In this study, Mg, Sn, Cd, Bi and Sb containing, five binary, three ternary and two quaternary different alloys to be used in a Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) batteries have been studied in terms of their mechanical and electrochemical properties. The investigated properties are hardness, passivity, corrosion rate, hydrogen gassing and the conductivity of the passive film. All electrochemical tests were carried out in 3.75 M H2SO4 solution by using open-circuit potential, anodic polarization, polarization resistance measurement and gas collection techniques. The results showed that while the minimum hardness values were observed in Pb and Pb-Bi alloy, Mg containing alloys have the highest hardness values among all alloys. According to corrosion measurements, lowest icritical value was obtained for Pb, Pb-Bi and Pb-Sn, which reached to passivation region earlier than others. Passive film formation was seen for all specimens. The noble Ecorr value and minimum corrosion rates belonged to Pb and Pb-Mg. Pb-Bi and Pb-Cd have the highest gas evolution rate. Besides, there were not seen much difference in the gassing behavior of Pb-Sn and Pb-Sb alloys. Mg is found to have a superior effect on hydrogen gassing. Addition of Sn, as an alloying element, to lead increases the conductivity of the passivation layer. Mg containing alloys did not show good conductivity characteristic. As a result, Mg containing alloy seemed to have an important role because of the desired hardness, corrosion and, gas evolution behavior. However, conductivity of passivation layer of these alloys came up to be low due to the higher tendency of Mg to oxidation. Even so, Mg seems to be a promising alloying element for lead grid alloys in Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) batteries.

This work deals with problems of degradation mechanisms of lead-acid batteries. For a better understanding of the diverse effects that cause the degradation are analyzed and the physical explanation of each of the degradation mechanisms. The paper describes the measuring method by which they examined the different manifestations of degradation mechanisms. At the conclusion of works are carried out measurements in which it is possible to trace the manifestations of the various degradation mechanisms in lead battery taking place mainly on the active surface electrodes.

Subsequent to the studies on precursor lead-acid systems by Daniel, Grove and Sindesten, practical lead-acid batteries began with the research and inventions of Raymond Gaston Planté in France as early as in 1859, and, even to-day, lead-acid battery remains the most successful battery system ever developed, and no other battery is yet able to compete with lead-acid batteries on cost grounds, albeit batteries based on other chemistries are rapidly catching up. In the past, although lead-acid battery designs have been optimized in several different directions, there are still certain new challenges facing the lead-acid battery designers as additional failure modes become evident in various use modes. There are three types of lead-acid batteries in common use: (a) batteries with flooded or excess electrolyte, (b) low-maintenance lead-acid batteries with a large excess of electrolyte, and (c) batteries with immobilized electrolyte and a pressure-sensitive valve usually referred to as absorptive glass-microfibre (AGM) valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries. The flooded-electrolyte lead-acid battery requires checking of specific gravity of electrolyte, periodic addition of water to maintain electrolyte level above the plates and recharge soon after discharge to prevent hard sulfation that causes loss of capacity. The emission of acid fumes corrodes metallic parts in the vicinity of the battery, and the seepage of acid on the top cover of the batteries leads to leakage current resulting in increased self-discharge and ground-shunt hazards. To overcome these problems, AGMVRLA batteries based on oxygen-recombination cycle have emerged. These batteries offer the freedom of battery placement, cyclability without the addition of water or checking the specific gravity, increased safety, and superior performance in some instances. Both flooded-electrolyte and AGM-VRLA batteries can suffer from acid stratification. But, AGM-VRLA batteries are especially susceptible to failures owing to the heat generated by oxygen recombination within the cells as well as due to cell-to-cell variations in electrolyte volumes. Indeed, partial heating of AGM-VRLA batteries could cause dry-out with grid corrosion and even lead to thermal runaway. Consequently, mitigating temperature variations in AGM-VRLA batteries becomes seminal to their commercial success. A dissipation of local heat within the AGM-VRLA batteries can be achieved by adequately filling the void volume in the battery with a thermally conducting gel, such as a gel formed from colloidal silica and sulfuric-acid electrolyte. Although, conventional lead-acid batteries are considered rather a matured technology, significant research and development efforts are currently under way to enhance their performance. Indeed, many improvements have been made in the lead-acid battery since its invention, and although the essential electrochemistry remains unchanged, the modern lead-acid batteries have little semblance to those produced 50 years ago. Over the years, seminal advances have been made in the lead-alloys used, in the materials and design of separators, in battery packaging and in their construction methods, which have led to lead-acid batteries with improved performance, lighter weight and lower cost. This thesis is an attempt to develop lightweight hybrid-VRLA batteries.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This Master s Dissertation is proposes the development of a charge management system of a bank of 16 lead-acid batteries with 7Ah load capacity, commonly used in Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). This system aims to ensure that these batteries reach a full charge status faster than the conventional way. To this, it was chosen to make the modification of the pulsed current charging method, in order to reduce problems, such as elevation of bus voltage to return the energy to it, or dissipation of that energy in a resistance, resulting in lower system efficiency, inherent in the method taken as a basis when the battery power withdrawal interval occurs. For the development of the suggested charging system the static converter Full-Bridge Isolated with modulation Phase Shift was chosen. To implement the digital control as well as its practical development in the same laboratory the simplified modeling of this converter was made. The results of simulation and experimental to validate the method are presented. / Esta dissertação de mestrado tem como proposta o desenvolvimento de um sistema de gerenciamento de carga de um banco de 16 baterias de chumbo ácido, com capacidade de carga de 7Ah, comumente utilizado em Fontes Ininterruptas de Energia (UPS). Este sistema visa garantir que estas baterias cheguem a um estado de carga completo e de forma mais rápida que a convencional. Para isto, foi escolhido fazer a modificação do método de carga de corrente pulsada, com o objetivo de reduzir problemas inerentes do método tomado como base, quando ocorre o intervalo de retirada de energia da bateria, tais como: elevação da tensão do barramento ao retornar a energia para ele, ou, dissipar esta energia em uma resistência, o que acarreta em baixa eficiência do sistema. Para o desenvolvimento do sistema de carga sugerido foi escolhido o conversor estático Full-Bridge Isolado com modulação Phase Shift. Foi feita a modelagem simplificada deste conversor, para a implementação do controle digital, assim como o desenvolvimento prático do mesmo em laboratório. São apresentados os resultados de simulação e experimentais para validar o método.