Battery in Japan

The development of the starter battery in Japan has taken an independent course (see Sec. 9.2.1.2), visibly expressed by the separator s thick glass mat and its lack of spacing ribs (cf. Fig. 19). The cellulosic backweb impregnated with phenolic resin, generally in use until around 1980 and largely identical to the separator of the same type already mentioned has been completely replaced by thin ( 0.3 mm) fleece materials made of organic fibers. 

The Annual Battery Conference in Japan produces an extended abstract volume which presents a good overview of the most recent news in research related to Li batteries in Japan. 

Fig. 6 Production of small-size secondary batteries in Japan from 1991 to 1997 (from Ref. 11).

Figure 6 presents the production of small-size secondary batteries in Japan from 1991 to 1997 [11]. The production of Ni-Cd batteries started to decrease with the introduction of the Ni-MH and Li-ion batteries. It is expected that the production of lithium-ion batteries will increase in the coming years taking over the majority of the market. Nowadays, lithium-ion batteries are the preferred ones for laptops, while Ni-MH batteries dominate the market for cordless phones. 

In addition, two sets of data from the Battery Association of Japan (BAJ), formerly known as the Japan Storage Battery Association (JSBA), equally clearly demonstrate that the levels of cadmium emissions to air and water in Japan have decreased steadily over the period from 1980 through 1992 in spite of the greatly accelerated production of NiCd batteries in Japan during that same time period (Mukunoki and Fujimoto 1996). Japan is the world s largest producer of NiCd batteries, and currently accounts for over 70% of the world s NiCd battery production. If there is any country where potential enviromnental contamination by cadmium from NiCd battery manufacture should be... 

Fujimoto 1999, Collection and Recycling Activities for Portable Rechargeable Batteries in Japan, Proceedings of the 5 International Battery Recycling Congress, Deauville, France, September 27-29,1999. 

Mukunoki and Fujimoto 1996, Collection and Recycling of used Ni-Cd Batteries in Japan, Sources of Cadmium in the Environment, Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (lOMC), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France. 

Fujimoto K. (2001) Progress in the Collection and Recycling of Portable Batteries in Japan. International Congress for Battery Recycling, Montreux, Switzerland, May 2-4, 2001. 

Cadmium evaporates by heating at approximately 800°C and is recovered as metal or Cd compound. After a refining treatment, Cd is used as secondary raw material for NiCd battery. On the other hand, Fe and Ni are regenerated as ferro-nickel compoimds to be utilized as materials for the stainless steel industry. There are 4 recyclers for NiCd battery in Japan and they have over 20 years of operating experience. 

Collection rate is one of the most important key factors for evaluating the environmental situation. With the introduction of the hoarding concept, the collection rates of spent NiCd batteries in Japan was in general found to be higher than 50%. 

NIPPON RECYCLE CENTER, first in Japan and then in Korea (HANIL joint venture), initially based its activities on treating waste from the manufacture of batteries in Japan. 

Z.-I. Takehara, K. Kanamura, Electrochim. Acta 1993,38,1169-1177. Historical development of rechargeable lithium batteries in Japan. 

Furukawa Battery in Japan and CSIRO in Australia have codeveloped a hybrid lead-acid battery that they have called the Ultrabattery. In this hybrid, the battery and supercapacitor are integrated at the electrode plate level. Figure 1.33 shows the structure of the Ultrabattery. 

Miyake, Y., and A. Kozawa, Rechargeable Batteries in Japan, JEC Press, Qeveland, Ohio, 1977. Plastic-Bonded Electrode Technology ... 

In contrast, lead use in cable sheathing and lolled/extruded products (now mainly sheet and pipe) has declined dramatically, both proportionally and in absolute terms. While in I960, the amount of lead used in both these end-uses exceeded that in batteries in Japan and some European countries, since then substitution by other materials has undermined consumption, particularly in cable sheathing. Lead usage in lead sheet and strip has been more stable in recent years. On average, lead use in pigments and chemical compounds is now a more important consumption outlet than either of these, although there are marked differences between countries, see Table 13.2. 

Lead alloys containing 0.09—0.15 wt % calcium and 0.015—0.03 wt % aluminum are used for the negative battery grids of virtually all lead—acid batteries in the United States and are also used in Japan, Canada, and Europe. If the molten alloy is held at too low a temperature, the aluminum precipitates from solution, rises to the surface of the molten alloy as finely divided aluminum particles, and enters the dross layer atop the melt. 

World production of lead—acid batteries in 1988, excluding the Eastern European central economy countries, has been estimated at 9.45 biUion. The automotive market was 6743 million or 211.6 million units. Industrial battery sales were 2082 million and consumer battery sales were 454 million. Motorcycle batteries accounted for an additional 170 million or 25 million units. Most batteries are produced in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, but smaller numbers are produced worldwide. The breakdown in sales for the three production areas foUows. Automotive battery sales were 2304 million in the United States, 1805 in Western Europe, and 945 million in Japan. Industrial battery sales were 525 million in the United States, 993 million in Western Europe, and 266 million in Japan. Consumer battery sales were 104 million in the United States, 226 million in Japan, and 82 million in Western Europe. More than half of all motorcycle batteries are produced in Japan and Taiwan (1). 

In 1988, cadmium metal production in the United States increased significantly and imports decreased, but exports increased. Dramatic increases in cadmium prices in 1988 were attributed to the tight supply of cadmium worldwide, heavy speculative trading, and the large quantities of cadmium being purchased by the nickel—cadmium battery industry, particularly in Japan. About 30 countries are cadmium producers, led by Russia, Japan, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, and Mexico, which cumulatively represented 64% of the 1988 reported world cadmium production of 19,773 metric tons. 

Y. Takahashi, J. Oishi, Y Miki, M. Yoshimura, K. Shibahara, and H. Sakamoto, 35" Battery Symposium in Japan, Nov. 14-16, Nagoya, Japan, paper 2B05, extended abstracts, page 39 (1994). 

Proc. 8th Int. Meeting on Lithium Batteries, Nagoya, Japan, June 16-21, 1995, in J. Power Sources, 1997, 68, 1-742. 

S. Hirayama, H. Hiraga, K. Otsuka, N. Ikeda, M. Sasaki, Extended Abstracts of the 34th Battery Symposium in Japan, 1993, Abstract No. 1 AOb. 

T. Itoh, T. Nishina, T. Matsue, I. Uchida, Extended Abstracts of the 36th Battery Symposium in Japan, 1995, Abstract No. 

M. Mori, Y. Kakuta, K. Naoi, D. F. Autcux, Extended Abstracts of the 37th Battery Symposium in Japan, 1996, Abstract No. 

The first use of lithium alloys as negative electrodes in commercial batteries to operate at ambient temperatures was the employment of Wood s metal alloys in lithium-conducting button-type cells by Matsushita in Japan. Development work on the use of these alloys started in 1983 [10], and they became commercially available somewhat later. 

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