CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The life span of a battery mostly used by automobile drivers can be maximized by avoiding

over loading, overcharging, and inputting charge current higher than battery manufacture’s

rated value (Bangaru, et al, 2013). It was observed over time that most commercial battery

charging service centers in town that are patronized by automobile drivers uses the

conventional battery charger type that is built without an automatic charging cut-off circuit to

provide charging services to their customers. The unavailability of this automatic charging

cut-off circuit causes the operator to constantly be on manual check to determine when the

connected battery is charged (Baker, 2014). Irrespective of the discharge level of the battery

received from customers, the service center operator often connects the battery and allows it

to charge over night without monitoring. This frequent practice often leads to overcharging of

the connected battery. Secondly, in an attempt to deliver quick service and satisfy the

customer’s expected time of need, they sometimes, adjust the charging setting of the charger

to increase the charging current so as to reduce the charging time in order to get the battery

charged within a short time. This kind of practice shortens the life span of the battery.

However, these common problems had suggested the development and construction of a 12V

portable battery charger with built-in automatic charging cut-off circuit in order to encourage

domestic usage. This would help automobile drivers to avoid charging problems associated

with commercial services centers (Bangaru, et al, 2013).

Some components like a protection fuse and current reverse prevention diode were

considered during development of this product to prevent problems that may result from short

circuit current and reverse current. Considering, the compact shape of the battery charger,

1
with very low ventilation an extractor fan was incorporated to drive away hot air and

moisture that would be generated inside the charger compartment during operation (Bangaru,

et al, 2013).

1.2 Statement of the problem

A simple 12volts charger works by supplying a constant DC or pulsed DC power source to a

battery being charged. The simple charger does not alter its output based on time or the

charge on the battery. This simplicity means that a simple charger is inexpensive. The circuit

of a battery charger has the ability to convert voltages from one form to another (usually AC

to DC voltages). This process is carried out through the use of some important components

like: rectifiers, capacitor to filter and remove ripples from the AC source and a voltage

regulator (IC). However, this project is based on the construction of a 12volts industrial

battery charger with local materials to reduce cost. The proposed project design works on

12V batteries. There is resistance connected in the battery charger to limit the short circuit

current.

1.3 Aim and objectives of the study

The aim of this project work is to construct an industrial 12volts battery charger.

The specifics objectives are as follows:

 To design a device that will recharge 12v lead acid battery when discharged.

 To design a device that has the ability to indicate charging process, low battery and

fully charge levels through LED indicators.

 To design and construct a battery charger that can be use to charge 12V rechargeable

batteries including alkaline, NiCad or lead acid batteries.

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1.4 Significance of the study

A 12volt industrial battery charger is a simple circuit that comprises of different component

that are soldered together on a circuit board to give or produce a require function. Therefore,

the importance of this project work is to aid both technicians and students on how to

construct an industrial battery charger circuit and how it works. It is hoped that after the

construction of this charger circuit, it will be kept on the laboratory to be used for battery

charging and for practicals and other academic functions.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This project work is limited to the construction of 12v industrial battery charger. The circuit

input voltage is 240volts from the A.C supply mains which will be stepped down by a step-

down transformer to 12volts. The 12volts A.C is rectified through a bridge rectifier and

filtered through capacitor connected in parallel from the positive terminal of the bridge

rectifier. The output voltage is used to charge a battery. The project is limited to 12V

batteries. It is not advisable to use on rechargeable batteries outside 12V.

1.6 Limitation of the Study

During the project work, the researcher encountered the following problems which in one

way or the other have prevented him from completing the work at the usually time. These

include: financial problems, time factor and unavailability of material which the researcher

have to move from far distance area in search of textbooks and other important materials.

1.7 Relevance of the Study

a) It helps to prolong the lifespan of the battery  

b) It minimizes damage of the battery and other components.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Review of Related Work

Pesaran et al. introduced the thermal performance of electric car battery modules and packs.

With the purpose of precisely design the thermal management system for electric cars, so

thermal analysis should be conducted. Therefore, to get the estimate of the thermal

performance, the heat transfer principles and finite element analysis software have been used

Ahmad A Pesaran et al. also explained about the systematic approach in order to design and

analyze the thermal management inside the battery  pack. Thus the thermal management

system is essential for maintaining and controlling the electric car battery pack temperature.

They defined that the battery pack must be compatible with all modules so as to operate in

the  preferred temperature range. Besides, the uneven temperature distribution  between the

modules should be decreased towards minimizing the electrical imbalance and this result in

improving battery performance and life cycle.

Tang et al. introduced an innovative method to manufacture lithium-ion polymer battery. In

their research, simple process to coat the electrodes with micro porous composite polymer

films have been conducted. Hence, the improved results that the graphite is protected by the

composite polymer film from reacting with Mn2+ dissolved from the spinel LiMn 2O4 cathode

leads to the excellent performance of the NG anode.

Okamoto et al. worked on an implantable battery system and assessment of temperature rise

of lithium ion battery. They figured out that lithium-ion battery and lithium-ion polymer

battery have the same heat characteristics. Yet the internal resistance of the lithium ion

battery is much larger. They defined that the lithium-ion polymer battery has the capability to

keep cooler itself due to higher specific heat and lower internal resistance. Therefore, they

concluded that lithium-ion polymer battery is more suitable for use in the implantable battery

4
system because it has a benefit of temperature rise during operation (James and John, 2003).

Iwahori et al. developed the solid-state battery by using carbon material as the anode for the

lithium-ion polymer battery technology in Lithium Battery Energy Storage Technology

Reaserch Association (LIBES) research (James and John, 2003). Cycle life and energy

density of the battery technology have been improved in order to use it in electric car.

Sandy Thomas reported that the battery electric cars are used to labelled ―green‖. This

technology is to minimize the greenhouse gas and oil consumption from the transportation

sector. Also, they found the higher specific power battery is required to improve and replace

larger cars with a long driving capacity to make substantial reductions in greenhouse gas and

oil consumption. Hence, they specified hydrogen and electricity can be made from lower

carbon sources to further reduce the greenhouse gas in the future.

Ritchie and Howard found that the battery safety and battery cost are the main important

factors in the usage of lithium-ion polymer battery in larger sizes, such as for electric cars.

However, the lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery has been developed for the

telecommunication applications.

Pesaran et al. increased their attention to battery thermal management. They found that the

performance and life of battery are affected by temperature. They described that thermal

control is critical to ensure the  battery performance and life. They also believed that with

designing a good module and cell (James and John, 2003) can help them to improve the good

thermal performance.

2.2 Overview of the Propose System

2.2.1 Charging System

In various installations, batteries are kept floating on the line and are so connected that they

are being charged when load demands are light and automatically discharged during peak

periods when load demands are heavy or when the usual power supply fails is disconnected.

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In some other installations, the battery is connected to the feeder circuit as and when desired,

allowed to discharge to a certain point, then removed and recharged for further requirements

(Doggett, 2014).

For batteries other than the floating and system governed type, following twp general

methods (though there are some variations of these) are employed (David and Thomas,

2010).

i. The constant current system.

ii. The constant voltage system

2.2.2 Voltage Regulators

The voltage of a battery varies over a considerable range while under discharge. It is

necessary to find some means to control the battery voltage up to the end so as to confine

variations within reasonable limits. These limit being supplied by the battery.

2.2.3 Battery Monitoring

It is useful to know the state of charge of a battery since charging a battery continually when

they are already charged as this would degrade the batteries (James and John, 2003).

a. Terminal Voltage Monitoring

The solid-state voltmeter described in the article/project allows continuous monitoring of

the battery voltage so that incipient failure can be spotted at an early stage. The circuit

will also indicate any fault in the car voltage regulator which may lead to overcharging

and damage to the battery. Battery voltage can of course be measured using a

conventional moving coil voltmeter. However, as only the voltage range from about 9 to

15v is of interest only the top third of the scale of a 15v meter would be used, unless a

suppressed zero facility was added. Moving coil meters are also fairly delicate

mechanically.

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2.3 Review of Available Technology

2.3.1 Battery Charge

A battery charger is an electrical device employed in charging batteries that are usually

charged by battery charges are the storage batteries also known as “accumulators”.

The charger is made up of various electrical and electronics component which for the purpose

of charging are group into your basic unit, they are (Power, 2014):

The power supply units

The smoothing circuits

The regulating unit and

Regulated D.C charging units

A Battery charger comes in various designs and voltage. The choice of a  particular and of

charger that depends largely in Ah size of battery or  batteries which charge the mini battery

charger could be used to charge  batteries whose voltage ranges from 6 –  12 volts. The

bigger battery changes are for batteries with voltage ranging from 12 – 48 volts. These are the

heavy duty batteries.

The battery charge is built in such a way that it delivers a constant value of d.c current into

the battery it is charging in the opposite direction from which current flows on the batteries

during discharge one cannot successfully design a battery charge without a fundamental

understanding of the accumulator because it also makes up the operation (Vijayasekaran, et

al, 2009)

2.3.2. Charger Types

2.3.2.1. Unregulated Transformer-Based Charger

These are the absolute cheapest chargers around. They consist of a wall mount transformer

and a diode. The transformer is designed to deliver 13 to 14 volts over a reasonable current

range. The biggest problem with this approach is that when the current tapers off, the voltage

7
raises to 15, 16, 17, even 18 volts. At these high voltages electrolysis of the water in the

battery starts in. These must not be left to trickle or float charge a battery, they must be

disconnected when the battery is fully charged. This is not a  problem with flooded batteries

as long as you check the water periodically and refresh it. Sealed lead acid batteries can

recycle the generated gasses as long as they are being overcharged at less than C/3. However,

leaving the  battery to be overcharged even at C/10 will corrode the plates if left on for weeks

at a time. The transformer is so designed as to limit the current while the battery is in

absorption mode. As the battery voltage rises the current decreases to top off the battery.

Because the transformer is used to control the current and voltage these chargers are typically

heavy and get hot (Jackey, 2007).

2.3.2.2. Taper chargers

Another cheap way to charge a sealed lead acid battery battery is called a taper charge. Either

constant voltage or constant current is applied to the battery through a combination of

transformer, diode, and resistance. The unregulated chargers mentioned above are taper

chargers. A better, and not very expensive, alternative is a regulated taper charger. These do

not let the voltage climb higher than the trickle charge voltage, so they can be also be used to

maintain a battery. They won't damage the battery if left on charge too long, and they do not

change their charging characteristics if the line voltage should change (Jackey, 2007).

Regulated taper chargers are very useful when you need a 12V battery backup. A taper

charger in parallel with the battery, in parallel with the load makes an effective battery back-

up. You should take care to ensure that the taper charger is designed to give continuous

current equal to the load plus some left over for battery charging. It is also important that the

current limit of the taper charger is the voltage-cut-back method, and not the hiccough method

or other PWM methods. There are two ways to make a regulated charger. The first is to use a

transformer and a simple voltage regulation circuit. This has the disadvantages of weight and

8
heat, but it is still inexpensive. The second uses a modern switching power supply in a wall

mount or desk mount package. These low power high frequency switchers are surprisingly

cheap, efficient, and small. They are rapidly taking over the overnight charging requirement

in consumer equipment (Ali and John, 2010)

2.3.2.3. Constant current chargers

A more sophisticated and not much more expensive charger uses an electric circuit to control

the charging current. This method is useful for recovering batteries that have suffered from

extensive storage without charging, but is capable of overcharging a battery if there is not

some voltage limiting function, usually from the transformer. For this reason these chargers

are limited to slow charging (Ali and John, 2010).

2.3.2.4. Constant Voltage Chargers (Taper plus current limit)

A circuit that is set for the maximum allowable charge voltage, but has a current limit to

control the initial absorption current can produce a very nice charger. This type of charger

can both charge at a reasonable rate and maintain the battery at full charge without damage.

Not all constant voltage chargers are made equal, however, because the maximum voltage is

a function of temperature. A temperature compensated charger is a little more expensive, and

should be used where the temperature varies significantly from room temperature (Ali and

John, 2010).

2.3.3 Method of Charging the Lead Acid Battery

There are a few methods that are available or known to be able to charge a lead acid battery

but in this case, we are focusing the constant current-constant voltage charging method where

it uses a voltage based algorithm that is the same with the lithium ion battery charging

method too where a usual charge time for a sealed lead acid battery can be up to 16 hours.

9
There is a faster way to charge the battery which is known as the fast battery charging

method where it uses a high current pulse that is pumped into the battery at a faster rate with

high capacity of current which will cut down on the charging time but at the same time, if it is

not under close supervision, it might damage the battery due to its high current pumping into

the battery. The constant current-constant voltage charging method will be explained and

further discussed in 3 sections which is the constant current charge, constant voltage (topping

charge) and the float (trickle charge) (Andreas and Henrik, 2012).

2.3.3.1 Constant Current Charging

This constant current charging is the first phase of the recharging of the batteries where it

usually takes up 50% of the charging period. Usually a  battery that has just been discharge

have a voltage of 11.50V approximately and when it undergoes the charging process, this

constant current charging will ensure that the voltage of the battery rises to a voltage that is

determined by the characteristics of the battery itself which will be approximately 13V with a

relatively uniform current flow charging the  battery.

This helps to eliminate the imbalances of cells and batteries that are connected in series

which is the most appropriate for cyclic operation where a battery is required to obtain a full

charge overnight. In this phase, the battery will be charged up to 70% approximately in the

range of 4-7 hours and the other 30% is charged using the trickle charging method. The

change of phase from the constant current charging to the next phase occurs when the battery

reaches its voltage limit. This method is widely used for most battery chargers. (Anu, 2007).

2.3.3.2 Topping (Constant) Charging

This charging takes place when the lead acid battery voltage increases and stays constant at

its voltage limit which will be in the range of 12V to 13V. For every standard lead acid

battery, the approximate pre-determined battery is 12.6V. Once it reaches its saturated

10
voltage, the current that is applied into the battery will start to decrease where it leads to a full

charge condition once it reaches 3% of the rated current. This process is mainly to ensure that

the battery cells remains at the same voltage in the battery pack. During the charging and

discharging process, each cell in the lead acid battery might react differently to other cells

that are in the battery due to certain factors such as the quantity of charge in each cell is

different. (Ahmad et al, 2013). Hence during the charging process, this topping charge will

help to give a slight overcharge to bring the other cells up to full charge. Topping charge

should be applied every six months to avoid voltage drop below 2.10V per cell. (Anu, 2007).

The stronger cells in the battery will absorb the overcharge through the dissipation of heat

from the boiling and gassing while the weaker cells will absorb the current from the

overcharge until it is sufficient. This topping charge period should be long enough to help

pull the cells in the battery up to a fully charged condition.

This topping charge is also used to complete the process of fast charging where it is left to

charge for at least 30 minutes with a low current. If the  battery is used regularly, it will tend

to have high leakage current which means when it is left on shelf, the process of self

discharging happens rapidly. This high rate of leakage might not attain this low saturation

current.

A precautionary step should be taken to ensure that overcharging doesn’t take place for too

long of a time because once the lead acid battery is being overcharged, the electrochemical

process will cause it to heat up and boil. The phenomenon of hydrogen gas been let off at the

negative cathode plate and oxygen gas being let off at the positive anode takes place due to

any charging current beyond that required to liberate the small amount of sulphate radicals

from the plates, ionizes the water in the electrolyte. Hence, triggering the process of

electrolysis where it separates the water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. While this process

occurs to form water vapour, the presence of flammable and potentially explosive hydrogen

11
gas will encourage charging to be done in a well ventilated area. If this is not conducted

properly, it will result in a battery explosion due to the hydrogen gas that is being released by

the boiling acid. This brings more bad news for sealed lead acid battery where it have a

higher chance of an explosion to happen as it has nowhere for the gas to exit hence indirectly

building up the pressure in the case leading to an explosion. On the other hand, at low

temperature, the electrolyte might freeze up, affecting the performance of the battery. The

safe operating temperature for a battery pack is usually 80 Fahrenheit or 26.37 degree Celsius

(Anu, 2007).

2.3.3.3 Float (Trickle) Charge

The float charging is also known as the trickle charging method where its definition is a

charging current that can be applied to the battery without damaging it or simply defined as

slow charge. This process keeps the voltage at a constant where else the current will be

operating at a very low level. The float charge compensates for the self discharging process

that happens when the battery is put on shelf where it will self discharge at a rate of 2% - 3%

every month. Aging batteries will be an issue when the float charge is set due to the different

age condition that each of the cells have. This can be seen where a float current that is too

high for the aging cell will starve the stronger cells in the same battery causing sulfation due

to undercharging. The figure below shows the characteristics of the constant current constant

voltage charging (Buchmann, 2014).

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Figure 2.1: Constant-Current Constant-Voltage Charging Method (Source: Baker, 2014)

2.2.3.4 State of Charge (SOC)

To further understand the state of charge, or also known in short as SOC, there are also other

battery parameters that we have to look into such as the discharge rate, depth of discharge

and also state of discharge or known as SOD. First, the discharge rate can be defined as the

current at which a battery is discharged and can be expressed as Q/h rate where Q is the

battery capacity and h is known as the discharge time in terms of hours. The depth of

discharge is known as the percentage of battery capacity (rated capacity) to which a battery is

discharged. If the withdrawal of at least 80% of the battery (rated) capacity is known as the

13
deep discharge state. (Buchmann, 2014). Hence this leads to the state of charge where it is

closely related to this two terms where SOC is defined as the present capacity of a battery

where it is the amount of capacity that remains after discharging from a top-of-charge

condition. It is known that every cell have a different range of SOC hence leading to a

performance difference among the batteries in the pack. This helps to balance up the charging

and discharging in order to maximize the battery pack lifespan and the energy efficiency.

This means, with the combination of battery voltage, internal resistance, and the amount of

sulphuric acid combined with the plates at any one time are the indicators of how much

energy is in the battery for a given time. It is understood that the SOC is given as a

percentage of its fully charged value, for example, if it is at 75% means that the amount of

battery capacity is available at 75% and shows that 25% has been used. In a battery, the rate

of which the energy is drawn affects the overall amount of energy available from the battery.

Give example, if a 100Ah battery is rated at 10 hour rate, that means that at over 10 hour,

there are 100Ah available or in other words, the load can draw up to 10A per hour up to 10

hours where 10A X 10H = 100Ah. A standard 12V lead acid battery have a usual 100% state

of charge that shows that it’s fully charged with a voltage reading of 12.6V on average and on

the other hand, when that state of charge is at 0%, the voltage reading is usually average at

11.8V. Once again, this may differ from different lead acid batteries due to its own  battery

characteristics as mentioned earlier. The relationship between the state of charge with the

battery voltage can be seen in the figure below. (Moubayed et al, 2008).

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Figure 2.2: Voltage vs State of Charge (12V Battery) (Source: Baker, 2014)

The charging and discharging current in a lead acid battery is measured in C-rate where most

battery are usually set to have a charging and discharging current characteristics of 1C. For

example, if the C-rate is set to discharge at 1C (also known as one hour discharge) on a

500mAh  battery, it will discharge 500mAh in a period of an hour. Instead, if the C-rate is set

at 2C, the battery of 500mAh will provide an output of 1000mAh for a shorter period of time

at an approximation of 30 minutes. Based on the research done, the standardized C-rate of the

battery is at 0.05 (20 hour discharge). At this slow discharging rate, a 100% capacity (ability

to  provide current from the battery for 20 hours in this case) is almost impossible. Usually a

capacity of a lead acid battery is measured using a  battery analyzer where it is displayed in a

percentage rating. For example, a 500mAh battery provides current for an hour at 1C

meaning that it has a 100% capacity but a battery has 50% capacity when the battery only

15
supplies current at a time period of 30 minutes. To summarize, if the  battery is set to

discharge at a lower C-rate, we will obtain a longer time  period for the battery to discharge

(higher capacity). Hence with high C-rate, the capacity of the battery will deteriorate sharply

(Moubayed et al, 2008).

The usual traditional way to measure the state of charge is through hydrometer where it

measures the specific gravity of the electrolyte and with a little calculation, we can obtain the

state of charge of the particular  battery. As time passes, it is known that voltage can also be

used to determine the battery state of charge with a few calculations. The voltage

measurement is a better option preferred to than the hydrometer is because the hydrometer

can cause inaccuracy in reading and it contaminates the  battery cell. Besides that, we cannot

use the hydrometer for this project is because the battery that is provided is sealed lead acid

batteries. The figure below shows the usage of a hydrometer.

Figure 2.3: Hydrometer (Source: James and John, 2003)

There are a few things that are needed to be avoided to ensure that the state of charge does

not drop critically for determining its battery efficiency. When the batteries are being charged

and discharged, it indirectly affects their state of charge which makes it as a critical factor. To

16
prevent this from happening, try to avoid placing continuous heavy loads on the battery

anywhere in their state of charge cycle to avoid fast draining of its battery charge. A battery

pack that delivers 100% of its capacity when discharged in 1 hour, for example, might deliver

only 50% of its capacity when it is forced to discharge in 20 minutes. When the state of

charge is below 20%, we must stop discharging the batteries to ensure that the battery life is

not greatly reduced or destroyed due to the high rate discharging. Besides that, make sure that

heavy charging is done within 20% to 90% of the state of charge range due to the ability of

the lead acid battery to store energy when it is almost full or nearly empty. In the 20% - 90%

range, C/10 (divide the capacity by 10) delivers the fastest rate at which it is efficient to

charge a lead acid battery. In order to obtain the accurate state of charge reading, the  battery

must rest for a few hours (2-6 hours or 24 for optimum accuracy) due to the surface charge

where if the plates are damaged or sulphated, the  battery might give the appearance of being

fully charged but instead its capacity is much lesser than that. When measuring the state of

charge, we must ensure that the temperature of the room or its surrounding must be almost

constant because if the surrounding temperature is too warm, the chemical reactions within

the battery will be accelerated and the battery life might be shortened and if the battery gets

too cold, the chemical reactions tend to slow down, reducing the battery output. (Moubayed

et al, 2008). This makes the battery temperature dependent where the available capacity and

maximum current both drops at low temperature and increases at higher temperatures. The

possibility of freezing is also there for a fully discharged battery at temperatures below zero

due to the slowing down of the chemistry process in the battery. Hence in this case, the

charging voltage needs to be increased when the temperature falls to ensure that the  battery

continues to receive charge but on the other hand, it is necessary to  provide an upper limit on

this raised voltage to ensure that the load equipment that is connected to the battery during

the charging process is doesn’t operate out of its specified range (Jackey, 2007). Besides that

17
heat stagnation can also be a problem where it causes thermal runaway where it is defined as

a critical condition arising during constant voltage charging  process where it is accelerated

by increased temperature of the battery in turn releasing energy that further increases the

temperature and in the end, it leads to the destruction of the battery. (Jackey, 2007).

2.3.4 Battery Construction

Figure 2.4: Standard Single Cell Lead Acid Battery (source: James and John, 2003)

 A standard lead acid battery consists of several single cells connected in series where each

cell produces approximately 2V and usually a 12V battery have six single cells in series

which produces a battery that is fully charge with an output of 12.3V to 12.8V as shown in

the figure below. In the battery, it has two lead plates which are the positive plate that is

covered with a paste of lead dioxide and a negative plate that is made of sponge lead. There is

an insulating material that separates both plates and the plates will be enclosed in a plastic

battery case which is submersed in water and sulphuric acid which is the electrolyte liquid for

the battery as shown in the figure above. Lead acid cells in the battery will produce voltage

when it receives a charging voltage of 2.1V and above from a battery charger where it

doesn’t generate voltage by itself but they are capable to store a charge from another source.

Lead acid battery is known to be storage batteries for this as they works as a charge storing

device. The amount of charge a lead acid battery can store is depending on the size of the

battery plates and the amount of electrolyte. The unit that is used to measure the capacity of

the battery is known as Ampere-Hour (Ah). For example, if a battery has 75Ah means it has

18
the capability to discharge 75A for one hour or 1A for 75 hours. The total capacity can be

increase by connecting a few lead acid batteries in parallel (Jackey, 2007)

Figure 2.5: Standard Lead Acid Battery (source: James and John, 2003)

In order to discharge the battery, a load (light bulb) is used to drain the battery and when it is

connected, the chemical reaction between the sulphuric acid and lead plates will produce

electricity to the light bulb. As electricity is supplied to power up the light bulb, internally,

the sulphation process takes place where lead sulphate starts to coat both the positive and

negative plates where this process usually occurs during a discharge cycle. It will become

worst when the discharging process is prolonged where the lead sulphate coats more and

more of the plates causing the voltage of the battery to drop from its original fully charged

state as seen in the figure below. (Progressive Dynamics Inc, 2006)

Figure 2.6: Sulphation (source: James and John, 2003)

If a battery is being discharged below 10.5V, it will damage the battery and also decrease its

capacity. As the lead sulphate starts to coat most of the  battery plates, it must not be left

19
discharged for a prolonged period of time due to the hardening of the lead sulphate where

initially lead sulphate is a soft material that is able to be converted back into lead and

sulphuric acid. This will further cause the formation of hard crystals which cripple the ability

of the battery to charge if we were to use a standard fixed voltage  battery charger (James and

John, 2003).

Charger Performance

The battery type and the application in which it is used set performance requirements which

the charger must meet.

 Output Voltage Purity

The charger should deliver a clean regulated voltage output with tight limits on

spikes, ripple, noise and radio frequency interference (RFI) all of which could cause

problems for the battery or the circuits in which it is used. 

For high power applications, the charging performance may be limited by the design of the

charger.

 Efficiency

When charging high power batteries, the energy loss in the charger can add

significantly to the charging times and to the operating costs of the application.

Typical charger efficiencies are around 90%, hence the need for efficient designs.

 Inrush Current

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 When a charger is initially switched on to an empty battery the inrush current could

be considerably higher than the maximum specified charging current. The charger

must therefore be dimensioned either to deliver or limit this current pulse.

 Power Factor

This could also be an important consideration for high power chargers.

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 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS

This is detailed information gathered during practical at the lab. It entails the method used in

the implementation of the 12v industrial battery charger.

3.1 Materials

Component selection for battery charger construction

In light of the foregoing appraisal of design styles, the following components will form an

integral part of the design and hence, their importance and working principles are discussed.

A list of necessary components required to carry out the design on this project are as follows:

 555 IC (Integrated circuit) This is the time IC in the circuit.

 IRF 3205 MOSFET (metallic oxides semiconductor field effect transistor)

 30AMP/45V signal diode

 5808 regulator

 Variable resistor

 Electrolyte capacitor

 Fixed resistor

 Paper capacitor

 BC547 transistor

 12V transformer

 Heat sink

 Diode

 LED

 Switch

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1. IC (555): It is called a micro chip; the integrated circuit is a semiconductor device

where loads of resistors, capacitors and transistors are fabricated. It can function as

oscillator, microprocessor, amplifier and timer.

2. IRF 3205 MOSFET (metallic oxide semiconductor field effect transistor): this is a

unipoler semiconductor material with PN junction charge carrier. It is used for voltage

and current amplification.

3. Signal diode: the semiconductor signal diode is a small non-linear semiconductor

device generally used in electronic circuit, where small current or high frequency are

involved such as in radio, Television and digital logic gate circuit.

4. 5808 Regulator: It is a semiconductor material with input, output and ground

terminal which is used to maintain and regulate a certain amount of voltage entering

in a terminal.

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5. Variable resistor: This is an electrical component that is used to vary the flow of

current in a circuit. He current flow through a resistor is directly proportional to the

voltage, the unit is in ohm I = V/R

6. Electrolyte capacitor: A capacitor is a two terminal passive component which is

made from two conductive plates with an insulator between them. The main function

of a capacitor is that it stores electrical energy when an electrical charge is forced unto

the terminal from a power source. It maintains the charge even after getting

disconnected from the power source. A capacitor can also used as a filter to allow AC

signals and block DC signals.

7. BC547 transistor: the transistor is an electronic device which consists of three

terminals made of semiconductor material which controls the flow of voltage or

current and act as a switch to electronic signals. The BC547 is a unipoller transistor

with two charge carrier PNP (Positive negative positive) i.e. base, collector, emitter

where the base terminal is responsible for activating the transistor emitter is negative

lead and collector terminal.

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8. 12V volts transformer: is an electrical device which consists of two coils of copper

wire that are linked by iron core. Its increase (steps up) the voltage or decrease the

(step down) AC voltage. The transformer works on the principle of faradays law of

electromagnetic induction.

9. Heat sink: this is an electronic device made of aluminum which is used to absorb

thermal emission of heat in a semiconductor material.

10. Switch: it is used to break the circuit, interrupting the current and to supply the

current from one conductor to another.

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 11. Diode: It is a device made from semiconductor material that allow the flow current in

one direction and blocks the current which tries to go against the flow in a circuit.

12. LED: (Light emitting diode): The Led is the alternative of diode, when current is

applied to a LED it emit light at a particular frequency. LED is used in numerous

applications like key board, hard disk, TV remote control and this device are very

useful as indicators in computers as well as battery operated electronics transistors

3.5 Method of Design

The design of the hardware of lead acid battery charger is clearly illustrated by the

block diagram shown below:

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We started by assembling the component and reading them all, to make sure that there are no

faulty components. We place the R1  resistor into my dotted vero-board and soldered it in star

connection with the D1 diode and  paper capacitor Cs at the same star point connection We

soldered another resistor with its end at the dran terminal to the IRF3205 unipoler transistor.

We then extended the gate terminal of the MOSFET to the positive point in the power pack

and the source terminal joined to ground. Placing IC555 timer and joined the pin-1 to earth,

pin-3 to 104 paper capacitor, pin-4 joined with 360/6.5K ohm resistor in series joined with

the BC547 transistor. There after joined pin-4 with 104 ceramic capacitor terminated to earth

with pin-5 then pin-7 and pin-8. At same pin-8 we joined 7808 regulator carrying two 470UF

electrolyte capacitor at input and output point terminal and the ground point of the regulator

sent to earth. At resistor RA the 1.5K resistor is joined with the output terminal of the 8v

regulator and the other end joined in series with a 10K and 1.8K ohms resistor linked to GND.

While designing the power pack of the battery charger, I used a signal diode joined positive

to positive and negative to negative at which in P  junction I joined a 4700UF/50v capacitor

to achieve high rectification and filtetration of voltages after that I linked the positive and

negative power  pack circuit to the main circuit board accordingly.

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12v battery charger circuit

Battery charger circuit schematic

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3.17 HOW THE BATTERY CHARGER WORK

When the battery charger is energized in AC current, the circuit will rise to its maximum cut-

off at 14.7v. But if the battery is inserted it will release current, more current for fast

charging. As the battery voltage increases so do the current decreases until it get to 14.7v.

Then the battery will stop charging i.e. entering the trickle – mode.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Result

As I finished designing my circuit, at first it smoked and my findings was that I have over

heated charging MOSFET while soldering it, due to this, my circuit didn’t work. There after I

notice that there was thermal emission of heat at the positive terminal of the battery. Later

after I also notice that it indicates full battery even went to battery inserted. After then I

replaced the damage MOSFET and change the battery terminal supply cable to 4mm and then

adjusted the charging variable resistor to enable it charge pro zero voltage. And after which

that I was able to active a well constructed and rapid fast charging circuit.

4.2 Discussion

A good battery charger provides the base for batteries that are durable and perform well. The

12v DC system provides power for engine starting and for the switches, relays, contractors,

solenoids etc., which control operations of the engine electrical system 60 Hz and 400 Hz

electrical systems, conditioned air system and water system. The batteries which provide up

to one hour of emergency light service to other elements of the must hospital in the event of

engine or electrical system failure. The batteries are recharged through a transformer-rectifier

type battery charger powered from the 400 Hz electrical system. Provisions are also

incorporated in the 12 v DC power for engine starting in the event the batteries are

discharged.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

This Industrial Battery Charger final thesis is arranged into following chapter:

Chapter 1: Basically is an introduction of the project. In this chapter, provides the

background of the project, objectives, scope of the project, problem statement, and also the

thesis outline.

Chapter 2: Focuses on literature reviews of this project based on journals and other

references.

Chapter 3: Mainly focused on methodologies for the development of Industrial Battery

Charger. Details on the progress of the project are explained in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Presents the results obtained and the limitation of the project. All discussions are

concentrating on the result and performance of Industrial Battery Charger.

Chapter 5: Concludes overall about the project. Obstacle faces and future

recommendation are also discussed in this chapter.

5.2 Conclusion

The 12volt industrial battery charger was designed successfully. The proposed charger can

work in constant voltage or constant current mode although constant voltage mode is the

most preferred. The battery charger has many advantages like successful 3-stage charging,

over charge protection, battery discharge protection and a simple design. However the battery

charger would be difficult to operate in hotter temperatures.

5.3 Recommendation

This research work has some limitations and therefore has the need for future work. Future

investigators should consider these areas as an improvement to this particular research work:

1. Redesign the circuit to be able to connect to the grid if need be.

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2. The battery charging circuit should be redesign in order to charge as much as battery

bank up to 200V.

3. Effective sine wave inverter should be incorporated into the system

4. The switching components for both inverter section and converter section should be

made up of both high diodes and IGBT switches for low switching losses.

5. Further we can improve the heatsink to dissipate the heat better and also indicators

can be designed to indicate bulk charge and float charge states.

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