A New Topology and Control Strategy for a Hybrid Battery-Ultracapacitor Energy Storage System

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 7; no. 5; pp. 2874 - 2896
• Main Authors: Xiang, Changle, Wang, Yanzi, Hu, Sideng, Wang, Weida
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 2014
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; battery; control; Control systems; Converters; Electric batteries; Electric power generation; Electric vehicles; Energy resources; Energy storage; Homeowners; hybrid energy storage system (HESS); Hybrid vehicles; parameter; Strategy; Topology; ultracapacitor (UC); Beijing China; China
• DOI: 10.3390/en7052874
• ISSN: 1996-1073

This study investigates a new hybrid energy storage system (HESS), which consists of a battery bank and an ultra-capacitor (UC) bank, and a control strategy for this system. The proposed topology uses a bi-directional DC-DC converter with a lower power rating than those used in the traditional HESS topology. The proposed HESS has four operating modes, and the proposed control strategy chooses the appropriate operating mode and regulates the distribution of power between the battery bank and the UC bank. Additionally, the control system prevents surges during mode switching and ensures that both the battery bank and the bi-directional DC-DC converter operate within their power limits. The proposed HESS is used to improve the performance of an existing power-split hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A method for calculating the parameters of the proposed HESS is presented. A simulation model of the proposed HESS and control strategy was developed, and a scaled-down experimental platform was constructed. The results of the simulations and the experiments provide strong evidence for the feasibility of the proposed topology and the control strategy. The performance of the HESS is not influenced by the power limits of the bi-directional DC-DC converter.