Charging Algorithms for Increasing

Lead Acid Battery Cycle Life

for Electric Vehicles
17th Electric Vehicle Symposium
Montreal, Canada
October 16-18, 2000

Matt Keyser
Mark Mihalic
Ahmad Pesaran

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Robert Nelson
Recombinant Technologies
 Acknowledgements
• Thanks to Dr. Pat Moseley and ALABC for
funding the research.
• Thanks to the DOE HEV Program Manager
and the NREL HEV Technology Manager
for permission to use DOE/NREL equipment
 Presentation Outline
• Purpose
• Background
• Module Cycle Life Test - Zero Delta Voltage
(ZDV) Charging Technique
• Pack Cycle Life Test - Current Interrupt
Technique
 Purpose

• Increase the cycle life of both modules and

packs by focusing on the Oxygen
Recombination Efficiency of a battery during
overcharge. A Zero Delta Voltage (ZDV)
charging technique was applied to a module
whereas a Current Interrupt (CI) technique
was used during overcharge for battery pack.
Background
• Typical charging techniques for Valve Regulated
Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries are a two step
constant current (CC) technique or some
combination of Constant Voltage (CV) and CC.
• Both VRLA and NiCd operate on oxygen-
recombination to minimize water loss.
• The extreme depolarizing effect of the oxygen
cycle must be taken into account.
• At the end of life, the oxygen recombination cycle
consumes most or all of the overcharge current
allowed by the charge.
Effective Charging Algorithm Includes…

• High inrush currents.

• No limitation on the percent overcharge.
• A modest-to-high rate of charging.
• High finishing currents.
• An effective charging termination point.
Optima Battery under ZDV Cycle Life Test
Cycling of 12 Volt/ 50 Ah Module
• The charge algorithm was as follows:
– 50A to 70% charge return
– 10A until Zero Delta Voltage
– Overcharge: 5A for 3.0-10.0 Ah – Amount
depends on cycle life number. [Cycles 0-295, 3
Ah; Cycles 296-340, 10.0 Ah; Cycles 341-356,
6-7Ah]
• Discharge is 25A until 10.5V (100% DOD)
 Sensing ZDV – 10 Amps until…

30 Readings – 1 Reading/sec Ave0

Diff0=Ave1-Ave0
30 Readings – 1 Reading/sec Ave1

30 Readings – 1 Reading/sec Ave5

Diff4=Ave6-Ave5
30 Readings – 1 Reading/sec Ave6

If 5 consecutive differences are less than a prescribed limit

(0.015 Volts), then zero delta voltage has been sensed.
 Cycle 50 and 250 of ZDV Cycling

18
End of ZDV Charge
17
Battery Voltage (Volts)

16
End of 50 Amp Charge
15

14
End of 5 Amp Overcharge
13

12

11
End of 25 Amp Discharge
10
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Time (Hours)

Cycle 50 Cycle 250

 Typical Cycle Life Data for Optima 50 Ah Battery under CC/CV Charge

60

50
Ah Capacity (Ah)

40

30

20

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Cycle Number (#)
 ZDV Cycle Life Test

70

60

50
Ah Capacity (Ah)

40

80% Capacity Limit

30

20
50 % Capacity Limit
10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Cycle Number (#)

Discharge Capacity Charge Capacity Typical Optima Cycle Life

 Overcharge during ZDV Cycle Life Test

16
Charge Capacity - Discharge Capacity (Ah)

14

12

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Cycle Number (#)
 Maximum & Minimum Temperature Data for ZDV Test

70

60

50
Temperature (C)

40

30

20

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Cycle Number (#)

End of Charge End of Discharge

Conclusions for ZDV Cycle Life Test

• “Dry-out” was not a failure mode.

• Negative-plate sulfation was not severe.
• With a ZDV technique, we were able
increase the cycle life of the Optima VRLA
by a factor of 2.
• The charge/termination algorithm must be
adjustable to respond to a batteries aging.
288 Volt/ 24 Module Pack Cycling

Battery pack in an insulated

box with air cooling
Why a CC charge and CI Technique?
• A CC charge allows for fast recharge.
• Current interrupt allows use of high currents
with rest periods to maximize recharge
efficiency, minimize overcharge, and reduce
overall pack temperature.
• The charge/rest rate and current for a multi-
step CI must be optimized.
What is Current Interrupt (CI)?

• A pulsed-charge technique with on-off times of 5-30

seconds.
• Used with thin plate batteries for the finishing
charge step.
• No voltage limit during the charge steps.
• Polarization during charge and rest voltages below
14.0 volts are used as criteria to trigger an increase
in the pulsed-current amplitude.
• Late in life, pulsed-current levels of 2C-4C may be
necessary to achieve 100% recharge.
 Cycling of 288V/50 Ah Pack
• The pack was composed of 24 12 V/50Ah Optima Yellow Top
modules.
• The charge algorithm was a stepped - CC program with a CI finish:
– 100A to 60% charge return
– 50A to 80% charge return
– 15A to 100% charge return
– CI overcharge (7.5A/5sec on, 5 sec off)
• Discharge was 25A to the first module reaching 10.5V.
• Modules limiting performance (i.e., reaching 10.5V on discharge)
were removed and replaced when necessary by new, conditioned
modules.
• At ~ 600 cycles, modules were no longer replaced upon failure (but
were bypassed), so the pack voltage was gradually stepped down.
 Cycle 200 - CI 5 Amps for 5 Seconds/15 Second Rest Cycle 300 - CI 5 Amps for 5 Seconds/15 Second Rest

400 16.67 400 16.67

Battery Pack Voltage (Volts)

Battery Pack Voltage (Volts)

Ave. Module Voltage (Volts)

Ave. Module Voltage (Volts)

380 15.83 380 15.83

360 15.00 360 15.00

340 14.17 340 14.17

320 13.33 320 13.33

300 12.50 300 12.50

280 11.67 280 11.67

260 10.83 260 10.83

0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (Hours) Time (Hours)

Cycle 400 - CI 5 Amps for 10 Seconds/15 Second Rest Cycle 600 - CI 7.5 Amps for 5 Seconds/5 Second Rest

400 16.67 400 16.67

Battery Pack Voltage (Volts)

Battery Pack Voltage (Volts)

Ave. Module Voltage (Volts)

Ave. Module Voltage (Volts)

380 15.83 380 15.83

360 15.00 360 15.00

340 14.17 340 14.17

320 13.33 320 13.33

300 12.50 300 12.50

280 11.67 280 11.67

260 10.83 260 10.83

0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (Hours) Time (Hours)
 Cycle Life Test of Battery Pack
70 400

Battery Pack Voltage at Rest (Volts)

60 350

300
50
Capacity (Ah)

250
40
200
30
80% Capacity 150
20
50% Capacity
100

10 50

0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Cycle Number (#)

Discharge Capacity Charge Capacity Pack Voltage @ Rest

 24 Module Pack Cycle Life Test - Vertical Lines Represent Replaced Modules
70

60

50
Ah Capacity (Ah)

40

30

20

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Cycle Number (#)

Discharge Capacity Charge Capacity

Thermal Image of Module with Shorted Layers
*>50.0°C

50.0
48.0
46.0
44.0
42.0
40.0
38.0
36.0
34.0
32.0
30.0

*<30.0°C
 Module 22 – Cycle 751
*>77.2°C

75.0
70.0
65.0
60.0
55.0
50.0 Discharge
45.0 *>49.9°C
40.0
35.0 48.0
30.0 46.0
44.0
*<27.0°C 42.0
40.0

Charge 38.0
36.0
34.0
32.0
30.0
28.0

*<27.0°C
 Temperature Data for Module #21 in Battery Pack
70

60
Module Temperature (C)

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Cycle Number (#)

Discharge Temperature Charge Temperature

Conclusions from the 288V Pack Cycling
• Application of the multi-step CC/CI charge
algorithm without battery management results
in excellent pack cycle lifetime for the Optima
product.
• At times, insufficient recharge of individual
12V modules.
• “Dryout” is not a failure mode.
• Negative-plate sulfation is not severe.
• No clear correlation between operating
temperature and failure.
Conclusions (cont’d)
• Increased the cycle life of the Optima pack from 150
cycles to approximately 700 cycles.
• This experiment equates to 3-4 years of service (700
cycles), with replacement of 12 of 24 original modules
(21.6kWh total) due to electrochemical failure. Total
Ah output in that time is ~28,000; total kWh output is
~8,100. Rate/mile is ~$0.10.
 Overcharge Used with Pack Cycle Life Test
12

10

8
Overcharge (Ah)

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Cycle Number (#)