Battery charging is a complex electrochemical process, in which the discharged electric energy must be replenished from the electric network. The quality of the charging process is critical to the health and longevity of batteries. As a result, battery chargers play a key role in the life andperformance of today’s industrial batteries.

A battery charger is an electrical/electronic device that converts the incoming AC line voltage into a regulated DC voltage to meet the charging needs of the respective battery (see Fig. 1).

Although today’s industrial battery charging market is dominated by Ferro resonant and SCR type chargers, which have been in existence for many years, new high frequency battery charging technologies is making headways into the industrial battery charger markets. This is due to the higher efficiencies and smaller sizes and weights that a high frequency charger offers over Ferro resonant and SCR types.

Ferroresonant Chargers:

A Ferroresonant charger is a class of chargers that employ a ferroresonant transformer to regulate the charger output. A ferroresonant transformer is a three-winding transformer,having one winding in parallel with a capacitor (see Fig. 2). As a result of this connection, the transformer core is driven into saturation by the resonant tank circuit. The charger output is derived from the saturated winding of the transformer and is relatively independent of supply voltage. The AC output is rectified to obtain a regulated DC voltage (see Fig. 3). The absence of electronic controls makes these chargers more durable and dependable in various applications.

Ferroresonant chargers have many limitations including lack the sophisticated control circuitry to give batteries what they need. As a result, these chargers may work well with flooded batteries, but can easily overcharge and damage more delicate modern sealed batteries. In addition, ferroresonant chargers are very sensitive to slight changes in line frequency and have low efficiencies since the ferroresonant transformers dissipate more heat than conventional transformers. These chargers are large and bulky, quite heavy, and they make an audiblehumming noise while charging.

If you have any requirements or any kind of query regarding the Battery charger solutions for your applications, feel free to communicate with our dedicated team at any time at marketing@everexceed.com.