abstract

• It is well known that a low level of electrolytes in batteries produces a malfunction or even failure and irreversible damage. There are several kinds of sensors to detect the electrolyte level. Some of them are non-invasive, such as optical sensors of level, while some others are invasive; but both require one sensor per battery. This paper proposes a different approach to detect the low electrolyte level, which neither requires invasive sensors nor one sensor for each battery. The approach is based on the estimation of the internal resistance of an equivalent electrical circuit (EEC) model of the battery. To establish the detection criterion of the low level of electrolytes, a statistical analysis is proposed. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach to be considered a valid method, multiple experiments were performed. The experiments consisted of determining how the internal resistance is affected at eight different levels of electrolyte at different aging levels of vented lead-acid (VLA) batteries. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach. Hence, this approach has the potential to be used for the reducing of sensors and avoiding invasive methods to determine the low level of electrolytes. © 2019 MDPI AG. All rights reserved.

authors

• Camargo E.
• Cuevas J.
• Mora D.
• Núñez Gutiérrez Ciro Alberto
• Segundo J.
• Visairo Cruz Nancy

publication date

• 2019-01-01

published in

• Energies  Journal

keywords

• Electrical measurements; Electrolyte level; Internal resistance; Monitoring; VLA battery Chemical detection; Electric variables measurement; Lead acid batteries; Monitoring; Detection criteria; Electrical measurement; Equivalent electrical circuits; Internal resistance; Invasive methods; Invasive sensors; Irreversible damage; VLA battery; Electrolytes

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.3390/en12234435

start page

end page

volume

• 12

issue

• 23