The present disclosure relates to battery management techniques capable of estimating parameters of elements forming a battery model for providing control of an associated battery.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) utilize a combination of an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to provide motive power. This arrangement provides improved fuel economy over a vehicle that has only an internal combustion engine. One method of improving the fuel economy in an HEV is to shutdown the engine during times that the engine operates inefficiently, and is not otherwise needed to propel the vehicle. In these situations, the electric motor is used to provide all of the power needed to propel the vehicle. When the driver power demand increases such that the electric motor can no longer provide enough power to meet the demand, or in other cases such as when the battery state of charge (SOC) drops below a certain level, the engine should start quickly and smoothly in a manner that is nearly transparent to the driver.
The HEV includes a battery management system that estimates values descriptive of the battery pack and/or battery cell present operating conditions. The battery pack and/or cell operating conditions include battery SOC, power fade, capacity fade, and instantaneous available power. The battery management system should be capable of estimating values during changing cell characteristics as cells age over the lifetime of the pack.
A hybrid powertrain system includes a battery pack having one or more battery cells and a controller. The controller provides input to a model of the battery pack representing a set of injection currents to cause the model to produce output representing terminal voltages of the battery pack. The controller also generates current limits for the battery pack based on a regression of the input and output.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
The embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide for a plurality of circuits or other electrical devices. All references to the circuits and other electrical devices and the functionality provided by each are not intended to be limited to encompassing only what is illustrated and described herein. While particular labels may be assigned to the various circuits or other electrical devices disclosed, such labels are not intended to limit the scope of operation for the circuits and the other electrical devices. Such circuits and other electrical devices may be combined with each other and/or separated in any manner based on the particular type of electrical implementation that is desired. It is recognized that any circuit or other electrical device disclosed herein may include any number of microprocessors, integrated circuits, memory devices (e.g., FLASH, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or other suitable variants thereof) and software which co-act with one another to perform operation(s) disclosed herein. In addition, any one or more of the electric devices may be configured to execute a computer-program that is embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed to perform any number of the functions as disclosed.
A vehicle computing system having one or more controllers may implement a battery management strategy that estimates values descriptive of the present operating condition of the battery and/or one or more battery cells. The battery pack and/or one or more battery cells operating conditions may include battery state of charge, power fade, capacity fade, and instantaneous available power. The battery management strategy may be capable of estimating values as cells age over the lifetime of the pack. The precise estimation of some parameters may improve performance and robustness, and may ultimately lengthen the useful lifetime of the battery pack.
The vehicle computing system may manage and/or communicate with one or more systems/subsystems including a battery management system. The battery management system may estimate battery current limits and power limits from complicated battery models without adding excessive computational efforts to the system. The system may inject a series of current inputs into the battery model to identify the battery dynamic responses for current limit prediction in a simplified function. The system may include an accurate battery model to predict battery responses, but this model may not be able to give explicit expressions for computing available current limits. For instance, black box type models do not have explicit expressions relating inputs and outputs, so that the model responses are not expressed as mathematical expressions. Direct prediction of available current limit of the battery pack may not be possible in a vehicle operating environment. Thus, the battery responses are predicted based on a statistical regression model from a set of battery model inputs and outputs. For the battery system described herein, estimation of some battery pack and/or cell parameters can be realized as discussed below.
A battery pack 14 may include a traction battery having one or more battery cells that store energy which can be used by the electric motors 4. The vehicle battery pack 14 typically provides a high voltage DC output and is electrically connected to a power electronics module 16 (e.g., at least one controller). The power electronics module 16 may communicate with one or more controller modules that make up a vehicle computing system 22. The vehicle computing system 22 may control several vehicle features, systems, and/or subsystems. The one or more controller modules may include, but are not limited to, a battery management system. The power electronics module 16 is also electrically connected to the electric motors 4 and provides the ability to bi-directionally transfer energy between the battery pack 14 and the electric motors 4. For example, a typical battery pack 14 may provide a DC voltage while the electric motors 4 may require three-phase AC current to function. The power electronics module 16 may convert the DC voltage to a three-phase AC current as required by the electric motors 4. In a regenerative mode, the power electronics module 16 will convert the three-phase AC current from the electric motors 4 acting as generators to the DC voltage required by the battery pack 14.
In addition to providing energy for propulsion, the battery pack 14 may provide energy for other vehicle electrical systems. A typical system may include a DC/DC converter module 18 that converts the high voltage DC output of the battery pack 14 to a low voltage DC supply that is compatible with other vehicle loads. Other high voltage loads may be connected directly without the use of a DC/DC converter module 18. In a typical vehicle, the low voltage systems are electrically connected to a 12V battery 20.
The battery pack 14 may be controlled by the power electronics module 16 which may receive commands from a vehicle computing system 22 having one or more controller modules. The one or more controller modules may include a battery control module. The one or more controller modules may be calibrated to control the battery pack 14 using a battery model parameter estimation method which estimates an average sense of effective battery internal resistance during operation to determine battery power capability. The power capability prediction enables the battery pack 14 to prevent over-charging and over-discharging.
The battery parameter prediction method and/or strategy may assist in determining battery current limits and power capability in real-time (i.e., during operation). Many battery parameter estimation processes are affected by the fidelity of battery models and unpredicted environmental conditions or unexpected noises during battery operations. The vehicle battery measurement method/strategy may use a battery model (e.g., equivalent circuit using one or more resistant-capacitor (R-C) circuits in several configurations) to measure the battery pack in the vehicle to obtain the electrochemical impedance during operation.
The calibration to control the battery pack may be accomplished using multiple tables to capture a wide frequency range that affects the impedance of the battery pack and its correlating dynamics. To populate/calibrate the multiple tables requires rigorous execution of offline testing of the battery pack in a test facility using complex algorithms. An example of offline testing of a battery pack is the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscope (EIS) which may be implemented to capture the battery system characterization over wide frequency ranges that may include battery temperature, battery state of charge, and/or battery usage.
A vehicle battery measurement method may be implemented to eliminate the need for extensive offline testing. The vehicle battery measurement method may use one or more battery models to measure the battery pack in the vehicle to obtain battery parameters during operation. The vehicle battery measurement method may have a higher level of noise compared to EIS, however it may provide valuable information for characterizing the battery transient behavior during vehicle operation.
The HEV battery management method and/or system may implement one or more battery models to receive battery measurements for calculation of the electrochemical impedance and to estimate the battery parameters based on the impedance. The estimated battery parameters may include fluctuating trajectories which increase when the vehicle is in certain system modes including charging mode, sustaining mode, or depleting (i.e., discharging) mode. These battery parameters tend to be sensitive to internal and external noises and environmental conditions when using the one or more battery models to estimate these parameters in real time.
Battery power capability is affected by the impedance of the battery pack and its correlating dynamics. A system may receive the battery measurements and use the measurements to predict battery responses and performance during a period of time of upcoming operation of the battery. The prediction is generally possible using the battery model 200. The battery model 202 may consists of input current 204 and output voltage 206. Other inputs, such as temperature and battery state of charge (SOC), may be included depending on the model design. The battery model parameter estimation method may include battery measurement in the vehicle to obtain the battery output voltage 206 responses with the use of calculations/algorithms described in further detail below to output battery power capability. The measurement values may be recorded, calculated, and stored in one or more control modules in the vehicle computing system including the battery energy control module.
The input-to-output relations of a battery model may be extracted from any type of model using a method proposed in this disclosure. In one example, the system may implement a simplified battery model to predict battery current limits and power limits in real time during vehicle operation of the battery management system. However, there may be hybrid applications that require an improved battery capability prediction in battery controls. A certain battery model may be able to predict battery responses with high accuracy, but may be impossible or difficult to get explicit expressions to predict battery current limits and power limits.
The battery management system may predict battery responses expressed as a function of the applied battery current and calculate the maximum battery discharging and charging current from the derived function. The system is based on a statistical regression analysis of a set of injected current inputs to a battery model and a set of voltage outputs from the model. The statistical regression analysis enables one to find an explicit function relating an input current to an output voltage. The derived function is concise enough to predict battery current limits and power limits in real time in a battery management system, thus determining the maximum battery discharging and charging current from the derived function.
The battery initial conditions may be estimated using a real-time state estimator, such as a Kalman filter and/or one or more pre-calibrated tables generated offline. The initial conditions are used to calculate the battery initial voltage vo 320. The battery terminal voltage vf 314 is estimated from the battery model after the inject current input pulse duration 308 as the resulting battery terminal voltage 312.
A set of battery terminal voltages are computed from a series of simulations using a battery model with respect to a set of battery current inputs. The set of injected current into the battery model are used to determine an appropriate regression equation to represent battery voltage responses corresponding with respect to the current inputs. For the system to obtain a function of the battery output voltage versus the battery input current, at least two data points are required. For example, the system may inject two current pulse inputs into the model and measure the corresponding output voltage. The set of current pulses may be within the limits corresponding to the upper and lower limits 316, 318 of the battery terminal output voltage.
An output voltage v1 324 is calculated based on an injected input current with a magnitude ip,1 326. The next data point generated by the system is the resulting battery terminal voltage 312 calculated by assigning increased magnitude of input current to the battery model following the same procedure shown in
The battery current limits may be determined as the current magnitude that causes a battery voltage change to the battery voltage limit. Under discharging events, the battery voltage limit is the battery lower voltage limit 316. The discharge battery current limit 330 may be determined as a cross section of the extrapolated battery voltage line 328 and the lower limit voltage line 316.
The first two points 410, 412 on the graph 400 are predicted from the battery model by assigning two input currents 418, 420. The system may use the two point 410, 412 to generate a tentative battery current limit ilim,temp 402 based on a calculated linearly extrapolated line 408 of the battery current versus terminal voltage data using the following equation:
wherein ilim,temp is the tentative battery current limit. The tentative battery current limit may be used to calculate the lower limit voltage line 416.
The additional points may be used to find a regression equation capturing the nonlinear voltage response with respect to the input current. An additional current pulse magnitude ip,3 422 is selected satisfying ip,2<ip,3<ilim,temp and an additional battery terminal voltage v3 414 is computed by the system.
The determination of a new regression curve 424 during a discharging event allows the system to calculate a battery current limit 426 during real time operation. The battery current limit 426 takes into account the nonlinearity of the battery terminal voltage responses based on the discharging events. The system may assign a discharge lower limit voltage line 416 as a cross section of the new regression curve 424 and the lower limit voltage line 426.
As explained above, the system may use two point 510, 512 to generate a tentative battery current limit ilim,temp 502 based on a calculated linearly extrapolated line 508 of the battery current versus terminal output voltage data using equation (1). The system may estimate the battery current limit ilim 524 and the upper limit voltage line 516 by the aforementioned procedure.
The coefficient of a regression model is computed from the following equation:
{circumflex over (β)}=(XTX)−1XTy (2)
wherein {circumflex over (β)} is the estimated coefficients of a regression model, X is the matrix of the explanatory variables, and y is the vector of the response variable.
Nonlinearity of the battery voltage responses may be captured by the system including the use of a 2nd order equation. If a 2nd order equation is used to represent the output voltage responses, the voltage responses are expressed by using the following equation:
v=ai
2
+bi+c (3)
wherein v is the voltage response, i is the battery input current, and a, b, c are the model coefficients.
A set of current inputs are expressed using the following equations:
i=[i1 . . . ik . . . in]T (4a)
i2=[i12 . . . ik2 . . . in2]T (4b)
A set of voltage outputs are expressed using the following equation:
y=v=[v1 . . . vk . . . vn]T (5)
wherein n is the number of data points.
The explanatory variable matrix X is constructed using the following equation:
The coefficient of the regression model is computed from the matrix in equation (6) and the vector in equation (5) using equation (2).
The current limit is computed from the identified regression equation (3) using the following equations:
wherein ilim is the discharging current limit 426 and the charging current limit 524. The estimated coefficients of the regression model are calculated separately at the discharging and charging cases, i.e., the estimated coefficients are different for the discharging and charging cases.
For the special case of when the magnitude of a is close to zero, the current limit is calculated using the following equations:
i
lim=(vlb−c)/b for discharging (9a)
s
lim=(vub−c)/b for charging (9b)
The system may calculate the battery instantaneous power capabilities during a charge event using the following equation:
P
lim
=∥i
chg,min
∥v
ub (10a)
wherein Plim is the power capability, vub is the battery upper voltage limit, and ichg,min is the absolute minimum current.
The system may calculate the battery instantaneous power capabilities during a discharge event using the following equation:
Plim=∥idch,max∥vlb (10b)
wherein Plim is the power capability, vlb is the battery lower voltage limit, and idch,max is the maximum current.
The voltage outputs of a battery model with respect to a set of input currents are depicted in
The same approach is used to predict battery charge current limit as shown in
For a charging case as illustrated in
Referring again to
At step 802, during a key-on event which allows the vehicle to be powered on, the vehicle computing system may begin powering up the one or more controller modules. The powering up of the one or more controller modules may cause variables related to the battery management system to initialize before enabling one or more algorithms used to control the battery at step 804.
The initialized parameters may be predetermined values or stored values at the last key off event. Before enabling the algorithms at a key-on event, the parameters should be initialized. For example, the battery management method may initialize several variables including, but not limited to, the battery terminal voltage, current limits, and/or other battery related parameters.
At 806, the system may measure the battery voltage outputs and current inputs using several types of sensors. Using a model parameter estimation method, such as Kalman filter, the battery model parameters may be estimated in real time at step 808. If real-time model parameter estimation is not necessary during a short period time, this step may be omitted.
At step 810, the system may assign a set of current inputs having a pulse magnitude set at predetermined time durations to inject into the battery model. The system may collect the corresponding output voltages from the battery model based on the pulse magnitude input current at step 812.
At step 814, the system may determine battery current limits using the regression model derived from the statistical regression analysis of the collected corresponding output voltages. Based on the regression model, the system may determine battery available power limits at step 816. The available power limits may be calculated as shown in equations (9) and (10).
At step 818, if the system detects a key-off event, the system may end the one or more algorithms used to manage the battery pack and/or the one or more battery cells. The vehicle computing system may have a vehicle key-off mode to allow the system to store one or more parameters in nonvolatile memory such that these parameters may be used by the system for the next key-on event at step 820.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.