Are lead-acid batteries causing heat problems?

Heat issues, in particular, the temperature increase in a lead-acid battery during its charging has been undoubtedly a concern ever since this technology became used in practice, in particular in the automobile industry.

What happens when a lead-acid battery is discharged?

Figure 4 : Chemical Action During Discharge When a lead-acid battery is discharged, the electrolyte divides into H 2 and SO 4 combine with some of the oxygen that is formed on the positive plate to produce water (H 2 O), and thereby reduces the amount of acid in the electrolyte.

What happens during discharge of a battery?

Thus, during discharge, the generated Joule heat heats up the battery, while the electrochemical conversion of lead-based active materials with sulfuric acid to lead sulfate and water is accompanied by an endothermic reaction that cannot be neglected in terms of thermal management of the battery.

Can You overcharge a lead acid battery?

Myth: The worst thing you can do is overcharge a lead acid battery. Fact: The worst thing you can do is under-charge a lead acid battery. Regularly under-charging a battery will result in sulfation with permanent loss of capacity and plate corrosion rates upwards of 25x normal.

How do thermal events affect lead-acid batteries?

Thermal events in lead-acid batteries during their operation play an important role; they affect not only the reaction rate of ongoing electrochemical reactions, but also the rate of discharge and self-discharge, length of service life and, in critical cases, can even cause a fatal failure of the battery, known as “thermal runaway.”

Does lead-acid battery discharge cause a cooling effect?

The aim of this study is to look at a less appreciated fact that during lead-acid battery discharge, an entropy-based phenomenon leads to a cooling effect, which may not be intuitively apparent as it is often negated by Joule heating due to large current flow.