Non-isothermal Ragone plots of Li-ion cells from datasheet and galvanostatic discharge tests

Ragone plot is a conventional tool to compare different energy storage systems in terms of energy and power densities. The selection of the most suitable Li-ion technology for a given application is usually based on the specific energy and power extracted from datasheets at ambient temperatures (25 degrees C). However, these values are highly temperature-dependent. This study investigates experimentally and via numerical simulations a quantification of the energy and power densities for two different Li-ion chemistry cells in a wide operating temperature range. The experimental results reveal that these values determined from constant current discharge are approximately 15% higher than those determined for a constant power discharge. Therefore, a simple and efficient coupled electrical-thermal model based on an equivalent circuit model (ECM) is proposed, which is able to estimate the voltage, temperature, and available discharged energy of 18,650 Li-ion cells with a good accuracy. Moreover, all parameters in the model can be directly identified with manufacturer's datasheets at 25 degrees C. Then, the proposed Ragone plot model can be extended to wider temperature and power ranges. The relative error of the simulated energy density is below 2% for both technologies for all operating conditions from - 20 degrees C to 55 degrees C. Thus, a non-isothermal Ragone plot is established by considering the thermal effect for the first time. The proposed method could be employed as a conception aid tool for the selection of Li-ion cells in a system design process.