Publication Date

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Committee Members

Hong Huang (Committee Member), James Menart (Advisor), Rory Roberts (Committee Member)

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Abstract

Renewable energy storage is vitally important to many applications for which batteries are the finest choice. As energy storage technology may be applied to a number of areas that differ in power and energy requirements, modeling of battery performance is required. In recent years, a lot of research has been done in this area but, the earliest model was designed by Marc Doyle, T. F. Fuller, and J. Newman in 1993. This work involves the development of a one-dimensional computer model of a lithium-ion battery which consists of three domains: the negative electrode, the separator, and the positive electrode. The solid electrodes are modeled based on porous electrode theory. A finite volume technique is used to solve four partial differential equations which simulate the dynamics of lithium-ion batteries. These equations are conservation of current in the solid electrodes, conservation of current in the electrolyte, conservation of species in the solid particles, and conservation of species in the electrolyte. Another important equation included in this model is the Butler–Volmer kinetic equation. In order to study the distributions of battery parameters, MATLAB computer routines were written to solve each partial differential equation and then were joined together sequentially in one computer code that simulates the performance of lithium-ion batteries during charging and discharging. The developed model is capable of predicting the electrochemical behavior of the battery depending upon the input material properties. The results from the computer model developed as a part of this work are validated by comparing them with the available computational results for a 6 Ah battery with various current discharge rates (1C, 5C and 10C) from Smith et al. [26]. The effects of different charging and discharging conditions on battery performance are presented as well. The distributions also show that battery voltage and concentration gradient in the electrolyte phase are found to vary with applied discharge current.

Page Count

85

Department or Program

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Year Degree Awarded

2017


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