Skip to main content

Corrosion risk planning - 1 - Lead acid battery

Image
By

Corrosion is a quality, environment, and safety issue. Hence, it has to come under the cope of integrated management system audits

However at the moment, it is more or less considered a quality issue.

As such, the general tendency is to solve corrosion issues as they come.

Especially in new inventions, the foresight to look for potential corrosion risk gets lost in the attempt to focus and highlight the amazing qualities of the said inventions.

Hence, I have initiated this series, where I will take a component and point out the potential corrosion and damage risk areas. 

Here goes the first one - lead acid battery cell. (Source:https://opentextbc.ca/chemistry/chapter/17-5-batteries-and-fuel-cells/)





  1.  Protective casing - 
      • effect of temperature + electrolyte + contamination in electrolyte on the polymer
      • crevice corrosion at fixtures
      • mechanical damage during handling leading to voids for moisture ingress and oxygen/electrolyte leakage
  2. Positive terminal -
      • corrosion of the material of terminal due to remnant moisture
      • galvanic corrosion due to terminal and adjoining wires/components
      • crevice corrosion at fixtures
      • effect of anodic potential generated during battery operation - polarization
      • preferential corrosion due to connection with a polymer casing
  3. Negative terminal - 
      • corrosion of the material of terminal due to remnant moisture
      • galvanic corrosion due to terminal and adjoining wires/components
      • crevice corrosion at fixtures
      • effect of cathodic potential generated during battery operation - polarization and cathodic reactions
      • preferential corrosion due to connection with a polymer casing
  4. Cell divider -
      • corrosion of material in the electrolyte
      • degradation of coating on cell divider
      • effect of the generated ions during battery operation on coating
      • mechanical damage during installation
      • friction between divider plate and electrodes
      • for thin polymer coating, possibility of filiform corrosion
  5. Positive electrode -
      • corrosion of material in electrolyte at high temperature
      • cathodic reactions during battery operation
      • excessive localized dissolution due to electrolyte contamination
      • remnant reaction products during charging/discharging leading to localized pH changes and possible galvanic coupling
      • mechanical damage due to friction with adjoining parts (casing/divider)
  6. Negative electrode -
      • corrosion of material in electrolyte at high temperature
      • partially irreversible anodic dissolution
      • excessive localized dissolution due to electrolyte contamination
      • remnant reaction products during charging/discharging leading to localized pH changes and possible galvanic coupling
      • mechanical damage due to friction with adjoining parts (casing/divider)
  7. Dilute H2SO4 -
      • dilution not sufficient for safe handling and disposal
      • contamination due to reaction products
      • concentration modification due to temperature and cathodic reactions
  8. Fixtures for cell construction -
      • Mechanical damage due to friction/installation/handling
      • galvanic coupling with surrounding components
      • localized corrosion due to moisture deposition
      • crevice corrosion





Comments

Post a Comment

Welcome to the CORROSPECTIVE BLOG! Scroll along for more posts! Looking forward to your feedback!
P.S. Don't forget to check out the free quizzes!

Popular posts from this blog

Important terms in API certifications - CRV & IOW - III

By
INTEGRITY OPERATING WINDOW IOW can be understood by using a simple example of milk kept for boiling in a pot on a stove. The definition as per API 584 is   "established limits for process variables (parameters) that can affect the integrity of the equipment  if the process operation deviates from the established limits for a predetermined length of time” What are the important words here?    established limits  process variables  affect the integrity of the equipment process operation deviates predetermined length of time In the above example, let us keep the time as 1 hour. Now there are two critical variables here- Temperature  What is the IOW for temperature? Answer: The melting point of milk is 92 degrees C. That is the optimum level. For 1 hour, if temperature is below 40 degrees C, it may not boil at all. If the temperature is  above 120 degrees C, it may condense. So, the IOW = 40 - 120 degrees C Vessel dimension = volume of milk is 1 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How many pages long should my research paper/thesis be?

By
In this post, I would like to address an issue that is encountered by many undergraduates and postgraduates who are doing their very first research project. In my experience of designing and managing projects for undergraduates, interns, and postgraduates, I so often get asked two questions - 1) "How many pages should my research report/thesis/paper be?" 2)"How many references should I put at the end of the paper?" My answer is stop focusing on the number unless it is a strict requirement. Base your report on what you have learnt in the research work. Concentrate  on describing the amazing new things that you have got acquainted with. At each step of the project, you will come across a small question leading to reading of new references, and you will not need to find more just for the sake of it. Enjoy the process of writing something you found amazing. Check out the detailed video below! FREE RESEARCH CHECKLIST TEMPLATE AVAI...
Post a Comment
Read more