Comparison of Several Methods for Determining the Internal Resistance of Lithium Ion Cells

The internal resistance is the key parameter for determining power, energy efficiency and lost heat of a lithium ion cell. Precise knowledge of this value is vital for designing battery systems for automotive applications. Internal resistance of a cell was determined by current step methods, AC (alternating current) methods, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and thermal loss methods. The outcomes of these measurements have been compared with each other. If charge or discharge of the cell is limited, current step methods provide the same results as energy loss methods

Kalman-variant estimators for state of charge in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries are now commercially available, offering high specific energy density, low production costs and high safety. However, there is no commercially-available battery management system for them, and there are no published methods for determining state of charge in situ. This paper describes a study to address this gap. The properties and behaviours of lithium-sulfur are briefly introduced, and the applicability of ‘standard’ lithium-ion state-of-charge estimation methods is explored. Open-circuit voltage methods and ‘Coulomb counting’ are found to have a poor fit for lithium-sulfur, and model-based methods, particularly recursive Bayesian filters, are identified as showing strong promise. Three recursive Bayesian filters are implemented: an extended Kalman filter (EKF), an unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and a particle filter (PF). These estimators are tested through practical experimentation, considering both a pulse-discharge test and a test based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Experimentation is carried out at a constant temperature, mirroring the environment expected in the authors' target automotive application. It is shown that the estimators, which are based on a relatively simple equivalent-circuit–network model, can deliver useful results. If the three estimators implemented, the unscented Kalman filter gives the most robust and accurate performance, with an acceptable computational effort

Review of Parameter Determination for Thermal Modeling of Lithium Ion Batteries

This paper reviews different methods for determination of thermal parameters of lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are extensively employed for various applications owing to their low memory effect, high specific energy, and power density. One of the problems in the expansion of hybrid and electric vehicle technology is the management and control of operation temperatures and heat generation. Successful battery thermal management designs can lead to better reliability and performance of hybrid and electric vehicles. Thermal cycling and temperature gradients could have a considerable impact on the lifetime of lithium ion battery cells. Thermal management is critical in electric vehicles (EVs) and good thermal battery models are necessary to design proper heating and cooling systems. Consequently, it is necessary to determine thermal parameters of a single cell, such as internal resistance, specific heat capacity, entropic heat coefficient, and thermal conductivity in order to design suitable thermal management system

Methods of Technical Prognostics Applicable to Embedded Systems

Hlavní cílem dizertace je poskytnutí uceleného pohledu na problematiku technické prognostiky, která nachází uplatnění v tzv. prediktivní údržbě založené na trvalém monitorování zařízení a odhadu úrovně degradace systému či jeho zbývající životnosti a to zejména v oblasti komplexních zařízení a strojů. V současnosti je technická diagnostika poměrně dobře zmapovaná a reálně nasazená na rozdíl od technické prognostiky, která je stále rozvíjejícím se oborem, který ovšem postrádá větší množství reálných aplikaci a navíc ne všechny metody jsou dostatečně přesné a aplikovatelné pro embedded systémy. Dizertační práce přináší přehled základních metod použitelných pro účely predikce zbývající užitné životnosti, jsou zde popsány metriky pomocí, kterých je možné jednotlivé přístupy porovnávat ať už z pohledu přesnosti, ale také i z pohledu výpočetní náročnosti. Jedno z dizertačních jader tvoří doporučení a postup pro výběr vhodné prognostické metody s ohledem na prognostická kritéria. Dalším dizertačním jádrem je představení tzv. částicového filtrovaní (particle filtering) vhodné pro model-based prognostiku s ověřením jejich implementace a porovnáním. Hlavní dizertační jádro reprezentuje případovou studii pro velmi aktuální téma prognostiky Li-Ion baterii s ohledem na trvalé monitorování. Případová studie demonstruje proces prognostiky založené na modelu a srovnává možné přístupy jednak pro odhad doby před vybitím baterie, ale také sleduje možné vlivy na degradaci baterie. Součástí práce je základní ověření modelu Li-Ion baterie a návrh prognostického procesu.The main aim of the thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview of technical prognosis, which is applied in the condition based maintenance, based on continuous device monitoring and remaining useful life estimation, especially in the field of complex equipment and machinery. Nowadays technical prognosis is still evolving discipline with limited number of real applications and is not so well developed as technical diagnostics, which is fairly well mapped and deployed in real systems. Thesis provides an overview of basic methods applicable for prediction of remaining useful life, metrics, which can help to compare the different approaches both in terms of accuracy and in terms of computational/deployment cost. One of the research cores consists of recommendations and guide for selecting the appropriate forecasting method with regard to the prognostic criteria. Second thesis research core provides description and applicability of particle filtering framework suitable for model-based forecasting. Verification of their implementation and comparison is provided. The main research topic of the thesis provides a case study for a very actual Li-Ion battery health monitoring and prognostics with respect to continuous monitoring. The case study demonstrates the prognostic process based on the model and compares the possible approaches for estimating both the runtime and capacity fade. Proposed methodology is verified on real measured data.

From the production of the single cell to the end of life of the battery module: the development of parameter variation of lithium-ion cells

(English) In lithium-ion batteries, depending on the requirements, many individual cells are connected in series and parallel. Despite very similar individual cell parameters after production, they can develop differently during the subsequent ageing process due to intrinsic and extrinsic influences. A pronounced parameter variation of the assembled cells ultimately leads to a reduced utilisation of the lithium-ion battery and thus also to a reduced lifetime. The aim of this work is therefore to gain a better understanding of the origin and development of parameter variation during the ageing process. The work is divided into three major parts. At the beginning, parameters such as capacity and internal resistance of 480 brand-new cells of one production batch are recorded. The obtained values allow the calculation of the production-related parameter variation of the cells. In order to investigate the development of the parameter variation during cell ageing, numerous ageing tests are carried out in this work. These are divided into single cell tests and module tests. With the help of single cell ageing tests, the development of the parameter variation of unconnected cells is investigated. Here, several cells are combined into groups and aged under identical conditions. In order to show the influence of different operating conditions on the parameter variation during single cell ageing, the cell groups are aged at different temperatures and different load currents. Finally, by ageing various self-built modules, the development of the parameter variation of cells connected in series and in parallel is investigated. By varying the load current and the number of cells connected in parallel, further dependencies are investigated. The measured data show that both the load on the cells and the ambient temperature have a decisive influence on the development of parameter variation. Operating conditions near the lithium plating boundary are particularly problematic. Since the onset of lithium plating varies slightly between the ageing cells, there are extreme differences in the ageing rate over a certain period of time. This ultimately leads to large parameter variations in the tests carried out. The cells used in this work are cylindrical cells in 18650 format with a nominal capacity of 2.6 Ah (Samsung ICR18650-26J). The high-energy cells consist of a NMC cathode and a graphite anode.(Català) Les bateries de ions de liti estan formades per l’associació sèrie i paral·lel de diferents cel·les en funció dels requeriments. Malgrat que els processos productius asseguren molt poques variacions en la fabricació, aquestes poden evolucionar en el temps de manera diferent degut a les influències internes o externes. Si aquesta variació dels paràmetres de cada cel·la és molt gran es reduirà la capacitat i la vida útil de la bateria. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és aprofundir en el coneixement de l’origen dels fenòmens que provoquen la variació dels paràmetres característics de la bateria durant el seu ús i el pas del temps. El treball està dividit en tres grans parts. Inicialment, s’han mesurat paràmetres com la capacitat o la resistència interna de 480 cel·les noves del mateix lot. Els valors obtinguts han permès calcular la variació de paràmetres deguda al procés productiu. Per tal d’investigar la variació dels paràmetres també durant l’ús i envelliment de les cel·les s’han realitzat tests tant de cel·les individuals com de mòduls de bateries. Amb l’ajut de l’envelliment de cel·les individuals s’investiga l’envelliment de cel·les no connectades entre elles. A partir d’aquest punt, diferents cel·les s’han convinat en grup i s’han envellit en les mateixes condicions. Per tal de poder observar la influència de les diferents condicions d’operació en la variació dels paràmetres durant l’envelliment, altres grups s’han envellit en diferents condicions de temperatura i càrrega. Finalment, mitjançant l’envelliment de diferents grups de cel·les connectades en sèrie i en paral·lel formant una bateria s’han envellit i monitoritzat els seus paràmetres. Les dades obtingudes mostren que tant el nivell de càrrega de les cel·les com la temperatura ambient tenen una influència decisiva en la variació dels paràmetres. Condicions d’operació properes a la metal·lització del liti (lithium plating) són particularment problemàtiques. Atès que l'inici de la metal·lització del liti varia lleugerament entre les cèl·lules envellides, existeixen diferencies extremes entre cel·les. Això provoca grans variacions dels paràmetres de les cel·les envellides. Les cel·les usades en aquest treball són cilíndriques del tipus 18650 amb una capacitat nominal de 2.6 Ah. Les cel·les, d’alta energia, consisteixen un càtode NMC i un ànode de grafitPostprint (published version

Accelerated internal resistance measurements of lithium-ion cells to support future end-of-life strategies for electric vehicles

Industrial and academic communities have embarked on investigating the sustainability of vehicles that contain embedded electrochemical energy storage systems. Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) battery systems are underpinned by implicit assumptions about the state of health (SOH) of the battery. The internal resistance of battery systems is the essential property for determining available power, energy efficiency, and heat generation. Consequently, precise measurement is crucial to estimate the SOH; however, the international standards and best practice guides that exist to define the measurements include long preconditioning and rest times that make the test duration prohibitive. The aim of this research is to critically evaluate whether test duration times for internal resistance measurements can be reduced to values that may facilitate further end-of-life (EOL) options. Results reveal a newly developed technique using pulse-multisines is two to four times faster to perform when compared to the standard protocol whilst maintaining accuracy for battery electric vehicle (BEV) and HEV cells, respectively. This novel method allows different stakeholders to rank the relative importance of test accuracy verses experimental test time when categorising used Li-ion cells for different EOL applications. View Full-Tex

Towards Better Understanding of Failure Modes in Lithium-Ion Batteries: Design for Safety

In this digital age, energy storage technologies become more sophisticated and more widely used as we shift from traditional fossil fuel energy sources to renewable solutions. Specifically, consumer electronics devices and hybrid/electric vehicles demand better energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries have become a popular choice for meeting increased energy storage and power density needs. Like any energy solution, take for example the flammability of gasoline for automobiles, there are safety concerns surrounding the implications of failure. Although lithium-ion battery technology has existed for some time, the public interest in safety has become of higher concern with media stories reporting catastrophic cellular phone- and electric vehicle failures. Lithium-ion battery failure can be dangerously volatile. Because of this, battery electrochemical and thermal response is important to understand in order to improve safety when designing products that use lithium-ion chemistry. The implications of past and present understanding of multi-physics relationships inside a lithium-ion cell allow for the study of variables impacting cell response when designing new battery packs. Specifically, state-of-the-art design tools and models incorporate battery condition monitoring, charge balancing, safety checks, and thermal management by estimation of the state of charge, state of health, and internal electrochemical parameters. The parameters are well understood for healthy batteries and more recently for aging batteries, but not for physically damaged cells. Combining multi-physics and multi-scale modeling, a framework for isolating individual parameters to understand the impact of physical damage is developed in this work. The individual parameter isolated is the porosity of the separator, a critical component of the cell. This provides a powerful design tool for researchers and OEM engineers alike. This work is a partnership between a battery OEM (Johnson Controls, Inc.), a Computer Aided Engineering tool maker (ANSYS, Inc.), and a university laboratory (Advanced Manufacturing and Design Lab, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). This work aims at bridging the gap between industry and academia by using a computer aided engineering (CAE) platform to focus battery design for safety

A Review of Process Innovations in the Cell Finishing of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Large-Scale Production

The European Union's ambitious climate targets will make climate-friendly storage technologies essential. More than any other, this decade could be marked by battery technology, especially the lithium-ion battery (LIB). In addition, various trends in mobility and consumer electronics are spurring the cross-industry use of this secondary storage device. As a result, the need for additional production capacities is rising, and the need for vertical integration of the value chain of LIB in Europe. In current forecasts, Europe has a considerable deficit between battery cell demand and production capacities. The deficit highlights the need for additional capacities and effort to develop new production systems. Furthermore, production technologies remain challenging, as high reject rates are expected initially, and a reduction of costs at the battery cell level is mandatory. Formation and aging as part of the cell finishing are the production steps with the highest processing time and space requirements. The formation can take up to 24 hours, and the subsequent aging between 8 to 36 days. It thus represents the biggest bottleneck. In large-scale production, various process innovations are being worked on, depending on the degree of automation. However, a systematic study of the impact of these process innovations is hardly ever carried out. Various approaches are conceivable here: Innovative formation protocols, optimized plant technology, flexible goods carrier systems and other process-related innovations. This paper provides researchers and industry experts with meaningful insights into the status quo and future developments in the cell finishing of battery cells through a comprehensive research approach. These trends will be presented and systematically evaluated to identify the most significant levers to reduce costs and time. It reviews process innovations in cell finishing to approach this research gap and aims to answer how these innovations will benefit and shape the large-scale production of lithium-ion battery cells