JPH0222501B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a storage battery having an electrolyte diffusion function.

When a lead-acid battery is charged or discharged, the electrolyte at the top is often used, so sulfuric acid with a high specific gravity always remains at the bottom of the battery. Equal charging has been carried out to equalize the difference in specific gravity values between the upper and lower parts. However, recent equal charging methods do not use very high charging voltages in order to reduce voltage fluctuations. For this reason, even if equal charging is performed, the difference in the specific gravity of the electrolyte between the upper and lower parts is difficult to eliminate. Furthermore, in recent years, storage batteries have been reconsidered as a method of storing power. This is because the energy conversion efficiency is high and the equipment cost is low. However, when the storage battery is fully charged by equal charging, the efficiency is 15% (Ah),
(Wh) efficiency results in a power loss of 20-30%.
Therefore, minimizing these power losses will result in 95-100% charging without gassing. In this type of charging/discharging use, the power loss due to energy conversion is 5
%, making it a very efficient energy conversion device. However, while the difference in specific gravity between the upper and lower parts of the storage battery increases with such use, the lower part of the element is exposed to highly oxidizing and high specific gravity sulfuric acid, which causes the electrode plates to deteriorate extremely quickly. For this reason, in large batteries, etc., compressed air is introduced from the outside in order to equalize the specific gravity of the electrolyte. However, this device was large-scale and required the operation of a compressor, so it was limited to manned storage battery facilities.

The present invention solves these drawbacks by making it possible to diffuse the electrolyte using the gas generated by the storage battery itself. It does not require any large-scale equipment, can be applied to storage batteries in any place of use, can greatly extend the life of storage batteries, and has excellent advantages such as contributing to energy conservation since uniform charging is not required. It is something that you have.

That is, the present invention provides a partition plate between the element and the lid of the storage battery to divide the interior of the storage battery into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, and a partition plate that hangs down to the bottom of the storage battery that connects the upper chamber and the lower chamber. A cylinder is provided, and a cylinder is provided on the partition plate that hangs down to the upper part of the element that communicates the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and the lower part of the cylinder is inserted into the cylinder whose lower part is closed and the upper end is open. To provide a storage battery having a structure in which a plate is provided with a cylinder protruding into an upper chamber communicating an upper chamber and a lower chamber. According to the storage battery of the present invention, by appropriately setting the structure of the three cylinders connecting the upper chamber and the lower chamber and the water head, the electrolytic solution at the bottom of the storage battery is caused to flow inside the storage battery due to the pressure of the gas generated within the storage battery. The electrolyte is moved to the upper chamber through the tube that hangs down to the bottom, and the electrolyte that has moved to the upper chamber moves to the upper part of the lower chamber through the tube that hangs down to the upper part of the element. This phenomenon occurs, and the electrolyte can be diffused. , it is also possible to achieve the advantages described above.

Hereinafter, the storage battery of the present invention will be specifically explained using an embodiment shown in the drawings.

1, 2, and 3 schematically show the structure of an embodiment of the storage battery of the present invention, and each figure shows a different operating state. In Figures 1, 2, and 3, 1 is a battery case, 2 is a lid, 3 is an element, and 4
is a pole column, and 5 is an electrolyte. 6 is a partition plate provided between the storage battery element 3 and the lid 2;
The inside of the storage battery, that is, the inside of the battery case 1 is divided into an upper chamber 7 and a lower chamber 8 by the partition plate. The partition plate 6 is provided at a position near the lowest liquid level of the electrolytic solution 5.
Further, the portion of the partition plate 6 through which the pole pillar 4 passes is subjected to airtight treatment. Reference numeral 9 denotes a tube that hangs down to near the bottom of the storage battery provided on the partition plate 6, 10 refers to a tube that protrudes into the upper chamber 7 that is also provided on the partition plate 6, and 11 refers to the upper part of the element that is also provided on the partition plate 6. ,
For example, it is a cylinder that hangs down to the vicinity of the upper end of the element, and the upper chamber 7 and lower chamber 8 are in communication via the cylinders 9, 10, and 11. The lower part of the cylinder 11 is a cup-shaped cylinder 1 whose lower part is closed and whose upper end is open.
It is inserted in 2. In addition, the tube 10 is made of a thin tube with a diameter of less than 5 mm to generate a sufficiently strong surface tension.

Also, the tube 9 is between the inner wall of the battery case 1 and the element 3.
You can insert it into . Reference numeral 13 denotes an exhaust port provided in the lid 2 to communicate the inside of the upper chamber 7 to the outside. This exhaust port 13 may be an exhaust port such as a liquid port plug.

In the embodiment of the present invention having such a structure, the electrolyte 5
is in the state shown in Figure 1, even if gas is generated in the lower chamber 8 due to charging or discharging,
The generated gas cannot enter the upper chamber 7 through the cylinder 11 because the cylinder 11 is water-sealed with the cylinder 12. On the other hand, since there is an electrolyte at the bottom end of the cylinder 10, the cylinder 10 is It cannot easily enter the upper chamber 7 through the tube, and therefore accumulates in the lower chamber 8, increasing the pressure in the lower chamber 8. In addition, if the lower end of the cylinder 10 is shaped so that water droplets can easily adhere to it, and the inner diameter of the cylinder 10 is made smaller as it goes upward, water droplets will adhere to the lower end of the cylinder 10 as the pressure inside the lower chamber 8 increases. Although the water droplets are pushed up as shown in FIG. 2, the water head formed by the water droplets remaining in the cylinder 10 gradually becomes larger as it goes upward.

This is because, assuming the amount of water droplets Vo is constant, the smaller the inner diameter l of the cylinder 10, the higher the water head h and the greater the valve action. Therefore, the pressure inside the lower chamber 8 is reduced to the cylinder 1.
The gas in the lower chamber 8 will not enter the upper chamber 7 through the cylinder 10 until the pressure exceeds the water head h in the cylinder 10, that is, exceeds a certain pressure. Therefore, by appropriately designing the shape of the cylinder 10, the pressure within the lower chamber 8 can be increased. Also, be sure to increase the pressure of the water seal on tube 11 so that
The shapes of the cylinders 11 and 12 are appropriately designed so that the water head breaks through the upper end opening and gas in the lower chamber 8 enters the upper chamber 7.

As mentioned above, when gas accumulates in the lower chamber 8 and the pressure in the lower chamber 8 rises, the increased pressure escapes from the lower end of the cylinder 9, and at this time, the electrolyte 5 with high specific gravity at the bottom of the storage battery passes through the cylinder 9. Then move into the upper chamber 7. That is,
The electrolytic solution 5 in the lower part of the storage battery moves into the upper chamber 7 by the volume of generated gas accumulated in the lower chamber 8 . Then, as the water head h' in the upper chamber 7 gradually rises, the cylinder 10
The electrolytic solution at the bottom of the tube and the electrolytic solution between the tubes 11 and 12 are also pushed up at the same time. The state at this time is as shown in FIG. When the pressure in the lower chamber 8 further increases, the water head h in the cylinder 10 can no longer support the gas pressure, and the electrolyte in the cylinder 10 jumps out to the top, and at the same time the gas accumulated in the lower chamber 8 is removed from the cylinder. 1
0, enters the upper chamber 7 through the exhaust port 13, and is discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 13, so the pressure in the lower chamber 8 decreases, and as a result, the electrolyte 5 accumulated in the upper chamber 7 flows into the cylinder 1.
1, it passes between the tubes 11 and 12 and falls into the lower chamber 8. The state at this time is as shown in FIG. Then, the liquid level in the lower chamber 8 rises, returning to the state shown in FIG. 1, and the above-described operation is repeated again.

In this way, in the embodiment of the present invention, the high specific gravity electrolyte in the lower part of the storage battery is moved to the upper chamber 7 by using the pressure of the gas generated within the storage battery, and then
The electrolytic solution 5 is diffused because the electrolytic solution having a high specific gravity that has moved inside the element 3 is caused to fall into the electrolytic solution having a low specific gravity above the element 3. Therefore, there is no need for a large-scale device for electrolyte diffusion as in the past. Further, since the structure of the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to any storage battery, the electrolyte of the storage battery can be naturally diffused even in unmanned storage battery equipment. Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte 5
Since the diffusion occurs naturally, the life of the storage battery can be greatly extended, and equal charging to equalize the specific gravity of the electrolyte can be made unnecessary.

As described above, the storage battery of the present invention can naturally diffuse the electrolyte using the gas generated within the storage battery, and there is no need to prepare a device such as a compressor for electrolyte diffusion as in the past. It also has excellent advantages such as being able to be applied to storage batteries in any place where it is used and making it possible to diffuse the electrolyte.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 are vertical sectional views showing a schematic structure of an embodiment of the storage battery of the present invention. 1...Battery case, 2...Lid, 3...Element, 5
... Electrolyte, 6 ... Partition plate, 7 ... Upper chamber, 8 ...
Lower chamber, 9, 10, 11, 12...tube.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A storage battery in which a partition plate 6 is provided at a position near the lowest liquid level between the element and the lid of the storage battery to divide the inside of the storage battery into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, and the upper chamber and the lower chamber are connected to the partition plate. A tube 9 that hangs down to the vicinity of the inner bottom is provided, and a tube 11 that hangs down to the upper part of the element that connects the upper chamber and the lower chamber is provided on the partition plate, and the lower part of the tube 11 is closed at the lower end and open at the upper end. The lower end opening of the tube 11 is water-sealed by inserting the tube into the tube 12, and furthermore, the partition plate connects the upper chamber and the lower chamber and protrudes into the upper chamber to retain water droplets inside due to surface tension. A cylinder 10 with a thinner upper part is provided so that the water head due to water droplets remaining in the cylinder 10 is equal to or higher than a certain pressure against the gas pressure generated within the battery, and the pressure of the water seal of the cylinder 11 is controlled. A storage battery having a structure that is larger than the water head of the cylinder 10.