Battery module and battery cabinet

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery module and a battery cabinet. The battery module includes a housing; at least one battery cell disposed within the housing; and at least one fire protection module disposed within the housing. The fire protection module includes: a fire protection container; a fire extinguishing agent placed within the fire protection container, and the fire extinguishing agent is used to spray fire extinguishing substances to the outside from the fire protection container after being ignited, so as to form a barrier area that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the battery cell. For the battery module and the battery cabinet provided by the present invention, the fire protection module is disposed inside the battery module, and sprays fire extinguishing substances to the outside from the fire protection container in a spraying manner, so that the fire extinguishing substances can be quickly released to form a barrier area that blocks the chain reaction of the thick smoke and electrolyte generated between the external open fire and the battery cell, thereby achieving a better fire extinguishing effect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of batteries, and particularly to a battery module and a battery cabinet. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, lithium batteries have been widely used as energy storage in the fields of communication and data centers. However, lithium batteries belong to electrochemical energy storage and are prone to thermal runaway in scenarios such as overcharging, overheating, and needle puncture, and finally cause fires.

[0003] Usually, one or more fire protection modules are installed outside the lithium battery. After the lithium battery catches fire, the fire protection module releases a fire extinguishing agent to submerge the lithium battery, and extinguishes the open fire by one or more methods among suffocation, isolation, cooling, and chemical inhibition. However, to ensure the fire extinguishing effect, the concentration requirement of the fire extinguishing agent is relatively high and the dosage requirement is relatively large. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on this, in view of the problems of relatively high concentration requirement and relatively large dosage requirement of the fire extinguishing agent existing in the existing fire protection modules for lithium batteries, it is necessary to provide a battery module and a battery cabinet with low concentration requirement and small dosage requirement of the fire extinguishing agent.

[0005] A battery module includes:

[0006] A housing;

[0007] At least one battery cell, disposed within the housing; and

[0008] At least one fire protection module, disposed within the housing, the fire protection module including:

[0009] A fire protection container;

[0010] A fire extinguishing agent, placed within the fire protection container, the fire extinguishing agent being configured to eject a fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the fire protection container after being ignited, so as to form a barrier area that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the battery cell.

[0011] In one embodiment, the fire protection container is provided with a nozzle, and the fire protection container is configured to allow the fire extinguishing substance to be ejected to the outside when the pressure therein reaches the first preset pressure value.

[0012] In one embodiment, the fire extinguishing agent is configured to generate the fire extinguishing substance that fills the fire protection container within a preset time after being ignited, so that the pressure within the fire protection container reaches the first preset pressure value.

[0013] In one embodiment, the fire protection container is provided with a nozzle, and the fire extinguishing agent is configured to directly eject the fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the nozzle at a second preset pressure value after being ignited.

[0014] In one embodiment, the housing has a plurality of openings through which the fire extinguishing substance can be ejected to form the barrier region outside the housing.

[0015] In one embodiment, the barrier region is disposed around the housing.

[0016] In one embodiment, the plurality of openings are arranged circumferentially along the housing.

[0017] In one embodiment, the fire extinguishing agent is used to eject the fire extinguishing substance outward from the fire protection container in a pulsed manner after ignition.

[0018] In one embodiment, the fire extinguishing agent is one or any combination of aerosol, perfluoromethyl hexanone, or heptafluoropropane.

[0019] In one embodiment, the inside of the battery cell has an electrolyte, and the battery module further includes an adsorbent disposed inside the housing, and the adsorbent can adsorb the electrolyte leaked from the battery cell into the inside of the housing.

[0020] A battery cabinet, characterized in that it includes a cabinet and the battery module as described above, and the battery module is installed inside the cabinet.

[0021] In one embodiment, the cabinet can be an open cabinet.

[0022] In the battery module and the battery cabinet of the present invention, when a fire occurs in the battery module, the fire extinguishing agent of the fire protection module can eject the fire extinguishing substance outward from the fire protection container after ignition, so that the fire extinguishing substance can be quickly released to form a barrier region that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the thick smoke and electrolyte generated by the battery cell, thereby achieving a better fire extinguishing effect. On the one hand, since the fire protection module is located inside the housing of the battery module, it is easier and faster to reach the concentration of the fire extinguishing substance in a smaller space, reducing the dosage of the fire extinguishing agent. On the other hand, since the fire extinguishing substance is ejected outward from the fire protection container in a jet manner, it has a certain driving effect on the external open fire to achieve a quick extinguishing effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the battery module in the event of a fire in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram of the battery module shown during the fire extinguishing process;

[0025] Figure 3 is Figure 1Schematic diagram of the structure of the battery module shown when the fire extinguishing is completed. Detailed implementation mode

[0026] For the convenience of understanding the present invention, the present invention will be described more comprehensively below with reference to the relevant drawings. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are given in the drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosure content of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive.

[0027] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. The terms used in the specification of the present invention herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0028] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as "fixed to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there can also be a middle element. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be a middle element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are only for the purpose of illustration.

[0029] In the case of using "including", "having", and "comprising" described herein, unless a clear limiting term is used, such as "only", "consisting of", etc., another component can also be added. Unless otherwise mentioned, the singular form of a term can include the plural form and should not be understood as having a quantity of one.

[0030] It should be understood that although terms such as "first" and "second" can be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first element can be called the second element, and similarly, the second element can be called the first element.

[0031] It should also be understood that when interpreting an element, although not explicitly described, the element is interpreted as including an error range, and this error range should be within the acceptable deviation range of a specific value determined by those skilled in the art. For example, "about", "approximate" or "substantially" can mean within one or more standard deviations, which is not limited herein.

[0032] In addition, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to a scale of 1:1, and the relative sizes of the components are only drawn by way of example in the accompanying drawings and not necessarily to the actual scale.

[0033] Figure 1 Fig. shows a schematic structural diagram of a battery module in the event of a fire in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram of the battery module shown during the fire extinguishing process; Figure 3 shows Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram of the battery module shown after the fire extinguishing is completed. For ease of description, the accompanying drawings only show the structures related to the embodiments of the present invention.

[0034] To facilitate the understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, before a detailed description is given, an overview of the principle of battery module combustion is first made.

[0035] Combustion refers to an exothermic reaction that occurs when a combustible substance reacts with an oxidant, usually accompanied by phenomena such as flames, light emission, or smoke emission.

[0036] The occurrence of combustion must have three elements, including combustibles such as wood, hydrogen, and gasoline, a supporter of combustion such as oxygen, and an ignition source such as high temperature or flame. Combustion will only occur when these three elements coexist. However, most combustion does not occur directly but is a chain reaction that circulates with free radicals as intermediates, such as hydrogen radicals, methyl radicals, or chlorine radicals. Therefore, the occurrence and development of combustion require four elements, namely combustibles, oxidants, ignition sources, and chain reaction free radicals.

[0037] The existing fire extinguishing principle is to eliminate one or several of the four necessary conditions for combustion, so as to inhibit the speed of one or several stages in combustion, that is, to cut off the source of a certain stage or interrupt the chain reaction and stop the generation of free radicals, thereby achieving the purpose of extinguishing the fire. Generally, according to the four elements of combustion, we divide the fire extinguishing mechanism of fire extinguishing agents into four categories: isolation, asphyxiation, cooling, and chemical inhibition.

[0038] The fire starting process of existing lithium batteries is that when the core of a certain lithium battery undergoes thermal runaway, the explosion-proof valve of the core first automatically opens, and then a large amount of thick smoke is generated, accompanied by the ejection of electrolyte. Both the thick smoke and the electrolyte are combustibles. When these substances encounter an open flame or a spark, an open flame will be generated outside the battery module.

[0039] However, the fire fighting module of the existing fire extinguishing method is arranged outside the lithium battery. During fire extinguishing, a high concentration of the fire extinguishing agent outside the lithium battery is required to achieve a good fire extinguishing effect. Therefore, the dosage requirement of the fire extinguishing agent is also large, which undoubtedly increases the cost.

[0040] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a battery module with a low concentration requirement and a small dosage requirement for the fire extinguishing agent.

[0041] Referring to the accompanying drawings, the battery module 100 of the first embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 10, and at least one battery cell 20 and at least one fire protection module 30 both disposed within the housing 10. Specifically, the battery module may be a battery pack. In a specific implementation manner, one or more fire protection modules may be configured in one battery module, or one or more fire protection modules may be configured for one battery cell.

[0042] The fire protection module 30 includes a fire protection container 31 and a fire extinguishing agent 32. The fire extinguishing agent 32 is placed within the fire protection container 31. The fire extinguishing agent 32 is configured to spray fire extinguishing substances outward from the fire protection container 31 after being ignited, so as to form a blocking area 40 that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the battery cell 20.

[0043] Thus, when a fire breaks out in the battery module 100, the fire extinguishing agent 32 of the fire protection module 30 can spray fire extinguishing substances outward from the fire protection container 31 in a spraying manner after being ignited, so that the fire extinguishing substances can be quickly released, so as to form a blocking area 40 that blocks the chain reaction of the thick smoke and electrolyte between the external open fire and the battery cell 20, thereby achieving a better fire extinguishing effect. On the one hand, since the fire protection module 30 is located within the housing 10 of the battery module 100, it is easier and faster to reach the concentration of the fire extinguishing substances in a smaller space, reducing the dosage of the fire extinguishing agent 32. On the other hand, since the fire extinguishing substances are sprayed outward from the fire protection container 31 in a spraying manner, it has a certain driving effect on the external open fire, so as to achieve a quick extinguishing effect.

[0044] In some embodiments, the fire protection container 31 is provided with a nozzle, and the fire extinguishing agent 32 is configured to allow the fire protection container 31 to spray fire extinguishing substances outward when the pressure therein reaches a first preset pressure value. By using the pressure-holding method, the spraying speed can be further increased. Specifically, the range of the first preset pressure value is between 1 MPa and 20 MPa. Within this pressure range, on the one hand, the pressure-holding method can be used to increase the spraying speed of the fire protection container 31. On the other hand, setting the first preset pressure value can prevent the fire protection container 31 from exploding due to excessive pressure, thereby damaging the battery module 100 and surrounding objects, and even causing safety accidents.

[0045] Furthermore, the fire extinguishing agent 32 is configured to generate fire extinguishing substances that fill the fire protection container within a preset time after being ignited, so as to make the pressure within the fire protection container 31 reach the first preset pressure value. The method of using the fire extinguishing substances generated by the fire extinguishing agent 32 itself after being ignited to make the internal pressure of the fire extinguishing container 31 reach the first preset pressure is simple. When the fire extinguishing agent sprays fire extinguishing substances outward, it can not only increase the spraying speed, but also make the spraying of the fire extinguishing substances uniform. Specifically, in order to quickly extinguish the fire, the preset time range is set within 10 seconds.

[0046] In some other embodiments, the fire extinguishing container 31 is provided with a nozzle, and the fire extinguishing agent 32 is configured to directly eject the fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the nozzle at a second preset pressure value after being ignited. Specifically, by adjusting the ratio of the combustion area of the fire extinguishing agent 32 to the area of the nozzle, the structure of the fire protection module 30 can be made simple in this way. Specifically, the range of the second preset pressure value is between 0.2 MPa and 20 MPa.

[0047] In some embodiments, in order to protect the surface of the outer shell 10 of the battery module 100 from being damaged by open fire and high temperature, the outer shell 10 has a plurality of openings, and the fire extinguishing substance can be ejected from the openings to form a barrier area 40 outside the outer shell 10. In this way, the open fire can be blocked outside the outer shell 10, so the chain reaction between the open fire and the battery cells 20 can be blocked outside the battery module 100, further ensuring the fire extinguishing effect.

[0048] In a preferred embodiment, the barrier area 40 can be arranged to surround the outer shell 10. In this way, the chain reaction between the open fire and the battery cells 20 can be avoided at any position around the outer shell 10, ensuring the fire extinguishing effect.

[0049] Specifically, the plurality of openings are arranged along the circumferential direction of the outer shell 10. After the fire protection module 100 ejects the fire extinguishing substance, it can be ejected from the plurality of openings to form a plurality of fire extinguishing substance generation areas around the outer shell 10, and the fire extinguishing substance can further form a barrier area 40 surrounding the outer shell 10. It should be understood that a plurality of heat dissipation holes should be provided on the outer shell 10 of the battery module 100, and the openings and the heat dissipation holes can be the same hole.

[0050] Furthermore, in order to prevent the internal fire of the battery module 100, the fire extinguishing agent 32 can be configured to cover the inside of the outer shell 10 after being ignited.

[0051] In some embodiments, the fire extinguishing agent 32 is used to eject the fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the fire extinguishing container 31 in a pulsed manner after being ignited. In this way, the inside of the battery module 100 can be quickly extinguished, and because the fire extinguishing substance is ejected in a pulsed manner, the pulsed manner can be a rapid aerosol eruption, an instantaneous eruption, etc., so the open fire inside the outer shell 10 can be driven out of the outer shell 10 or instantly extinguished inside the outer shell 10.

[0052] In some embodiments, the fire extinguishing agent 32 is one or any combination of aerosol, perfluoromethyl hexanone or heptafluoropropane. Specifically, the aerosol is S-type, K-type or other type of aerosol.

[0053] In some embodiments, the battery cell 20 has electrolyte inside, and the battery module 100 further includes an adsorbent. The adsorbent is disposed in the housing 10 and can adsorb the electrolyte leaked from the battery cell 20 into the interior of the housing 10. The setting of the adsorbent can prevent the electrolyte from leaking to the outside of the battery module 100 and reduce the occurrence of potential safety hazards. Specifically, the adsorbent is a porous adsorbent or other adsorbents, etc., which is not limited herein.

[0054] In some embodiments, the housing 10 can be made of a metal material or a non-metal material, and the IP protection level of the housing 10 is IP20 or above.

[0055] Based on the same inventive concept, the present invention further provides a battery cabinet, which includes a cabinet and the battery module 100 as described above, and the battery module 100 is installed in the cabinet.

[0056] Furthermore, the cabinet can be an open cabinet. The fire-fighting module of the existing fire-fighting method is disposed outside the lithium battery. When extinguishing the fire, a high concentration of the fire-extinguishing substance outside the lithium battery is required to achieve a good fire-extinguishing effect. Therefore, a closed cabinet is required outside the lithium battery to prevent the fire-extinguishing substance from diffusing too quickly and making it difficult to meet the requirement of a high concentration. However, for the battery module 100 of the present invention, the fire-fighting module 30 is disposed inside the battery module 100. Therefore, there is no requirement for the cabinet outside the battery module to be airtight during fire extinguishing, and thus the overall structure of the battery cabinet becomes simple.

[0057] The battery module 100 and the battery cabinet provided by the embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0058] When a fire breaks out in the battery module 100, the fire-extinguishing agent 32 of the fire-fighting module 30 can, after being ignited, spray the fire-extinguishing substance outward from the fire-fighting container 31 in a spraying manner, so that the fire-extinguishing substance can be quickly released to form a barrier area 40 that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the thick smoke and electrolyte generated by the battery cell 20, thereby achieving a better fire-extinguishing effect. On the one hand, since the fire-fighting module 30 is located inside the housing 10 of the battery module 100, it is easier and faster to reach the concentration of the fire-extinguishing substance in a smaller space, reducing the dosage of the fire-extinguishing agent 32. On the other hand, since the fire-extinguishing substance is sprayed outward from the fire-fighting container 31 in a spraying manner, it has a certain driving effect on the external open fire to achieve a quick extinguishing effect.

[0059] The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be considered as the scope described in this specification.

[0060] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation manners of the present invention. The description thereof is relatively specific and detailed, but it should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several modifications and improvements can still be made, and these all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A battery module, characterized in that, Comprising: A housing; At least one battery cell, disposed within the housing; And At least one fire protection module, disposed within the housing, the fire protection module comprising: A fire protection container; A fire extinguishing agent, placed within the fire protection container, the fire extinguishing agent being configured to eject a fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the fire protection container after ignition, so as to form a barrier area that blocks the chain reaction between the external open fire and the battery cell; The fire protection container is provided with a nozzle, and the fire protection container is configured to allow the fire extinguishing substance to be ejected to the outside when the pressure therein reaches a first preset pressure value, the range of the first preset pressure value being between 1 MPa and 20 MPa, or the fire extinguishing agent is configured to directly eject the fire extinguishing substance from the nozzle to the outside at a second preset pressure value after ignition, the range of the second preset pressure value being between 0.2 MPa and 20 MPa; The housing has a plurality of openings, and the fire extinguishing substance can be ejected from the openings to form the barrier area outside the housing.

2. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein The fire extinguishing agent is configured to generate the fire extinguishing substance that fills the fire protection container within a preset time after ignition, so that the pressure within the fire protection container reaches the first preset pressure value.

3. The battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The barrier area is disposed around the housing.

4. The battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of openings are arranged circumferentially along the housing.

5. The battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, The fire extinguishing agent is configured to eject the fire extinguishing substance to the outside from the fire protection container in a pulsed manner after ignition.

6. The battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, The fire extinguishing agent is one or any combination of aerosol, perfluoromethyl hexanone or heptafluoropropane.

7. The battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, The battery cell has an electrolyte inside, and the battery module further includes an adsorbent, the adsorbent being disposed within the housing, and the adsorbent being capable of adsorbing the electrolyte leaked from the battery cell into the interior of the housing.

8. A battery cabinet, characterized in that, Comprising a cabinet and the battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the battery module being installed within the cabinet.

9. The battery cabinet according to claim 8, characterized in that, The cabinet is a non-hermetic cabinet.

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