EN 50272-2 Ventilation requirement for vented Ni-Cd batteries

UPTIMAX L & M

At the end of charge and during overcharge, hydrogen is produced at the negative plate and oxygen
at the positive plate. Each Ah overcharge results in 0,42 liter hydrogen and 0,24 liter oxygen max. per cell.
The purpose of ventilating a battery location or enclosure is to maintain the hydrogen concentration
below the 4% hydrogen threshold. Battery accommodation rooms are to be considered as safe
from explosions, when by the natural or artificial ventilation the concentration of hydrogen is kept below this safety limit.
Note: Check local regulations regarding battery installation and ventilation

Calculation method:
0.42 liters of hydrogen per Ah and per cell are max. produced during overcharge assuming no gas recombination
24 Dilution factor to avoid a 4% hydrogen concentration in the air. ((100%-4%)/4%)
5 General safety factor.

resulting in a required ventilation of:

50 liter air ventilated for each cell Ah.
or
0.05 m3/Ah/cell
Current( Igas) during overcharge:
When charged with constant voltage, the current during overcharge can be assumed as:
3 mA/Ah during floating at 1,40 V to 1,43 V at 20oC

Note:

6 mA/Ah during boost at 1,43 V to 1,45 V at 20oC

The charger must be protected

A current safety factor 5 is included in above mentioned Igas :

against malfunction. If not, the

ventilation should be calculated
to suit the greatest current

Current during commissioning:

available from the charger.
100 mA/Ah during commissioning with 0,1C5Amp constant current
A:

Ventilation air flow Q calculation:

Q = 0,05 x n x Igas x Crt x 10 -3 (m3/h)
n:
Crt:

87 number of cells
420 rated capacity (C 5 Ah)
At float
5.48

Airflow Q (m3/h)
B:

At boost
10.96

Calculation number of air changes per hour

Volume battery accommodation:

length (m) width(m) height(m)

10.3
2.85
5

Occupied volume

1.5

0.8

2.5

Volume free air

Volume m3
146.775
3
143.775

At float
0.04

Nbr air changes per hour:

C:

Commissioning
182.7

At boost
0.08

Commissioning
1.27

Natural ventilation

The amount of ventilation air flow shall preferably be ensured by natural ventilation, otherwise by forced
or artificial ventilation.
For natural ventilation, battery rooms or enclosures require an air inlet and an air outlet with a free area of opening
calculated by the formula A > 28 * Q (cm2):

The air velocity is assumed to be 0,1 m/sec.

Free area of openings - inlet & outlet (cm2):

At float
153.47

At boost
306.936

Commissioning
5115.6