A LEARNING REPORT ON THE BATTERIES &

CELLS
By
Karthikeyan.S

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 List of Content
\
S.No Name of the Contents Page No
1 Cell 3
2 String 3
3 Connection 3
4 Working Principle of a cell 3
5 Classification of a cell 3
6 Battery 4
7 Classification of Battery 4
8 Component of Battery 4
9 Battery Vs Cell 5
10 Primary Battery 5
11 Secondary Battery 6
12 Primary Battery Vs Secondary Battery 7

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CELL:

A unit part consisting of two dissimilar electrodes immersed in an electrolyte;

1. One lead acid cell is 2 volts nominal
2. One nickel cadmium cell is 1.2 volts nominal
It is one module of energy-storing that stores chemical energy and transforms it into electrical when
connected to the circuitry.

STRING:
1. An energy storage system consisting of two or more series connected cells up to the required system
voltage.

CONNECTIONS:

1. Series connection of Cells: Add up the cell voltage, but the Amp-hour stays the same
2. Parallel connection of Cells: Sum the Capacity of each string (Watts or Amp Hours); the voltage
remains the same
3. Lead Acid: “125 Vdc” = 58-60 cells Typical Float = 130-134Vdc
4. Nickel Cadmium: “125 Vdc” = 90-96 cells Typical Float =130 -134 Vdc

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A CELL:

The redox reaction occurs between the electrolyte and the electrodes and due to this reaction, the
electric current starts flowing through an external circuit.

CLASSIFICATION OF A CELL:
1. The cell is mainly classified into four types. They are the
• Wet cell
• Dry cell
• Reserve cell
• Fuel cell.
2. The wet cell uses a liquid electrolyte, and in the dry cell, the electrolyte is in the form of the
powder.

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BATTERY:

1. A battery is a device, which consists of a various voltaic cell.

2. Each voltaic cell consists of two half cells connected in series by a conductive electrolyte holding
anions and cat ions.
3. One half-cell includes electrolyte and the electrode to which anions move, i.e. the anode or negative
electrode; the other half-cell includes electrolyte and the electrode to which cat ions move, i.e. the
cathode or positive electrode.
4. In the redox reaction that powers the battery, reduction occurs to cations at the cathode, while
oxidation occurs to anions at the anode. The electrodes do not touch one another but are electrically
connected by the electrolyte.

CLASSIFICATION OF BATTERY:

BATTERY

CHEMICAL PHYSICAL BIOLOGICAL

PRIMARY SECONDARY

1. Chemical Batteries: These are the batteries which produce electricity by chemical reaction
2. Physical Batteries: These are the batteries which produce electricity by physical change
3. Biological Batteries: These are the batteries which produce electricity by biological reactions

COMPONENTS OF BATTERIES:
1. CONTAINER
• The Case need to be corrosive resistant and stable to chemical attack by electrolyte.
• It should have mechanical strength, be cheap and light.

2. SEPARATOR
• The separator must be chemically stable to the electrolyte and to the active materials at the
temperature of operation.

3. CURRENT COLLECTOR
• The current collector is usually a metal grid or sheet, to provide a conducting path through
the paste (active material) and thereby minimize the resistance of the battery.
• The current collector must be stable to chemical attack by both electrolyte and active
material, and this limits the choice of material.

4. ELECTROLYTE
• Selection of electrolyte is determined by the electrode reactions

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 • Temperature has a large effect on electrolyte properties and both viscosity and resistance
increase by more an order of magnitude as the temperature drops from ambient to -30°C.
This largely accounts for the poorer performance of the battery at lower temperature
• The weight of the electrolyte is a major contribution to that of the complete battery.

5. ACTIVE MATERIALS
• The active materials in a battery are those that participate in the electrochemical
charge/discharge reaction. These materials include the electrolyte and the positive and
negative electrodes. As mentioned earlier, the electrolyte in a lead-acid battery is a dilute
solution of sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

BATTERY Vs CELL:

Basis for
Cell Battery
Comparison

Definition The single unit device which converts It is the collection of electrochemical cells
the chemical energy into electrical which either connects in series or in
energy parallel

Symbol

Types Dry Cell, Wet Cell, Reserve Cell and Primary battery and Secondary battery.
Fuel Cell.

Specification Light and compact Heavy

Power Supply power for a short time. Supply power for a long time.

Applications Clocks, lamp, radio, remote control Automobiles, inverter, emergency light
devices etc. etc.

Cost Cheap Costly

PRIMARY BATTERIES:

1. A Primary Battery is one of the simple and convenient sources of power for several portable
electronic and electrical devices like lights, cameras, watches, toys, radios etc.
2. As they cannot be recharged electrically, they are of “use it and when discharged, discard it” type.
3. Once these batteries are used they cannot be recharged as the devices are not easily reversible and
active materials may not return to their original forms.
4. Battery manufacturers recommend against recharge of primary cells.
5. Some of the examples for the disposable batteries are the normal AA, AAA batteries which we use
in wall clocks, television remote etc.
6. Other name for these batteries is disposable batteries.

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 PRIMARY
BATTERY

Zinc-carbon Alkaline Lithium Cadmium

batteries batteries batteries batteries

SECONDARY BATTERIES:

1. Secondary batteries are also called as rechargeable batteries.

2. These batteries can be used and recharges simultaneously.
3. They are usually assembled with active materials with active in the discharged state.
4. Rechargeable batteries are recharged by applying electric current, which reverses the chemical
reactions that occur during discharge. Chargers are devices which supply the required current.

SECONDARY
BATTERY

NICKEL-METAL NICKEL LEAD

LITHIUM
HYDRIDE CADMIUM ACID
BATTERY
BATTERY BATTERY BATTERY

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PRIMARY BATTERY Vs SECONDARY BATTERY:

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