IIT-Guwahati Team Develops new Technique to Boost Li-ion Batteries Performance

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A new technique has been developed at IIT-Guwahati which can help boost the performance of Li-ion batteries that are widely used in EVs

A new and advanced technique has been developed by a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology – Guwahati (IIT) that can precisely estimate one of the most important internal states of a battery known as State of Charge (SOC), a technique they expect will help boost the overall performance of rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries that are widely used in electric vehicles (EVs).

The research was carried out by a team consisting of Gautam Sethia, Research Scholar, Dr. Sisir Kumar Nayak, associate professor, and Professor Somanath Majhi, all associated with the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering. With their research findings recently published in the IEEE transactions on Circuit and System I: Regular Papers, journal.

Discussing their work, the team told local reporters that they divided the problem into two parts. The first was to derive the mathematical model of the lithium-ion battery, which can closely exhibit its dynamic characteristics. Then, the second was using few advanced system control and mathematical concepts such as sliding mode theory, to try to estimate the battery internal states precisely.

As per the team, the proposed technique shows highly robust characteristics and works accurately even in the presence of various external disturbances such as sensor inaccuracy, temperature variation, etc. Compared to the existing techniques, the proposed technique not only increases the accuracy but also reduces the computational time, and hence needs a cost-effective microcontroller chip for its implementation or commercialization.

State of Charge (SOC) reflects the remaining capacity of the battery, i.e., how much more charge can be withdrawn from the battery before it gets fully discharged. The knowledge of remaining capacity helps to optimise battery’s capacity utilisation, prevent overcharging and undercharging of the battery, increases its lifespan, reduces cost, and ensures safety of the battery and its surroundings.

The team is currently also working on various other battery issues including cell balancing, monitoring state of health, state of power, etc. IIT Guwahati Li-ion Performance

Recently, we had reported that a team at IIT Hyderabad had come up with an alternative for conventional Lithium-ion batteries. A dual carbon battery, which may find potential use in high voltage applications, sophisticated battery-run medical devices, regenerative braking systems in electric vehicles (EVs), and stationary grids. Finding options that are cheaper and more effective to the current lithium-ion batteries has become a sought after target, thanks to the need to cut down on dependence on the metals involved in current lithium batteries.