We recently read a piece by Mike McDonagh on carbon additives and we thought we’d share our findings with the UPS Battery Center blog readers. Keep reading to find out what they are!
New Lead Battery Technology Enhancement:
In order to stay competitive, lead battery technology needs an innovative new edge. The suggested means is a cocktail of carbon-based additives. However, if the answer is that simple, other battery makers would already be trying their luck with this new technology. Having said that, due to potential lack of standardization in tests and procedures, the benefits are uncertain. Therefore, not many are jumping on this trend yet.
The many forms of carbon are claimed to provide amazing performance improvements for lead batteries. These improvements include better charge acceptance, energy density, and cycle life derived from the electrical and chemical effects of carbon and graphene and then incorporated in the active material (AM) of the battery.
Are There Actual Benefits in Carbon Additives?
Carbon seems to be the sole potential saviour of lead-acid in the future as no other chemical backer is available. However, how sure can we be of these so-called “positive” claims that carbon additives have made towards lead-acid technology?The answer is that we can’t be sure of anything until these benefits and claims are to be realized.
McDonagh explains how the these benefits cannot be guaranteed all the time as many factors such as lead and lead alloy impurity levels, the AM balance within a cell, and processing parameters in paste mixing, curing and formation affect the cycle life , capacity and water loss. “With accepted variations of up to 20% in lead oxide quality, and 5% variability in process controls, it is difficult to prove the case for performance enhancements from samples prepared from standard materials and normal processing methods” He says.
The simple truth is that there is so much variation in the materials and processing methods of lead-acid batteries that it is nearly impossible to eliminate all variability in testing to clearly provide a benefit. This is a vital financial point, as quantifying improvements requires some degree of precision.
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