Implementación de un pack de baterías recicladas de ion-litio en una motoneta eléctrica de la carrera de Ingeniería Automotriz

Abstract

This curricular integration project aimed to build a lithium battery by recycling lithium cells from used laptop batteries in order to implement the battery in an electric scooter which belongs to the Automotive Engineering Career that previously worked with lead batteries. Each cell was tested for charge and discharge to determine its life and energy efficiency and to identify which cells were suitable for a second use; the discarded cells were recycled. For the construction, the best configuration of series and parallel connections was determined to meet the requirements and current demand of the scooter's motor. After that, the cells were balanced for their discharge capacity and thus obtained a better battery performance. In addition, in the scooter, the electrical connections and the base of the previous battery were modified to install the new one. Driving tests were carried out to measure the autonomy in a route of urban, rural, and highway sections without presenting any inconvenience in operation and charging tests. Data such as battery temperature, voltage, current, distance traveled, speed, driving time, and charging time were taken in each trial. These data showed that the new lithium battery improved the autonomy of the scooter and reduced the weight that it had before with lead batteries, demonstrating that reusing these cells is effective and saves money by not depending on a new battery. It is concluded that recycling lithium cells are feasible for use in any electrical and electronic project helping to conserve the environment. Increasing the number of cells is recommended to improve autonomy further.