AVT 1104

Aircraft Electrics

(MIDTERM)
Aircraft Batteries
• Batteries are used during
preflight to power up the
electrical system and to start
the Auxiliary Power Unit and/or
the engines. Once started, the
APU or engine(s) drive
generators which then power
the electrical circuits and
recharge the batteries.
• Some electrically powered fixed equipment such
as the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), the
CVR, the FDR, will have their own dedicated
batteries. Portable equipment routinely carried
on board aircraft such as Torches and
Megaphones are also battery powered
• Since batteries are an energy source, their failure
due to damage, defect, malfunction or misuse
represents a potential risk of hazardous fumes,
smoke or fire.
Aviation Requirements for Aircraft Battery

• Any battery intended for use as a power

source for equipment installed or routinely
carried on aircraft must not only be safe but
ideally have a high energy density, be
lightweight, reliable, require minimal
maintenance, and be able to operate
efficiently over a wide environmental
envelope.
• Battery manufacturers continue to develop
new technologies in an attempt to achieve
these ideals but in many cases compromises in
these non-safety objectives are necessary and
in some cases, safety implications of new
designs have been overlooked.
What is a battery?
• A battery is a device containing one or more
cells that convert chemical energy directly into
electrical energy. Each cell contains two
electrodes, each of which is made of a
different material, and a conductive
electrolyte. The positive electrode is referred
to as the "anode" and the negative electrode
is called the "cathode".
• When the electrodes are "connected' by the
electrolyte, a specific chemical reaction known
as a "redox" (reduction-oxidation) reaction
takes place. This reaction causes reduction
(electron addition) to take place at the
cathode and oxidation (electron removal) to
take place at the anode.
• It is this migration of electrons which produces
the electromotive force (EMF) within the cell. It is
the open circuit voltage that the cell is capable of
producing.
• The voltage varies depending upon the materials
used to make the cell. As an example, a nickel-
cadmium cell has an emf of about 1.2 volts, a
zinc-carbon cell has an emf of approximately 1.5
volts and a lithium cell can produce an emf of
between 3 and 4.2 volts.
Two-types of cell
• Primary Cell
Primary Cell, once the redox reaction is
complete, all of the available electrons have
migrated from the anode to the cathode. The
battery will no longer produce any current
and must be replaced.
• Secondary Cell
• In a secondary cell, the redox reaction can be
reversed by connecting an external power
source to the battery. This process allows the
battery to be recharged by driving the
electrons back to the anode.
• This, in turn, allows the redox reaction to be
repeated once the charger has been removed.
Note that a secondary battery cannot be
recharged indefinitely and therefore the
battery must eventually be replaced.