Batteries important technologies

Today, a large number of important technologies are based on or related to electrodes reactions. Besides the chlor-alkali and aluminium industries, energy conversion in batteries and fuel cells, electrodeposition, electrorefining, organic electrosynthesis, industrial and biomedical sensors, corrosion and corrosion protection, etc. are amogst those technologies. In many of them, kinetic, catalytic or specificity aspects of electrode processes are of enormous importance. 

Each of the three oxides of lead is important technologically PbO in ceramics, Pb304 in paints, and Pb02 in the widely used lead-storage-battery. Other reported intermediate oxides of lead (such as Pb203 and PbsOe) have not been convincingly characterized. 

A number of electrode processes involve an initial step of molecular dissociative adsorption at the electrode metal surface. Such reactions have important technological significance in the fields of fuel-cell and gas-battery development. For the cases of simple reactions involving, for example, H2 or Cl 2, these steps are the reverse of the final molecule-producing step in the corresponding gas evolution process. Examples are as follows ... 

Existing battery recycling technologies have important deficiencies that need to be revised and adapted to meet the most restrictive environmental regulations and to reach a sustainable growth model for the secondary lead industry in the new century. The most relevant shortcomings of currently applied technologies are as follow ... 

A PEMFC uses a solid membrane that conducts protons as the electrolyte. Since it can start at ambient temperatures instantly, it is ideal for backup, portable, and motive power applications. The most important technologies concern the stack (like the heart of a human being) and the system controls (like the brain of a human being). The key components in a stack include the catalyst, PEM, GDM, plates, and gasket, while the controls include the operation algorithm, software, and electronic circuits. A fuel cell also needs various auxiliary components such as fans, blowers, compressors, pumps, heat exchangers, humidifiers, converters, valves, sensors, and batteries to work. A fuel cell system involves multidisciplinary skills and knowledge, and therefore it requires a team effort to develop. 

The improvement of the hydrogen storage alloy is important to the performance enhancement of the Ni/MH battery. The detailed analysis and improvement of the chemical formula, structure and surface state of the hydrogen storage alloy shall lead the Ni/MH battery to the peiformance enhancement. In addition, the surface treatment technology, the other device and the battery management technology should be improved for the maximization of the battery performance. 

Several important technological applications, such as battery devices and electrocatalysis, need a very large effective surface of contact between the electrode and the electrolyte. This expanded surface can be developed on porous electrode surfaces. The complexity of the random structure of the porous electrode and various experimental situations related to mass-transport impedance in the pores, coupled with interfacial kinetics inside the pores, led investigators initially to investigate simple single-pore models. Of the possible shapes modeled, the cylindrical pore with a length I and a radius r has been... 

Secondary Lead. The emphasis in technological development for the lead industry in the 1990s is on secondary or recycled lead. Recovery from scrap is an important source for the lead demands of the United States and the test of the world. In the United States, over 70% of the lead requirements are satisfied by recycled lead products. The ratio of secondary to primary lead increases with increasing lead consumption for batteries. WeU-organized collecting channels are requited for a stable future for lead (see BATTERIES, SECONDARY CELLS Recycling NONFERROUS METALS). 

First, the designer should choose the type of rectification technology that is most appropriate for the application. The choice is whether to use passive rectification in which semiconductor rectifiers are used or synchronous recification in which power MOSFE B are placed in parallel with a smaller passive rectifier. Synchronous rectifiers are typically used in battery operated portable products where the added efficiency, usually an added two to eight percent, is important to extend the operating life of the battery or in applications where heat is important. In today s switching power supplies, passive rectifiers can dissipate 40 to 60 percent of the total losses within the power supply. Synchronous rectifiers affect only the conduction loss, which can be reduced by as much as 90 percent. 

Manufacturers often feel compelled to be very vague about how well a battery will perform because of the uncertainty about how the batteiy will be used. Technology manufacturers invest heavily m marketing research before deciding what type of batteiy to provide with a new product. Sometimes it is a clear-cut decision other times there is no one best choice for all potential users. Perhaps the most important issue is whether a product will be used continuously or intermittently. For instance, selecting a battery for a DVD player is much easier than a cellular phone. The DVD player is likely to be used continuously by... 

Technologically it is important that smart battery packages, featuring power management by electronic devices within the battery package, are becoming a necessity due to the sensitive charging characteristics of Li and Ni-MeHy batteries, it should be noted that the same principles at a fraction of the cost have been successfully applied realized by simple reversal protection and overflow components by the low-cost RAM batteries. 

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