216th ECS Meeting, Abstract #275, The Electrochemical Society

Peukerts law of a lead-acid battery simulated by a

mathematical model
Mikal Cugnet, Matthieu Dubarry and Bor Yann Liaw
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Hawaii Natural Energy Institute
1680 East-West Rd, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Mathematical models remain underused by the battery
manufacturing industry because they are complex and
require experienced users with high numeric modeling
skills. However, accurate battery model and simulation
can provide far more insightful information than that
obtained from laboratory testing and such knowledge can
be applied to an extensive range of operating conditions
that may not be available from testing. Such utility has
begun to attract more attention from the industry due to
growing interests on battery engineering, energy and
power management, and hybridization of power sources.
Many mathematical models on lead-acid batteries have
been published in the last three decades [1-16], from the
simulation of single electrodes to a complete battery pack.
The modeling capabilities have been improved almost as
fast as the computing power used to enable them. To date,
many programming languages and platforms are available
for developing battery model on a personal computer from
scratch. The values to utilize the utility presented by the
model remain to be validated. A key issue is the accuracy
and degree of fidelity a model can simulate and predict,
with an implication of how confident one can vest on such
predictions. More specifically, some recent work [17-20]
has initiated the discussions of the Peukerts law beyond
the context of empirical observations. Such discussions
present a complicated scenario of the chemistry involved
but fall short of offering a comprehensive understanding
of the Peukert behavior exhibited by the electrochemical
system, which appears highly sensitive to local conditions
the electrodes experience.

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Here, we present an interesting approach to analyze leadacid battery performance and simulate battery behavior in
order to yield sufficiently accurate results disregarding the
rate of discharge. The fidelity of the results is validated
with test results of different designs and test conditions.
Such a versatility of simulation using the same set of
parameters based on the basic physical and chemical
information of the system has not been demonstrated in
the open literature before.
The one-dimensional mathematical model reported in this
work is feasible to simulate the Peukerts law of a leadacid chemistry, with data obtained from various module
sizes and test conditions. The model is therefore able to
provide a better understanding of the processes involved
and responsible for the Peukert behavior.
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