Study of Temperature Difference and Current Distribution in Parallel-Connected Cells at Low Temperature

Two types of commercial cylindrical lithium ion
batteries (Panasonic 3.4 Ah NCR-18650B and Samsung 2.9 Ah
INR-18650), were investigated experimentally. The capacities of these
samples were individually measured using constant current-constant
voltage (CC-CV) method at different ambient temperatures (-10°C,
0°C, 25°C). Their internal resistance was determined by
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and pulse discharge
methods. The cells with different configurations of parallel connection
NCR-NCR, INR-INR and NCR-INR were charged/discharged at the
aforementioned ambient temperatures. The results showed that the
difference of internal resistance between cells much more evident at
low temperatures. Furthermore, the parallel connection of NCR-NCR
exhibits the most uniform temperature distribution in cells at -10°C,
this feature is quite favorable for the safety of the battery pack.

• Sara Kamalisiahroudi
• Jun Huang
• Zhe Li
• Jianbo Zhang

• Batteries in parallel connection
• internal resistance
• low temperature
• temperature difference
• current distribution.

[1] V. Srinivasan and C. Y. Wang, "Analysis of Electrochemical and
Thermal Behavior of Li-Ion Cells,” Journal of the Electrochemical
Society, vol. 150. p. A98, 2003.
[2] J. Kim and B. H. Cho, "Screening process-based modeling of the
multi-cell battery string in series and parallel connections for high
accuracy state-of-charge estimation,” Energy, vol. 57, pp. 581–599, 2013.
[3] M. Dubarry, N. Vuillaume, and B. Y. Liaw, "From single cell model to
battery pack simulation for Li-ion batteries,” J. Power Sources, vol. 186,
pp. 500–507, 2009.
[4] A. N. Jansen, D. W. Dees, D. P. Abraham, K. Amine, and G. L.
Henriksen, "Low-temperature study of lithium-ion cells using a LiySn
micro-reference electrode,” J. Power Sources, vol. 174, pp. 373–379,
2007.
[5] P. Ramadass, B. Haran, R. White, and B. N. Popov, "Mathematical
modeling of the capacity fade of Li-ion cells,” J. Power Sources, vol. 123,
pp. 230–240, 2003.
[6] J. Zhang, S. Ci, H. Sharif, and M. Alahmad, "An enhanced circuit-based
model for single-cell battery,” in Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied
Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC, 2010, pp. 672–
675.
[7] R. Gogoana, M. B. Pinson, M. Z. Bazant, and S. E. Sarma, "Internal
resistance matching for parallel-connected lithium-ion cells and impacts
on battery pack cycle life,” J. Power Sources, vol. 252, pp. 8–13, 2014.
[8] M. Fleckenstein, O. Bohlen, M. A. Roscher, and B. Bäker, "Current
density and state of charge inhomogeneities in Li-ion battery cells with
LiFePO4 as cathode material due to temperature gradients,” Journal of
Power Sources, vol. 196. pp. 4769–4778, 2011.
[9] D. Andrea, Battery Management Systems for Large Lithium Ion Battery
Packs. 2010, p. 300.
[10] H. E. Perez, J. B. Siegel, X. Lin, and A. G. Stefanopoulou,
"Parameterization and Validation of an Integrated Electro-Thermal
Cylindrical LFP Battery Model,” ASME 2012 5th Annu. Dyn. Syst.
Control Conf., pp. 1–10, 2012.
[11] Available: www.originlab.com.
[12] R. Gogoana, "Internal Resistance Variances in Lithium-Ion Batteries and
Implications in Manufacturing,” Available online at:
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74917.