The Influence of Cell Size on Dynamic Charge Acceptance Tests in Laboratory Lead-Acid Cells

Abstract

This study subjected laboratory-scale test cells to testing methods for dynamic charge acceptance (DCA) that have recently been developed and published for 12 V automotive batteries, particularly enhanced flooded batteries (EFB). The main focus of the study lies on the scaling and geometry effects of different test cell compositions as well as the comparability between the DCA testing methods. The test cells for this study are extracted from industrially manufactured automotive batteries; each cell had either a full set of plates, or a reduced, negative-limited set of plates. DCA measurements are performed according to SBA S0101:2014, EN 50 342-6:2015, and a run-in DCA drive cycle test. The results indicate that DCA generally increases as plate count falls. The correlation between short DCA tests and run-in DCA under realistic operating conditions is as weak for individual cells as it is known to be for entire batteries. However, DCA stabilized somewhat more quickly in test cells than in batteries.