Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/06/10/2014-13530/special-conditions-embraer-sa-model-emb-550-airplane-installation-of-rechargeable-lithium-batteries
Timestamp: 2018-10-23 14:57:19
Document Index: 680186191

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 25', 'art 34', 'art 36', '§\u2009611', 'art 4', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925']

Federal Register :: Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Installation of Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Installation of Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
The effective date of these special conditions is June 10, 2014. We must receive your comments by July 10, 2014.
79 FR 33043
33043-33045 (3 pages)
Docket No. FAA-2014-0365
Notice No. 25-554-SC
2014-13530
Installation of Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-13530 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-13530
Start Preamble Start Printed Page 33043
These special conditions are issued for the Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplanes. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the installation of a satellite communication system that uses rechargeable lithium battery technology. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.
Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2014-0365 using any of the following methods:
Stephen Slotte, FAA, Airplane and Flight Crew Interface Branch, ANM-111, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone 425-227-2315; facsimile 425-227-1149.
On May 14, 2009, Embraer S.A. applied for a type certificate for its new Model EMB-550 airplane. The Model EMB-550 airplane is the first of a new family of jet airplanes designed for corporate flight, fractional, charter, and private owner operations. The airplane has a configuration with low wing and T-tail empennage. The primary structure is metal with composite empennage and control surfaces. The Model EMB-550 airplane is designed for eight (8) passengers, with a maximum of twelve (12) passengers. It is equipped with two Honeywell AS907-3-1E medium bypass ratio turbofan engines mounted on aft fuselage pylons. Each engine produces approximately 6,540 pounds of thrust for normal takeoff.
The Model EMB-550 will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with a satellite communication system that uses rechargeable lithium battery technology. Rechargeable lithium batteries are a novel or unusual design feature in transport category airplanes. This type of battery has certain failure, operational, and maintenance characteristics that differ significantly from those of the nickel-cadmium and lead-acid rechargeable batteries currently approved for installation on transport category airplanes. Because of rapid improvements in airplane technology, the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature.
Under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17, Embraer S.A. must show that the Model EMB-550 meets the applicable provisions of part 25 as amended Start Printed Page 33044through Amendments 25-1 through 25-127 thereto.
In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the Model EMB-550 airplane must comply with the fuel vent and exhaust emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the noise certification requirements of 14 CFR part 36, and the FAA must issue a finding of regulatory adequacy under § 611 of Public Law 92 574, the “Noise Control Act of 1972.”
The Model EMB-550 airplane will incorporate the following novel or unusual design feature: A satellite communication system that uses rechargeable lithium battery technology. Rechargeable lithium batteries are a novel or unusual design feature in transport category airplanes for which the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.
These special conditions provide additional safety standards to accommodate the unique features of rechargeable lithium battery technology. This type of battery has certain failure, operational, and maintenance characteristics that differ significantly from those of the nickel-cadmium and lead-acid rechargeable batteries currently approved for installation on transport category airplanes.
The current regulations governing installation of batteries in transport category airplanes were derived from Civil Air Regulations (CAR) part 4b.625(d) as part of the re-codification of CAR 4b that established 14 CFR part 25 in February 1965. The new battery requirements, 14 CFR 25.1353(c)(1) through (c)(4), basically reworded the CAR requirements.
Increased use of nickel-cadmium batteries in small airplanes resulted in increased incidents of battery fires and failures that led to additional rulemaking affecting transport category airplanes as well as small airplanes. On September 1, 1977, and March 1, 1978, respectively, the FAA issued § 25.1353(c)(5) and (c)(6), governing nickel-cadmium battery installations on transport category airplanes. At Amendment 25-123, effective December 10, 2007, the FAA issued a revised § 25.1353, which moved the battery requirements to § 25.1353(b)(1) through (b)(6).
The proposed use of rechargeable lithium batteries for equipment and systems on the Model EMB-550 has prompted the FAA to review the adequacy of these existing regulations. Our review indicates that the existing regulations do not adequately address several failure, operational, and maintenance characteristics of rechargeable lithium batteries that could affect the safety of the airplane and its passengers and crew.
At present, there is limited experience with use of rechargeable lithium batteries in applications involving commercial aviation. However, other users of this technology, ranging from wireless telephone manufacturers to the electric vehicle industry, have noted safety problems with rechargeable lithium batteries. These problems include overcharging, over-discharging, and flammability of cell components.
In general, lithium batteries are significantly more susceptible to internal failures that can result in self-sustaining increases in temperature and pressure (i.e., thermal runaway) than their nickel-cadmium or lead-acid counterparts. This is especially true for overcharging, which causes heating and destabilization of the components of the cell, leading to the formation (by plating) of highly unstable metallic lithium. The metallic lithium can ignite, resulting in a self-sustaining fire or explosion. Finally, the severity of thermal runaway due to overcharging increases with increasing battery capacity due to the higher amount of electrolyte in large batteries.
Discharge of some types of lithium batteries beyond a certain voltage (typically 2.4 volts) can cause corrosion of the electrodes of the cell, resulting in loss of battery capacity that cannot be reversed by recharging. This loss of capacity may not be detected by the simple voltage measurements commonly available to flight crews as a means of checking battery status—a problem shared with nickel-cadmium batteries.
Unlike nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries, some types of lithium batteries use liquid electrolytes that are flammable. The electrolyte can serve as a source of fuel for an external fire if there is a breach of the battery container.
These problems experienced by users of lithium batteries raise concern about the use of these batteries in commercial aviation. The intent of these special condition is to establish appropriate airworthiness standards for rechargeable lithium battery installations in the Embraer Model EMB-550, and to ensure, as required by §§ 25.1309 and 25.601, that these battery installations are not hazardous or unreliable.
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on one airplane model. It is not a rule of general applicability.
The substance of these special conditions has been subjected to the notice and comment period in several prior instances and has been derived without substantive change from those previously issued. It is unlikely that prior public comment would result in a significant change from the substance contained herein. Therefore, because a delay would significantly affect the certification of the airplane, which is imminent, the FAA has determined that prior public notice and comment are unnecessary and impracticable, and good cause exists for adopting these special conditions upon publication in the Federal Register. The FAA is requesting comments to allow interested persons to submit views that may not Start Printed Page 33045have been submitted in response to the prior opportunities for comment described above.
Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the following special conditions are issued as part of the type certification basis for the Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplane.
In lieu of the requirements of § 25.1353(b)(1) through (b)(4) at Amendment 25-123, all rechargeable lithium batteries and battery system installations on the Model EMB-550 must be designed and installed as follows:
(1) Safe cell temperatures and pressures must be maintained during any foreseeable charging or discharging condition and during any failure of the charging or battery monitoring system not shown to be extremely remote. The rechargeable lithium battery installation must preclude explosion in the event of those failures.
(2) Design of the rechargeable lithium batteries must preclude the occurrence of self-sustaining, uncontrolled increases in temperature or pressure.
(3) No explosive or toxic gases emitted by any rechargeable lithium battery in normal operation, or as the result of any failure of the battery charging system, monitoring system, or battery installation that is not shown to be extremely remote, may accumulate in hazardous quantities within the airplane.
(4) Installations of rechargeable lithium batteries must meet the requirements of 14 CFR 25.863(a) through (d).
(5) No corrosive fluids or gases that may escape from any rechargeable lithium battery may damage surrounding structure or any adjacent systems, equipment, or electrical wiring of the airplane in such a way as to cause a major or more severe failure condition, in accordance with § 25.1309(b) and applicable regulatory guidance.
(6) Each rechargeable lithium battery installation must have provisions to prevent any hazardous effect on structure or essential systems caused by the maximum amount of heat the battery can generate during a short circuit of the battery or of its individual cells.
(7) Rechargeable lithium battery installations must have a system to control the charging rate of the battery automatically, so as to prevent battery overheating or overcharging, and,
(8) Any rechargeable lithium battery installation, the function of which is required for safe operation of the airplane, must incorporate a monitoring and warning feature that will provide an indication to the appropriate flight crewmembers whenever the state-of-charge of the batteries has fallen below levels considered acceptable for dispatch of the airplane.
(9) The Instructions for Continued Airworthiness required by § 25.1529 must contain maintenance requirements to assure that the battery is sufficiently charged at appropriate intervals specified by the battery manufacturer and the equipment manufacturer that contain the rechargeable lithium battery or rechargeable lithium battery system. This is required to ensure that lithium rechargeable batteries and lithium rechargeable battery systems will not degrade below specified ampere-hour levels sufficient to power the aircraft system, for intended applications. The Instructions for Continued Airworthiness must also contain procedures for the maintenance of batteries in spares storage to prevent the replacement of batteries with batteries that have experienced degraded charge retention ability or other damage due to prolonged storage at a low state of charge. Replacement batteries must be of the same manufacturer and part number as approved by the FAA. Precautions should be included in the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness maintenance instructions to prevent mishandling of the rechargeable lithium battery and rechargeable lithium battery systems that could result in short-circuit or other unintentional impact damage caused by dropping or other destructive means that could result in personal injury or property damage.
The electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS) maintenance and inspection tasks required by § 25.1729 must ensure that EWIS components associated with the batteries and battery systems are sufficient to detect degradation of any EWIS component that is designed and installed to support compliance with special conditions 1 through 8.
These special conditions are not intended to replace § 25.1353(b) at Amendment 25-123 in the certification basis of the Embraer Model EMB-550. These special conditions apply only to rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium battery systems and their installations. The requirements of § 25.1353(b) at Amendment 25-123 remain in effect for batteries and battery installations on the Embraer Model EMB-550 that do not use rechargeable lithium batteries.
Issued in Renton, Washington, on June 2, 2014.
[FR Doc. 2014-13530 Filed 6-9-14; 8:45 am]