Guide To Battery Management

Astrosyn
Guide to Battery Management
Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

Lawtronics Division,
The Old Courthouse, New Rd Ave,
Chatham, Kent, ME4 6BE, England
Tel +44 (0) 1634 815175
Fax +44(0) 1634 826552
www.astrosyn.com
Astrosyn
GUIDE TO BATTERY MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Our standard range of battery chargers caters for sealed
lead acid, nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride
battery types. Each cell type has certain advantages,
and the decision which to use in a particular application
may depend on economic considerations as much as
technical desirability. A compromise is often needed.
Characteristic
SLA
NiCd
NiMH
Energy Density (Wh/kg)
30
40
60
Volts/cell (nominal)
2.0
1.2
1.2
Operating cycles (typical)
500
1000
800
Self discharge (%/month)
3%
30%
30%
Equivalent series resistance
low
very low
medium
Operating temperature (o C)
5 to 35
10 to 45
10 to 40
Maximum charge rate
0.25C
2C
1C
Charge method
CV
CC
CC
Memory effect
No
Yes
Yes
To prevent overcharging,
accurate charge termination
is achieved by using proven
techniques. In addition,
intelligent chargers have to
accommodate the erratic
characteristics of abused,
unformed or old cells, as well
as the effects of protection
circuitry and variations in
operating temperature and
contact resistance.
Generally the problems are
not as pronounced in the
constant voltage charging of
sealed lead acid cells
compared with constant
current charging of nickel
cadmium and nickel metal
hydride cells charged at
higher C rates.
Battery Charging
The operating life of all rechargeable batteries is determined by
four major factors:
Rate of discharge
Depth of discharge
Operating and ambient temperature
Charging technique: constant voltage (CV) or constant
current (CC).
The first three are determined by the
equipment designer, but if the incorrect
charging technique is adopted, the
benefit of good design is minimised,
resulting in battery service life and
performance being significantly
degraded.
With all types of cells, it is only possible
to achieve optimum performance when
operating within the correct
management of charge and discharge
characteristics.
SLA Battery
Charging
Sealed lead acid batteries
require current limited
constant voltage charging.
Cells should not be charged
in less than four or five hours
for optimum life (C/4 rate).
Accurate charge voltage
control is essential.
The charger model is
determined by the following
application parameters:
Charge time
required
Cyclic or standby
operation
Operating
temperature

Lawtronics Division, The Old Courthouse, New Rd Ave, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6BE, England
Tel +44 (0) 1634 815175 Fax +44 (0) 1634 826552 www.astrosyn.com
Initial current limit

Permissible overcharge
Manufacturers of SLA batteries recommend constant voltage

current limited charging either from a basic single voltage taper
charger or a multistage charger.
Standby Application
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If the battery is fully or

deeply discharged, a
multistage charger initially
generates a small forming
current to restore the battery
to 1.75V/cell (e.g. 10.5V in a
12V battery), before
increasing the bulk current
to the maximum design
limit. The battery voltage
then rises towards the limit
of 2.45V/cell (14.7V), and the
current starts to decay.
When the battery voltage
limit is achieved, the charger
voltage reduces to 2.25V/cell
(13.5V), and the current
continues to fall to a trickle.
Full battery capacity is
recovered when the trickle
current falls to 0.01C Amps.
Where the SLA application is for standby use and the battery is
seldom required to deliver power a single stage current limited
float charger preset to 2.25V/cell at normal temperatures is
adequate. At this potential, the battery will not overcharge and
may remain connected indefinitely without incurring damage.
The trickle current continues

to decay until the natural
maintenance level of
approximately 0.001C Amps
is reached.
Standby and Cyclic Application
The battery can remain

connected to the charger in
this state continuously.
The maximum charge voltage recommended by most battery

manufacturers is 2.45V/cell with a maximum in-rush current of
0.25C Amps. This limits the safe charge time to approximately 5
hours to reach 90% capacity. Exceeding the voltage or current limit
is detrimental to battery life. Some SLA manufacturers permit a
larger in-rush current, but the additional cost of the enhanced
charger may not be acceptable.
If a single stage charger set at 2.45V/cell remains connected to a
battery, the high residual value of trickle current causes
overcharge which cannot be absorbed into cells. The excess
energy is dissipated as heat, resulting in reduced operating life and
performance. Reduction in cell voltage to the float value of 2.25V
minimises the overcharge current to a safe, sustainable level, at the
cost of increased charge time.
Optimum fast charging is obtained by combining the cyclic and
standby modes in a multistage managed charger with a re-forming
mode for initial recovery.
In summary, the multistage

SLA charging process
sequence is:
Step 1
Forming current until
discharged cell voltage rises
to 1.75V/cell.

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Step 2
Voltage Depression
Memory Effect
Bulk charge to 2.45V/cell (approximately 80% returned capacity).
Step 3
Continuous trickle charge at 2.25V/cell, reaching 90% of capacity
after 5-6 hours.
SLA Battery Charge Time

The approximate charge time for an SLA battery in good condition
and not over-discharged can be calculated as:
Time (h) = (Battery Ah Capacity / Max Charger Current A) + 2h
One effect of continual

overcharge and high
temperature operation is
voltage depression. The
voltage of each cell in the
battery pack may be reduced
by up to 150mV reducing
useful operating hours
significantly.
This is a more probable
reason for loss of capacity
NiCd and NiMH Battery Charging

Standard Charge
For many applications using NiCd and NiMH batteries, a standard
overnight constant current charge for a period of 14 hours is
suitable. This equates to a rate of C/10, where C is the Ampere hour
capacity of the cell. Extended constant current charge at the C/10
rate has little effect on the overall performance or operating life of
NiCd and NiMH batteries. It is however good practice to
discontinue the charge within 24 hours to minimise long term
effects, particularly when using NiMH cells.
If accelerated fast charge is required at rates of typically C/5 to 2C,
the correct management of the charge characteristic is vital to
prevent battery damage.
than the near mythical

"memory effect", which is
only apparent after a cell has
been subjected to precise
repetitive shallow cycling.
Both voltage depression and
memory effect can be
removed by a controlled
conditioning discharge to a
known end point voltage.
NiCd and NiMH Battery Charge Time

The approximate charge time for NiCd and NiMH batteries in good
condition and not over-discharged can be calculated as:
Time (h) = (Battery Ah Capacity / Max Charger Current A) + 20%


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Astrosyn

Guide to Battery Management

Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

GUIDE TO BATTERY MANAGEMENT

Energy Density (Wh/kg)

Operating cycles (typical)

Self discharge (%/month)

Equivalent series resistance

Maximum charge rate

Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

GUIDE TO BATTERY MANAGEMENT

Initial current limit

Manufacturers of SLA batteries recommend constant voltage

If the battery is fully or

The trickle current continues

Standby and Cyclic Application

The battery can remain

The maximum charge voltage recommended by most battery

In summary, the multistage

Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

GUIDE TO BATTERY MANAGEMENT

Bulk charge to 2.45V/cell (approximately 80% returned capacity).

SLA Battery Charge Time

One effect of continual

NiCd and NiMH Battery Charging

than the near mythical

NiCd and NiMH Battery Charge Time

Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

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