Battery Management Systems for Electric Vehicles

A
Seminar Report

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

of
Bachelor of Technology
in
Electrical Engineering

Submitted By:
Jay R. Shah (17BEE098)

Under Guidance of:

Prof. (Dr.) Siddharthsingh K. Chauhan

Department of Electrical Engineering

Institute of Technology, Nirma University,
Ahmedabad – 382481
April - 2019
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I must acknowledge the strength, energy and patience that almighty GOD bestowed upon me to start
& accomplish this work with the support of all concerned, a few of them I am trying to name
hereunder.

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Supervisor, Prof. (Dr.) S. K. Chauhan,
Associate Professor,Electrical Engineering Department for his valuable guidance and motivation
throughout my study.

I would like to express my sincere respect and profound gratitude to Prof. (Dr.) S. C. Vora,
Professor & Head of Electrical Engineering Department for supporting and providing the
facilities for my seminar work.

I would also like to thank all my friends who have helped me directly or indirectly for the
completion of my seminar.

No words are adequate to express my indebtedness to my parents and for their blessings and
good wishes. To them I bow in the deepest reverence.

-Jay R. Shah

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 ABSTRACT
Electric vehicles (EV) develop fast and have become popular due to their zero emission and high
efficiency. However, some factors limit the development of the electric vehicle, especially
performance, cost, lifetime and safety of the battery. So, battery management system for electric
vehicle is necessary. In battery management systems for electric vehicles we cover the cell
balancing, thermal management of battery, communication system and methods of battery
charging. All these functions are plays vital role in battery management system (BMS).
Keywords: BMS, EV, Cell balancing, Thermal management, Communication system, Battery
charging.

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 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No: Name of the Figure: Page No:
Fig. 1.1 cell unbalance……………………................................................. 02
Fig. 2.1 Fixed shunting resistor……………………………………………………………… 05
Fig. 2.2 Switching shunting resistor………………………………………………………. 05
Fig. 2.3 Single switched capacitor ………………………………………………………… 06
Fig. 2.4 Multi switch capacitor …………………………………………………………….. 06
Fig. 2.5 Switched transformer ……………………………………………………………… 07
Fig. 2.6 Shared transformer …………………………………………………………………. 07
Fig. 2.7 Inductive converter-Based ……………………………………………………….. 08
Fig. 3.1 Air cooling and heating …………………………………………………………….. 09
Fig. 3.2 Passive liquid cooling system …………………………………………………… 09
Fig. 3.3 Active liquid cooling system …………………………………………………….. 09
Fig. 3.4 Direct refrigerant cooling and heating ……………………………………… 10
Fig. 3.5 Thermo-Electric Module …………………………………………………………… 10
Fig. 3.6 Structure of heat pipe ……………………………………………………………… 11
Fig. 4.1 Block diagram of generalize communication system ………………. 12

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 LIST OF ACHRONYMS
BMS :Battery Management Systems
EV : Electric Vehicles
BTMS :Battery thermal management system
EVAP : Evaporator
COND : Condenser

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 LIST OF NOMENCLATURE
Vgs : Gate to source voltage
Sw : Switch

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT II
ABSTRACT III
LIST OF FIGURES IV
NOMENCLATURE/ABBREVIATIONS V
TABLE OF CONTENTS VII
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 What is Battery Management System 1
1.2 Needed Functionality in Battery 1
1.2.1 Data Acquisition 1
1.2.2 Safety Protection 1
1.2.3 Cell Balancing 2
1.2.4 Thermal Management 2
1.2.5 Communication With All Battery Component 3
4
CHAPTER 2: CELL BALANCING
2.1 Causes of cell Imbalance 4
2.1.1 SOC Imbalance 4
2.1.2 Internal Resistance Variation 4
2.2 Methods for Cell Balancing 4
2.2.1 Passive Balancing 5
2.2.1.1 Fixed Shunting Resistor 5
2.2.1.2 Switching Shunting Resistor 5
2.2.2 Active Balancing 6
2.2.2.1 Single Switched Capacitor 6
2.2.2.2 Multi Switch Capacitor 6
2.2.2.3 Switch Transformer 7
2.2.2.4 Shared Transformer 7
2.2.2.5 Inductive Converter-Based 8
9
CHAPTER 3: TECHNOLOGIES OF BATTERY THERMAL
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
3.1 Air Cooling and Heating 9
3.2 Liquid Cooling and Heating 9
3.3 Direct Refrigerant Cooling and Heating 10
3.4 Phase-Change Material 10
3.5 Thermo-Electric Module 10
3.6 Heat Pipe 11

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 12
CHAPTER 4: COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
4.1 Types of Data Buses 12
4.1.1 RS232 Connection 12
4.1.2 EIA-485 (formally RS485) Connection 12
4.1.3 Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus 13
4.1.4 CAN Bus 13
4.1.5 LIN Bus 13
4.1.6 SMBus 13
14
CHAPTER 5: BATTERY CHARGING
5.1 Methods of Battery Charging 14
5.1.1 Constant Voltage 14
5.1.2 Constant Current 14
5.1.3 Taper Current 14
5.1.4 Pulsed Charge 14
5.1.5 Burp Charging 15
5.1.6 Float Charge 15
5.1.7Random Charging 15
16
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
REFERENCES 17

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CHAPTER 1: Introduction
In electric vehicle battery is main power source. Concern in batteries for EVs
can be traced back to the mid-19th century when the first EV came into existence. Today, since
EVs can reduce gasoline utilization up to 75%. EV batteries have achieved renewed attention in
the vehicle market. To enlarge the market share of EVs and HEVs, safety and reliability are the
top concerns of users. However, both of them are subject to not only the battery technology but
also the management system for the battery. Therefore, a battery management system (BMS), as
the connector between the battery and the vehicle, plays a vital role in improving battery
performance and optimizing vehicle operation in a safe and reliable manner.

1.1: What is Battery Management Systems for Electric Vehicles

The BMS is a critical component of EV. The purpose of the BMS is to
guarantee safe and reliable battery operation. To maintain the safety and reliability of the battery,
state monitoring and evaluation, charge control, and cell balancing are functionalities that have
been implemented in BMS.

1.2: Needed Functionality in Battery

• Data acquisition
• Safety protection
• Ability to determine and predict the state of the battery
• Ability to control battery charging and discharging
• Cell balancing
• Thermal management
• Delivery of battery status and authentication to a user interface
• Communication with all battery components
• Prolong battery life

1.2.1: Data acquisition

Data acquisition (DAQ) is the method of measuring an electrical or physical
phenomenon such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, or sound with a computer. A DAQ
system consists of sensors, DAQ measurement hardware, and a computer with programmable
software. Differentiate to traditional measurement systems; PC-based DAQ systems exploit the
processing power, productivity, display, and connectivity abilities of industry-standard
computers providing a more powerful, flexible, and cost-effective measurement solution.

1.2.2: Safety protection

A BMS may protect its battery by preventing it from operating outside its safe
operating area, such as:

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 • Over current
• Over voltage
• Over temperature
• Under temperature
• Over pressure
• Ground fault or leakage current detection

1.2.3: Cell balancing

Fig. 1.1 cell unbalance

In EVs and HEVs, cells are wired in parallel to form a block to satisfy the need
of high capacity while several cells are connected in series to provide a high voltage. Each cell is
different due to manufacturing and chemical offset. Thus, the cells in a series have the same
current but different voltage. During charging, capacity fade in cells may result in danger if a cell
comes to its full charge easily. In other words, it will bear from overcharging while all the rest of
the cells reach their full charge. Similarly, atop discharge may happen on the weakest cell, which
will fail before others during the discharging process. When the battery consists of multi-cells in
series, it will be subject to a more failure rate than any single cell due to a series network. To
reduce this effect for prolonging the battery life, an efficient cell balancing mechanism that
would keep the SOC levels of individual cells in a battery pack as close to each other, should be
developed.

1.2.4: Thermal management

Thermal management of battery systems in electric vehicle is keep energy
storage capacity, driving range, and cell longevity and system safety. The BTMS plays a vital
role in the control of the battery thermal behaviour. The BTMS technologies are air cooling
system, liquid cooling system, direct refrigerant cooling system, phase change material (PCM)
cooling system, and thermo-electric cooling system as well as heating

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1.2.5: Communication with all battery components
In practice, the battery needs to communicate with the internal vehicle
components, the charger and external territory through the BMS. The communication between
internal components is relatively mature through a CAN bus, which is standard in vehicles
manufactured today. The system management bus (SMBus) was developed to communicate with
the charger with the perspective of a smart battery. This battery is able to transmit battery data,
such as, the current condition, usage history, and SOC indication through the SMBus.
Furthermore, wireless technology is also being developed not only to gather external domain
data, such as, humidity and vibration, but also to communicate between the battery and the
charger.

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CHAPTER 2: Cell Balancing
2.1 Causes of cell imbalance
• SOC imbalance
• Internal resistance variation
• Temperature

2.1.1 SOC imbalance

Measuring the SOC of a cell is complicated; hence it is very difficult to

measure the SOC of individual cells in a battery. An ideal cell balancing method should match
the cells of same SOC instead of the same voltage (OCV) levels. But since it is practically not
possible cells are matched only on voltage terms when making a pack, the variation in SOC
might lead to change in OCV in due course.

2.1.2 Internal resistance variation

It is very hard to find cells of the equal Internal resistance (IR) and as the
battery age the IR of the cell also get changed and thus in a battery pack not all cells will have
the equal IR. As we know the IR contributes to the internal impedance of the cell which
determines the current flowing though a cell. Since the IR is varied the current through cell and
its voltage also gets varied.

2.1.3 Temperature

The charging and discharging ability of the cell also based on the
temperature around it. In a huge battery pack like in EVs or solar arrays the cells are distributed
over a waste areas and there might be temperature difference among the pack itself causing one
cell to charge or discharge faster than the remaining cells causing an imbalance.

2.2 Method for cell balancing

• Passive balancing

▪ Fixed shunting resistor

▪ Switching shunting resistor

• Active balancing

▪ Single switched capacitor

▪ Multi switch capacitor
▪ Switched transformer
▪ Shared transformer
▪ Inductive Converter–Based

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2.2.1 Passive balancing

2.2.1.1 Fixed shunting resistor

Fig2.1 Fixed shunting resistor

▪ The simplest electronics designs are for passive balancing systems.

▪ The general idea is that a resistor is placed in parallel with each cell, and used to drain
charge from that cell.
▪ The energy removed from the cell is dissipated as heat.
▪ The simplest design of all is the “fixed shunt resistor design.”

2.2.1.2 Switching shunting resistor

Fig 2.2 Switching shunting resistor

• A alternation on the above idea, which works for lithium-ion chemistries as well, is to
alter the zener diode with a BMS-controlled switch.
• This switch is some kind of transistor circuit.
• The electronics required to control the transistor make this design more complicated;
however, it allows for much greater flexibility in balancing strategy.
• The BMS closes switches on cells having too much charge, allowing them to drain.
• Note that the added complication is not as big an issue as it used to be.

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2.2.2 Active balancing
2.2.2.1 Single switched capacitor

Fig2.3 Single switched capacitor

• This allows state movement of charge from a high-voltage to a low-voltage cell.
• A serious disadvantage of all capacitor-based designs is that they depend on a voltage
difference between cells in order to work.
• Most lithium-ion chemistries have very little voltage deviation between cells even if SOC
varies a lot
.

2.2.2.2 Multi switch capacitor

Fig2.4 Multi switch capacitor

• In this circuit above, there is one fewer capacitor than there are battery-pack cells.
• The single-pole-double-throw switches repeatedly back and back.
• Consider two neighboring cells. The higher-voltage cell charges the capacitor to its
voltage, and then the lower-voltage cell discharges the capacitor to its voltage: charge
moves to equalize cell voltages.

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 2.2.2.3 Switched transformer

Fig2.5 Switched transformer

• An other approach, which can move a great deal of charge at once, is to use a transformer
• The diode plus switches select into which cell to dump the charge.
• Much more effective than passive balancing; much faster than capacitive methods; but
also expensive.

2.2.2.4 Shared transformer

Fig2.6 Shared transformer

• A simplified variation of the prior scheme is to use a transformer with custom winding
and a diode circuit.
• The control rapidly switches the primary; diodes route the current. Balancing is automatic
without sophisticated algorithms.

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2.2.2.5 Inductive Converter–Based

Fig2.7 Inductive Converter–Based

• A MOSFET, a diode, and a power inductor are composed of a buck-boost converter to

complete a charge transfer between an adjacent pair of cells as shown in above Fig.
• This is a bidirectional buck-boost converter, which can transfer cell energy from both
direction.

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CHAPTER 3: Technologies of Battery Thermal Management Systems

• Air Cooling and Heating

• Liquid Cooling and Heating
• Direct Refrigerant Cooling and Heating
• Phase-Change Material(PCM)
• Thermo-Electric Module
• Heat Pipe

3.1 Air cooling and heating

Fig3.1 Air cooling and heating

• Air is use as a thermal medium. The intake air could be direct either from nature or from
the cabin and could also be conditioned air after a heater or evaporator of an air
conditioner. The before is called passive air system and the latter is active air system.
Active systems can offer extra cooling or heating power.

3.2 Liquid Cooling and heating

Fig3.2 passive liquid cooling system Fig3.3 Active liquid cooliong system

• As well air, liquid is another heat transfer fluid to transfer heat. There are generally two
ways of liquids applied for thermal management systems. One is dielectric liquid (direct-
contact liquid) which can contact the battery cells directly, such as mineral oil. The other
is conducting liquid (indirect-contact liquid) which can only contact the battery cells
indirectly, such as a mixture of ethylene glycol and water.
• By different heat-sinks for cooling, liquid systems can also be categorized into either
passive systems or active systems.

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 3.3 Direct Refrigerant Cooling and Heating

Fig3.4 Direct Refrigerant Cooling and Heating

• Similar to active liquid systems, a direct refrigerant system (DRS) include of an A/C
loop, but DRS uses refrigerant directly as heat transfer fluid circulating through battery
pack.

3.4 Phase-Change Material (PCM)

• During melting, heat is absorbed by PCM and is stored as latent heat until the latent heat
is up to max point. The temperature is kept at melting point for a time and the
temperature increase is delayed. Therefore, PCM is used as conductor and buffer in
battery thermal management systems.

3.5 Thermo-Electric Module

Fig3.5 Thermo-Electric Module

• To boost cooling/heating power of passive air systems, thermo-electric module is used.

• Thermo-electric module can convert electric voltage to temperature difference and vice-
versa. Here the before effect is adopted. That means it transfers heat through the module
by consuming electricity directly.

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 3.6 Heat pipe

Fig3.6 Structure oh heat pipe

• Besides thermo-electric modules, a heat pipe is another way to upgrade passive air
systems. The mechanism of a heat pipe is shown in Figure. The flat copper envelope of
the heat pipe was under partial vacuum.

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CHAPTER 4: Communication System

Fig4.1 Block diagram of generalize communication system

4.1 Types of data buses
• RS232 connection
• EIA-485 (formerly RS485) connection
• Inter - Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
• CAN Bus
• LIN Bus
• SMBus

4.1.1 RS232 Connection

• A standard for serial transmission of among two external devices with cable lengths up
to 50 feet. Separate transmit and receive lines come up with full duplex communication.
Used for data rates up to 20,000 bits per second.

4.1.2 EIA-485 (formally RS485) connection

• A standard for serial transmission of data among multiple devices with cable lengths up
to 4000 feet. (Possible 32 channels). typically half duplex, it uses a differential balanced
line over twisted pair for noise immunity and does not specify or recommend any
particular data protocol. Advisable for data rates up to 100K bits per second or 10M bits
per second depending on the length of the cables.

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 4.1.3 Inter - Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
• The (I2C) Bus was a low speed bus originally designed for use among internal modules
within a system rather than for external communications. It is a bidirectional, half
duplex, two wire synchronous bus. It runs with data rates up to 3.4 Mbits/s and is
suitable for Master - Slave applications. Multiple slaves are possible but only a master
can initiate a data transfer. Normally used for internal communications within
embedded systems such as a BMS.

4.1.4 CAN Bus

• The CAN bus is defined as a two wire, serial communications bus designed for
networking intelligent sensors and actuators in a centralised multiplexing system. It is
now accredited as an ISO standard.
• The CAN Bus allows 12 Volts, or other voltage, power to be distributed among the
vehicle (or system) on a single power rail with local actuators connecting the power to
each application as needed. Vehicle functions such as temperatures, alarms or the
positions of switches are monitored by sensors connected to the bus and the controller
can direct the actuators to initiate the appropriate response as needed.

4.1.5 LIN Bus

• It is similar to the CAN Bus.
• It is one wire Local Interconnect Network operating at 20 KBaud using distributed
multipexers and standardised Smart Connectors based on standard UART/SCI IC
hardware allowing for simple, low cost IC solutions. It uses more electronics than the
CAN Bus but it is more flexible and uses less wiring.

4.1.6 SM Bus
• The SM Bus (System Management Bus) is a 2 wire, 100 KHz, serial bus
designed for use with less power Smart Battery Systems (SBS) with the
bounded objectives of interconnecting Smart Batteries which have built in
mind, with their associated chargers. Sometimes found in simple vehicle
applications, it does not have the limit of capabilities for controlling devices
connected to the power lines which the CAN and LIN buses have.

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CHAPTER 5: Battery Charging
5.1 Methods of Battery Charging
• Constant Voltage
• Constant Current
• Taper Current
• Pulsed Charge
• Burp Charging
• Float Charge
• Random Charging

5.1.1 Constant Voltage

• Constant voltage charger is foremost a DC power supply which in its simplest form may
consist of a step down transformer from the mains with a rectifier to provide the DC
voltage to charge the battery. Such simple designs are very rarely found in cheap car
battery chargers. The lead-acid cells used for cars and backup power systems normally
use constant voltage chargers. In addition, lithium-ion cells very rarely use constant
voltage systems, although these typically are more complex with added circuitry to save
both the batteries and the user safety.

5.1.2 Constant Current

• Constant current chargers vary the voltage they apply to the battery to maintain a constant
current flow, switching off when the voltage reaches the level of a full charge. This
pattern is normally used for nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride cells or batteries.

5.1.3 Taper Current

• Taper Current is charging from a crude unregulated constant voltage source. It is not a
controlled charge as in V Taper above. The current decrease as the cell voltage (back
emf) builds up. There is a serious risk of damaging the cells through overcharging. To
avoid this charging rate and duration should be limited. Suitable for SLA batteries only.

5.1.4 Pulsed Charge

• Pulsed charge Pulsed chargers provide the charge current to the battery in pulses. The
charging rate (based on the average current) can be accurately controlled by varying the
width of the pulses, typically about one second. During the charging process, short rest
periods of 20 to 30 milliseconds, between pulses allow the chemical actions in the battery

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 to stabilise by equalising the reaction throughout the bunch of the electrode before
recommencing the charge.

5.1.5 Burp Charging

• Burp charging also called Reflex or Negative Pulse Charging Used in conjunction with
pulse charging, it applies a very short discharge pulse, typically 2 to 3 times the charging
current for 5 milliseconds, during the charging rest time to depolarise the cell. These
pulses dislodge any gas bubbles which have built up on the electrodes during fast
charging, speeding up the stabilisation process and hence the overall charging process.
The release and diffusion of the gas bubbles is known as "burping". Controversial claims
have been made for the improvements in both the charge rate and the battery lifetime as
well as for the removal of dendrites made possible by this technique. The least that can be
said is that "it does not damage the battery".

5.1.6 Float Charge

• Float charge. The battery and the load are forever connected in parallel across the DC
charging source and held at a constant voltage below the battery's upper voltage limit.
Used for emergency power back up systems. Mainly used with lead acid batteries.

5.1.7 Random Charging

• All of the above applications require controlled charge of the battery, however there are
many applications where the energy to charge the battery is only available, or is
delivered, in some random, uncontrolled way.
• This applies to automotive applications where the energy rely on the engine speed which
is continuously changing. The problem is more acute in EV and HEV applications which
use regenerative braking since this generates large power spikes during braking which the
battery must absorb. More benign applications are in solar panel formations which can
only be charged when the sun is shining. These all require special techniques to limit the
charging current or voltage to levels which the battery can tolerate.

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 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion and Future Scope
Conclusion:

We have learnt about various methods for cell balancing, thermal management,
communication system and battery charging. In cell balancing various methods like
passive and active cell balancing. In thermal management various methods like air
cooling, liquid cooling, direct refrigerant cooling and heating, phase change material and
heat pipe. In communication system various types of data buses like CAN bus, LIN bus,
SMBus. And in battery charging various methods for charging like constant voltage,
constant current, burp charging and random charging.

Future Scope:

Nowadays research about wireless battery charging for electric vehicle is going on. And
it will succeed in future..

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 REFERENCES
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268049973
• http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/app_note/AN4428.pdf
• https://circuitdigest.com/article/cell-balancing-techniques-and-how-to-use-them
• http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/200046/200046.pdf
• http://www.mpoweruk.com/chargers.htm
• http://www.mpoweruk.com/communication.htm

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