Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries are sealed maintenance-free lead-acid batteries. The normal lead-acid battery evolves hydrogen which needs to vent through the cell in order to avoid the explosion of the battery. On the other hand, the evolved hydrogen in the VRLA battery is reused in the battery itself. Therefore, no venting holes are required for venting hydrogen. Thus, it is possible to make the VRLA battery a sealed battery. For safety reasons, the VRLA battery has an automatic operating value, which operates in the case of excessive pressure inside the battery. We shall discuss the Advantages of Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries in the subsequent section of this article.
These VRLA batteries are also known as;
- Sealed Lead Acid Battery
- Recombinant battery
As discussed, the sealing of the battery is possible because the hydrogen is reused in the charging process and there is no need of venting the hydrogen gas. Therefore, it is called the sealed lead-acid battery.
The VRLA battery is also called a Recombinant battery because Oxygen evolved during discharging at the positive plate of the battery recombine with the hydrogen evolved at the negative plate of the cell to form water. Thus there is no need to add water to the battery because no loss of water happens in the VRLA battery. This reason makes the VRLA maintenance-free. This is the major advantage of VRLA batteries.
Advantages of Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries
- VRLA battery maintenance-free and no water filling is required.
- No room venting fans are required because VRLA does not vent hydrogen.
- VRLA battery capacity is high (12000 Ah)
- The life span of the batteries is about 10 years.
- The same charging equipment can be used for float charging of the battery.
- VRLA batteries are economical.
- VRLA batteries can be mounted in horizontal or vertical positions. It occupies less mounting space.
- In VRLA batteries, there is no fear of spillage of electrolytes. Therefore, it is easy to handle VRLA batteries during shipping.
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