Comprehensive determination of heat generation and thermal modelling of a hybrid capacitor

Supercapacitors are usually used as energy storage devices that work at a high current rate. This operating mode is often accompanied by the production of large amounts of heat inside the cell. Therefore, health monitoring of supercapacitors is still needed to avoid overheating and subsequent destruction. This paper presents a new method to determine the heat generation and the resulting temperature development of an aqueous hybrid capacitor based on extensive measurement data. We concentrate not only on the Ohmic power loss but also on heat phenomenon originating from side and overcharge reactions as well as entropy effects. The bearing of the final state of charge and the charging current on the temperature development is demonstrated. Finally, the temperature parameters of air and water cooled capacitors are simulated. The temperature distribution within the cell as a function of time is presented and discussed. The great advantage of the developed evaluation method is that it is an inexpensive method which can be realised in most test laboratories and that the measurements and simulations consider all crucial origins of power loss. The results obtained can be used to evaluate appropriate cooling systems. The method can be applied to capacitors and batteries.