Module III

Nuclear energy: Nuclear energy conversion techniques, principle, types, working of nuclear reactor,
applications.

Battery energy: Battery energy conversion techniques, Principle, working, types and applications

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Selection of site of Nuclear power Station:

The following points should be kept in view while selecting the site for a nuclear power station:
(i) Availability of water: As sufficient water is required for cooling purposes, therefore, the plant site
should be located where ample quantity of water is available, e.g., across a river or by sea-side.
(ii) Disposal of waste: The waste produced by fission in a nuclear power station is generally radioactive
which must be disposed of properly to avoid health hazards. The waste should either be buried in a deep
trench or disposed of in sea quite away from the sea shore. Therefore, the site selected for such a plant
should have adequate arrangement for the disposal of radioactive waste.
(iii) Distance from populated areas: The site selected for a nuclear power station should be quite away from
the populated areas as there is a danger of presence of radioactivity in the atmosphere near the plant.
However, as a precautionary measure, a dome is used in the plant which does not allow the radioactivity
to spread by wind or underground waterways.
(iv)Transportation facilities: The site selected for a nuclear power station should have adequate
facilities in order to transport the heavy equipment during erection and to facilitate the movement of the
workers employed in the plant. From the above mentioned factors it becomes apparent that ideal choice
for a nuclear power station would be near sea or river and away from thickly populated areas.

Schematic arrangement of Nuclear power station:

The schematic arrangement of a nuclear power station is shown below the whole arrangement can
be divided into the following main stages:
1. Nuclear reactor.
2. Heat exchanger
3. Steam turbine
4. Alternator.
1. Nuclear reactor:

It is an apparatus in which nuclear fuel (U235) is subjected to nuclear fission. It controls the chain reaction
that starts once the fission is done. If the chain reaction is not controlled, the result will be an explosion
due to the fast increase in the energy released. A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical stout pressure vessel and
houses fuel rods of Uranium, moderator and control rods . The fuel rods constitute the fission material
and release huge amount of energy when bombarded with slow moving neutrons. The moderator consists
 of graphite rods which enclose the fuel rods. The moderator slows down the neutrons before they
bombard the fuel rods. The control rods are of cadmium and are inserted into the reactor. Cadmium is
strong neutron absorber and thus regulates the supply of neutrons for fission. When the control rods are
pushed in deep enough, they absorb most of fission neutrons and hence few are available for chain
reaction which, therefore, stops. However,
as they are being withdrawn, more and more of these fission neutrons cause fission and hence the
Intensity of chain reaction
(or heat produced) is increased. Therefore, by pulling out the control rods, power of the nuclear reactor is
increased, whereas by pushing them in, it is reduced. In actual practice, the lowering or raising of control
rods is accomplished automatically according to the requirement of load. The heat produced in the
reactor is removed by the coolant, generally a sodium metal. The coolant carries the heat to the heat
exchanger.

2. Heat exchanger: The coolant gives up heat to the heat exchanger which is utilized in raising the
steam. After giving up heat, the coolant is again fed to the reactor.

3. Steam turbine: The steam produced in the heat exchanger is led to the steam turbine through a
valve. After doing a useful work in the turbine, the steam is exhausted to condenser. The condenser
condenses the steam which is fed to the heat exchanger through feed water pump.

4. Alternator: The steam turbine drives the alternator which converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy. The output from the alternator is delivered to the bus-bars through trans-former, circuit
breakers and isolators.

The associated merits and problems of nuclear power plants as compared to conventional thermal plants
are mentioned below:

Advantages:
1. A nuclear power plant is totally free from Air pollution.
2. It requires little fuel in terms of volume and weight, and therefore poses no
transportation problems and may be sited, independently of nuclear fuel supplies, close
to load centers. However, safety consideration requires that they be normally located
away from populated areas.

Disadvantages:
1. Nuclear reactors produce radioactive fuel waste, the disposal of which poses serious environmental
hazards.
2. The rate of nuclear reaction can be lowered only by a small margin, so that the load on a
Nuclear power plant can only be permitted to be marginally reduced below its full load value.
Nuclear power stations must, therefore, be reliably connected to a power network, as tripping of the
lines connecting the station can be quite serious and may require shutting down of the reactor with
all its consequences.
3. Because of relatively high capital cost as against running cost, the plant should operate
continuously as a base load station. Wherever possible, it is preferable to support such a station
with a pumped storage scheme mentioned earlier.
Nuclear Power Reactors
A nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the atoms of certain elements. In
a nuclear power reactor, the energy released is used as heat to make steam to generate electricity. (In a
research reactor the main purpose is to utilise the actual neutrons produced in the core. In most naval
reactors, steam drives a turbine directly for propulsion.)
The principles for using nuclear power to produce electricity are the same for most types of reactor. The
energy released from continuous fission of the atoms of the fuel is harnessed as heat in either a gas or water,
and is used to produce steam. The steam is used to drive the turbines which produce electricity (as in most
fossil fuel plants).

The main design is the pressurised water reactor (PWR) which has water at over 300°C under pressure in its
primary cooling/heat transfer circuit, and generates steam in a secondary circuit. The less numerous boiling
water reactor (BWR) makes steam in the primary circuit above the reactor core, at similar temperatures and
pressure. Both types use water as both coolant and moderator, to slow neutrons. Since water normally boils
at 100°C, they have robust steel pressure vessels or tubes to enable the higher operating temperature.
(Another type uses heavy water, with deuterium atoms, as moderator. Hence the term ‘light water’ is used to
differentiate.)

Components of a nuclear reactor

There are several components common to most types of reactors:
Fuel
Uranium is the basic fuel. Usually pellets of uranium oxide (UO 2) are arranged in tubes to form fuel rods.
The rods are arranged into fuel assemblies in the reactor core.
Moderator
Material in the core which slows down the neutrons released from fission so that they cause more fission. It
is usually water, but may be heavy water or graphite.
Control rods
These are made with neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium, hafnium or boron, and are inserted or
withdrawn from the core to control the rate of reaction, or to halt it. In some PWR reactors, special control
rods are used to enable the core to sustain a low level of power efficiently. (Secondary control systems
involve other neutron absorbers, usually boron in the coolant – its concentration can be adjusted over time as
the fuel burns up.) PWR control rods are inserted from the top, BWR cruciform blades from the bottom of
the core.
In fission, most of the neutrons are released promptly, but some are delayed. These are crucial in enabling a
chain reacting system (or reactor) to be controllable and to be able to be held precisely critical.
Coolant
A fluid circulating through the core so as to transfer the heat from it. In light water reactors the water
moderator functions also as primary coolant. Except in BWRs, there is secondary coolant circuit where the
water becomes steam. (See also later section on primary coolant characteristics.) A PWR has two to four
primary coolant loops with pumps, driven either by steam or electricity.
Pressure vessel or pressure tubes
Usually a robust steel vessel containing the reactor core and moderator/coolant, but it may be a series of
tubes holding the fuel and conveying the coolant through the surrounding moderator.
Steam generator
Part of the cooling system of pressurised water reactors (PWR & PHWR) where the high-pressure primary
coolant bringing heat from the reactor is used to make steam for the turbine, in a secondary circuit.
Essentially a heat exchanger like a motor car radiator
Containment
The structure around the reactor and associated steam generators which is designed to protect it fr om outside
intrusion and to protect those outside from the effects of radiation in case of any serious malfunction inside.
It is typically a metre-thick concrete and steel structure.

Fuelling a nuclear power reactor

Most reactors need to be shut down for refuelling, so that the reactor vessel can be opened up. In this case
refuelling is at intervals of 12, 18 or 24 months, when a quarter to a third of the fuel assemblies are replaced
with fresh ones. The CANDU and RBMK types have pressure tubes (rather than a pressure vessel enclosing
the reactor core) and can be refuelled under load by disconnecting individual pressure tubes.
If graphite or heavy water is used as moderator, it is possible to run a power reactor on natural instead of
enriched uranium. Natural uranium has the same elemental composition as when it was mined (0.7% U-235,
over 99.2% U-238), enriched uranium has had the proportion of the fissile isotope (U-235) increased by a
process called enrichment, commonly to 3.5 - 5.0%. In this case the moderator can be ordinary water, and
such reactors are collectively called light water reactors. Because the light water absorbs neutrons as well as
slowing them, it is less efficient as a moderator than heavy water or graphite.
During operation, some of the U-238 is changed to plutonium, and Pu-239 ends up providing about one-
third of the energy from the fuel.
In most reactors the fuel is ceramic uranium oxide (UO 2 with a melting point of 2800°C) and most is
enriched. The fuel pellets (usually about 1 cm diameter and 1.5 cm long) are typically arranged in a long
zirconium alloy (zircaloy) tube to form a fuel rod, the zirconium being hard, corrosion-resistant and
transparent to neutrons.* Numerous rods form a fuel assembly, which is an open lattice and can be lifted into
and out of the reactor core. In the most common reactors these are about 4 metres long. A BWR fuel
assembly may be about 320 kg, a PWR one 655 kg, in which case they hold 183 kg uranium and 460 kgU
respectively. In both, about 100 kg of zircaloy is involved.
* Zirconium is an important mineral for nuclear power, where it finds its main use. It is therefore subject to
controls on trading. It is normally contaminated with hafnium, a neutron absorber, so very pure 'nuclear
grade' Zr is used to make the zircaloy, which is about 98% Zr plus about 1.5% tin, also iron, chromium and
sometimes nickel to enhance its strength.

TYPES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS- PWR, BWR and FBR

PRESSURISED WATER REACTOR (PWR)

This is the most common type, with about 300 operable reactors for power generation and several hundred
more employed for naval propulsion. The design of PWRs originated as a submarine power plant. PWRs use
ordinary water as both coolant and moderator. The design is distinguished by having a primary cooling
circuit which flows through the core of the reactor under very high pressure, and a secondary circuit in
which steam is generated to drive the turbine. In Russia these are known as VVER types – water-moderated
and -cooled.
A PWR has fuel assemblies of 200-300 rods each, arranged vertically in the core, and a large reactor would
have about 150-250 fuel assemblies with 80-100 tonnes of uranium.
Water in the reactor core reaches about 325°C, hence it must be kept under about 150 times atmospheric
pressure to prevent it boiling. Pressure is maintained by steam in a pressuriser (see diagram). In the primary
cooling circuit the water is also the moderator, and if any of it turned to steam the fission reaction would
slow down. This negative feedback effect is one of the safety features of the type. The secondary shutdown
system involves adding boron to the primary circuit.

The secondary circuit is under less pressure and the water here boils in the heat exchangers which are thus
steam generators. The steam drives the turbine to produce electricity, and is then condensed and returned to
the heat exchangers in contact with the primary circuit.
 BOILING WATER REACTOR (BWR)
This type of reactor has many similarities to the PWR, except that there is only a single circuit in which the
water is at lower pressure (about 75 times atmospheric pressure) so that it boils in the core at about 285°C.
The reactor is designed to operate with 12-15% of the water in the top part of the core as steam, and hence
with less moderating effect and thus efficiency there. BWR units can operate in load-following mode more
readily than PWRs.
The steam passes through drier plates (steam separators) above the core and then directly to the turbines,
which are thus part of the reactor circuit. Since the water around the core of a reactor is always contaminated
with traces of radionuclides, it means that the turbine must be shielded and radiological protection provided
during maintenance. The cost of this tends to balance the savings due to the simpler design. Most of the
radioactivity in the water is very short-lived [N-16, with a 7 second half-life], so the turbine hall can be
entered soon after the reactor is shut down.
A BWR fuel assembly comprises 90-100 fuel rods, and there are up to 750 assemblies in a reactor core,
holding up to 140 tonnes of uranium. The secondary control system involves restricting water flow through
the core so that more steam in the top part reduces moderation.
FAST NEUTRON REACTORS (FNR)
Some reactors do not have a moderator and utilise fast neutrons, generating power from plutonium while
making more of it from the U-238 isotope in or around the fuel. While they get more than 60 times as much
energy from the original uranium compared with the normal reactors, they are expensive to build. Further
development of them is likely in the next decade, and the main designs expected to be built in two decades
are FNRs. If they are configured to produce more fissile material (plutonium) than they consume they are
called fast breeder reactors (FBR).
  Fast neutron reactors (FNRs) are a technological step beyond conventional power reactors, but are
poised to become mainstream.
 They offer the prospect of vastly more efficient use of uranium resources and the ability to burn
actinides which are otherwise the long-lived component of high-level nuclear wastes.
 Over 400 reactor-years of experience has been gained in operating them.
 Generation IV reactor designs are largely FNRs, and international collaboration on FNR designs is
proceeding with high priority.

Fast reactors more deliberately use the uranium-238 as well as the fissile U-235 isotope used in most
reactors. If they are designed to produce more plutonium than the uranium and plutonium they consume,
they are called fast breeder reactors (FBRs). But many designs are net consumers of fissile material
including plutonium. Fast neutron reactors also can burn long-lived actinides which are recovered from used
fuel out of ordinary reactors.

The ratio of final to initial fissile content is less than 1 they are burners, consuming more fissile material (U-
235, Pu and minor actinides) than they produce (fissile Pu), if more than 1 they are breeders. This is the burn
ratio or breeding ratio. If the ratio is 1 they are iso-breeders, producing the same amount of fuel as they
consume during operation.

FNR operation
Natural uranium contains about 0.7% U-235 and 99.3% U-238.
In any reactor some of the U-238 component is turned into several isotopes of plutonium during its
operation. Two of these, Pu-239 and Pu-241, then undergo fission in the same way as U-235 to produce
heat. In an FNR this process can be optimised so that it 'breeds' fuel. Some U-238 is burned directly with
neutron energies above 1 MeV.
Hence FNRs can utilise uranium about 60 times more efficiently than a normal reactor. They are however
expensive to build and operate, including the reprocessing, and are only justified economically if uranium
prices are reasonably high, or on the basis of burning actinides in nuclear wastes.

The fast reactor has no moderator and relies on fast neutrons alone to cause fission, which for uranium is
less efficient than using slow neutrons. Hence a fast reactor usually uses plutonium as its basic fuel, since it
fissions sufficiently with fast neutrons to keep going. At the same time the number of neutrons produced per
plutonium-239 fission is 25% more than from uranium, and this means that there are enough (after losses)
not only to maintain the chain reaction but also continually to convert U-238 into more Pu-239

Furthermore, the fast neutrons are more efficient than slow ones in doing this breeding, due to more
neutrons being released per fission. These are the main reasons for avoiding the use of a moderator. The
coolant is a liquid metal (normally sodium) to avoid any neutron moderation and provide a very efficient
heat transfer medium. The fast reactor 'burns' and 'breeds' fissile plutonium. While the conversion ratio (the
ratio of new fissile nuclei to fissioned nuclei) in a normal reactor is around 0.6, that in a fast reactor may
exceed 1.0.

Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors

 From the outset, there has been a strong awareness of the potential hazard of both nuclear criticality and
release of radioactive materials from generating electricity with nuclear power.
 As in other industries, the design and operation of nuclear power plants aims to minimize the likelihood
of accidents, and avoid major human consequences when they occur.
 These are the only major accidents to have occurred in over 17,000 cumulative reactor -years of
commercial nuclear power operation in 33 countries.
 The evidence over six decades shows that nuclear power is a safe means of generating electricity. The
risk of accidents in nuclear power plants is low and declining. The consequences of an accident or
terrorist attack are minimal compared with other commonly accepted risks.
 Radiological effects on people of any radioactive releases can be avoided.
Nuclear Radiation
 Natural sources account for most of the radiation we all receive each year.
 The nuclear fuel cycle does not give rise to significant radiation exposure for members of the public,
and even in two major nuclear accidents – Three Mile Island and Fukushima – exposure to radiation
has caused no harm to the public.
 Radiation protection standards assume that any dose of radiation, no matter how small, involves a
possible risk to human health. This deliberately conservative assumption is increasingly being
questioned.
 Fear of radiation causes much harm. It has caused much suffering and many deaths.
Radiation is energy in the process of being transmitted. It may take such forms as light, or tiny particles
much too small to see. Visible light, the ultra-violet light we receive from the sun, and transmission signals
for TV and radio communications are all forms of radiation that are common in our daily lives. These are all
generally referred to as 'non-ionizing' radiation, though at least some ultra-violet radiation is considered to
be ionizing.
Radiation particularly associated with nuclear medicine and the use of nuclear energy, along with X-rays, is
'ionizing' radiation, which means that the radiation has sufficient energy to interact with matter, especially
the human body, and produce ions, i.e. it can eject an electron from an atom.
Battery Energy Storage
The battery stores energy in an electrochemical form and is the most widely used device for energy
storage in a variety of applications. The electrochemical energy is in a semi ordered form, which is in
between the electrical and thermal forms. It has a one-way conversion efficiency of 85 to 90%.
There are two basic types of electrochemical batteries:
The primary battery, which converts chemical energy into electric energy. The electrochemical
reaction in a primary battery is nonreversible, and the battery is discarded after a full discharge. For this
reason, it finds applications where a high energy density for one-time use is required.
The secondary battery, which is also known as the rechargeable battery. The electrochemical
reaction in the secondary battery is reversible. After a discharge, it can be recharged by injecting a direct
current from an external source. This type of battery converts chemical energy into electric energy in the
discharge mode. In the charge mode, it converts the electric energy into chemical energy. In both modes, a
small fraction of energy is converted into heat, which is dissipated to the surrounding medium. The round-
trip conversion efficiency is between 70 and 80%. The internal construction of a typical electrochemical cell
is shown in above Figure. It has positive and negative electrode plates with insulating separators and a
chemical electrolyte in between. The two groups of electrode plates are connected to two external terminals
mounted on the casing. The cell stores electrochemical energy at a low electrical potential, typically a few
volts

The battery is made of numerous electrochemical cells connected in a series–parallel combination to

obtain the desired battery voltage and current. The higher the battery voltage, the higher the number of cells
required in series. The battery rating is stated in terms of the average voltage during discharge and the
ampere-hour capacity it can deliver before the voltage drops below the specified limit. The product of the
voltage and ampere-hour forms the watt hour (Wh) energy rating the battery can deliver to a load fromthe
fully charged condition. The battery charge and discharge rates are stated in units of its capacity in Ah. For
example, charging a 100-Ah battery at C/10 rate means charging at 100/10 = 10 A. Discharging that battery
at C/2 rate means drawing 100/2 = 50 A, at which rate the battery will be fully discharged in 2 h. The state
of charge (SOC) of the battery at any time is defined as the following:

Storage battery receives electrical energy and stores it in the form of electrical energy by reversible
electrochemical reaction. When an electrical load is connected, stored chemical energy is released in the
form of DC electrical energy. Charging and discharging are both in the form of electrical energy whereas the
stored energy is in chemical form. Energy recovery efficiency is typically 75%. It depends on type of battery
and rate of discharge.
LEAD-ACID
This is the most common type of rechargeable battery used today because of its maturity and high
performance-over-cost ratio, even though it has the least energy density by weight and volume. In a Pb-acid
battery under discharge, water and lead sulfate are formed, the water dilutes the sulfuric acid electrolyte, and
the specific gravity of the electrolyte decreases with the decreasing SOC. Recharging reverses the reaction,
in which the lead and lead dioxide are formed at the negative and positive plates, respectively, restoring the
battery into its originally charged state. The Pb-acid battery comes in various versions. The shallow-cycle
version is used in automobiles, in which a short burst of energy is drawn from the battery to start the engine.
 A
battery consists of combination of individual cells. A cell consists of electrodes and an electrolyte. As in the
fig. H2 SO4 forms an electrolyte and Pb[lead] and PbO 2 are electrode plates. Chemical reaction begins with
an ionization of H2SO4 [sulphuric acid] as H + and HSO4- ions.
The reaction at the negative electrode:

Lead gets converted into lead sulphate. Electrons travel through an external circuit to the positive electrode.

The reaction at positive electrode:

PbSO4[lead sulphate] replaces PbO2[Lead oxide]. Electrical current is carried by H + and HSO4- ions
through the sulphuric acid. This process is during discharge. The reactions are reversed during charging
operation and original materials

are regenerated at the plates.

• Oxygen is replaced by SO4 and water is released as a byproduct. This dilutes the acid.
• Capacity of the generated emf depends on the concentration of sulphuric acid.
• With reduced concentration of acid, emf also reduces.
• When emf reaches maximum value and also the concentration of a chemical is restored, we say the
battery is full charged.
• I.einterms of specific gravity its 1.08 at 25deg and emf = 1.7V of a cell.
• Storage capacity of the battery is increased by exposing the surface area of active material to the
electrolyte.
• With specific gravity of 1.26 to 1.28 at 25deg Cel, emf of the fully charged cell is close to 2.1V.

Applications of Lead-acid batteries

• Mobile phones
 • Automobiles (in automobiles, batteries are kept fully charged by keeping the generator coupled to
the engine.)
• For emergency conditions as portable power systems.
• Vehicle propulsion
• Battery operated systems
• To store solar and wind energy

Advantages
• Easily adaptable to any type of storage
• Number of units can be varied based on the requirement
• Rapid reversal of operation is possible between charging and discharging.
• Provide storage facilities near the load centers.

Limitations

• Battery life is limited

• The reason for this is, during every discharge, PbSO4 falls at the bottom of the cell causing
irreversible loss.
• The process might be slow but still reduces life of the battery.

• Ordinary batteries can not be allowed to discharge more than 50% of the stored capacity. Such a
discharge is known as deep discharge.
• If it is allowed to discharge completely, the battery ceases to charge.
• Weight of the battery is more
• Cost increases as the storage also increases
• During transient load, causes voltage fluctuation because of high impedance of the battery.

Types of Batteries
There are at least six major rechargeable electro-chemistries available today. They are as follows:
• Lead-acid (Pb-acid)
• Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd)
• Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH)
• Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
• Lithium-polymer (Li-poly)
• Zinc-air

NICKEL-CADMIUM
The NiCd is a matured electrochemistry, in which the positive electrode is made of cadmium and the
negative electrode of nickel hydroxide. The two electrodes are separated by Nylon separators and placed in
potassium hydroxide electrolyte in a stainless steel casing. With a sealed cell and half the weight of the
conventional Pb-acid, the NiCd battery has been used to power most rechargeable consumer applications. It
has a longer deep-cycle life and is more temperature tolerant than the Pb-acid battery. However, this
electrochemistry has a memory effect (explained later), which degrades the capacity if not used for a long
time. Moreover, cadmium has recently come under environmental regulatory scrutiny. For these reasons,
NiCd is being replaced by NiMH and Li-ion batteries in laptop computers and other similar high-priced
consumer electronics.

NICKEL-METALHYDRIDE
NiMH is an extension of the NiCd technology and offers an improvement in energy density over that in
NiCd. The major construction difference is that the anode is made of a metal hydride. This eliminates the
environmental concerns of cadmium. Another performance improvement is that it has a negligible memory
effect. NiMH, however, is less capable of delivering high peak power, has a high self-discharge rate, and is
susceptible to damage due to overcharging. Compared to NiCd, NiMH is expensive at present, although the
price is expected to drop significantly in the future. This expectation is based on current development
programs targeted for largescale application of this technology in electric vehicles.

LITHIUM-ION
The Li-ion technology is a new development, which offers three times the energy density over that of Pb-
acid. Such a large improvement in energy density comes from lithium’s low atomic weight of 6.9 vs. 207
for lead. Moreover, Li-ion has a higher cell voltage, 3.5 V vs. 2.0 V for Pb-acid and 1.2 V for other electro-
chemistries. This requires fewer cells in series for a given battery voltage, thus reducing the manufacturing
cost. On the negative side, the lithium electrode reacts with any liquid electrolyte, creating a sort of
passivation film. Every time the cell is discharged and then charged, the lithium is stripped away, a free
metal surface is exposed to the electrolyte, and a new film is formed. This is compensated for by using thick
electrodes or else the battery life would be shortened. For this reason, Li-ion is more expensive than Ni-Cd.
In operation, the Li-ion electrochemistry is vulnerable to damage from overcharging or other shortcomings
in battery management. Therefore, it requires more elaborate charging circuitry with adequate protection
against overcharging.
LITHIUM-POLYMER
This is a lithium battery with solid polymer electrolytes. It is constructed with a film of metallic lithium
bonded to a thin layer of solid polymer electrolyte. The solid polymer enhances the cell’s specific energy
by acting as both the electrolyte and the separator. Moreover, the metal in solid electrolyte reacts less than it
does with a liquid electrolyte.
ZINC-AIR
The zinc-air battery has a zinc negative electrode, a potassium hydroxide electrolyte, and a carbon positive
electrode, which is exposed to the air. During discharge, oxygen from the air is reduced at the carbon
electrode (the so-called air cathode), and the zinc electrode is oxidized. During discharge, it absorbs oxygen
from the air and converts it into oxygen ions for transport to the zinc anode. During charge, it evolves
oxygen. Good air management is essential for the performance of the zinc-air battery.