Modeling of the capacity loss of a 12 V automotive lead-acid battery due to ageing and comparison with measurement data

One-dimensional modeling was carried-out to predict the capacity loss of a 12 V automotive lead-acid battery due to ageing. The model not only accounted for electrochemical kinetics and ionic mass transfer in a battery cell, but also considered the anodic corrosion of lead in sulfuric acid. In order to validate the modeling, modeling results were compared with the measurement data of the cycling behaviors of the lead-acid batteries having nominal capacity of 68 Ah that are mounted on the automobiles manufactured by Hyundai Motor Company. The cycling was performed under the protocol of the constant-current discharge and the constant-voltage charge. The discharge rate of C/3 was used. The range of state of charge was between 1 and 0.85. The voltage was kept constant at the gassing voltage until the charge current tapered to 10 mA. The retention capacity of the battery was measured with C/3 discharge rate before the beginning of cycling and after every 40 cycles of cycling. The modeling results were in good agreement with the measurement data.