Performance characteristics of a gelled-electrolyte valve-regulated lead-acid battery

Abstract

12 V/25 AH gelled- electrolyte valve- regulated lead- acid batteries have been assembled in- house and their performance studied in relation to the absorptive glass- microfibre valve- regulated and flooded-electrolyte counterparts at various discharge rates and temperatures between -40†C and 40†C. Although the performance of the gelled- electrolyte valve- regulated battery is similar to both the absorptive glass- microfibre valve- regulated and flooded- electrolyte lead- acid batteries at temperatures above 0†C, it is superior to both the flooded- electrolyte and absorptive glass- microfibre valve- regulated lead- acid batteries at temperatures between 0†C and -40†C. The latter characteristic is attractive for expanding the application regime of valve-regulated lead- acid batteries. The corrosion rate for the positive grids in the gelled- electrolyte is also lower than both the flooded- electrolyte and absorptive glass- microfibre configurations.