IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL.. 40, NO. I .
FEBRUARY 1993
Extension of Battery Life via Charge
Equalization Control
Stephen T. Hung, Member, IEEE, Douglas C. Hopkins, Member, IEEE, and Charles R. Mosling
Abstract-The primary difficulty in charging storage batteries
is in attaining process regulation that allows fast charging while
avoiding destructive overcharging. This paper presents a two-
level approach’ to controlling the charging process. A general
background discussion of batteries and charging problems is
followed by the presentation of a novel recirculating charge
equalization technique that enhances the uniformity of batteries
made up from long serial strings of cells. Next is a brief
description of a straightforward means of embedding equaliza-
tion within an outer-loop supervisory control that maintains a
fast charging rate while providing overall protection against
overcharging. Simulation and experimental results confirm the
applicability of the equalization control technique.
I. INTRODUCTION
I NCREASED concerns about the environment have
provided renewed impetus to investigations of alterna-
tive energy sources. Southern California’s clean air initia-
tive is clearly indicative of the level of adverse effects of
air emissions in that region due to excessive consumption
of fossil fuels. Strategic supply reliability and environmen-
tal impact, thus, have motivated renewed examinations of
options for the conversion of equipment to use “clean”
forms of energy, such as electric power.
Transportation and industrial processes are two promi-
nent areas that are receiving growing attention in terms of
conversion to electric power. The application of battery
technology, consequently, is a topic of increasing impor-
tance in many proposed transportation and industrial
systems [l].Batteries have long been a prime option for
energy storage in autonomous electric propulsion systems
such as those in electric road vehicles. They are com-
monly used as the main energy source for portable equip-
ment, such as communications gear and cordless tools.
End-user reliance on electrically powered equipment has
also prompted increased use of batteries in backup power
systems such as the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS’S)
often found protecting critical computer systems.
Widespread application of battery technology has been
limited due to cost per unit of stored energy and the
penalties on battery life incurred by the rapid charging or
recharging required for meaningful levels of utility. This-
paper describes a scheme for controlling the battery-
Manuscript received April 30, 1992.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5201.
IEEE Log Number 9204610.
0278-0046/93$03.00
charging process in a manner that minimizes stresses on
the battery. We begin with a general background discus-
sion of batteries and problems often encountered in the
charging of secondary (rechargeable) batteries such as
those used for autonomous or portable systems. The prob-
lem of providing sufficient charge for use while maximiz-
ing battery life is then recast as two nested control prob-
lems. A n inner, servo-level charge equalization problem is
first addressed. Charge equalization enhances the uni-
formity of batteries made up from long serial strings of
cells. Maintenance of uniformity improves the life of the
battery as a whole. A novel approach to achieving equal-
ization is presented. An outer, charging supervision prob-
lem is then formulated with overall battery dynamics in
mind. The supervisor is to automatically source the cur-
rent necessary for fast charging and simultaneously pro-
vide overall protection against overcharging. Successful
equalization greatly simplifies the supervision task. Simu-
lated and experimental results are presented from the
testing of the charge equalization methodology. The paper
summarizes and comments on system implementation.
11. BATTTRIES:
CONCEPTUAL
BEHAVIOR
Batteries are electrochemical devices made up of one
or more building blocks, or cells. A battery cell, as dia-
grammed in Fig. l, contains a positive electrode, a nega-
tive electrode of a different material, and a porous sepa-
rator between the electrodes. These three elements rest
within a common electrolyte environment. During charg-
ing or discharging, the electrodes undergo an
oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction, which effects the
transfer of ions to and/or from the electrodes. The flow
of ions manifests the charge flow that appears as battery
current. A higher rate of charge transfer implies a need
for greater exposure of electrode surface area to elec-
trolyte. The increase in surface area is often accomplished
through the use of sintered electrodes that are made from
powdered electrode material. This material is stamped
and heated to just below its melting point to yield an
electrode that is quite porous. The porosity offers the
desired increase in effective electrode surface area in
contact with the electrolyte.
A high rate of charge transfer also implies a need for
shorter electrode-to-electrode distance for ion travel. Bat-
tery electrodes consequently are often fabricated as a set
of closely interleaved plates. Closely spaced interleaving
6 1993 IEEE
HUNG et al.: EXTENSION OF BATTERY LIFE VIA CHAKGE EQUALIZATION CONTROL
Termmals- . E. Charging and Battery Degradation
Electrolyte ~
Battery
Case
’
Porous
L separator
Electrodes
Fig. 1. Conceptual diagram of an electrochemical battery cell.
improves current production capability within the battery
but also increases the possibility of direct electrical con-
tact between the plates. The porous separator, often real-
ized as a membrane, prevents contact between the closely
spaced plates.
The electrolyte in the cell facilitates ion transfer. The
electrolyte in some batteries, such as that in
nickel-cadmium (NiCd) cells, does not undergo a chemi-
cal change. In other batteries, such as the ubiquitous
lead-acid battery and the highly energy-dense silver zinc
battery, ions in the electrolyte participate as part of the
redox reaction.
A. The Conflict of Peflormance i‘ersus Cost
The major inhibitor of widespread use of batteries has
been the compromise encountered in trying to produce
batteries of both useful energy/power density and eco-
nomical battery lifetime. Batteries of higher energy den-
sity usually use more expensive materials, such as the
silver in silver-zinc (AgZn) batteries; or constrained reac-
tion environments, such as the high temperatures re-
quired for sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery operation. Com-
pounding the problem is the fact that many of the more
power/energy-dense batteries, such as those with zinc
electrodes, display rather limited charging cycle lifetime.
Higher energy density. thus, implies higher cost due to not
only constituent chemical elements or special packaging
and safeguards but also more frequent replacement. Al-
ternatively, a weight and/or volume penalty is incurred if
one opts for use of cells, such as those in the common
lead-acid battery, that have a low cost over their useful
lifetime. The cost-imposed limitation of available energy
from the battery may be circumvented through more
frequent charging, as in the case of cordless telephones,
or through the use of alternate battery packs, such as
those commonly available as accessories for cordless power
tools. Such solutions are not applicable, however, in sce-
narios requiring the use of high charge capacity with
relatively infrequent charging. Electric vehicles are an
excellent example of such a situation.
97
Users of batteries that must perform with infrequent
charging need a rapid battery charging capability. Rapid
charging implies a rapid reverse electrochemical reaction
that depends on battery chemistry and geometry. The
imposition of high current to induce such a rapid reaction
is in itself not a major source of problems, aside from
reducing the efficiency of the charging process and creat-
ing the potential for overheating. Maintaining a high
charging current, however, can easily lead to overcharging
of the battery, which can result in irreversible degradation
of the battery due to electrolyte leakage and crystalline
dendrite growth [21.
1) Ocercharging-Induced Gas Generation, Pressurization,
and Leakage: During discharge, current flowing from the
battery is determined by the rate of charge transfer result-
ing from the redox reactions at the battery cell plates.
This rate is constrained by the amount of electrode sur-
face area exposed to electrolyte. Conversely, the level of
current flowing into the battery during charging is con-
trolled by the electrical battery charging system and may
well exceed the natural redox reaction capacity of the
battery cell electrodes. The imposition of excess current
results not in charging but in electrolysis of the aqueous
electrolyte away from the electrodes. This electrolysis
frees gaseous hydrogen and oxygen instead of soluble
hydrogen and/or oxygen ions. Gas bubbles adhering to
electrode surfaces block the access of electrolyte ions to
those surfaces. This reduces the effective electrode sur-
face area and diminishes the current-handling capability
of the charging process.
Because gas displaces more volume than a liquid solu-
tion does, such an improper electrochemical reaction pro-
duces increases in pressure and temperature within sealed
cells. Pressure buildup beyond the seal capability of the
cell case results in leakage of hydrogen and oxygen gas
and possible leakage of aqueous electrolyte solution. Pres-
sure-relief venting of battery gases mitigates case damage
and leakage, but any form of fluid loss lowers the volume
of cell electrolyte available for electrode immersion. Low-
ering of electrolyte volume decreases the area of the
electrode/electrolyte interface. Fluid loss thus decreases
the current-handling capability of the battery and is the
cause for a large proportion of battery failures. Addition
of replacement water restores the plate/electrolyte inter-
face surface area but can dilute the electrolyte. Addition
of fresh electrolyte obviates this problem, but fresh elec-
trolyte is often caustic; this option consequently may
introduce an additional chemical-handling problem.
2) Dendrite Growth: An additional, perhaps more seri-
ous problem that accompanies the overcharging of batter-
ies is the formation of dendrites, or crystalline fingers.
These begin developing a) when charging begins after
only a partial discharge of the battery, b) during over-
charging of certain types of cells (e.g., those with zinc
electrodes), and c) during prolonged, low-current ‘trickle”
charging. Crystalline products of a charging redox reac-
98 IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS. VOL. 40, NO. 1. FEBRUARY 1993
tion are supposed to completely dissolve from a cell
electrode during a full discharge. They then will ideally
distribute themselves uniformly on the “clean” electrode
surface and pores during charging and should completely
dissolve again during the next full discharge. Crystal size
is small under the conditions favoring uniform distribu-
tion.
A partial discharge leaves some crystals remaining on
the cell plate. Uniform distribution of newly formed crys-
tals on the cell plate implies the clumping of some of the
new crystals with some of those already on the plate.
Repetition of this clumping process results in the finger-
like growth of larger crystals known as dendrites. Dissolu-
tion of these larger crystals is less efficient during battery
discharge since they have smaller surface-to-volume ra-
tios. In some batteries, these crystals simply do not dis-
solve. This problem thus results in a so-called “memory”
effect: the cell’s full-current charge capacity will appear to
drop. This effect is exacerbated as the dendrites grow
larger and cover more area. Depth of discharge prior to
charging consequently has an effect on the maintenance
of a battery’s effective charge capacity.
Dendrite growth is particularly bad during overcharging
of battery cells with alkaline electrolyte and zinc elec-
trodes. A common means of inhibiting corrosion of the
zinc electrode has been the use of electrolyte with a high
concentration of zincate ions (Zn0;- ). Battery charging
is a reduction reaction that transforms these soluble zin-
cate ions in the electrolyte into crystalline zinc. This
process ideally occurs on the surface of the zinc electrode
or in its pores. Overcharging implies a continuation of
reduction after all exposed electrode surface area has
already been covered with crystals. The continued reduc-
tion of the extra zincate in the electrolyte results in
precipitation of zinc crystals within the electrolyte and not
necessarily at the electrode. This precipitation often re-
sults in the growth of dendrites in the separator pores.
Trickle charging is a common means of improving ef-
ficiency of the charging process and also of avoiding
overcharging. Imposition of too low a charging current,
however, results in electric potential fields in the cell that
are too weak to maintain the diffusion process that draws
the electrolyte ions to the innermost regions of the elec-
trode pores [2], [ 3 ] . Ions that are not diffusing through
collect on the electrode surface, where their concentrated
conversion results in dendrite growth that only further
inhibits diffusion into the pores.
Accumulated intervals of dendrite growth can result in
growth of the crystals through the insulating separator.
Dendrite growth, in extreme cases, results in the bridging
of the cell electrodes by the crystal. This effectively cre-
ates a short circuit internal to the battery. Avoiding this
problem over the long term implies storing of dendrite-
prone batteries in a discharged state (i.e., with a minimum
number of undissolved crystals) whenever possible. In
light of the effects of trickle charging and overcharging, it
is best for a battery to charge at the maximum current
that does not result in excessive gassing or heating until
the level of charge reaches that required by the battery
application, and for charging to then alertly stop at any
onset of overcharging.
111. INNER-LEVEL
CHARGING
CONTROL:
CHARGE
EQUALIZATION
The need to automate the battery charging process is
the motivation for developing a control scheme for opti-
mization of battery charging. Specialized integrated cir-
cuits, in fact, have been designed for this very purpose
and are readily available. In most cases, however, these
circuits operate under the assumption that the cells in a
battery designed for high-power applications share uni-
form charge/discharge characteristics. This assumption
allows the user to treat the battery as just a two-terminal
energy storage element. Inherent limitations in the cell
manufacturing process, however, invariably lead to uncer-
tainties in cell characteristics. Two detrimental effects of
this nonuniformity are that the increased likelihood of
overcharging certain cells becomes more likely and that
the useful charge capacity of the battery decreases.
The likelihood of overcharging increases due to the
combination of cell nonuniformity and the common use of
overall battery terminal voltage as an indicator of level of
charge. Under normal charging conditions, the terminal
voltage of a cell increases with the level of charge [2], [ 3 ] .
The battery terminal voltage thus is a good level-of-charge
indicator if the battery cells are truly uniform. In most
realistic cases, cells are not uniform, and repeated cycles
of charging and discharging lead to large nonuniformities
in cell charge levels and correspondingly different cell
terminal voltage levels. During charging of a battery com-
posed of a series string of cells, some cells will conse-
quently reach full charge before others and before the
overall battery terminal voltage reaches its nominal limit.
Such a scenario leads to overcharging of a subset of cells.
Overcharging, as described in the discussion on battery
dynamics, is a major cause of such battery degradation as
loss of charge capacity. the simplest means of avoiding
overcharging a nonuniform battery is to monitor the indi-
vidual cell voltages and to stop the charging process as
soon as any cell attains full-charge terminal voltage. This
strategy, however, limits the deliverable level of charge of
the entire battery proportionally to that of the cell with
the least charge at the stopping point of the charging
process.
The need to minimize battery degradation by maintain-
ing cell uniformity is the motivation for using a dedicated
control mechanism whose purpose is to equalize charge
between cells. This charge equalization works as an inner
servo-level control system that augments an outer-loop
state-of-charge process control, which serves as a strategic
supervisor. Fig. 2 shows the topology of this two-level
control.
A. Charge Equalization Approaches
Three techniques can be used to provide active charge
equalization of serial cells. The first uses a controllable
 ~

HUNG et al.: EXTENSION OF BATTERY LIFE VIA CHARGE EQUALIZATION CONTROL 99

Cell Vbus

~
SUPERVISORYCONTROL
Charge Level
Reference
,,
V R
-
- I
I
Ic
State-of-Charge-dependent
Charge Current Source
level

State-+Charge
I I
I t

Cell Charpe \
h i e l Reference
I
Charge

e
I
Equalized

I 1s Control
Battery
Charge
Y
+

I 1 Sensor
U3. Fig. Circuit model for charge equalization of a serial string of N
cells or N groups of cells using equalizing converters.
Fig. 2. Topology for a two-level battery-charging control system.

cells charge, the kth cell voltage reaches the maximum

shunt device across each cell (or a group of cells) to divert and triggers its associated shunt converter to divert cur-
charging current past the cell. This technique is the least rent i d , around the cell, thus maintaining the cell voltage
efficient, since shunt energy is extracted as heat. Transis- at V,. The diverted current extracts energy, which is
tors are an example of controllable devices [4]. The sec- returned to the bus by the converter. The extracted en-
ond technique implements selective charging by routing ergy appears as an addition of current io, to the source
energy to individual cells in order to provide supplemen- current is.
tal energy for equalization. This straightforward technique An expression for the cell current (i,,) can be deter-
has three disadvantages: any circuit implementation will mined from i,. The total charging current from the bus is
require higher voltage active switching devices, any feed-
back control must be electrically isolated, and if there is
an open-cell failure, the entire string is disabled. The = i, + i d l H 1+ ... +idnHn.
third technique [51 shunts charge from cells, as in the first
Then ibk can be expressed as
technique, but does so actively through the use of dc-to-dc
converters. These converters recirculate the shunt energy i,, = i, + i d l H l + i d 2 H 2+ ... + i d k ( H k- 1)
back to a common bus in a fashion that preserves effi- + ... +idnHn (3)
ciency. This arrangement inherently provides a facility to
circumvent the problem of open-cell failure. Following is where n is the number of active converters and Hk is the
a discussion of the principles of operation of a circuit current gain of the kth converter. When converter Hk is
topology for realizing this novel technique. off, i.e. i d , = 0, the cell current i,, is dependent on i , and
the output current from other operating converters, i.e.,
B. Recirculating Equalization i,, = i,. When H , is on, the charging current i , is de-
The circuit model for charging a serial string of cells is creased by the value of i,,, i.e., i,, = i , - id,. The charg-
shown in Fig. 3. A current source injects charging current ing current available for the second cell group remains
i , into the string. Charge equalizer blocks H , through HN unchanged at i,.
are stepup shunt converters connected to N cells (or N The charging current i , increases, relative to i s , as
groups of cells) with each converter output connected to a more converters begin diverting current onto the bus.
common bus. This positive feedback, with gain less than one, increases
When no converters are operating, the charging current the current available for charging the string. The con-
i , through the string is equal to and controlled by the trolled increase in current (diversion of energy) allows for
source is. In the charging algorithm used here, developed more greatly depleted cells, or cells of larger capacity, to
for AgZn batteries, the individual cell voltages Ubk ( k = be charged at higher rates than available directly from the
1 ... N ) are the indicators of the maximum level-of-charge source. As the other cells receive higher charging cur-
for each cell, and a specified voltage V, serves as the rents, each will eventually reach the VR limit and activate
target charge level reference. Current i,, through each its converters. The maximum number of activated con-
cell is adjusted to constrain U,, to less than V,. As the verters must be constrained to N - 1 if the system is to
100 IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40, NO. 1. FEBRUARY 1993

remain stable [SI. The converter corresponding to the last Dynamics of Cell/ converter 1
cell is not allowed to divert current; the current through
this last cell, therefore, is i,, which must be directly
controlled through i s to regulate the voltage of the cell.
The charging of N - 1 cells is thus controlled indepen-
dently of the system, whereas charging of the Nth cell
?,bl
(i.e., the last cell to reach V,) is controlled directly by i , .
Fig. 4 shows a power flow diagram for a single cell and
converter where H is the current gain of the converter,
z,, is the cell characteristic, and C is the control algo-
rithm for charging. Whether a converter is on and to what
extent it diverts current depends on the amount that ub is
greater than V,. A further refinement can be made to the
diagram that decouples power flow and control. If the
characteristics of the converters, as well as the cells, are
considered equivalent, then when n converters are oper- Fig. 4. Power flow diagram where H is the current gain of the con-
ating with U,,! > V,, the resulting power flow diagram for verter, 2, is the cell characteristic. and C is the control algorithm for
the system simplifies to that in Fig. S. The system transfer charging.
function from source current i, to charging current i,
becomes

i, 1+ cz,
-
- -
(4)
i, 1 + Czb - nHCZ,.

A steady-state gain corresponding to (4) can be derived by

making the assumption that ICZ,, P 1 at low frequencies,
in which case
+ i

(5)

C. Open-Cell Operation of Equalization Concerters Fig. 5. Simplified power flow diagram with n of the N converters
operating.
When using certain batteries the possibility exists that a
cell, or group of cells, may open circuit upon failure. This
would leave the power system defunct. However, in this
situation the active shunting system could continue charg- Constant-current charging is easy to implement since
ing and discharging the remaining operational cells and source current regulation is not particularly complicated.
The cell voltage rises freely during charging and can be
provide redundancy in the power system. If a cell fails, the
shunt converter will automatically regulate the voltage used as an indicator of level-of-charge for some cell types.
This approach has two drawbacks: charging times are
across the failed cell during charging and allow current to
flow in the entire string. During discharge all N convert-large if the constant current is small, and pronounced
gassing and possible overcharging may result from high
ers will be activated. The converters across the functional
cells will draw energy from the cells and supply energy tocharging currents as cells near full charge.
the bus. The converter across the open cell will recirculate In constant-voltage charging, the charging current is a
energy and maintain the terminal voltage across the open free variable: currents are high at low charge levels and
cell. The converter algorithm will need to allow standard taper off as charging progresses. This tapering of current
parallel operation of the converters for this mode of is due to the dependency of the charging reaction rate
operation. upon the immediate reactant concentration. In terms of
the electrode as a reactant element, the reactant concen-
IV. OUTER-LEVEL CHARGING CONTROL: tration is approximately proportional to the cumulative
SUPERVISORY CONTROL area A of the electrode surface and pores that has not yet
The equalization strategy just described requires two been covered by crystalline reaction products. Since for-
inputs: a source current i, and a charge level reference ward progress of charging implies a decrease in A , a
V,. The role of the supervisory control system is to simplistic, locally linear model of the nongassing process
provide these inputs. The means for determining appro- would be
priate values for these inputs borrows from the two basic
dA
approaches to battery charging: constant current and con- _--
stant voltage. dt
HUNG e t a / EXTENSION OF BATTERY LIFE VIA CHARGE EQUALIZATION CONTROL
where
A, = value of A at the starting time of charging, to
P = temperature- and pressure-dependent reaction
rate coefficient
f ( % ) = temperature-, pressure-, and charging voltage-
dependent input function
U, = imposed cell terminal voltage.
The maximum allowable charging current to avoid gassing
is proportional to the reaction rate and, thus, to the rate
of change of area d A / d t . Any portion of source current
above this level contributes to electrolytic generation of
hydrogen and oxygen. The trajectory described by (4) in
response to a constant ub is an exponential decay in A to
a terminal cumulative unreacted area as t + =,
Advantages of the constant-voltage approach depends
on judicious determination of a constant-charging voltage
that avoids gassing and overheating of the cells. A con-
stant charging voltage, however, implies that the charging
voltage is unavailable as a level-of-charge indicator, and
too low a charging voltage results in excessively long
charging times. Finally, unconstrained charging currents
at low levels of charge can result in the overheating of
cells at the beginning of the charging process due to the
high charging currents initially necessary to maintain the
specified constant charging voltage [ 2 ] ,161.
The current-diverting capabilities of the equalization
circuitry can be used to marry the benefits of both of the
basic charging approaches. An example of such a combi-
nation is the use of the two-level charging control to
effect constant current charging while simultaneously
avoiding overcharging. In such a scheme, the supervisory
controller acts as an adjustable current source and V, is
fixed at the cell terminal voltage associated with the onset
of gassing when charging the cell at a reference current
i, R e f . The source current i , would initially be set to i , R e t ,
which should be chosen somewhat lower than the thermo-
dynamically imposed charging current limit. The equaliza-
tion converter for each cell commences conduction as the
terminal voltage for that cell reaches V,. The supervisor
monitors the duty cycles of the active converters, which
reflect the current gains of the n active converters and
which also serve as the state-of-charge feedback in Fig. 2.
These duty cycles are used to identify the charging cur-
rent i, being sent to the N - TI cells with inactive con-
verters. The supervisor then regulates i , to a constant
i h R e fby adjusting i,. This adjustment yields a gradual
decrease in is, since the increasing number of active
converters will divert an increasing amount of energy to
be recombined as a component of i,. The automatic
decrease in i, reduces the total power dissipation convert-
ers as heat. Lower heat dissipation is important when the
battery and charging system will be in confined quarters.
The charging process ends when the last of the convert-
ers becomes active; i.e., n = N. Throughout the charging
process, those cells with inactive converters charge from a
101
constant current source until their respective terminal
voltages reach the specified threshold; all cells, mean-
while, are protected against overcharging-induced gassing.
This simple process may be repeated with progressively
lower values of i h R e fif higher final levels of charge are
necessary. The multistep constant-current charging pro-
cess approximates the constant-voltage approach as the
charging process is subdivided into an increasing number
of constant-current iterations 121.
v. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTATION
A. Simulation of Equalization
The system model used for the simulation of equaliza-
tion is of the form shown in Fig. 4. Control block C of Fig.
4 represents the controlled current-to-voltage characteris-
tic (or conductance) of the dc-to-dc converter as it oper-
ates above a certain input control threshold voltage V,.
The block is separated, in Fig. 5 , into conductance and
dead band blocks. For proof of feasibility, the system was
physically realized using a flyback converter and given a
conductance characteristic with a pole at approximately 1
kHz and a 3-dB gain of approximately 50. Input and
output filters were also used but not included in the
model.
The system block Z,, which represents the battery cell
inputpoutput characteristic, is modeled as an open-circuit
voltage source, a current-to-voltage integrator, and a non-
linear resistance, or
uh = Z,(i,)= 1.85 V + i,, . R , + k [ i , dr (7)
The characteristic of the resistance R,, depends on the
state of charge and cell condition and cannot be general-
ized. However, the value used for this development is
sufficient to show feasibility of the system. For worst-case
analysis, a characteristic depicting aging is commonly used
as is done in this simulation. Any change in the character-
istic would also indicate variations between different bat-
teries and battery types. For this development, the resis-
tance is mathematically approximated by a third-order
polynomial fitted to empirically measured data, as shown
in Fig. 6, and takes the form
R, = 0.0974 - O.O227i, + 1.51
x 10p3ii+ 6.33 x 10-3i: (8)
The power flow through the dc-to-dc converter is mod-
eled by the H block. The converter has a fixed output-to-
input voltage ratio set by the taps on the battery voltage
string. If all voltage taps are set for the same value, as is
assumed here, then for the tapping of N cells (or N
groups of cells), the ratio of output-to-input voltage is N.
For a near-constant voltage ratio, the current is propor-
tional to power. For a converter with an efficiency q , the
transfer function for H is
(9)
102 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 40, NO. 1. FEBRUARY 1993

The governing system equation (5) is then

_
1,
--~
N c 0.10

is N - nq' ( 10)

A n efficiency of 100% was assumed for the simulation.

The overall configuration of the equalization system
that was simulated is similar to that shown in Fig. 3 for
N = 3 and to that shown in detail in Fig. 5. The cells from 0.04
top to bottom (Fig. 2) were initially charged to 90%, 80%,
and 40% of capacity, respectively. The converter that was
to be connected to the cell with 40% capacity, was not
0.02 '
0 1 2 3 4 5
Charging current, i b (A)
needed since only N - 1 converters could ever be on.
Therefore, Fig. 5 docs not include a feedback loop for the Fig. 6. Battery resistance model for aged AgZn cells.
third (or bottom) cell, i.e., i o , = 0.
The simulation calculates the voltages and currents of
the three cells as they charge from a constant source of 1 3.0 -,
A for 100 min. The simulation results are shown in Fig. 7.
In Fig. 7(a) the currents through each of the cells are
shown. When the terminal voltage of the top cell, which is 2.0
s
h

initially charged to 90% capacity, reaches the threshold I +ib3 (40% initial charge)
voltage V, as shown in Fig. 7(b), the top converter diverts c

current, decreases i,,, and increases the current through j-

the other two cells. When the voltage of the middle cell 6 1.0
i b2 (80% initial capacity)

1 ',\
1,
(initially charged to 80%) reaches threshold, the middle
converter diverts and reduces the cell current i,, and
further increases the current through the third cell. The 0.0
third current increases each time a converter is activated 0 20 40 60 EO 100
and, in the limit, as i,, and i,, approach zero, i, = ni, = Time (min)
3 A as predicted by (5). The converter for the third cell (a)
(40% charge) is not needed because V h 3 does not exceed
V, during the 100 min of charging.
B. Equalization Test Circuit Implementation threshold, V ,
For developing the power topology as described in this
paper, a bank of 30 AgZn cells was used and grouped into
three groups of 10 cells each. Since only n - 1 converters
at most can be on to maintain a stable system, only two of
the three groups of cells have associated converters as
shown in Fig. Na). In a complete system, each group of 1.1 -
cells would have an associated converter, since it is un- 1

known which group would reach peak charge last. The 1.650 20 40 - 60 EO 100
i

detailed circuit for multiplexing and control is shown in

Fig. 8(b).
T h e cells used for this development were
Whittaker-Yardney Model HR40DC-13 silver zinc (AgZn)
cells, which each had a 40 A-h capacity. Since the AgZn
cells are sensitive to abuse, care was taken not to over-
charge or overdischarge the cells. The manufacturer rec-
ommends monitoring voltage during charging so that any
one cell is not allowed to exceed 2.05 V. Though charging
efficiency of the cells is higher when they arc at a lower
state of charge, for the concerns of this paper, and to
make measurements easier, the top two battery groups
were initially charged to greater than 80%.
Although AgZn batteries arc used in this example, any
type of battery or storage system can utilize equalization.
Only the algorithm for determining charge capacity and
charging profile need be changed. Also, the rating of
Time (min)
(b)
Fig. 7. Data from simulation of charging of the battery whose model
appears in Fig. 5. (a) Cell-charging currents (i, = constant 1 A). (b)
Corresponding cell voltages.
individual cells, or groups of cells (i.e., individual series
strings), need not be the same. For example, 40 A-h, 70
A-h, and 100 A-h rated cells can be charged collectively
within one serial string. A further consideration is that the
equalization strategy can be applied to any type of charge
storage element, e.g., capacitors.
A block diagram of a single converter is shown in the
dotted area of Fig. Na). The five batteries in the dotted
area each represent a pair of AgZn cells with the voltages
being monitored across each pair. The control has two

HUNG et al.: EXTENSION OF BATTERY LIFE VIA CHARGE EUIJALIZATION CONTROL
Multiplexer Controller
(b)
Fig. 8. (a) Circuit implementation of equalization scheme. Shown is the
monitoring of a bank of AgZn batteries arranged into five groups (with
two cells per group). (b) Detail of the multiplexer and controller that
appear in (a). The error amplifier (E/A) is used as a deadband circuit
with a threshold set at 1.98 V.
main parts, the analog multiplexer and the PWN con-
troller. The analog multiplexer selects the highest voltage
of a cell pair and passes it to the SG2525 PWM controller,
which produces the PWM signal. Control block C of Fig.
4 contains this control circuit and the PWM-to-input-cur-
rent transfer function of the flyback converter. The error
amplifier of the SG2525 is used as a straight deadband
gain circuit with threshold VR set at 1.98 V per cell (This
particular threshold voltage was chosen due to informa-
tion from the battery manufacturer that charging at cell
voltages above this level would result in pronounced
gassing [71). In conventional converter designs, negative
feedback occurs at the error amplifier of the PWM chip.
Since this is a shunt regulator, the negative feedback
occurs within the power circuit. The negative feedback
current id, can be seen in the system model of Fig. 4. The
flyback converter design was used, although any stepup
topology would suffice.
C. Experimental Results
The system was connected as described above and
shown in Fig. 8. This experiment was to test just the
equalization control loop, so the supply current was main-
tained constant at 1.5 A, instead following a truncated
exponential decay, while the voltages and currents of the
~
103
cells and converters were monitored during charging. A
plot of the normalized currents i,,, i,,, and i,, through
the upper, middle, and bottom cell groups, respectively, is
shown in Fig. 9. The values of current are normalized by
the 1.5-A source current value. It can be seen that as the
upper two groups reach maximum capacity, their convert-
ers begin current diversion and decrease i,, and ih2; i,,
then increases. The overall trend is similar to, and verifies,
the simulation results of Fig. 7(a). The value of i,, (i, =
ib3) is closely predicted by ( 3 ) . The branching points of the
currents are not as distinct as simulated because the top
two cell groups were initially set to only approximately the
same state of charge.
VI. CONCLUSION
The major problem in charging storage batteries is
attaining process regulation that allows fast charging while
avoiding destructive overcharging. A contributing diffi-
culty in the case of charging serial cells is maintaining
equal charge in all cells regardless of the charging condi-
tions or initial cell conditions. A technique of active
equalization circumvents this difficulty by allowing a por-
tion of the charging current to be diverted past certain
cells so that not all cells receive the same charging cur-
rent. The methodology presented here uses dc-to-dc con-
verters to shunt current around cells (or groups of cells).
As the string charges, each cell reaches a threshold volt-
age and causes its shunt converter to divert current around
the cell, thus maintaining the cell terminal voltage at the
threshold value. The converter extracts energy from the
diverted current; this energy is placed back into the charg-
ing bus and appears as an addition to the charging cur-
rent. This positive feedback of current, with a gain of less
than one, increases the current available for charging
those cells in the string whose converters are inactive. The
advantage of recirculating equalization is that it allows for
more greatly depleted cells, or cells of larger capacity, to
be charged at higher rates than available directly from the
source, which results in faster charging. Constraining the
cell voltages to the threshold value, meanwhile, protects
individual cells against overcharging.
A supervisory loop to control the source current can be
easily configured around the equalization loop to regulate
the maximum current seen by any cell until it reaches the
threshold potential. This ensures fast charging while pro-
viding batterywide protection against overcharging.
The discussion, simulation, and experimentation in this
paper have couched the battery charging process in what
is known as continuous current charging. Many studies
have been conducted on a class of charging current con-
trol techniques known as pulse charging. The logic behind
pulse charging is to use short pulses of high current
during charging. The high current imposes the strong
electric field strength necessary for good ion diffusion; the
short pulse duration keeps the average charging current
in check.
Early studies on the efficacy of pulse charging yielded
conflicting results [6], [XI, [9]. Lead-acid batteries, for
104 IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTKlAl kLEC‘TKONIC S, VOL. 30. N O 1. FEBRUARY 1993
2.0 1i
0.0
0 40 80 120 160 203
Time (min)
Fig. 9. Empirical results for equalized charging of a string of AgZn
cells: time history of cell-charging currents.
example, seem to suffer from such charging techniques,
largely due to excessive generation of side-reaction prod-
ucts [21. More recent studies appear to show that applica-
bility is largely determined by battery type: pulse charging
has been shown to yield significant life extension in nickel
oxide (NiOOH) batteries [lo]. Christie Electric has a
patented technique known as ReflexTMcharging, where a
charging pulse is immediately followed by a short but
strong discharge pulse, whose purpose is to “burp” the
battery; i.e., strip gas bubbles off of the electrodes. This
technique has already been incorporated into commer-
cially available charging control circuits.
The results in this paper are not meant to compare or
contrast the characteristics of continuous versus pulse
charging but should be best applied toward design of the
slow dynamics of the charging process, on which fast
dynamics such as pulsing and “burping” may be superim-
posed. If such fast dynamics are desired, the equalizing
converters described here can readily be used for imple-
menting an evenly distributed pulse-charging regime. The
supervisory control would continue to monitor the slow
process dynamics. Experimentation in this vein is cur-
rently in progress.
REFERENCES
H. A. Kiehne, Ed., Battery Technoloai Handbook. New York:
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V. S. Bagotzky and A. M. Skundin, Chemical Power Sources. New
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S. Waaben, I. Moskowitz, J. Federico, and C. K. Dyer, “Computer
modeling of hatteries from nonlinear circuit elements,” J . Elec-
trochem. Soc., vol. 132, no. 6, pp. 1356-1362, June 1985.
M. H. Moody, “ A high reliability battery management system,” J .
Power Sources, vol. 18, pp. 223-231, 1986.
D. C. Hopkins, C. R. Mosling, and S. T. Hung, “The use of
equalizing converters for serial charging of long battery strings,” in
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1991, pp. 493-498.
B. Gladstone and B. Newman, “Demand pulse charging for
nickel-cadmium batteries,” in Proc. 23rd Annual Power Sources
Conf., May 20-22, 1969, pp. 56-59.
T. R. Crompton, Small Batteries: Secondary Cells. New York: Wiley,
1982.
J. D. Dunlop and R. W. Bounds, “Adhydrode control of Ni-Cd
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1968, pp. 19-24,
[9] J . J. Smithrick, “Effect of positive pulse charge waveforms on cycle
life of nickel-zinc cells,” in Proc. 15th Intersociety Energy Com.er-
sion Eng. Conf., vol. 2. Seattle, WA, Aug. 18-22, 1980, pp.
1203-1206.
[IO] M. H . Katz, T. C. Adler, F. R. McLarnon, and E. J. Cairns, “The
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Stephen T. Hung (M’88) received the B.S.E.E.
degree from the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in
1983, 1985 and 1989, respectively.
He interned with the General Electric Com-
pany’s Electric LJtility Systems Engineering De-
partment, Schenectady, NY, in 1984; was at-
tached to the self-tuning arc-welding technology
group of the U S . Army Corps of Engineers
Construction Eneineerine Research Laboratow.
Champaign, IL, from 1985 to 1987; and Gorked Trom 1987 to 1988 as’a
consultant to PKResearch, Urbana. IL, on Ford Motor Company’s
self-tuning control development efforts in the areas of road vehicle
active suspension and vehicle speed control. From 1988 to 1992, he was
an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at
Auburn University, Auburn, AL. Ile has recently been a consultant to
the U.S. Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI. His
research interests are centered around topics related to transportation
systems electronics and include adaptive and self-tuning systems, optimal
predictive control techniques, motion control of flexible structures, quiet
motor control, and self-tuning control systems for road vehicles.
Dr. Hung is a member of the IEEE Control Systems, Industrial
Electronics, and Vehicular Technology societies.
Douglas C. Hopkins (S’73-M’77) received the
B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering
from the State University of New York, Buffalo,
and the Ph.D. degree from Virginia Polytechnic
Institutc and State University, Blacksburg.
In 1977 he joined the General Electric Com-
pany’s Corporate Rescarch and Development
Center, and later their Solid State Applications
Operation, aa an electrical engineer where he
0 did research in electrical transient suppression,
electronic motor drives including permanent-
magnet motors, and the development and application of novel power
semiconductor devices including power IC’s. In 1982 he became Senior
Engineer with the Research and Development Center at Carrier Aircon-
ditioning Company and performed a corporate study to place power
electronics into company products. In 1983 he joined the faculty at the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, as a
full-time Instructor in the Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering
and the Virginia Power Electronics Center where he pursued his Ph.D.
degree and conducted research in high-frequcncy, quasi-resonant, power
supply circuits using thick-film hybridization techniques. In 1988 he
became Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering
at Auburn University with research interests in high-frequency, high-
voltage power electronic circuits and devices, and in power-hybrid micro-
electronics.
He is a member of the International Society foi Hybrid Microelec-
tronics, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi. I le has published over 30 articles
in conferences and journals.
Charles R. Mosling received the B.E.E. and
M.S.E.E. degrees in 1089 and 1992, respectively,
from Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
At Auburn University he worked on the “Sol
of Auburn” solar car and developed innovative
switching converter systems. Mr. Mosling’s re-
search interest? are in the areas of converter
topology studies and control system improve-
ments for switching converters.