Batteries & Chargers

Batteries
Batteries are used to store DC energy which is later
used to supply a block of energy to a load, often in
the form of a high current for a short time e.g.
rewinding mechanism springs in switchgear,
emergency lighting, emergency instrumentation
power for control panels and control devices, starter
motors on engines and gas turbines.

Batteries used for heavy current industrial applications

are invariably of two kinds

Lead-acid (Pb) Nickel-cadmium (NiCd)

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 A battery consists of a number of cells connected in
series. The series connection is necessary to create
sufficient load voltage.

Each cell has a low voltage which is peculiar to the

type of cell and independent of the current and rating
of the cell.
CELL VOLTAGES

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 The maximum cell voltages during charging should
not exceed 2.7 volts per cell for Pb cells and 1.85 volts
per cell for NiCd cells.

Suppose a nominal voltage of 110 DC is required then

at least 54 Pb cells or 89 NiCd cells would be required.

The size of a battery is defined as its ampere-hour

capacity, since capacity is related to charge (Q) which
equals current (I ) × time (T ). Hence a battery can
supply a large current for a short time, or a small
current for a large time.

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 If there is a total failure from the main supply then it
will usually be necessary to maintain the continuous
current for 4 hours so that the state of the plant will
be known during the failure.

During this time it would be expected that the main

supply would be restored.

Hence the 4 hours can be used as the ‘operating

cycle’ of the battery in the event that the charger is
unable to supply current.

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 In recent years there has been a tendency to prefer Pb
cells instead of NiCd cells.

This has been due to the development of what has

become known as ‘maintenance free’ or ‘sealed type’
lead-acid batteries.

The basic concept is one of retaining the gases evolved

during the charging process and to allow the oxygen to
recombine as float charging takes place.

If the operating and ambient conditions are not subject

to excessive variation then the concept is satisfactory in
practice and the life expectancy of the battery can be as
much as 10 years.
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 If too much gas is evolved and is released through a special
safety valve than the life expectancy will be reduced. The
amount of gas evolved is a function of the float charging current
level and the ambient temperature. The temperature of the
electrolyte will be a function of the ambient temperature of the
air surrounding the battery. Therefore a high float charging
current and a high ambient temperature will cause the life
expectancy to fall.

If the ambient temperature has an average value of 30◦C then the

life expectancy will be halved, and at 40◦C reduced to a quarter,
i.e. 2 to 3 years instead of 10.

In practice it is therefore essential to ensure that the

temperature within the battery room or cabinet remains
reasonably constant and as close to 25◦C as possible, the lower
the temperature the better will be the result.
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 At the same time the float charging current should be
controlled in an accurate manner, and boost charging
should not be available to the battery.
CELL DESIGN AND THEORY
In a lead-acid cell the active materials are lead dioxide
(PbO2) in the positive plate, sponge lead (Pb) in the
negative plate, and a solution of sulphuric acid (H2SO4)
in water as the electrolyte.

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LEAD-ACID BATTERY CONSTRUCTION TYPES
by type of positive plate

Manchex

Tubular positive plate

Pasted flat plate

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Manchex Type

The grid is cast with low antimony lead alloy. The

button or rosette is a pure lead ribbon which is
serrated and rolled into a spiral form. These in turn are
pressed or wedged into the holes of the grid. The
surface of the buttons is oxidized to PbO2 for the
positive active material.
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APPLICATION

The grid is quite heavy and therefore gives long life,

particularly in standby type service with moderate
cycling such as railroad signal and utility application.

A life of 25 years is normal for utility operation.

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 Tubular Positive Type

The grid, which is the current conducting member, is a series of

low antimony lead spines. Woven or porous plastic or glass
material is used for the tubing which is cantered on each spine.
Then the active material is added and the ends are sealed.
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APPLICATION
This type of battery is generally used in lift truck and
material handling applications where deep cycling
routines require an average discharge depth of 70 to
80 percent of the 6-hour rated capacity and recharge
within an 8-hour period. Battery life is about six years
in a lift truck application requiring an 80% depth
discharge each working day 250 days per year or 1500
cycles.

Tubular batteries are normally produced in one

plate thickness. Variations in capacity are obtained
by increasing the number of tubes per plate and/or
by varying the tube (or plate) height.
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Flat Pasted Plate Type

The lattice grid is cast with pure lead, lead-calcium or

lead-antimony depending on the size of the plate and
the application.
Active material is applied as a wet paste and the plate is
then cured, dried and formed.
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 A perforated plastic retainer are wrapped around the
positive plate to minimize the loss of positive active
material and to obtain good cycle life.
Pasted plates are made with thin or thick grids
depending on the application.
In general, when the application demands a high
ampere rate for a very short time, it is customary
to use many thin plates in a container.
Thicker plates with fewer plates per container are used
for those applications with relatively low ampere drain
for relatively long periods of time. In general, when the
service is similar, thin plates will give less life than
thick plates.

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LEAD-ACID CELL DISCHARGE CHARACTERISTICS

Effect of Discharge Rate on Output at 25°C

In the lead-acid system the average voltage during
discharge, the capacity delivered, and the energy output
are dependent upon the discharge current.
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 Each cell type, size and design will vary depending
upon the cell design parameters such as the number
and thickness of the plates, active material density,
volume and specific gravity of the electrolyte, and the
plate grid and separator system designs.

Useful capacity from a cell is normally defined in terms

of discharge hours or ampere hours to the 'knee' of the
discharge curve or final voltage. Beyond this point, little
capacity is available.

The knee does vary with the discharge rate and

represents the low voltage limit for the various rates.

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 EFFECT OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF ELECTROLYTE AND
OPERATING TEMPERATURE

Discharge capacity in any single cycle increases with an increase

in specific gravity. The amount of increase will depend upon the
discharge rate, the active material density and the ratio of active
material to acid electrolyte.

The specific gravity increases during recharge and decreases

during discharge.

At low operating temperatures, the specific gravity can become

so low that its freezing temperature is reached terminating the
discharge prematurely and interfering with the subsequent
charge.

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BATTERY TYPES
WET LEAD-ACID BATTERIES
These are general-purpose batteries, and will accept
high charge and discharge rates. They need
maintenance (i.e. check the electrolyte level regularly,
and specific gravity when you think of it)
SEALED LEAD-ACID (SLA) BATTERIES
These require less maintenance than wet types, but
they prefer longer charging times and don’t like heavy
loads (due to their higher internal electrical
resistance).
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DEEP-CYCLE LEAD-ACID BATTERIES
These are better suited to survive repeated deep
depletion and recharging than wet or SLA types, but
need boost charging. They need a similar degree of
maintenance to wet types.

“CALCIUM” BATTERIES

These batteries are very good at cranking engine-starter

motors. They will deliver high peak currents (“Cold
cranking amps”) due to their low impedance. They
require very specific charging routines.

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HAWKER “GENESIS” BATTERIES

These have good cold-cranking ability due to their low

impedance, despite being a form of SLA battery. They
are also good in traction applications. They require
very specific charging routines, with relatively high
charging currents.

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 METHODS OF CHARGING LEAD-ACID BATTERIES

Proper recharging between discharges is an

important key to obtaining optimum life from
any lead-acid battery.

HOW DOES CHARGING WORK?

Current forced into the battery causes a
chemical reaction, converting lead sulphate to
lead on the negative plates and lead dioxide on
the positive plates.

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 BATTERY OVERCHARGING

When most of the lead sulphate has been converted,

the battery is fully charged. The charging current
then begins to electrolyse the battery’s water into
hydrogen gas and oxygen gas.

In “Sealed Lead-Acid” (SLA) batteries, the gasses

produced by moderate charge rates can be re-
absorbed internally.

In unsealed batteries, and at high charge rates,

dehydration (drying out) can occur.
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 Modern chargers are usually designed to charge a
battery in one or more of the following ways:-

• Float charge – for Pb and NiCd cells.

• Boost charge – for Pb and NiCd cells.
• Trickle charge – for Pb cells only.

The transfer from one method to another may be

automatically or manually achieved during the
charging period.

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 Float charge
With this method the battery is connected to its load
during charging. The charger must be designed to
supply sufficient current for the battery and the load.
The charger operates in an almost constant voltage
manner with its voltage normally just above the
battery voltage. When a sudden demand of current
occurs the battery and the charger attempt to share
the current.

However, the demand from the charger may exceed its

rating and so the mode of operation then changes to
constant current.
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 The battery supplies the remaining current. The load
voltage is determined by the battery during the sudden
demand.
The recommended float charge voltage applied to the
battery during normal demand is about 2.2 to 2.25 volts
per cell for Pb cells and about 1.4 and 1.45 volts per cell
for NiCd cells.
This will ensure full capacity is maintained in the
battery without manual supervision.
Typical battery-plus-charger units can be rated up to
250 volts and 400 amps.

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Boost charge
As the name implies boost charging is used to quickly restore the
capacity of the battery, usually following a heavy demand.
The boost current may be much larger than the rated float
charging current.

When boost charging is required the charger operates in the

constant voltage mode but with a raised voltage. The raised
voltage causes the boost current. As the battery becomes
charged the boost current falls. When the current falls to a
predetermined value the control circuit automatically switches
the charger back into the float charge mode.

An auto-manual switch is often provided to enable boost

charging to be applied as required.

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Trickle charge

Trickle charging is used only for Pb cells. The current

used in trickle charging is very much less than the
rated battery current.

The method is used for storage batteries which supply

little or no current as a normal condition.

They therefore remain charged for long periods and a

small trickle of current is sufficient to maintain the
charge.

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 Maintenance of Batteries
Maintenance will normally consist of

equalization charges,

watering of battery cells,

checks on individual cell voltage and specific gravity and

cleaning the tops of cells of dust, dirt, acid spillage and

spray.

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EQUALIZATION
During cycling, a high voltage battery having many cells
in a series string can become unbalanced with certain
cells limiting charge and discharge.
Limiting cells receive more overcharge than other cells
in the string have greater water consumption and thus
require more maintenance.
The equalization charge has the function of balancing
cells in the string at the top-at-charge. Equalization
charge simply extends the normal recharge for 3-6
hours at the finishing rate of 5 A per 100 Ah 5-h rated
capacity, allowing the battery voltage to rise
uncontrolled. Equalization charge should be continued
until cell voltages and specific gravities rise to a constant
acceptable value.
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WATERING CELLS
During normal operation, water is lost from a battery
as the result of evaporation and electrolysis into
hydrogen and oxygen which escape into the
atmosphere.

Evaporation is a relatively small part of the loss except

in very hot, dry climates.

With a fully charged battery, electrolysis consumes

water at a rate of 0.336 cc per Ah overcharge. A 500
Ah cell overcharged 10 percent can thus lose 16.8 cc,
or about 0.3% of its water, each cycle.
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 Addition of water is best accomplished after recharge
and before an equalization charge.

Add water to reach the high acid level line at top-of-

charge. Gassing during charge will stir the water into
the acid uniformly.

Water added must be distilled water, demineralized

Water.

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 A final check of specific gravity should be made
after water is added to assure correct acid
concentration at the top-of-charge helpful
approximation is the equation:

Specific Gravity = Cell Open Circuit Voltage - 0.845

which permits electrical monitoring of specific

gravity on an occasional basis.

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Uninterruptible Power Supplies
INVERTERS
Inversion is the process by which a DC voltage is
changed into an AC voltage by the use of a set of
switches.

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 The four switches T1, T2, T3 and T4, are controlled in
their fully ‘on’ and fully ‘off’ modes, in a sequence that
causes the current Iac and hence voltage Vac to flow in
one direction, to fall to zero, to flow in the opposite
direction and again to fall to zero.
The conduction of current in the load from A to B is
achieved by closing T1 and T2, and keeping T3 and T4
open. The conduction from B to A is the reversed
process, T3 and T4 are closed and T1 and T2 are kept
open. The capacitors, diodes and the centre-tapped
inductor are used to provide forced commutation
where the ‘off’ state is not controllable.

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 The method described above can be
modified to operate as a three-phase
inverter.
Single and three-phase inverters operating
in this manner form the basis for many
types of uninterruptible power supplies
(UPSs), and variable speed drives for AC
motors.

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 Thank you

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