Joeri Van Mierlo

Vrije Universiteit Brussel | VUB · MOBI - Electromobility Research Centre

Developing new battery configurations is a time‐consuming process, electrochemical models can be employed to expedite the process by predicting the performance of battery designs. An electrochemical pseudo‐two‐dimensional modeling framework is created for both LNMO|LiPF6 in EC/PC/sulfolane|Gr and LNMO|PVdF GPE with 1.15 M LiPF6 in EC/PC/FEC/sulfola...

In this study, we present an innovative, fully automated, and digitalized methodology to optimize the energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of Li-ion battery modules. Advancing on from today’s optimization schemes that rely on user experience and other limitations, the mechanical and thermal designs are optimized simultaneously in this study by...

Prognostics and health management (PHM) has emerged as a vital research discipline for optimizing the maintenance of operating systems by detecting health degradation and accurately predicting their remaining useful life. In the context of lithium-ion batteries, PHM methodologies have gained significant attention due to their potential for enhancin...

As the world rushes to expedient the growing demands for energy utilization and storage solutions, Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are dominating in almost every sector of the battery systems. Recent research and development in the continuing energy revolution have demonstrated that LIBs are a viable technology for portable gadgets and Electric Vehicl...

Wind energy is an increasingly important renewable resource in today’s global energy landscape. However, it faces challenges due to the unpredictable nature of wind speeds, resulting in intermittent power generation. This intermittency can disrupt power grid stability when integrating doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs). To address this challen...

In electric vehicles (EVs), battery thermal management system (BTMS) plays an essential role in keeping the battery working within the optimal operating temperature range and preventing thermal runaway. Many cooling mediums have been conducted into BTMS to transfer, absorb, or dissipate the heat generated from the batteries. Thermal conductivity, h...

The renewable energy sources (RESs) integration into the grid system aims to solve the problem of power shortage and satisfy the increasing demand with the production of surplus energy. However, the intermittent nature of these RESs (solar and wind) is a challenge to integrate with the grid system without the deployment of mitigating solutions. The...

The most employed technique to mimic the behavior of lithium-ion cells to monitor and control them is the equivalent circuit model (ECM). This modeling tool should be precise enough to ensure the system’s reliability. Two significant parameters that affect the accuracy of the ECM are the applied current rate and operating temperature. Without a tho...

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the pioneers of green transition in the transportation sector. The nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) technology, in particular, has the largest market share in electric vehicles (EVs), offering high specific energy, optimized power performance, and lifetime. The aging of different lithium-ion battery technologies has...

New lithium-ion battery generations for electric vehicles are constantly being developed. Currently, batteries with silicon and graphite anode enter the market as third-generation batteries, with limited knowledge of their environmental impacts. This life cycle assessment study evaluates the impacts of the entire life cycle of a prototype lithium n...

Integration of large renewable energy sources (RESs) to the grid is aimed to solve the problem of shortage of power with the production of surplus energy and satisfy the increasing demand. However, the intermittent nature of RESs is challenging to integrate with the grid system. Therefore, the utilization of storage batteries, particularly the re-u...

An accurate thermal model is one of the keys to a thermal management system. However modeling of these battery modules based on lumped thermal model is challenging. The extension of the single battery model to a multi-battery model requires not only the connection between the electrical models of the multiple batteries, but also the consideration o...

In recent decades, clean energy has been introduced as an alternative energy source. In this respect, the automobile sector, one of the world's most prominent industries, has significantly contributed to the problem. Lithium‐ion (Li‐ion) batteries are among the most acceptable power sources for the automobile sector. Li‐ion batteries benefit from h...

Lithium ion batteries (LiBs) continue to be the most advanced technology in the battery systems as the world rushes to meet the diverse and expanding demands of the energy storage solutions. Research institutions, academia and industries requires a safer, high-performance and cheaper LiBs to accelerate the transition from oil-based to an electrical...

This paper investigates the model development of the state-of-power (SoP) estimation for a 43 Ah large-capacity prismatic nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC) based lithium-ion cell with a thorough aging investigation of the cells’ internal resistance increase. For a safe operation of the vehicle system, a battery management system (BMS) integrated...

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cells are influenced by high energy, reliability, and robustness. However, they produce a noticeable amount of heat during the charging and discharging process. This paper presents an optimal thermal management system (TMS) using a phase change material (PCM) and PCM-graphite for a cylindrical Li-ion battery module. The...

_______________________________________________________________________________________ Summary In this paper, the state of power (SoP) estimation of 43Ah nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide-based lithium-ion cell used in vehicle applications is presented. One of the main reasons for the need of a battery management system having integrated with SoP esti...

The acceleration demand from the driver in electric vehicles (EVs) should be supported by high-power energy storage systems (ESSs). In order to satisfy the driver’s request, the employed ESS should have high power densities. On the other hand, high energy densities are required at the same time for EVs’ traction to minimize the range anxiety. In th...

This paper presents the development of a combined lifetime model used to estimate the capacity fade evolution and internal resistance increase of 43 Ah big capacity nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC) cell playing the leading role in the automotive industry. However, these NMC based lithium-ion cells passed through capacity fade uncertainty problem...

In this paper, the thermal behavior of a battery module based on a novel liquid cooling plate (LCP) is experimentally and numerically studied. The cooling plate is embedded with phase change material (PCM), and it is named a hybrid LCP as it provides a combination of active (liquid) and passive (PCM) cooling methods for battery with a modular desig...

Activated carbons play an important role in enabling Li-ion batteries for high-power applications. They are well established in the application side of energy storage but remain untouched for integration toward conceptualization. As conceptualization attracts growing interest in the field of energy storage, more work needs to be done to bridge the...

Lithium-ion capacitors (LiCs) are commonly used as power sources for electric vehicles (EVs) due to the combined advantages of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) comprising high energy density, high power density, and long lifetime. However, the performance of the LiCs is susceptible to temperature. Therefore,...

The growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market increases the interest in used batteries, making the evaluation of second life battery degradation and their environmental impact important to understand. This study assesses a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC)–lithium titanate oxide (LTO) battery using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, consider...

The state of power (SoP) estimation and model development of the 43 Ah large-format NMC cell used in vehicle applications is presented in this paper with a thorough investigation of the cells' internal resistance increase using pulse trained internal resistance evolution approach. In the automotive industry, one of the main reasons for the need for...

This review paper aims to provide the background and literature review of a hybrid energy storage system (ESS) called a lithium-ion capacitor (LiC). Since the LiC structure is formed based on the anode of lithium-ion batteries (LiB) and cathode of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), a short overview of LiBs and EDLCs is presented following th...

Lithium-ion capacitors (LiC) are hybrid energy storage systems (ESS) combining the advantages of lithium-ion batteries and electric double-layer capacitors, including longer lifetime, high power, and energy densities. LiCs are popular for high-power applications where fast charge and discharge driving profiles are demanded from electric vehicles (E...

The automotive energy storage market is currently dominated by the existing Li-ion technologies that are likely to continue in the future. Thus, the on-road electric (and hybrid) vehicles running on the Li-ion battery systems require critical diagnosis considering crucial battery aging. This work aims to provide a guideline for pack-level lifetime...

Currently, the energy grid is changing to fit the increasing energy demands but also to support the rapid penetration of renewable energy sources. As a result, energy storage devices emerge to add buffer capacity and to reinforce residential and commercial usage, as an attempt to improve the overall utilization of the available green energy. Althou...

In this study, a fractional-order electro-thermal model of an NMC/C 43Ah battery is initially built, that can accurately derive the cell’s terminal voltage and surface temperature at various loadings (1C, 1.5C, 2C) and ambient conditions (10 °C, 25 °C, 45 °C), and with an average heat dissipation of 15 W being measured at a 2C discharge rate and 25...

High-power lithium-ion capacitors (LiC) are hybrid energy storage systems (EES) with the combined benefits of lithium-ion batteries (LiB) and supercapacitors, such as high specific energy, high specific power, and a long lifetime. Such advanced technology can be used in high-power applications when high charging and discharging are demanded. Nevert...

Nowadays, the use of electric vehicles (EVs) equipped with lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, has been growing every day. Li-ion batteries' performance, effectiveness, and safety importantly depend on thermal management systems (TMSs). In this paper, a novel and advanced hybrid TMS for cooling the battery module, using phase change material (PCM) and...

Lithium-ion capacitors (LiCs) are hybrid energy storage systems that combine the advantages of lithium-ion batteries (LiB) and electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC). Therefore, LiCs have higher power capability and longer lifetime compared to LiBs. LiCs have also higher energy density and higher voltage range than EDLCs. Based on the mentioned ad...

Battery Electric Buses (BEBs) are considerably integrated into cities worldwide. These buses have a strict schedule; thus, they could be charged in a very short time with a power level up to 600 kW. The high-power systems and short charging times imply special grid operation conditions that should be taken into account. Therefore, it is necessary t...

Fast charging is an essential stakeholder concern for achieving a deeper penetration of Electric Vehicles (EVs), as optimizing the charging times of conventional vehicles is as yet a bottle‐ neck to be solved. An important drawback of EV’s fast charging lies in the degradation suffered by the Li‐ion Batteries (LIBs) at high charging currents. A dee...

The specific heat capacity of a battery is an essential parameter for the thermal modeling of lithium-ion batteries, but it is not generally provided by the manufacturers. To determine the specific heat capacity, equipment such as calorimeters can be utilized which is costly, whereas this paper proposed a novel method to determine the specific heat...

Lithium-ion batteries have achieved dominance in energy storage systems. Meanwhile, there is a demand for the reliability of lithium-ion batteries. Battery prognostics and health management (PHM) is a discipline that not only provides accurate, early, and online health diagnosis, but also guarantees a robust and precise prediction of the remaining...

Formation of a decent Solid-Electrolyte Interface (SEI) is recognized as an approach to improve the performance of Lithium-ion Batteries. SEI is a passivation layer generated on the anode during the initial cycles. Characteristics of the Graphite SEI depends on the operational parameters, state of the anode, and the content of the electrolyte. Intr...

Recently, the phase change material (PCM) battery thermal management system (BTMS) attracted attention. However, enhancement and optimization for the BTMS are required due to volumetric system design and low thermal conductivity. This study provides a novel design optimization to improve the environmental aspect of the cooling system and reduce its...

Jute is a cheap, eco-friendly, widely available material well-known for its cooling properties. In electric vehicles (EVs), dissipating a huge amount of the heat generated from lithium-ion batteries with an efficient, light, and low-power consumption battery thermal management system (BTMS) is required. In our previous study, jute fibers were propo...

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) are gaining attention as they promise to provide better safety and a higher energy density than conventional liquid electrolyte batteries. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are promising candidates due to their flexibility providing better interfacial contact between electrodes and the electrolyte. However, SPEs exhibit...

This work presents three demos, which include Electric Buses (EBs) from four various brands with lengths of 12 m and 18 m and an Electric Truck (E-truck) for refuse collection. The technical operation of these EVs were analyzed to implement further operational cost optimization on the demo vehicles. The Electric Vehicles (EVs) were tested against s...

The Brushless Doubly Fed Reluctance Machine (BDFRM) is an emerging alternative for variable speed drive systems, providing a significant downsizing of the power electronics converter. This paper proposes a new view on the machine equations, allowing the reuse of the standard control system design for conventional synchronous and asynchronous machin...

Conventional implementation of slider-crank mechanisms result in high loads transmitted through the mechanical structure, inhibiting the design of compact and oil-free machines. Therefore, this research proposes to step away from the conventional, i.e. rotative, actuation and to investigate local linear actuation on the slider-component directly, w...

In this study, a datasheet-based lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell model is built, trained and validated by utilizing Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO). Firstly, in order to determine the most suitable solver among various multi-objective solutions, a first-order (1RC) Thevenin model is adopted. At this stage, a thorough compariso...

The solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI), the passivation layer formed on anode particles during the initial cycles, affects the performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in terms of capacity, power output, and cycle life. SEI features are dependent on the electrolyte content, as this complex layer originates from electrolyte decomposition products...

Lithium-ion capacitor technology (LiC) is well known for its higher power density compared to electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and higher energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). However, the LiC technology is affected by a high heat generation problem in high-power applications when it is continuously being charged/discharg...

This work presents an active thermal management system (TMS) for building a safer module of lithium-ion capacitor (LiC) technology, in which 10 LiCs are connected in series. The proposed TMS is a forced air-cooled TMS (ACTMS) that uses four axial DC 12 V fans: two fans are responsible for blowing the air from the environment into the container whil...

Coating conducting polymers onto active cathode materials has been proven to mitigate issues at high current densities stemming from the limited conducting abilities of the metal-oxides. In the present study, a carbon coating was applied onto nickel-rich NMC622 via polymerisation of furfuryl alcohol, followed by calcination, for the first time. The...

The risk of oscillation of grid-connected wind turbine generators (WTGs) is well known, making it all the more important to understand the characteristics of different WTGs and analyze their performance so that the problems' causes are identified and resolved. While many studies have evaluated the performance of grid-connected WTGs, most lack clari...

This paper presents the concept of a hybrid thermal management system (TMS) including natural convection, heat pipe, and air cooling assisted heat pipe (ACAH) for electric vehicles. Experimental and numerical tests are described to predict the thermal behavior of a lithium titanate oxide (LTO) battery cell in a fast discharging process (8C rate). S...

This article presents a flexible controller algorithm for bidirectional modular cascaded H-bridge (CHB)-based battery storage systems. The primary objectives are to maintain high-quality power on the ac side while balancing dc-side battery voltages under charging or discharging operations. The proposed algorithm is based on a finite-set model-predi...

Lithium‐ion technologies have become the most attractive and selected choice for battery electric vehicles. However, the understanding of battery aging is still a complex and nonlinear experience which is critical to the modeling methodologies. In this work, a comprehensive lifetime modeling twin framework following semi‐empirical methodology has b...

This work presents a real-life demonstration of 23 heavy-duty (HD) public electric buses (e-buses) in Jaworzno, Poland, with three lengths: 8.9 m, 12 m, and 18 m. The e-bus demo is based on the development of baseline e-buses to optimize the operational cost based on technical optimization. The demo aims to switch public transportation from interna...

Thermal management is the most vital element of electric vehicles (EV) to control the maximum temperature of module/pack for safety reasons. This paper presents a novel passive thermal management system (TMS) composed of a heat sink (HS) and phase change materials (PCM) for lithium-ion capacitor (LiC) technology under the premise that the cell is c...

The global electric vehicle (EV) is expanding enormously, foreseeing a 17.4% increase in compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by the end of 2027. The lithium-ion battery is considered as the most widely used battery technology in EV. The accurate and reliable diagnostic and prognostic of battery state guarantees the safe operation of EV and is crucia...

This article attempts to study the thermal characteristic and behavior of a large commercial prismatic lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell (50Ah) for the application of rechargeable energy storage in electric vehicles (EVs). The anode of the cell is based on Graphite, where nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NCM) make up the cathode of the cell. With the...

Grid-connected renewable energy systems are considered a viable solution for satisfying the swiftly growing demand. Nevertheless, the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources (RESs) hinders their performance and can not be efficiently utilized, rather imposes power quality and instability problem on the grid system. To alleviate this challen...

Lithium-ion capacitor (LiC) technology is an energy storage system (ESS) that combines the working mechanism of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC) and lithium-ion batteries (LiB). When LiC is supposed to work under high power applications, the inevitable heat loss threatens the cell's performance and lifetime. Therefore, a proper thermal manag...

The parasitic power consumption of the battery thermal management systems is a crucial factor that affects the specific energy of the battery pack. In this paper, a comparative analysis is conducted between air type and liquid type thermal management systems for a high-energy lithium-ion battery module. The parasitic power consumption and cooling p...