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West Virginia University

Pulse charging lead-acid batteries to improve performance and reverse the effects of sulfation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

When lead-acid batteries are improperly charged or discharged, useful power delivered to loads diminishes. One cause for this is a phenomenon generally referred to as sulfation. One possible method that has been proposed by many to reverse the effects of sulfation is to recharge the lead-acid battery using a pulse charger. To gain a better understanding of the possible benefits of this type of charging, a pulse charger/discharger was constructed. Cycle testing was then done on six pairs of batteries to compare the pulse charged batteries to conventional full-wave rectifier charged batteries. The results of the tests showed that pulse charging failed to improve the condition of sulfated batteries. Pulse charging did resulted in substantial improvements if the battery's condition was classified as fair. However, pulse charging had little effect on the condition of batteries in excellent condition.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
MS
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Year dc:date.available
2002

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Cooper, Robert B.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Roy Nutter, Jr.

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-2226

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
West Virginia University
Base URL
researchrepository.wvu.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Cooper, Robert B.. Pulse charging lead-acid batteries to improve performance and reverse the effects of sulfation. Thesis thesis, 2002. https://doi.org/10.33915/etd.1223