Photovoltaic - Tubular gel battery
Photovoltaic - Tubular gel battery
What is a tubular gel battery?
Unibat Photovoltaic Battery 2V SOLAR OPzS 1100 (1092Ah c100) -for photovoltaics and wind turbines
Η lead-acid battery technology offers distinct advantages over lithium-ion batteries and other electrochemical systems. Affordability, reliability, recyclability and safety are key considerations in choosing the right battery for a particular application, and lead-acid batteries will score well in these categories. However, there is a drawback to using conventional flooded lead-acid batteries for deep cycle applications. This is the maintenance required to inflate the battery due to water loss from air flow. In many applications, such as traction battery applications, a full charge is required in a limited time.
This usually requires a higher voltage, which in turn causes the electrolyte to decompose and lose water through the gas. These submerged lead-acid batteries would need to be topped up, creating inconvenience and expense, and often expensive equipment to export to larger facilities. There are other disadvantages, especially in terms of transport, storage and disposal. The liquid acid in lead-acid batteries is classified as a dangerous substance for transport. Although this is not considered a problem in the industry, which operates with safe and proven procedures, it is best to fix the acid to prevent leaks.
Difference between gel battery and tubular battery
What is the difference between gel batteries and ordinary batteries?
This is a question we are often asked. In a submerged tubular cell, the acid flows freely into the cell. There is a vent at the top through which water is added to compensate for normal gas losses. Submerged or vented batteries must be used in a vertical position.
Tubular Plate Batteries – How to fix acid in gel and AGM batteries
A happy consequence of acid fixation is that it creates the ability to recombine the hydrogen and oxygen gases created by the breakdown of water inside the battery during charging. There are two main methods of immobilizing acid:
- Using absorbent glass mats that hold the acid in place, called AGM VRLA cells and
- The other is to add fine silicon powder to make a gel, as in a tubular lead-acid battery
These two approaches, although very different, both achieve the goal of immobilization in gel and AGM cells.
Gel tubular batteries – Important design features
So how does this combination of tubular lead and GEL electrolyte work?
To understand, we need to look at several elements that affect battery performance, these are:
an electrolyte, which is fixed as a GEL to ensure it does not spill and is also able to hold the hydrogen and oxygen released during charging (held inside the battery under pressure) The transport recombines to form water. The benefits of immobilization extend further, it prevents the formation of acid layers of different densities within the cell, known as acid stratification.
Tubular gel batteries use battery lead plates of a tubular design.
It is essentially a cast lead alloy spine, rather than a cast gravity grid, which is covered by a fabric glove and then filled with a positive active material (PAM). This can be dry lead oxide powder or liquid lead oxide paste. The tubular gel plate battery design has several advantages: the first is that it has a larger surface area in contact with sulfuric acid for better material utilization (up to 60%). (As shown in FIG.). The second reason is that tubular gel batteries and 2V batteries have the longest life of the entire lead-acid battery family.
