Lead-acid battery first applications

Lead-acid batteries were first used in stationary, stand-by applications more than 130 years ago [1]. For a long period of time, only flooded lead-acid batteries were used. Nowadays, UPS and telecommunications applications use valve-regulated batteries. Large, utility-scale applications such as load levelling continue to use flooded batteries, but it seems that, increasingly, valve-regulated batteries are chosen even for these applications. 

Sonnenschein was the first company to introduce gel battery technology to the market successfully. They started in 1958 with rather small batteries for flashlights. Since that time, this technology has steadily replaced the conventional, flooded lead-acid battery in various applications [38,71,72]. Phosphoric acid addition for cycling was first introduced in 1965. Larger gel batteries with tubular positive plates were developed for stationary applications in 1978. More recently, gel batteries have been produced for starter and traction applications, and thick, flat positive plates were added for telecommunications applications. 

In 1873, the Brequet Company was the first to produce Plante lead—acid batteries and Gramme dynamo machines. Thus, a technical possibility was created to easily generate and store electric energy. At that time, the system dynamo and lead—acid storage battery was still only a curious scientific achievement. Electric energy had not yet found practical application in human life. 

First Applications of Lead—Acid Batteries in Human Life... 

Thus, in the early 1880s, a lead—acid battery of high capacity and relatively simple technology of manufacture was created. This battery rapidly found various practical applications. In 1881, Gustave Trouve first used a lead—acid battery in his three-wheeled electric automobile, which reached a speed of 12 km h . In 1886, the first submarine propelled by lead—acid batteries was launched in France. A lead—acid battery was mounted in a small dirigible balloon which was propelled at a speed of 4 m s In 1899, Camille Jenatzy reached... 

Based on battery capacity, three types of lead-acid battery units are commercially available for different applications, as shown in Figure 10.2 [4-6]. The first type of unit is a large-sized battery with a capacity range of 100 to 3600 Ah (the open circuit voltage [OCV] is normally 2.0 V), the second one is a medium-sized battery with a capacity range of 40 to 200 Ah (OCV is 12.0 V), and the third one is a small-sized battery with a capacity range of 2 to 40 Ah (OCV is 6.0 V). Depending on the power requirements of the application, different types of lead-acid batteries and/or their combinations can be used. 

Many types of automobile vehicles (see examples in Figure 10.5) use lead-acid batteries either for SLI purposes or engine powering. The first type of application uses SLI batteries, and the second type uses deep-cycle batteries. Both SLI batteries and deep-cycle batteries use exactly the same chemistry for their operation. The difference between them is mainly their design. 

Aluminium-air cells were first developed for portable applications such as mooring lights, and for recharging nickel-cadmium and lead-acid storage batteries. They have been fabricated in many unusual designs, e.g. the concentric rope battery which has an aluminium core surrounded by a separator and then the oxygen cathode. The rope may be several hundred metres long and can provide 0.03 W/m for a period of 6 months on immersion in the sea. 

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