CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

 OPERATION OF CELL AND BATTERY

 SELECTION OF BATTERIES AND ITS APPLICATION

 SILVER OXIDE – ZINC BATTERIES

 NICKEL CADMIUM BATTERIES

 ELECTRICAL TESTING OF BATTERIES

 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
 INTRODUCTION AND THE HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

High Energy Batteries (India) Limited was conceived to develop and manufacture
high energy batteries using silver oxide zinc system at the instance of DTD & P (Air),
Ministry of Defense. The project work commenced during the year 1978 and trial
production started during the summer of 1979. Type test evolution on preproduction
batteries was conducted for nearly two years and HEB 45Ah battery was the type
certified on 1981 till date. HEB has supplied more than 25000Nos. of 22.5V Ah
batteries to Indian Air force.

History:

HEB simultaneously started their in house R&D to develop various other types of
silver oxide Zinc secondary and primary batteries from 1982 onwards. During the 25
years periods, HEB has supplied batteries to Defense Organizations like DRDL,
NSTL, NAD, ISRO, etc.

HEB also embarked upon the development of Nickel Cadmium cells and a pilot plant
was set up in 1983. HEB employed sintered plate type technology with an
electrochemical impregnation process. The technology was established using in house
R&D without any technical collaboration or assistance from outside parties.

Later on, HEB branched out into the production of vented Nickel Cadmium prismatic
cells. HEBs3.5Ah, 6Ah and 7.2AH batteries have already been type-approved
000Nos. of 7.2Ah batteries were supplied to the Army. 18Ah, 23Ah and 40Ah
Aircraft batteries have given approval by directorate of Aeronautics, Ministry of
Defense. NC 18Ah, 27Ah and 34Ah are under type approval test.

HEBs. Current production range includes batteries for following application:

 Commercial end military aircraft – Starting and emergency supply.
 Underwater propulsion (Torpedo) – War shot and Exercise.
 Underwater detection (SONAR)
 Remote sensing & telemetry – Sounding rockets, Balloons, Missiles.
 Space vehicle –Power sources for satellite launch vehicle guidance.
 Heavy vehicle starting
 Communication power supply.
HEB has been accredited with ISO 9001:2000 & ISO14001: 1996 Certification by M/s
Underwriters Laboratories Inc., (U.S.A)
HEB Product line:

AIRFORCE:
 Silver Oxide – Zinc Batteries:

S.NO HEB Type Description Application

01. SZ 28V, 45Ah Air Craft Battery
02. HR350 Secondary Torpedo Propulsion
03. HR120 Secondary Torpedo Propulsion
04. HR1 Secondary Telemetry
05. HR3 Secondary Telemetry

 Secondary Ni – Cd sintered vented type – Rechargeable:

01. NC 24V, 40Ah Air Craft Battery

02. FTNC 24V, 40Ah Air Craft Battery
03. FTNC 12V, 6Ah Radio communication

 Sea Water Activated Silver Chloride – Magnesium Type:

01. MK61 MOD (0) Battery Torpedo Propulsion

02. AET Battery 32KW Torpedo Propulsion

MLILTARY:
 Ni – Cd sintered plate rechargeable:

01. 24V, 3.5Ah Communication

02. 18V, 6Ah Communication
03. 15/2, 5V – 7.2/7.2Ah Communication
04. 20V NC 23Ah

NAVY:
 Silver Oxide – Zinc Batteries:

01. SZ HR 350 secondary Torpedo propulsion

CET 53M (IN 53M90)
 02. SZ HR3 – secondary Telemetry
03. SZ INWGT – Primary Torpedo propulsion

VSSC – ISRO:
 Silver Oxide – Zinc cells:

01. HR1 High Rate 1Ah cells

02. HR3 High Rate 3Ah cells
03. HR5 High Rate 5Ah cells
04. HR15 High Rate 15Ah cells
05. HR40 High Rate 40Ah cells

OPERATION OF CELL AND BATTERY

Battery:
Battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy by means of
an electrochemical oxidation-reduction (REDOX) reaction. In this type of a reaction
there is a transfer of electron from one material to another through an electrical
circuit.
Cell is the basic electrochemical unit .A battery is one that consists of one or more
cell connected in series or parallel according to the specification desired.

Components of Cell:
There are four major components of cell. They are
Positive electrode.
Negative electrode.
Separator
Electrolyte

Physically the anode and cathode are electrically separated or isolated in the cell to
prevent short-circuiting, but surrounded by electrolyte. The separator is used is
however permeable to electrolyte in order to maintain the desired ionic conductivity.

Operation:
In the operation of a cell there are two operations. They are
Charging
Discharging

Charging:
 During the recharge of a rechargeable/storage battery the current flow is reversed
and oxidation takes place at the positive electrode and reduction at the negative
electrode.
As the anode by its definition is the place where the oxidation occurs and the
cathode is the one where reduction occurs. Thus the positive electrode is anode and
negative electrode is cathode.

In the example of the zinc / chloride cell the reaction on charge can be written as:

Negative electrode:
Here reduction takes place – gain of electrons
Zn2+ + 2e-  Zn

Positive electrode:
Here oxidation takes place.
2Cl-  Cl2 + 2e-

Overall Reaction:
Zn2+ + 2Cl-  Zn+ Cl2

Discharging:
When the cell is connected to an external load electrons flow from negative,
which is oxidized through the external load to the positive, where the electrons are
accepted and the positive material reduced. The electrical circuit is completed in the
electrolyte by the flow of anions and cations to the anode and cathode.
The discharge reactions can be written assuming metals as negative material and
chloride as positive material.
The reactions are similar to charging but in the reversed direction.

Important Characteristics of Battery:

Capacity:
It is expressed as the total quantity of electricity involved in the electrochemical
reaction and is defined in terms of coulombs/ampere hours. The ampere-hour capacity
of the cell is directly associated with the quantity of electricity obtained from the
active materials.
Theoretically one-gram equivalent weight of electro-active material will deliver
96.487 C or 26.8AH
Capacity (Ah) = Current in Ampere x Time in hours.

Energy Density:
Energy density is the parameter used when accessing relative battery performance
and is usually expressed by the product of the capacity and the average voltage during
discharge / unit weight of battery.
 Capacity x Average voltage
Energy Density = -----------------------------------
Weight

Theoretical Cell Voltage:

The standard potential of the cell is determined by its active material and can be
calculated from free energy data are obtained experimentally.
The standard potential of the cell can be calculated from the standard electrode
potential as follow:
Anode + Cathode = Standard Cell Potential
(Oxidation Potential) (Reduction Potential)

Theoretical Potential:
The capacity of a cell is expressed as the total quantity of electricity involved in
the electrochemical reaction and is terms of coulombs or Ampere – hours.
The theoretical capacity of a battery of a systems, is calculated from the
equivalent weight of the reactants.
Equivalent weight of + Equivalent weight of = Theoretical Capacity
Anode Cathode

The capacity of batteries is also considered on a energy (watt-hour) basis by

taking the voltage as well as the quantity of electricity.
Watt–hour (Wh) = Voltage(V) * Ampere-hour (Ah)

General Classification and Description of Battery:

Classification of Batteries:
Electrochemical cells and Batteries are identified as:
 Primary or Nonrechargable
 Secondary or Rechargeable

Description:

Primary:
These are not recharged electrically and hence are discharged once and discarded.
Many primary cells in which the electrolyte is contained by an absorbent or separator
material are termed “dry cell”. Primary cell or battery is used for single day or single
application such as for weapons.
Secondary:
These can be recharged electrically, after discharge to their original condition by
passing current through them in the opposite direction to that of the discharge current.
They are storage electrical energy and known as storage batteries.
These are characterized by high power density, high discharge rate, flat discharge
curves, and good low temperature performance.
Secondary cell or battery is used for repeated application such as trial version of
weapons.

Fuel cells:
This can be considered as primary battery type but one in which the reactants are
fed into the cell from an external source when power is desired thus cell can operate
continuously as long as reactants are supplied and the internal cell electrodes and
components remain unchanged. Here anode material will be gaseous or liquid and
oxygen or air is the oxidant.

SELECTION OF BATTERY AND ITS APPLICATION

Factors affecting battery capacity:

Many factors influence the operational characteristics, capacity and performance
of a battery as follows:
 Voltage level
 Current drain discharge
 Type of discharge
 Temperature of battery during discharge
 Service life
 Charging voltage
 Effect of cell and battery design
 Age and storage condition of the battery
 Voltage regulation

Further, it should be noted that even within a given cell or battery design, there
will be a performance difference from manufacturer to manufacturer and between
different versions of the same battery. There is also performance variability within
a production lot and from production lot to production lot that inherent in any
manufacturing process.

Major considerations in selecting battery:

A number of factors must be considered in selecting a suitable battery for
a particular application. There is still no one battery that combines optimum
performance under all operating conditions with light weight, safety, reliability,
low cost and other required features. The characteristics of each available battery
must be weighted against the equipment requirements and one selected that best
fulfills the requirements.
Applications:
 Memory backup
 Navigation aids
 Oceanographic equipment
 Implants (heart pacemakers)
 Meteorological equipment
 Medical appliances
 Emergency transmitters
 Meter, test equipment and instrumentation
 Railway signaling
 Photographic equipment
 Vehicles
 Audio and communication equipment
 Engine starting
 Appliances and convenience equipment
 Aircrafts
 Signal and alarms
 Auxiliary and emergency power
 electrical energy storage
 Submarine and underwater propulsion
 Satellite and spacecraft
 Missiles
 SILVER OXIDE – ZINC BATTERY

General characteristics:
An important reverse battery particular for missile and aerospace application is
the zinc silver oxide electrochemical system, which is noted for its high rate
capability and high energy density.
The cell is designed with thin plates and large surface area electrodes, which
promotes high rate and low temperature capability and provide flat discharge
characteristic.
This design however reduces activated or wet self-life of battery, necessitating the
use of a reverse battery design to meet storage requirements.

Chemistry:
Anode : Metallic zinc
Cathode : Silver oxide
Electrolyte : Potassium Hydroxide

Zn + 2AgO + H2O  Zn(OH)2 + Ag2O

Zn +Ag2O + H2O  Zn(OH)2 + 2Ag
Construction:
Conventional cell design is prismatic container with positive and negative
terminals and a combination fill or vent cap. Connecting single cells in series and
packaging in a unit container forms batteries.

Cell components:
Cell components consist of positive plates, negative plates and separators. The
components are assembled such that each negative is protected from direct electronic
contact with adjacent positive plate by separator. The cell components are assembled
and packed in a container, the plates are prepared in a dry and charged condition.

Positive plates:
Positive plates are prepared by applying silver or silver oxide powder to a metallic
grid. Grid can be of copper, nickel and silver. But silver is preferred for its
electrochemical stability and conductivity. After silver powder is passed or sintered to
the grid the plates are electroformed in an alkaline solution, then washed thoroughly
and air-dried at a moderate temperature.
Negative plates:
These may be prepared by pasting or pressing zinc powder or ZnO2 onto a grid or
electroplating zinc from alkaline bath to form a very active spongy zinc deposit.
Generally thin plates are used for short life, high discharge rate and automatically
activated batteries, while thick plates are used for manually activated batteries, and
continuous discharge for several months at a very low current rate.

Separator:
The separator material used are regenerated cellulose film, nylon, Dacron, Rayon
fibred materials etc. These materials are used to avoid short-circuiting. Semi
permeable film is the separator, which contributes most to IR drop and also to protect
against short. Long life cells contain five or six layers of cellophane.

Electrolyte:
Electrolyte used is of water solution of potassium hydroxide. High and medium
discharge rate cells use 31% by weight electrolyte solution because this low
composition has minimum resistance. Low rate cells may use 40% solution.

Merits:
 Highest energy per unit weight and volume
 High discharge rate capability
 Excellent charge tension capability
 Flat discharge voltage
 Extended dry storage time

Demerits:

 Low cycle life

 Sensitive
 Limited wet life
 Decreased performance at low temperature
 NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES

General characteristics:
A specially designed battery for its application in the field of under water,
aerospace communication etc. It is widely used because of its longer life time, better
efficiency than other batteries.
Chemistry:
During Charging:
Ni(OH)2 + OH- + H2O  NiOOH + H2O

In negative electrode:
Cd(OH)2 + 2e- Cd + 2OH-

The overall Charge-Discharge reaction:

2Ni (OH)2 + Cd(OH)2  NiOOH + Cd + 2H2O


Construction:
Plate packs are assembled positive and negative plates with separator gas barrier
system interleaved between them. The cell terminals are bolted or welded to current
collector plate tabs.

Separator:
The separator material used is multi-layered combination. It consists of a cloth
that electrically separates the positive and negative plates and permeable plastic
membrane that serves as the gas barrier.

Electrolyte:
Electrolyte used is of water solution of potassium hydroxide. High and medium
discharge rate cells use 31% at full charge. Performance of the cell particularly at low

Merits:
 Longer wet life.
 Longer cycle life.
 Immune to over charge and over discharge
 High discharge rate capability.
Demerits:

 Memory effect
 Thermal runaway.
 Less power Density compared to silver zinc.

ELECTRICAL TESTING OF BATTERIES

Testing Of Secondary Batteries:

Formation of cells:
The cells are formed by charging and discharging at a lower rate of current.

Charging:
The discharged cells and the fresh cells are charged to their Maximum value of
voltage with the help of Electronic chargers
Charging is of two types namely constant current charging and constant voltage
charging.

Constant voltage charging:

Value of the voltage is set to a constant value in the charger. This is called as the
set value. The cell is connected to the charger. Because of the potential difference
between the cell and the charger current flows and the cell is charged. When the cell
is charged to the set value of the voltage, current flow becomes zero. Hence the cell is
charged to the set value of voltage.

Constant current charging:

Value of current is set to a constant set value in charger. The cell is connected to
charger. The cell is charged. When the cut-in voltage of the cell is reached the cell
should be removed. With the help of constant current charger it is easier to calculate
the ampere hour of the cell.

Discharging:
The charged cells are discharged to their minimum value of voltage with the help
of load banks of various rating. The remaining minimum value of voltage is
discharged with drain clips.

High Rate Discharge Test:

Life Cycle Test:

 The life of the battery is specified by the company. The lifecycle test is done to
check whether the battery satisfies the specified criteria. The criteria may be the time
specified or number of usage.

.Testing Of Primary Cells:

The testing of primary cells is carried out by using separate arrangement in which
gas at high pressure is used to force electrolyte into the battery from ampoule. When
electrolyte enters the cell it starts conducting and voltage is produced between the
terminals. The battery is discharged with the help of load banks.
If temperature conditions are specified for testing of primary cells the testing is
carried out using a special humidity chamber which goes to a wide range of
temperature in negative and positive ranges.

Testing of 10-cell pack:

This is also one type of primary cell. 10-cell pack contains 10 cells of silver
chloride-Magnesium cells. It is used in underwater torpedo. Here Sea water is the
electrolyte. During testing sea water is prepared artificially and kept in a chiller unit
(since temperature under water is less). During the test the sea water is released into
the cell and the cell starts conducting. The cell is discharged with load bank. To build
pressure as in under water a tube is kept outside at a some particular height from the
cell pack. Hence pressure is build and from there used water is released outside.
The voltage of the cell and the current of the cell are recorded with the help of data
logger connected to the system.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS TO BE FOLLOWED WHILE WORKING

Safety measures for KOH:

 While handling KOH, use hand gloves and keep boric acid solution nearby.
 For small Ah cells always use syringe for filling KOH.
 Always fill exact quantity of specified concentration.

Safety measures for Electrical testing:

 Always use insulated tools during working on cells / Batteries to avoid
accidential short circuiting.
 Do not short circuit cells / Batteries.
 Ensure that while connecting cells / Batteries to charger / discharger, correct
polarity is maintained.
 Always use two separate inter connecting cables between charger / discharger
and cells / batteries.
 Before connecting cell / battery to discharge set up, ensure that the main knife
switch is in open condition.
 Before connecting the discharge set up, ensure that the same is free from short
circuit.
 TYPICAL APPLICATIONS:

SILVER NICKEL LEAD DRY CELL SILVER FUEL CELLS LITHIUM THERMAL
ZINC CADMIUM ACID MAGNESIUM BATTERY BATTERY
BATTERIES BATTERI BATTERIES
BATTERIES ES
Primary Memory signals Calculator surveillance satellites Memory satellite
backup backup
calculators

Underwater medical Alarms clock Detection Sub -marine Watches Space craft, electric
missiles lighting memory vehicles, missiles.
(Torpedoes) backup
Missiles Audio & Vehicles Medical Under water Light Clocks,
communicati (SLI) audio& propulsion houses, calculators
on Engine communic tractors
equipment starting ation
equipment
Watches Signals Auxillary Toys Buoys Electric Implants
(button alarms & vehicles, (heart
cells) emergenc city vans pace
y load makers)
leveling
Secondary Oceanograp Electric Torch Running
aircraft hic vehicles lights, vehicles
satellites emergency transistor
transmitters
Space crafts Railway automobil Radio sets Captive
munitions signaling es power
plants
Missiles Air crafts Fork lifts Portable
generator

Calculators Uninterrupte
d power
systems
Torpedoes Electric
submersible vehicles
satellites
 space crafts

Hi-beam Torch lights

torches radio sets
sub-marine
communicati
on
FIBER NICKEL CADMIUM CELLS:

STAGE I:

POLYMER MATERIAL

SENSIDATION & ACTIVATION

COPPER FLASHING

NICKEL IMPREGNATION
.

PYROLYSIS
 INERT ATMOSPHERE SINTERING

METALLIC STATE SUBSTANCE

STAGE II:

METALLIC SUBSTANCE

COATING WITH SLURRY

+920ºC

SINTERING

SUBSTRATE
 POSITIVE NEGATIVE

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

IMPREGNATION IMPREGNATION

CONVERSION ALKALI CONVERSION ALKALI

 WASHING WASHING

ELECTRODE CELL ASSEMBLY