It took a long time, but ohmic methods are generally accepted as a means of determining whether a lead-acid battery is close to the end of its working life — sometimes just days.
Last week at Battcon, the industry’ premier stationary battery meeting, British engineer Nigel Scott showed the battery industry that it is now possible to determine a deteriorating lead-acid battery months before it fails by measuring a small change in the battery system’s capacitance— a first in testing innovation for many years.
Scott’s system, which isn’t yet commercial, could compete with or even be incorporated in existing battery monition systems, flagging up failing cells months before they become critical and allowing a more relaxed procedure for cell replacement.
The technology is currently under evaluation at Herriot Watt University in the UK.
A full article on how the system works will be available in the Summer issue of BEST magazine. Click here if you wish to subscribe.
