• Energy Research

This paper provides a modeling approach for average current control (ACC) operating in open-loop configuration. The converters chosen are non-ideal boost and synchronous boost converters operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). Initially, these converters are mathematically modeled considering all the non-idealities using volt-sec and amp-sec balance equations and simulated using MATLAB and Simulink. The open-loop transfer function of the switch current or inductor current (Gid) to the duty ratio is derived using the state space averaging (SSA) technique and analyzed using MATLAB/Simulink. It is observed that the Gid of the converters is highly stable in open loop. A larger magnitude resonance is observed in ideal boost and synchronous boost converters than the non-ideal converters. However, the low frequency gain and the crossover frequency remained the same. With the increase in the load resistance, higher resonance and lower low frequency gain is observed in non-ideal boost and non-ideal boost synchronous boost converters. The derived transfer function is validated against the standard switch model using LTSpice software.

The main source of power in Electric Vehicles (EVs) is derived from batteries. An efficient cell model is extremely important for the development of complex algorithms like core temperature estimation, State of Health (SOH) estimation and State of Charge (SOC) estimation. In this paper, a new methodology for improving the SOC estimation using Equivalent Cell Model (ECM) approach is proposed. The modeling and simulations were performed using MATLAB/Simulink software. In this regard, a Li polymer cell was modeled as a single Resistor-Capacitor (RC) pair (R0, R1 and C1) model using PowerTrain blockset in MATLAB/Simulink software. To validate the developed model, a NASA dataset was used as the reference dataset. The cell model was tuned against the NASA dataset for different currents in such a way that the error in the terminal voltages (difference in terminal voltage between the dataset and the ECM) is <±0.2 V. The mean error and the standard deviation of the error were 0.0529 and 0.0310 respectively. This process was performed by tuning the cell parameters. It was found that the cell parameters were independent of the nominal capacity of the cell. The cell parameters of Li polymer and the Li ion cells (NASA dataset) were found be almost identical. These parameters showed dependence on SOC and temperature. The major challenge in a battery management system is the parameter estimation and prediction of SOC, this is because the degradation of battery is highly nonlinear in nature. This paper presents the parameter estimation and prediction of state of charge of Li ion batteries by implementing different machine learning techniques. The selection of the best suited algorithm is finalized through the performance indices mainly by evaluating the values of R- Squared. The parameters were trained using various Machine Leaning (ML) techniques for regression data analysis using Simulink. A study on Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique was carried out for the simulated and tuned data. It is concluded that the SVM algorithm was best suited. A detailed analysis on the errors associated with the algorithms was also carried out. Later, these parameters were trained using various Machine Leaning (ML) techniques for regression data analysis using Simulink. A study on SVM technique was carried out for the simulated and tuned data. It is concluded that the SVM algorithm was best suited. A detailed analysis on the errors associated with the algorithms was also carried out.

This paper deals with the estimation of core temperature (Tc) of a Lithium (Li) ion battery using measured ambient and surface temperatures. The temperatures were measured using thermocouples placed at appropriate locations. A second order thermal model was considered for the core temperature (Tc) estimation. A set of coupled linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) were obtained by applying Kirchhoff’s current and voltage laws to the thermal model. The coupled ODEs were redefined in the discrete state space representation. The thermal model did not account for small changes in surface temperature (Ts). MATLAB/Simulink were used for modelling a Kalman filter with appropriate process and measurement noise levels. It was found that the temperatures closely followed the current patterns. For high currents, Tc dominated the surface temperature by about 3 K. Tc estimation plays a very important role in designing an effective thermal management and maintaining the state of health (SOH) during fast discharges under limits. Most of the battery management system (BMS) applications required Ts as the input to the controller. Hence, an inverse calculation for estimating Ts from known Tc was carried out and found to be reasonably accurate. It was found that the thermal parameter Cs played a major role in the accuracy of Ts prediction and must have low values to minimize errors.

Electric Vehicles (EV) and Hybrid EV (HEV) use Lithium (Li) ion battery packs to drive them. These battery packs possess high specific density and low discharge rates. However, some of the limitations of such Li ion batteries are sensitivity to high temperature and health degradation over long usage. The Battery Management System (BMS) protects the battery against overvoltage, overcurrent etc., and monitors the State of Charge (SOC) and the State of Health (SOH). SOH is a complex phenomenon dealing with the effects related to aging of the battery such as the increase in the internal resistance and decrease in the capacity due to unwanted side reactions. The battery life can be extended by estimating the SOH accurately. In this paper, an extensive review on the effects of aging of the battery on the electrodes, effects of Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) deposition layer on the battery and the various techniques used for estimation of SOH are presented. This would enable prospective researchers to address the estimation of SOH with greater accuracy and reliability.

Estimation of core temperature is one of the crucial functionalities of the lithium-ion Battery Management System (BMS) towards providing effective thermal management, fault detection and operational safety. It is impractical to measure the core temperature of each cell using physical sensors, while at the same time implementing a complex core temperature estimation strategy in onboard low-cost BMS is also challenging due to high computational cost and the cost of implementation. Typically, a temperature estimation scheme consists of a heat generation model and a heat transfer model. Several researchers have already proposed ranges of thermal models with different levels of accuracy and complexity. Broadly, there are first-order and second-order heat resistor–capacitor-based thermal models of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for core and surface temperature estimation. This paper deals with a detailed comparative study between these two models using extensive laboratory test data and simulation study. The aim was to determine whether it is worth investing towards developing a second-order thermal model instead of a first-order model with respect to prediction accuracy considering the modeling complexity and experiments required. Both the thermal models along with the parameter estimation scheme were modeled and simulated in a MATLAB/Simulink environment. Models were validated using laboratory test data of a cylindrical 18,650 LIB cell. Further, a Kalman filter with appropriate process and measurement noise levels was used to estimate the core temperature in terms of measured surface and ambient temperatures. Results from the first-order model and second-order models were analyzed for comparison purposes.