Thermal modeling of cylindrical LiFePO4 batteries

Thermal management of Li-ion batteries is important because of the high energy content and the risk of rapid temperature development in the high current range. Reliable and safe operation of these batteries is seriously endangered by high temperatures. It is important to have a simple but accurate model to evaluate the thermal behavior of batteries under a variety of operating conditions and be able to predict the internal temperature as well. To achieve this goal, a radial-axial model is developed to investigate the evolution of the temperature distribution in cylindrical Li-ion cells. Experimental data on LiFePO4 cylindrical Li-ion batteries are used to determine the overpotentials and to estimate the State-of-Charge-dependent entropies from the previously developed adaptive thermal model [1]. The heat evolution is assumed to be uniform inside the battery. Heat exchange from the battery surfaces with the ambient is non-uniform, i.e. depends on the temperature of a particular point at the surface of the cell. Furthermore, the model was adapted for implementation in battery management systems. It is shown that the model can accurately predict the temperature distribution inside the cell in a wide range of operating conditions. Good agreement with the measured temperature development has been achieved. Decreasing the heat conductivity coefficient during cell manufacturing and increasing the heat transfer coefficient during battery operation suppresses the temperature evolution. This modified model can be used for the scale-up of large size batteries and battery packs

Novel 18650 lithium-ion battery surrogate cell design with anisotropic thermophysical properties for studying failure events

Cylindrical 18650-type surrogate cells were designed and fabricated to mimic the thermophysical properties and behavior of active lithium-ion batteries. An internal jelly roll geometry consisting of alternating stainless steel and mica layers was created, and numerous techniques were used to estimate thermophysical properties. Surrogate cell density was measured to be 1593 ± 30 kg/m3, and heat capacity was found to be 727 ± 18 J/kg-K. Axial thermal conductivity was determined to be 5.1 ± 0.6 W/m- K, which was over an order of magnitude higher than radial thermal conductivity due to jelly roll anisotropy. Radial heating experiments were combined with numerical and analytical solutions to the time-dependent, radial heat conduction equation, and from the numerical method an additional estimate for heat capacity of 805 ± 23 J/kg-K was found. Using both heat capacities and analysis techniques, values for radial thermal conductivity were between 0.120 and 0.197 W/m-K. Under normal operating conditions, relatively low radial temperature distributions were observed; however, during extreme battery failure with a hexagonal cell package, instantaneous radial temperature distributions as high as 43-71 degrees C were seen. For a vertical cell package, even during adjacent cell failure, similar homogeneity in internal temperatures were observed, demonstrating thermal anisotropy

Battery Technologies for Transportation Applications

More than a fifth of the greenhouse emissions produced worldwide come from the transport sector. Several initiatives have been developed over the last few decades, aiming at improving vehicles’ energy conversion efficiency and improve mileage per liter of fuel. Most recently, electric vehicles have been brought back into the market as real competitors of conventional vehicles. Electric vehicle technology offers higher conversion efficiencies, reduced greenhouse emissions, low noise, etc. There are, however, several challenges to overcome, for instance: improving batteries’ energy density to increase the driving range, fast recharging, and initial cost. These issues are addressed on this chapter by looking in depth into both conventional and non-conventional storage technologies in different transportation applications