Complete Guide to Cylindrical Cell - Ufine Battery

Part 1. Cylindrical cell history

Cylindrical cells have a long history. Since the introduction of dry batteries, batteries have been cylindrical in appearance. The earliest cylindrical cell is the lithium battery invented by Japan’s SONY in .

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The market penetration rate is very high because the cylindrical lithium battery has a long history. Cylindrical cells adopt a fairly mature winding process with a high degree of automation, stable product quality, and relatively low cost.

However, with the development of the new energy industry and energy storage industry, battery types have gradually become more abundant. As a classic appearance type, the “cylindrical cell” has also evolved to a certain extent. , , , and other types are gradually derived in power batteries.

Part 2. Cylindrical cell naming rules

The cylindrical cell production process is mature and appears relatively strict. Therefore, to distinguish its specifications and ingredients, there is a mature naming method. Their naming convention is usually based on size, shape, chemical composition, and other properties.

The following are the key points of some common cylindrical cell naming rules:

1. Size identification
The size of a cylindrical cell is usually expressed by its diameter and length. For example, the battery has a diameter of 18 mm and a length of 65 mm, with 0 referring to the cylindrical type.

2. Chemical composition identification
A battery’s chemical composition may also be included in its name. For example, lithium-ion batteries are often labeled Li-ion.

3. Battery type identification
The battery type may also be reflected in the name, for example, Li-Polymer.

4. Manufacturer’s identification
The manufacturer’s information is also usually included in the battery model number to distinguish products from manufacturers. Batteries like Ufine Battery all have the “UFX” logo.

5. Capacity identification
The capacity of a battery is usually expressed in milliamp-hours (mAh) or ampere-hours (Ah), which indicates how long the battery can supply power at a certain current.

For example, a typical battery might have the following designation: “ Li-ion mAh”, which means it is a lithium-ion battery with a diameter of 18 mm and a length of 65 mm, with a capacity of mAh.

This is just an example of a general naming convention, and there may be some variations. When purchasing a battery, it is recommended to review the battery’s specification sheet and information provided by the manufacturer to ensure that the selected battery meets the specific application’s requirements.

Part 3. Cylindrical cell type

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The types of cylindrical lithium batteries are described in detail in these articles.

Everything You Need to Know About Cylindrical Batteries

6 Battery Cell Types Comparison

Part 4. Cylindrical cell structure

The following is a common cylindrical cell structure; see the image below for details:

Ordinary cylindrical lithium-ion batteries consist of a casing, a cap, a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and an electrolyte. Generally, the battery casing is the battery’s negative electrode, and the cap is the battery’s positive electrode. The battery casing is made of nickel-plated steel plate.

The important difference between power cylindrical batteries is the conductive connection structure of the battery. A special high-current structure design is required because the general application current of power lithium batteries is relatively large.

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1. Characteristics of cylindrical cell

Cylindrical cells are generally covered with steel or aluminum shells, and have a stable structure and high energy density. Cylindrical lithium battery cells are generally used in power batteries, such as the typical battery cells carried in the Tesla Model 3, which once made popular in the battery cell market.

However, cylindrical cells are not the only advantages; their shortcomings are also obvious. For example, the space utilization issue is criticized a lot. In the case of modularization, the cylindrical shape will cause a large waste of space, which is far inferior to the soft electric cells and square battery cells that are more conducive to stacking.

Below, we roughly summarize some of the advantages and disadvantages of cylindrical cells so that everyone can understand their characteristics more intuitively.

2. Cylindrical cell advantages

1) Higher energy density

Cylindrical cells usually have relatively high energy density. This means they can provide relatively large amounts of electrical energy stored in a relatively small volume. Generally, the rated energy density of a single-cell cylindrical lithium battery is between 300 and 500Wh/kg, and its specific power can reach more than 100 W. The actual performance of such products varies depending on the product models and specifications.

2) Good heat dissipation performance

Due to its cylindrical shape, the cylindrical cell has a relatively large surface area, which helps dissipate heat. This is critical for battery performance stability under high load or high temperature conditions. Of course, there is still a gap in heat dissipation performance compared to soft batteries. Soft batteries have a larger specific heat area. However, the soft battery case is relatively soft and can easily break and leak.

3) Longer life

First, cylindrical cell designs often provide a long cycle life, especially in rechargeable batteries. Secondly, the cylindrical cell production process is mature, the PACK cost is low, the battery product yield is high, the heat dissipation performance is good, and the service life is improved.

4) High stability
First of all, cylindrical batteries are generally sealed batteries, and there is no maintenance problem during use; secondly, the battery casing generally has high voltage resistance, and there will be no phenomena such as swelling of square and soft-packaged batteries during use.

3. Disadvantages of cylindrical cell

1) Low space utilization efficiency

The shape of the cylindrical cell may result in less efficient use of space inside the device, especially in some compact devices. Compared with square cells, cylindrical cells may leave more gaps when stacked, resulting in a waste of space.

2) Heavyweight

Compared with some other battery cell shapes, cylindrical cells may weigh more at the same capacity. This may not be suitable for some applications with high lightweight requirements. Especially for power batteries, it will increase the vehicle’s weight and affect the cruising range.

3) Poor plasticity

Compared with flexible cells, such as soft battery cells, cylindrical cells are relatively rigid in shape. Therefore, it may not be flexible under certain special design requirements. This poor plasticity makes the assembly method extremely fixed and lacks flexibility.

Part 5. Summary

The cylindrical cell is currently the most standardized and oldest battery cell type among battery cell types. Cylindrical cells are currently experiencing rapid development. Almost every once in a while, new cylindrical cell models will be iterated and become mainstream.

Regarding the development trend of cylindrical cells, higher energy density, better safety performance, and the exploration of new materials have always been the three mainstream directions of its development. The development of these trends has promoted the widespread application of cylindrical lithium batteries in various fields and allowed them to remain competitive in the changing market. In the future, with further technological innovation and the evolution of market demand, cylindrical lithium batteries are expected to continue to usher in more new development opportunities.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Cylindrical Cell. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

I'm researching battery cells for my vintage motorcycle conversion build, and it feels like every day I discover a new battery that is better in some way over the previous day's discovery.

Today, it is these cylindrical Lithium Iron Phosphate cells: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-efficient-H-3-2V-30Ah_.html?spm=a.details.deiletai6.5.241a545b37uqsb

So these may not be new but they're new to me and I have not seen anybody build with them them before.

Does anybody have any experience with these? The alibaba listing does not say the max peak and continuous discharge capacity and I would like to know that. It also doesn't say the dimensions [edit: I see it now. They're , or 48mm x 270mm). I have Micah Toll's book on diy lithium batteries and he says that LiFePO4 cylinders are made by Headway in the and sizes, but the book is 3 years old now.

The reason I would want cylinders over prismatic cells is because I could built the battery pack into a custom shape. I want my battery box to be very asthetic. The cells also have bolts for terminals so installation will be much easier than ion cells. I would need 23 of them to get 72v. Here's my mockup: https://www.vintagehondatwins.com/forums/showthread.php?-CA160-EV-Conversion&p=&viewfull=1#post

Thanks! At that price, I wouldn't mind paying a little more for some assurance. Here's another source - https://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo4-s-cell-3-2v-15-ah-150a-surge-rate-48wh-with-6m-screw-terminal---un38-3-passed.aspx - but they're half as much capacity so I'll need twice as many. But look at that price! $40 each for a total of $1,840. The alibaba ones would only cost me $230. At that price maybe it's worth the risk.

neptronix said: Just keep in mind that headways aren't much more energy dense than lead acid batteries. They hold a third of the energy of the best non-lifepo4 lithium cells on the market today.

Only a good choice if safety trumps all other considerations.

Genuine Headway cells have better power density than most, with easier and higher-ampacity pack assembly methods than almost anything. They come in higher and lower energy versions, with inversely proportional maximum current ratings.

I haven't used Headways, but my own e-bike packs are made from automotive cells that sacrifice energy density for power density, ease of assembly, cycle lifespan, cost per kWh, and pack simplicity compared to s. I wouldn't mind having more range or lighter pack weight, but I wouldn't want to trade off the qualities I enjoy now in favor of those things. Genuine headways come in at around 80whrs/kg ish. I had a pack with them a decade ago. The things are effin' huge. About 3 times larger than 150whrs/kg lipo. 200-250whrs/kg is the current standard for energy density.. so this is a far cry from good.
I literally just sent the pack to a recycler because it didn't even remotely perform up to the discharge spec either.

They're also rather expensive per whr.

I agree that a large pack with s is a pain in the ass to build. Building a pack with 's cuts the number of cells needed in half. That's a good in between solution.

john61ct said: The only cylindrical LFP worth a hill o' beans are A123

I just ordered some of those. Their energy density is pretty low-- even lower than the low energy density automotive cells I'm using now. But their power density is phenomenal.

They have the same problems as any cylindrical cells lacking threaded terminals, in terms of difficulty of assembly and being limited by their connections more than by their cells' capabilities.

999zip999 said: I was looking at these
https://batteryhookup.com/products/100-brand-new-lifep04--3-2v-mah-cells
They also have the 8ah headway s at 16.00
Lifepo4 is big and heavy my A123 20 ah pack lasted 7 years charge cycles. No BMS just bulk charge.
I order a Samsung 40t 30 amp cell triangle pack 20s 6p. 180 amps on paper BT BMS

I agree 100%. I use A123 ANRM1-B LIFEPO4 cells for EBike builds. They can provide 50A continuous per cell, 120A burst. Being LIFEPO4 chemistry they can be cycled 3x more than typical Li-Ion cells. Battery Hookup sells those cells around $1 each. They are listed as used but all the ones I have received test out better than 90%. You could build a 10Ah 72v 24s4p pack for a little over $100. It's a no-brainer. The only drawback is that they do take up some extra space since they are cells.

Hosedragger said: I use A123 ANRM1-B LIFEPO4 cells for EBike builds. They can provide 50A continuous per cell, 120A burst.

I recently bought some of those; I have yet to figure out how best to use them. I have seen their impressive cell specs, but I've never seen a plausible method for getting that amount of juice out of them. The modules I bought are fused 70A for a 4P pack, suggesting that their real ampacity (with an engineered bus) is something less than 17.5A/cell. For a homemade bus, I'd derate them beyond that.

Their energy density is low even by LiFePO4 standards. I made a 34s10p pack out of these A123 cells and can get over 600A out. And in a kart track my pack last about 10km (using 2kwh) of heavy acceleration and braking (i'm not using regen).
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=
Yes they are heavy (about 37kg is my pack and has 2,5kwh of energy).
My lipo pack that weights about the same 37kg has 3,5kwh of energy. Can't really compare the density of the tiny cylindricals to high Ah capacity prismatics where 40Ah per cell is considered small.

Getting all the pack capacity you need from a single string (no paralleling) is the ideal, but with most "bike" designs the weight and pack space dimensions are severely limiting.

My ideas for pure utility cargo / tandem design give more flexibility, but it seems most people are looking for greater speed, agility sporty "fun" factor.

Too bad no one makes cylindrical cells at say 7Ah with a round cross section of say 3-4" ?

I bet one day we'll see greater merging of the energy storage and structural framing tubes

john61ct said: .......
Too bad no one makes cylindrical cells at say 7Ah with a round cross section of say 3-4" ?

7Ah , with a 3-4” cross section ??..
.. that would only be about 5mm thick !
Very difficult to “wind” that jelly roll...and even tricky to make as a pouch !
Why would you want that format ?

A123 used to produce an 8Ah , 32mm dia , high C rate cell with screw terminals.....but no longer available.

Hillhater said:

john61ct said: .......
Too bad no one makes cylindrical cells at say 7Ah with a round cross section of say 3-4" ?

7Ah , with a 3-4” cross section ??..
.. that would only be about 5mm thick !

Just spitballing, you including the protective outer shell?

OK then higher Ah, down to say 2" diameter.

Or a circular pouch format?

Whatever it takes to optimise for a single cylinder pack, no paralleling required, go to 20Ah by expanding the diameter, not length.