True Blue Power has introduced the TB50, a 50-amp-hour lithium-ion main-ship battery that fits in the space occupied by typical 44-amp-hour lead-acid batteries. Unveiled at the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) annual convention on Tuesday, the lithium-ion 28-volt battery replaces batteries with capacities of 38, 42, 44, 48, or 50 amp-hours and it weighs 43.9 pounds, about 50 percent less than lead-acid and nicad batteries.
As the latest member of True Blue Power’s Gen5 series, the TB50 uses the same connectors as the batteries it replaces, although it does require the installation of a vent system and a cockpit annunciator. Information available to the flight crew includes real-time state of charge and state of health but installers can also program parameters such as charge current limiting and end-of-life, minimum dispatch capacity, and engine start readiness alerts.
An onboard status indicator shows “state of charge, battery mode, and health data without the need for aircraft power or external test equipment,” according to True Blue Power. According to the company, other advantages of the TB50 are no need for battery maintenance or capacity checks and eight-year battery life.
True Blue Power has applied for an FAA technical standard order approval for the TB50 and expects to receive it in May. “We’re working with a couple of OEMs and with two partners on supplemental type certificates (STCs) to integrate the TB50 in Part 27 and 25 aircraft,” said Brett Williams, True Blue Power v-p of engineering.
An annunciator is also available, based on True Blue sister company Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics’ Flex custom-configurable display, in this case set up as the MD-23-104. “It shows the state of charge, health status, temperature, and faults and is a fully featured display,” Williams explained. “Or installers can roll their own as part of an STC or integration project.” The required indications can also be integrated into an aircraft’s primary avionics displays.
New Battery Power Supply Available
At the AEA show, TrueBlue Power is also introducing a new emergency battery power supply (EBPS). Featuring a nickel-metal-hydride battery, the TS28 provides DC power for emergency lighting and critical equipment if main power is lost. True Blue Power designed the TS28 as a direct replacement for the Radiant Power CBS28-1 installed on Cessna Citation 550, 560, 650, 680/A, and 700 jets.
Weighing 1.7 pounds, the TS28 offers four to six years of battery life and requires capacity checks at two-year intervals. It has twice the battery capacity of the Radiant unit’s nicad battery and suffers no memory effect drawbacks, according to True Blue Power.
The TS28's engineers opted not to use a lithium-ion battery because there isn’t a huge weight advantage for such a small device. Unlike main-ship batteries in these jets, the TS28 is mounted inside the cabin, and regulations would require the battery to be vented, which would add more cost to the battery and the installation.
True Blue Power does offer larger EBPS units using sealed lead-acid batteries. “For simplicity, cost, size, and as a drop-in replacement, we wanted to stick with a better option than lead-acid, without the certification challenges of lithium-ion,” said Matthew Harrah, Mid-Continent senior v-p of technology and products. Another advantage of the TS28 is that its life isn’t shortened by regular testing that requires running the emergency lighting until the battery is dead. “Current solutions are primarily nicad and don’t wear well from charge/discharge cycles,” he said, and this can result in having to replace an expensive EBPS battery every 120 days. “There is a dire need to have something more reliable and more effective.”
Replacing the batteries in an emergency power supply can also be time-consuming as they are often located behind cabin interior components that must be removed first and usually need to be sent out for battery replacement. “Our intent is to put it in for years without having to replace or service it,” Harrah said. The modular TS28 is the same size and has the same connectors as the unit it replaces, and replacing its batteries requires only removing a few screws and swapping out the battery. “We’re trying to ease some of those pain points,” he said. “We want to try hard to make it simple and easy.
Priced at $4,500, TS28 EBPS STCs are in development by Texas Aerospace Technologies for the Citation models.