Lead-acid battery industry development

The lead-acid battery is the longest-running secondary battery in the world. It is the world's first commercially available rechargeable battery. Since its invention in 1859 by the French physicist Gaston Plante, it has gone through more than 150 years. development path.

Lead-acid batteries have grown to become the world's largest output battery products, with production accounting for 50% of the total battery industry and 70% of rechargeable batteries. Even in Europe, America and Japan, the world’s most advanced countries and regions, it is still a large number of batteries. Production and use of lead-acid batteries.

In the 150-year history of lead-acid batteries, technological progress is the driving force for its sustainable development. It has roughly undergone the following three stages of development:

1 Opening type (Fluid-rich type) battery The earliest open-type lead-acid battery has internal flowing electrolyte, gas and acid mist will be precipitated during charging and discharging, and the internal sulfuric acid solution will easily overflow during transportation and pollute the environment. There are certain dangers, such as acid corrosion clothes. Burns the skin, damages the equipment, etc. Moreover, due to water loss during charging, the battery must be frequently maintained with water (frequently once a month) and inconvenient to use.

2Fluid-free maintenance-free batteries In the 1970s, flooded maintenance-free batteries appeared. Using lead-calcium alloys, the rate of water decomposition was reduced. To a certain extent, the problem of battery charge and water loss was solved. During the 5-year service life, there is no need for additional water, but the battery needs to be installed upright, and there is still a small amount of gas and acid mist overflow during charging, which is mainly used for starting vehicles such as automobiles.

3 Valve Sealed Maintenance-free Storage Battery In 1971, the United States Gates Corporation invented the Absorbent Glass Mat technology, which is the AGM technology for valve-regulated batteries (VRLA). This technology has practically solved the problem of compound oxygen circulation inside the battery, made the lead-acid battery achieve the dream of sealing and liquid leakage for more than 100 years, ended the era of lead battery opening, and created a history of lead battery development. A new milestone. Valve-controlled sealed maintenance-free battery, using the adsorption AGM separator and gas recombination principle, the oxygen generated during the charging process can be recombined into water in the battery, and the sealed structure is adopted to solve the problems of acid leakage, corrosion, and maintenance of the battery. The battery performance has been greatly improved.

In the 1990s, China began to develop and produce valve-controlled sealed maintenance-free batteries. The valve-regulated sealed battery can be installed in any position. Since there is no acid mist overflow and no pollution to the environment, the battery can be installed together with the electronic components without a separate battery room. In addition, battery life can be as long as 20 years. Another structure of the valve-regulated sealed storage battery is to use a silica gel and dilute sulfuric acid to form a gel electrolyte so that the electrolyte is in a non-flowable state and achieves the same effect as the AGM, ie, a colloidal battery.

At present, open-type lead-acid batteries have been classified as phase-out products due to environmental protection and safety issues. The battery produced by the issuer is a valve-controlled seal maintenance-free battery.

(2) Main uses of lead-acid batteries After more than 150 years of development, lead-acid batteries have made great progress in terms of product types and varieties and electrical properties of products in terms of theoretical research, whether in transportation, communications, power, or military. It has also played an indispensable role in various fields of navigation and aviation.

The lead-acid battery industry's current product classification is as follows:

According to the summary statistics of 39 national companies in 2012 by the Acid Battery Branch of China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association and the Lead-acid Battery Branch of China Battery Industry Association, the total output of 39 enterprises was 158,759,500 KVAh, of which the battery for car starters was fixed. The following figure shows the output structure of various types of batteries such as batteries and electric bicycle batteries.

As shown in the above figure, the lead-acid battery is the largest use of electric bicycles, accounting for about 41% of the total, mainly for electric bicycles, golf carts and electric scooters and other power sources; followed by car start, accounting for about 28% of the The proportion of fixed batteries accounts for about 21% of the total, which is mainly used for UPS backup power and solar wind energy storage in telecommunications, electric power, banks, hospitals, shopping malls, and computer systems, etc.; electric road vehicles use about 5% of the total. It is mainly used as power source for electric vehicles and electric motorcycles; traction battery accounts for about 2% of the total; it is mainly used for power sources of all types of electric forklifts, vans, underground motor vehicles, and mobile equipment; The proportion of 1% is mainly used for the start-up, ignition and lighting power supply of motorcycles; other small valve-controlled sealed batteries account for about 1% of the total, which is mainly used for power sources and computers of emergency lights, electric toys, and precision instruments. backup power.

The issuer engages in research and development, production, and sales of fixed valve-regulated sealed lead-acid batteries and power-driven lead-acid batteries. Lead-acid batteries currently produced are mainly used in standby power for telecommunications and computer systems, solar wind energy storage power supplies, and electric power. Bicycles, electric motorcycles and other power sources.