BILEVEL EQUALIZER SOLUTION FOR CHEAPER AND LONG LASTING BATTERY

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An electrical engineer at The University of Toledo, has developed a new energy storage solution to make battery packs in electric vehicles, satellites, planes and grid stations last longer and cost less.
UToledo engineer creates solution to cheaper, longer lasting battery packs
Dr. Ngalula Mubenga, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology at The University of Toledo, in her lab. Credit: Dan Miller, The University of Toledo

 The new technology called a bilevel equalizer is the first hybrid that combines the high performance of an active equalizer with the low cost of the passive equalizer.

"It's a game changer because we solved the weak cell issue in  storage for packs with hundreds of cells," said Dr. Ngalula Mubenga, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology at UT. "Whenever we are talking about batteries, we are talking about cells connected in a series. Over time, the battery is not balanced and limited by the weakest cell in the battery."
Before the bilevel equalizer, battery makers and automotive manufacturers balanced the cell voltages in a large  using either a passive circuit, which loses more energy, or an active circuit, which is 10 times more expensive.
"In spite of their significant losses, passive equalizers are used in most applications because they are relatively simple and low cost," Mubenga said.
In Mubenga's new technology, the cells are grouped into sections. Each cell within the section is balanced by a passive equalizer, while the entire section is balanced by an active equalizer.
"If there are 120 cells in a battery, divide the cells into 10 groups of 12," Mubenga said. "Then you only need nine active equalizer units and 120 passive equalizer units using the bilevel equalizer. With current active equalizers, manufacturers would have to use 120 active equalizers. For manufacturers that can't afford to use only active equalizers, the bilevel equalizer is the solution to the problem."
Experiments have shown that the bilevel equalizer increases the discharge capacity of lithium ion batteries by about 30 percent, and the pack lasts longer because the cells are balanced.
"Instead of an electric vehicle's battery lasting only four years, it would last much longer," Mubenga said.

 source:techxplore

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