VRLA Batteries

INTRODUCTION:
The VRLA batteries, commonly known as SMF batteries are increasingly finding applications, as
they
Have long shelf life Easy to stock and distribute.
Do not need topping up with water
Do not emit acid fumes and do not spoil associated electronic equipment, and as such no
need for separate battery room.
Can be operated in any position without the fear of spilling of acid Flexible installations.
Can be operated in partially charged condition for long periods.
Virtually need no maintenance.

APPLICATION:
The application started in India, with small UPS and today covers
1. Small, Medium as well as large UPS
2. Energy storage in Photovoltaic (Solar) systems.
3. Telecommunication cell phone towers, EPABX
4. Railways Diesel Starting, A/C coaches and signalling
5. 2-wheelers Starting / standby power Newer models
6. Ebikes motive power
7. Consumer portable devices like floor vacuum cleaners, and similar portable power tools.
The future applications will also cover
1. Automotive
2. Larger motive power applications
3. Hybrid vehicles






A Few Examples of VRLA range
Batteries for small UPS, EPABX, Solar and similar storage / backup applications

Batteries for Telecommunication, Large UPS, Solar and similar standby / storage application


Batteries For Railway Diesel Starting, Air-conditioning and Train lighting applications.










Typical Battery Construction
A small capacity mono-bloc Design



A large capacity Single cell construction




Two main Variants of VRLA designs are
1. AGM Type
This design follows pasted type positive as well as negatives and microfiber glass absorptive
glass mat separation.
The entire electrolyte is held within the plates and separator leaving around 5% space for direct
O2 gas transfer from positive to negatives during charging.
Basically, AGM types offer lower electrical resistance and preferred wherever high rate
discharge performance as in
Automotive SLI application,
Diesel Engine starting, and
Standard UPS application.

2. Gel Type
The design uses either pasted or tubular positives with pasted negatives.
Regular micro porous separators usually with glass mat against positives in case of pasted
positives - keep the plates separated.
The Electrolyte is immobilised using Fumed silca or Silica Sol.
As the electrolyte dries out fissures form and provide passage for direct O2 gas transfer from
positive to negatives during charging.
Gel types offer superior deep cycling life, and are particularly preferred in applications like
E-bike,
Hybrid Electric vehicles,
Solar photovoltaic,
Remote power storage.
A few manufacturers have also brought out a hybrid Gel type design, where-in AGM
separation is used in conjunction with GEL type electrolyte. While this being expensive,
offers high rate discharge performance close to AGM design with the benefit of superior
cycle life of GEL type construction.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION:
The oxygen released at positive during recharging /overcharging travels through the free pores
between the plate separation or the cracks developed in the thixotropic GEL electrolyte to the
negatives to combine there with negative active material. The result is under normal working, there
is no Hydrogen gas generation at the negative material as it remains undercharged and there is no
free Oxygen as whatever is formed recombines at the negatives.








Typical Manufacturing Process
We confine ourselves to AGM Types which are presently being manufactured widely in India
and of particular interest in small VRLA batteries





Oxide making, Alloy preparation and Battery Electrolyte
Purity of material of construction is the keyword in the manufacture of VRLA batteries. Higher
purities in plate material and electrolyte are necessary to ensure long service life with this
design.

Lead for use in VRLA range Recommended impurity limits


Sulphuric Acid standard recommended quality level for preparing VRLA battery electrolyte.



H
2
SO
4
M.W. 98.08
Minimum Assay (acidimetric) 98.0%
Maximum Limits of Impurities

Non-volatile matter 0.002%
Chloride (Cl) 0.00002%
Nitrate (NO
3
) 0.00002%
Ammonium (NH
4
) 0.0002%
Arsenic (As) 0.000005%
Copper (Cu) 0.00001%
Iron (Fe) 0.0001%
Lead (Pb) 0.0001%
Selenium (Se) 0.001%
Substances reducing -
Permanganate (O) 0.0001%

Grid Casting:
Typical Alloy composition.
Positive Negative

Ca 0.07 0.01% 0.13 0.01%

Sn 1.3 0.10% 0.30 0.10%

Al 0.02 + 0.02/-0.01% 0.02 + 0.02/-0.01%



To enhance hardness, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance and service life
characteristics of the positive alloy some manufacturers use Ba, Ag etc. in their proprietary
compositions.
Heat treatment is also an important step, and improves the mechanical properties and thereby
life characteristics of these alloys.
Grid thickness control helps in better paste weight control, and lug thickness control helps later
in cell group welding.

Pasting
Typical paste recipe
Type Paste Positive Negative
Oxide (70%PbO) 100.00Kg 100.00 Kg
Fibre 0.10 Kg 0.05 Kg
Acid (1.360) 13.00 Kg 11.00 Kg
Expanders
Carbon Black --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.20 Kg
Lignin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.20 Kg
Barium Sulphate (Precipitated) --------------------------------------------- 1.00 Kg

Paste weight control is more critical in VRLA range. The target is to make it better than 1%.


Plate Curing
Pasted plates are cured in 95% humidity environment from 16 to 24 hours similar to normal
flooded types.

Plate Formation
The cell / battery assembly could be either with formed plates with dry charged negatives or
green plates. The formed plates are generally preferred where-in control on quality of plates is
easier.
Charging inputs is usually around 5 times of the nominal AH rating of plates and similar to
regular flooded types.

Battery Assembly
Container / Lid:
ABS is more common and preferred as compared to PP in VRLA, as this is more rigid, and
resistant to bulging. This is an useful characteristics in VRLA assembly, as otherwise the
internal stack assembly would lose the initial compression during operation and could fail
prematurely.
Stack Assembly
It is standard practice to sort plates according to weights such that the stack weights in
individual cells / batteries in a matched set do not vary significantly.
The AGM separator of around 2mm thickness is wrapped around the positive plates and
stacked with alternating negatives. The stack is compressed to to yield around 30%
compression of the AGM separation, before stack building in the welding jig.
The small parts like poles, and risers, as also, the welding rods are made of antimony free
Lead-Tin alloy. Tin content is usually around 2%
Intercell welding
Over partition connection is more common in small VRLA with ABS container. The process is
carried out manually using a gas flame.
Container to Lid and terminal sealing
This is usually carried out with epoxy or polyester resin. O rings give added protection to
terminal seals.
The epoxy seals are normally cured at higher temperatures in oven at around 60 to 80C



Battery Filling and charging
Vacuum filling is preferred to ensure faster and satisfactory filling of electrolyte.
The Electrolyte density varies between 1.240 and 1.300 (27C), according to application /
service condition.
Sodium Sulphate in electrolyte helps in lead-through shorts consequent to deep discharges.
Metered filling is necessary to control the quantity of acid to be filled.
With dry charged plate, only a short refreshing charge is adequate.

Battery finishing
The battery is finished after fitting the safety valves and fitting the top cover.