This part of the battery plays an important role because it holds up the active material and allows the electrons created during the electrochemical process to move. In a Lead Acid Battery, manufacturers use different…
HOW IT IS MADE: THE LEAD ACID BATTERY – PART 3
This part of the battery plays an important role because it holds up the active material and allows the electrons created during the electrochemical process to move. In a Lead Acid Battery, manufacturers use different kinds of grids depending on the intended use of the battery and the amount of work required. These include cast grids with a shell mold, continuously cast grids, grids made with expansion systems (rolled lead strip), punching systems (rolled lead strip), die-casting systems, and cast grids with a shell mold.
Industrial tools that are either semi-automatic or fully automatic build the grid needed to hold the active material in place. The grid casting machine facilitates semi-automatic production. Expansion, continuous casting, or punching tools enable automatic production.
Lead Acid Battery- Making the paste
The right amount of active material must wrap the supporting squares for the plates to perform their job. Because of this, making the right combination is crucial. During the pasting stage, manufacturers apply the active material to the grid, which serves as both a support and an electrical carrier, to create the plate, a vital component of a lead acid battery. To prepare the paste for the plates, the following ingredients must mix in a specific way:
- Drinking water
- Acid that burns
- Zinc oxide for the negative part
- lead oxide for the important stuff
The water used must not be too hard and must not contain any heavy metals.
Pasting and Curing in Lead Acid Battery
During this step, the system makes active material that covers the whole grid.In this step, workers use pasting tools. Following this, they place the plates in a room with specific temperature and humidity conditions that help the sulfates crystallize. This gives the plates the right amount of hardness. In the curing phase, the chemistry and solid structure of the different amorphous materials that make up the plate change, as well as their physical bond. This process creates a plate that is ready for use in making the battery.
Battery Assembly
Workers weld the lid to the container after placing it on the battery. This leaves the terminal group contacts on the cover free to weld. Next, the battery undergoes the pneumatic air leak test. If workers charged the battery dry, they move it to the packing section. If they charged it wet, they move it to the charging section. Workers group the plates that they cured or charged dry into sets of plates and patterns of plate groups.To do this, special machines with insulated plates wrap the groups, and another machine joins them together before placing them into the container.
Before joining the groups using the inter-cell welding method, workers ensure perfect insulation between the positive and negative plates. Then, they weld the lid to the container, leaving the terminal group contacts on the cover free to weld. Finally, they put the battery through a pneumatic air leak test.
Making formation
Now that workers have added the right amount of liquid to the battery, they charge it according to its specific instructions while monitoring its internal conditions (temperature and resistance) simultaneously. Workers then bring the battery to the finish line by adding more electrolyte, placing the plugs in the correct position, washing, neutralizing, and drying the outside case. After the drying step, they perform the rapid discharge and high-voltage tests. Finally, workers clean and grease the battery’s terminal poles.
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LEAD ACID BATTERY: PART 1
Gaston Planté, a French physicist, developed the lead-acid battery as a result of his research and ideas. The physicist was indeed researching the polarization that exists between two identical electrodes in 1859. Plante put plates into liquid solutions. These plates were made from different materials. He wanted to study how the material in each plate changed the amount of energy and voltage produced. Energy refers to the power the plates can create. Voltage is the force that pushes electricity through a circuit. Capacity means the amount of energy the plates can store. Voltage refers to the strength of the electrical power produced.
HOW IT IS MADE: THE LEAD ACID BATTERY – PART 2 CONSTITUENT PARTS OF THE BATTERY
The plates consist of an internal support (the grid) above which a paste called active material is applied, i.e., the compound that is electrochemically transformed during operation. The grids have a dual function: to mechanically support the active material and to conduct the resulting electrons (delivery phase), which are necessary for the electrochemical reaction (charging phase). The capacity of each individual plate can reach approximately 10 Ah.
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Until 2023, Dr. Charudatta S Pathak held multiple academic positions, including lecturer, assistant professor, professor, dean, principal, director, and vice chancellor at public and private universities across India. From 2008 to 2010, he held the position of project lead in the CAE department at a European multinational corporation. Throughout his 28-year professional experience, he observed a requirement for reliable publications aimed at youngsters in grades 8 to 12, specifically for early-stage career planning. He initiated the establishment of ENTECH Digital Magazine, a complimentary periodical released on a monthly basis, accessible via stemconference.in and magzter.com. Teenagers with a keen interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and aspiring to pursue professional paths in these domains can consider reading ENTECH Digital Magazine.
