Lead-acid battery markets

Since 2002, lead-acid batteries have been widely used to power electric scooters, electric bicycles, and even electric vehicles. The worldwide lead-acid battery market was an approximately USD 60.3 billion industry in 2010. Its demand is projected to... 

FIGURE 10.1 Lead-acid battery market application category ratio. (Available at http // www.systems-suiilight.com/blog/global-lead-acid-battery-market-development-status.)... 

Available at http //www.systems-sunlight.com/blog/global-lead-acid-battery-market... 

The U.S. primary battery market is divided according to the chemical system used in the batteries, whereas the secondary battery market is usually divided according to usage. The 1989 estimate of the total battery market is given in Table 1. The lead—acid battery accounts for over 85% of the secondary battery market. 

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). 

Whereas automotive batteries have the majority of the market, other types of lead—acid batteries, such as sealed and small maintenance-free varieties, are making inroads into various appHcations. The automotive battery s operating environment has changed substantially in the last 10 years. Underhood temperature has risen and electrical loads have increased. This trend is expected to continue as car manufacturers reevaluate thek design strategies and objectives. Battery design is changing to meet these needs. 

Batteries, both primary and secondary, have become very big business indeed, which moreover is growing rapidly. Salkind (1998) in a concise overview of the entire domain of battery types and technologies, estimates that in 1996, the world market in the two types of battery combined totalled ss 33 billion dollars, and that the ratio of secondary to primary battery sales is steadily edging upwards. In spite of its poor charge density per unit mass, the lead-acid battery still accounts for more than a quarter of the total, because it costs so much less than its rivals and lasts well. 

Cost The cost of the battery is determined by the materials used in its fabrication and the manufacturing process. The manufacturer must be able to make a profit on the sale to the customer. The selling price must be in keeping with its perceived value (tradeoff of the ability of the user to pay the price and the performance of the battery). Alkaline primary Zn—MnOz is perceived to be the best value in the United States. However, in Europe and Japan the zinc chloride battery still has a significant market share. In developing countries, the lower cost Leclanche carbon—zinc is preferred. Likewise, lead acid batteries are preferred for automobile SLI over Ni—Cd with superior low-temperature performance but with a 10 times higher cost. 

The world market for batteries of all types now exceeds 100 billion. Over half of this sum is accounted for by lead-acid batteries - mainly for vehicle starting, lighting and ignition (SL1), and industrial use including traction and standby power, with about one-third being devoted to primary cells and the remainder to alkaline rechargeable and specialist batteries. 

By far the largest sector of the battery industry worldwide is based on the lead-acid aqueous cell whose dominance is due to a combination of low cost, versatility and the excellent reversibility of the electrochemical system, Lead-acid cells have extensive use both as portable power sources for vehicle service and traction, and in stationary applications ranging from small emergency supplies to load levelling systems. In terms of sales, the lead-acid battery occupies over 50% of the entire primary and secondary market, with an estimated value of 100 billion per annum before retail mark-up. 

In recent years the market for small, portable lead-acid batteries has grown considerably. Almost all portable batteries are VRLA designs. Both cylindrical and rectangular (prismatic) unit cells are made and assembled into multicell packs. 

In the case of lead-acid batteries, recycling of exhausted units is undertaken worldwide and the process is both efficient and cost-effective. It has been calculated that almost 90% of spent lead-acid batteries are sent back to recycling plants. This high return is explained by the large scale of lead-acid cell production, which makes recycling mandatory in order to control the price of lead on the world market. 

In the economics-insensitive niche market of the luxury automobile, the development of a high-output SOFC alternative to the lead-acid battery and engine-driven alternator is well advanced at BMI/Delphi Corp (Williams, 2002). BMW is a partner in the project, which uses a Global Thermoelectric planar SOFC stack. The gain would be air-conditioner operation independent of the vehicle engine. 

Lead-acid batteries were developed in 1859 by Plante. Scientists including Faure, Volk-mar, Brush, Gladstone, Tudor, Phillipart, and Woodward among others, contributed to improve Plante s cell and to create the lead-acid battery designs that are now available in the market. Lead-acid batteries use lead dioxide as cathode material, metallic lead as negative material, and a sulfuric acid solution as electrolyte. Different materials are used as separator, for example, microporous rubber, cellulose, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, and glass fiber. The cell reactions are... 

Lead-acid batteries are produced in prismatic sizes. There are different models of lead-acid batteries available in the market. The models can be classified according to the application on ... 

If an insufficient amount of waste is generated onsite to make an in-plant recovery system cost effective, or if the recovered material cannot be reused onsite, offsite recovery is preferable. Some materials commonly reprocessed offsite are oils, solvents, electroplating sludges and process baths, scrap metal, and lead-acid batteries. The cost of offsite recycling is dependent upon the purity of the waste and the market for the recovered material. 

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