Rechargeable battery that uses nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium as electrodes. An aqueous alkali solution is used as the electrolyte between the two electrodes. NiCd battery technology has seen developments in last 130 years. Today it is the technology of choice for several highly demanding industrial applications. It is closely related to Nickel Metal Hydride, which uses a similar alkaline electrolyte but replaces the cadmium anode with a metal hydride.
It has a number of strengths:
- superior resistance to mechanical and electrical stress
- able to operate at extreme temperatures and a frequently cycling temperature
- tolerant of deep discharge
- able to withstand prolonged periods at low states of charge
Initially starting with the Pocket-Plate cell technology mostly used in critical power supply applications in Power and Oil&Gas and in general Industry, such as for Engine Starting, Switchgear, Emergency Lighting, Process control, UPS, Signalization, Fire-alarm systems, and many other. The developments followed with the Sinter-Plate technology finding applications mostly in aviation, with the Fiber-Plate cells as the latest cell technology, finding applications in Railway and Industry and offering improved cycle life.
The NiCd cell has a 1.2V nominal voltage, while in the different end application requirements, the cells are connected in series building battery banks with different nominal voltage levels, such 24Vdc, 48Vdc, 125Vdc, 250Vdc.
dT/dt (Delta Temperature over Delta Time) – a full-charge detection method for NiCd/NiMH that watches the rate of temperature rise rather than absolute temperature, often used alongside or instead of NDV.
NDV (Negative Delta V) – the small voltage drop a NiCd or NiMH cell exhibits right at full charge, used as the classic full-charge detection trigger for those chemistries.
References
- Nickel Cadmium Battery, ScienceDirect
- Plate Battery (pocket, sintered and fibre plate constructions), ScienceDirect
See also: IEC 62133-1, UL 2054