Battery management systems for energy storage devices

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for monitoring and / or regulating energy storage devices. Examples of such monitoring and / or regulating include cell balancing, dynamic impedance control, breach detection and determination of state of charge of energy storage devices.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 892,326, filed Oct. 17, 2013, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]A battery is a device capable of converting chemical energy into electrical energy. Batteries are used in many household and industrial applications. In some instances, batteries are rechargeable such that electrical energy, which may be converted from non-electrical energy (e.g., mechanical energy), is capable of being stored in the battery as chemical energy.[0003]There are generally two types of batteries: disposable batteries (primary batteries), which are designed to be used once and discarded, and rechargeable batteries (secondary batteries), which are designed to be recharged and used multiple times. There are various shapes and sizes of batteries, such as, for example, miniature cells used to power small electronic devices, and large batteries, which may be used to provide power for co...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent text describes a battery management system for regulating the operation of a liquid metal battery. The system includes hardware and software to dynamically compensate for variations in impedance caused by changes in temperature and material used in the lines. This helps to ensure accurate cell balancing and control of the balancing current. The technical effect of this patent text is to improve the reliability and accuracy of the battery management system, even during operation of the battery at high temperatures.

Problems solved by technology

While batteries are presently available, recognized herein are various limitations associated with such batteries.

For example, rechargeable batteries may not be able to retain a given energy density after a certain number of charge / discharge cycles, making the long term use of these devices practically infeasible.

While some batteries may have longer operating lifetimes than others, such batteries may not have an energy density that is suited for commercial use.

The failure condition can be a breach.

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