Supercapacitor Thermal Characterization in Transient State

A new thermal model which allows the temperature distribution determination inside the supercapacitor cell is developed. The model is tested for supercapacitor based on the activated carbon and organic electrolyte technology. In hybrid vehicle applications, supercapacitors are used as energy storage devices offering the possibility to provide peak power requirement. They are charged and discharged at a high current rate. The problematic of this operating mode is the big amount of heat produced in the device which can lead to its destruction. An accurate thermal modelling of the internal temperature is required to design a cooling system for supercapacitors module meeting safety and reliability of the power systems. The purpose of this paper is to study the supercapacitor temperature distribution in steady and transient states. A thermal model is developed; it is based on the finite-differential method which allows the supercapacitor thermal resistance determination. A test bench is realized. The cases of supercapacitor thermal distribution using natural and forced convection are studied. Simulations and experimental results are reported to validate the proposed model. The results obtained with this model may be used to determine the cooling system required for actual supercapacitor applications. The originality of this study is in the fact that a thermocouple is placed inside the supercapacitor.