A Comprehensive Comparison of a Lead-Acid Battery Electro-Thermal Performance Considering Different Charging Profiles

In this paper, the electro-thermal performance of a 12V 50Ah lead-acid battery (LAB) under different charging profiles is evaluated. For this aim, a mesoscopic model for LAB is introduced so that the effects of chemical reactions on the state of charge, temperature, and battery voltage can be indirectly considered. Then, different charging profiles for a LAB including constant current (CC), constant current-constant voltage (CC-CV), pulse charging (PC), and reflex method are defined according to the battery's datasheet so that the average current of all profiles is the same. Considering the restrictions of pulsating profile, a power electronics interface capable of providing all charging profiles for the battery is also developed. Finally, the battery performance in terms of charging time, temperature, and battery voltage in presence of charging profiles are compared. A multi-step constant current, where the magnitude of the charging current is varied according to the battery temperature, is also proposed to enhance the performance of charging process. The results show that the MSCC can be a very promising approach to reduce the charging time as well as temperature rising at the end of charging process.