lead-acid

Chinese lead-acid battery producers’ average operating rate at rose to a year-high of 61.16% of capacity, according to the latest survey conducted by Shanghai Metals Market (SMM).

SMM said the rate rose by 4.16% in July. The average operating rate at motive battery producers saw an increase of 6.43% from June to 54.32%, thanks to increases in lead-acid battery prices.

Prices for 48V 12AH batteries rose in July to RMB 400/set ($64.84), up RMB 100/set, or 33%, from June. In addition, 48V 20AH battery prices rose RMB 80/set, or 16% from June, to RMB 580/set.

The average operating rate at ignition battery producers rose 3.14% from June to 60.48%. However, demand from other end consumers remains sluggish, said SMM.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that China’s automobile output fell in July by 5.43% to 1.58 million vehicles, while motorcycle output fell by 3.96% to 1.89 million mt. Exports of ignition batteries were also down 5% from June to 1.61 million units.

The average operating rate at backup battery producers rose by 3.99% points to 70.39%, with demand in China and overseas both up during July. Exports of UPS and communication batteries were also pushed up by stronger demand, with backup batteries exported totalling 10.89 million units in July, up 6% from June.

Hammond Group, Inc. (HGI), owner of Hammond Expanders and Hammond Oxides, has announced a new family of next generation battery additives and expanders formulated specifically for advanced lead-acid batteries.

“Lead-acid chemistry is facing new challenges from the evolving energy demands of automotive and industrial batteries. Hammond’s goal is to bring value-generating solutions”, said Ed Klavin, President and COO of Hammond Oxides.

One of the first product introductions is a new, proprietary expander formulated to meet the specific demands of idle stop-start and micro-hybrid applications.

The traditional expander blends using carbon black, lignosulfonate and barium sulphate, have not been fully sufficient to meet the demands of dynamic charge acceptance. The new expander blend uses a significantly higher amount of advanced carbons in the mix to achieve desired performance characteristics.

Achim Lulsdorf, Vice President of Product Development at Hammond Group, said: “It could not just be any carbon, we established that a highly structured conductive carbon with certain surface properties works best. It helps to form a conductive matrix in the dense sulphate layers to break it up and allow the current to pass.”

HGI will use the Asian Battery Conference in Singapore to announce the fourth quarter 2013 start-up of a new, tetrabasic lead sulphate (TTBLS) plant in Selangor, Malaysia where Hammond now produces expanders and specialty oxides. Sold under the trade name SureCure, small additions of Hammond’s TTBLS can significantly improve battery capacity and cycle life with improved plate consistency; equal performance at lower cost may be realised as less positive active material is required.

“We are installing TTBLS production in Malaysia to serve growing demand in the Asian market. Hammond will offer our customers new additive solutions to improve battery performance and reduce material cost”, said Sudhir Patel, CEO and President of Hammond Group, Inc.

Shandong Sacred Sun Power Sources Co. Ltd has opened a state-of-the-art facility that, when running at full capacity, will be one of the largest lead-acid battery factories in the world. The production site in Qufu City, Shandong, China, currently has an annual production capacity of four million kVAh, when the plant is fully operational this could reach six million kVAh each year.

The one billion RMB (US$163 million) plant is part of the new environmentally-conscious era of Chinese lead-acid battery manufacturing because it adheres to the Lead-Acid Battery Industry Access Conditions that have recently been announced by the Chinese Government.

Some Chinese battery producers have been criticised for lead contamination coming from plants. To prevent such pollution, Sacred Sun has introduced ultramodern production processes and equipment including a fully automatic lead-milling process, a closed-loop system to supply, recover and recycle lead in production, and fully enclosed battery formation. These methods are highly effective for reducing lead fumes and dust. The new plant also uses advanced technology and equipment for producing tubular plating.

According to the Lead-Acid Battery Industry Access Conditions, as set out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, new, reorganised and expanded lead-acid battery manufacturers' capacities can be no less than 500,000 kVAh, in the hope of improving the industry access threshold.

Shandong Sacred Sun Power Sources, located in Qufu City, Shandong Province, China, was established in 1991. The company produces lead-acid batteries that are primarily used in standby power and electric vehicle applications around the world.

EcoVolt Power, lead-acid battery manufacturer, has made the first commercial delivery of its EcoSmart SLI batteries to Energy Battery Group, a distributer in Atlanta, Georgia.

The batteries use patented bridge-and-pier technology to continuously circulate electrolyte around the lead plates, a technique that the company claims will reduce acid stratification and plate degradation, thus lengthening battery life to twice the life of comparable automotive batteries.

Rick Hallock, President and CEO, of Energy Battery Group, said: "While a great deal of attention has been focused on rare earth battery technology, lead-acid batteries will continue to dominate sales of starter batteries for many years to come."

Samsung SDI and Xtreme Power are installing a 1MW/1MWh lithium-manganese oxide energy storage system for a demonstrative smart grid project in Texas. The system, to be installed at the Reese Technology Centre in Lubbock, is partly funded by the Department of Energy.

The project aims to promote utility scale energy storage with wind energy. The battery system will be utilised to regulate power generated from local wind turbines that suffer from intermittent loss of generation.

Samsung’s lithium-ion battery technology together with Xtreme Power’s Xtreme Active Control Technology (XACT), which gives millisecond response time, will enable the wind generated power to be fed into the national grid.

This is the first project Samsung SDI and Xtreme Power have worked on together to provide energy storage solutions for renewable integration and grid support. The companies have formed the alliance to reach renewable energy goals and promote a cleaner electric grid.