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    Equalization of Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    10 views8 pages

    Equalization of Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries

    Uploaded by

    War Linux
    Equalization of Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 8
    Sean West mn of Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid Batteries: Issues and Life Test Results Philip T. Krein Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Hlinois at Urbana-Champaign 1406 W. Green St ‘Urbana, IL 61801 USA, krein@ece.uiue.edu Abstract: ‘Theimportance of state-of-charge (SOC) balance, oF equalization, {s well known. Results of accelerated life testing ae presented to ‘evaluate equalization requrementsand to compare passive and ac- tivecqualiztionapproachesforvalve-repulatedlend-acid(VRLA) batteries. Inbothheayycyellng duty and high-temperature dut,bat- tery degradation appears very early during expected life in the ab- sence of equalization. The degree of equalization Is eritical: results show that voltage differences shouldbe held tess than 15 mVedl {opreventSOC separation nrepeated eyeing. Thetetsconfiem that conventional overcharge-based passiveequalization ieffective for ‘VEL Abatteries—ifthere sufficient timetoensureSOC matching, mong.eels. Most proposed ative voltage equalization methods in ‘ffect transfer the problem of SOC matching Co external voltage ‘matching of sensors and magnetic elements. Matching at the 1S mV/cell level is costly. A switched-capacitor approach has been {denied thatavoidsthistimitation, Tet results show thatsitched- capacitor equalization useful particularly when the seriesstring {stoo long tosupport enough timefor pasive equalization. 1 Introduction Neatly allenergy storage applictionsuseseries combinations cof atrry cells to meet voltage requirements, During recharge, cach cell carries identical current, but the voltages might not bal nce. Sophisticated usershave long been aware that series char: ing isasociated with charge imbalance problems. although itis ‘only recently that imbalance has been considered tobe a major limiting factor ina wide range of applications. Valve-regulated lead-acid (VRE) batteries are constructed with several design featuresto mitigate imbalance problems. Akey featureisrecom- binant catalyst technology that recovers water asgasis produced ‘during overcharge. Whenacatalystis present, the amount of posi- tiveplatematerial mustincrease tallow oxy gento be generated insufficientquanttiestorecombine withallthehydeogen[], Thus ‘we can distinguish between passive approaches to balancing, in hich gassingisallowedtooccur, andactive balancing, in which ‘external circuits or power converters manage the charging ofin- 33.3 HF. ‘A design such as the one in Fig. 7 will eadily achieve practical targets withcapacitance values onthe order of 100 uF and switch ing frequenciesin the range of 10-SOkHz. Notice that C, values below about 10} will notbe very useful for A-hells amore accelerated equalization process is needed with an interchange ‘currentonthe order ofC/100, anequivalentresistance of0.20is, a2 required. This could be dificult to achieve because of realistic limitations on Rn general, rates between C/500 and C/2000 ‘canbe produced even at voltage differences of only 10 mVicel. Any equalization processinalong string will e slow, butthisisa less significant concern with a switched capacitor method. A switched capacitor process can be applied continuously inthe ‘background, since the interchange currentbecomes zero when the voltages match, Thereisnoundesired leakage currentorloss, and the only energy overhead isthe power required to operate the switches. Inapractical design, the energy overhead can be made Jower than the self-discharge energy ofthe cells, at which point ‘there is merittoincorporaingontinuousequalizaton noth cell construction. ‘Totestswitched-capacitor equalization, set of modules was {developed forastringot26 VRLAmonoblocks with nominal volt ageof 12 Veach. Thecapacitance values are 220 uF permodule, witha switching frequency of 1S kHz. The batteries are Genesis I6A-nVRLAunits. In Fig 8, the voltage profiles shown over anintervalof 24h. The equalizersare functioning during ackarge, withan overall limitof 359 V (2.30 Vicel). The general shape of the profiles preservedasitdecaystowardaconstantaveragelevel, as wouldbeexpected foradiffusion process. Aretheactiveequal- izersperforming this function? Totest this, the capacitor was e- ‘moved from one module. Fig. 9shows the voltage profile several houtsafterthechange, nd againafteratwo-weekrestinterval and an overnight equalization session. The abrupt change between ‘monoblocks 6 and 7 shows the location of the missing capacitor, Themissing device actsasa block — preventing he activeequal izers from exchanging charge among the two ses. Fig.9 iscompellingevidence that these active equalizershave 1 much stronger effect than passive equalization, atleast for target cell voltages oF 2.30 Vicell.The voltage cannot be set lower than thistoavoid corrosion effects that would diminish lifetime 16, 25]. The repeated cycling test was used to help determine \whether active equalization can substitute for passive equaliza- tion. In this portion ofthe testing, two packs were discharged at the C/3 rate, then recharged ata similarrateuptoanaverage value ees ilps te eatcten) | 4 [> arto nok ra otowed by Sas sete agitator ca car 3 tere we wr Monoblock number Figue 9: Exuizaton Aterp, Capacitor Removed fom One Ret 0f 2.30 Vice. The packs were held at this voltage for IShbefore the next discharge. Results are shown in Figs. 10and Il. Pack 1 has nocqualization(since the voltage istoolow foreffective pa sive equalization), while pack 2uses switched-capacitor equal izers with an equivalent resistance of about 82. In Fig. 11. the tunequalized pack shows a voltage gradient of more than IS mV/ cellalmostimmediately, andthe value continues torise. Lifetime is adversely affected, with only 20 cycles achieved before the capacity fell below 80%. ‘The active equalizers in this example hhave too much impedance to move sufficient current, Although the voltage gradients broughttomuch lower valves than for pack 1. the gradient sil exceeds 15 mV/cel tall times, and the ife- time degradationisthe same as for the unequalized pack, The in terchange current, whichis ess than C/2500 witha IS mV differ- ence, isnotenough torestorebalance. Thisconfirmsthatanequal- ization processthat cannottransfer useful currentlevelswithsmall voltage differences will not dothe job. 44° Lifetime Extension Can active equalization help with lifetime extension? The results so far establish a necessary condition for this objective [AH Gapacty t 3h ate Teer, en ee wh we Monoblock nunbee Figure 8: quaiation Atm, Fly Functional Units ‘cycle Number Figul0: Capaciy vs Cycle Number Wit Passive Equation Average por Cat Voge Gradient (nv) . {yet Number ‘qualizationmustexchangesignificantcurentlevelsorcelhto- cell voltage differences of 15 mV or less. Is this suficient 10 textendeycle life? Fig. 12shows grid corosion acceleration ina VRLAcellasafunctionof he plate polarization taken fom (25) ‘The minimum of 80 mV polarization corresponds toa cel volt age of 223 V, which closely matches the 2.27 V float voltage recommended for Cyclon cll (11), While its plausible that a Aoatcharge process supplementedby active equalization would extend life, this not consistent with the resulsin Fig 5, which didnotshow lifetime improvement withlowervoliageinihchieh- temperature oats. ‘The strongest conclusion that can be drawn is that present VRLA designs are predicated on passive equalization. Active equalization brings anew set of constraints, andit i ikelythata VRLA design predicated on active equalization could achieve longer lie, The results [26] show that alternative charging pro cedurescan extend life, Active equalization reduces the need for lossy charging procedures aimed at balancing apack. «fot Get Carson Aslan ve lt Plazatn(Charge Vtg) Pate Plazation Level) Figure 12: huge Voluge Es on Cell Corosion ‘Time ‘With the design emphasis on passive equalization in modern \VRLA batteries itisdlfficulttopredit possible ife extension with otherequalization approaches, Ancarly resultin [27] showscyele life extension of 15% for a repeated C/3 cycle with switched capacitor equalizers. To test life extension effects generically, switched-capacitor equalizers were studied with conventional Aooded lead-acid cells. The fastcycling ests were repeated with ‘SA-hfloodedcells,wiredindvidually equalizer modules.One setof ells used purely pasive equalization, witha volige limit ‘of 2.45 Vicell. A second set used a limit of 2.30 Vicll and was supplemented by activeequalization. Fig. 13 showsthestandard deviation ofthetwelve cell voltages during the test The glitches ‘occur when the current changes from charge to discharge (0 begineach cycle. The pack | results(chargingat2.45 Viell show thecell voltage standard deviation falling below 4OmV afterabout seven cycles, but then the variation begins to climbs, ter about 100, water foss became significant, and performance began to ddeprade.‘The pack 2 results (charging at2.20 Vicell show much betterbehavior with theactiveequaizers, The standard deviation falls below 10 mV after aboutthree cycles. More important, the ‘dynamic behavior ofequalizationcan be seenduring eachcharge cycle: afteranexternally imposed change, the active equalizers ‘work fo reduce the deviation and restore balance. For example, atatime of 86h, the charging process began. The deviation umped {to 10V.but wasbrought downto essthan'S mVoverthecharge interval of about 6h, InFig, 13, the equalizers are performing a intended, and are able o give useful results fr voltage differences om the order of 10m of less. Table I shows measured water loss in the series strings. The large difference representsareallifetimedifference since the active equalizersare used support charging ata lower voltage. The total watercapacity ofthese batteries sabout 500g. VRLA battery catalysts cause much less water loss, but @ charging approach that cuts loss by more than a factor of two would certainly be expected to extend eyele life by atleast a similar factor. 4s “ible WaerLos for Fle Batis in Fas Cycle Ts Pack? img Pack 3008 5. Conclusion Equalization of VRLA cells is necessary for successful bat- tery usage in many applications, especially high rte uses such as hybrid and electric vehicles. Equalization can be accom plished with voltage matching, but only if matching accuracy is ‘ester than 15 mV/cell Passive equalization (forced overcharge) works ifcels are exposed to an overcharge condition for suff- Cent time. Inthe accelerated life tests here, a time of 15 h at high potential was able to prevent SOC mismatch, Equalization processes can be modelled as a diffusion of charge, and the time required increases with the number of series cell (One known method, switched capacitor equalization, achieves {deal cell-to-cell matching with a modular structure that can be extended either to monoblocks or individual cells. This equa ization method can be designed to have a much stronger effect than passive equalization, Mismatch reduction was illustrated ina hybrid vehicle aplication. In 27], and also with a flooded lead-acid test, switched capacitor equalization provided sub- stantial eyele life improvements, The application of precise ac- tive equalization in VRLA batteries brings with it new sets of ‘design constraints Iti likely that VRLA designs tht rely on active equalization will achieve longer eycle life than present

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