Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/01/18/2012-798/special-conditions-gulfstream-aerospace-corporation-model-gvi-airplane-rechargeable-lithium
Timestamp: 2018-09-21 06:09:43
Document Index: 445680575

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u200921', 'art 25', 'art 25', '§\u200921', 'art 34', 'art 36', '§\u2009611', 'art 4', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200926', '§\u200925', '§\u200925']

Federal Register :: Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GVI Airplane; Rechargeable Lithium Batteries and Rechargeable Lithium-Battery Systems
Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GVI Airplane; Rechargeable Lithium Batteries and Rechargeable Lithium-Battery Systems
The effective date of these special conditions is January 9, 2012. We must receive your comments by March 5, 2012.
2437-2439 (3 pages)
Docket No. FAA-2012-0015
Special Conditions No. 25-455-SC
FAA-2012-0015
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-798 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-798
These special conditions are issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (GAC) Model GVI airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the installation of rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery systems. 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-2012-0015 using any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Wahsington, DC, 20590-0001.
Nazih Khaouly, Airplane and Flight Crew Interface Branch, ANM-111, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-2432; facsimile (425) 227-1320.
On March 29, 2005, GAC applied for an FAA type certificate for its new Model GVI passenger airplane (hereafter referred to as “the GVI”). On September 28, 2006, GAC re-applied for the GVI type certificate to adhere to the application effectivity established by Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17(c), and on July 31, 2011, GAC requested an extension of application in accordance with § 21.17(d)(2). The FAA concurred with this request and established a new effective application date of September 18, 2007. The GVI airplane will be an all-new, two-engine jet transport airplane. The maximum takeoff weight will be 99,600 pounds, with a maximum passenger count of 19 passengers.
Under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17, GAC must show that the GVI meets the applicable provisions of 14 CFR part 25, as amended by Amendments 25-1 through 25-120, 25-122, 25-124, and 25-132 thereto. If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for the GVI because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16.
In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the GVI 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 GVI will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: Rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery systems.
The current regulations governing installation of batteries in large, 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, § 25.1353(c) (1) through (c)(4), basically reworded the CAR requirements.
Increased use of nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries in small airplanes resulted in increased incidents of battery fires and failures, which led to additional rulemaking affecting large, 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 Ni-Cd battery installations on large, transport-category airplanes.
The proposed use of rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery systems for equipment and systems on the GVI have 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 and rechargeable lithium-battery systems that could affect the safety and reliability of the GVI rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery-system installations.
At present, commercial aviation has limited experience with the use of rechargeable lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery systems in aviation applications. However, other users of this technology, ranging from wireless telephone manufacturers to the electric vehicle industry, have noted safety problems with lithium batteries. These problems include overcharging, over-discharging, and cell-component flammability.
In general, lithium batteries are significantly more susceptible than their Ni-Cd or lead-acid counterparts to internal failures that can result in self-sustaining increases in temperature and pressure (i.e., thermal runaway). This is especially true for overcharging, which causes heating and destabilization of the components of the lithium-battery cell, which can lead to the formation, by plating, of highly unstable metallic lithium. The metallic lithium can ignite, resulting in a self-sustaining fire or explosion. The severity of thermal runaway due to overcharging increases with increased battery capacity due to the higher amount of electrolyte in large batteries.
The problems that lithium-battery users experience raise concerns about the use of these batteries in commercial aviation. The intent of these special conditions is to establish appropriate airworthiness standards for lithium-battery installations in the GVI, and to ensure, as required by §§ 25.601 and 25.1309, that these battery installations will not result in an unsafe condition.
Those sections of § 25.1353 that are applicable to lithium batteries.
The flammable-fluid fire-protection requirements of § 25.863. In the past, this rule was not applied to batteries in transport-category airplanes because the electrolytes in lead-acid and Ni-Cd batteries are not considered flammable.
New requirements to address hazards of overcharging and over-discharging that are unique to rechargeable lithium batteries.
(1) All characteristics of the lithium batteries and their installation that could affect safe operation of the GVI are addressed, and
The intent of these proposed special conditions is to establish appropriate airworthiness standards for rechargeable lithium-battery and rechargeable lithium-battery system installations in the GVI and to ensure, as required by §§ 25.1309 and 25.601, that these battery installations are not hazardous or unreliable.
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 GVI.
In lieu of the requirements of § 25.1353(c)(1) through (c)(4) at amendment 25-42, lithium batteries and battery installations on the GVI must be designed and installed as follows:
(1) Safe lithium battery-cell temperatures and pressures must be maintained during any charging or discharging condition, and during any failure of the battery-charging or battery-monitoring system not shown to be extremely remote. The lithium-battery installation must preclude explosion in the event of those failures.
(9) The instructions for continued airworthiness required by § 25.1529 (and § 26.11) must contain maintenance steps to assure that the lithium batteries are sufficiently charged at appropriate intervals specified by the battery manufacturer. The instructions for continued airworthiness must also contain procedures to ensure the integrity of lithium batteries in spares storage to prevent the replacement of batteries, the function of which are required for safe operation of the airplane, with batteries that have experienced degraded charge-retention ability or other damage due to prolonged storage at a low state-of-charge. Precautions should be included in the continued-airworthiness maintenance instructions to prevent mishandling of lithium batteries, which could result in a short circuit or other unintentional damage that could result in personal injury or property damage.
GAC must show compliance with the requirements of these special conditions by test and/or analysis. The aircraft certification office, or its designees, will find compliance in coordination with the FAA Transport Standards Staff.
These special conditions are not intended to replace § 25.1353(c) in the certification basis of the GVI. These special conditions apply only to lithium batteries and rechargeable lithium-battery-system installations. The requirements of § 25.1353(c) remain in effect for batteries and battery installations on the GVI that do not use lithium batteries.
Issued in Renton, Washington, on January 9, 2012.
[FR Doc. 2012-798 Filed 1-17-12; 8:45 am]