2/5/2018 Battery types used for auxiliary power supply in substations and power plants

Energy and Power

Di erent types of battery used for auxiliary

power supply in substations and power plants

Different types of battery used for auxiliary power supply in substations and power plants

In industrial or substation applications mainly three types of batteries are

used namely:

1. Vented / Flooded Lead Acid batteries

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2/5/2018 Battery types used for auxiliary power supply in substations and power plants

2. Sealed maintenance free batteries/Valve Regulated Lead Acid

3. Nickel Cadmium (Ni-cd) batteries

For UPS applications batteries are the most popular and hence are widely
used. Hence, in this detailing, mainly emphasize has been put on these type of
batteries.

Vented / Flooded Lead Acid Batteries

There are two types for vented or flooded lead
acid batteries namely tubular and Plante. The
difference between the two is the construction.
For tubular battery normal life is 8-10 years. The
Plante battery is both mechanically and
electrically more durable. The normal life for
Plante batteries is 15-20 years. Because this
type of battery generates corrosive fumes when
charging and because the sulfuric acid
electrolyte does evaporate to some extent, these
batteries must be used in a special room, which
is well ventilated to the outside and kept away
from delicate electronic equipments.

It needs separate room/racks with acid proof

tiles for installation. Because of evaporation, it
needs regular maintenance to check specific
Vented / Flooded Lead Acid Batteries gravity, to add water and acid. These batteries
can withstand high temperature, voltage, and
deep discharge with minimum damage to itself. A notice should be exhibited in
the battery room prohibiting smoking and use of naked flames. These batteries
cannot be transported in charged condition and therefore need charging at site.

Typical initial charging of the battery will take about 55 to 90 hours. Nominal
cell voltage is 2V/cell. The charger for this battery should be able to provide the
first charge at 2.6 to 2.7 V/cell.

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Tubular Type Lead acid battery

These types of batteries are typically used for UPS Systems of very high rated
capacity, typically engaged for plant application, wherein maintenance and
space is not really an issue.

Sealed Maintenance Free batteries (SMF)

VRLA/SMF type Lead acid battery
These are also known as Valve Regulated
Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries. These batteries
are the most popular for usage with UPS
systems for computer or commercial application.
Being sealed, these batteries do not emit any
fumes and hence can be very well installed next
to electronic equipment. These batteries also
can be housed in a close enclosure if necessary.
These batteries are also maintenance free and
avoid any hassles of checking specific gravity,
adding water or acid, etc.

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These batteries have a relatively lesser life of approx. 3-5 years. The life
expectancy typically depends on the number of charge/discharge cycle
experienced by the batteries and the ambient temperature in which the
batteries are used. These batteries are primarily the most popular for
commercial applications due to “Install and forget” approach.

The Performance and service life of these batteries can be

maximized by observing the following guidelines:

1. Permissible operating temperature range of SMF batteries is 15 deg C to

50 deg C, but using within an operating range 5 C to 35 C will extend service
life. Below – 15 deg C, the battery changes its chemical composition and
cannot hold a charge. You will enjoy longer service life, if batteries are operated
in ambient temperature range of 20 deg C to 25 deg C (68F to 77F). At lower
temperature they have longer life and lower capacity while at higher
temperature they have higher capacity and lower life.

2. A good rule of thumb when determining battery service life in relation to

temperature is that for every 8.3 deg C (15F) average annual temperature
above 25 deg C (77F), the life of the battery is reduced by 50%. Therefore
warranty of the battery should be ideally reduced to 50% for every 8.3 deg C
(15F) increase in operating temperature above 25 deg C (77F).

3. SMF batteries are designed to have a float voltage of 2.3 V/cell. This
means that a 12 V battery (with 6 internal cells) has a float voltage of 13.8
Volts. Most of the battery manufacturers recommend float voltage of 2.25 – 2.3
volts per cell. When there are more cells (generally >120) in series, to
compensate for higher temperatures, float voltage should be decreased by
approx. 3 mV per cell per deg C above 25 deg C. It should be increased by the
same amount when operated at a temperature less than 25 deg C to avoid
undercharge. The Cutoff voltage is 1.67 V/cell for high rate of discharge (

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4. It is recommended that SMF batteries should not be left in totally

discharged state more than 72 hrs. The batteries may get partially or fully
damaged due to SULPHATION if charging does not start within 72 Hrs from
totally discharged state. Sulphation is the formation of lead sulphate on
negative plates which acts as an insulator and has a detrimental effect on
charge acceptance.

5. In normal float / equalize use (2.25 to 2.35V/cell), gas generated inside

battery is recombined into negative plates, and return to water content of the
electrolyte. Thus electrical capacity is not lost because of this recombination.
There is no need to add external water, but due the corrosion of the electrodes
battery will eventually lose capacity.

6. At ambient temperature of 30 – 40 deg C, the shelf life of batteries is 5-6

months only. A freshening charge must be given to the batteries every 6
months, if needed to be stored for longer periods. Batteries should be kept in
dry, cool place. At ambient temperature of 20 deg C (68F), the self-discharge
rate is 3-4% (approx.) of rated capacity per month. The self-discharge rate
varies with ambient temperature.

7. SMF batteries are equipped with a safe, low pressure venting system,
which operates at 7 psi to 10 psi (can vary slightly from manufacturer to
manufacturer), automatically releasing excess gas in the event that gas
pressure rises to a level above the normal rate ensuring no excessive buildup
of gas in the batteries. Resealing is automatic once the pressure is returned to
normal.

8. Cyclic life of the battery depends on ambient operating temperature, the

discharge rate, the depth of discharge, and the manner in which the battery is
recharged. The most important factor is the depth of discharge. At a given
discharge rate and time, the shallower the depth of discharge, the longer is the
cyclic life.

9. Failure mode at the end of life includes:

1. Capacity decrease
2. Internal short circuit
3. Damage to container/lid
4. Terminal corrosion
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2/5/2018 Battery types used for auxiliary power supply in substations and power plants

5. Reduced open circuit voltage.

10. The IEEE defines “B” (Bend of useful life) for a UPS battery as being the
point when it can no longer supply 80 percent of its rated capacity in ampere-
hours (AH). The relationship between AH capacity and runtime time is not
linear, a 20% reduction in capacity results in a much greater reduction in
runtime. When battery reaches 80% of its rated capacity, the aging process
accelerates and the battery should be replaced. Some UPS/ Battery
manufacturers define “B” (Bend of useful life) for a UPS battery when battery
capacity reaches 50-60% of its rated capacity.

11. Mixed use of batteries with different capacities, different makes should be
avoided as it will cause accelerated aging of the whole string.

12. If two or more battery groups are to be used, connected in parallel, they
must be connected to the UPS through lengths of wires, cables or busbars that
have the same loop line resistance as each other. This makes sure that each
parallel bank of batteries presents the same impedance to the UPS as any
other of the parallel banks thereby ensuring correct equalization of the source
to allow for maximum energy transfer to the UPS load.

13. The normal life SMF battery will support approx. 200 charge/discharge
cycles at 25 deg C (77F) and 100% depth of discharge.

14. The term “B” (Bend of useful life) for a UPS battery refers to the fact
that these batteries do not require fluid. But preventive maintenance like
checking for cracks and deformation of the container & lid, electrolyte
leakage/spills tightening of the connection etc, particularly for higher AH
capacity batteries should be done to prevent any damage.
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Nickel Cadmium Batteries (Ni-Cd)
Ni-cd batteries do emit hydrogen and oxygen gas, products of electrolysis, but
there are no corrosive gases as lead acid batteries, so these can be installed
near electronic equipment. Water consumption is relatively low and so therefore
maintenance is low. Normal service life is 20-25 years. These are most
expensive of the various types of batteries previously discussed. Initial cost
may be approximately three times that of lead acid battery depending upon
their AH capacity.
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These batteries do not experience the severe shortening of life when operated
at elevated temperatures and perform better at low temperatures than do the
lead acid batteries. Nominal cell voltage is 1.2 V/cell. The battery chargers and
inverters have to be designed to operate with low end cell cutoff voltages and
higher recharging voltages needed for such batteries.

These batteries occasionally demand boost charging and typically find their
applications wherein UPSs support critical equipment in hazardous environment
such as chemical, fertilizer, cement industry.

Merits/demerits
As spelled earlier, all the above discussed types of batteries have their own
merits and demerits. Let us now look at them individually.

A) Vented / ooded Lead acid batteries

Merits

1. Most economical among three types of batteries.

2. Life is higher than SMF batteries.
3. Robust- not much sensitive to temperature.

Demerits

1. Needs periodic maintenance- twice a month.

2. Emits corrosive fumes.
3. Needs special battery room with acid proof tilling.
4. Cannot be transported in charged condition, initial charging takes 55 to 90
hours.
5. Needs specially trained persons for handling due highly hazardous
sulphuric acid.

B) Sealed maintenance free batteries / Valve Regulated Lead Acid

Merits

1. No maintenance as far as water filling, specific gravity check etc is

concerned.
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2. Can be shipped in charged conditions so ready to use.

3. User friendly.

Demerits

1. Leaving batteries in discharged state for longer life will reduce life
significantly or can damage them permanently.
2. Very sensitive to temperature
3. Service life lowest among the three types
4. Costlier than flooded / vented lead acid battery

C) Nickel Cadmium (Ni-cd) batteries

Merits

1. Moderate maintenance
2. Higher service life
3. less sensitive to temperature
4. Fumes not corrosive so can be installed near electronic equipment

Demerits

1. Most expensive among three types

2. Cannot be transported in charged conditions.
3. Compatibility with respect to charger and inverter needed to be considered.

Summary of Techno-Commercial Analysis between Ni-Cd & Lead

acid Batteries

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No. Description Ni-Cd Lead acid Remarks

1 Reliability Worst case failure Worst case failure This point makes
Criteria is cell short circuit. is cell open NiCd to be
Result is reduced circuit. Result is superior in terms
performance. The complete loss of of purpose
battery will battery, known as
continue to ‘sudden death’,
support the resulting in an
system. unpredicted
system failure.
2 Requirement Nil Yes Additional Cost
of Air- due to Air
Conditioning conditioning
& additional equipment and
cost of running cost-For
Electrical VRLA
Energy
3 Battery Life 20 Years 5-7 Years Replacing cost of
as claimed by VRLA after every
UK 5-7 years will
manufacturers involve
(Industrial manufacturing cost
Batteries) escalation during
that year. Eg.at 6th
year, 12th year
and 18th year.
4 Battery Cost Approximately 3 – –
times than VRLA

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5 Relative Ni-Cd cells have a Lead Acid has a –

Costs Initial & higher initial cost low initial cost but
Life Cycle than lead acid but a restricted
superior lifetime lifetime. In many
and applications they
characteristics, can have a poor
giving a lower life life cycle cost.
cycle cost in many
applications.
6 Physical Size Ni-Cd cells are In terms of Ah,
generally larger Lead acid (VRLA)
than VRLA cells. is the most
compact battery.
7 Water Occasionally Not Required
Topping Required

Summary of Comparison between tubular ooded (ordinary

Lead-acid) battery with SMF Lead Acid Battery

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No. Tubular Lead Acid battery VRLA Battery

1 Tubular positive Plates: Flat pasted positive plates:
The positive active material is held The positive active material is a
in a polyester tube. This does not paste form pasted over a lead alloy
allow the materials to shed during grid. This results in a shorter cyclic
charge-discharge cycling resulting life compared to tubular
in long cyclic life- minimum 1200 construction.- minimum 500 cycles
cycles at 80 % depth of discharge. at 80% depth of discharge
2 Electrolyte: Stationary batteries of Electrolyte: VRLA batteries work
UPS and Power plant back up on high specific gravity electrolyte
works on low specific gravity (1.280 to 1.300) and less volume.
(1.200) electrolyte and larger in The cells get heated up during
volume. This results in less charging and high rate discharges
corrosion of grids and longer life. which affects the service life.
The larger volume keeps the battery
comparatively cooler which also
adds to life.
3 Separators: Micro porous poly Separators: Adsorptive glass mat
ethylene separators are used. This separators are used in these
permits the ion movement and batteries with a closer spacing
positive to negative plate between the positive and negative
separation. plates. Chances of cell shorting are
therefore more.

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4 Charging compatibility: Tubular Charging compatibility: VRLA

stationary lead acid batteries can be batteries require constant voltage
charged with constant current and charging with a specified limit only
constant voltage mode. Flooded specifically to avoid overcharging. If
electrolyte batteries can withstand by any chance, the charging
more abuses during charging. conditions are altered, the battery
Water lost in electrolyte during such will get heated up which will
abusive overcharging could be deteriorate the battery life. Though
easily made up manually by there is no need to top-up due to
periodic top-up. Lagging cells could the recombination principle, it is not
be brought to normal life by an always 100% efficient, so some
extended equalizing charging water loss during use is not
without significantly affecting the avoidable. This results in a further
other cells. increase in electrolyte specific
gravity and life reduction. Equalizing
(Extended) charging in VRLA
batteries results in some cells
getting heated up and life reduction.
5 Containers: We use transparent Not applicable: Cannot monitor
SAN containers. The electrolyte Electrolyte
level is easily seen for topping up
needs and ease of maintenance.
Low maintenance.
6 Need for temperature control: Need for temperature control:
Due to the large electrolyte volume The close packing arrangement and
the temperature of the cells compactness of the stack in the cell
generally do not rise abnormally assembly rises the temperature
during charging. No need for Air sharply during charging. Due to this,
conditioning. VRLA battery manufacturers
invariably recommend the need for
air conditioned environment for the
battery compartments. This adds to
the cost of maintenance.

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About Author
Asif Eqbal

Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical & Electronics engineering, from Manipal

University, (Karnataka), India in 2006. Presently involved in the design of EHV
outdoor substation and coal fired thermal power plants for more than seven
years. Motto of joining EEP as a contributor is to share my little engineering
experience and help the budding engineers in bridging the conspicuous gap
between academics and Industrial practice. “If you have knowledge, let others
light their candles with it, so that people who are genuinely interested in helping
one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating timeless
learning processes".

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