SUPPLEMENT UPS & STANDBY POWER
LEAD ACID BATTERIES…STILL THE BEST ‘BANG FOR YOUR BUCK’?
Despite the ever increasing growth in the rechargeable market and particularly lithium-ion (Li-Ion) technologies, the old faithful lead-acid (VRLA - valve regulated lead acid), alongside emerging development with lead-acid gel and the new lead crystal batteries, continue to have an important role to play in our everyday lives for all types of energy storage applications. Stephen Evangelou, technical design manager at H-Squared UK reports
T
here are many situations which do not lend themselves to a particular
solution based on how and where batteries are used. Some applications can make the heavy weight of the lead-acid battery impractical - due to physical constraints and location of the storage facility (upper floors of buildings etc). Where, as an example, the lithium-ion solution provides a low weight ratio and greater energy density for physical size and is superior for most discharge profiles. However, as with everything ‘better’, there is a higher price to pay for this solution which saves both space and weight.
Contrarily, one might argue that many
specialty vehicles, like emergency services, will rely on the dead-weight of the traditional VRLA to provide a stability factor in the mechanical design of vehicles of a variety of types and applications; extension ladder rescue vehicles, scissor-lifts, forklift trucks, airport specialty vehicles, definite purpose machinery and many military vehicles. Replacing these with a better performing lithium-ion battery may make sense from several engineering aspects, but the sheer ‘grunt’ dead weight of these work horses provide stability and low centre of gravity ballast inherent in the design of existing
vehicles and equipment. Undoubtedly, the old faithful VRLA is here to stay for some time to come. Summing up a few key highlights:
LEAD ACID Mature technology LITHIUM ION Rapidly evolving battery technology
Wide range of sizes and capacities available Developing cell sizes prismatic/cylindrical Multiple variants (cyclic, solar, standby/UPS) Developing variants (power/standby/storage/EV) Long life (5, 10 15 and 20+ year) product
No significant transport restrictions High open circuit voltage The world’s most recycled battery technology Low self discharge H-Squared
h-squared.co.uk
High gravimetric and volumetric energy densities
24 MARCH 2020 | ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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