In a joint project, dSPACE and RWTH Aachen University have developed a new simulation environment for electrical energy storage systems that supports a broad range of physical battery characteristics.
Under the name Toolbox Speichersysteme (Energy Storage Toolbox), a new simulation model developed by the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, was combined with a graphical user interface by dSPACE. The resulting solution makes it possible to realistically and conveniently simulate the electrical and thermal behavior of various battery technologies, supercapacitors and other electrical energy storage systems, according to their design and cooling systems.
For lithium-ion battery technology the simulation environment gives developers many different configuration options including various aspects such as battery technology, the geometric shape of a battery, the number and arrangement of storage cells, wiring topologies or the peripheral cooling system. The simulation model uses these configuration settings to calculate the thermal and electrical behavior of a defined battery, both at the cell level and overall system level, and simulates thermal effects with a high local resolution. Developers, therefore, can now analyze the cooling strategy and identify potential hot spots that could occur during battery operation.
The new simulation environment is integrated into the dSPACE tool chain so that the batteries can be simulated either offline on a PC platform or in real time together with a battery management system ECU on a hardware-in-the-loop simulator. Basic functions, such as automation and data management, are supported. This enables a seamless development process from battery system design to ECU testing of the battery management system (BMS).
October 7, 2015
