Page 207 - Lindens Handbook of Batteries

CHAPTER 9

ZINC-CARBON BATTERIES—
LECLANCHÉ AND ZINC CHLORIDE

CELL SYSTEMS

Brooke Schumm, Jr.

9.1 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Zinc-carbon batteries have been well known for over a hundred years. The two types of zinc-carbon
batteries that are popular now are the Leclanché and zinc chloride systems. Both systems remain
among the most widely used of all the primary battery systems worldwide although their use in the
United States and Europe is declining. The use of flashlights, portable radios, and other moderate-
and light-drain applications, as well as the absence of a high-drain device base, is stimulating the use
of zinc-carbon batteries in emerging countries. The battery is characterized as having low cost, ready
availability, and acceptable performance for a large number of applications.
The zinc-carbon battery industry continues to grow worldwide. The global battery market is
1
expected to reach $75 billion or more in sales by the year 2015. Some details of the zinc-carbon
battery market and the global primary battery market as of 2002 are given in Table 9.1, estimating
that Asia-Pacific would change the most from 2002 to 2012.
The current estimate of annual growth for the zinc-carbon global market through the year 2012
continues to be +5% per year. The expected decline in the zinc-carbon battery market was only
realized in the United States, with a relatively constant -2% to -5% decline in sales volume per
year. This is expected to continue. Asia, emerging countries, and Eastern European markets drove
the global demand for the inexpensive zinc-carbon battery system. As an example, 80% of all
primary batteries presently sold in Eastern and Central Europe are zinc-carbon types. Even in the
United States, this system still shows substantial usage, with total U.S. sales in 1998 of $370 million
2,3
dollars. (See Fig. 9.1.)
New, heavier-drain toys, lighting, and communications devices entering the consumer market
continue to stimulate an increased preference for zinc-alkaline cells. This has spawned a segmenta-
tion of the zinc-alkaline system, resulting in the design of increased power, heavy-duty, zinc-alkaline
batteries for those applications. These new applications and continued impact from the use of
rechargeable cells will be additional factors impacting zinc-carbon sales in the United States.
Historically, the first prototype of the modern dry cell was the Leclanché wet cell developed by a
telegraph engineer, Georges-Lionel Leclanché, in 1866. The design resulted from the need to provide
a more reliable and easily maintained power source for telegraph offices and railroad signaling. The
cell was unique in that it was the first practical cell using a single low-corrosive fluid, ammonium
chloride, as an electrolyte instead of the strong mineral acids in use at the time.

9.1