Accelerated

AcceleratedCycle-Life
Cycle-LifeTesting
TestingOn
On
The
TheCyclon
CyclonLead-Acid
Lead-AcidBattery
Battery

EESAT 2005
October 17-19, 2005
San Francisco, CA

Presented by:
Tom Hund,
and Wes Baca
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 844-8627
tdhund@sandia.gov
Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States
Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

1
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

‹ Funded by the Energy Storage Systems Program of

the U.S. Department Of Energy (DOE/ESS) through
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).

2
 Introduction
Introduction

‹ The Cyclon valve regulated lead-acid (VRLA) battery (25 Ah

Cell) invented by the Gates Corp. and manufactured by EnerSys
is a cylindrically wound battery made from a high purity lead/tin
grid alloy, which improves power, cycle-life, float-life, and
increases the operational temperature range.
‹ Sandia’s Power Sources Component Development Dept. tested
this battery using a modified Battery Council International (BCI)
and supercapacitor test procedure.
‹ Sandia was interested in this battery because:
™ the manufacturer’s high cycle-life of 5,000 cycles at 10% DOD at
25°C,
™ high temperature performance, and
™ as a possible low cost replacement for supercapacitors.

3
 Modified
Modified BCI
BCI Test
Test Procedure
Procedure

™Modified BCI test procedure, “Life Cycle

Testing Of Lead-Acid Industrial Storage
Batteries For Motive Power Service”
¾ Immerse in 46°C water bath
¾ 0.2C (4.9A) discharge/charge rate
¾ Fixed discharge/charge time at slightly over 30
minutes
¾ Finish-charge every 100 cycles, 12 h at 2.47 vpc
(14.85V)
¾ Capacity test at 0.2C rate after each finish-charge
¾ End-of-life at 80% initial capacity

4
Cyclon
Cyclon VRLA
VRLA Battery
Battery Under
Under Test
Test

5
 BCI
BCICycle-Life
Cycle-LifeTest
Test
Cycle
CycleProfile
Profile
Cyclon Cycle-Life Test
Cycle #5
2.60 20.00

2.40 15.00
Cell Volts

2.20 10.00

Current
Volts

2.00 5.00
Current

1.80 0.00

1.60 -5.00
0:00:00 0:15:00 0:30:01 0:45:01 1:00:01 1:15:01 1:30:02 1:45:02

Time (hh:mm:ss)

6
 End-of-Discharge
End-of-DischargeCell
CellVoltage
Voltage

Cyclon Lead-Acid Battery Cycle-Life Test

End-of-Discharge Cell Volts

2.16 80

2.14 75
22.99 Ah 23.30 Ah
2.12 70

Temperature C
2.10 65
Volts

2.08 60
23.26 Ah
2.06 55

2.04 EODCV 50
Water Bath Temp
(Cycle 100)
2.02 45

2.00 40
5,400 5,500 5,600 5,700 5,800
Cycle Number
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 Cycle-Life
Cycle-Life Test
Test Results
Results
Cyclon Lead-Acid Battery BCI Cycle-Life Test
Test Temperature = 46C

25 Battery Capacity (100% DOD) 3.00

20 2.40
19.6 Ah = 80%

15 1.80

Volts
Ah

End-of-Discharge Cell Volts (10% DOD) Load Fault

10 1.20

5 0.60
Manufacturer End-of-Life Specifications
819 10% DOD cycles at 46C = 5,000 cycles at 25C
46 100% DOD cycles at 46C = 300 cycles at 25C
0 0.00
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

Cycle Number

8
 Projected
ProjectedCyclon
CyclonDeficit-Charge
Deficit-Charge
Cycle-Life
Cycle-Life
Cyclon VRLA Battery
BCI Cycle-Life Vs. Temperature
40,000
Projection Based on 1/2 cycle-lfe for
every 8°C above 25°C
35,000

30,000 10% DOD

Projected
25,000
Cycle-Life

20,000

15,000

10,000 10% DOD

10% DOD Measured
Manufacturer's Specifications
5,000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Temperature C
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 Cycle-Life
Cycle-Life Test
Test Results
Results

ƒ The measured deficit-charge cycle-life has exceeded

the manufacturer’s specifications by about a factor of
seven
ƒManufacturer’s temperature adjusted cycle-life at 46C is 816
cycles
ƒMeasured 6,100 deficit-charge cycles and 58 deep-cycles at
46C
ƒCapacity loss was less than 14% (24.51 Ah initial to a low of
21.06 Ah), but it also recovered to 23 Ah after 6,100 cycles.
ƒA 5% increase in load current at cycle 5,000 caused a full
discharge after 100 deficit-charge cycles. Battery recovered
without damage.
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 High
HighPower
PowerSupercapacitor
SupercapacitorCycle-Life
Cycle-LifeTest
Test

™Modified Sandia supercapacitor cycle-life test

procedure
¾ Immerse in 22°C water bath
¾ 5.6C (140A) discharge for 65 sec. (2.5 Ah)
¾ 5 minute rest
¾ 5C (125A) charge for 94 sec. to 2.57 vpc (15.4V)
¾ 5 minute rest
¾ Finish-charge every 100 cycles, 12 h at 2.5 vpc
(15.0V) at 22C
¾ Capacity test at 0.2C rate after each finish-charge

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 Cyclon
CyclonHigh
HighPower
PowerCycle
CycleProfile
Profile

Cyclon High Power Test

Cycle #38

2.80 150.00
Current

2.60 100.00
Cell Volts

2.40 50.00

Current
Volts

2.20 0.00

2.00 -50.00

1.80 -100.00

1.60 -150.00
0:00:00 0:05:00 0:10:00 0:14:59 0:19:59

Time (hh:mm:ss)
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 End-of-Discharge
End-of-DischargeCell
CellVoltage
Voltage
Cyclon Lead-Acid Battery High Power Cycle-Life Test
End-of-Discharge Cell Volts
2.00 70

1.90 65
22.8 Ah 22.8 Ah 22.6 Ah 22.4 Ah
1.80 60

1.70 55

Temperature C
1.60
Cell Volts 50
EODCV
Volts

1.50
Cycle 100 45

Cell Temp
1.40 40

1.30 35

1.20 30

1.10 25

1.00
Water Bath Temp 20
1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300

Cycle Number

13
 Cyclon
CyclonHigh
HighPower
PowerCycle
CycleResults
Results

Cyclon High Power Cycle Test

Exterior Cell Temperature = 38C

30 2.00
Battery Capacity (100% DOD)

25 1.90

20 1.80
End-of-Discharge Cell Volts (10% DOD)

Volts
Ah

15 1.70

10 Recovered Cell Voltage 1.60

5 1.50
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
Cycle Number

14
 Cyclon
CyclonHigh
HighPower
PowerCycle
CycleTest
Test
Results
Results
‹ The Cyclon battery maintained relatively stable
capacity after 2,100 cycles.
‹ Exterior cell temperature stabilized at about 16°C
(38°C) above the 22°C water bath temperature.
‹ At about 800 cycles the capacity increased to 24.96
Ah from a low of 22.74 Ah. This increase in capacity
is most likely due to the recovery in End-of-discharge
Cell Voltage of two low voltage (low capacity) cells.

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 Summary
Summary
‹ The Cyclon battery exceeded the manufacturer’s
specifications for cycle-life by a factor of seven using
deficit-charge cycling (from 816 to over 6,100 cycles) .
‹ Using the manufacturer’s temperature vs. cycle-life
relationship of, ½ cycle-life for every 8°C above 25°C,
the projected deficit-charge cycle-life at 25°C should be
over 37,000 cycles.
‹ High power cycling at the 5.0C charge and 5.6C discharge
rate indicated that the battery could handle high power
applications if the required cooling and/or cycle profile was
used.
‹ At about $0.64 per Watt-hour the Cyclon VRLA battery
could be very competitive in some high power applications
where supercapacitors or oversized VRLA batteries would
normally be used.

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