Large Lithium-Ion Batteries – a Review

Dennis Doerffel, Suleiman Abu Sharkh (2006) In: EMA Elektro Mobil Ausstellung, 14 October 2006, Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Lithium-ion batteries have been extremely successful in the portable equipment markets such as laptops and mobile phones. Currently, the lithium-ion battery technology is transitioning from small cells to large size batteries for a range of applications. Existing systems can be significantly enhanced using this lightweight battery technology and new innovative products can be launched. A better understanding of lithium-ion technology is key know-how for any forward-looking com-pany that works or wants to work with large battery applications. Knowing more about these batteries and understanding how they work and what is required in order to operate them, will help designing safer, smaller, lighter, better performing, longer-lasting products with higher customer acceptance and at lower cost. It will help reducing the time and number of iterations during prototyping and design and hence reduce the time to market. Costly tests, time consuming “wrong” strategic / tactical decisions or even dangerous designs can be avoided by better derstanding the lithium-ion battery technology.

This paper will provide a suitable “entry point”. It brings the reader up to speed with the most essential understanding and it will guide the way into the world of lithium-ion battery technology. The paper will touch the most relevant topics including performance comparisons with other battery technologies, the lithium-ion working principle, behaviour and specific characteristics, safety issues, ageing, electronic protection and management requirements as well as a short overview of different battery management implementations and options for cell equalisation. Advantages, disadvantages and issues will be discussed and linked to the fundamental working principles.


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