| RHOLAB | This project is in progress |
| A Reliable, Highly Optimised Lead-Acid Battery |
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Context In view of their low cost VRLA batteries are likely to be favoured for many applications. Hybrid vehicles impose particularly arduous demands since the batteries have a low energy/power ratio, operate at around 50% SOC and are subjected to high transient power charges and discharges. All of this compromises cycle life and performance Aims To extend significantly the life of a lead acid battery pack and improve its energy conversion efficiency To reduce the scatter of nominally identical cells, establish optimum cell charge equalisation and conditioning strategies based on an accurate, dynamic SOC model. To realise a battery that incorporates thermal management, fault tolerance and safety features Method Develop a specification for an automotive battery based on the VLRA spirally wound 2V lead acid cell Design a pack to meet this specification that includes sensing, switching and thermal and electrical control devices in a way that does not jeopardise its manufacturability Build a prototype pack enclosure that will allow the operation to be assessed whilst powering a hybrid vehicle Provide hardware and software design support to the design of the battery management system including communication to and from large numbers of cells in an electrically hostile environment Provide information for the design of the vehicle interfaces Demonstrate the utility of the new battery in bench and vehicle tests Benefits VRLA batteries with a more consistent performance, a longer cycle life and a higher energy conversion efficiency New opportunities for the exploitation of these products as traction batteries for hybrid vehicles Participants European Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium Hawker Group Provector Ltd Sheffield University University of Warwick |
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