Global Energy Innovations
Routine testing of VRLA UPS Batteries
Take away the guesswork!
Impedance Testing? - Conductance Testing? - Internal resistance testing?
Test instruments available until now tell if the resistance within the battery has changed but leave the engineer to guess why!
All these devices have now been superseded by the introduction of the sophisticated EC2000 Electrochemical battery tester.
The EC2000 uses laboratory techniques based on sound British science to analyse specific battery conditions.
To see our video describing the EC2000 click on picture at the bottom of this page!!
If you regularly test standby VRLA batteries order your EC2000 now.
If your batteries are tested by a battery maintenance company ensure they are using the latest electrochemical test methods!
The EC2000 is priced at £4,950 + VAT but as an introductory offer the EC2000 can be purchased at £4,500 only until 31st March 2012.
The EC2000 comes with comprehensive, user friendly software.
Accurately records Voltage, Impedance, Sulphation and Electrolyte Loss in VRLA batteries.
Help-line, training and calibration all UK based.
Technical History
In the late 1980's VRLA batteries begun to replace flooded cells in the majority of standby applications and a single-frequency measurement of the resistance to current flow within the cell or monobloc has since been the main indicator of cell health. Test instruments, such as our own BitBox Model 5 introduced in 1994, were designed to measure the total resistance between the positive and negative terminals; this was done by a variety of methods. Depending on the method employed, the measurement is reported as an impedance magnitude, a conductance or an internal resistance. These single-point measurements, which became the norm for battery testing, were able to demonstrate a rise in internal resistance - but not the reason for it.
After 30 years, single-point technology is, in our view, obsolete and therefore we ceased production of the BitBox in 2010. New, multi-point technology, now available in portable format, provides more information regarding cell condition. Reduced to practice over the last ten years, the new testing technology employs Frequency Response Analysis (FRA).
British Science and Technology provides the Standard
FRA technology has been proven over many years by scientists using sophisticated laboratory instruments such as the 1260 Impedance/Gain Analyzer and 1287 Electrochemical Interface developed and manufactured by Solartron Analytical* in Farnborough, Hampshire. These instruments are used in Laboratories worldwide for corrosion studies, battery and fuel cell research and electronic component development.
FRA studies on electrochemical systems (also known as Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) yield results that require specialized expertise to interpret. A major contribution of the scientists at Global Energy Innovations in Santa Clara, California are algorithms (some specific to VRLA batteries), that extract real-world information from the FRA data. By implementing these algorithms, the EC2000 Handheld Electrochemical Battery Analyser both applies and interprets FRA to detect and quantify specific battery conditions such as sulphation and electrolyte dry out.
Advantages of the new technology
Often changes in battery resistance are caused by failure mechanisms that can be reversed thereby restoring capacity. An example of this is the common problem of sulphation that, when recognized in time, can be corrected by a revised charging regime.
Unlike the old single-point technology, FRA will continue to be developed.
A further advantage of the newer technology is that it comes, as is to be expected, with truly user friendly, yet sophisticated and readily-updated software. This software provides storage of data for a multitude of battery systems and sites and the production of clear reports showing battery state, history and trends. The time saved by this software provides a substantial return on investment in many cases.
Historical Notes:
- The first published FRA study on a complete lead acid battery (as opposed to the individual electrodes) was probably the 1981 Ph.D. thesis of N. Yahchouchi.
- Early laboratory FRA measurements on VRLA batteries were reported in 1995.
- The inspiration for the Global Energy Innovations' (GEI) technology came from work at Hughes Aircraft Company in the late 1990's when the founders of GEI first used FRA to characterize satellite batteries.
*Visit www.solartronanalytical.com for further information on impedance spectroscopy.
To see our Video click on this picture!!
