BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi

October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud

Frank Perillo


Battery Lab*
MEC 516
ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES LABORATORY I
Fall 2012


Group 14:
Benedetto Schiraldi, Joseph Mifsud, Frank Perillo





*Sean Stoll and John M. Kincaid
BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo


CONCEPT:
All the electrical energy sent to a battery for storage cannot be retrieved from the battery.
Some energy is lost transferring the energy to the battery, some energy is lost during storage, and
some energy is lost transferring energy out of the battery. You will attempt to measure the
(short-term) storage efficiency of a lithium polymer battery,
bat
. This efficiency is a measure of
the fraction of energy sent to the battery that may be transferred out of the battery. In addition
you will measure the charge- and discharge-curves for two lithium polymer battery packs and
you will test the charge/discharge state of three lead-acid batteries.
Let the battery voltage be V
bat
. By measuring V
1
and V
2
, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, we can
calculate V
bat
= V
1
+ V
2
, and the current given by I = V
2
/r. The amount of charge transferred,
AQ(t), and the amount of energy transferred, AE(t), (either to or from the battery) in the time t
are





The storage efficiency is then





where the energy exchanges must have the same amount of charge transfer.
}
}
+ = A
= A
t
t
d I V V t E
d I t Q
0
2 1
0
) ( )] ( ) ( [ ) (
) ( ) (
t t t t
t t
Q
e ch
e disch
bat
E
E
A
|
|
.
|

\
|
A
A
=
arg
arg
q
BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo

Fig. 1 Schematic for charge and energy measurements while charging.


Fig. 2 Schematic for charge and energy measurements while discharging.

BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo

Charge/Discharge Curves of a 7S1P LiPo Battery Pack
The Hyperion battery charger has been used to discharge one pack and to charge another one.
Ask the instructor for the charge and discharge graphs. In your report you should present both
graphs and determine which cells in the pack, if any, should be replaced. Why?

Battery Pack 2 Charge: Battery Pack 4 Discharge:

Upon viewing the charge graph and the discharge graph battery cell which
needs to be replaced is cell three. Cell threes voltage does not increase upon
charging. Furthermore, this cells voltage drops more rapidly than the other
cells upon discharge indicating its battery life post charge is insufficient. A
definitive decision should be made to replace battery cell three.


BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo
Storage Efficiency of a Lithium Polymer Battery
Use your data to calculate the battery efficiency for 1 amp and 2 amp discharges.
Sample calculation-
1A charge/discharge cycle efficiency
At t=0.00000s of the 1A charge cycle
V
1
= 3.96759 V, V
2
= -0.00244

| |

| |

| | | |

The resistance of our power resistor was given to be 0.1
R = 0.1
Then by Ohms Law the current flowing to our battery can be calculated

24.4 mA
The charge transferred to the battery is calculated by integrating the current
over time
()

()

Via the Trapezoid Method or the Two-Point Newton-Cotes Formula
1



1
Weisstein, Eric W. "Newton-Cotes Formulas." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Newton-CotesFormulas.html
BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo
()

( )

( )
(

) (

)

The power consumed by the charging of the battery at a given time is the
product of the woltage and current at that time

( )( )

The energy transferred to the battery is calculated by integrating the power
over time
() ()

Evaluated with the Two-Point Newton-Cotes formula (Trapezoid method)
()

)
Repeating these steps for the discharge cycle allows the efficiency of the
charge/discharge cycle to be calculated

(


)

BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo
1A charge/discharge cycle

2A charge/discharge cycle
Initial Conditions

Initial Conditions
Q(0) E
charge
(0) E
discharge
(0) N(bat)

Q(0) E
charge
(0) E
discharge
(0) N(bat)
0 0 0

0 0 0
Q E
charge
E
discharge
N(bat)

Q E
charge
E
discharge
N(bat)
0.001 0.005 0.005 0.904

0.001 0.005 0.004 0.955
0.002 0.008 0.008 0.906

0.002 0.008 0.007 0.952
0.004 0.017 0.015 0.905

0.004 0.016 0.015 0.942
0.006 0.025 0.023 0.906

0.006 0.023 0.022 0.939
0.007 0.030 0.027 0.902

0.007 0.027 0.025 0.934




The efficiency of the charge discharge cycle for the 7S1P lithium polymer battery
tested appears to be independent of the amount of charge stored in the
battery. The efficiency of the 2A charge/discharge cycle was calculated yielding
a value of (94.43 + 0.90)%. The 1A cycle is less efficient than the 2A cycle
yielding a value of (90.46 + 0.19)%. Perhaps this inefficiency is analogous to an
idling automobile. Awhile the idling auto does not burn much gasoline, it is a
terribly inefficient system.
To calculate the average efficiency we used three sets of charge

values which
0.85
0.87
0.89
0.91
0.93
0.95
0.97
0.99
0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008

(
D
i
m
e
n
s
i
o
n
l
e
s
s
)

Charge on Battery (C)
7S1P Lithium Polymer
1A charge/discharge cycle 2A charge/discharge cycle
BATTERY LAB Group 14 Benedetto Schiraldi
October 23, 2013 Joseph Mifsud
Frank Perillo
matched the discharge

values to the thousandth decimal place. Our data

reveals a large drop in efficiency when adjusting the charge rate from one to
two amps. This decrease in efficiency may be due to the properties of Lithium-
Polymer Batteries. LiPo Batteries are difficult to charge and require large
charging periods. During out lab we conducted a rushed charge at 1 and 2amps
for 10 to 5 minutes which may not be enough to receive high efficiencies
consistently. An additional reasoning for the drop in efficiency may be due to
the near fatal 4.235 volts frequently supplied to the battery during the second
charging cycle. The average voltage supplied to the battery was 4.226V although
values of 4.2344V, 4.2355V, 4.2349V were prevalent during the first 25 voltage
data points. The large drop in efficiency could also be a sign of a weak battery.



Pb-Acid Battery Tester
Record the battery tester output for the small gel battery #4, the Sun Extender, and marine
battery all 12-volt batteries. What needs to be done (to the batteries)? Why?
For the small gel battery #4, we measured an output of 5.1V out of 12V. The
battery tester indicated a necessity for charging given the yellow/red LED light.
This battery should be fully charged and retested prior to making a decision.
The Duralast Marine battery provided a 12.3V output with 790 out of 800 Cold
Cranking Amps (CCA) available. The battery tester showed a green light
notifying that it is charged and ready for use. There is no reason to dispose of
this battery. The Sun Extender battery measured 11.7V out of 12V. Despite the
fact that the battery was charged, the battery tester showed a red light
indicating the battery should be recycled.