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1, March 1992 93
Abstract
A mathematical model of a lead-acid battery is presented in
this paper. This model takes into account self-discharge, battery
storage capacity, internal resistance, overvoltage and environmental
temperature. Nonlinear components are used to represent the
behavior of the different battery parameters thereby simplifying the
model design. The model components are found using "cc
manufacturers specifications and experimental tests. A comparison
between the model and experimental results obtained from a battery
evaluation test system was used for verification. This model can be
used to accurately evaluate battery performance in electrical systems.
'
0I
Figure 1: Thevenin Battery Model
There have been many proposals for lead-acid battery Figure 2: Linear Electrical Model
models. One of these is the Thevenin equivalent circuit, shown in
Figure 1, which is a simple way of demonstrating the behavior of
battery voltage (vb). It contains the electrical values of no-load An equivalent circuit for a Nickel-Cadmium storage cell was
voltage (VOC),internal resistance (RI)and overvoltage (parallel developed using nonlinear elements.[5] The mathematical model
combination of C and R2). [3] This model is not accurate because described in this paper utilizes a similar technique for the lead-acid
these values are not constants as modeled but in fact are functions of battery thus allowing a continuous evaluation of battery performance
the various bamry conditions stated above. that is both uncomplicated and accurate. This model was verified
experimentally on the University of Lowell battery evaluation test
system.
1
94
m I . I I
senso
t
voltag
I Vcl
T d -T
TC=-R T r e f
The proposed mathematical battery model shown in Figure 4 Rd (4)
was arrived at after a series of experimental tests were preformed.
The mathematicalfunctions of the battery model components were where: TC - temperature compensation
developed through examination of the graphic plots of the T - temperature of environment
experimental data, and manufacturers specifications. Once the Tref - reference temperature
behavior of the components was understood a computer simulation R - resistance at temperature T
of the test cycle was designed to accurately simulate the operation of Rref - resistance at temperature Tref
the battery using the nonlinear battery element equations.
95
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1 D
3. Self-
Self-discharge is due to electrolysis of water at high voltages
and slow leakage across the battery terminals at low voltages This
element is exmmely sensitive to temperature as shown in Figure 8.
This resistance is inversely proportional to the change in
temperature. The self-discharge resistance is determined using
ohms law with the steady state current and voltage during charging.
-
Figure 8: Self-discharge Resistance (Rp)
P
k
The overvoltage was modeled as an RC network with a time
constant in the order of minutes. The value of the capacitor was
kept constant and the resistance was found using experimental data
Figure 6: Charge Internal Resistance (Rps + Rp) by measuring the time constant of the voltage decay during the idle
times.
96
16 -
This model was verified using two cycle tests at different 15 ....... .............. ............ ..............10
operating conditions. One test was discharged at 13 amps to 10.5
volts, charged at 13 amps to 15.8 volts and held at constant voltage .......... ........ ............. ......... ..............
for 12 hours at 0 degrees Celsius.These results are plotted in Figure
9. The second test was discharged at 13 amps to 11.65 volts, ............. ........... ..............
charged at 13 amps to 13 volts and also kept at this voltage for 12
hours at 35 degrees Celsius. (See Figure 10.)
........................... ..............-5 U
The test started with a constant current discharge. The initial
drop was caused by the internal resistance of the battery. The -1 0
smooth portion of the drop is determined by the capacitance and
internal resistance functions. After dischnrging the battery enters an -1 5
idle state where there is an initial jump :to the internal resistance. 6 12 1B 24 3b 3ii
It then levels off exponentially at the I ~ ~ I . Ivoltage.
[ Next, constant
current charge begins with another jump due to internal resistance tirm (*
before it starts the smooth portion of the climb which results from
the capacitance. Once the final voltage is achieved it is maintained 16
by reducing the current using the control algorithm (Equation 2).
After 12 hours of constant voltage charge the cycle ended with
another idle period. 15
16
15
12
11
10
0 6 12 16 24 30 36
References
[l] H. W. Morse, Storage Batteries, MacMillan Co., New York, Discussion
1912.
[2] R. A. Perez, The Complete Battery Book, TAB Books Inc., R. Ramakumar and h a d Abouzahr (Oklahoma State University, Still-
Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1985. water, OK 74078): The authors should be commended for developing and
presenting a detailed mathematical model for lead-acid batteries which can
[3] Battery Application Manual, Gates Energy Products, Inc., be used in simulating their operation over a wide range of conditions. A
Gainesville, FL,1989. quick review of the plots indicate that, over the normal range of operation,
most of the parameters can be assumed to be fairly constant as long as the
[4] J. Appelbaum and R. Weiss, “An Electrical Model of the Lead- temperature is constant. Often, in the simulation of stand-alone renewable
Acid Battery“,=, p. 304-307, 1982. energy systems with battery storage, the battery bank is modeled in terms
of a maximum energy storage capacity and a constant average round-trip
[5] H. G. Zimmerman and R. G. Peterson, “An Electrochemical efficiency.Based on the authors’ investigations, will this simple model
introduce any significant errors in the results? In the context of the
inherent variations and uncertainties in chronological and probabilistic
simulations, should one strive to use a detailed model of the type devel-
oped in this paper?
[6] G. W. Vinal, Storage Batteries 4th Edition, Wiley, New York, Manuscript received February 19, 1991.
1955.
[7] C. F. Gerald and P. 0. Wheatley, Applied Numerical Analysis
3rdEdition, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1985.
Z. Salameh, M . Casacca, and W. Lynch (University of
Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854): This model was designed to
Ziyad M. Salameh (S-78, M-82, accurately depict battery performance under any condition. This model
SM-88) was born in Agraba, Jordan simulates the effects on other system components when the state of charge
on May 4, 1944. He received his of the battery is approaching its upper and lower extremes. Rapidly
B.S. in Electrical Engineering from changing battery parameters may cause instability in time delayed feed-
Moscow Power Engineering Institute, back systems. This problem occurred in the computer controlled algorithm
which was designed to use a current source controller to produce a
constant voltage. Since the sampling time of the system could not be
reduced, this problem was solved by adjusting the coefficients in the
algorithm. Another example would be a power system with an upper or
lower voltage limit, the power capabilitiesof the system would be reduced
at extreme states of charge due to the change in the internal resistance of
the battery under these conditions. In conclusion, a simpler battery model
may be used only when the battery is not expected to operate at its
extremes and small errors are tolerable.
University of Lowell, Massachusetts.
Manuscript received August 7, 1991
He is a member of IEEE Power Engineering, Industry Applications
and Power Electronics societies. His areas of interest are power
electronics, solid state electrical drive systems, modeling of electrical
machines, battery modelling and evaluation, photovoltaics and wind
energy conversion systems. He has authored or co-othored over 40
research papers.
In the above paper,' the following discussion should have appeared after page 366 in the IEEE
Trans. on Energy Conversion, September 1991, Volume 6, number 3.
'C.A. Lennon, Jr., IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 6, No. 3, September 1991, paper
91 WM153-7, pp.367-372.