The document provides guidelines for properly ventilating battery rooms to prevent hydrogen gas explosions. It states that lead acid batteries produce hydrogen gas during charging that can accumulate and reach explosive concentrations over 4% if the room is not properly ventilated. It recommends keeping hydrogen levels below 1% by volume through ventilation and provides a multi-step process to calculate ventilation needs based on the number of batteries, room size, and maximum allowable hydrogen concentration.
The document provides guidelines for properly ventilating battery rooms to prevent hydrogen gas explosions. It states that lead acid batteries produce hydrogen gas during charging that can accumulate and reach explosive concentrations over 4% if the room is not properly ventilated. It recommends keeping hydrogen levels below 1% by volume through ventilation and provides a multi-step process to calculate ventilation needs based on the number of batteries, room size, and maximum allowable hydrogen concentration.
The document provides guidelines for properly ventilating battery rooms to prevent hydrogen gas explosions. It states that lead acid batteries produce hydrogen gas during charging that can accumulate and reach explosive concentrations over 4% if the room is not properly ventilated. It recommends keeping hydrogen levels below 1% by volume through ventilation and provides a multi-step process to calculate ventilation needs based on the number of batteries, room size, and maximum allowable hydrogen concentration.
The document provides guidelines for properly ventilating battery rooms to prevent hydrogen gas explosions. It states that lead acid batteries produce hydrogen gas during charging that can accumulate and reach explosive concentrations over 4% if the room is not properly ventilated. It recommends keeping hydrogen levels below 1% by volume through ventilation and provides a multi-step process to calculate ventilation needs based on the number of batteries, room size, and maximum allowable hydrogen concentration.
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When designing a battery room, ventilation requirements need to be taken into consideration.
Lead acid motive power batteries give off hydrogen gas when recharging and for a period after the charge is complete.
Proper ventilation in the battery charging area is extremely important.
A hydrogen-in-air mixture of 4% or greater substantially increases the risk of an explosion. The
concentration of hydrogen should be kept below 1% to provide a safety factor.
Hydrogen gas is colorless and odorless. It is also lighter than air and will disperse to the top of a building.
The information below is provided for reference only. There may be other state and local codes that may apply. BHS takes no responsibility for these guidelines.
Step 1: Calculating Hydrogen Concentration
A typical lead acid motive power battery will develop approximately .01474 cubic feet of hydrogen per cell at standard temperature and pressure.
H = (C x O x G x A) ÷ R
100
(H) = Volume of hydrogen produced during recharge.
(C) = Number of cells in battery.
(O) = Percentage of overcharge assumed during a recharge, use 20%.
(G) = Volume of hydrogen produced by one ampere hour of charge. Use .01474 to get cubic feet.
(A) = 6-hour rated capacity of the battery in ampere hours.
(R) = Assume gas is released during the last (4) hours of an 8-hour charge.
Example: Number cells per battery = 24
Ampere size of battery = 450 A.H.
(H) = (24 x 20 x .01474 x 450) ÷ 4
100
H = 7.9596 cubic feet per battery per hour
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Step 2: Calculating Room Volume
For a room with a flat roof volume is calculated W x L x H less the volume of chargers and other fixed objects in the battery room.
7.9596 x 75 = 596.97 cubic feet per hour (7.9596 calculated in Step 1)
Battery room 144,000 cu. ft. from example in Step 2
V = R x P ÷ H x 60 minutes
(V) = Ventilation required
(R) = Room cu. ft. (P) = Maximum percentage of hydrogen gas allowed (H) = Total hydrogen produced per hour
V = 144,000 x .01% ÷ 596.97 x 60
V = 144.73 or the air should be exchanged every 144.73 minutes (2 hours 24 minutes)
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Step 4: Determining Fan Requirement
Fan Size = R x 60 minutes ÷ V
(R) = Room cu. ft. (V) = Ventilation required
144,000 x 60 ÷ 144.73 = 59’ 697.36 cu. ft. per hour or 995 CFM.
The ventilation system should be capable of extracting 59,697.36 cu.ft. per hour or 995 CFM.
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Step 5: Do You Need Forced Ventilation
In theory the 596.97 cu. ft./hr. only represents .004% which is < 1%. Therefore forced ventilation would not be required for this example.
However, the following should be considered before ruling out forced ventilation:
Is the battery room closed in or open. If closed in no natural ventilation
may be possible.
Since hydrogen gas rises are there areas in the ceiling where gas may collect in greater concentrations.
The above calculation represents worse case scenario assuming all
batteries are gassing at the same time. This is highly improbable.
If natural ventilation is sufficient in an open area forced ventilation should not be required.
If your calculations determine a percentage <1% hydrogen concentration, we recommend a Hydrogen
Gas Detector for safe measure, BHS part number HGD-1.
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Hydrogen Gas Detector (HGD-1)
Operation Should the concentration of hydrogen gas in the air surrounding the sensor reach 1% by volume, the "1% caution" yellow LED will light and the 1% internal relay will close. Should the hydrogen gas concentration reach 2% by volume, the "2% warning" red LED will flash and an 80 db alarm will sound; the 1% relay will remain closed and, if a Dual-Relay model, the 2% internal relay will close. Either relay can activate a remote exhaust fan and/or alarm.
Location Hydrogen, colorless and odorless, is the lightest of all gases and thus rises. The detector, therefore, should be installed at the highest, draft-free location in the battery compartment or room where hydrogen gas would accumulate.
The size of the area one detector will protect depends upon battery compartment room. The detector measures the hydrogen gas in the air immediately surrounding the sensor. If hydrogen gas might accumulate in several, unconnected areas in the compartment or room, individual detectors should be placed at each location.
Optional Accessories: steel junction box mounting on wall or ceiling; modular jack (with duplicate LEDs; test button; and buzzer if needed) for remote placement; telephone-type cable for connecting the modular jack to the detector.
Added Benefits In addition to protecting your employees and your property, the detector also may reduce the following costs:
1. Electricity – Heating – Air Conditioning. Instead of continuously running an exhaust fan to
prevent hydrogen gas accumulation, use the detector to activate the fan only if the concentration reaches 1%. 2. Insurance. Installation of a detector in areas where batteries are charged may result in a premium reduction. Information required for battery capacity calculation We need below basic information for a precise battery capacity calculation.
- nominal voltage of the system - load current
- standby period - maximum voltage(for charging) - minimum voltage - temperature range - battery layout and available space - physical condition
Float Voltage Operation
In these conditions the float voltage, being the voltage at which the general load circuit will operate, then a decision will have on the cell float voltage needed to maintain the battery in the required condition.
The most commonly used float voltages are 1.40-1.48 voltage per cell, but the exact figure has to be related carefully to the c
Example An Semicad battery is required to maintain an inverter load of 50KVA at 0.8 power factor for a back up time of 30minutes, at n temperature. The D.C. voltage to the inverter operates within the limit of 265 voltage with the battery on float charge to a minim voltage at end of back up time. The inverter has an 85% efficiency.
We shall choose the battery with capacity equal or just above.
Determination Battery Capacity - KMP range From our catalog data (PAGE7) the cell type is KMP300. ∴ Battery would comprise 184cells Semicad type KMP300.
The Number of Cells in a battery The number of cells in a battery may be determinded by simply dividing the norminal voltage of the system by the norminal vo cell(1.2V). system voltage Number of cells Spread in the practice 24 20 18 ~ 21 36 30 27 ~ 31 48 40 36 ~ 41 110 92 88 ~ 93 220 184 180 ~ 186
The most common form of charging for stationary batteries is modified constant voltage, usually with currect limitation to C/5 or C/10. The battery is permanently connected to the charger which applies a constant voltage across the battery terminals.
Recommended charging voltage
The following per-cell charge voltage are recommended.
Initial charging The whole charge should preferable be carried out at constant current. The charging time is inversely proportional to the current which is set by the current limit of the charging equipment.
Recommended rates for the first charging:
0.2C5A for 7 ~ 8 hours
0.1C5A for 14~16 hours
Discharging Curves nominal voltage: 1.2V/Cell
TYPE: KXP TYPE: KHP
TYPE: KMP TYPE: KLP
Auto Charging System for AGV Battery System
Ability and Composition
Automatic Automatic battery exchange makes it possible to operate production
Operation lines on a 24-hour continuous, fully automated basis. Function Manual When charger mode is manual mode, It is used to equal charging and Operation float charging for active charging. Composition Input Transformer Rectifier Input Circuit : MCCB Attached Input Over Current : Fast open Fuse Attached Protection Output Over Current : Current Control Circuit Equipment
Output Over Voltage : charging break equipment
DC VOLT METER (DIGITAL) Measurely Instrument DC AMP METER (DIGITAL) AUTO/MANUAL MODE SWITCH AGV/CHARGER MODE SWITCH CHARGER START BUTTON CHARGER STOP BUTTON ERROR RESET BUTTON Control Unit BUZZER STOP BUTTON FLOAT VOLT ADJ. / EQUAL VOLT ADJ. / CURRENT ADJ. AUTO CHARGE TIMER
MAUAL CHARGE TIMER
Condition POWER ON LAMP Indication Unit POWER OFF LAMP AUTO MODE LAMP MANUAL MODE LAMP AGV MODE LAMP CHARGER MODE LAMP CHARGER START LAMP CHARGER STOP LAMP EQUAL LAMP FLOAT LAMP CHARGER COMPLETE LAMP CHARGER ERROR LAMP BATTERY TIME ERROR LAMP
SPARE LAMP CHARGER ERROR : Fuse, Over voltage / low voltage, Fan error, Temperature error Alarm Unit
BATTERY TIME ERROR:
Battery Error, Charging coupler Error This charging coupler is received the power unit from charger. And supply the charging power to the AGV. Charging Unit: It has a driving motor and charging pin to the automatically charging PLC: It is a Program Logic Controller for the operatior of Charging charger Coupler 8 Bit Sensor: It is sequence for the order of charging start and complete.
Century Deep Cycle batteries are designed for specific applications. So, it is important to have adequate capacity in the battery for the amount of power your application will use (known as Amp Hours).
You can work this out quickly and easily by establishing the power consumption of each piece of equipment (marked in Watts on the equipment's information panel), the number of Hours you will use between recharges, and the Voltage of the system.
For Example: Equipment Loading (watts) Est. Usage (hours) Watt Hours Refrigerator 40 = 10.0 = 400 Interior Lights 20 = 4.0 = 80 Winch 90 = 0.2 = 18 TOTAL WATT HOURS = 498 Now divide the total Watt Hours by the Voltage to obtain the Amp Hours.
This figure is basically your guide to the battery size you need, after one more very important calculation. Because vehicle electrical systems are not always perfect, we strongly advise you to always allow a little extra power in reserve .
A 30% safety margin is a reasonable allowance.
For Example: Estimated Amp Hours 41.5 + 30% safety margin 12.45 Total Amp Hours = 53.95
Now you can select the correct Century Deep Cycle battery for your needs, simply by comparing your calculated Total Amp Hour figure with the 20hr capacity figures shown in the battery specifications chart.
Note that the faster a battery is discharged, the fewer Amp Hours it will deliver before recharge. That is why deep cycle batteries carry an Amp Hour rating for three standard lengths of discharge time.
For each discharge rate, and battery, divide the amp hour capacity by the number of hours to determine how many amps you can draw per hour per battery over a specified time period. For example with the Century N70T you can draw 12 amps from the battery for 5 hours before recharging (ie. 60 divided by 5).
