New Lead Acid Systems

9 October 2014

New Lead Acid Systems

Find out the advancements that have been made with lead acid batteries and how they are beneficial to the industry. When it comes to stationery applications and wheeled mobility, lead acid batteries still hold top position. The strong market appeal has motivated manufacturers to look into ways of making the batteries even better. There are some improvements that have already been made and claims that are so promising which leads to the question of trustworthiness. This is because most researchers normally publish positive attributes and conveniently leave out the negative ones. Below you will find information that was gotten from printed available resources on the subject of developments with lead acid.

Firefly energy 

In regards to new lead acid systems, this is one of the new developments. The Firefly Energy battery has a composite plate material based on lead-acid that is longer living, lighter and had active material utilization that is higher than the existing lead acid system. It is also among the few lead acid batteries that are able to operate for longer periods in partial states of charges. The batteries feature carbon foam electrodes used for negative plates giving it great performance similar to NiMH only at manufacturing costs that are lower.

Altraverda bipolar 

Just like the Firefly Energy batteries, Altraverda is also lead based. It utilizes proprietary titanium (sub-oxide ceramic) structure that is known as Ebonex for the AGM and grind separator. The un-pasted plate has Ebonex particles that are found in polymer matrix that normally holds thin lead allowing foil on the batteries external surfaces. With specific energy of about 50-60Wh/kg which is about 1/3 larger than what the regular batteries produce; this can be compared with NiCd. The battery is ideal for advanced/higher voltage applications.

Axion power 

This is a Supercell that can be described as an ultracapacitor or hybrid battery where the positive electrode features standard lead dioxide whereas negative electrodes are an activated carbon. The batteries maintain assembly process similar to lead acid. This battery offers user’s faster recharge times as well as longer cycle life in regards to repeated deep discharges something that is not possible with the ordinary lead acid system. This opens up the door for start stop applications in the micro-hybrid cars. The batteries lead carbon combination normally lowers lead content found on negative plates. This results in weight reduction of about 30% when compared with the regular lead acid. However, it also lowers specific energy to about 15-25wh/kg as a replacement for the usual 30-50Wh/Kg that the normal lead acid battery usually provides.

CSIRO ultrabattery

This is a battery that combines lead acid battery and asymmetric ulreacapacitor in each of the cells. The capacitor comes in handy as it enhances both the lifetime and power of the batter as it normally acts like a cushion during the charging and discharging process. The factor of 4 over normal lead acid systems usually helps with the prolonging of lifetime and the production of at least 50% more power. Manufacturers of the batteries also claim that it is about 70% cheaper to produce these batteries when compared to the current HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) batteries. The battery is also in the process of being tested for the start and stop application in the micro hybrid card in a bid to substitute the lead acid starter battery. When exposed to regular start stop conditions, it promises extended life and it is also able take fast charge.

EEStor 

This can be described as a mystery battery or ultracapacitor combination that normally receives a lot of media attention. The EEStor battery is based on barium titanate(ceramic powder) that is modified and it also claims specific energy of about 280Wh/Kg which is even higher than the lithium-ion. Manufacturer is very secretive when it comes to the invention as it only releases very limited information perhaps because they do not want to let in other manufacturers on their operations. Some of the claims they make which may be quit astounding is that 1/10th of the NiMH battery weight in the crossbreed application offers no deep cycle wear down, at least 3-6 minutes charge time, similar costs of manufacturing to lead acid, no hazardous material and self discharge that is at 0.02% monthly a small part of that of Li-ion and lead acid.