Development of a power electronic test stand for the elevated rate recharge of electrochemical energy storage devices

There is a high desire to recharge electrochemical energy storage devices, such as rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, and lithium-ion capacitors, at a faster rate. However, recharging at an elevated rate is traditionally thought of as being catastrophic to the lifetime of the devices. Research has been performed charging batteries at few times the cell´s rated C value in a steady state application with findings that the recharge time can be significantly reduced [1]. New research in this area is being conducted at the University of Texas at Arlington. The aim of the research is to understand the charge rate limitations of the devices mentioned above, when the elevated charge is applied in a pulsed fashion. The effect these types of elevated recharge rates have on the fundamental material properties inside the cells is being researched as well. This paper describes the development of a power electronic based test stand that can be used to transfer charge from a larger battery storage system into an individual cell using pulsed currents as high as a few kA. The rationale behind the experiments, the experimental setup developed, and some of the research progress made thus far will be discussed.