Page 288 - Lindens Handbook of Batteries

12.8 PRIMARY BATTERIES

1.360

1.355
No-load voltage 1.350

1.345

1.340
0 6 12 18 24 30
Age, months
FIGURE 12.6 No-load voltage vs. time, zinc/mercuric oxide battery, 20°C.

1.360

1.359

No-load voltage 1.358

1.357

1.356

1.355
–20 –10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature, °C
FIGURE 12.7 No-load voltage vs. temperature, zinc/mercuric oxide battery.

12.5.2 Discharge Performance

A flat discharge curve, characteristic of the zinc/mercuric oxide battery, is shown in Fig. 12.8 for a
pressed-powder anode battery at 20°C. The end-point voltage is generally considered to be 0.9 V,
although at higher current drains the batteries may discharge usefully below this voltage. At low
current drains, the discharge profile is very flat and the curve is almost “squared off.”