Starter battery separators

In the meantime another development had decisively altered the outset situation plastics had been discovered and synthesized, among them also some acid-stable ones such as phenol-formaldehyde resin or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). These opened up new possibilities cellulose papers could be impregnated with phenol-formaldehyde resin solution and thus rendered sufficiently acid-stable, and sintered sheets from PVC powder were developed. Independent separators producers were founded, combining knowledge of the chemical industry with experience of the battery industry and thus accelerating the development process. 

During the first trials with synthetic separators around 1940 it had already been observed that some of the desired battery characteristics were affected detrimentally. The cold crank performance decreased and there was a tendency towards increased sulfation and thus shorter battery life. In extended test series, these effects could be traced back to the complete lack of wooden lignin, which had leached from the wooden veneer and interacted with the crystallization process at the negative electrode. By a dedicated addition of lignin sulfonates — so called organic expanders — to the negative mass, not only were these disadvantages removed, but an improvement in performance was even achieved. 

Alternative separator materials such as organic fibers or sintered PVC did not suc-eeed as pocket materials due to their excessive pore size. The pore diameter of 10- 

20 fjVA typical for such materials is insufficient to effectively prevent the preferential formation of shorts by mass particles at the folding edge of the pocket. 

The microporous polyethylene pocket has succeeded worldwide more than 70 percent of all starter batteries use this form of separation. Whereas in the USA and Western Europe the transition is essentially complete, a similar development in the Asia-Pacific area and Latin America, and in the medium term also in Russia and China, is expected [3], 

---

The term leaf separator characterizes the customary stiff version of a starter battery separator that can be inserted individually between the electrodes on automatic stackers, in contrast to pocket separators. This processing requires considerably higher bending stiffness than for pocket separators, calling for thicker backwebs, typically 0.4-0.6 mm (Fig. 18 and 19). 

The individual starter battery separator systems have been described here they are evaluated comparatively. There are no standards for evaluating separators Therefore the comparison will be concentrated primarily on the effects on the performance of the starter battery, with other decisive criteria such as cost structure and effects on productivity indicated. 

Table 10. Comparative evaluation of starter battery separators...

The above comparative evaluation of starter battery separators refers to moderate ambient temperatures the standard battery tests arc performed at 40 or 50 °C. What happens, however, on going to significantly higher temperatures, such as 60 or 75 °C This question cannot be answered without considering the alloys used batteries with antimonial alloys show a water consumption that rises steeply with increasing temperature [40], leaving as the only possibilities for such applications either the hybrid construction, i.c., positive electrode with low-antimony alloy, negative electrode lead-calcium, or even both... 

It can be stated generally that requirements for traction battery separators in respect to mechanical properties and chemical stability are considerably higher than for starter battery separators. This is due to the fact that a forklift battery is typically... 

Mn02 in KOH 118 standard profiles, separators 262 starter battery separators 252 f, 258 f starter light ignition (SLI) batteries 2 stationary battery separators 254... 

It can be stated generally that requirements for traction battery separators in respect to mechanical properties and chemical stability are considerably higher than those for starter battery separators. This is due to the fact that a forklift battery is typically operated for about 40 000-50 000 h in charge-discharge service, whereas a starter battery for only about 2000 h. The requirements for electrical resistance are lower because of the typically lower current densities for traction batteries. These differences are of course reflected in the design of modem traction battery separator material. 

---