Originally posted by Duncan
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Sulfur from the dilute sulfuric acid electrolyte is attracted to a plate. Normal charging/discharging restores the sulfur to the electrolyte. Intermediate sulfation occurs when the battery sits unused for a time and therefore not charged/discharged to restore the electrolyte and is remedied by above normal voltage pulsing because the sulfur has not yet become too tightly bound to the plate and can still be returned to the electrolyte. As time progresses, however, the sulfur becomes more and more tightly bound and the more time elapses, the tighter the binding. This is the last stage and it requires still higher voltage to beak the bonds between the sulfur and the plate but since the sulfur is also more tightly bond with itself it does not return to the electrolyte but settles out in the bottom of the battery. Some of the sulfur returns to the electrolyte but not much which is why I said heavy sulfation can't be totally remedied.
An endothermic process is one that requires more energy to perform than that released by the reaction. So when we get into the 3rd stage desulfation the higher voltage required is inputting more energy than is released by releasing the sulfur bonds and could account for the cooling witnessed.
That scenario can also explain why the process in non-repeatable, at least in the short term. Let the battery sit long enough to reach that level of sulfation again and I imagine the same results will be observed. That, however, is not useful for continuous power generation.
This is just conjecture but I suspect that when David Bowling left his batteries hooked up to the motor there was a path through the motor to apply the 24 volts of the other 2 batteries to the third battery, possibly just by the position of the brushes on the commutator when it stopped previously. The 24 volts started the desulfation process but at first it was slow so there wasn't enough conductivity to allow the motor to run and as the desulfation progressed the conductivity went up allowing more current flow to speed up the motor. Once the 3rd battery is restored the motor is running from 36 volts!
The further I have looked into the crystal structure of battery chemistry the more I've found that we really aren't considering all the chemistry. We normally think of the battery as lead plates and sulfuric acid electrolyte. But the fact is there are quite a number of chemicals that go into producing a lead acid battery. Especially so when we are talking about flooded lead acid batteries (lead/sulfuric acid), AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat), and gel cell batteries. Then there are different chemistries for light duty, heavy duty, and deep cycle batteries.
So saying "lead acid battery" is kind of like walking into an auto parts store and telling them you need a "fuel filter". Would that be for a gasoline, diesel, LP gas, or hydrogen powered vehicle?
I deeply suspect that the anomalies being seen in the various battery charging systems are actually a facet of not completely understanding the chemical reactions going on in the battery. It would also explain why an experiment fails when the experimenter uses a gel cell battery where the original experiment was with a flooded cell battery. And once the battery is restored it would take years to reproduce the same results.
Another factor along the same lines is it's usually impossible to tell what has been added to the electrolyte over the years. I imagine everyone has put tap water into a flooded cell lead acid battery at one time or another. I know I have. What chemicals were in that tap water? I don't have a clue other than H2O. Then there's the "magic pills" to restore batteries, etc. Epsom salt is another "battery restoring chemical". Did the experimenter try any of those before he gave up on the battery and then later tried the high voltage method?
I still think there's a clue here but what it is I haven't yet determined. I just finished the MRA document. I'll have to let it rattle around in my brain for a while, read it again, and try to tie the links together. Sweet's SQM (Space Quanta Modulator) was the precursor to the VTA (Vacuum Triode Amplifier) and the SQM definitely has links to the Hendershot Magnatronic and the MGA fits in there somewhere also. I keep noticing barrium ferrite popping up in Sweet's devices and the MRA and I think John Hutchison's devices. That gets us back to crystal structures which ties to the crystal structures in lead acid batteries.
Well, at least it's an interesting merry-go-round.
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