Adaptive Constant-Current/Constant-Voltage Charging of a Battery Cell Based on Cell Open-Circuit Voltage Estimation

Abstract

This paper presents the novel design of a constant-current/constant-voltage charging control strategy for a battery cell. The proposed control system represents an extension of the conventional constant-current/constant-voltage charging based on the so-called cascade control system arrangement with the adaptation of the battery charging current based on the open-circuit voltage parameter estimation. The proposed control strategy features two feedback controllers of the proportional-integral type responsible for: (i) controlling the battery open-circuit voltage towards its fully charged state, and (ii) simultaneously limiting the battery terminal voltage to avoid the battery terminal voltage constraint violation. The open-circuit voltage on-line estimation is implemented by using the system reference adaptive model approach to estimate the linear time-invariant battery equivalent circuit model parameters, whose asymptotic convergence is guaranteed according to Lyapunov stability theory. The proposed concept of the battery charging control is verified by means of simulations using the experimentally obtained model of a lithium iron phosphate battery cell, and it is also compared to other charging methods with respect to charging speed-up potential compared to conventional charging. The proposed method, which can be easily extended to conventional chargers, results in 23.9% faster charging compared to conventional charging, thus representing an inexpensive and straightforward upgrade to conventional battery charging systems.