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Lightweight lead acid batteries for hybrid electric vehicle applications

Lightweight lead acid batteries for hybrid electric vehicle applications
Lightweight lead acid batteries for hybrid electric vehicle applications
This report presents architectures, designs and chemistries for novel static soluble lead acid batteries, with the objective of producing a lightweight lead acid battery for improved specific energy. The demands for lightweight lead-acid batteries come from an expanding hybrid electric vehicle market demanding improved battery specific energy. There are several avenues for improving battery specific energy; the main two are improved active material utilisation efficiency and grid weight reduction. Both of these have been focuses of this project. Two approaches have been taken in this project, the first is focussed on the electrode design. Design modifications have been achieved by using novel grid materials to reduce weight and novel electrode designs to improve active material utilisation. Battery electrodes were built from titanium and the active material was applied as a thin film of lead. Characterisation of lead coatings on several material geometries under different plating regimes was conducted. A novel thin-film active material battery was designed, built and tested satisfactorily to industrial standards. The second battery system being investigated has the active materials solvated in the methanesulphonic acid electrolyte during the discharged state. Due to the high solubility of lead in this Pb-CH3SO3H electrolyte, lead-acid batteries with this chemistry have a theoretical specific energy of 35.7 Ah l-1. This compares favourably with the specific energy for a conventional spiral wound VRLA battery at 44.4 Ah l-1. These soluble lead acid batteries operate by a mechanism whereby cycling is stripping and plating lead and lead dioxide onto the electrodes. Active material utilisation in this type of lead-acid battery is not limited in the same way as conventional lead-acid batteries, as the discharge product is not electrically insulating, as is lead sulphate. The operation mechanism was improved by using additives in the electrolyte to maintain a quality deposit and preserve charge efficiency, voltage efficiency and active mass utilisation. In addition, the use of a separator membrane and novel carbon-polymer electrodes improved battery performance further. The behaviour of a static soluble lead acid battery during cycling with and without additives and a cell membrane is characterised and the results are used to develop a 6 V battery. The results of the 6 V battery cycling under HEV simulated cycling are presented and discussed.
Wallis, Lauren
6f0cd4d6-c32d-4d7f-8c83-b439e3f4c506
Wallis, Lauren
6f0cd4d6-c32d-4d7f-8c83-b439e3f4c506
Wills, Richard
60b7c98f-eced-4b11-aad9-fd2484e26c2c

Wallis, Lauren (2015) Lightweight lead acid batteries for hybrid electric vehicle applications. University of Southampton, Engineering and the Environment, Doctoral Thesis, 121pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This report presents architectures, designs and chemistries for novel static soluble lead acid batteries, with the objective of producing a lightweight lead acid battery for improved specific energy. The demands for lightweight lead-acid batteries come from an expanding hybrid electric vehicle market demanding improved battery specific energy. There are several avenues for improving battery specific energy; the main two are improved active material utilisation efficiency and grid weight reduction. Both of these have been focuses of this project. Two approaches have been taken in this project, the first is focussed on the electrode design. Design modifications have been achieved by using novel grid materials to reduce weight and novel electrode designs to improve active material utilisation. Battery electrodes were built from titanium and the active material was applied as a thin film of lead. Characterisation of lead coatings on several material geometries under different plating regimes was conducted. A novel thin-film active material battery was designed, built and tested satisfactorily to industrial standards. The second battery system being investigated has the active materials solvated in the methanesulphonic acid electrolyte during the discharged state. Due to the high solubility of lead in this Pb-CH3SO3H electrolyte, lead-acid batteries with this chemistry have a theoretical specific energy of 35.7 Ah l-1. This compares favourably with the specific energy for a conventional spiral wound VRLA battery at 44.4 Ah l-1. These soluble lead acid batteries operate by a mechanism whereby cycling is stripping and plating lead and lead dioxide onto the electrodes. Active material utilisation in this type of lead-acid battery is not limited in the same way as conventional lead-acid batteries, as the discharge product is not electrically insulating, as is lead sulphate. The operation mechanism was improved by using additives in the electrolyte to maintain a quality deposit and preserve charge efficiency, voltage efficiency and active mass utilisation. In addition, the use of a separator membrane and novel carbon-polymer electrodes improved battery performance further. The behaviour of a static soluble lead acid battery during cycling with and without additives and a cell membrane is characterised and the results are used to develop a 6 V battery. The results of the 6 V battery cycling under HEV simulated cycling are presented and discussed.

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More information

Published date: January 2015
Organisations: University of Southampton, Energy Technology Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 378338
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/378338
PURE UUID: ce897ad8-e4fa-45fd-a4f8-e8c5922d4daf
ORCID for Richard Wills: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4805-7589

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Jul 2015 10:46
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:17

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Contributors

Author: Lauren Wallis
Thesis advisor: Richard Wills ORCID iD

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