Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Charger

V.L. Teofilo, L.V. Merritt and R.P. Hollandsworth Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space

ABSTRACT

A lithium ion battery charger has been developed for four and eight cell batteries or multiples thereof. This charger has the advantage over those using commercial lithium ion charging chips in that the individual cells are allowed to be taper charged at their upper charging voltage rather than be cutoff when all cells of the string have reached the upper charging voltage limit. Since 30-60% of the capacity of lithium ion cells may be restored during the taper charge, this charger has a distinct benefit of fully charging lithium ion batteries by restoring all of the available capacity to all of its cells.
Li ION BATTERY CHARGING REQUIREMENTS

Copper Neaative Collector Current

-1
Electrolyte

a
a

Aluminum Positive Current Collector

Charge

C6 + LiMnO

2 4

c--x
Discharge

LiC

Li MnO (I-X) 2 4

A lithium ion battery is comprised of a carbon

anode and a lithiated cobalt dioxide or manganese dioxide cathode with a liquid or solid electrolyte separator, as shown in Figure 1. The battery is manufactured in the discharged state and then charged, whereupon the lithium ions de-intercalate from the cathode matrix, are transported across the electrolyte, and then intercalate into the carbon matrix. Upon discharge the reverse process occurs. Figure 2 shows the time profile of a typical charge/discharge cycle for a lithium ion battery cell which is charged at constant current to a cutoff potential of 4.2
4.4

Fig. 1. Lithium Ion Battery Schematic

,
+

1.5

42

34 -VOLTS -AMPS AH

3.2

--1

Authors' Current Address: Lackheed Martin Missiles and Space, PO Box 3504, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-3504, USA. Based on a presentation at the 1996 Battery Conference 0885-8985/97/$10.000 1997 IEEE

3.0 I
0

1-1.0 5

Time (Hr)

Fig. 2. Typical Charge/Discharge Cycle

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IEEE AES Systems Magazine, November 1997

4.4

v4

4.2 4.0

Z - 3.6
m .c
Constant

a B 3.6
3.4

CurrenU Constant

Votlage
Power
SUPPIY

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3.2
3.0 -10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

6 1 1

90

100

110

State of Charge (%)

c1

Fig. 3. Potential vs. State of Charge

Grnd

Shunt Regulator 1

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Fig. 5. Cell Shunting Circuit

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Switch

Control

Shown in

Charge

Position

Figure 3 details the cell potential as a function of State of-Charge during the charge/discharge cycle shown in Figure 2. Note that the initial 4.2 V potential is obtained at about 70% of capacity with the remaining capacity achieved during constant potential charging. Test data of various lithium ion cell technologies reveals that the initial 4.2 V potential achieved at between 40 and 70% capacity, which is a function of the charge current. The higher the charge current, the sooner the cell must be switched into constant potential mode. The charge and discharge cutoffs for the lithium ion battery cells must be closely controlled or else early cell demise will occur. Overcharge leads to electrolyte oxidation and decomposition, while over discharge results in cathode structural changes. The problems of cell control are compounded when multiple cells are placed into series and parallel stack configurations in order to increase the supply voltage/current for the desired application. Under these circumstances the control of individual cells becomes a design challenge, both with over/under voltage control, and cell balance.
Li ION BATTERY CHARGING ARCHITECTURES

Fig. 4. ParallellTaper Charging Circuit

V, at which time the electronics switch into constant potential mode until the current drops to 10% of the original charge current. On discharge, the lower cutoff potential is 2.5 V or above to avoid damage to the cell. The constant potential charge mode shown in Figure 2 was only an approximation due to the electrical design of the charger circuit used, which introduced an IR component into the
control feedback loop. Other features to observe in Figure

There are four basic methods for charging strings of series connected lithium ion battery cells to conform to the charging requirements set forth above:
ParalleliIaper Charging As shown in Figure 4, series connected cells are charged in parallel at constant current until all cells reach 4.2 V. Then current is allowed to taper. Charging is terminated when charging current to all cells reaches 0.1 of initial constant current. The advantages of this architecture are it requires simple eltxtronics and assures

2 are the end of charge and end of discharge potential curve characteristics, where a rapid voltage change can be used to detect the end point for electronic cell control.

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~~

Monitors Voltage

lTr,q
Battery

Relays

Capacity Adjustment Loads

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0
3at

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0

+
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/

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B1 Bat

Fig. 6. Resistive Equalization Circuit

all cells are restored to full capacity. However, for large capacity cells in high voltage batteries, the multiple cables needed can be a problem and the cell organization switch is complicated.
Series Charging/Cell Shunting As shown in Figure 5, on previous page, series connected cells are charged at a constant current and when any cell reaches 4.2 V it is proportionally shunted and charged at constant voltage with a tapering current until the last cell of the string reaches 4.2 V. Then current to the string is tapered off. This concept assures full charge for all cells and balances highly imbalanced cells in a string. However, it requires complex power electronics and the heat rejected from the shunting charging power regulators must be thermally managed. Resistive Equalization As shown in Figure 6, series connected cells are charged at constant current and cells reaching 4.2 V first are discharged through resistive loads by a selected amount to equalize the charge. Subsequent chargeidischarge cycles bring all cells to full charge at the same time. Its electronics are quite simple and it reduces the power required for charging. However, it also requires thermal management of the resistive losses and the time to restore full capacity to all cells may be prohibitive for some applications. Transformer Equalization Shown in Figure 7, series connected cells are charged at a constant current; the higher voltage cells are partially shunted through a transformer or flyback converter which thus supplies extra current to the weaker

I
Switch Control ( Shown f o r Discharge)

Fig. 7. Transformer Equalization Circuit

cells. This method conserves energy since energy is returned to the weaker cells. However, for high capacity batteries the mass and expense of the transformers can be a drawback as well as the shielding needed for electromagnetic interference generated by the switching transformer.

BATTERY CHARGER

The battery charger that has been developed for lithium ion batteries utilizes the cell shunting technique because of its broad range of application and constancy in restoring full charge to all cells, This charger shown in Figure 8, on next page, interfaces with a protection circuit in the battery. It consists of power supplies for conditioning the electrical power for charging the cells from the prime power source and converters which regulate the charging current through an interface circuit which operates the two power stages which charge the two cell stacks. Manual controls are provided for adjusting the charge rate; provision is made for easily shifting to a computer interface for a programmed charging current profile.

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IEEE AES Systems Magazine, November 1997

BATTERY CHARGER --------------.---------I

- - ---- I I-"

PROTECTION CIRCUIT
Charge/Discharge Limit Control

--------------Battery Stack Assembly

I I I
I

I
4

I I

Power Stage No. 1

I
Manual Current Controller

I I

Voltage

Current Mo nit 0 r Battery Stack

II
I

I I

I I
I

I I
I

I
I

I
I

--

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - Fig. 8. Battery Charger and Protection Circuit

Cell Circuit Protection Current and voltage monitoring is provided for each stack in the cell protection board. Discharge control is done by monitoring the voltage of each cell in the battery stack. Whenever a cell drops below a preset voltage, a semiconductor switch is opened as shown in I;igure 5. Charge control which offers individual cell protection from over voltage during charging is performed by placing a shunt regulator across each cell; these shunt regulators can be placed in the protection circuit or in the charger depending upon the thermal management design for the unneeded charge current which is bypassed around the cell. Each cell thus gets constant voltage taper charge to full capacity. Heat dissipation in the set of shunt regulators is minimized by externally sensing when the tiotal stack voltage stops increasing and reducing the charge current. The design is shown in more detail in Figure 9, on next page. Here, each battery cell is provided with a local reference whose output is compared to a percentage of the cell's voltage by a high gain operational amplifier. The output of the amplifier drives a PNP Darlingion configured transistor pair which does the actual current shunting around the cell of interest. The feedback capacitor around the op-amp slows down the action to prevent high frequency oscillation of the feedlback loop. Time response is not critical in this application; a bandwidth of 10 Hz would be quite sufficient. The accuracy of the cell's final voltage depends on the accuracy of the voltage reference and of the resistive divider; 2 2% is easily achieved. The individual cell voltage is expected to fall in the range of 2.5 to 4.2 Volts per the indicated
voltage V1. This is not enough supply voltage for either

and op-amp U5. The power dissipated by the resistive dividers will be approximately equal to the voltage references.
CHARGER OPERATIONAL RESUL'I'S

The charger and control circuits described above were evaluated in a brassboard using four lithium ion cells having an average capacity of 1.4 Ah. The initial 4 cell stack had a bad cell in position #3 which was then replaced at cycle #4. This replacement provided a chance to evaluate the cell balancing features, of the design, due to the new cell being out of balance, i.e., a different state of charge from the rest of the cell stack. Overall cell stack monitoring and control was maintained by a 486/66 PC running a custom National Instruments Labwindows software program, which interfaced to an HP-3497A Data Acquisition Unit. The only computer intervention with the charger control electronics was inclusion of a set of relays to turn on and off the charge and discharge functions. Parameters monitored during cycling included stack voltage, current, individual cell voltages, and the Darlington bypass currents which wele monitored using a series resistor. Figure 10, next page, details the stack capacity as a function of cycle number. The charge utilized a constant charge current of 0.5 A to the high voltage limit of 4.2 V, followed by a constant potential clamp. During the potential clamp the current to each irtdividual cell is increasingly bypassed using PNP Darlington transistors switches. At the end of charge a computer switches the
stack into discharge, using a resistive discharge, having a

the voltage reference or the op-amp. Thus each voltage reference and op-amp draws its power from the second cell above it. A generated voltage V5 is provided for VR

current of about 0.7 A. Figure 11, on next page, detailis the stack voItage/current profile for the first cycle after cell

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V6. 12 8120 8

02

=120,

,
Capacity

2.0

I .5 Discharge
1 .o

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0 100
200

r
300

0.0

400

Cycle Number Fig. 10.10 Stack Capacity vs. Cycle Number

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1

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Fig. 11. Stack Voltage/Current Profile - Cycle 5

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Fig. 9. Charge Control Circuit

replacement. Note that the high voltage limit for this chemistry, 4.2 V, is reached with only about 40-50% of the cell capacity, at which time the charger control electronics switches the cell from a constant current charge regime to a tape charge regime, using a current bypass technique. The individual cell potentials during this cycle are shown in Figure 12. Note that one cell, the newly installed cell at a different state of charge, is below the others during this charge/discharge cycle, and that this cell determines the end of discharge for the stack as it reaches the 2.5 V cutoff potential first. Figure 13 details the stack current and the Darlington bypass currents during the charge segment of this cycle. Three cells go slowly into current bypass mode when their individual cell potentials reach the control potential of 4.2 V. The new cell never did go into bypass during this cycle. The stack charge capacity for this cycle was 0.504 Ah and discharge capacity of 0.679 Ah, or 50.5% of initial capacity.

2.0 3.0 Time ( H I Fig. 12. Individual Cell Voltage Profiles - Cycle 5
0.0

4.0

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L

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5 0.2
0.1
0.0

0.0

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2.0 Time (HI

3.0

4.0

Fig. 13. Stack and Bypass Currents - Cycle 5

By comparison, Figures 14 and 15, on next page, detail the cell potential and bypass current performances at Cycle 27, with Figure 14 showing that all four cells are now balanced, with a stack charge capacity of 1.278 Ah,

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IEEE AES Systems Magazine, November 1997

4.5

I and a discharge capacity of 1.267 Ah, which is 94.3 % of

the initial starting capacity. Figure 15 shows that, at cycle 27, all cells are transitions into current bypass mode, and all at about the same time. The cell which limited the discharge capacity at cycle 5 is still the limiting cell, but the cells are now nicely

balanced, with only minor differences in discharge capacity.

2
Time (HI

CONCLUSION

Fig. 14. Cell Voltage Profiles - Cycle 27

-.- 1

The cell shunting charger for lithium ion batteries is an efficient device for restoring full charge as well as equalizing the charge between mismatched cells of a four cell battery stack. Based upon these test results it should be applicable for charging to full capacity high capacity and high voltage batteries as used in a.erospace products. For this reason, prototype chargers have been built for further testing with 5 to 50 Ah, 30 V lithium ion batteries.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

2
Time

6
This work was supported by Lockheed Martin IR&D and by DARPA through a Technology Reinvestment Project.

(HI

Fig. 15. Stack and Bypass Currents - Cycle 27

Vincent L. Teofilo, B.ES.E., Manhattan College (1965), M.E., Nucl. E., NYU (1966), Ph.D, Physics, NYU (1974), is Program Manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space where he has been developing advanced power systems for satellites, missiles and under water vehicles since 1983. He IS currently managing R&D programs developing rechargeable lithium batteries and battery chargers for aerospace applications.Before joining Lockheed, he managed and conducted the research, design and development of advanced energy technologies at Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs, Princeton University and New York University. He has autlhored over 80 publications in advanced energy technology research and development.

Roger P. Hollandsworth, B.S. Chemistry, San Diego State University (1967), and M.S. Chemistry (1968), is a Staff Chemist at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space with 27 years experience in electrochemical systems, including electrode and electrolyte phenomenology studies of primary lithium aqueous batteries, secondary lithium battery characterization,mechanically recharged aluminum-airbatteries, zinc-ferri-cyanideredox batteries for load-leveling,and silver-zincbatteries used in Marine and FBM applications. He has authored 22 technical papers relating to these studies, holds several patents, and is a member of the Electrochemical Society.

Lauren V. Merritt, B.S.E. (1962) and M.S.E.E. (1963) California Institute of Technology, is a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space with 38 years experience with the design of analog and digital circuits used in a variety of signal processing situations,often mottors and their surrounding control system. He holds a dozen patents and has published 13 articles on his several projects, most notably on the Rotary Joint Control System for the Solar Array Alpha Joint and the Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint for Space Station Freedom.

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