This thesis details a three dimensional model for simulating the operation of two particular configurations of a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO¬4) battery. Large-scale lithium iron phosphate batteries are becoming increasingly important in a world that demands portable energy that is high in both power and energy density, particularly for hybrid and electric vehicles. Understanding how batteries of this type operate is important for the design, optimization, and control of their performance, safety and durability. While 1D approximations may be sufficient for small scale or single cell batteries, these approximations are limited when scaled up to larger batteries, where significant three dimensional gradients might develop including lithium ion concentration, temperature, current density and voltage gradients. This model is able to account for all of these gradients in three dimensions by coupling an electrochemical model with a thermal model. This coupling shows how electrochemical performance affects temperature distribution and to a lesser extent how temperature affects electrochemical performance. This model is applicable to two battery configurations — spirally wound and prismatically wound. Results generated include temperature influences on current distribution and vice versa, an exploration of various cooling environments’ effects on performance, design optimization of current collector thickness and current collector tab placement, and an analysis of lithium plating risk. / text

Supercapacitors, also known as electrochemical capacitors, have shown great potential as energy storage devices; and 3D printing likewise as a manufacturing technique. This research progressively investigates combining these two technologies to fabricate 3D-printed, electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). Small EDLCs were designed in a sandwich structure with an FDM-printed plastic frame and carbon electrodes. Inkjet printing was initially combined with FDM printing to produce a pilot sample with a silver ink current collector, however this performed poorly (Cs = 6 mF/g). Henceforth a paste extrusion system was added to the FDM printer to deposit the current collectors and electrodes, fabricating the entire device in a single continuous process. This process was progressively developed and tested, ultimately attaining specific capacitances of 200 mF/g. The fully integrated 3D printing process used to manufacture the EDLCs was a novel approach. Combining the FDM printer with a paste extruder allowed for a high degree of dimensional accuracy, as well as simplifying the production process. This aspect of the design functioned successfully, without significant faults, and proved a reliable fabrication method. The later designs used in this study provided the EDLCs extendable by incorporating connection jacks. This was to create the possibility to increase capacitance simply by connecting multiple EDLCs together. Tests of this feature showed that it worked well, with the extendable EDLCs delivering outputs very close to the theoretical maximum efficiency of the unit. Carbon conductive paint was applied as a current collector and electrode for the 3D printed EDLCs in an exploration of metal-free 3D printed supercapacitors. These metal-free EDLCs were found to provide around 60% of the specific capacitance of the best performing EDLC variant produced (silver paint current collectors with activated carbon and carbon paint mixture electrodes). Although considerable improvement is required to produce EDLC samples with comparable capacitances to existing commercial manufacturing techniques, this study lays important groundwork in this area, and has introduces effective and innovative design ideas for supercapacitors and integrated 3D printing processes.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Anil Pahwa / A time may soon come where prices of electricity vary by time of day or season. Time of Day (TOD) pricing is considered by many to be a key part of creating a more energy-efficient and renewable-energy friendly grid. TOD pricing is also an integral part of Smart Grid and is already available to some customers. With TOD pricing becoming a reality, intelligent dispatching systems that utilize Energy Storage Devices (ESDs) to maximize the use of renewable resources, such as energy produced by small, customer owned wind generators and roof-top solar generators, and grid energy while determining the most economical dispatch schedule could play an important role for both the customer and the utility. This purpose of this work is to create an algorithm upon which these dispatching systems can be based. The details of one proposed algorithm are presented. The full development of the algorithm from its most simplistic form into a much more complex system that takes into account all of the major nonidealities of a real system is given. Additionally, several case studies are presented to show the effectiveness of the algorithm from both a technical standpoint and an economic standpoint. The case studies simulated both wind and solar powered devices using data taken in the state of Kansas, but case studies to emulate electric rates and renewable resources in other areas of the country are presented as well. For each of these case studies, 20 year net present value calculations are presented to determine the economic viability of both the renewable energy production and the dispatching systems.

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storage devices in micro sizes are receiving more and more attention. One of them, on-paper Microsupercapacitors (MSCs), has become a key energy storage device because of its good mechanical flexibility and high power density. In this project, a triphase system with electrochemically exfoliated graphene and graphene quantum dots to synergistically stabilize PEDOT:PSS in ethylene glycol/water solvent was developed for scalable and reliable inkjet printing. Without any post-treatment, the printed patterns with a large thickness (up to 9 μm, about 0.4 μm per layer) attain a sheet resistance of as low as 4 Ω2−1 and high resolution at a small drop spacing of 10 μm. Thanks to these feature, the areal capacitance of the on-paper MSCs can reach >2 mF cm−2 at a high scan rate of 1000 mV s−1. The device also exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility, long cycle life (>95% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles CV test) and long service time (retain 84% capacitance after 4 months in air without any encapsulation). Moreover, we can directly print the interconnect to connect 4 devices on paper substrate in series or in parallel and thus get rid of metal current collector. / Med den snabba utvecklingen av flexibel och bärbar elektronik får energilagringsenheter i mikrostorlek allt mer uppmärksamhet. En av dem, mikrosuperkondensatorer (MSC) på papper, har blivit en viktig energilagringsenhet på grund av sin goda mekaniska flexibilitet och höga effekttäthet. I det här projektet utvecklades ett trefasigt system med elektrokemiskt exfolierad grafen och grafenkvantprickar för att synergistiskt stabilisera PEDOT:PSS i etylenglykol/vattenlösningsmedel för skalbar och tillförlitlig bläckstråleutskrift. Utan någon efterbehandling uppnår de tryckta mönstren med stor tjocklek (upp till 9 μm, ca 0,4 μmper lager) ett arkmotstånd på så lågt som 4 Ω2−1 och hög upplösning vid ett litet droppavstånd på 10 μm. Tack vare dessa egenskaper kan den ytliga kapacitansen hos MSC på papper nå >2 mF cm−2 vid en hög skanningshastighet på 1000 mV s−1. Anordningen uppvisar också utmärkt mekanisk flexibilitet, lång livslängd (>95% kapacitansbehållning efter 10000 cykler i CV-test) och lång livslängd (behåller 84% kapacitans efter 4 månader i luft utan inkapsling). Dessutom kan vi direkt skriva ut kopplingen för att ansluta fyra enheter på papperssubstratet i serie eller parallellt och på så sätt bli av med metallströmkollektorn.

Ce mémoire est consacré à l'étude du phénomène d'instabilité pouvant apparaître sur les bus continus des réseaux DC. En effet, l'interaction entre les différents sous-systèmes électriques (source, charge, filtre) composant le réseau DC peut conduire, sous certaines conditions, à l'instabilité du système. A partir de la modélisation des charges sous forme de "Charge à Puissance Constante" (notée CPL), des méthodes d'études permettant l'analyse de la stabilité "petit-signal" et "grand-signal" des systèmes électriques sont présentées. Celles-ci permettent de mettre en évidence le fait qu'un réseau DC ne peut pas fournir n'importe quelle puissance à ses charges sans devenir instable. Ces puissances limites dépendent à la fois de la structure du réseau et des valeurs de ses éléments passifs et de sa tension de bus. Afin de pouvoir augmenter l'amortissement/les marges de stabilité du système, des méthodes de stabilisation sont présentées dans ce mémoire. Elles proposent d'adapter les commandes des charges de manière à assurer sa stabilité. Ceci se fait grâce à l'addition d'un signal stabilisant sur la référence de chaque charge. Ce signal n'est visible que durant les régimes transitoires de la charge afin de ne pas modifier le point de fonctionnement demandé. Néanmoins, plus on voudra stabiliser une charge et plus son signal stabilisant sera important. Un bon compromis doit donc être trouvé afin d'assurer la stabilité du système sans altérer les performances dynamiques des charges. Deux approches différentes sont proposées afin de générer ces commandes stabilisantes. La première se base sur la mise en place d'un stabilisateur centralisé. Deux méthodes centralisées sont alors proposées : la première s'appuie sur la théorie des multimodèles de Takagi-Sugeno alors que la seconde s'appuie sur la théorie de Lyapunov. Cette dernière permettra d'orienter les efforts de stabilisation sur les charges souhaitées pour par exemple, les diriger principalement vers les organes de récupération d'énergie. La seconde approche se base sur la mise en place d'un système de stabilisation multi-agent. Celui-ci présente une structure décentralisée où chaque agent correspond à un bloc de stabilisation. Ceux-ci vont compenser localement les impacts déstabilisants de leur charge respective et leurs actions combinées permettront d'assurer la stabilité du système. De plus, on propose d'utiliser un algorithme d'optimisation sous contraintes qui permettra de donner un dimensionnement du système minimisant les efforts de stabilisation tout en considérant des cas de défaut tels que la perte de l'un des agents ou la reconfiguration du réseau / This thesis is devoted to the analysis of the instability phenomenon that may appear on the DC bus of DC microgrids. Indeed, interaction between the different electrical subsystems of the grid (source, load, filters) can lead, under certain conditions, to the system instability. From the "Constant Power Load" (CPL) hypothesis for the loads, this thesis presents studying methods for "small-signal" and "large-signal" stability analysis of electrical systems. This highlights that a DC microgrid cannot power the loads more than a maximum limit without becoming unstable. This power limitation depends on the structure of the grid, the value of its passive components, and its bus voltage. In order to improve the microgrid stability, stabilization methods are presented in this thesis. They propose to adapt the loads control to ensure the system stability. This is achieved by the addition of a stabilizing signal to the reference of each load. This signal is only visible during the load power transient mode to not change the requested operating point. However, a good trade-off must be found to ensure system stability without affecting the dynamic performance of its loads. Two approaches are investigated to generate the stabilizing commands. The first one is based on the establishment of a centralized stabilization block. Two centralized methods have been developed: the first one is based on the Takagi-Sugeno theory while the second is based on the Lyapunov theory. This latest permits to guide the stabilizing effort on the desired loads. For example, stabilizing effort can be oriented on the energy storage device. The second approach is based on the establishment of a multi-agent stabilizing system. It consists of a decentralized structure in which each agent corresponds to a stabilization block. These will locally compensate the destabilizing impact of their respective load on the microgrid, and their combined actions ensure the system stability. To design the system, the use of a constrained optimization algorithm is proposed. This permits to minimize stabilization efforts while considering faulty events such as the failure of one of the agents or a reconfiguration of the microgrid