Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/08/22/2013-20427/special-conditions-boeing-model-777-200--300-and--300er-series-airplanes-rechargeable-lithium-ion
Timestamp: 2017-11-17 21:55:42
Document Index: 210969646

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

Federal Register :: Special Conditions: Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER Series Airplanes; Rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries and Battery Systems
Special Conditions: Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER Series Airplanes; Rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries and Battery Systems
Send your comments on or before October 7, 2013.
78 FR 52107
Docket No. FAA-2013-0723
Notice No. 25-13-03-SC
2013-20427
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2013-20427 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2013-20427
This action proposes special conditions for the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes. These airplanes as modified by the ARINC Aerospace Company will have a novel or unusual design feature, specifically the rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery system that will be used on an International Communications Group (ICG) ePhone cordless cabin handset. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed 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-2013-0723 using any of the following methods:
On August 10, 2012, the ARINC Aerospace Company applied for a supplemental type certificate for installing equipment that uses rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems in the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes. The Model 777-200 series airplanes are long-range, wide-body, twin-engine jet airplanes with a maximum capacity of 440 passengers. The Boeing Model 777-300 and 777-300ER series airplanes have a maximum capacity of 550 passengers. The Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes have fly-by-wire controls, fully software-configurable avionics, and fiber-optic avionics networks.
Existing airworthiness regulations did not anticipate the use of lithium ion batteries and battery systems on aircraft. Lithium ion batteries and battery systems have new hazards that were not contemplated when the existing regulations were promulgated. In Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 25.1353, the FAA provided an airworthiness standard for lead acid batteries and nickel cadmium batteries. These special conditions provide an equivalent level of safety as that of the existing regulation.
Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, the ARINC Aerospace Company must show that the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes, as changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. T00001SE or the applicable regulations in effect on the date of application for the change. The regulations incorporated by reference in the type certificate are commonly referred to as the “original type certification basis.” The regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. T00001SE are as follows: part 25, as amended by Amendments 25-1 through 25-82, except for § 25.571(e)(1), which remains at Amendment 25-71 level. In addition, the certification basis includes special conditions and exemptions that are not Start Printed Page 52108relevant to these proposed special conditions.
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 Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes 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 Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes 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.
The Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: an International Communications Group (ICG) ePhone cordless cabin handset that will use a rechargeable lithium ion battery and battery system. Lithium ion batteries and battery systems have certain failure, operational, and maintenance characteristics that differ significantly from those of the nickel cadmium and lead acid rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems are considered to be a novel or unusual design feature in transport category airplanes, with respect to the requirements in § 25.1353.
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 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 nickel cadmium battery installations on large transport category airplanes.
The proposed use of lithium ion batteries and battery systems for equipment and systems on the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes 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 lithium ion batteries and battery systems that could affect the safety and reliability of the airplanes with the ICG ePhone cordless cabin handset lithium ion battery installations.
At present, there is limited experience with use of rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems 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 lithium ion batteries and battery systems. These problems include overcharging, over-discharging, and flammability of cell components.
In general, lithium ion batteries and battery systems 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 condition 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 ion batteries and battery systems 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 flightcrews 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 and battery systems 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 ion batteries and battery systems raise concern about the use of these batteries in commercial aviation. The intent of the proposed special conditions is to establish appropriate airworthiness standards for lithium ion battery installations in the Boeing 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes and to ensure, as required by §§ 25.1309 and 25.601, that these lithium ion batteries and battery systems are not hazardous or unreliable.
As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes. Should the ARINC Aerospace Company apply at a later date for a supplemental type certificate to modify any other model included on Type Certificate No. T00001SE to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, the special conditions would apply to that model as well.
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on one model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability, and it affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for approval of these features on the airplane.
Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the following special conditions as part of the type certification basis for Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER Start Printed Page 52109series airplanes modified by the ARINC Aerospace Company.
These proposed special conditions require that (1) all characteristics of the rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems and their installation that could affect safe operation of the Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes are addressed, and (2) appropriate instructions for continued airworthiness, which include maintenance requirements, are established to ensure the availability of electrical power from the batteries when needed.
In lieu of the requirements of 14 CFR 25.1353(b)(1) through (b)(4) at Amendment 25-113, the following special conditions apply. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems on Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes 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 lithium ion batteries and battery systems must preclude explosion in the event of those failures.
(2) Design of the lithium ion batteries and battery systems must preclude the occurrence of self-sustaining, uncontrolled increases in temperature or pressure.
(3) No explosive or toxic gases emitted by any lithium ion batteries and battery systems 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 lithium ion batteries and battery systems must meet the requirements of § 25.863(a) through (d).
(5) No corrosive fluids or gases that may escape from any lithium ion batteries and battery systems 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 lithium ion battery and battery system 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) Lithium ion batteries and battery systems must have a system to control the charging rate of the battery automatically, so as to prevent battery overheating or overcharging, and:
(8) Any lithium ion battery and battery system whose function 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 lithium ion batteries are sufficiently charged at appropriate intervals specified by the battery manufacturer and the equipment manufacturer. 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 ion batteries and battery systems, which could result in short-circuit or other unintentional impact damage caused by dropping or other destructive means that could to result in personal injury or property damage.
These special conditions are not intended to replace § 25.1353(b) at Amendment 25-113 in the certification basis of Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and-300ER series airplanes. These special conditions apply only to rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery systems and their installations. The requirements of § 25.1353(b) at Amendment 25-113 remain in effect for batteries and battery installations on Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER series airplanes that do not use rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
[FR Doc. 2013-20427 Filed 8-21-13; 8:45 am]