U.S. patent application number 12/198209 was filed with the patent office on 2009-02-26 for lithium sulfur rechargeable battery fuel gauge systems and methods.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sion Power Corporation. Invention is credited to Tracy Earl Kelley, Vincent John Puglisi, Chariclea Scordilis-Kelley.
Application Number | 20090055110 12/198209 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36648555 |
Filed Date | 2009-02-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090055110 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kelley; Tracy Earl ; et
al. |
February 26, 2009 |
LITHIUM SULFUR RECHARGEABLE BATTERY FUEL GAUGE SYSTEMS AND
METHODS
Abstract
Systems and methods for accurately determining the state of
charge and the relative age of lithium sulfur batteries are
provided. The cell resistance and taper input charge of a
particular type of lithium sulfur battery are respectively measured
to determine the state of charge and age of the battery.
Inventors: |
Kelley; Tracy Earl; (Tucson,
AZ) ; Scordilis-Kelley; Chariclea; (Tucson, AZ)
; Puglisi; Vincent John; (Land O'lakes, AZ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WOLF GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C.
600 ATLANTIC AVENUE
BOSTON
MA
02210-2206
US
|
Assignee: |
Sion Power Corporation
Tucson
AZ
|
Family ID: |
36648555 |
Appl. No.: |
12/198209 |
Filed: |
August 26, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11111262 |
Apr 20, 2005 |
|
|
|
12198209 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
702/63 ;
320/149 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01R 31/392 20190101;
G01R 31/389 20190101 |
Class at
Publication: |
702/63 ;
320/149 |
International
Class: |
G01R 31/36 20060101
G01R031/36; H02J 7/04 20060101 H02J007/04 |
Claims
1. A method for determining the age of a lithium sulfur battery of
a particular type using a look-up table of taper input charge
versus age for said particular type of lithium sulfur battery, said
method comprising the steps of: a) inputting a battery type into a
computer; b) measuring a taper input charge for said battery, said
taper input charge being input into said computer; c) executing a
taper input charge correlation algorithm based on inputs
comprising: i) the type of said battery inputted into said
computer; and ii) the measured taper input charge for said battery;
and d) determining the age of said lithium sulfur battery based on
said taper input charge correlation algorithm.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said inputs to said taper input
charge correlation algorithm further comprise measured battery
temperature.
3. A system for creating a look-up table of cell resistance versus
state of charge for a lithium sulfur battery of a particular type
and determining the capacity thereof, said system comprising: a)
means for charging said battery until a voltage across said battery
increases to a predetermined maximum voltage; b) means for
continuing to charge said battery at said predetermined maximum
voltage until an input current to said battery decreases to a
predetermined minimum current; c) means for measuring a cell
resistance for said battery, said cell resistance being defined as
the cell resistance at 100% state of charge for said particular
type of lithium sulfur battery; d) means for recording said cell
resistance at 100% state of charge; e) means for discharging said
battery at a discharge rate to a predetermined lower cutoff voltage
and means for recording a discharge time period; f) means for
integrating said discharge time period with said discharge rate and
means for storing the result, said integration result being defined
as the battery capacity for said particular type of lithium sulfur
battery; g) means for measuring a cell resistance for said battery,
said cell resistance being defined as the cell resistance at 0%
state of charge for said particular type of lithium sulfur battery;
h) means for recording said cell resistance at 0% state of charge;
i) means for charging said battery with a predetermined percentage
of said battery capacity so that a present battery state of charge
exceeds a previous battery state of charge; j) means for measuring
a cell resistance for said battery, said cell resistance being
defined as the cell resistance at the present state of charge for
said particular type of lithium sulfur battery; k) means for
recording said cell resistance at the present state of charge; and
l) means for creating said look-up table of cell resistance versus
state of charge for state of charge values from 0% to 100%.
4. A system for determining the age of a lithium sulfur battery of
a particular type using a look-up table of taper input charge
versus age for said particular type of lithium sulfur battery, said
method comprising the steps of: a) means for inputting a battery
type into a computer; b) means for measuring a taper input charge
for said battery; c) means for inputting said taper input charge
into said computer; d) means for executing a taper input charge
correlation algorithm based on inputs comprising: i) the type of
said battery inputted into said computer; and ii) the measured
taper input charge for said battery; and e) means for determining
the age of said lithium sulfur battery based on said taper input
charge correlation algorithm.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/111,262, entitled, "Lithium Sulfur Rechargeable Battery
Fuel Gauge Systems and Methods," filed on Apr. 20, 2005, which is
incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the charging of
lithium sulfur batteries, and more particularly to systems and
methods for accurately determining the state of charge and the
relative age of lithium sulfur batteries.
[0003] The ability to discern how much energy is stored in a
rechargeable battery of a portable consumer electronic device, such
as a cellular telephone or laptop computer, is a feature that is
highly valued by the user of the device. Therefore, common device
systems, such as those using lithium-ion, nickel metal hydride, or
nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries, incorporate some technique
to gauge the amount of energy or charge presently stored in the
battery cell. One common approach is to determine the state of
charge of the battery based upon the measured open-circuit voltage
for that battery using look-up tables. See, for example, U.S. Pat.
No. 6,789,026 to Barsoukov et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,774,636 to
Guiheen et al., each of which is hereby incorporated by reference
herein in its entirety.
[0004] The state of charge ("SOC") of a battery is the presently
stored charge expressed as a fraction of the maximum charge that
can be stored in the battery. The SOC of a battery is very useful
information in that its user may know how charged the battery is
relative to the maximum charge or capacity of the battery during
its current charge/discharge cycle. However, the maximum capacity
of a battery degrades with the "age" of the battery (i.e., the
number of charge/discharge cycles to which the battery has been
subjected, and not the actual amount of time that the battery has
existed). The above-described conventional open-circuit
voltage-based algorithms do not use stored look-up tables that
adequately represent the characteristics of the battery as it ages
to determine its state of charge.
[0005] Lithium sulfur batteries have gained favor in recent years
due to their light weight and high energy density. The use of
lithium anodes (e.g., lithium foil or vacuum deposited lithium of
either pure lithium or lithium alloyed with tin or aluminum, with
or without an integral current collector or various lithium
intercalation compounds, such as graphites, cokes, and tin oxide,
etc.) provides an opportunity to construct lithium sulfur battery
cells that are lighter in weight and have a higher energy density
than cells such as lithium-ion, nickel metal hydride, or
nickel-cadmium cells. These features are highly desirable for
batteries in portable electronic devices.
[0006] Lithium sulfur battery designs are particularly suitable for
portable electronic devices because of their light weight and their
high surface area, which allows high rate capability as well as
reduced current density on charging. Several types of cathode
materials for the manufacture of lithium batteries are known,
including cathode materials having sulfur-sulfur bonds, wherein
high energy capacity and rechargeability are achieved from the
electrochemical cleavage (via reduction) and reformation (via
oxidation) of the sulfur-sulfur bonds. Sulfur containing cathode
materials, having sulfur-sulfur bonds, for use in electrochemical
cells having a lithium anode, such as described above, may include
elemental sulfur, organo-sulfur compounds, various polysulfides, or
carbon-sulfur compositions.
[0007] Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide systems and
methods for accurately determining the state of charge of lithium
sulfur battery cells, and for accurately determining the age of
battery cells.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is an object of this invention to provide systems and
methods for accurately determining the state of charge of lithium
sulfur battery cells.
[0009] It is also an object of this invention to provide such
systems and methods for accurately determining the age of battery
cells.
[0010] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided a method for creating a look-up table of cell
resistance versus state of charge for a lithium sulfur battery of a
particular type with a known capacity. The method includes charging
the battery until a voltage across the battery increases to a
predetermined maximum voltage; continuing to charge the battery at
the predetermined maximum voltage until an input current to the
battery decreases to a predetermined minimum current; measuring a
cell resistance for the battery, wherein this cell resistance is
defined as the cell resistance at 100% state of charge for the
particular type of lithium sulfur battery; and recording the cell
resistance at 100% state of charge. Next, the method teaches
discharging the battery by a predetermined percentage of its
capacity so that a present battery state of charge is less than a
previous battery state of charge; measuring a cell resistance for
the battery, wherein the cell resistance is defined as the cell
resistance at the present state of charge for the particular type
of lithium sulfur battery; recording the cell resistance at the
present state of charge; and repeating these discharging,
measuring, and recording steps until the present state of charge of
the battery equals a predetermined lower cutoff voltage. Finally,
the method teaches creating the look-up table of cell resistance
versus state of charge for state of charge values from 0% to
100%.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The above and other advantages of the invention will be more
apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description,
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like
reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in
which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic block diagram of an
illustrative battery measurement system in accordance with the
present invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a sample plot of cell resistance versus state
of charge for a typical lithium sulfur battery;
[0014] FIG. 3 shows a comparison of sample plots of discharge
capacity and taper input charge capacity each versus age for a
typical lithium sulfur battery; and
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a sample plot of taper charge input versus
present capacity, measured as a percentage of its original
capacity, for a typical lithium sulfur battery.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The present invention provides systems and methods for
accurately determining the state of charge of lithium sulfur
battery cells. In accordance with one aspect of this invention,
look-up tables or algorithms for each type of lithium sulfur
battery are prepared and stored in a computer chip or database. In
various embodiments of the present invention, this chip or database
may preferably be embedded in the lithium sulfur battery/charger
system itself or within the load-drawing device. These look-up
tables correlate cell resistance ("CR") at various ambient
temperatures and ages of the battery, for example, versus state of
charge ("SOC") for various types of lithium sulfur battery.
[0017] Unlike other common battery systems, a lithium sulfur
battery includes a cathode whose active chemical material
experiences a progression of redox reactions during discharge.
These reactions involve polysulfide reduction from higher
polysulfides (e.g., Li.sub.2S.sub.8), to the intermediate
polysulfides, and then on to the lower polysulfides (e.g.,
Li.sub.2S). This electrochemical characteristic of lithium sulfur
battery cells causes a gradual resistance change in the electrolyte
during discharge that does not occur in other common battery
systems. This change in cell resistance ("CR") may be utilized to
determine accurately the state of charge of a lithium sulfur
battery, as described herein below.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, a lithium-sulfur battery 10, of a known
type, is shown with a measurement system 100 including voltmeter 6,
ammeter 5, and thermocouple 7. Power supply 3 can be used to charge
battery 10 when battery-charging relay 4 is activated. Blocking
diode 8 is used to limit the direction of current flow so that
current flows only from the power supply 3 to the battery 10 during
charging. Battery 10 can be discharged through device or load 12
and blocking diode 13 when battery-discharging relay 11 is
activated. The circuit of FIG. 1 can be used both to create the
look-up tables of the invention for a battery and to determine the
state of charge and age of a battery using those tables.
[0019] A computer 1 receives voltage measurements from voltmeter 6
via a signal interface 2. Computer 1 also receives battery
temperature measurements from thermocouple 7 and electrical current
measurements from ammeter 5 via the signal interface 2. Computer 1
also controls the on-off states of the battery charging relay 4 and
the battery-discharging relay 11 via the signal interface 2.
Computer 1 may preferably be an application-specific integrated
chip (ASIC chip), which may be a stand alone chip incorporated into
battery 10 or may be incorporated into load 12 (e.g., a laptop
computer that requires power from battery 10). Signal interface 2
may preferably be a systems management bus (SM bus), which is a
control interface, power supply 3 may preferably be the charger
system, whereas ammeter 5 and voltmeter 6 are preferably not stand
alone devices but rather are preferably electronic circuits.
[0020] Measurement system 100 shown in FIG. 1 can be used to create
a look-up table of cell resistance ("CR") versus state of charge
("SOC") for a particular type of lithium sulfur battery as follows.
First, battery-charging relay 4 is activated and
battery-discharging relay 11 is deactivated. Next, battery 10 is
charged at an initial constant current ("I.sub.o"), for example 500
milliamperes, by increasing the output current of power supply 3
while monitoring charging voltage into battery 10 using voltmeter
6. Battery 10 is charged at this constant current until the voltage
across the battery, as measured by voltmeter 6 reaches a maximum
permitted voltage ("V.sub.Max"). A battery manufacturer determines
V.sub.Max based on safety considerations, for example. A typical
value of V.sub.Max for lithium sulfur batteries is 2.5 Volts per
cell. For a battery 10 consisting of multiple cells connected in
series: V.sub.Max(Battery)=V.sub.Max(Cell)*N, where N is the number
of cells connected in series.
[0021] When V.sub.Max is reached, charging is continued and clamped
at this constant voltage, V.sub.Max, and the charging current is
thereby reduced. This step is commonly referred to as taper
charging. When the input current has decreased to a certain point,
for example to 20% or less of the initial constant current
("I.sub.o"), the cells being charged may be considered to be fully
charged and at 100% SOC. Therefore, the battery may be considered
to be fully charged and at 100% SOC when the input current has
decreased to 1/50.sup.th or less of the C-rate of the cell or
battery (i.e., 1/50.sup.th or less of the charging current required
to charge the cell in one hour). It is to be understood, that
battery 10 may be charged with a varying current as opposed to
I.sub.o without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention.
[0022] Battery-charging relay 4 is then deactivated and battery 10
is preferably allowed to stabilize, where battery stabilization is
determined by the variation in the open-circuit voltage ("OCV") of
battery 10 as measured by voltmeter 6. Battery 10 may be considered
to be stabilized when the rate of change of the OCV is less than a
threshold, for example 0.001 to 0.01 Volts/minute. Stabilization
time for a lithium sulfur battery can be about 2-30 minutes. It
should be noted that stabilization may not be necessary or required
in each step of the present invention. A double pulse may
preferably be applied, and the change in battery resistance may be
measured as the measured change in voltage divided by the measured
change in current between the pulses (e.g., if charging at the
C-rate, by applying a first pulse that is double the C-rate and by
then applying a second pulse that is half or quadruple the
C-rate).
[0023] The cell resistance of battery 10 at 100% SOC
(CR.sub.SOC=100%) may then be measured by applying a double pulse
on the battery and calculating the change in voltage divided by the
change in current. This may be done by first activating
battery-charging relay 4 and deactivating battery-discharging relay
11. Next, a first pulse followed by a second pulse may be imposed
on battery 10 by increasing the output voltage of power supply 3
while monitoring the change in current using ammeter 5 and while
monitoring the change in voltage using voltmeter 6. The cell
resistance of battery 10 at 100% SOC(CR.sub.SOC=100%) is then
recorded as the monitored change in voltage divided by the
monitored change in current. Alternatively, a benchmark constant
charging or discharging current may be applied to the battery and a
single pulse may be imposed to allow for the polarization
measurement of the cell resistance of the battery to be taken as
the monitored change in voltage divided by the monitored change in
current with respect to the benchmark information. In a preferred
embodiment, the applied pulse may be on the order of 0.1-1.0
seconds and at an applied current of 2-4 Amperes for a lithium
sulfur battery with a capacity of 2.5 Ampere-hours ("Ah"). The
duration of this pulse is generally dependant on the current at
which the battery is being discharged, such that this diagnostic
does not drain the battery unnecessarily. The pulse is preferably
on the order of 2 to 10 times higher or lower than the rate at
which the cell is charging or discharging in order to provide the
required diagnostic, as mentioned above.
[0024] Second, battery 10 may be discharged at a predetermined
discharge rate to a lower cutoff voltage ("V.sub.min") through load
12 by activating battery-discharging relay 11 and deactivating
battery-charging relay 4. The predetermined discharge rate can be
selected as the value to discharge the battery completely, from
100% SOC to 0% SOC, in a time ranging from between 2-10 hours, for
example. A battery manufacturer may, for example, determine
V.sub.Min based on safety considerations. A typical value of
V.sub.Min for lithium sulfur batteries under normal conditions
(i.e., under normal temperatures and at normal discharge rates) is
1.7 Volts per cell. Typical discharge durations to exhaust a
lithium sulfur battery are from 1 to 5 hours (i.e., from the C-rate
to 1/5.sup.th times the C-rate). However, there are applications,
such as aerospace applications, wherein the battery may be
typically required to discharge its energy periodically while in
the dark for times of from 10 to 12 hours. In contrast, there are
other applications, such as laptop computers and tablet personal
computers, which, at the very least, require the battery to deliver
high current pulses. Therefore, battery 10 may be discharged at a
variable discharge rate without departing from the spirit and scope
of the present invention. For a battery 10 consisting of multiple
cells connected in series:
[0025] V.sub.Min(Battery)=V.sub.Min(Cell)*N, where N is the number
of cells connected in series.
[0026] When V.sub.Min is reached, the cells may be considered fully
discharged and at 0% SOC. Battery-discharging relay 11 is then
deactivated and battery 10 may preferably be allowed to
stabilize.
[0027] The cell resistance of battery 10 at 0% SOC (CR.sub.SOC=0%)
is then recorded by applying a pulse on the battery and calculating
the change in voltage divided by the change in current, as
described above with respect to 100% SOC. The capacity of battery
10 can be calculated by integrating the discharge rates (Amperes)
by the discharge time (hours). Note that battery capacity is
typically specified in Ampere-hours (Ah), where 1 Ah equals 3600
Coulombs.
[0028] Third, a predetermined number of Coulombs, for example 10%
of the battery capacity, may be charged (input) into battery 10
from power supply 3 at a predetermined or variable charge rate by
activating battery-charging relay 4 and deactivating
battery-discharging relay 11. Battery-charging relay 4 is then
deactivated and battery 10 may preferably be allowed to
stabilize.
[0029] The cell resistance of battery 10 at 10% SOC
(CR.sub.SOC=10%) is then recorded by applying a pulse on the
battery and calculating the change in voltage divided by the change
in current, as described above. This procedure is repeated and a
set of battery 10 cell resistances at various states of charge
(e.g., 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%) are recorded. In
another embodiment of the present invention, the cell resistance
("CR") is measured and recorded at various states of charge, as
described above, but while the battery is discharging after being
fully charged (e.g., 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%
SOC).
[0030] Advantageously, additional tables of cell resistance ("CR")
versus state of charge ("SOC") are prepared for various
temperatures by performing the same procedure previously described
(e.g., at -40.degree. Celsius, -30.degree. Celsius, -20.degree.
Celsius, -10.degree. Celsius, 0.degree. Celsius, +10.degree.
Celsius, +20.degree. Celsius, +30.degree. Celsius, +40.degree.
Celsius, +50.degree. Celsius, and +60.degree. Celsius).
[0031] It is to be generally understood that additional tables of
cell resistance ("CR") versus state of charge ("SOC") at various
temperatures may be created for various batteries of the same type.
An average of the values of those tables may be used to create a
master table for that type of battery to avoid relying too heavily
on any data from one particular battery of the particular type
being investigated.
[0032] Referring again to FIG. 1, a lithium sulfur battery 10 of a
known type, but with an unknown state of charge ("SOC") may be
placed in, or preferably integrally provided with, a measurement
system 100 consisting of power supply 3, ammeter 5, and voltmeter 6
with battery charging relay 4 activated and battery discharging
relay 11 deactivated. Power supply 3, ammeter 5 and voltmeter 6 are
connected through signal interface 2 to computer 1. A technician
operating system 100 may input the battery type of battery 10 into
computer 1. Computer 1 may then execute a known correlation
algorithm, for example a table look-up followed by linear
interpolation, to correlate the measured cell resistance ("CR")
with the state-of-charge ("SOC") for the type of battery 10 under
test. FIG. 2 shows a sample plot of cell resistance (measured in
Ohms) versus state of charge for a typical lithium sulfur
battery.
[0033] In accordance with a further aspect of the present
invention, a thermocouple 7 is coupled to battery 10 to provide
battery temperature as an input to computer 1 via signal interface
2, as shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the CR correlation algorithm will
now use three inputs (i.e., lithium sulfur battery type, cell
resistance, and battery temperature). For example, linear
interpolation or a similar calculation can calculate state of
charge ("SOC") for a battery 10 at a temperature intermediate to
temperature values associated with stored tables. As mentioned
above, interface 2, computer 1, and thermocouple 7, may preferably
be provided along with battery 10 as an integral device with the
appropriate look-up tables and battery-type information previously
stored thereon.
[0034] In accordance with an other embodiment of the present
invention, systems and methods are provided to determine the age of
a lithium sulfur battery based upon the present capacity of the
taper input charge for that battery. FIG. 3 shows a comparison of a
typical lithium sulfur cell's discharge capacity and taper input
charge capacity, each versus the cell's age (cycle life), clearly
illustrating the pronounced relationship therebetween.
[0035] The measurement system 100 shown in FIG. 1 can also be used
to create a look-up table of taper input charge ("TIC") versus age
for a particular type of battery 10 with a known age (i.e., the
number of charge/discharge cycles to which the battery has
previously been subjected), as follows. First, as described above
with respect to initially charging a battery when creating a
look-up table of cell resistance versus state of charge,
battery-charging relay 4 is activated and battery-discharging relay
11 is deactivated. Next, battery 10 may be charged, for example at
an initial constant current ("I.sub.o") (e.g., 500 milliAmperes),
by increasing the output current of power supply 3 while monitoring
charging voltage into battery 10 using voltmeter 6. Battery 10 is
charged until the voltage across the battery, as measured by
voltmeter 6 reaches a maximum permitted voltage ("V.sub.Max")
[0036] When V.sub.Max is reached, charging is continued and clamped
at this constant voltage, V.sub.Max, and the charging current is
thereby reduced. When the input current has decreased to a certain
minimum threshold point during this taper charging step, for
example to 20% or less of the initial constant current, the cells
being charged may be considered to be fully charged. The taper
input charge ("TIC") of battery 10 is preferably calculated by
integrating the taper charging rate (Amperes) by the duration of
time (hours) it takes between reaching V.sub.Max and decreasing the
input current to its minimum threshold (e.g., 10% of the initial
constant current). That is to say, the taper input charge is
calculated to be the total charge input into the battery during the
taper charging step.
[0037] Once the taper input charge of battery 10 is calculated, the
TIC of battery 10 of a known age "X" (TIC.sub.AGE=X) is then
recorded. This procedure is repeated and a taper input charge at
various ages in the life of battery 10 (e.g., after having
subjected battery 10 to 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100,
200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 charge/discharge
cycles) are recorded. It is not necessary to charge fully a
completely drained battery in order to measure its TIC. A battery
that has been previously charged to any percentage of its full
capacity may then be fully charged and have its TIC measured.
[0038] Advantageously, additional tables of taper input charge
("TIC") versus age are prepared for various temperatures by
performing the fully-charge procedure previously described (e.g.,
at -40.degree. Celsius, -30.degree. Celsius, -20.degree. Celsius,
-10.degree. Celsius, 0.degree. Celsius, +10.degree. Celsius,
+20.degree. Celsius, +30.degree. Celsius, +40.degree. Celsius,
+50.degree. Celsius, and +60.degree. Celsius). Moreover, additional
tables of taper input charge ("TIC") versus age, as well as cell
resistance ("CR") versus state of charge ("SOC") may preferably be
prepared for various charge/discharge rates being used, for
different duty cycles, and for abusive out of specification
conditions (e.g., an abusive temperature scenario wherein the
battery was exposed to extremely high temperatures for a prolonged
period of time), for example. Furthermore, as described above with
respect to cell resistance ("CR"), additional tables of taper input
charge ("TIC") versus age at various temperatures may be created
for various batteries of the same type. An average of the values of
those tables may be used to create a master table for that type of
battery to avoid relying too heavily on any data that may be an
inconsistency due to one particular battery of the particular type
being investigated.
[0039] Referring again to FIG. 1, a lithium sulfur battery 10 of a
known type, but with an unknown state of charge ("SOC") and with an
unknown age, may be placed in, or preferably integrally provided
with, a measurement system 100 consisting of power supply 3,
ammeter 5, and voltmeter 6 with battery charging relay 4 activated
and battery discharging relay 11 deactivated. Power supply 3,
ammeter 5 and voltmeter 6 are connected through signal interface 2
to computer 1. A technician operating computer 1 may input the
battery type of battery 10 into the computer. Computer 1 will then
execute a correlation algorithm, for example a table look-up
followed by linear interpolation, to correlate the taper input
charge ("TIC") measured by the measurement system with the age for
the type of battery 10 under test. FIG. 4 shows a sample plot of
taper charge input (measured in mAh) versus the cell's present
capacity (measured as a percentage of the cell's capacity after
having been subjected to only five charge/discharge cycles) for a
typical lithium sulfur battery.
[0040] In accordance with a further aspect of the invention,
thermocouple 7 is coupled to battery 10 to provide battery
temperature as an input to computer 1 via signal interface 2, as
shown in FIG. 1. Like with the CR correlation algorithm, the TIC
correlation algorithm may now use three inputs (i.e., battery type,
taper input charge, and battery temperature) to determine the age
of the battery. For example, linear interpolation or a similar
calculation can calculate the age of a battery 10 at a temperature
intermediate to temperature values associated with stored tables.
As mentioned above, interface 2, computer 1, and thermocouple 7,
may preferably be provided along with battery 10 as an integral
device with the appropriate look-up tables and battery-type
information previously stored thereon.
[0041] As mentioned above, in a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the age of the battery may be taken into account when
determining the state of charge of the battery. Therefore,
additional tables of cell resistance ("CR") versus state of charge
("SOC") are preferably prepared and recorded for the battery at
various known ages in the life of battery 10 (e.g., after having
subjected battery 10 to 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100,
200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 charge/discharge
cycles). Preferably, each time battery 10 is fully charged, its
present TIC is recorded (e.g., by computer 1), such that the next
time it is desired to determine the state of charge of the battery,
this current TIC information will be available and the CR
correlation algorithm described above will now preferably use at
least four inputs (i.e., battery type, current TIC (i.e., age via a
TIC correlation algorithm), cell resistance, and battery
temperature).
[0042] Various types of circuitries and devices can be used to
implement the measurement system as described above according to
this invention.
[0043] It will be understood, therefore, that the foregoing is only
illustrative of the principles of the invention, and that various
modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, and the
present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.
* * * * *