What is the next step for the lead-acid battery industry?
发布时间：2024-11-28 21:49:01 点击： 次
There are usually only two times when an industry new technology exchange meeting can gather industry elites: one is when the industry is experiencing wild growth, and the other is when a crisis is approaching. Obviously, the third National Symposium on New Technologies for Lead Acid Batteries held in Tai'an, Shandong recently came at a time when the industry was facing widespread pressure. Since four years ago, the Chinese lead-acid battery industry has been contemplating a topic: "Where will the development of lead-acid batteries go next?" This was the theme discussed at the first National Symposium on New Technologies for lead-acid batteries. Four years later, China's lead-acid battery industry experienced severe overcapacity in conventional products, leading to a significant decline in corporate profits and a lag in the development of high-energy advanced lead-acid batteries in emerging markets. The topic of transformation and upgrading, and finding a way out, has become more urgent.
Yang Xinxin, President of Chaowei Group, stated that lead-acid batteries have been enduring since their invention by Plant in 1859, and have made tremendous contributions to humanity for 155 years. They are needed as a starting power source for automobiles, ships, tanks, telecommunications, power plants, computer systems, and automatic control systems, as a backup power source for submarines, electric bicycles, electric tricycles, and electric vehicles, and as an energy storage power source for solar and wind power generation systems, distributed microgrids, and smart grids. The rapid development of industry and market demand have repeatedly pushed it to a climax. Whether in terms of output value or sales revenue, lead-acid batteries account for over 60% of all chemical power sources (including lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries, zinc manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, etc.), making them the most competitive chemical power source currently available.
Song Bin, Chairman of Shandong Shengyang Power Co., Ltd., also stated that in the future, lead-acid batteries will continue to play an important role in secondary chemical power sources due to their high cost-effectiveness, safety and reliability, recyclability rate of over 99%, and continuous technological progress and improvement. In 2011, the total production of lead-acid batteries in the domestic industry was 140 million kVAh, and it is expected to reach 270 million kVAh by 2015, indicating the growth in demand and the wide range of applications.
But a regrettable fact is that the voice in the field of power batteries in China is almost overwhelmingly biased towards lithium batteries, whether it is national policies or corporate strategies, and even some universities have turned their original lead-acid battery majors into lithium battery majors. However, even after multiple channels of rectification and advocacy, this understanding is still difficult to change.
The lead-acid battery industry has not yet reached its peak in product lifecycle, and in recent times, it has surpassed the development of previous decades. In the future, new application areas will emerge, and the opening up of four-wheel electric vehicles will be a new opportunity. In addition, renewable energy storage systems and car start stop batteries will bring new opportunities to the lead-acid battery industry.
In the eyes of industry insiders, from the perspective of the industry and products, we have not reached a crossroads. What have reached the crossroads are some small electric bicycle power battery production enterprises. In recent years, the electric bicycle industry has developed rapidly and a large amount of investment has rushed in. Now, there is a serious overcapacity, and some enterprises have indeed reached the crossroads. This is due to the non-standard development of the industry, and the technology and equipment that should have been invested in have not been invested.
Professor Hu Xinguo from Harbin Institute of Technology stated that China's lead-acid battery industry is currently in a critical period of transformation and upgrading. The transformation and upgrading mainly include: firstly, developing new high-performance batteries; The second is to improve the level of production automation; Thirdly, there is lead storage recycling and reuse; The fourth is to reduce or even eliminate environmental pollution. In terms of technology, the lead-acid battery industry needs to focus on solving two major problems: firstly, when used in a high rate partially charged state, the lifespan is too short and the negative electrode is severely sulfated. For example, applications in hybrid electric vehicles, wind and solar energy, energy storage, and other fields. The second issue is the poor dynamic charging acceptance ability (DCA), which results in a loss of braking energy recovery when the battery is used in hybrid electric vehicles.
Song Bin stated that the lead-acid battery industry and the entire industry chain need to transform and upgrade their business development model. It is necessary to create a new lead-acid battery industry through continuous "technological innovation", "product upgrading", "process optimization", "equipment improvement", "energy conservation and consumption reduction", "green environmental protection" and "recycling and reuse", combined with the "integration of two industries" supported by the state.
The direction has been determined
Industry insiders believe that in order for the lead-acid battery industry to develop healthily and sustainably, it must rely on advanced equipment and minimize the use of lead. The development direction of the next generation of lead batteries is non lead grids. The use of 3D porous carbon, such as foam graphite or foam carbon, can reduce the use of lead by 50%, and has good low-temperature performance and long cycle life.
Hu Xinguo said that the new sealed lead-acid batteries with new technologies that have significantly improved the energy density, cycle life and other main performances of the batteries mainly have several directions: coiled batteries, horizontal lead cloth batteries, super batteries, lead carbon batteries, bipolar batteries, foam graphite batteries, lead-acid batteries for high-temperature communications, and start/stop batteries (ISS batteries) for hybrid vehicles.
Taking the development of start/stop batteries for domestic micro hybrid electric vehicles as an example, the number of cars in China exceeds 100 million, and the total demand for start/stop batteries in the car market exceeds 70 million, with the demand scale gradually increasing. Many domestic battery manufacturers are also focusing on the Chinese automotive start stop power supply field, with Fengfan, Johnson, and Dongbin International leading the way.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power have the characteristics of discontinuity, instability, and uncontrollability. Large scale energy storage systems can effectively achieve amplitude and frequency modulation, smooth output, and tracking of planned power generation for renewable energy generation, thereby improving the grid's ability to absorb renewable energy generation. The development of the electric vehicle industry requires high specific energy, high reliability, high safety, long lifespan, and low-cost power batteries. With the development of renewable energy and electric vehicle industries, energy storage technology and industry have received high attention from various countries, and research and development of various new electrochemical energy storage battery technologies continue to make progress.
Take big strides and run quickly
At present, the three most promising energy storage technologies in the industry are lead carbon, lithium battery, and liquid flow. Among them, the cost of lithium batteries is relatively high, and consistency issues still exist; The cost of liquid flow technology is higher; Lead carbon batteries seem to be the most practical and feasible energy storage technology route in the near future, and are expected to become mainstream in the next 5-10 years.
Lead carbon battery is an innovative technology for lead-acid batteries, which has many advantages compared to lead-acid batteries. Lead carbon batteries have the following advantages: firstly, they charge quickly, increasing the charging speed by 8 times; Secondly, the discharge power has increased by three times; Thirdly, the cycle life has been increased by 6 times, and the number of cycle charging times has reached 2000; Fourthly, it has a high cost performance ratio, which is slightly higher than the price of lead-acid batteries, but greatly increases the lifespan of cyclic use; Fifth, it is safe and stable to use, and can be widely applied in various new energy and energy-saving fields.
Yang Xinxin, President of Chaowei Group, stated that lead-acid batteries have been enduring since their invention by Plant in 1859, and have made tremendous contributions to humanity for 155 years. They are needed as a starting power source for automobiles, ships, tanks, telecommunications, power plants, computer systems, and automatic control systems, as a backup power source for submarines, electric bicycles, electric tricycles, and electric vehicles, and as an energy storage power source for solar and wind power generation systems, distributed microgrids, and smart grids. The rapid development of industry and market demand have repeatedly pushed it to a climax. Whether in terms of output value or sales revenue, lead-acid batteries account for over 60% of all chemical power sources (including lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries, zinc manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, etc.), making them the most competitive chemical power source currently available.
Song Bin, Chairman of Shandong Shengyang Power Co., Ltd., also stated that in the future, lead-acid batteries will continue to play an important role in secondary chemical power sources due to their high cost-effectiveness, safety and reliability, recyclability rate of over 99%, and continuous technological progress and improvement. In 2011, the total production of lead-acid batteries in the domestic industry was 140 million kVAh, and it is expected to reach 270 million kVAh by 2015, indicating the growth in demand and the wide range of applications.
But a regrettable fact is that the voice in the field of power batteries in China is almost overwhelmingly biased towards lithium batteries, whether it is national policies or corporate strategies, and even some universities have turned their original lead-acid battery majors into lithium battery majors. However, even after multiple channels of rectification and advocacy, this understanding is still difficult to change.
The lead-acid battery industry has not yet reached its peak in product lifecycle, and in recent times, it has surpassed the development of previous decades. In the future, new application areas will emerge, and the opening up of four-wheel electric vehicles will be a new opportunity. In addition, renewable energy storage systems and car start stop batteries will bring new opportunities to the lead-acid battery industry.
In the eyes of industry insiders, from the perspective of the industry and products, we have not reached a crossroads. What have reached the crossroads are some small electric bicycle power battery production enterprises. In recent years, the electric bicycle industry has developed rapidly and a large amount of investment has rushed in. Now, there is a serious overcapacity, and some enterprises have indeed reached the crossroads. This is due to the non-standard development of the industry, and the technology and equipment that should have been invested in have not been invested.
Professor Hu Xinguo from Harbin Institute of Technology stated that China's lead-acid battery industry is currently in a critical period of transformation and upgrading. The transformation and upgrading mainly include: firstly, developing new high-performance batteries; The second is to improve the level of production automation; Thirdly, there is lead storage recycling and reuse; The fourth is to reduce or even eliminate environmental pollution. In terms of technology, the lead-acid battery industry needs to focus on solving two major problems: firstly, when used in a high rate partially charged state, the lifespan is too short and the negative electrode is severely sulfated. For example, applications in hybrid electric vehicles, wind and solar energy, energy storage, and other fields. The second issue is the poor dynamic charging acceptance ability (DCA), which results in a loss of braking energy recovery when the battery is used in hybrid electric vehicles.
Song Bin stated that the lead-acid battery industry and the entire industry chain need to transform and upgrade their business development model. It is necessary to create a new lead-acid battery industry through continuous "technological innovation", "product upgrading", "process optimization", "equipment improvement", "energy conservation and consumption reduction", "green environmental protection" and "recycling and reuse", combined with the "integration of two industries" supported by the state.
The direction has been determined
Industry insiders believe that in order for the lead-acid battery industry to develop healthily and sustainably, it must rely on advanced equipment and minimize the use of lead. The development direction of the next generation of lead batteries is non lead grids. The use of 3D porous carbon, such as foam graphite or foam carbon, can reduce the use of lead by 50%, and has good low-temperature performance and long cycle life.
Hu Xinguo said that the new sealed lead-acid batteries with new technologies that have significantly improved the energy density, cycle life and other main performances of the batteries mainly have several directions: coiled batteries, horizontal lead cloth batteries, super batteries, lead carbon batteries, bipolar batteries, foam graphite batteries, lead-acid batteries for high-temperature communications, and start/stop batteries (ISS batteries) for hybrid vehicles.
Taking the development of start/stop batteries for domestic micro hybrid electric vehicles as an example, the number of cars in China exceeds 100 million, and the total demand for start/stop batteries in the car market exceeds 70 million, with the demand scale gradually increasing. Many domestic battery manufacturers are also focusing on the Chinese automotive start stop power supply field, with Fengfan, Johnson, and Dongbin International leading the way.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power have the characteristics of discontinuity, instability, and uncontrollability. Large scale energy storage systems can effectively achieve amplitude and frequency modulation, smooth output, and tracking of planned power generation for renewable energy generation, thereby improving the grid's ability to absorb renewable energy generation. The development of the electric vehicle industry requires high specific energy, high reliability, high safety, long lifespan, and low-cost power batteries. With the development of renewable energy and electric vehicle industries, energy storage technology and industry have received high attention from various countries, and research and development of various new electrochemical energy storage battery technologies continue to make progress.
Take big strides and run quickly
At present, the three most promising energy storage technologies in the industry are lead carbon, lithium battery, and liquid flow. Among them, the cost of lithium batteries is relatively high, and consistency issues still exist; The cost of liquid flow technology is higher; Lead carbon batteries seem to be the most practical and feasible energy storage technology route in the near future, and are expected to become mainstream in the next 5-10 years.
Lead carbon battery is an innovative technology for lead-acid batteries, which has many advantages compared to lead-acid batteries. Lead carbon batteries have the following advantages: firstly, they charge quickly, increasing the charging speed by 8 times; Secondly, the discharge power has increased by three times; Thirdly, the cycle life has been increased by 6 times, and the number of cycle charging times has reached 2000; Fourthly, it has a high cost performance ratio, which is slightly higher than the price of lead-acid batteries, but greatly increases the lifespan of cyclic use; Fifth, it is safe and stable to use, and can be widely applied in various new energy and energy-saving fields.