{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0137","title":"Data Domain, BRS Division of EMC Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-11-11","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0137 response to Data Domain, BRS Division of EMC Corporation concerning 173.185.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0137.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0137.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0137","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120137.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nMr. Kendall Wilcox\nData Domain, BRS Division of EMC Corporation\n2421 Mission College Blvd.\nSanta Clara, CA 95054\nRef. No.: 12-0137\nDear Mr. Wilcox:\nThis responds to your June 24, 2012letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the requirements for\nlithium batteries. In your letter, you describe a 7.2V battery pack that consists of two United\nNations (UN) Manual of Tests and Criteria (UN 38.3) tested lithium ion cells connected in\nseries. The battery pack itself has been tested under section 38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests\nand Criteria and incorporates protective circuitry. You install these battery packs in your\nsystems, which incorporate a charging circuit. You state that there are between 3 and 6\nbattery packs on each system, each with its own identical charging circuit. The packs are\nconnected in parallel to provide 7 .2V power and are protected via fusing and diodes to\nprevent reverse currents between packs. In addition, the packs and charging circuits have\nbeen evaluated for compliance with UL2054 battery regulations. You ask if the final\nconnected system, as shown in your attached diagram, must be evaluated to the UN 38.3\ntransportation test. If so, you ask whether every system needs to be tested or can a single\nsystem be used to represent all of them, assuming all of the protection circuitry is identical.\nIt is the opinion of this Office that in your scenario, each battery assembly, with different\nnumbers of battery packs, would not require additional testing under UN 38.3. Based on\nyour scenario, the final connected system you describe does not appear to be a battery\nassembly as described in UN 38.3(£). Under this section, the battery assembly is not\nrequired to undergo tests 3, 4, 5 and, in addition, test 7 in the case of a rechargeable battery\nassembly.\nI hope this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n----------------\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nAndre10~\n~ 113. ! 35\n'Bu tten' (~ S\nlt.-Ot37\nwhere information lives'\nData Domain, BRS Division ofEMC Corporation\n2421 Mission College Blvd.\nSanta Clara, Ca 95054 USA\nJune 24, 2012\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nU.S. Department of Transportation\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nEast Building, 2nd Floor\nWashington, DC 20590\nDear Sir/Madame,\nData Domain ships lithium ion batteries that are subject to various shipping regulations. We\nhave multiple configurations utilizing the same batteries. I would like to provide you with\ndetails regarding our configurations and request feedback on your understanding of the specific\ntests that are necessary that ensure compliance with UN38.3 testing requirements.\nWe utilize a 7.2V battery pack that consists of two UN 38.3 tested lithium ion cells connected in\nseries. The battery pack has also been UN38.3 tested and incorporates protection circuitry\n(thermal protection, short/open circuit protection, reverse charging). We will install these battery\npacks in our systems. The systems incorporate a charging circuit. We will use between 3 and 6\npacks depending on the system we install them into. Each pack has its own identical charging\ncircuit, so if there are 3 packs there are 3 separate charging circuits, 4 packs, 4 charging circuits,\netc. The packs are connected in parallel to provide a 7.2V power source and are protected via\nfusing and diodes to prevent reverse currents between packs. The packs and charging circuits\nhave been evaluated for compliance with UL 2054 battery regulations. See below for a block\ndiagram.\nMy question is: does the final system need to be evaluated to the UN38.3 transportation tests? If\nthe answer is yes, then does every system need to be tested, or can a single system be used to\nrepresent all of them assuming all of the protection circuitry is identical?\nSincerely,\n.\n~~t_:X.e~\nKendall Wilcox\nConsulting Hardware Engineer\nData Domain/EMC\n-------------\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nBH\nBL\nBH\nBL\nBattery\nBH\nBL\n··----··\nBattery Pack\nPl P4\nSafety\nCircuitry\n?2\n?3 P5\nBattery Pack\nPl P4\nSafety\nCircuitry\n?2\n?3 ?5\nPack\nPl ?4\nSafety\nCircuitry\nP2\n?3 P5\nPrinted Circuit Board\nBattery output\nrc;BR'35AQ)T ·\nI\n.... l - 2 \"' ,,\n.I\n/ •,\nChargt'f F:..\n=A )'?\n/\n\"'\n+12V input\nSF\n' '\ni\nr!E·h :,S..\\OT 3\nl\n-~ 2 .... ;____!..__ I --=---,_) '~\nI\n-·· ::( Sn\n, ...... ,_.\nI\nPrinted Circuit Board\nI\nI\nBattery output I\nI\nI\n5A\nI\nt1ER'3540T\nI\nI\nI\nI\n/ ·-.r rr.\n' 1 2 ~ '·'\nCharger F:.\noi'l '?\n/\nI I\nI\n.......\n+12V input\nI\n!j;::.\n.\nI\n!\n' '\nrt.E•t.:SS4r.)T 3\n. I\n!\n!\nj\nI\n--=---,_)\n- ;o 2 :>:--1-\nI\n- ::_, $M .. I\n'\nPrinted Circuit Board\nI\nBattery output\nI\nSF\nI\nI\n!\nI\nI\nI\nI\nI\nI\nI\"'BR55LQH\n....... 1\n2 ? ._,\n.r\n/ ·-\nF .•\nCharge-r oA ?\n~\n\"'\nI I I\nH I\nI\n+12V input\nI\nsc:::\nf1f.:=.. :~S4(JT 3\n;o 2 r>--L\n~_)-\n;. ·:s SM\nI\n'V\nTo Load\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFrom: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSent: To:\nSubject:\nAttachments: Thursday, July 05, 2012 6:02PM\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA); Andrews, Steven (PHMSA)\nFW: interpretation request\nHow to UNZIP.html; SecureZIP Attachments.zip\nWe received the below request to update interp request 12-0137\nthe attached letter. -Victoria\nFrom: kendalL wi!cox@emq:Qm [mailto: kendalj_,yyjlcox@emc.com]\nSent: Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:53 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSubject: RE: interpretation request\nHello Victoria,\nCan you replace my original request letter with the attached document? I was it with another engineer on our\nteam and he noticed that the block diagram could be modified slightly to more accurately describe our circuit. Nothing\nelse has changed. If there are any questions on this please let me know.\nSincerely,\nKendall Wilcox\nConsulting Hardware Engineer\nEMC\nFrom: INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov [mailto:INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov]\nSent: Monday, June 25, 2012 10:14 AM\nTo: Wilcox, Kendall\nSubject: RE: interpretation request\nDear Kendall Wilcox,\nWe have received your request for a written letter of interpretation regarding the\nhazardous materials regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180). The hazardous materials\nregulations are available at the following ORL:\nhttp://h3zmat.dot.gov/regs/rules.htm\nTypically, written letters of interpretation are responded to at mlnlmum of approximately\n6 weeks from when they are received by the Office of Hazardous Materials Standards.\nHowever, delivery time of a written interpretation can vary markedly based on topic\ncomplexity and the backlog of letters to be completed.\nSincerely,\nVictoria, Hazardous Materials Specialist\nAn e-mail response from this office is considered informal guidance. Formal guidance may\nbe requested in accordance with 49 CFR 105.20. ~tt~p://hazmat.dct.qcv/.:Lnfocen.t.htm\nFrom: kendall.wilcox@emc.com [mailto:kendall.wilcox@emc.com]\nSent: Monday, June 25, 2012 8:08 AM\nTo: PHMSA HM InfoCenter\nSubject: interpretation request\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nHello,\nlet me know.\nSincerely,\nKendall Wilcox\nEMC Corporation\nPlease find that attached question regarding lithium battery testing requirements. If you need more information please\n2\n-----\n---------------------\n\n<<<PAGE 6>>>\n\nHi Steven,\nAs discussed, here are some photos to assist in your determination. Below is a photo of one of our battery pack-up power modules removed\nfrom the system. You can see the 3 battery packs, each one has its own cable/connector that plugs into the printed circuit board. We have\nseveral different end-use systems that we install the battery packs into, and because each system has different physical characteristics, we\ndesign different mechanical structures to house the packs depending on the space available. Below are some photos of different\nimplementations. The basic concept is identical for all of these battery packs- they consist of two cells each, include integrated safety circuitry,\nand connect to the printed circuit board via cable/connector as shown below. The battery packs undergo UN38.3 transportation tests. Each\npack has their own input charging circuit and output supply circuit, and the output of each battery connects to its own fuse/diode circuit. After\nthe fuse/diode, the different battery pack outputs are joined together on a single trace on the printed circuit board. Let me know if reviewing\nthe schematics would assist in making your determination and I will send over.\nHere is another photo of one of our systems, the top cover is removed and this is looking directly down into the system to see the battery packs\ninstalled. This particular battery pack configuration is different than the one above due to the physical configuration of the system it is installed\ninto. These packs also have the same wiring and connectors as above, but it is hidden because the cable exits each battery pack on the side not\nvisible in this view.\n\n<<<PAGE 7>>>\n\n.. t :I\n1: i :t :\n~ t\n.! t\n~ ~ ' i·\n-~\nHere is another configuration, same idea as above but because of space limitations the battery packs are mounted onto a printed circuit board\nthat has a mechanical structure to allow it to fit into an exterior slot in one of our systems:\n\n<<<PAGE 8>>>\n\nThe above module gets installed into a slot in the chassis below, which is an external view. the same handle on the right side shown in the picture above.\nThe handle below the \"A34\" in the picture below is","truncated":false,"body_characters":9498}