Oct- Dec 2010

Over the years, there have been major advances in standby battery technology and services. Exide has been in the forefront
of these changes. Beginning with this issue, we will be carrying a series of technical articles that will explain these changes
and their impact on your operations. This article deals with the critical area of battery charging. We hope this will enhance
your understanding of the battery charging process. Should you have further queries, please get in touch with us at
jahars@exide.co.in. The concluding part of the article will appear in the January-March 2011 issue.

Charging of Lead Acid Batteries on Standby Application

by Dr. Dipak Sen Chaudhuri, EVP Manufacturing (Industrial)

Batteries on standby duty remain continuously on charge unless

it is on discharge. Standby duty, as it is conventionally understood,
implies very infrequent discharges, a few times in the lifetime of
the battery, and that too generally for a short duration. After
every discharge, battery is recharged fully and then put on a
continuous maintenance charge. This maintenance charge is
necessary to compensate for the various dissipative activities that
occur inside a battery more conventionally lumped together
and described as self-discharge - and thereby maintain the
battery at a full charged state at any point of time. This maintenance
charge is more commonly known as float charge or trickle
charge.

progress of time with a constant current charge the voltage of

the cell shows a steady rise and this continues till the point G
is reached. There onwards the voltage continues to go for a very
sharp rise with time and this continues till the point T is reached
after which the voltage rise more-or-less ceases and the profile
becomes flat with respect to time. It is as if the cell has got fully
saturated with charge and thereafter even if charging is continued
Figure 1
C C Charge

~ 2.75V

There are a number of modes of recharge that are conventionally

employed in the lead-acid battery standby application. Some of
these may be listed as:
1. Constant Current Mode 2. Constant Voltage Mode 3. Constant
Current Constant Voltage Mode 4. Two step Constant Voltage
mode

Constant Current Mode

In this mode, the charging current is maintained constant
throughout the duration and the voltage is allowed to rise and
eventually saturate or stabilize at a nearly constant value. The
shape of the voltage curve is classically described as S curve
and is shown in Figure 1.
A careful study of the voltage graph shows the existence of two
points (G and T) on it (more generally a region than an exact
point) which is of interest as they signify the onset of some specific
activities and therefore show up as points of inflection in the
graph.
At the beginning, starting from a fully discharged cell, with

V
0.ICA

~ 2.35V

2.0V
0

12

T (Hours)

the voltage shall more or less remain constant and the energy
supplied (or wasted) even after the cell is fully charged is dissipated
in the form of unnecessary water break-up, gassing and heat
generation.
The point G is identified as the gassing point the voltage at
which significant gassing starts at the positive electrode essentially
evolution of oxygen starts. The evolved gas forms a thin gas film
around the electrodes and offers additional resistance to charge
transfer and hence there is suddenly a sharp rise in charging
voltage as effort to maintain the constant current against rising
resistance continues. This point G, as mentioned earlier, is the

gassing point and is somewhere in the region of 2.30 2.37 V/cell and is strongly
dependent, amongst others, on the alloy composition of the grids, temperature, age
of the cell.

POWERSPEAK

The point T is the so called top-of-charge point, generally having a value somewhere
in the order of 2.70 2.80 V/cell and is indicative of the full recharge having been
achieved with both electrodes of the cell freely gassing. The gas films having stabilized,
the resistance to charge transfer also stabilizes and hence the voltage becomes nearly
constant.
This is the fastest method for recharge and depending on the value of the current a cell
may be fully recharged from a completely discharged state in 8 12 hours. This mode
of recharge is also often referred to as boost mode of recharge and typically employed
for recharge of flooded batteries only, particularly after a relatively long discharge.
The negative aspect of this mode of recharge is that every time the cell voltage crosses
2.35 V or so, the cell enters the gassing regime and considerable amount of water
is lost through electrolysis and subsequent evolution of gases. Frequent topping up
would be required in such case. However, more importantly the electrolyte temperature
rises significantly during the gassing phase and this causes more electrolysis of water,
concentrates the acid and significantly accelerates positive grid corrosion and thereby
impacts the life of the cell negatively.
Hence, this mode of recharge is not recommended after every discharge, particularly
if it is frequent in a standby application. Infrequently used, it is the best recharge mode
as it not only does a very fast charge but also charges the cells completely.
Any lead-acid cell which, therefore, has to operate in low-maintenance (less frequent
topping-up) or in maintenance free (no topping-up) mode cannot be recharged in this
constant-current mode. For such cells, there are a number of other methods of recharge.

Constant Voltage Mode

Figure 2
C-V

i
i

T (Hours)

A pure Constant Voltage Mode without any limit on the charging current is seldom
employed in actual practice. This is because initially there is a very heavy onrush of
current which sharply falls in matter of minutes and thereafter the recharge proceeds
at a rather slow pace. The selected value of the constant volt is obviously well below
the gassing voltage for the given system so that the cell never enters the gassing regime
and water losses are kept to a minimum.
To be continued ...

Dear Friends
Excellence does not exist in a vacuum. It
can only be attained when systems and
technologies are in place and everyone in
the organization is tuned in to the same
wavelength and objectives.
Exide is the most trusted name in storage
power systems because it has always
traveled the extra mile for excellence. Exide
has invested in world class R&D, globally
benchmarked raw materials and meticulously
studied the operations of esteemed customers
before incorporating all these variables into
the final product.
It offers us a truly unique perspective. Our
unmatched expertise, honed over six
decades in every type of terrain and
operating condition, is at the disposal of
our esteemed customers.
We do this through our knowledge seminars
round the year and at all platforms where
we have the opportunity to share space
with our clients. We invite core customers
to our factories to see and learn firsthand
about the battery making process and
maintenance.
Starting with this issue, we will carry a
series of technical papers on various aspects
of lead acid batteries. This will give our
customers an insight into the complex world
of lead acid battery technology and services.
We believe such knowledge sharing
strengthens bilateral relationships.
I wish you the very best for the festive season
and a happy New Year.
Gautam Chatterjee
Director Industrial

Southern Symphony
Knowledge seminars continue to win praise from our customers. Recently a series of seminars were conducted at KSEB Trivandrum,
KPTCL Tumkur, KPCL Raichur and NLC Neyveli. The focus was on the evergreen Exide Plante lead acid batteries. In some cases,
power units have upgraded to Plante batteries from VRLA batteries.
At Trivandrum, the Deputy Chief Engineer of SOC Circle KSEB, Mr. Ebenezer Sami, inaugurated the seminar. At Tumkur
Mr. S.Govindappa, Superintending Engineer Tumkur Circle of KTPCL very graciously inaugurated the seminar. At Raichur, the
presence of KPCLs Executive Director at the seminar was extremely motivating.
Team Exide led by Mr. C. Radhakrishnan, Head Power South also conducted a seminar at TNEB Hydro Generation circle Urachikottai,
Erode and was successful in demonstrating the stand-out benefits of Exide OPzS Tubular batteries. Erode is one of the hydel power
initiatives undertaken by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. Mr. S. Abdul Kadar, Superintending Engineer who is also in charge of Erode
Generation Circle, inaugurated the seminar.

Trivandrum

Mr. C Radhakrishnan Head Power-South makes

a presentation at KSEB Trivandrum. Mr. Ebenezer
Sami, Deputy Chief Engineer, SOC circle
Trivandrum, who had inaugurated the seminar
was amongst the interested listeners.

Tumkur
1

M r.
Govindappa,
Superintending Engineer
Tumkur Circle of KTPCL
inaugurating the seminar.

Mr. C Radhakrishnan, Head

Power South addresses the
audience at Tumkur.

Raichur

Erode

Mr S.Ravikumar, Executive Engineer, Incharge Training Raichur TPS addresses

the participants. On the extreme left are Mr. Jahar Sengupta GM, Power,
Mr. C. Radhakrishnan, Head Power South and Mr. M.K. Narayanan, Senior
Manager- Industrial Sales .

Mr. C. Radhakrishnan, Head Power South making a presentation on OPzS

NDP Tubular batteries at TNEB Erode.

Knowledge Recharging
With this issue we are presenting some definitions commonly associated with lead acid batteries. This is for the benefit of our customers
and anyone interested in lead acid batteries. This also serves to refresh our knowledge. This will be an on-going feature.
Voltage of a Storage Battery: Voltage of a storage battery can be measured either in open-circuit condition or in closed-circuit
condition.
Open Circuit Voltage (OCV): The open circuit voltage is the voltage of an electrically isolated cell. In a lead acid system, it
has a functional relationship with the electrolyte specific gravity of the cell as given below:
OCV = electrolyte specific gravity + 0.84
Therefore, if the electrolyte specific gravity is 1.210, then the OCV is 1.210 + 0.84 = 2.05 Volts
In other words, OCV of a lead acid cell indicates its electrolyte specific gravity and vice versa.
Closed Circuit Voltage (CCV): The closed circuit voltage of a cell can either be on charge or on discharge. CCV is a function
of charging/ discharging current depending on whether the cell is on charge or on discharge. It also depends on the state of
charge and general condition of the cell. Closed circuit voltage gives a better idea about the general condition of a cell.
Self Discharge: The electrodes of a cell undergo a constant dissipative chemical reaction process. This is known as self discharge.
This electro-chemical process takes place continuously in a lead acid cell/battery even when it is in open circuit or not connected
to a load. This leads to a slow decline of the state of charge of the cell/ battery.
In order to compensate for the self discharge, the battery has to undergo either periodic recharge when it remains idle in open
circuit condition or it has to undergo float charge under condition of parallel operation.
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Oct - Dec 2010