Search

On account of complementary control, reduced size, and energy saving, the switched-capacitor (SC) based equalizer becomes promising for the energy management of energy storage system. Traditionally, the number of the bypass capacitor in the SC based equalizer equals to the number of the battery module in series or parallel connections. The amount of bypass capacitors is enormous, thus costly and bulky for electric vehicles (EVs). In this paper, the integrated energy storage is proposed to reduce cost and save space, meanwhile, the equalizations between the batteries and the ultracapacitors (UCs) are achieved by the reutilization of SC network. UCs not only perform as energy storage units, but also work as energy exchange units. Thus, the number of balanced elements can be reduced significantly. The operational principles of the storage system and the analyses of the balancing process are examined in detail. The system simulation is performed for functionality evaluations. Meanwhile, an experimental prototype is also implemented for six cells to demonstrate the balancing process. The accordance of experiment and simulation can further testify the feasibility and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an interleaved equalization architecture for series-connected lithium-ion battery strings, which can deliver energy from a battery module to the cells in the next adjacent battery module, resulting in an enhancement of the equalization current and efficiency. Particularly, the global equalization is achieved without the need of additional stage circuits to balance among modules, leading to a small size and low cost. A two-module equalizer based on resonant LC converter and buck converter with soft switching is implemented to verify the validity of the proposed interleaved architecture. Furthermore, a self-learning fuzzy logic control (SLFLC) algorithm is employed to online regulate the equalization period based on the voltage difference among cells and the cell voltage, not only greatly abbreviating the balancing time but also effectively preventing overequalization. The SLFLC has the outstanding advantages of high balancing precision, easy implementation, and strong robustness. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed equalizer has good balancing performances with soft switching and high efficiency, and achieves zero-voltage gap among cells. Moreover, the proposed SLFLC algorithm abridges the total equalization time by about 27%, and reduces the equalization cycles by about 59% compared with the traditional control algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell voltage equalization is inevitable to ensure years of safe operation of series-connected energy storage cells, such as lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors (SCs). Although various kinds of cell voltage equalizers have been proposed, most equalizer topologies require multiple switches and/or a multiwinding transformer, resulting in complex circuitry and poor modularity. In this paper, a single-switch single-transformer equalizer using a forward–flyback resonant inverter (FFRI) with a voltage multiplier is proposed. The required switch count of the proposed equalizer is the minimum without impairing modularity due to the single-switch circuitry with no need for a multiwinding transformer. An experimental equalization test performed for eight SCs connected in series successfully demonstrated the equalization performance of the proposed equalizer. The FFRI can be extended as a “resonant input cell,” and by combining one of resonant input cells and a voltage multiplier, a single-switch resonant equalization charger that is basically a charger with an equalization function is also derived. An experimental charging test using the resonant equalization charger was also performed, and its equalization-charging performance was demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various types of cell voltage equalizers that exchange charges among cells have been proposed for series-connected lithium-ion cells. During equalization, cells are possibly cycled not only over a conventional period that ranges from seconds to hours but at a high frequency that is equal to the operating frequency of the equalizers as well. This paper investigates how the high-frequency cycling occurs and the factor that affects the life performance of the cells during high-frequency cycling. Experiments on charge–discharge cycling at frequencies of 1–100 kHz were performed for lithium-ion cells. The capacity of cells cycled at frequencies below 10 Hz significantly deteriorated, whereas the capacity decay of cells cycled at higher frequencies were identical to the corresponding calendar degradation. Simulation analyses revealed that the cycling current at high frequencies served only to charge and discharge the double-layer capacitance C \rm dl, whereas the current that flows through the charge-transfer resistance Rct, indicating the charge-transfer process, dominated at low frequencies. A correlation between the degradation trend and current distribution to Cdl and Rct was observed, implying that the calendar degradation and the degradation due to the charge-transfer process were the major causes of capacity decay in the frequency range below 10 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]