Battery power tools

Every year in the United States, billions of batteries are bought, used, and thrown out. In 1998 alone, over 3 billion industrial and household batteries were sold. The demand for batteries can be traced largely to the rapid increase in automobiles, cordless, portable products such as cellular phones, video cameras, laptop computers, and battery-powered tools and toys. 

Numerous other types of cells exist such as zinc-air, aluminum-air, sodium sulfur, and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH). Companies are on a continual quest to develop cells for better batteries for a wide range of applications. Each battery must be evaluated with respect to its intended use and such factors as size, cost, safety, shelf-life, charging characteristics, and voltage. As the twenty-first century unfolds, cells seem to be playing an ever-increasing role in society. Much of this is due to advances in the consumer electronics and the computer industry, but there have also been demands in numerous other areas. These include battery-powered tools, remote data collection, transportation (electric vehicles), and medicine. 

The easy removeability provision is also specified in the 1996 legislation and was an early requirement in several of the state NiCd battery recycling laws. These provisions were developed at the time when many NiCd battery power tools and appliances did not provide for easy removeability, mainly as a consumer safety measure. Since the early 1990s, however, battery operated tools, appliances and other devices have been designed so that in most cases the batteries are easily removable while still ensuring consumer safety. In fact, many manufacturers of battery powered tools today market replacement battery packs, which are interchangeable in a number of different tools. Only in certain systems such as computer memory backup and medical devices are the batteries permanently installed to avoid system failure. 

Consumers pay the fee indirectly by an increase in the cost of batteries. Sales of Ni-Cd batteries and battery powered tools reportedly have decreased in Denmark as a result of this deposit. 

Low voltage tools. PAT tested tools. battery powered tools.. 

In confined and conductive locations the potential electric shock hazard is increased and special precautions are needed. Examples of confined, conductive spaces are inside boilers and other metal vessels or inside metal pipes, flues and ducts where the area of body contact to earthed metalwork is likely to be substantial. Even if the interior is dry, the shock risk is enhanced, but if it is damp it is worse. In these circumstances the llOV system is not considered safe and pneumatic, hydraulic or battery powered tools are advocated. For lighting, battery powered cap and hand lamps could be used or the luminaires could be supplied from a safety transformer at not more... 

Retrievable Tools. Retrievable MWD tools similar to the steering tools are available from several service companies. They are generally battery powered and generate coded positive pressure mud pulses or continuous pressure waves. The lower part of the tool has a mule shoe that engages in a sub for orientation. Currently, tools are available for measuring directional parameters and gamma rays. A typical retrievable tool is shown in Figure 4-251. 

The rechargeable battery (NiCd, NiMH, and lithium-ion) market for 2003 for portable electronics was around 5.24 billion, around 20% more then 2002. The lithium-ion battery market was around 3.8 billion ( 73%). They are now used in more than 90% of cellphones, camcorders, and portable computers, worldwide, and have also been adopted in power tools recently. 

Batteries for portable equipment 2 Wh-100 Wh Flashlights, toys, power tools, portable radio and television, mobile phones, camcorders, lap-top computers... 

Nickel-cadmium sealed cells are now a commercially important consumer product. They find use, both as button and cylindrical cells, in portable cordless appliances such as power tools, electric razors and photoflash apparatus, and increasingly in hybrid mains/battery equipment such as portable tape recorders, radios and television receivers. Many of these cells are readily interchangeable with primary batteries. In recent years, advances in design have increased recharge rates cylindrical cells with sintered electrodes can now be fast charged from full discharge at up to the C/l rate of 80% of capacity. 

In the early 1990s it is estimated ihai nearly 300 million nickel-cadmium batteries were sold in the United States. A large percentage of these were embedded in a variety of cordless appliances, such as power tools, small vacuum cleaners, and even toothbrushes. It was recently estimated that nearly 2.000 tons of cadmium appeared in the industrial waste stream as the result of equipment junked" during the mid-1980s. Legislation... 

Nickel-cadmium, or "ni-cad," batteries are popular for use in calculators and portable power tools because, unlike most other dry-cell batteries, they are rechargeable (Figure 18.11). The anode of a ni-cad battery is cadmium metal, and the cathode is the nickel(III) compound NiO(OH) supported on nickel metal. The electrode reactions are... 

Find used AA, AAA, C, D, and 9 volt batteries. Have someone with a power tool cut the batteries apart. In these batteries, identify the anode, cathode, and electrolyte. How do these electrochemical cells differ from the electrochemical cell that you construct in Activity 6.3 ... 

Smaller fuel cells (1 kW and lower) may be used as portable power as well as back-up power (uninterruptible power supply) or as battery chargers. Small fuel cells are also being developed as battery replacement which would enable longer operation time for consumer electronics (such as laptop computers, cell phones, cameras, and music players). There is a wide array of possible fuel cell applications in military battery chargers, telecommunications, navigation systems, soldier power, computers, various power tools,... 

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a powerful tool for examining the processes occurring at the electrode surfaces. EIS is a kind of electrochemical analysis method which can be used in the characterization of batteries, fuel cells, and corrosion phenomena. 

The rare earth based metal hydrides AB5 have proven to be best suited for use in the negative electrode in NiMH batteries. The market demand for the nickel-metal hydride battery is high because of the rapid demand for portable electronics goods such as video cameras, shavers, power tools, cellular phones, lap-top computers which use high performance batteries. 

Ni-Cd batteries are extensively utilized in cordless power tools (cellular telephones, portable computers, toys, and so on), in electric vehicles, and for emergency and starting power. They have excellent performance both at low and high temperature and high cycle life. CdS is an important yellow pigment, with other compounds (CdSe in particular) it gives... 

Figure 27 Comparison of the different battery technologies in terms of volumetric and gravimetric energy density. The share of worldwide sales forNi-Cd, Ni-MeH and Li-ion portable batteries is 23, 14, and 63%, respectively. The use of Pb-acid batteries is restricted mainly in automobiles or standby applications, whereas Ni-Cd batteries remain the most suitable technologies for high-power applications (for example, power tools). (Ref 47. Reproduced by permission of Nature Publishing Group (www.nature.com))...

Nicad batteries are used in a large variety of appliances, including compact disc players, cell phones, pocket recorders, handheld power tools, cordless telephones, laptop computers, camcorders, and scanner radios. A few automobile manufacturers have explored the possibility of using nicad batteries in electric cars. For example, the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan built and marketed an experimental car called the Libro EV that operated on either traditional lead batteries or on nicad batteries. 

Nickel is also very popular in the manufacture of batteries. Nickel-cadmium (nicad) and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are the most popular of these batteries. They are used in a great variety of appliances and electronics, including hand-held power tools, compact disc (CD)... 

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