Uneven temperature and voltage distributions due to rapid discharge rates and different boundary conditions for series-connected LiFePO4 batteries

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2016.12.026 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This paper presents the surface temperature and voltage distributions on a prismatic lithium-ion battery pack at 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C discharge rates and 5°C, 15°C, 25°C, and 35°C boundary conditions (BCs) for water cooling and ~22°C for air cooling methods. It provides quantitative data regarding thermal behaviour of lithium-ion batteries for designing thermal management systems and developing reliable thermal models. In this regard, three large LiFePO4 20Ah capacity, prismatic batteries are connected in series with four cold plates used between cells and eighteen thermocouples are placed at distributed locations on the principle surface of all three cells: the first six for the first cell, the second six for the second cell, and the third six for the third cell, and the average and peak surface temperatures as well as voltage distributions are measured and presented in this study. In addition, the simulated heat generation rate, temperature and voltage distributions are validated with an experimental data for the above mentioned C-rates and BCs. The present study shows that increasing discharge rates and BCs results in increase in the maximum and average surface temperatures at the three locations (near the anode, cathode, and mid surface of the body). The highest value of the average surface temperature is obtained for 4C and 35°C BC (36.36°C) and the lowest value is obtained for 1C and 5°C BC (7.22°C) for water cooling method

Experimental and theoretical investigations of heat generation rates for a water cooled LiFePO4 battery

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.05.126 © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Understanding the rate of heat generation in a lithium-ion cell is critical for its safety and performance behavior. This paper presents in situ measurements of the heat generation rate for a prismatic Lithium-ion battery at 1C, 2C, 3C and 4C discharge rates and 5°C, 15°C, 25°C, and 35°C boundary conditions (BCs). For this work, an aluminum-laminated battery consisting of LiFePO4 cathode material with 20Ah capacity was adopted to investigate the variation of the rate of heat generation as a function of the discharge capacity. Ten thermocouples and three heat flux sensors were applied to the battery surface at distributed locations. The results of this study show that the highest rate of heat generation was found to be 91W for 4C discharge rate and 5°C BC while the minimum value was 13W measured at 1C discharge rate and 35°C BC. It was also found that the increase in discharge rate and thus the discharge current caused consistent increase in the heat generation rate for equal depth of discharge points. A model is later developed using the neural network approach and validated. The heat generation rate predicted by the model demonstrates an identical behavior with experimental results

Experimental and simulated temperature variations in a LiFePO4-20Ah battery during discharge process

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.101/j.apenergy.2016.08.008 © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The present study investigates the impact of various discharge rates on the thermal (temperature and heat generation profiles) and electrical performance of the Li-ion battery for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. For this, a prismatic Li-ion phosphate (LiFePO4) battery with 20Ah capacity is tested under constant current discharge rates of C/10, C/5, C/2, 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C and surface temperatures and voltage distributions during both charging and discharging are measured. In addition, IR images were also captured during experiments with a Flir Therma CAM S60 IR camera at various discharge rates and are reported in this study. Furthermore, a thermal model is created and validated for a particular battery using a MATLAB Simulink in terms of temperature, voltage, heat generation, and internal resistance. The results of this study demonstrate that the increased C-rates from C/10 to 4C result in increased temperatures on the principal surface of the battery. Also, at the lower discharge rates (below 1C), the surface temperature remains close to the ambient temperature, but at higher discharge rates (above 1C); the surface temperature quickly increases for all C-rates. The most noteworthy surface temperature distribution is observed to be 58.1°C towards the end of 4C discharge

Thermal design and simulation of mini-channel cold plate for water cooled large sized prismatic lithium-ion battery

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.05.010 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This paper has presented a comparative study of the temperature and velocity distributions within the mini-channel cold plates placed on a prismatic lithium-ion battery cell using experimental and numerical techniques. The study was conducted for water cooling methods at 1C and 2C discharge rates and different operating temperatures of 5 degrees C, 15 degrees C, and 25 degrees C. A total of nineteen thermocouples were used for this experimental work, and were purposefully placed at different locations. Out of nineteen, ten T-type thermocouples were placed on the principal surface of the battery, and four K-type thermocouples were used to measure water inlet and outlet temperature. Computationally, the k-s model in ANSYS Fluent was used to simulate the flow in a mini-channel cold plate, and the data was validated with the experimental data for temperature profiles. The present results show that increased discharge rates and increased operating temperature results in increased temperature of the cold plates. Furthermore, the thermocouple sensors nearest the electrodes (anode and cathode) measured the higher temperatures than the sensors located at the center of the battery surface. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Transient electrochemical heat transfer modeling and experimental validation of a large sized LiFePO4/graphite battery

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.03.005 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Both measurement and modeling of thermal performance in lithium-ion battery cell are considered crucial as they directly affect the safety. Even though the operation of a lithium-ion battery cell is transient phenomena in most cases, most available thermal models for lithium-ion battery cell predicts only steady-state temperature fields. This paper presents a mathematical model to predict the transient temperature distributions of a large sized 20Ah-LiFePO4 prismatic battery at different C-rates. In this regard, the lithium-ion battery is placed in a vertical position on a stand inside the lab with an ambient air cooling and the battery is discharged under constant current rate of 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C in order to provide quantitative data regarding thermal behavior of lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, IR images are taken for the same battery cell during discharging. The present model predictions are in very good agreement with the experimental data and also with an IR imaging for temperature profiles. The present results show that the increased C-rates result in increased temperatures on the principle surface of the battery. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Failure analysis informing intelligent asset management

With increasing demands on the UK’s power grid it has become increasingly important to reform the methods of asset management used to maintain it. The science of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) presents interesting possibilities by allowing the online diagnosis of faults in a component and the dynamic trending of its remaining useful life (RUL). Before a PHM system can be developed an extensive failure analysis must be conducted on the asset in question to determine the mechanisms of failure and their associated data precursors that precede them. In order to gain experience in the development of prognostic systems we have conducted a study of commercial power relays, using a data capture regime that revealed precursors to relay failure. We were able to determine important failure precursors for both stuck open failures caused by contact erosion and stuck closed failures caused by material transfer and are in a position to develop a more detailed prognostic system from this base. This research when expanded and applied to a system such as the power grid, presents an opportunity for more efficient asset management when compared to maintenance based upon time to replacement or purely on condition

Redes de sensores de fibra ótica para monitorização in situ de baterias de ião de lítio

In this work, fiber optic sensor networks were developed to be integrated in commercially available lithium-ion batteries (cylindrical and prismatic) and pre-fabricated batteries in a laboratory environment (pouch cells), with the objective of monitoring in situ, operando and in real time, the internal and external variations of temperature and strain, under different environmental conditions and different charge and discharge rates. To this end, and in order to show the improved performance of fiber optic sensors in relation to the electronic ones, typically used in this type of application, their response time and resolution were compared. An improvement of 28% of the response time and a better resolution are attained with fiber optic sensors. Monitorization studies of the temperature and strain variations using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in the cylindrical configuration have been made, as well as temperature and bi-directional strain variations in the prismatic configuration, under normal or abusive operating conditions, using the FBG method strain free. When the batteries were subjected to abusive operating conditions, it was evident that greater temperature and strain variations occur, being promoted by the rapid transport of lithium ions between the positive and negative electrodes. Due to the thermal expansion of the materials that compose the battery, its internal structure is an important parameter to consider and that can influence its behavior in terms of expansion and contraction. In order to monitor the thermal performance of lithium-ion prismatic batteries in different environmental conditions, studies were performed in which the battery operated at different discharge rates over different conditions of temperature and relative humidity, in order to simulate the performance of the battery in three distinct climates: cold, temperate, and dry. From these studies, the poor performance of this type of batteries in the cold climate, and consequent lower thermal performance was verified. A network of 37 FBG sensors has also been used to monitor the interfaces of a pack of 3 lithium polymer batteries connected in series. It was possible to perform a spatial and temporal thermal mapping under different discharge rates, and to identify areas that are more susceptible to the appearance of hot spots and that are capable of endanger its normal functioning. Hotter zones were detected near the current collectors, due to the higher density of lithium ions in this region. For the first time, the simultaneous discrimination of internal temperature and strain variations in lithium-ion batteries in the pouch cell configuration was carried out, through the incorporation of hybrid sensors, which combine the operational characteristics of the Fabry-Perot and FBG sensors. The evolution of the strain and temperature signals was followed by the proposed sensors and the largest strain variations were detected at the beginning of the discharge process, in the bottom position of the pouch cell. With the work developed in this Thesis, it is concluded that the integration of optical fiber sensors into lithium-ion batteries contributes to a better internal and external knowledge of the thermal performance and volume variations under different operating conditions. This might improve the safety conditions and optimize the design of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.No presente trabalho, desenvolveram-se redes de sensores em fibra ótica para integrar em baterias comerciais de ião de lítio (cilíndricas e prismáticas) e em baterias pré-fabricadas em ambiente de laboratório (pouch cells), com o objetivo de monitorizar in situ, em funcionamento e em tempo real variações internas e externas de temperatura e deformação, sob diferentes condições ambientais e diferentes taxas de carga e descarga. Para tal, e de maneira a mostrar o melhor desempenho dos sensores de fibra ótica em relação aos eletrónicos tipicamente usados neste tipo de aplicação, os seus tempos de resposta e resolução foram comparados, obtendo-se uma melhoria de 28% do tempo de resposta e uma resolução superior com os sensores em fibra ótica. Foram feitos estudos da monitorização de variações de temperatura e deformação através de redes de Bragg em fibra (FBG) na configuração cilíndrica e variações de temperatura e deformação bidirecional na configuração prismática, aquando do seu funcionamento em condições normais e abusivas, através do método FBG strain-free. Quando as baterias foram submetidas a condições operacionais abusivas, ficou evidente que ocorrem maiores variações de temperatura e de deformação, sendo promovidas pelo rápido transporte dos iões de lítio entre os elétrodos positivo e negativo. Devido à expansão térmica dos materiais que compõem a bateria, a sua estrutura interna é um importante parâmetro a ter em consideração e que pode influenciar o seu comportamento em termos de expansão e contração. A fim de monitorizar o desempenho térmico de baterias prismáticas de ião de lítio em diferentes condições ambientais, realizaram-se estudos nos quais a bateria operou sob diferentes taxas de descarga em diferentes condições de temperatura e humidade relativa, por forma a simular o desempenho da bateria em três climas distintos: frio, temperado e seco. Destes estudos, constatou-se o fraco desempenho deste tipo de baterias no clima frio, e consequente inferior desempenho térmico. Uma rede de 37 sensores FBG foi ainda usada para monitorizar as interfaces de um pack de 3 baterias poliméricas de lítio, conectadas em série. Foi possível realizar um mapa térmico espacio-temporal para diferentes taxas de descarga, e identificar as zonas mais suscetíveis ao aparecimento de pontos quentes e capazes de colocar em risco o seu normal funcionamento. As zonas mais quentes foram detetadas próximas dos coletores de corrente, devido à superior densidade dos iões de lítio nesta região. Pela primeira vez, foi realizada a discriminação simultânea de variações internas de temperatura e deformação em baterias de ião lítio na configuração pouch cell, através da incorporação de sensores híbridos, que combinam as características operacionais dos sensores Fabry-Perot e FBG. A evolução da deformação e temperatura foi seguida pelos sensores propostos e as maiores variações de deformação foram detetadas no início do processo de descarga, na posição inferior da pouch cell. Com o trabalho desenvolvido nesta Tese, conclui-se que a integração de sensores em fibra ótica em baterias de ião de lítio contribui para um melhor conhecimento, interno e externo, do desempenho térmico e de variações de volume sob diferentes condições de funcionamento. Assim, poder-se-á melhorar as condições de segurança e otimizar o design da próxima geração de baterias de ião de lítio.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Físic

Modelling the ageing behaviour of supercapacitors using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for dynamic applications

Diagnosis of ageing mechanisms in supercapacitors is made difficult by the enforcement of various ageing factors in the current ageing tests. The thesis presents the exact determination of the ageing mechanism by separating the impacts of high temperature, current cycling and constant voltage applications in accelerated ageing tests. The state of health (SOH) of the supercapacitors are monitored periodically with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and constant current test to observe the evolution of ageing. The thesis identifies patterns of ageing from the changes at supercapacitor impedance. The thesis also presents the cause of the increase in ESR and the loss of capacitance in supercapacitors. High temperature application causes the appearance of high frequency semicircle which reflects the damage at the electrode-current collector interface. A tilt of the impedance line at low frequencies reflects modifications of electrodes and it is most sensitive to current cycling and constant voltage applications. The increase in ESR is observed to be caused by a single ageing mechanism while the capacitance loss is caused by multiple interactions of these ageing mechanisms at the same time. The thesis develops a supercapacitor model by means of electrical equivalent circuit. The model is divided into two parts based on the changes in its SOH: the baseline model represents the early stage of the supercapacitor life and the ageing model represents the phase of ageing. The models show dynamic interactions between ageing process and supercapacitor electrical performance. The supercapacitor model, in the form of fractional-order model, reduces the number of circuit components and shows excellent electrical behaviour particularly at the open circuit voltage decay and voltage recovery period. The parameterisation of model parameters shows that aged supercapacitors experience an increase of distributed resistance in the electrode pores and an increase of diffusion impedance at high temperature

Modelling the ageing behaviour of supercapacitors using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for dynamic applications

Diagnosis of ageing mechanisms in supercapacitors is made difficult by the enforcement of various ageing factors in the current ageing tests. The thesis presents the exact determination of the ageing mechanism by separating the impacts of high temperature, current cycling and constant voltage applications in accelerated ageing tests. The state of health (SOH) of the supercapacitors are monitored periodically with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and constant current test to observe the evolution of ageing. The thesis identifies patterns of ageing from the changes at supercapacitor impedance. The thesis also presents the cause of the increase in ESR and the loss of capacitance in supercapacitors. High temperature application causes the appearance of high frequency semicircle which reflects the damage at the electrode-current collector interface. A tilt of the impedance line at low frequencies reflects modifications of electrodes and it is most sensitive to current cycling and constant voltage applications. The increase in ESR is observed to be caused by a single ageing mechanism while the capacitance loss is caused by multiple interactions of these ageing mechanisms at the same time. The thesis develops a supercapacitor model by means of electrical equivalent circuit. The model is divided into two parts based on the changes in its SOH: the baseline model represents the early stage of the supercapacitor life and the ageing model represents the phase of ageing. The models show dynamic interactions between ageing process and supercapacitor electrical performance. The supercapacitor model, in the form of fractional-order model, reduces the number of circuit components and shows excellent electrical behaviour particularly at the open circuit voltage decay and voltage recovery period. The parameterisation of model parameters shows that aged supercapacitors experience an increase of distributed resistance in the electrode pores and an increase of diffusion impedance at high temperature

Prognostics and Health Monitoring for ECU Based on Piezoresistive Sensor Measurements

This dissertation presents a new approach to prognostics and health monitoring for automotive applications using a piezoresistive silicon stress sensor. The stress sensor is a component with promising performance for monitoring the condition of an electronic system, as it is able to measure stress values that can be directly related to the damage sustained by the system. The primary challenge in this study is to apply a stress sensor to system-level monitoring. To achieve this goal, this study firstly evaluates the uncertainties of measurement conducted with the sensor, and then the study develops a reliable solution for gathering data with a large number of sensors. After overcoming these preliminary challenges, the study forms a framework for monitoring an electronic system with a piezoresistive stress sensor. Following this, an approach to prognostics and health monitoring involving this sensor is established. Specifically, the study chooses to use a fusion approach, which includes both model-based and data-driven approaches to prognostics; such an approach minimizes the drawbacks of using these methods separately. As the first step, the physics of failure model for the investigated product is established. The process of physics of failure model development is supported by a detailed numerical analysis of the investigated product under both active and passive thermal loading. Accurate FEM modeling provides valuable insight into the product behavior and enables quantitative evaluation of loads acting in the considered design elements. Then, a real-time monitoring of the investigated product under given loading conditions is realized to enable the system to estimate the remaining useful life based on the existing model. However, the load in the design element may abruptly change when delamination occurs. A developed data-driven approach focuses on delamination detection based on a monitoring signal. The data driven methodology utilizes statistical pattern recognition methods in order to ensure damage detection in an automatic and reliable manner. Finally, a way to combine the developed physics-of-failure and data-driven approaches is proposed, thus creating fusion approach to prognostics and health monitoring based on piezoresistive stress sensor measurements