Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery Operation Model

Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC), in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), plans to develop a proof-of-concept, high-fidelity, first principle-based software model to predict the long-term behavior of advanced rechargeable lithium batteries in aerospace applications. This is a very challenging effort since we will be incorporating four behavior components into the battery operation model, namely electro-chemical, thermal, environmental, and degradation. Being a recent chemistry, the degradation mechanisms of lithium rechargeable batteries have yet to be completely understood. The model we plan to develop and the verification and testing that is part of this work will eventually contribute to the understanding of degradation. In Phase I, this battery operation model will consist of 1) a cell model, developed in the last decade by Universities, incorporating various mechanisms of performance degradation during cycling and/or storage, and refined by comparing prior performance database on several prototype cells and batteries 2) a cell sub-routine to represent cell designs similar to the currently available prismatic and cylindrical cells, and 3) a virtual battery fabricated in the desired string combination of the cells and tested in selected thermal and electrical environments.