Implementation Of A Battery Regenerator

ABSTRACT

When batteries are stored in an uncharged state for an extended period, lead-sulfur deposits form and harden on the lead plates inside the battery. This causes what is known as a “sulfated battery”, which will no longer charge to its original capacity. Regenerators send pulses of electric current through the battery, which in some cases may cause the sulfate to flake off the plates and eventually dissolve. The battery regeneration process minimizes damage of electrode plates by using the optimized high frequency pulse technology to successfully remove sulfation. The current pulses and converts sulfate crystals back to liquid molecules in the electrolyte. A battery regenerator restores capacity to lead-acid batteries, extending their effective lifespan. The aim of this work is to a device that performs such function.Battery Desulfation

A Lead Acid Battery is made up of plates of lead in a case filled with an electrolyte (dilute sulphuric acid). When the battery discharges, some of the lead from the plates combines with the electrolyte to make lead sulfate (PbSO₄) which builds up on the surface of the plates as crystals (as electrons leave the battery as electricity). This is called sulfation.

When the battery is next charged this process is reversed with the lead sulfate crystals breaking down – returning the lead to the plates and restoring the electrolyte to its original composition. BUT, each time a battery goes through this discharge/charge cycle some of the lead sulfate crystals remain and over time harden, thicken, and grow over the surface of the lead plates. This is a particular problem when batteries are left discharged for long periods of time and when they are deeply discharged.

Lead sulfate on the plates of a battery acts like an insulator reducing the plate area in contact with electrolyte. Over time this build up of lead sulfate crystals will result in a battery which cannot hold much charge – i.e. effectively a dead battery which needs to be replaced.

Reconditioning a Lead Acid Battery

Desulfation (also know as Reconditioning or electrolyte stratification) offers a way for dead batteries to be brought back to life and for tired batteries to be rejuvenated. It can also be used every few months to keep batteries in the best possible condition all the time. Desulfation will not bring batteries with a shorted cell or worn out plates back to their former glory, but it is a valuable tool for anyone depending on battery storage for power who cannot afford to buy new batteries.

When lead sulphate crystals build up on the lead plates, it is not an easy task to remove them and thereby recondition the battery. Breaking down hardened crystal build up and dissolving cystals back into the electrolyte requires a charging voltage much higher than would ever be used to actually charge the battery. But, if you were to put this constant high voltage through the battery it would overheat, release gas, and could potentially explode. Therefore pulse conditioning is used to give very short blasts of high voltage sufficient to shift the lead sulphate crystals without overly raising the temperature of the battery as a whole.

Every lead acid battery has a resonant frequency at around 2 to 6 megahertz. If pulses of electricity (high frequency, high voltage, but low power) are sent into the battery, rhythmic beating (resonance) of the plates causes the crystalline deposits to break up and the sulphate returns to the electrolyte solution.

This process takes three to four weeks typically during which time the battery must be trickle charged(in parallel with the desulphator) so that the battery ends up reconditioned and fully charged. Below is a video showing the lead plates inside two identical batteries – one which has been desulphating for three weeks, and one which has been left in its original sulfated condition.

Note that the voltage measured across the battery terminals will drop as the desulphation takes place as the internal resistance of the cells is reduced by the clearing of the crystals on the lead plates. At the same time, the amount of charge that the battery can hold will be increasing.

Build a Battery Desulfator

A DIY battery desulfator circuit originally published in the US-based Home Power magazine has been successfully made for many years all over the world. Here are links to the instructions to build the Low Power (circuit design above, and finished example circuit pictured below) and the High Power versions of the circuit. These links are to be found together with a lot of other useful information here.

For more infomation about battery desulfation, click here to visit the very useful Lead Acid Battery Desulfation Newsgroup. Also try this link to Mikey Sklar’s Mini-D 12V battery desulfator, and his second generation battery desulfator with the addition of a display and data logging.

BATTERY RECONDITIONED APPLICATIONS

Starter batteries – Stationary batteries – (Semi-)traction batteries – Ni-Cad batteries  Our Energic Plus battery re conditioners are specialized on forklift batteries. Besides reconditioning forklift batteries, the device has other fields of application: Golf Cart, Wheelchair, UPS, Automotive vehicle, Heavy Equipment, Military, Agricultural Machine, Motorbike, Boat, Train,  Wind & Solar Power System and others.

Click here to download our battery regenerator leaflet.
Click here to discover our latest battery regenerator installations.

WHAT IS BATTERY SULFATION?

When a battery’s energy charge is drained and needs to be charged during normal working cycles, sulfate crystals gradually build up on the electrodes, preventing the battery from effectively delivering current. The crystals in effect suffocate the battery.

This lead sulfate increases internal resistance and decreases the specific gravity of the electrolyte. The process of battery sulfation build-up is unavoidable. Worse yet, after 3-4 years the process accelerates substantially.

Causes of battery sulphation

Battery sulphation is a result of many reasons. Here are the main causes:

The battery was inactive for too long.

• The battery was discharged too deeply.
• The wrong charger was used.
• A bad battery cell was left untreated.
• The battery has reached too high/low temperatures.
• The charge cycles were disrespected.

WHAT IS A BATTERY DESULFATOR

A battery desulfator or reconditioner is an electronic device that cleans the internal battery plates to remove lead sulfate. This lead sulfate will form on the batteries internal plates and greatly reduces the capacity of a charge on a battery. By restoring the lead sulfate back into the acid solution you can greatly extend the life of the battery.

ADVANTAGES OF USING THE BATTERY REGENERATOR

By using our Battery Regenerator you will be able to dissolve the hardened sulfate and restore it to active material. It uses high-frequency wrinkle currents that are very effective in removing the hardened sulfate.

The desulfation process is fully automatic (max 42 hours), temperature-controlled and consists of 5 steps. This results in increased electrolyte gravity, reduced inner resistance, and increased battery capacity.

• Combination of battery discharger and battery charger all combined in 1
• Detailed test reports
• Minimum maintenance cost
• The expanded lifespan of batteries
• Quick regenerations
• Free analyzing software
• Automation program applied
• 2-year warranty
• Almost permanent use by simplifying the circuits and using the best components
• CE-certified
• Wireless connection between regenerator and computer
• Discharged DC/AC energy is converted. This energy can be placed back onto the power grid and can be reused

EXCELLENT BATTERY RECONDITIONER MONITORING SOFTWARE

Our Battery Reconditioner comes with monitoring software. This software allows you to:

• Draw accurate facts and statistics from the battery desulfators.
• Create a full report on the battery regeneration.
• Monitor the battery’s reaction when charging / discharging.
• Configure the REPLUS Battery Regenerator by means of a laptop.

The REPLUS battery desulfator has an extremely user-friendly control panel. Via “Setting” you can change the date and modify some screen settings and in “Operation” you can configurate the final settings for the battery reconditioning process. This curve shows a complete restoration:

1. Controlled discharge
2. Restoration
3. Equalization
4. Discharge
5. Restoration

When you compare discharge 1 to 4, you see that the time needed to discharge the battery has more than doubled during the second discharge. This is a direct result of the HF pulse process during steps 2 and 3.

Same story in step 5: when comparing this step to step 2, you see that the set battery voltage is reached much later than in step 2. This means that your battery lasts longer, is accepting current again and is thus recovered.

HOW TO USE THE BATTERY RECONDITIONED AND DESULTORY?

There are two ways to use the battery reconditioned: reconditioning regeneration and maintenance regeneration.

Reconditioning regeneration allows you to restore old (5, 6, 7 … years), medium to well-maintained batteries that have ‘silted up’ to a 90-100% productivity, as a result of natural sulphation.

Maintenance regeneration allows you to keep your battery in optimal, sulfate-free condition, by means of a yearly short regeneration.

HAPPY BATTERY RE GENERATOR CUSTOMERS

Energic Plus has become the specialist in equipment for battery regeneration in the last 5 years. With more than 500 happy and returning customers in all continents of the world, we can say that we are the leading supplier of equipment in today’s market. With the battery regeneration technology, you can use your batteries longer and that saves a lot of CO2. That way, the regenerator contributes to a better environment.

Our battery desulfation technology is specifically designed to analyze and regenerate and restore all types of lead-acid batteries, we have very nice references in different industry sectors. Material handling is our biggest market with big names like Linde and Toyota who have both bought several machines to be used by their official dealers.

Expand the lifespan of your batteries: lead sulfate is removed by the electrical high-frequency pulsation process of the battery reconditioner. Rejuvenate your battery!

USE A BATTERY RECONDITIONED AND SAVE YOUR SULPHATED BATTERIES

Battery reconditioning is very popular. 80% of the batteries breaking down and losing capacity are sulfates, but can be restored with the right equipment. Our Generic Plus battery re generator successfully removes sulphation due to an electrical high-frequency pulsation process. This process restores the battery capacity, giving you the ability to reuse old and sulfates batteries. You can also use the battery reconditioned for annual maintenance to strongly prolong the lifespan of your batteries.

Battery discharges

battery simulators en battery discharges

Battery Simulators

Portable battery discharge BLU series

Amperes presents a new generation of portable battery discharges, with a reduced weight (which facilitates its transport) and with a wide range of voltages and currents to measure the capacity and total voltage of backup batteries in numerous applications.​

Battery condition analyzer ABT-301

The ABT-301 is a tester that analyzes the state of the battery. It is an economical and reliable equipment to calculate the internal resistance of the battery and the voltage. With the battery state analyzer, ABT-301 can eliminate batteries to ensure the performance of your battery systems.

Battery Resistance Tester APBT 3915

Regular maintenance and test is a “must-have” procedure for standby batteries.

Amperes AC Load Bank – Battery discharge

The best AC load banks – batteries discharges for testing UPS, AC supplies… Power resistors are used in generator load banks to avoid fouling of the diesel engine when the generator is operating at low power. Therefore, load bank are also used to reduce wet stacking issue in diesel engines. Etc…

Battery Discharge

Battery discharges – The Battery Discharge is an automatic battery analyzer and discharge designed to test the efficiency of industrial batteries of any type, voltage and capacity. The computer can be programmed to precisely discharge the battery at a constant current, adjustable from zero to the maximum value of the model while keeping the battery voltage under control.

Battery Tester CA6630

Battery tester CA6630 The CA6630 battery resistance tester checks batteries easily, safely and quickly, performing preventive maintenance. It measures the internal resistance (accurate 4-wire method) and the open circuit voltage (simultaneous display), adapted for all types of batteries. Software for PC data transfer and measurement cables.

Technical support for Battery Discharge

Description and treatment of sulphated batteries

A sulphated battery is one which has been left standing in a discharged condition or undercharged to the point where abnormal lead sulphate has formed on the plates. When this occurs the chemical reactions within the battery are impeded and loss of capacity results.

This document does not cover all the electricity theory and technology involved in the process of sulphation in battery operated systems. For more information, please refer to specialized literature.

Causes

Most cases of sulphation are caused by:

Under charging or neglect of equalizing charge

When a cycled battery is charged repeatedly at low rates but not fully charged, the acid is not effectively driven out of the plates, particularly the lower parts, and sulphation results.

Repeated partial charges which do not effect thorough mixing of the electrolyte also result in sulphation. It is difficult in normal battery operation to determine just when sulphation begins, and only by giving periodic equalizing charges and comparing individual cell specific gravity and voltage reading can it be detected in its early stages and corrected or prevented.

Troublesome sulphation does not occur in less than 30 days.

Standing in a partially or completely discharged Condition

Permitting a battery to stand in a partially discharged condition for long periods allows the sulphate deposited on the plates to harden and the pores to close. Batteries should be charged as soon as practicable after discharge and not allowed to stand in a completely discharged condition for more than one month. During freezing weather the battery should be recharged immediately following discharge to prevent freezing.

Low electrolyte

If the level of the electrolyte is permitted to fall below the tops of the plates the exposed surfaces will harden and become sulphated

Adding acid

If acid is added to a cell in which sulphation exists the condition will be aggravated.

High specific gravity

In general, the higher the fully charged specific gravity of a cell the more likely is sulphation to occur and the more difficult to reduce. If in any battery there exists cells having specific gravity more than 0.015 above the average, the possibility of sulphation in these cells will be enhanced.

High temperature

High temperatures accelerate sulphation, particularly of and idle, partially discharged battery.

All cells of a sulphated battery will give low specific gravity and voltage readings. They will not become fully charged after normal charging. An internal inspection will disclose negative plates having a slatelike feeling, sulphated negative-plate material being hard and gritty and having a sandy feeling when rubbed between thumb and forefinger.

The internal inspection should be made after a normal charge, since a discharged plate is always somewhat sulphated. A good fully charged negative plate is spongy and springy to the touch and gives a metallic sheen when stroked with the fingernail or knife. A sulphated positive plate is a lighter brown color than the normal plate.

Treatment

Thorough and careful attention to the following steps often will restore a sulphated battery to good operation condition.

1. Clean battery;
2. Bring electrolyte level to proper height by adding water;
3. Put battery on charge at the prescribed finishing rate until full ampere-hour capacity has been put into the battery based on the 8 hour rate. If at any time during these procedures the temperature of the battery exceeds 50° C. reduce the charge rate to maintain temperature at or below this point. If any cell gives low readings (0.20 V less than the average cell voltage of the battery), pull and repair the cell before continuing with the procedure;
4. After full ampere-hour capacity has been put into the battery, continue the charge at the finishing rate until the specific gravity shows no change for a 4 hour period with readings taken hourly. Record voltage and specific gravity readings. Correct specific gravity readings for temperature. These readings indicate the state of charge;
5. Place battery on discharge at the 8 hour rate and during the test record individual cell voltages and overall battery voltage at the following time intervals: 15 minutes after test is started, then hourly until voltages on one cell reaches 1.80 and from then on at 15 minute intervals. From this point on the cell voltages should be under constant observation and the time recorded when each cell voltage goes below 1.75 volts. Terminate the test discharge when the majority of the cell voltages reach 1.75 volts, but stop the test before any single cell goes into reversal.
6. If the battery gives rated capacity no further treatment is required other than normal recharge and equalization of gravity.
7. If the battery does not deliver near-rated capacity, continue the discharge without adjusting the discharge rate until one or more cells reach 1.0 volts.
8. Recharge the battery at the finishing rate as described above, again charging until there is no further rise in specific gravity over a 4 hour period, readings being taken hourly.
9. Discharge again at the 8 hour rate and if the battery gives full capacity, recharge and put into service.
10. If this procedure does not result in full capacity, repeat once more as noted above.
11. If battery does not respond to this treatment, it is sulphated to the point where it is impractical to attempt further treatment and battery should be replaced.

What are the 3 Stages of Smart Chargers?

You may have heard it said “you need a 3 stage charger.” We’ve said it, and we’ll say it again. The best kind of charger to use on your battery is a 3 stage charger. They are also called “smart chargers” or “micro processor controlled chargers”. Basically, these types of chargers are safe, easy to use, and will not overcharge your battery. Almost all of the chargers we sell are 3 stage chargers.

Okay, so it’s hard to deny that 3 stage chargers work and they work well. But here’s the million dollar question: What are the 3 stages? What makes these chargers so different and efficient? Is it really worth it? Lets find out by going through each stage, one by one.

Stage 1 | Bulk Charge

The primary purpose of a battery charger is to recharge a battery. This first stage is typically where the highest voltage and amperage the charger is rated for will actually be used. The level of charge that can be applied without overheating the battery is known as the battery’s natural absorption rate. For a typical 12 volt AGM battery, the charging voltage going into a battery will reach 14.6-14.8 volts, while flooded batteries can be even higher. For the gel battery, the voltage should be no more than 14.2-14.3 volts. If the charger is a 10 amp charger, and if the battery resistance allows for it, the charger will put out a full 10 amps. This stage will recharge batteries that are severely drained. There is no risk of overcharging in this stage because the battery hasn’t even reached full yet.

Stage 2 | Absorption Charge

Smart chargers will detect voltage and resistance from the battery prior to charging. After reading the battery the charger determines which stage to properly charge at. Once the battery has reached 80%* state of charge, the charger will enter the absorption stage. At this point most chargers will maintain a steady voltage, while the amperage declines. The lower current going into the battery safely brings up the charge on the battery without overheating it.

This stage takes more time. For instance, the last remaining 20% of the battery takes much longer when compared to the first 20% during the bulk stage. The current continuously declines until the battery almost reaches full capacity.

*Actual state of charge Absorption Stage will enter will vary from charger to charger

Stage 3 | Float Charge

Some chargers enter float mode as early as 85% state of charge but others begin closer to 95%. Either way, the float stage brings the battery all the way through and maintains the 100% state of charge. The voltage will taper down and maintain at a steady 13.2-13.4 volts, which is the maximum voltage a 12 volt battery can hold. The current will also decrease to a point where it’s considered a trickle. That’s where the term “trickle charger” comes from. It’s essentially the float stage where there is charge going into the battery at all times, but only at a safe rate to ensure a full state of charge and nothing more. Most smart battery chargers do not turn off at this point, yet it is completely safe to leave a battery in float mode for months to even years at a time.

It’s the healthiest thing for a battery to be at 100% state of charge.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. The best kind of charger to use on a battery is a 3 stage smart charger. They are easy to use and worry free. You don’t ever have to worry about leaving the charger on the battery for too long. In fact, it’s best if you DO leave it on. When a battery is not at a fully charged state, sulfate crystal build on the plates and this robs you of power. If you leave your power sports in the shed during off-season or for vacations, please connect the battery to a 3 stage charger. This will ensure that your battery will be ready to start whenever you are.

https://www.amperis.com/en/products/misc/battery-dischargers/

http://www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/storage/battery-desulfation/

https://energicplus.com/en/products/battery-reconditioning-maintenance/battery-reconditioner-and-desulfator