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ECEN 4517/5517
ECEN 4517 1
Lead-acid battery: construction
Pb PbO2
Negative Positive
electrode: electrode:
Porous Lead-dioxide
lead
H2SO4
H 2O
ECEN 4517 2
Electrical conduction mechanisms
-2
SO4-2
The electrolyte contains aqueous ions SO4
Q: What are the physical mechanisms of conduction in the complete path from
one terminal, through an electrode, into the electrolyte, onto the other electrode,
and out the other terminal?
ECEN 4517 3
Conduction mechanism
at the surface of the electrode
Pb
0
SO4-2 SO4-2 Pb
+2
SO4-2 SO4-2
0 H+ 0 H+
Pb Pb
Pb0 H+ Pb0 H+
H 2O H 2O
0 0
Pb Pb
ECEN 4517 4
The chemical reaction (half reaction)
at the lead electrode
Pb0 H+
the Gibbs free energy, under standard H 2O
0
conditions (T = 298K, concentration = 1 Pb
molar)
Units: Energy = (charge)(voltage)
Energy in eV = (charge of electron)(1 V)
So the charge of the aqueous sulfate ion is transferred to two conducting
electrons within the lead electrode, and energy is released.
ECEN 4517 5
Conduction mechanism
at the surface of the positive electrode
Charged sulfate and hydrogen ions Lead atom changes ionization and forms
approach lead-dioxide molecule (net ionic bond with sulfate ion. Two water
uncharged) on surface of electrode molecules are released into solution
Sulfuric acid electrolyte O2 Lead- Sulfuric acid electrolyte O2 Lead-
dioxide dioxide
electrode electrode
Pb+4 Pb+4
H+
H+ O2 O2
H 2O
SO4-2 O2 SO4-2
Pb+4 +2
SO4 -2 SO4-2 Pb
2
O
H+
H 2O
H+ O2 O2
H 2O H 2O
Pb+4 Pb+4
O2 O2
ECEN 4517 7
How the battery develops voltage
Pb
0
H 2O
SO4-2
O2
+4
Diffusion within electrolyte
Pb
Pb0 H+
H+
H+
2
replenishes ions near electrodes
H+ O
0
Pb 2
O
Pb
+2
SO4
-2 SO4 -2 SO4
-2
Pb+4
Excess electrons are created in
SO4-2
H+
Pb
0
H+
O2
lead electrode, and electron
H+
deficit is created in lead-dioxide
0
Pb
H 2O H+ O2
0
Pb
electrode
+4
Pb
H 2O
O2
Vbatt +
Ibatt The chemical reactions at the
electrode surfaces introduce
Pb PbO2 electrons into the Pb electrode,
H+ H+ and create a deficit of electrons
H+ in the PbO2 electrode
H+
SO4-2 These charges change the
-2
SO4
voltages of the electrodes
The system reaches equilibrium
when the energy required to
H 2O
deposit or remove an electron
equals the energy generated by
Diffusion
Drift
Diffusion
Drift
the reaction
v
Eo/qe = 1.685 V Total voltage (at T = 298K and 1
molar acid electrolyte) is Vbatt =
Eo/qe = 0.356 V 0.356 + 1.685 = 2.041 V
ECEN 4517 9
Discharging
R
+
Connection of an electrical load allows
Vbatt < 2.041 V Ibatt
electrons to flow from negative to
positive terminals
Pb
H+
PbO2 This reduces the charge and the
H+
H+ voltages at the electrodes
H+
SO4
-2 The chemical reactions are able to
-2
SO4 proceed, generating new electrons
and generating the power that is
converted to electrical form to drive
H 2O the external electrical load
PbSO4 As the battery is discharged, the
Diffusion
Drift
Diffusion
Drift electrodes become coated with lead
v
sulfate and the acid electrolyte
< 1.685 V
becomes weaker
< 0.356 V
ECEN 4517 10
Charging
ECEN 4517 11
Battery state of charge (SOC)
Fully Completely
Charged Discharged
ECEN 4517 12
Battery voltage vs. electrolyte concentration
with
E = energy at a given concentration
E0 = energy at standard 1 molar concentration
kT/qe = 26 mV at 298 K
Implications:
At fully charged state (6 molar), the cell voltage is a little higher than E0 /qe
As the cell is discharged, the voltage decreases
ECEN 4517 13
Voltage vs. electrolyte concentration
Fully charged
Usab
le ra Time to recycle
nge
R. S. Treptow, The lead-acid battery: its voltage in theory and practice, J. Chem. Educ., vol. 79 no. 3, Mar. 2002
ECEN 4517 14
Mechanisms that affect terminal voltage
ECEN 4517 15
A basic battery model
Rdischarge(SOC)
Ibatt V(SOC)
+
Rcharge(SOC) Rcharge(SOC)
V(SOC) +
Vbatt
Ideal diodes
Rdischarge(SOC)
0% 100% SOC
ECEN 4517 16
Types of lead-acid batteries
1. Car battery
SLI - starter lighting ignition
Designed to provide short burst of high current
Maybe 500 A to crank engine
Cannot handle deep discharge applications
Typical lifetime of 500 cycles at 20% depth of discharge
2. Deep discharge battery
We have these in power lab carts
More rugged construction
Bigger, thicker electrodes
Calcium (and others) alloy: stronger plates while maintaining low leakage current
More space below electrodes for accumulation of debris before plates are shorted
Ours are
Sealed, valve regulated, absorbent glass mat
Rated 56 A-hr at 2.33A (24 hr) discharge rate
ECEN 4517 17
Types of lead-acid batteries
1 hr 2 hr 4 hr 8 hr 24 hr
ECEN 4517 18
Battery capacity
The quantity C is defined as the current that discharges the battery in 1 hour,
so that the battery capacity can be said to be C Ampere-hours (units confusion)
If we discharge the battery more slowly, say at a current of C/10, then we might
expect that the battery would run longer (10 hours) before becoming
discharged. In practice, the relationship between battery capacity and
discharge current is not linear, and less energy is recovered at faster discharge
rates.
Peukerts Law relates battery capacity to discharge rate:
Cp = Ik t
where Cp is the amp-hour capacity at a 1 A discharge rate
I is the discharge current in Amperes
t is the discharge time, in hours
k is the Peukert coefficient, typically 1.1 to 1.3
ECEN 4517 19
Example
Prediction of Peukert
equation is plotted at left
ECEN 4517 20
Energy efficiency
Efficiency = ED/EC
EC = Total energy during charging = vbatt (-ibatt) dt VCICTC
ED = Total energy during discharging = vbatt ibatt dt VDIDTD
VD I DT D
Energy efficiency = = voltage efficiency coulomb efficiency
VC I CT C
Coulomb efficiency = (discharge A-hrs)/(charge A-hrs)
Voltage efficiency = (discharge voltage)/(charge voltage)
Rdischarge(SOC)
Ibatt
+
Rcharge(SOC)
V(SOC) +
Vbatt
Ideal diodes
ECEN 4517 21
Energy efficiency
ECEN 4517 22
Battery life
ECEN 4517 23
Charge management
Over-discharge leads to sulfation and the battery is ruined. The reaction becomes
irreversible when the size of the lead-sulfate formations become too large
Overcharging causes other undesirable reactions to occur
Electrolysis of water and generation of hydrogen gas
Electrolysis of other compounds in electrodes and electrolyte, which can generate
poisonous gasses
Bulging and deformation of cases of sealed batteries
Battery charge management to extend life of battery:
Limit depth of discharge
When charged but not used, employ float mode to prevent leakage currents from
discharging battery
Pulsing to break up chunks of lead sulfate
Trickle charging to equalize charges of series-connected cells
ECEN 4517 24
Charge profile
ECEN 4517 25
Charge and float voltages
ECEN 4517 26
Battery charge controller
Charge Inverter AC
controller loads
PV
array
ECEN 4517 27