Power Supply Solution for Mine Explosion-Proof Monitoring and Long-Cycle IoT Sensing Terminals

I. Industry Background & Core Pain Points

In special scenarios such as underground mines and remote outdoor areas, monitoring and sensing terminals serve as core perception nodes for safety production and digital operation and maintenance. The reliability of the power supply system directly determines the continuity and stability of equipment operation. Such scenarios are generally featured with harsh deployment environments, poor maintainability, and stringent safety standards. Traditional battery solutions fail to satisfy the three core requirements of safety, service life and environmental adaptability simultaneously. The key pain points are summarized as follows:

1. Underground Mine Engineering: Strict Explosion-Proof Standards and Difficult Maintenance

Underground coal and non-coal mines contain explosive media such as gas and coal dust, which impose mandatory explosion-proof requirements on power supply equipment. Ordinary lithium cells are prone to ignition and smoking under extrusion or short-circuit conditions, leading to potential explosion hazards. Meanwhile, underground environments with high humidity, heavy dust and continuous surrounding rock vibration accelerate the failure of sealing structures and tab welding of ordinary cells, greatly shortening the service life.

In addition, most underground monitoring points are distributed in deep roadways and working faces, where manual inspection and battery replacement involve high operational risks and costs. Frequent battery replacement not only increases operation and maintenance expenses but also interferes with normal production schedules.

2. Long-Cycle IoT Sensing Nodes: High Unattended Operation Requirements and Wide Environmental Span

Sensing nodes for long-distance oil and gas pipelines, smart water pipe networks and field environmental monitoring are mostly deployed in inaccessible areas such as deserts, mountainous regions and remote wilderness, resulting in extremely high single-time maintenance costs. The industry generally requires batteries to support 5–10 years of maintenance-free operation.

Although conventional primary batteries (such as ordinary lithium-manganese batteries) offer relatively long service life, they feature weak high-rate discharge capacity and cannot meet the instantaneous high-current demands of wireless communication and data collection. Conventional secondary lithium batteries suffer from high self-discharge rates and rapid capacity loss during long standby periods. Moreover, with a temperature range of -40℃ to 60℃ across northern and southern regions, ordinary batteries face insufficient environmental adaptability, including sharp capacity attenuation in winter and thermal swelling failure under high temperatures.

II. Core Technical Advantages of the Solution

Based on the company’s specialized high-safety and long-life cell technology platform, this solution fully optimizes the material system and structural design to precisely match the core demands of mine explosion-proof scenarios and long-cycle IoT application scenarios.

•  Intrinsically Safe Design, Compliant with Explosion-Proof Specifications

The cells adopt high-stability olivine cathode materials, flame-retardant electrolyte systems and ceramic-coated separators, which fundamentally restrain thermal runaway from the electrochemical level. The cells will not ignite or explode under extrusion, puncture or short-circuit conditions, fully meeting the power supply standards for intrinsically safe explosion-proof equipment. The fully sealed metal shell structure resists high humidity and heavy dust corrosion and avoids internal short-circuit faults caused by harsh underground environments.

• Ultra-Low Self-Discharge System for Ultra-Long Maintenance-Free Operation

The primary cells adopt a customized lithium-based electrochemical system with an annual self-discharge rate ≤1% at room temperature, achieving an effective storage and service life of more than 10 years, supporting long-term unattended operation of sensing nodes. The optimized electrolyte additives for secondary wide-temperature cells reduce the annual self-discharge rate to ≤2% and deliver excellent cycle life, adapting to rechargeable inspection and monitoring equipment.

• Wide Temperature & Wide Rate Compatibility for Full-Scenario Operation

The operating temperature ranges from -40℃ to +60℃. The capacity retention rate at low temperatures is ≥80%, and no electrolyte decomposition or swelling occurs under high temperatures. It adapts to both severe cold outdoor environments in northern China and constant-temperature high-humidity underground environments. The low-internal-resistance electrode design supports both microampere-level low-power standby and milliampere-level pulse high-current discharge, matching the “long standby + instantaneous data transmission” power consumption characteristics of sensing terminals and solving the industry pain point of insufficient rate performance of traditional primary batteries.

• Vibration-Resistant Reinforced Structure for Complex Impact Conditions

Optimized winding core fastening technology and enhanced tab welding strength improve the overall structural stability of the cells. The batteries can withstand continuous impact and vibration caused by underground surrounding rock movement and field transportation and installation, avoiding power supply interruption due to loose mechanical structures and meeting the long-term operation requirements of complex industrial scenarios.

III. Application Value of the Solution

1. Value for Mine Explosion-Proof Monitoring Scenarios

Dual compliance with safety and regulatory standards. The intrinsic safety of the cells meets mine explosion-proof power supply requirements, eliminates battery-induced combustion and explosion risks, adapts to operating environments with gas and coal dust, and fully complies with mine safety production regulations.

Reduced maintenance workload and operational risks. The highly sealed and corrosion-resistant structure adapts to high-humidity and high-dust underground conditions. The long-life design greatly reduces battery replacement frequency, lowering maintenance workload and personnel downhole safety risks in deep mines and remote roadways.

Full-category equipment compatibility. It covers full-spec products from small-capacity sensing terminals to medium-capacity inspection equipment. Custom integrated intrinsically safe battery packs are compatible with various underground terminals such as personnel positioning devices, gas monitors and surrounding rock monitoring equipment.

2. Value for Long-Cycle IoT Sensing Scenarios

Significant full-cycle cost reduction. The 10-year service life of primary cells eliminates frequent wiring charging and greatly reduces manual inspection and battery replacement costs for remote nodes, especially suitable for long-distance and widely distributed sensing networks for pipelines, pipe networks and environmental monitoring.

Stable all-climate operation across regions. The wide-temperature performance adapts to various climatic conditions across China, from severe cold in Northeast China to high-temperature environments in Northwest desert areas, ensuring continuous and uninterrupted collection of sensing data throughout the year.

Strong compatibility with multiple terminals. It supports both microampere low-power standby and pulse high-current discharge for wireless transmission, compatible with low-power sensors, smart remote transmission instruments, edge monitoring terminals and other IoT devices. No separate model selection is required for different terminals, reducing customer procurement and inventory costs.

四、适配核心产品

Custom integrated battery packs and supporting protection circuits are available according to customer equipment size, voltage and explosion-proof grade requirements.

V. Typical Application Scenarios

Mine & Underground Engineering

Underground coal mine personnel positioning systems, gas / carbon monoxide concentration monitoring sensors, underground surrounding rock stress monitoring equipment, hydrological water level monitoring terminals, explosion-proof inspection terminals, underground emergency positioning beacons.

Long-Cycle IoT Sensing：

Oil and gas long-distance pipeline cathodic protection and leakage monitoring nodes, smart water remote water meters and pipe network pressure terminals, field meteorological / hydrological / geological disaster monitoring stations, smart city passive IoT nodes, remote intelligent utility instrument terminals.