Everywhere,
but out of sight
When Gaston Plante invented the lead-acid battery back in
1859, he could not have envisioned the role his invention
would play today. Simply put, 21st century life would not
be possible without lead-acid batteries.
Transportation
Without lead-acid batteries, virtually everything but muscle-powered
transportation would stop. Lead-acid batteries either start
or power cars, trucks, buses, boats, trains, rapid-rail systems,
recreational vehicles and electric wheelchairs all over the
globe. Lead-acid batteries power electric fork lift trucks
used in warehouses, factories, mines, and ships. They also
power the electric people-movers in airports, as well as wheelchairs
and golf carts used on courses all over the world. On the
road, lead-acid batteries power electric law-enforcement vehicles,
buses, shuttles at amusement parks and mail carrier vans.
Power Control
Were it not for lead-acid batteries, we probably would have
power outages every day because the electric utility companies
couldn't handle rapid fluctuations in the demand for electricity.
Thomas Edison's first central electric generating station,
built in New York City in 1882, suffered many mechanical failures
from sudden fluctuations of the load on the generating machines.
Lead-acid batteries came to the rescue then, delivering large
amounts of electricity for short periods of time. They are
still used for the same purpose today by electric utilities
all over the world.
Communications
When the electricity goes out, your telephones stay on. This
is because every major telephone company in the world uses
lead-acid batteries as backup power to keep telephones systems
working during storms, earthquakes and power. The same batteries
also backup mobile phone and two-way radio systems.
Backup Systems
During power outages, lead-acid batteries provide quiet, pollution-free
emergency power for critical operations in facilities such
as air traffic control towers, hospitals, railroad crossings,
military installations, submarines, and weapons systems. In
environmentally sensitive manufacturing operations, lead-acid
batteries keep the pollution control systems operating during
blackouts and brownouts until the plant can be shut down.
Standby Systems
Lead-acid batteries power cable TV systems, marine buoys and
lighthouses. In remote locations, they power railroad crossing
signals and instruments that measure seismic disturbances
for earthquake research, and they store electricity generated
by solar panels or windmills.
Select a link from the list below for more information:*
What do batteries power?
* What
do batteries power?
* What
do batteries backup?
* A
life without lead-acid batteries |
|
