How does the utilization rate of active materials on the plates of Lead-Acid Batteries change at different charge and discharge rates?
Publish Time: 2024-10-25
The utilization rate of active materials on the plates of Lead-Acid Batteries will change significantly at different charge and discharge rates, which has an important impact on the performance of the battery.
When the charge and discharge rate is low, the utilization rate of active materials on the plates is relatively high. In this case, the chemical reaction has enough time to proceed, and the ions can migrate more fully between the electrolyte and the plates. For example, during low-current charging, lead sulfate can be reduced to spongy lead and lead dioxide on the plates more evenly, and the active materials can deeply participate in the reaction, with a high utilization rate. This enables the battery to store electrical energy more fully, with a higher charging efficiency, and to output energy more stably during discharge, so that the battery capacity can be better utilized and the service life is relatively long.
However, as the charge and discharge rate increases, the utilization rate of active materials on the plates will gradually decrease. During high-rate charging, due to the large current, the chemical reaction speed on the electrode surface is accelerated, which may cause lead sulfate to deposit rapidly on the surface of the plate, forming a dense crystalline layer, which hinders the further reaction of the internal active substances, making the active substances deep inside unable to fully participate in the charging reaction, and the utilization rate decreases. Similarly, during high-rate discharge, the active substances on the surface of the plate are rapidly consumed, and the active substances inside are not able to be replenished in time to participate in the reaction, resulting in limited discharge depth and reduced overall utilization of active substances. This will not only reduce the actual discharge capacity of the battery, but may also cause heat accumulation due to excessive local reactions, affecting the safety and life of the battery.
In addition, different types of plates (such as paste plates and tubular plates) also have different changes in active material utilization at different charge and discharge rates. Due to its structural characteristics, tubular plates may have better active material utilization than paste plates during high-rate discharge, but may also face some unique challenges in charging.
In order to improve the performance of Lead-Acid Batteries at different charge and discharge rates, R&D personnel can improve the utilization of active materials by optimizing plate design, improving electrolyte formulation, and adopting appropriate charging strategies. For example, using plate materials with better porosity, increasing the diffusion rate of the electrolyte, and using intelligent charging algorithms to adjust the charging current according to the battery status and charge and discharge rate, etc., so as to better play the performance advantages of Lead-Acid Batteries in different application scenarios and meet various practical needs.
