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Article
Increased Performance of Battery Packs by Active Equalization
Proceedings of the IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (2007, Arlington, TX)
  • Jonathan W. Kimball, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Brian T. Kuhn
  • Philip T. Krein
Abstract

Battery packs for most applications are series strings of electrochemical cells. Due to manufacturing variations, temperature differences, and aging, the individual cells perform differently. When a complete pack is charged and discharged as a single two-terminal circuit element, some cells are chronically overcharged, undercharged, or overdischarged, all of which act to reduce cell life. The performance and life of the complete pack is limited by the weakest cell. Many methods have been proposed and explored to mitigate this problem. In the present work, a switched-capacitor converter is shown to be a simple and effective method to maintain equal cell or monoblock charge conditions. Design criteria are discussed.

Meeting Name
IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (2007: Sep. 9-12, Arlington, TX)
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
  • Battery Equalization,
  • Battery Pack,
  • Electric Vehicle,
  • Propulsion,
  • Cells,
  • Batteries,
  • Voltage,
  • Manufacturing,
  • Temperature,
  • Aging,
  • Electric Vehicles,
  • Impedance,
  • Clamps,
  • Chemistry,
  • Circuits,
  • Switching Convertors,
  • Electrochemistry,
  • Secondary Cells
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-0780397606
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2007 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
9-1-2007
Publication Date
01 Sep 2007
Citation Information
Jonathan W. Kimball, Brian T. Kuhn and Philip T. Krein. "Increased Performance of Battery Packs by Active Equalization" Proceedings of the IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (2007, Arlington, TX) (2007) p. 323 - 327 ISSN: 1938-8756
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan-kimball/62/