(287h) Modeling Failure Modes in Li-Ion Battery

Modeling Failure Modes in Li-ion Battery

Resmi Suresh M P

Raghunathan Rengaswamy

Department of Chemical Engineering

IIT Madras, Chennai, India, 600 036

Abstract:

Energy needs are rapidly increasing in the past few years due to many developmental factors. This increased energy requirement all over the world requires targeted research in the field of batteries and fuel cells for efficient energy solutions. Lithium ion batteries are now being used commercially because of their various advantages like high energy density and light weight. Despite their overall advantages, there are some risks associated with lithium ion batteries. They have to be operated in a safe zone of voltage and temperature, or else problems like lithium plating, breakdown of cathode and thermal run away can occur. These problems arise because of various side reactions such as solvent oxidation or reduction reactions that happen inside the battery when operated beyond safe operational regime. Aging and mechanical fatigue are also major concerns with Li-ion batteries.

A few models exist in the literature, which predict battery state of charge by considering a single side reaction occurring at electrode surface as the source of capacity fade ^[1-6]. In all these models, the actual electrochemical and parasitic reactions are modeled separately and then combined to get a complete model. There are many other processes that lead to faults in batteries that are not considered in these models. For example, lithium plating on carbon electrode during overcharging, breakdown of positive electrode with over-discharge resulting in release of oxygen and aging are a few of them. To achieve better battery life by optimizing their usage, development of improved models to predict battery performance, which incorporate all these side reactions, is vital.

In this work we will describe a battery model derived from first principles where several failure modes are incorporated. The side reactions are directly incorporated into the rate equation to model the various capacity fade mechanisms. Butler-Volmer equation is then derived from the rate equation and is used to calculate net current density. This first principles approach can be used to incorporate any side reaction present in the battery. Mass and energy balance equations along with the net current density calculated will help study the response of battery under abuse conditions. Though development of physics based model involves complexity, it is advantageous as it can help in predicting the battery performance under a variety of operating conditions and also to implement various control strategies for improving performance. Such a model can be used for online diagnosis and state of charge estimation for lithium ion batteries.

References:

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