Additive-Containing Fiber Mats for Lead Acid Battery Sulfation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lead acid batteries face issues such as rapid degradation due to sulfation and explosive gas formation when charged quickly, leading to premature failure, and existing additives have short lifetimes in the corrosive sulfuric acid environment.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating benzyl benzoate and glycol esters into fiber mats that contact the electrolyte, which release these additives over time to inhibit sulfation and gas evolution, extending the battery's operational performance and lifetime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additives are added directly to the electrolyte to inhibit sulfation and gas evolution, then battery performance is improved, but the additives have short lifetimes due to the corrosive sulfuric acid environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses fiber mats as an intermediary carrier to deliver additives to the electrolyte. The fiber mats are saturated with additives (such as benzyl benzoate and glycol esters) and placed in contact with the electrolyte, allowing gradual release of the additives without direct addition to the corrosive environment. This mediator approach protects the additives from rapid degradation while maintaining their beneficial effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The additives are pre-loaded into the fiber mats during manufacturing, creating a reservoir that gradually releases the additives over time. This preliminary action ensures that the additives are available when needed but protected from the corrosive electrolyte environment until they are slowly released through the fiber mat structure.
2Duration of action of moving object
If fiber mats with additives are used to release additives over time, then additive lifetime is extended, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber mats serve multiple functions simultaneously: they act as separators or absorbers in the battery while also serving as additive delivery vehicles. By integrating the additive release function into existing battery components (separator mats, absorber mats), the patent avoids adding separate complex delivery systems and maintains structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the additive reservoir function with the structural fiber mat components already present in lead-acid batteries. Instead of adding a separate additive delivery system, the additives are incorporated into the existing fiber mat structure, merging multiple functions into a single component.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The use of additive-containing fiber mats maintains effective concentrations of benzyl benzoate and glycol esters in the electrolyte, suppressing sulfation and gas generation, thereby extending the battery's lifespan and reducing maintenance costs.
Implementation Method 1
Incorporating benzyl benzoate and glycol esters into fiber mats that contact the electrolyte, which release these additives over time
Implementation Method 2
Another undesired reaction is the irreversible formation of large lead sulfate crystals on the electrodes in a process known as sulfation
Implementation Method 3
the electric current changes from (i) electrolyzing the lead sulfate back into lead (Pb(s)) and lead oxide (PbO2(s)) to (ii) hydrolyzing the water in the electrolyte to hydrogen (H2(g)) and oxygen (O2(g)) gas
Data Source
AI summary
Fiber-containing mats for lead acid batteries are described. The mats may include a plurality of fibers, a binder holding the plurality of fibers together, and one or more additives incorporated into the mat, where the additives may include one or more compounds selected from benzyl benzoate and a glycol ester. Additional fiber-containing mats include a plurality of woven or non-woven fibers and the one or more additives. The fiber-containing mats having the one or more additives may be used in lead-acid batteries that include a positive and negative electrode, a separator, and one or more pasting mats.