The voltages of two Eveready No. 528 batteries, one the test battery, the other the control battery, were simultaneously recorded as they were discharged across 30 omega loads using a dual chart recorder. The test battery was initially put in a freezer at -15 + or - 3 C. After its voltage had fallen to .6 V, it was brought back out into the room at 22 + or - 3 C. A second run was made with 60 omega loads. Assuming a 3.0 V cut-off, the total energy output of the test battery at -15 C was 26 WHr   30 omega and 35 WHr   60 omega, and the corresponding numbers for the control battery at 22 C were 91 WHr and 100 WHr. When the test battery was subsequently allowed to warm up, the voltage rose above 4 V and the total energy output rose to 80 WHr   30 omega and 82 WHR   60 omega

Ahrens, S. T.

English

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LABORATORY DISCHARGE S T U D I E S  OF A 6 V ALKALINE 
LANTERN-TYPE BATTERY EVEREADY ENERGIZER NO, 528, 
UNDER VARIOUS AMBIENT TEMPERATURES ( - 1 5 ° C  AND + 22OC) 
AND LOADS (30 n AND 60 n)  
S ,  T, A h r e n s  
D e p a r t m e n t  of Physics  
N, C, ALT State U n i v e r s i t y  
G r e e n s b o r o ,  N o r t h  C a r o l i n a  27411 
(919)  379-7646 
ABSTRACT 
Using a d u a l  channel  chart r e c o r d e r ,  t h e  v o l t a g e s  of two Eveready No. 
528 ba t te r ies - -one  the  t e s t  b a t t e r y ,  t h e  o t h e r  t h e  c o n t r o l  bat tery--were 
s imultaneously recorded as they  were discharged a c r o s s  30 0 l oads .  The tes t  
b a t t e r y  was i n i t i a l l y  pu t  i n  a freez'er a t  -15 f 3°C. After its v o l t a g e  had 
f a l l e n  t o  .6 V ,  it was brought  back o u t  i n t o  t h e  room a t  22 * 3°C.  A second 
run was made w i t h  60 0 loads. 
Assuming a 3.0 V c u t - o f f ,  the  t o t a l  energy o u t p u t  o f  t he  t e s t  b a t t e r y  
a t  -15OC was 26 WHr f9 30 0 and 35 WHr @ 60 0, and t h e  cor responding  numbers 
f o r  t h e  c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y  a t  22°C were 91  WHr and 100 WHr. When the  tes t  
ba t t e ry  was subsequent ly  a l lowed t o  w a r m  up, the  v o l t a g e  r o s e  above 4 V and 
the t o t a l  energy o u t p u t  r o s e  t o  80 WHr @ 30 n and 82 WHR @ 60 S I .  
INTRODUCTION 
During t h e  past three y e a r s ,  while  g e t t i n g  ou r  exper iments  ready ,  we 
have spen t  a c o n s i d e r a b l e  amount o f  time looking  for  a b a t t e r y  s u i t a b l e  f o r  
our payload. Most r e c e n t l y ,  ou r  a t t e n t i o n  has been focused  on a 6 V l k a l i n e  
lan tern- type  b a t t e r y ,  t he  Eveready Energizer  No. 528 (.850 kg, 434 cm 1. 4 
Our i n t e r e s t  i n  a l k a l i n e s  was motivated p r i m a r i l y  by t h e i r  g e n e r a l l y  
acknowledged e x c e l l e n t  shelf- l i fe ,  high energy d e n s i t y  and minimal hazzard 
po ten t i a l .  
ments called f o r  t h e  e q u i v a l e n t  o f  many D-size a l k a l i n e  cells. 
lantern- type wi th  i ts 4 F-size cells--each F ce l l  be ing  approximate ly  50% 
bigger than  a D cel l - -and i ts  rugged c o n s t r u c t i o n  would t h u s  c u t  down 
g r e a t l y  on t h e  number o f  e lectr ical  connec t ions  t h a t  would have t o  be 
checked o u t  every  time t h e s e  primary batteries had t o  be r ep laced .  The 
Eveready brand was chosen because Eveready D-size a l k a l i n e s  had a l r e a d y  
been s u c c e s s f u l l y  used by a n o t h e r  CAS user .  
We picked  t h e  6 V l an te rn - type  b a t t e r y  because o u r  power r equ i r e -  
The 6 V 
I n  s tudy ing  the  Eveready No. 528, we a t tempted  t o  answer t h e  fo l lowing  
quest ions:  
1. What do t h e  discharge curve  and t o t a l  energy  o u t p u t  
2. How are these two characterist ics affected by d i f f e r e n t  
look l i k e ?  
t empera tu res  and d i f f e r e n t  load  levels? 
-103- 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19840019704 2020-03-22T09:33:57+00:00Z
We were a b l e  t o  s e c u r e  from Eveready a handbook' and some data sheets on 
a l k a l i n e s .  Unfor tuna te ly ,  on ly  very  g e n e r a l  d a t a  was found f o r  t h e  F c e l l s  
and t h e  528. 
APPARATUS 
The s e t u p  used is seen  i n  Fig. 1. It c o n s i s t s  o f  a d u a l  channel  c h a r t  
r eco rde r ,  two decade r e s i s t a n c e  boxes,  two ba t te r ies - -one  t h e  tes t  b a t t e r y ,  
t h e  o t h e r  t h e  c o n t r o l  battery--and a freezer. 
Not shown i n  t h e  f i g u r e  is  a second c h a r t  r e c o r d e r  and two thermocouples 
used t o  monitor ambient t empera tu res  of the t es t  and c o n t r o l  b a t t e r i e s .  
PROCEDURE 
Two b a t t e r i e s  were chosen a t  random from a n  i n i t i a l  c o l l e c t i o n  o f  a 20 0 
donated by Union Carbide. Both decade r e s i s t a n c e  boxes were a d j u s t e d  f o r  
- 30.0 0 and checked wi th  a d i g i t a l  mul t imeter .  The c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y  was l e f t  
on t h e  l a b o r a t o r y  bench a t  22 * 3°C. 
f r e e z e r  a t  -15 k 3 O C .  Both bat ter ies  were s imul taneous ly  connected t o  t h e i r  
r e s i s t a n c e  boxes and t h e i r  v o l t a g e s  were monitored by d i g i t a l  mul t imeters  
and recorded by a c a l i b r a t e d  chart  r e c o r d e r  set a 1 cm/hr. 
The t e s t  b a t t e r y  was placed i n  t h e  
When t h e  t e s t  b a t t e r y  v o l t a g e  reached  .6 V ,  i t  was removed from t h e  
f r e e z e r  and placed a l o n g s i d e  t h e  c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y ,  where t h e  d i scha rge  was 
allowed t o  proceed u n i n t e r r u p t e d .  The r e c o r d i n g  o f  v o l t a g e s  cont inued u n t i l  
both were below .6 V. 
A second run was then  made u s i n g  t h e  same procedures  w i t h  two fresh 
b a t t e r i e s  and new load  r e s i s t a n c e s  o f  60.0 0. 
RESULTS AND D I S C U S S I O N  
The raw data r e s u l t i n g  from t h i s  s t u d y  was i n  t h e  form o f  curve  traces 
on c h a r t  r eco rde r  paper.  Even a t  t h e  s l o w e s t  s e l e c t a b l e  speed a v a i l a b l e  
(1 cm/hr) t h e  ou tpu t  f o r  t h e  30 n d i s c h a r g e  was 11 fee t  long  w h i l e  t h e  ou t -  
pu t  f o r  t h e  60 n d i scha rge  was 1 9  feet  long .  I n  o r d e r  t o  be a b l e  t o  e a s i l y  
see t h e  major p a t t e r n s  i n  t h e  d i s c h a r g e  c u r v e s ,  t h e  r e s u l t s  have been 
r e p l o t t e d  us ing  a h igh ly  compressed time scale (Fig.  2 ) .  The r e p l o t t e d  
curves  a c c u r a t e l y  r e p r e s e n t  t h e  o r i g i n a l  cu rves  wi th  one except ion.  Namely, 
i n  t h e  o r i g i n a l  cu rves  below 3.0  V ,  t h e r e  were occas iona l  small bumps (up 
t o  2 h r s  i n  d u r a t i o n  and .2  V h i g h )  and numerous s p i k e s  ( less  than  1 sec 
i n  du ra t ion  and up t o  .5 V high) .  The s p i k e s  were most abundant i n  t h e  
c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y .  Wherever t h e  bumps and s p i k e s  were found time ave rages  
have been used t o  s i m p l i f y  t h e  r e p l o t t i n g .  Above 3.0 V t h e  o r i g i n a l  cu rves  
were a l l  very smooth and t h u s  t h e  r e p l o t t e d  cu rves  are very real is t ic .  
I Eveready B a t t e r y  Engineer ing Data, Union Carbide,  Vol. 11, 1982. 
-104- 
The first major f e a t u r e  t h a t  can be r e a d i l y  seen  i n  t h e  discharge 
curves of  Fig. 2 is t h e  s i g n i f i c a n t l y  qu icke r  drop-off ra te  f o r  t h e  t e s t  
b a t t e r y  a t  -15OC. A t  30 61 w i t h  a 3.0 V cu t -of f  t h e  c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y  l a s t e d  
f o r  about  6 days ,  whereas t h e  t e s t  b a t t e r y  l a s t e d  approximate ly  2 days.  
A t  60 n t h e  same g e n e r a l  p a t t e r n  is  seen  w i t h  t h e  number of days  be ing  
approximately 13 days  and 6 days  r e s p e c t i v e l y .  
The second,  and d e f i n i t e l y  most s u r p r i s i n g ,  f e a t u r e  seen  i n  t h e  d i s -  
charge cu rves  o f  bo th  r u n s  is  t h e  r i se  i n  t h e  v o l t a g e  of t h e  tes t  b a t t e r y  
from .6 V t o  ove r  4.0 V when it  w a s  removed from t h e  freezer and pu t  a l o n g  
s i d e  t h e  c o n t r o l  b a t t e r y .  
Some numerical  a n a l y s i s  of the chart r e c o r d e r  d a t a  w a s  a l s o  done. For 
each run ,  a convenient  sampling t i m e  i n t e r v a l  w a s  chosen. For t h e  30 n run  
qua r t e r  days were used ;  f o r  t h e  60 61 run half-days.  
t h e  average v o l t a g e  was determined from t h e  c h a r t  r e c o r d e r  ou tpu t .  If t h e  
d ischarge  was l i n e a r  ove r  t h e  i n t e r v a l ,  mid p o i n t s  were used ;  i f  t h e  d i s -  
charge was non- l inea r ,  t h e  i n t e r v a l  was broken down f u r t h e r  i n t o  a s u b s e t  
o f  smaller i n t e r v a l s  from which a n  o v e r a l l  average  v o l t a g e  was c a l c u l a t e d .  
Using t h e  ave rage  v o l t a g e s  found,  f u r t h e r  c a l c u l a t i b n s  were done for  each  
i n t e r v a l  t o  g i v e  ave rage  c u r r e n t ,  average  power and ave rage  energy o u t p u t  
i n  amp-hours and wat t -hours .  I n  a d d i t i o n ,  a running  t o t a l  of amp-hours and 
watt-hours was kept .  The r e s u l t s  are g iven  i n  Tables  1, 2 ,  3 and 4 and 
summarized i n  Table  5. 
For each time i n t e r v a l ,  
Table 5 shows how t empera tu re  affects  t h e  528 Energ izer .  
a 3.0 61 c u t - o f f ,  t h e  t o t a l  energy output  o f  t h e  t es t  b a t t e r y  a t  -15OC was 
26 WHr @ 30 61 and 35 WHr @ 60 61. The cor responding  numbers from t h e  c o n t r o l  
b a t t e r y  a t  22OC were 91 WHr and 100 W H r .  I n  a d d i t i o n ,  when t h e  t es t  b a t t e r y  
was subsequent ly  a l lowed t o  w a r m  up t o  22OC, t h e  t o t a l  energy o u t p u t  recovered 
t o  80 WHr @ 30 i2 and 82 WHr @ 60 Q.  
Again u s i n g  
CONCLUSION 
The performance o f  t h e  Eveready No. 528: 
1. Is s e v e r e l y  h u r t  a t  t he  low tempera tures  used i n  t h i s  
2. Improves s i g n i f i c a n t l y  i f  t h e  b a t t e r y  i s  subsequen t ly  
3. Is, as expec ted ,  greatest wi th  t h e  s l o w e s t  d i s c h a r g e  rate. 
s t u d y  . 
warmed back up. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
We are g r a t e f u l  t o  M r .  Wayne Crigler, V i s i t i n g  P ro fes so r  o f  Electrical 
Engineering from B e l l  Labs, for he lp ing  d i r e c t  t h i s  s tudy .  We would also 
l i k e  t o  thank  t h e  s t u d e n t s ,  Mr. Brian Burne t te ,  Mr. Derrick Hood and 
M s .  Tonya Crawford, who worked so d i l i g e n t l y  c o l l e c t i n g  and a n a l y z i n g  t h i s  
da ta .  
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Laboratory discharge studies of a 6 V alkaline lantern-type battery Eveready Energizer no. 528, under various ambient temperatures (-15 deg C and + 22 deg C) and loads (30 omega and 60 omega)

Laboratory discharge studies of a 6 V alkaline lantern-type battery Eveready Energizer no. 528, under various ambient temperatures (-15 deg C and + 22 deg C) and loads (30 omega and 60 omega)

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