in-country representatives if available, and visiting the agencies responsible for issuing permits or authorizations. It may include visiting the base or consolidation location for the facility if needed.
Field Work and Packaging
EBL provides on-site field and packaging services including emergency response and testing standby support. These services are quoted on an as-needed basis according to our standard schedule of rates.
A typical packaging scope would include sending a key field services manager to the remote base to coordinate, preferably with in-country providers, the retrieval and packaging of accumulated batteries, labeling, and preparing for shipment. Generally this scope also includes coordinating the logistics with a logistics partner for shipment offsite. The scope may include base-to-ship coordination. Frequently, the host country of a remote base does not have a company or personnel that are qualified to handle waste lithium batteries, which may be in various conditions, and EBL can also provide field services personnel that would actually complete the physical retrieval and packaging.
Post-Incident Cleanup and Emergency Response
EBL is uniquely qualified to provide emergency response and post-incident response services for lithium batteries. EBL is capable of sending project and technical field managers to virtually any country to supervise the cleanup of lithium battery related fires or other incidents.
Auditing
Sensible and practical auditing requirements are a key aspect of lithium battery management. EBL can complete a detailed audit of the base, rig-site, or vessel for compliance with storage, use, handling, and testing guidelines. EBL additionally offers services to audit third party facilities including transportation vendors, warehouses, and waste facilities that may handle or process lithium batteries.
Recycling and Disposal
EBL works with our clients to identify suitable recycling methods for end-of-life lithium metal batteries. EBL has strong working relationships with processors in the United States, Canada, Germany, and other countries offering proprietary technologies for recycling and recovering lithium metal batteries and other chemistry of batteries. EBL additionally offers auditing services to evaluate alternate facilities for suitability to process batteries in accordance with corporate standards..
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