Experimental investigation of the effect of C-rate, electrode gaps, and electrode surface roughness on the performance characterization of lead-acid batteries

One of the leading challenges for researchers is meeting the industry's need for fast charging-discharging and high capacity batteries, increasing the Charge-discharge rate (C-rate) always followed by high temperatures due to thermoelectrochemical reactions and a drastic reduction in the capacity of batteries. Flooded lead-acid batteries (FLABs) as the most common batteries are provided power for different equipment such as forklifts, submarines, emergency power back up, and for many electrical and telecommunications applications in the industry, has been studied in this article. The effect of three critical parameters of FLAB includes the electrode gaps, roughness quality of electrode surfaces, and C-rate on the capacity and temperature rise (TR) rate are experimentally investigated. Using the response surface methodology based on the central composite design model, the effect of these parameters on the performance of the battery is also evaluated, and a new correlation is proposed. Analysis of variance of 40 tests performed in this study showed that the C-rates have the most effect while the surface roughness of electrodes has the least effect on the capacity increase and the reduction of TR rate. The experimental results showed that the C-rate of C5 with electrode gaps of 4 mm had the optimal response in reaching the maximum capacity and the minimum TR rate.