Fault diagnosis of lithium ion battery using multiple model adaptive estimation

Abstract

Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have become integral parts of our lives; they are widely used in applications like handheld consumer products, automotive systems, and power tools among others. To extract maximum output from a Li-ion battery under optimal conditions it is imperative to have access to the state of the battery under every operating condition. Faults occurring in the battery when left unchecked can lead to irreversible, and under extreme conditions, catastrophic damage.

In this thesis, an adaptive fault diagnosis technique is developed for Li-ion batteries. For the purpose of fault diagnosis the battery is modeled by using lumped electrical elements under the equivalent circuit paradigm. The model takes into account much of the electro-chemical phenomenon while keeping the computational effort at the minimum. The diagnosis process consists of multiple models representing the various conditions of the battery. A bank of observers is used to estimate the output of each model; the estimated output is compared with the measurement for generating residual signals. These residuals are then used in the multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) technique for generating probabilities and for detecting the signature faults.

The effectiveness of the fault detection and identification process is also dependent on the model uncertainties caused by the battery modeling process. The diagnosis performance is compared for both the linear and nonlinear battery models. The non-linear battery model better captures the actual system dynamics and results in considerable improvement and hence robust battery fault diagnosis in real time. Furthermore, it is shown that the non-linear battery model enables precise battery condition monitoring in different degrees of over-discharge.