Electrolysis in batteries

Seal Lead Acid batteries have a long history of being one of the most environmentally friendly resources on the free market and are actually "greener" then soft drink cans, beer cans, newspapers, glass bottles, and tires. Indeed lead-acid batteries are an environmental success story of our time. More than 97 percent of all battery lead is recycled. This is almost twice as much as aluminum soft drink and beer cans, newspapers, glass bottles and tires. In fact lead-acid batteries are the most recycled consumer product of our time. How are lead acid batteries recycled and reused in brand new batteries. What is the recycling process of lead acid batteries? Let's find out.

Lead acid batteries are transported via trucks to recycling centers. Once at recycling centers batteries are broken apart in a hammermill, which is a machine that hammers the battery into pieces. At its most basic level a hammermill is a steel drum that contains a cross-shaped rotor. On the rotors are mounted hammers that pivot when the rotor spins. When the rotor spins the hammers swing and when the battery fed into the drum the batteries broken into pieces.

Once broken the batteries components are separated into 3 categories:

Plastics

Broken pieces of polypropylene plastic are collected, washed, blown dry and sent to a plastic recycler. At the plastic recycler the broken pieces of polypropylene are melted at the plastics correct melting point (or glass transition temperature (Tg), which is the temperature at which a polymer changes from hard and brittle to soft and pliable). Then the molten plastic is passed through a machine called an extruder that shapes the molten plastic into pellets which are then sold back to battery manufacturers to begin the new battery's manufacturing process.

Lead

The lead acid batteries lead grids, lead oxide and other lead parts are cleaned and then heated to 621.5 degrees Fahrenheit - leads melting point. After the lead reaches its melting point the molten lead is poured into ingot molds. The leads impurities, known as dross, floats to the top and subsequently scraped away and then the ingots sit there until they are cooled. After cooling the ingots are sold back to manufacturers for use in new lead plate production.

Electrolyte - Sulfuric Acid

Spent battery acid can be neutralized using an industrial grade baking soda compound. After neutralization the acid turns into water, treated, cleaned to meet clean water standards, and then released into the public sewer system. Or another option would be to convert spent battery acid into sodium sulfate, which is used in laundry detergent, glass and textile manufacturing. Considering that a typical battery recycling plant recovers 10,000 tons of lead, about 4000 tons of sulphuric acid, and can produce about 6000 tons of sodium sulphate - there is definitely some merit into this conversion process.

DIY FunScience Projects

PS: These Fun science projects should be done with adult supervision.

The first fun science project is called "The Balloon Inflater"

MATERIALS:

A carbonated soft drink in a bottle, a balloon, and a twist tie from a bread or a garbage bag.

WHAT TO DO: 1. Place the balloon over the mouth of the bottle and securing it to the bottle with the twist tie. 2. Have the adult hold the bottle and place their thumb over the mouth of the bottle covered by the balloon. 3. Now shake the bottle for five seconds and release your thumb. 4. The balloon fills with carbon dioxide that was dissolved in the soda pop. That's why they are called carbonated drinks.

This is a great fun science project that can give you that A you want in science class! Here is another great science experiment that anyone can do .

THE BALLOON ROCKET

MATERIALS: A balloon

WHAT TO DO: Simply blow up the balloon. Then, holding it between you thumb and forefinger, let it go and watch it fly.

EXPLANATION: You already know that the air escaped from the opening in which you blew up the balloon. You also noticed that the balloon flew in the opposite direction - this is action and reaction. The first force, air escaping, is the action. The balloon moving in the opposite direction of the air is the reaction.

We use this principle everyday. We push down on a chair to get up. We push our feet to the back to walk forward. A basketball pushes down onto the floor just before it bounces. You can probably think of many other examples.

I hope you have enjoyed these fun science projects. Please remember that these science experiments should be done with adult supervision.

Learning Biology with a Passion

Why learn Biology?

Everyone has to read a manual someday.. whether its a new electrical appliance or your new handphone, everything's accompanied by a little booklet which desires to be read..

Biology is that little booklet to life..

What better manual would you read than the one that tells you how your body operates? The passion for learning Biology comes from realising the need to know how your amazing body is designed.

Studying Biology is often seen as memorising parts and pieces of the body... but do we really need to know all that? I personally feel it is more important to know the function of the body parts- simply because when one can understand the function, one can understand why the part is named so.

Ultimately, the career prospects that Biology offers is often misunderstood as being a Doctor a Brain surgeon or a lab person. But in reality, many biologist don't find place in these careers. They settle in other professions because their study of biology helped them realise their interest for their profession.

When you know your physical self well enough, a greater desire to understand the mental and ultimately spiritual self will arise. This is the reason why the debate over evolution's credibility is always heated, and will be explored in issues to come.

Simply put, the study of biology is practical because, if one studys and not Mugs (studying without thinking), one will defintely have to think and consider the meaning of life. And it often calls for every biologist to take a stand: for evolution or against evolution. To believe in science, or not to. This questions will satisfy the deepests of all insecruities life could bring.

I sincerely hope I have depicted the essense of studying biology as one of purpose, and not of mindless memory work. Indeed, the human boday and mind is the greatest secret anyone can behold!