Commercial Vehicle SLI-Battery Life Enhancement through On-Board Dual-Pulsed Charging
2022-01-0865
03/29/2022
- Content
- An optimally functioning SLI battery is a primordial element in the unimpaired operation of an ICE vehicle. Designed to deliver the highest current momentarily during ignition, and not intended for deep discharge, these batteries have been observed to suffer from premature degradation attributed to misuse and lack of maintenance. Attributed to the cell chemistry, a wet-cell lead-acid battery’s degradation is initiated by the reduction of active electrode area through sulfation in each charge-discharge cycle. While the formation and dissolution of sulphate crystals is a normal phenomenon, in scenarios of deep discharge the formation and agglomeration of larger insoluble sulphate crystals reduce the cell capacity leading to overall poor reserve capacity and cold cranking ability of the battery. While these problems have been counter through implementation of passive modifications in battery venting and advanced grid materials in the passenger car segment, the increased cost fails to be justified in the operational economics of the commercial vehicle segment. The present work elaborates on the implementation of an on-board active battery life enhancement technology extending the service life of ordinary batteries by up to 2 times. Through the induction of 1 kHz pulsed current, the chemically inert sulphate crystals are dissolved back into the electrolyte allowing extended use of the battery pack. This work allows the implementation and mass adaptation of a technology that was reserved only for static use. The on-board philosophy improves the overall system efficiency by acting on sulfation from its initiation rather than on detection of battery failure, leading to enhanced battery life.
- Citation
- Saha, S., PATIDAR, A., Jewalkar, H., and Patra, A., "Commercial Vehicle SLI-Battery Life Enhancement through On-Board Dual-Pulsed Charging ," SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-0865, 2022, .