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ENERGIZERBATTERYMANUFACTURING
VERSION1.2
Section3:ApplicationandDesignConsiderations
ExcessiveexposuretoaircanhaveanadverseaffectonZincAirbatteryoperation,primarilydueto
carbondioxidereactingwiththeelectrolyteintheairelectrode.Thebatterycanalsoabsorbwateror
dryoutdependingonambientconditions.Balancingtheairrequirementofthebatteryduringdischarge
versustheneedtominimizeexposureduringrestiscalledairmanagement.Airmanagementmightbe
assimpleasremovingthetabfromthebatteryandinsertingitintoadevice,oritmightincludeasystem
toopenandcontrolairaccesstothebatteryasneeded.Airmanagementisapplicationspecific,and
mostdeviceswillrequiresomedegreeofairmanagementtooptimizebatteryperformance.
3.1‐‐AirManagement
Thereareseveraltypesofairmanagement.Thesimplestmethodofairmanagementisremovingthe
tabandputtingthebatteryinthedevice.Thisishowminiaturezincaircellsareusedinhearingaids
sincethetotalbatterylifeistypicallyexpectedtobe6‐8weeks.Asthedeviceusagebecomesmore
intermittent,othermethodsofairmanagementareneededtodeliveroptimalbatteryperformance.
Throttlingisatechniquetopermanentlyrestrictairaccesstoonlywhatisneededbythebatteryina
specificapplication.Throttlingismostappropriateindevicesthatrequireasmallportionofthe
maximumcurrentthatabatterycansustain.Forexample,adevicemightrequire10mAofcurrent
comparedtothemaximumof100mAthataPP355cansustain.Thistechniqueworksbestfordevices
thathavealowaveragedrainratewithlittleincreasedpowerneeds.Byrestrictingtheairaccesstothe
battery,theperformancelifecanbeextended.
Asdeviceusebecomesmoreintermittentandasdevicepowerdemandsincrease,valved(openand
shut)airmanagementbecomesmoreappropriate.Valvedsystemsareeithermechanicalorelectronic.
Eachsystemrequiresasealedbatteryorbatterycompartment,intowhichairisintroducedbythevalve
whenthedeviceneedspower.Asealcanbeaccomplishedwithcommonmaterialssuchaso‐rings,
gaskets,over‐moldedortwo‐partinjectionmoldedmaterials,orothermethods.Amechanicalsolution
mightbeanON/OFFslideswitchwhichactsasasimpleairvalve.Otherdevicespecificmechanical
actionscouldalsobeusedtoopenandclosetheairaccess.Examplesincludechangingdevicesettings,
movingapieceorapartofthedeviceduringuse,pressingabutton,turningadial,ormanipulatinga
threadedcomponent.Anelectronicvalvewouldactinasimilarfashion,exceptthatthedevice
electronicswouldopentheairaccessautomatically.Avalvecouldbeopenedasafunctionofdevice
state(on=open,off=closed),oritmightbeafunctionoftheinstantaneouspowerneedsofthedevice.
Inavalvedairmanagementsolution,alowlevelofairaccessmightstillbeneededtobeabletoprovide
thequiescent,orbackground,powerrequiredtoactivatetheON/OFFvalve.Figure11showsgenerally
whereeachoftheseairmanagementtechniquesisappropriate.