Battery Research
SwRI recently purchased a 2011 hybrid plug-in vehicle and will use the battery from this vehicle in the EssEs Consortium test matrix.
Testing on a variety of battery sizes and types is available.
SwRI uses temperature-controlled chambers for testing batteries independent of the vehicle or in conjunction with the engine, transmission, or entire hybrid powertrain.
The AV 900 V battery testing system is used for cycling batteries under test. It has a power rating up to 250 kW, voltage rating up to 900 Vdc, and current rating up to 1,000 Adc.
Infrared thermal imaging of hybrid vehicle components identifies harmful temperature gradients resulting from fast charging and discharging, and provides essential data for proper thermal management design.
Research in hybrid electric vehicle design, integration, analysis, computer testing, control system development, modeling simulation, and construction has been ongoing at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) for more than 25 years. Storage technologies research encompasses conventional and unconventional technologies, including:
- Flywheels
- Hydraulic accumulators, ultracapacitors
- Electrochemical battery chemistries
Electrochemical chemistries include:
- Lead acid
- Nickel cadmium
- Lithium-ion
- Nickel metal hydride
- Other experimental chemistries
Energy Storage Technologies
SwRI conducts component and system development and testing of energy storage technologies, including proof-of-performance for a variety of applications, from single cells to full battery packs, both mobile and stationary.
Energy storage technologies addressed at SwRI in transportation, medical and consumer electronics industries encompass most conventional and unconventional technologies.
SwRI also models, designs, and tests the cycle of battery and ultracapacitor systems to assist clients in developing robust systems. SwRI can assist clients with integrating battery cells into pack and packs into vehicular applications, and can develop fully integrated battery management and hybrid powertrain control systems.
Small- and Large-Platform Energy Storage
Research at SwRI includes energy storage technologies for both small and large platforms such as:
- Scooters
- Two-, three-, and four-wheeled vehicles
- Military and tracked vehicles
- Electric locomotives
- Marine applications
Thermal battery testing is also available to test complete powertrains or vehicles.
Customized Battery Testing
Customized battery testing can be designed to meet specific client needs, including unconventional battery combination testing such as exposing the energy storage system to vibration, thermal and electric loads simultaneously to better emulate realistic operating scenarios. SwRI can construct button cells with standard and test materials for anodes, cathodes, separators, or electrolytes to evaluate feasibility and performance.
Battery Evaluations
- Battery performance characterization
- Static capacity
- Hybrid pulse power (low- and high- current levels)
- Charge sustaining energy efficiency
- Charge depleting energy efficiency
- Constant power discharge
- Self-discharge
- Cold cranking
- Steady-state battery capacity characterization
- Transient battery response determination
- Heat generation and thermal calorimetry measurement
- Evaluation for component sizing and tradeoff/optimization studies
- Evaluation for modeling, simulation and hybrid control development
- Battery chemistries for off-highway vehicles
- Life cycle testing
- Combined life cycle test (charge depleting + charge sustaining)
- Reference performance testing (every 500 cycles)
- Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
- Environmental impact on battery performance
- Battery abuse or safety testing (environmental,
mechanical, electric, and hazardous substance monitoring
- Over-discharge
- Thermal stability
- Hard short circuit
- Crush
- Electrolyte vapor analysis
- Over charge
- Soft short circuit
- Separator shutdown integrity
- Penetration
- Forced vent with thermal runaway
- Evaluation for battery management system development
- Evaluation for modeling and simulation
Battery characterization using infrared thermal imaging is also performed to identify harmful temperature gradients resulting from fast charging and discharging, providing essential data for proper thermal management design.
State-of-the-Art Battery Facilities
- AV 900 V battery testing system, with power rating up to 250 kW, voltage rating up to 900 Vdc, and a current rating up to 1000 Adc
- ABC 150 battery testing system, with power rating up to 125 kW, voltage rating up to 420 Vdc, and a current rating up to 530 Adc
- Hydraulic crush stand capable of 230,000 pounds of force
- Specialty salt fog chamber
- Short circuit test rig for high-energy batteries
- Electrochemical work stations
- Constant-current and constant-voltage load control systems
- Bitrode MCV-100 12 multi-channel cell level battery test
system, with voltage rating up to 16 Vdc, and a current
rating up to
100 A per channel, with the ability to parallel up to 8 channels for a maximum single channel test current of 800 A - Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
- High-temp furnaces, pool and bonfire capabilities
- Oxygen consumption calorimeters for heat release measurements
- Nicolet™ Magna-IR 560 and Nicolet 6700 FTIR for gas analysis
Thermal Test Chambers
SwRI uses thermal chambers to test batteries dependent of the vehicle or in conjunction with engine, transmission or entire hybrid powertrains. Thermal chamber testing is also available to test complete powertrains or vehicles. Customized battery testing can be designed to meet specific client needs.
Energy Storage System (ESS) Performance Characterization
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Testing Levels
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Safety and Environmental Protection
In cooperation with SwRI chemistry, fire technology, and safety experts, all testing is done in the safest manner possible to protect employees and equipment, as well as conducting testing in a manner that is environmentally safe and environmentally friendly.
EssEs Consortium
SwRI has formed an Energy Storage System Evaluation and Safety (EssEs) Consortium. Its mission is to provide transparency in the automotive battery market as a means to advance the development of energy storage systems. This mission will be met by:
- Developing precompetitive detailed cell-level test data on currently available electrochemical storage systems across a diverse number of manufacturers and products
- Performing research to advance the testing methodologies used to benchmark batteries, making tests faster, cheaper, and more significant.
For more information, visit esses.swri.org.
Related Terminology
battery research • hydraulic accumulators • thermal test chamber • ultracapacitors • electrochemical battery • chemistries energy storage • battery testing • battery capacity • life cycle testing
