KD Merz
Agenda for
5-9 September
2022
Bio
KD Merz graduated from The Technical College in Duesseldorf in 1980. He then undertook various roles at Sonnenschein Batteries until 2000 when Exide Technologies appointed him as Director Marketing for Motive Power Products. In 2008, he decided to become self-employed as a consultant on VRLA technology to several battery companies in Europe, Asia and USA. KD is now the Vice-President –Technology at Abertax Technologies.
Gel cells and batteries are types of Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries, which do not need any water refilling during the whole service life. A new manufacturing process has been developed to perform the formation and filling of such cells and batteries with an innovative circulation technique which requires much less investment in terms of the manufacturing equipment. The electrolyte is coagulated in situ with silica which forms a gel inside the cells.
This new process is less labour intensive and saves time. It results in an improved quality and performance of the batteries, as confirmed by electrical tests of cells that have been filled by this process. Furthermore, the process is more environmentally friendly since there is no acid wastage. During the filling process with this new & innovative system, the battery plates are never exposed to air, and are covered by acid and/or gel at all times – promoting higher quality batteries.
Example systems in operation and a brief overview of the principle of this circulation process will be presented. Also, a comparison of the economic and quality advantages of the Abertax approach will be discussed versus other manufacturing processes.
Based on the achieved results and the advantages it has over the standard and conventionally used Gel-Filling techniques already in the industry, this system is already being preferred by established Gel-Battery manufacturers over other traditional and established practices.
