JUST WHAT DO ENGINEERS DO?

• Engineers take the marvels of

science, math,
•and nature, bundle it up in a special

way with
•hopes and dreams to make a better
future
•for all.

• Engineers are like good wizards with

•wisdom and tricks up their sleeves
using the
•forces of nature to do special tasks
 DEFINITIONS
• Electrolyte - Medium that conducts charge
• Ions - Positively charged or negatively charged
atoms
• Oxidation - Any reaction in which electrons are
lost.
• Reduction - Any reaction in which electrons are
gained.
• Anode:(-) Terminal (Oxide. occurs in Electrolyte)–
Electrons are released from this electrode to
the electrolyte internal to the battery
• Cathode:(+) Terminal (Reduction in Electrolyte)–
Electrons in the electrolyte are collected by
this electrode
• Electrochemical Cell - (Simple Battery)– Contains
two electrodes (Anode and Cathode) immersed in a
medium that conducts charge
• Potential Difference - is
the
•force or energy supplied (or

•required) to push electrons

•through an element

• Current - the flow of

charge
•through an element
BATTERY
•

• BATTERYA Battery is a device that

stores chemical energy
• and converts into
• electrical form.
•
 HISTORY
• Can you guess when the first battery was discovered?
•The first “ battery ” was dated around 250 B . C . based on
archaeological
•digs in Baghdad , Iraq
•

• Can you guess what it was used for?

•The first batteries were used for placing a thin layer
of metal on jewelry .
•( Process called - Electroplating )
•

• Alessandro Volta (1745 - 1827)

• Rediscovered the battery
• The electrical unit of “ volt ” was named after him
• Battery - Zinc and copper discs separated by cloth
soaked in sodium chloride ( table salt )
• Volta demo his “ Voltaic Cell ” to Napoleon Bonaparte
 BATTERY NOMENCLATURE

Duracell batteries 9v battery 6v dry cell

BATTERY NOMENCLATURE
 HOW DO BATTERIES WORK?

Metal A Metal B
As batteries discharge, the acid is turned to water
and the lead plates are turned into lead sulfate
When both plates are turned to lead sulfate the
battery is discharged or dead
 How many volts does one battery cell produce?
2.1 volts
•

• How many cells in a 12 volt battery?

• 6 cells
• How many volts in a 12 volt battery?
• 12.6
• How can you get 12.6 volts out of a bunch of 2.1 volt cells?
• wire them in series
•

•
 What comes out of a battery?
• ELECTRICAL POWER
• What is power?
• Watts = volts X Amps
• How do you get more volts out of a battery?
• add more cells in series
• How do diesel vehicles get 24 volts for starting?
• wiring 2-12 volt, or
4-6 volt batteries in series
•
 Demand
•Cellular phones, laptop computers, beepers,
portable music players: all of these common
devices require energy to operate, and this
energy is provided by batteries. Battery use
has grown over the century in not only the
number of consumers using these products.
•Currently about 4 billion household batteries,

or more properly dry cells, are sold in

United States and 200 thousand in
Philippines each year.
 CLASSIFICATION OF BATTERIES
•

•Primary batteries irreversibly transform

chemical energy to electrical
energy. Once the initial supply of
reactants is exhausted, energy
cannot be readily restored to the
battery by electrical means.
•Secondary(Rechargeable) batteries can have

the chemical reactions reversed by

supplying electrical energy to the
cell, restoring their original
composition .
 PRIMARY BATTERIES

Zinc-Carbon

Alkaline
 Secondary Batteries

Lead-Acid

Nickel-Cadmium
ENVIRONMEN
T
 Environmental Concerns
•

• Although batteries contribute only a small proportion of all

municipal wastes by volume, they are responsible for a LARGE
SHARE OF TOXIC METALS. In 1989, consumer batteries
accounted for 88 percent of the mercury (Hg) and 54 percent of the
cadmium (Cd) in the US municipal solid waste stream.
•

• Although the Hg content in batteries has decreased dramatically since

then, NiCad battery use is increasing, contributing almost 75
percent of the cadmium in the waste stream. Discarded cadmium
in batteries and appliances nationwide was recently projected to
increase from about 1,300 tons in 1990 to 2,000 tons by the year
2000 (Fishbein, 1996). Detectable levels of mercury have been
traced to discarded household batteries. Although they are not a
problem during use of the battery, these metals may pose
environmental threats after disposal.
•

•
 TWO MOST COMMON METHODS
OF DISPOSING BATTERIES
• INCINERATION
•If household trash is incinerated, some of

the
•heavy metals in batteries can be released

into
•the atmosphere although most is
concentrated
•in the solid ash residue that typically is

•disposed of in a landfill. Again, if

precautions
•are not taken, toxic metals can leach into

•surface water or groundwater.

 • LANDFILLING
•

•When batteries are buried in landfills, the

battery can be crushed, or its casing can
corrode. The inner materials can then leach out
and feed into a surface water source or
contaminate groundwater aquifers used for crop
irrigation and drinking water.
• 

•When toxic metals enter the environment, human

health can be damaged. For example, we can
ingest trace metals directly in water and air
or indirectly via the food chain (which may
include trace chemicals taken up by plants,
fish, and animals). Although these quantities are
typically small, health problems associated with
toxic levels of trace metals may affect the
senses, the nervous system, the muscular system,
several vital organs and other parts of the
body. The severity of effects depends on a
variety of factors, such as the material’s
concentration in the environment and the
duration of exposure.
• 
GREEN EFFORTS
• Efforts by the battery manufacturing industry to become
more environmentally friendly have led to several developments
aimed at reducing the discharge of toxic metals to the
environment.
•

•Manufacturers of lead-acid car batteries are now

required to accept and recycle spent batteries.
• 

•Another important development has been the elimination of

mercury from alkaline batteries; In the mid-1980s,
mercury accounted for 1 percent of a cell’s weight. In 1982 and
1983 the major U.S. battery manufacturers (Eveready, Duracell,
Panasonic/Kodak and Rayovac) converted to a “no added mercury”
design, bringing the mercury level to about 0.001 percent
(owing to the natural mercury content from other materials ).
Mercury, though not part of the electrochemistry, had
historically been added to alkaline batteries to subsequent
leakage.
•  
•
• Alternative anticorrosive techniques are currently
available, such as substituting a less toxic
stabilizing material in place of mercury or altering
the manufacturing process to compress the powdered zinc
in the anode to a greater density.
•

•In light of the potential hazards of ordinary disposal of

NiCad batteries, manufacturers of products utilizing
built-in NiCad batteries, such as handheld rechargeable
vacuum cleaners, have modified the design of their
products to allow easy removal of the battery before
disposal.
• 

•Improved labeling helps educate consumers about hazards of

improper disposal of the battery and informs them about

proper disposal methods.
• 

•Some retail stores, in conjunction with trade associations

and manufacturers, provide boxes for consumers to deposit

spent batteries, which are collected and sent to
recyclers.
• 
•As you can see, engineers who design
batteries have some control over their
potential environmental impacts. Some of
these decisions include:
• 

•The choice of materials for battery

operation
• 

•Design issues related to battery operating

life and shelf life

• 

•The choice of rechargeable or non-

rechargeable designs
• 

•
 Storing Batteries
• When a battery is new the lead and acid will
begin to react and it will slowly discharge.

• Any battery that sits unused for several months

will slowly go dead and begin to sulfate.

• This will ruin the battery..

• All batteries be periodically recharged.

• New batteries, awaiting sale, are given a

“trickle charge” on a regular schedule
•
 What do I do with the old and junk
battery?

•Batteries contain hazardous lead (and other nasty

•things). They are very harmful to the environment.

• It is illegal to place them in the trash or landfill.

•Any business that sells batteries…

• ... is legally obligated to recycle

them.

•
HEALTH HAZARDS
A young boy playfully rests on a plastic bag that is
•

used to transport carbon rod that comes out from the

center of used batteries. The environment in and
around the workshop is full of carbon dust and other
waste . Children play in the factory area until they
are tired and ready to sleep . Most children have
chest and eyes infection . Environment is so polluted
, most children suffers from one or the other kind of
infections all the time . Some even have streaks of
blood coming out of their noses all the time . There
are hundreds of other informal factories and
workshops inside and on the outskirts of the city of
Dhaka , the capital of Bangladesh . The industry
employs thousands of women and children.
All day long women and children break used batteries to get
•

reusable parts and tiny pieces of metal out of them . Once

separated, these materials are sent to battery manufacturing
factories and workshops that either reuse them or melt
them to make other useful materials . While breaking used
batteries or even playing , children inhale millions of fine
carbon dust particles from the batteries throughout the
day . Depending on how much work they do , each of them
get between 5 15 Taka per day ( US$ 1 . 00 = Taka 60 ) . It
takes a young child 4 12 days to earn just one US dollar .
Children in these workshops face some of the worst
condition of life anywhere in the world . None of the
children go to school . Although they work hard and need
nutritious food , they hardly eat much .
•