IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 7, No.

1, March 1992 93

A Mathematical Model for Lead-Acid Batteries

Ziyad M. Salameh Margaret A. Casacca William A. Lynch
Senior Member, IEEE Student Member, IEEE Student Member, IEEE
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts 01854

Abstract
A mathematical model of a lead-acid battery is presented in
this paper. This model takes into account self-discharge, battery
storage capacity, internal resistance, overvoltage and environmental
temperature. Nonlinear components are used to represent the
behavior of the different battery parameters thereby simplifying the
model design. The model components are found using "cc
manufacturers specifications and experimental tests. A comparison
between the model and experimental results obtained from a battery
evaluation test system was used for verification. This model can be
used to accurately evaluate battery performance in electrical systems.
'
0I
Figure 1: Thevenin Battery Model

An improvement upon the Thevenin model is a linear

Lead-acid batteries lire used in many electrical systems to
store or deliver energy. To use batteries more efficiently it is
important that their response to various operating conditions is
understood.
The energy stored in a lead-acid battery is chemical energy
that is translated into electrical energy. Lead-acid batteries are.
rechargeable and have the following reversible reaction: [11
electrical battery model, shown in Figure 2. This model [4]uses
linear components to account for self-discharge (Rp) and various
overvoltages (nm(t) network). Though more accurare, this model
however does not take into account temperature dependence and
uses different sets of element values to model the battery at different
states of charge. Thus, a continuous battery evaluation becomes
tedious.

Pb + Pboz + 2HzS04 f--+ 2PbS04 + 2H20 (1)

The battery voltage is related to the sum of the reduction and
oxidation potentials. Electrical energy is produced when the
chemicals in the battery react with one another. The rate of the
chemical reaction varies with the following conditions: [2]
"b Fb
1. State of charge
2. Battery storage capacity
c,
3. Rate of chargeldischarge Eo
4. Envimnmental temperature
5. AgeIShelf life

There have been many proposals for lead-acid battery
models. One of these is the Thevenin equivalent circuit, shown in
Figure 1, which is a simple way of demonstrating the behavior of
battery voltage (vb). It contains the electrical values of no-load
voltage (VOC),internal resistance (RI)and overvoltage (parallel
combination of C and R2). [3] This model is not accurate because
these values are not constants as modeled but in fact are functions of
the various bamry conditions stated above.
Figure 2: Linear Electrical Model
An equivalent circuit for a Nickel-Cadmium storage cell was
developed using nonlinear elements.[5] The mathematical model
described in this paper utilizes a similar technique for the lead-acid
battery thus allowing a continuous evaluation of battery performance
that is both uncomplicated and accurate. This model was verified
experimentally on the University of Lowell battery evaluation test
system.

91 WM 154-5 EC A Paper recommended and approved

by the IEEE Energy Development and Power Generation
Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for
Presentation at the IEEE/PES 1991 Winter Meeting,
New York, New York, February 3-7, 1991. Manuscript
submitted August 31, 1990; made available for
printing December 18, 1990.
A battery evaluation test system was designed and built at the
University of Lowell. The battery evaluation test scheme consists of
a data acquisition system, a controller rack and two temperature
controlled chambers. (See Figure 3) Voltage controlled mrrent
Source controllers are used to test the batteries. The W A C analog
outputs are used to supply the controllers with the appropriate
analog input voltages. Every two minutes the PMAC measures the
current, voltage and temperature of each batttery and stores this
information.

0885-8969/92$03.000 1992 IEEE

1
94

The model simulation was written in the BASIC

programming language. Ohms law was used to calculate voltage
drops across series resistors and current drops through parallel
resistors. The program numerically integrated the current into the
capacitors using an iterative sequential solution method to generate
the voltage waveforms of the capacitors. Ideal diodes, chosen
strictly for directional purposes, were required to differentiate
between the internal and overvoltage resistances for charge and
discharge.

m I . I I

senso
t
voltag

I Vcl

Figure 4: Battery Equivalent Circuit

CI - overvoltage capacitance
Figure 3: Battery Evaluation Test System Cb - battery capacity
i b - current source
ip - parallel current
The batteries are tested at different temperatures, voltage Ric - charge overvoltage resistance
ranges, and'rates of charge/discharge. A test consists of five steps: R i d - discharge overvoltage resistance
constant current discharge, discharge idle time, constant current Rp - self-discharge resistance
charge, constant voltage charge and charge idle time. Constant RSC- internal resistanoe for charge
current discharge and constant current charge are easy to achieve by Rsd - internal resistance for discharge
sending a constant analog output from the pMAC. In order to Vb - battery voltage
operate a constant voltage charge the following current control VOC- open circuit voltage
algorithm was utilized.
Due to the nature of the batteries chemical reactions the
elements can be modelled with a least squares approximation of the
form:
k p ' v s ~ ~ e+ ~kd(VpVb)
'

where: aot - analog output

kd - derivative term constant
kp - particular term constant
kss - steady state current at end
of constant voltage charge
Vb - battery voltage
Vp - previous battery voltage
Vset - set voltage
With the proper coefficients this algorithm becomes overdamped and
stabilizes the battery voltage at the set voltage. Otherwise the
algorithm becomes underdamped causing oscillations of battery
input current.
where: BE - battery element being modelled
k - gain multiplier
wf - width factor
Vm - mean voltage level
VOC - open circuit voltage
ff - flatness factor
Temperature compensation results in a change in magnitude and the
widths of the series resistance functions (internal and overvoltage).
The temperature compensation coefficient of the self discharge
resistance was found in the manufacturers specifications. These
coefficients are modeled as exponentials of the form:

T d -T
TC=-R T r e f
The proposed mathematical battery model shown in Figure 4 Rd (4)
was arrived at after a series of experimental tests were preformed.
The mathematicalfunctions of the battery model components were where: TC - temperature compensation
developed through examination of the graphic plots of the T - temperature of environment
experimental data, and manufacturers specifications. Once the Tref - reference temperature
behavior of the components was understood a computer simulation R - resistance at temperature T
of the test cycle was designed to accurately simulate the operation of Rref - resistance at temperature Tref
the battery using the nonlinear battery element equations.
 95

Battery capacity is a result of the flow of electronsover time.

The shape of the battery capacitance used in the model, shown in
Figure 5 , was determined by analyzing low rate discharge curves.
A discharge curve has a linear region between 10-90 percent
5 0.7-
0.6-
discharged. The battery capacitance curve is centered about the open
circuit voltage located at the midpoint of the linear region and the 105-
capacity is found by finding the area under the curve. The curve 3 0.4-
was chosen such that the area was equal to unity therefore enabling A
the cotffiecent to be equal to the manufacturers rated capacity.

1201 I $32:
Q 0.1-
1 D

Figure 7 : Discharge Internal Resistance (Rps + Rp)

3. Self-
Self-discharge is due to electrolysis of water at high voltages
and slow leakage across the battery terminals at low voltages This
element is exmmely sensitive to temperature as shown in Figure 8.
This resistance is inversely proportional to the change in
temperature. The self-discharge resistance is determined using
ohms law with the steady state current and voltage during charging.

Figure 5: Battery Capacitance (Cb)

Internal resistance is modeled as two series resistances, Rs

and R1: Rs is due to the electrolyte, plates and fluid resistance, R1
is a result of electrolyte diffusion. Because the battery has different
concentrations of available reactants in charge and discharge the
I
internal resistance was modeled using ideal diodes to select the
appropriateresistor. Figures 6 and 7 show the result of charge and
discharge on the internal resistance.

10.6 11.6 12.4 13.2 14.0

-
Figure 8: Self-discharge Resistance (Rp)

P
k
The overvoltage was modeled as an RC network with a time
constant in the order of minutes. The value of the capacitor was
kept constant and the resistance was found using experimental data
Figure 6: Charge Internal Resistance (Rps + Rp) by measuring the time constant of the voltage decay during the idle
times.
96

16 -
This model was verified using two cycle tests at different 15 ....... .............. ............ ..............10
operating conditions. One test was discharged at 13 amps to 10.5
volts, charged at 13 amps to 15.8 volts and held at constant voltage .......... ........ ............. ......... ..............
for 12 hours at 0 degrees Celsius.These results are plotted in Figure
9. The second test was discharged at 13 amps to 11.65 volts, ............. ........... ..............
charged at 13 amps to 13 volts and also kept at this voltage for 12
hours at 35 degrees Celsius. (See Figure 10.)
........................... ..............-5 U
The test started with a constant current discharge. The initial
drop was caused by the internal resistance of the battery. The -1 0
smooth portion of the drop is determined by the capacitance and
internal resistance functions. After dischnrging the battery enters an -1 5
idle state where there is an initial jump :to the internal resistance. 6 12 1B 24 3b 3ii
It then levels off exponentially at the I ~ ~ I . Ivoltage.
[ Next, constant
current charge begins with another jump due to internal resistance tirm (*
before it starts the smooth portion of the climb which results from
the capacitance. Once the final voltage is achieved it is maintained 16
by reducing the current using the control algorithm (Equation 2).
After 12 hours of constant voltage charge the cycle ended with
another idle period. 15

The experimentalresults and the theoretical model are closely

correlated. The battery used in the warm freezer (Figure 10)did not
perform properly resulting in a shorter discharge period. Though c) 13
these tests were completed with different end voltages, temperature
compensation was evident. The voltage jumps were decreased with
112
the reduction of the internal resistance at a higher temperature. The
battery in the cold environment had to be charged to a higher voltage 11
to produce gassing by forcing current through the self discharge
resistance which has a significant negative temperature coefficient. 10

16
15

Figure 10: (top) experimental result;

(bottom) theoretical results

12
11
10
0 6 12 16 24 30 36

15 A mathematical model for the lead acid battery is presented.

16 The model is composed of nonlinear components. This model
accurately depicts the performance of a lead-acid battery with
15 10 temperature compensation as indicated by the similarity of the plots
of the experimental and theoretical test cycles. Any lead-acid battery
5 c ) can be modeled by using the manufacturers specifications and
experimental results to adjust the appropriate parameters.
O-5 !U
12
Acknowledgements
11 -1 0 This work was performed under the auspices of the
University of Lowell photovoltaicprogram in cooperation with the
10 ,-15 Department of Energy. The authors of this paper would also like to
0 6 12 16 24 30 I
thank Bill Berg, the program coordinator, for his support and
time (hornsJ assistance.The authors would also like to thank J. Martin, J. Duffy,
J. Wiehagen, Y.Shao, 0. Chieh, F. Dagher for thier contributionin
building the battery testing laboratory.
Figure 9: (top) experimental result;
(bottom) theoretical results
 91

References
[l] H. W. Morse, Storage Batteries, MacMillan Co., New York, Discussion
1912.
[2] R. A. Perez, The Complete Battery Book, TAB Books Inc., R. Ramakumar and h a d Abouzahr (Oklahoma State University, Still-
Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1985. water, OK 74078): The authors should be commended for developing and
presenting a detailed mathematical model for lead-acid batteries which can
[3] Battery Application Manual, Gates Energy Products, Inc., be used in simulating their operation over a wide range of conditions. A
Gainesville, FL,1989. quick review of the plots indicate that, over the normal range of operation,
most of the parameters can be assumed to be fairly constant as long as the
[4] J. Appelbaum and R. Weiss, “An Electrical Model of the Lead- temperature is constant. Often, in the simulation of stand-alone renewable
Acid Battery“,=, p. 304-307, 1982. energy systems with battery storage, the battery bank is modeled in terms
of a maximum energy storage capacity and a constant average round-trip
[5] H. G. Zimmerman and R. G. Peterson, “An Electrochemical efficiency.Based on the authors’ investigations, will this simple model
introduce any significant errors in the results? In the context of the
inherent variations and uncertainties in chronological and probabilistic
simulations, should one strive to use a detailed model of the type devel-
oped in this paper?
[6] G. W. Vinal, Storage Batteries 4th Edition, Wiley, New York, Manuscript received February 19, 1991.
1955.
[7] C. F. Gerald and P. 0. Wheatley, Applied Numerical Analysis
3rdEdition, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1985.
Z. Salameh, M . Casacca, and W. Lynch (University of
Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854): This model was designed to
Ziyad M. Salameh (S-78, M-82, accurately depict battery performance under any condition. This model
SM-88) was born in Agraba, Jordan simulates the effects on other system components when the state of charge
on May 4, 1944. He received his of the battery is approaching its upper and lower extremes. Rapidly
B.S. in Electrical Engineering from changing battery parameters may cause instability in time delayed feed-
Moscow Power Engineering Institute, back systems. This problem occurred in the computer controlled algorithm
which was designed to use a current source controller to produce a
constant voltage. Since the sampling time of the system could not be
reduced, this problem was solved by adjusting the coefficients in the
algorithm. Another example would be a power system with an upper or
lower voltage limit, the power capabilitiesof the system would be reduced
at extreme states of charge due to the change in the internal resistance of
the battery under these conditions. In conclusion, a simpler battery model
may be used only when the battery is not expected to operate at its
extremes and small errors are tolerable.
University of Lowell, Massachusetts.
Manuscript received August 7, 1991
He is a member of IEEE Power Engineering, Industry Applications
and Power Electronics societies. His areas of interest are power
electronics, solid state electrical drive systems, modeling of electrical
machines, battery modelling and evaluation, photovoltaics and wind
energy conversion systems. He has authored or co-othored over 40
research papers.

Margaret A. Casacca (S-88) was

born in Leominster, Massachusetts,
U.S.A., on June 3, 1968. She
received her B.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of
Lowell, Lowell Massachusetts in
1989. She is currently working on
her Masters degree at the University
of Lowell. Her areas of interest are
power electronics, battery modelling
and evaluation and photovoltaic
energy conversion systems.

William A. Lynch (S-87) was

L born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
U.S.A., on January 29, 1963. He
received his B.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of
Lowell, Lowell Massachusetts in
1987. He is currently working on his
Masters degree at the University of
Lowell. His areas of interest are
power electronics and photovoltaic
energy conversion systems.
 98
Correction to "Test Results for Transient Excitation Boosting at Grand Coulee"'

In the above paper,' the following discussion should have appeared after page 366 in the IEEE
Trans. on Energy Conversion, September 1991, Volume 6, number 3.

Discussion hydro generator dropping by also transiently depressing

Carson W. Taylor, Bonneville Power Administration,
Portland, Oregon: We commend t h e author for describ-
ing t h e t r a n s i e n t excitation boosting equipment and
providing t h e test results.
A brief describtion of t h e application will aid t h e reader
[1,A]. The control is intended to improve t r a n s i e n t
stability of t h e Pacific AC Intertie for forced outages of
t h e parallel 3100 MW Pacific DC Intertie. The electro-
mechanical swing center is i n Northern California-
remote from sending-end power plants in t h e Northwest
a n d British Columbia. Following a n HVDC outage,
voltage regulators at power plants such as Grand Coulee
first respond to mild overvoltages due to t h e dc load
rejection. Power system stabilizers respond to t h e nearby
excitation. As t h e swing develops, generator terminal
voltages a t units remote from t h e swing center do not
sag enough for significant voltage regulator boosting.
Thus, for a most critical disturbance, t h e powerful
excitation systems a r e underutilized. The t r a n s i e n t
excitation boosting significantly improves t r a n s i e n t
stability by raising sending-end voltages and increasing
Northwest load t o b r a k e accelerating Northwest
generators. F i n a l system-wide commissioning t e s t s
involving 1000 M W fast " D C power reductions a r e
planned for April 1991.
A C. W. Taylor, 'Dynamic Reactive Support in a Complex A O C
Power System: Applications on the Western North American
Interconnectioflacifc Intertie," Symposium on Applications
of Static Var S y s t e m for System Dynamic Performance, IEEE
87TH0187-6-PWR.

'C.A. Lennon, Jr., IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 6, No. 3, September 1991, paper
91 WM153-7, pp.367-372.