Polymeric fibres have been used within lead-acid battery plates for decades as a physical reinforcement of the plate, an important component that makes a significant impact on the performance.
By reinforcing the plates, improving strength and rigidity polymeric fibres help combat severe road conditions and prevent plate failure via dislocation of the active material from the grid.
However, in recent times, due to the increase in power demands and the rise of lithium-ion there are increased electrification demands on LABs. Although polymeric fibres play a critical role in improving the stability of the lead-acid battery plates, they are inert materials and inhibit the charge acceptance of a plate (when compared to a plate without fibres present).
Goonvean Fibres is launching its specifically developed GVFloc+C for LAB during the event. The product not only reverses the negative effect on charge acceptance of lead-acid battery plates but actually has shown to improve this property, without having a negative effect on the physical benefits of the inclusion of fibres. Not only this but GVFloc+C can tackle another of the issues facing the LAB industry, namely high water loss. GVFloc+C has shown results reducing the water loss by up to 50% over 21 days when compared to a typical polymeric fibre.
The impact on the physical performance of the plates has been tested via vibration of the plates to simulate road conditions and then dropped from a height (to simulate potential impact) and the level of paste that is dislocated is measured. In these tests, plates without fibre were shown to lose 35% of their active material, whereas plates reinforced with fibre lost <1%.
It is, however, in the electrical results where the real benefits are seen, where charge acceptance (measured using JIS D5301) improved by 19.4%, when compared to a typical LAB plate. This helps the batteries to accept a recharge and will promote less sulfation on the plates, providing efficient usage.
As well as the benefits in reducing water loss, contributing to lower battery maintenance, longer lifetime due to minimal gassing and cooler battery temperature, benefits have also been seen in the endurance of the plate and the reserve capacity— all working towards delivering a high-performance EFB+C.
Goonvean Fibres has completed testing with leading LAB manufacturers, who now use GVFloc+C in their production, achieving consistently positive results. Goonvean Fibres will continue to support testing with manufacture specific formulations to reproduce these positive results & support the development of a new generation of EFB+C.
Fibre-reinforced Plates vs Plates without fibre
Maintenance of mechanical stability: <1% active matter dislocation (Plates without fibre: 35%)
AGM – GVFloc+TR vs Standard Fibre
Thermal Stability: 322°C – 28% improvement
Low Shrinkage: 1.2% – 82% improvement
Improved Dispersion: Grade 5
EFB+C – GVFloc+C vs Standard Fibre (JIS D5301 unless otherwise stated)
Charge Acceptance: 19.4% improvement
Water loss (21 Days): 50.0% improvement (reduction)
Reserve Capacity: 2.2% improvement
Endurance (SAE J240): 2.4% improvement
