[Gasification] Electric power storage solutions -- the Plante Battery

[Peter Singfield]

At 08:00 AM 6/12/2007 -0700, you wrote:
>Peter,
>
>For the "roll your own batteries" do you have a how to?
>
>Max
>
>

"Recycling old batteries to new is a well developed technology -- but to
make a modern high power (discharge) battery is quite complicated -- for
many reasons we will not go into now.

Still - -the very best batteries -- highest charge/discharge efficiencies
-- longest life (to 20 years in the tropics) -- are the original "Plante"
style lead acid storage batteries.

Get up to speed on that subject:

http://www.douglasbattery.com/Stationary PDF/SafeGuard Plante Flooded Lit.pdf

These being the father of all lead acid batteries.

They are the Rolls-Royce of batteries -- very expensive -- due to the large
weights of lead required.

The thing is you need very pure lead to accomplish such -- so lead refining.

However -- we have huge amounts of abandoned car batteries here in Belize
to mine for such.

Basically -- that is achieved by heating in a retort in the presence of
carbon (good wood charcoal works fine) and lime mixtures.

The rest of the process is casting that into -- saying -- 16 inch long -- 4
inch wide -- 1/2 inch thick -- lead plated - -which are them press/grooved
to increase surface area.

The reason these batteries live so long -- and have top cycle efficiencies
right to the ending -- is that put lead is always exposed -- and it takes
years and years to eat out that 1/2 in thick plate.

But best of all -- once you have gone to plante style batteries -- they are
so very easy to recycle after -- getting pure lead out of modern car
batteries is much more difficult due to the "alloys" they use.

Now -- all that "spoken" - -take a look how they recycle used car batteries
-- not far from where I am living now -- in El Salvador.

They even use the wooden pallets the batteries come on to supply the
carbon/charcoal required!!

Yes -- it can be done -- and yes -- here -- in time - -we probably will do
it -- but not yet -- people are not that desperate now.

In fact -- none of you list members are "desperate" enough either -- yet!!

So all we do for now is accumulate knowledge to be possibly applied when
desperate times arrive.

Of course -- it would also be intelligent action to do some of the next
step while waiting -- implementing!!

http://www.record.com.sv/

and this PDF:

http://www.ilmc.org/Basel%20Project/El%20Salvador/Visit%20Reports/PDF/Visit%
20Report%20El%20Salvador%20Record%20Batteries.pdf

Mind you -- this is a much larger operation than I envision -- on the other
hand -- if I had time and resources it would be a simple matter to
"contract" these folks to do it all -- truck down used batteries from
Belize -- truck back finished Plante style batteries.

But as of yet -- I am alone in my "principles" -- a very one man operation
- -and other matters press.

I can only wait and hope that others will one day to think more on basic
levels -- and then join in -- thus more effort -- more can be accomplished.

Certainly -- recycling used batteries into new plante power batteries is a
very nice solution -- in a practical manner -- and one that can be
implemented easy here in 3rd world.

You folks could be promoting gasifiers ever so much better in systems such
as I presented -- 2 hours or so operation per day!!

The killer in operating gasifier/engine power plants is doing it for
anything beyond very short periods -- 

Just read all about that in the archives -- eh??

One plante batteries have been produced in sufficient quantities -- they
can be recycled easily forever -- not more lead need be mined!!

It is a very nice closed circle ---

Peter/Belize