There are three types of batteries for
battery electric locomotives: ordinary lead-acid batteries, maintenance-free batteries, and lithium batteries.
The plates of ordinary lead-acid batteries are made of lead and lead oxides, and the electrolyte is an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid. Its advantages are stable voltage and low price; its disadvantages are frequent maintenance, short life span, and environmental pollution. Frequent maintenance means adding electrolyte every time you charge, measuring the density, and checking whether the temperature is appropriate. The short lifespan is due to the characteristics of lead-acid batteries. Generally, the normal use time is about one year. If the maintenance is not good, the service life will not exceed one year. This requires the mine to have professionals who understand batteries. Environmental pollution refers to the discharge of acid mist and other gases during charging and discharging.
The maintenance-free battery is based on the ordinary lead-acid battery and optimized in terms of structure and materials. Compared with ordinary lead-acid batteries, the grids of maintenance-free batteries use lead-calcium alloys, so the amount of water decomposition during charging is less, and the outer shell adopts a sealed structure, which releases less sulfuric acid gas. Therefore, compared with ordinary lead-acid batteries, it does not need to be supplemented with liquid, has less corrosion to the terminal posts and wires, has strong resistance to overcharge, large starting current, and long power storage time.
Lithium batteries are batteries that use lithium metal or lithium alloy as the negative electrode material and use a non-hydrolyzable solution. Compared with lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries have the advantages of high charging density and long life. But at the same time, the price is relatively expensive, and regulations on the application of lithium batteries in mines are still being gradually relaxed.
