Lead-acid separator company Entek has launched the LR (low resistance) separator for lead-acid automotive batteries at the European Lead Battery Conference in Edinburgh.
The PE separator is designed for extended flooded battery applications and aims to offer high porosity and low electrical resistance. The initial product launch is for separators with 0.20 and 0.25mm backwebs.
‘What everybody has learnt is that we can’t have both, you can have high punctural resistance, but you are suffering on the electrical resistance or vice versa. But our new separators can have both,” David Trueba, vice president sales and marketing at Entek told BEST. Trueba said ENTEK’s LR separator results in 30% lower electrical resistance and 20% higher puncture strength compared to a standard separator with the same backweb and overall thickness.
Entek worked over two years on the product and carried out commercial trials. As BEST understands, Entek will supply the separators to a Western European lead-acid firm in Q4 2014.
The production of the ENTEK LR separator production will start this week at Entek’s plant in Newcastle, UK and later on as well at the company’s facility in Oregon, US.
The company has invested $17m to develop its next generation lead-acid separator materials at its Newcastle manufacturing plant, which celebrates 25 years of production this week.
