Power supply method based on battery thermal energy and related devices

Abstract

This application provides a power supply method and related apparatus based on battery thermal energy. The method is applied to the control unit of a battery system, which includes a control unit, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices. The method includes: determining that the temperature of a target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, then sending a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect heat from the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy; sending a second control signal to the energy storage unit to control the energy storage unit to receive and store electrical energy; acquiring multiple power consumption information corresponding one-to-one with the multiple first electrical devices; determining a second electrical device that needs power supply from the multiple first electrical devices based on the multiple power consumption information; determining the power consumption demand of the second electrical device; and outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power consumption demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power consumption demand.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of battery technology, specifically relating to a power supply method and related devices based on battery thermal energy. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, existing technologies typically cool the waste heat generated by batteries using heat dissipation devices, which raises the ambient temperature and wastes thermal energy. Some solutions utilize waste heat to heat areas that require it, but this only works in scenarios where heating is needed at that moment. If there are no areas requiring heating, the heat is still wasted. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a power supply method and related apparatus based on battery thermal energy, aiming to effectively utilize the waste heat generated by the battery.

[0004] In a first aspect, this application provides a power supply method based on battery thermal energy, applied to a control unit of a battery system, the battery system including the control unit, a target battery cell, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices; the method includes:

[0005] If the temperature of the target battery cell is determined to be greater than a first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit. The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy.

[0006] A second control signal is sent to the energy storage unit, the second control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy;

[0007] Obtain multiple power consumption information corresponding one-to-one with the plurality of first electrical devices;

[0008] Based on the multiple power consumption information, determine the second electrical device that needs power supply among the multiple first electrical devices;

[0009] Determine the power requirements of the second electrical device;

[0010] According to the power demand, a third control signal is output to the energy storage unit, and the third control signal is used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

[0011] Secondly, this application provides a power supply device based on battery thermal energy, applied to the control unit of a battery system, wherein the battery system includes the control unit, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and a plurality of first electrical devices; the device includes:

[0012] A determining unit is used to determine that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, and then sends a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit. The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy.

[0013] An output unit is used to output a second control signal to the energy storage unit, the second control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy;

[0014] The acquisition unit is used to acquire multiple power consumption information corresponding to the multiple first electrical devices;

[0015] The determining unit is further configured to determine, based on the plurality of power consumption information, a second electrical device among the plurality of first electrical devices that requires power supply; and to determine the power consumption demand of the second electrical device;

[0016] The output unit is further configured to output a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

[0017] Thirdly, this application provides an electronic device including a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs, said one or more programs being stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, said programs including instructions for performing the steps of any one of the first to third aspects of this application.

[0018] Fourthly, this application provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program for electronic data interchange, wherein the computer program causes a computer to perform some or all of the steps described in any one of the first to third aspects of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a battery system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 3This is a schematic flowchart of a power supply method based on battery thermal energy provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating a control method for an energy storage unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for adjusting a target thermoelectric conversion efficiency provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0025] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a power supply device based on battery thermal energy provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0026] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0027] The terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, systems, products, or apparatuses.

[0028] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0029] Currently, there are two existing methods for generating sounding reference signals (SRS). One is memory addressing, where all the parameters needed to generate the SRS signal are generated in advance and stored in memory, then retrieved when needed. The other is real-time calculation, where all the parameters required to generate the SRS signal are calculated directly after the SRS schedule is generated. However, existing technologies typically only use one SRS signal acquisition method and are not specific to various SRS signals.

[0030] To address the aforementioned issues, this application provides a power supply method based on battery thermal energy. This method can be applied to scenarios where waste heat from a battery is converted into electrical energy to power electrical devices. The method involves: determining that the temperature of a target battery cell is greater than a first preset value; sending a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit to control it to collect heat from the target battery cell and convert it into electrical energy; sending a second control signal to the energy storage unit to control it to receive and store the electrical energy; acquiring multiple power consumption information corresponding to multiple first electrical devices; determining a second electrical device requiring power from among the multiple first electrical devices based on the multiple power consumption information; determining the power demand of the second electrical device; and outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit based on the power demand, wherein the third control signal controls the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand. This solution is applicable to various scenarios, including but not limited to the aforementioned application scenarios.

[0031] The system architecture involved in the embodiments of this application is described below.

[0032] This application also provides a battery system 100, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 1 The battery system 100 includes the control unit 110, the target battery unit 130, the sensor unit 120, the thermoelectric conversion unit 140, the energy storage unit 150, and multiple first electrical devices (such as...). Figure 1The first electrical device 1 to the first electrical device n are configured in the following configuration: The sensor unit 120 is used to detect the temperature of the target battery unit 130; The control unit 110 is used to determine whether the temperature is greater than a first preset value. If the temperature is greater than the first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit 140, and a second control signal is sent to the energy storage unit 150. The thermoelectric conversion unit is used to collect the heat of the target battery unit 130 and convert the heat into electrical energy when it receives the first control signal. The energy storage unit 150 is used to receive and store the electrical energy. The control unit 110 is also used to collect the power consumption information corresponding to the multiple first electrical devices, determine the second electrical device that needs power supply among the multiple first electrical devices based on the power consumption information, determine the power demand of the second electrical device, and then output a third control signal to the energy storage unit 150 according to the power demand. The energy storage unit 150 is also used to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand when it receives the third control signal.

[0033] This application also provides an electronic device 10, such as... Figure 2 As shown, it includes at least one processor 11, a display screen 12, and a memory 13, and may also include a communications interface 15 and a bus 14. The processor 11, display screen 12, memory 13, and communications interface 15 can communicate with each other via the bus 14. The display screen 12 is configured to display a preset user guide interface in the initial setup mode. The communications interface 15 can transmit information. The processor 11 can call logical instructions in the memory 13 to execute the methods described in the above embodiments.

[0034] Optionally, the electronic device 10 may be a mobile electronic device, an electronic device or other device, and is not limited to a single type.

[0035] Furthermore, the logic instructions in the aforementioned memory 13 can be implemented as software functional units and, when sold or used as independent products, can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0036] The memory 13, as a computer-readable storage medium, can be configured to store software programs, computer-executable programs, such as program instructions or modules corresponding to the methods in the embodiments of this disclosure. The processor 11 executes functional applications and data processing by running the software programs, instructions, or modules stored in the memory 13, thereby implementing the methods in the above embodiments.

[0037] The memory 13 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store the operating system and application programs required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the electronic device 10. Furthermore, the memory 13 may include high-speed random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory. For example, various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks, may be used, or they may be transient storage media.

[0038] The specific methods will be described in detail below.

[0039] Please see Figure 3 This application also provides a power supply method based on battery thermal energy, applied to a control unit of a battery system, the battery system including the control unit, a target battery cell, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices; the method includes:

[0040] Step 201: If the temperature of the target battery cell is determined to be greater than a first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit.

[0041] The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect heat from the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy.

[0042] In practice, if the temperature of the target battery cell is too low, such as below room temperature, then the waste heat of the target battery cell cannot be converted into electrical energy. Therefore, it is necessary to determine that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value before executing the thermoelectric conversion process to convert the waste heat of the target battery cell into electrical energy for storage. That is, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the waste heat generated by the target battery cell.

[0043] Step 202: Send a second control signal to the energy storage unit.

[0044] The second control signal is used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy.

[0045] In a specific implementation, while sending a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit, a second control signal is also sent to the energy storage unit to start the energy storage unit, which then receives and stores the electrical energy.

[0046] Step 203: Obtain multiple power consumption information corresponding to the multiple first power consumption devices.

[0047] In a specific implementation, the control unit collects the power consumption information of each first electrical device. Each power consumption information includes the supply voltage and rated voltage of the corresponding first electrical device. The supply voltage is the voltage currently supplied by the target battery unit to the first electrical device.

[0048] Step 204: Determine the second electrical device that needs power supply among the multiple first electrical devices based on the multiple power consumption information.

[0049] In one possible embodiment, determining the second electrical device requiring power supply among the plurality of first electrical devices based on the plurality of power consumption information includes: performing the following processing for each power consumption information: comparing the power supply voltage of the current power consumption information with the rated voltage; if the power supply voltage is less than the rated voltage, calculating the absolute value of the difference between the power supply voltage and the rated voltage; if the absolute value of the difference is greater than a second preset value, determining the first electrical device corresponding to the current power consumption information as the second electrical device.

[0050] In this specific implementation, this embodiment determines whether the corresponding first electrical device needs power supply based on each power consumption information. Specifically, it first compares the supply voltage and rated voltage in the current power consumption information. When the supply voltage is less than the rated voltage, it indicates that the supply voltage of the current first electrical device is insufficient and further power supply is needed. Therefore, it continues to calculate the absolute value of the difference between the supply voltage and the rated voltage to obtain the supplementary voltage required by the current first electrical device. When the supplementary voltage is greater than a second preset value, the current first electrical device is determined to be the second electrical device.

[0051] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the target battery is fully powered, the undervoltage second electrical device is calculated to provide support for subsequent auxiliary power supply through the energy storage unit, thereby improving the reliability of the system.

[0052] In one possible embodiment, after outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand, the method further includes: determining the current energy storage stage of the energy storage unit, the energy storage stage indicating the percentage of electricity stored by the energy storage unit; determining a heat level associated with the energy storage stage, the heat level indicating the current heat generation rate of the target battery unit; and controlling the load power of the target battery unit according to the heat level.

[0053] In practice, multiple energy storage stages are set for the energy storage unit, each corresponding to a certain percentage of stored capacity. For example, three energy storage stages can be set: the first stage is 0-50% of the capacity, the second stage is 51-80% of the capacity, and the third stage is 81-90% of the capacity. The specific stages can be set according to actual conditions and are not limited here. After determining the current energy storage stage, the corresponding heat level is queried. Each heat level corresponds to a certain heat generation rate. For example, three heat levels can be set: the first heat level corresponds to 10℃ / min, the second heat level corresponds to 5℃ / min, and the third heat level corresponds to 1℃ / min. Finally, the corresponding load power is queried based on the heat level, and then the target battery unit is adjusted to the specified load power.

[0054] As can be seen, in this embodiment, the power consumption of the target battery unit is adjusted in real time according to the energy storage capacity of the energy storage unit, so that the temperature of the target battery unit is controlled within a suitable range, thereby improving the reliability of the system.

[0055] Step 205: Determine the power demand of the second electrical equipment.

[0056] Step 206: Output a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand.

[0057] The third control signal is used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

[0058] In one possible embodiment, please refer to Figure 4 The step of outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand includes: step 2061, determining whether the energy storage unit can meet the power demand; step 2062, if the power supply can meet the power demand, directly outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit; step 2063, if the power supply cannot meet the power demand, calculating the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency that the thermoelectric conversion unit needs to achieve when the power demand is met; and step 2064, converting and adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency; and step 2065, outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit.

[0059] In practice, since the second electrical device needs an energy storage unit to supplement the voltage, after determining the power demand of the second electrical device, it is necessary to first predict whether the energy storage unit can meet the power demand. If the power demand can be met, a third control signal can be directly output to control the energy storage unit to directly supply power to the second electrical device. If the power demand cannot be met, it is necessary to first calculate the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency required to meet the continuous power supply, then adjust the first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency, and then output a third control signal to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device.

[0060] As can be seen, in this embodiment, different power supply schemes are selected according to power demand so that the energy storage unit can meet the power demand of the second power-consuming device, thereby improving the system reliability.

[0061] In one possible embodiment, determining whether the energy storage unit can meet the power demand includes: determining the current scenario of the target battery unit, including a battery thermal runaway scenario and a battery overload scenario; if it is a battery thermal runaway scenario, then determining that the energy storage unit cannot meet the power demand; if it is a battery overload scenario, then determining that the energy storage unit can meet the power demand.

[0062] In specific implementation, the current thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit is determined. If the current thermoelectric rate of the thermoelectric conversion unit is less than the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency, it is determined that the energy storage unit cannot meet the power consumption requirements; if the current thermoelectric rate of the thermoelectric conversion unit is greater than or equal to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency, it is determined that the energy storage unit meets the power consumption requirements.

[0063] As can be seen, in this embodiment, different scenarios are used to determine whether the power demand is met, which improves the reliability of the system.

[0064] In one possible embodiment, please refer to Figure 5The thermoelectric conversion unit includes multiple heat-absorbing subunits and multiple cooling subunits. The multiple heat-absorbing subunits are used to connect to the hot end of the thermoelectric conversion unit, and the multiple cooling subunits are used to connect to the cold end of the thermoelectric conversion unit. The step of converting and adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency includes: step 20641, querying the first equipment combination corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency from a preset first lookup table. The first lookup table stores multiple equipment combinations, each of which includes a corresponding heat-absorbing subunit and a cooling subunit. The multiple equipment combinations include the first equipment combination, which includes a first heat-absorbing subunit and a second cooling subunit; step 20642, switching the hot end of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the first heat-absorbing subunit and the cold end to the first cooling subunit conversion efficiency.

[0065] In practical implementation, the factors affecting thermoelectric conversion efficiency include two aspects: ① Electron diffusion from the hot end to the cold end. However, this diffusion is not caused by the concentration gradient (because the electron concentration in the metal is independent of temperature), but rather by the higher energy and velocity of electrons at the hot end. Obviously, if this effect is dominant, the coefficient of the Seebeck effect should be negative. ② The influence of electron mean free path. Although there are many free electrons in the metal, the so-called conduction electrons in the 2kT range near the Fermi level are the main contributors to conductivity. The mean free path of these electrons is related to the scattering conditions (phonon scattering, impurity and defect scattering) and the change of energy state density with energy.

[0066] Therefore, the thermoelectric conversion efficiency can be improved by increasing the temperature difference between the cold and hot ends, and conversely, if it is necessary to reduce the thermoelectric conversion efficiency, the temperature difference between the cold and hot ends can be reduced. Based on this, this embodiment collects a large amount of operating data of the battery system in advance, and statistically analyzes the thermoelectric conversion efficiency achievable by each combination of heat-absorbing sub-units and cooling sub-units. This thermoelectric conversion efficiency can be obtained by calculating the average value based on multiple sets of data. Then, a first lookup table is generated according to the correlation between each combination of heat-absorbing and cooling sub-units and the thermoelectric conversion efficiency. When the battery system is actually working, the first lookup table is consulted according to the determined target thermoelectric conversion efficiency to obtain the first heat-absorbing sub-unit and the first cooling sub-unit corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency. The temperature difference and Seebeck coefficient between these two sub-units enable the thermoelectric conversion efficiency to reach the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

[0067] In addition to improving conversion efficiency, multiple different thermionic units can be set in the thermoelectric conversion unit, and the corresponding heat sub-units can be switched according to the target heat difference, which can also achieve the purpose of adjusting the temperature difference between the cold and hot ends of the electrothermal conversion module. Specifically, the thermoelectric conversion unit includes multiple thermionic units, each corresponding to a heat difference; the step of converting and adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency includes: querying the second device combination corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency from a preset second lookup table, the second lookup table storing multiple device combinations, each device combination including a corresponding thermionic unit, the multiple device combinations including the second device combination, the second device combination including the first thermionic unit; switching the connection of the first thermionic unit to the battery unit. Each thermionic unit includes a fixed heat-absorbing sub-unit and a cooling sub-unit, that is, each thermionic unit has a fixed thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

[0068] As can be seen, in this embodiment, the thermoelectric conversion rate can be adjusted by adjusting the temperature difference between the cold and hot ends of the electrothermal conversion module, thereby improving the controllability and reliability of the battery system.

[0069] In one possible embodiment, calculating the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency to meet the power demand includes: determining the first voltage required by the second electrical device; calculating the first power consumption based on the first voltage; calculating the first power consumption per unit time based on the first power consumption; calculating the thermoelectric conversion efficiency required by the thermoelectric conversion unit to convert the first power consumption, and obtaining the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

[0070] In specific implementation, the first power consumption per unit time of the second electrical device is calculated based on the first voltage required by the second electrical device. After obtaining the first power consumption, the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency can be calculated by back-calculating through the Seebeck effect. In addition, a third correspondence between power consumption and thermoelectric conversion efficiency can be pre-stored. Once the first power consumption is determined, the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency can be directly obtained by querying the third correspondence.

[0071] When the target battery is operating at full power, the energy storage unit provides auxiliary power to reduce the load on the target battery.

[0072] In summary, in this embodiment, by determining that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy; a second control signal is sent to the energy storage unit to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy; multiple power consumption information corresponding one-to-one with the multiple first electrical devices is acquired; based on the multiple power consumption information, a second electrical device that needs power supply is determined among the multiple first electrical devices; the power consumption demand of the second electrical device is determined; and a third control signal is output to the energy storage unit according to the power consumption demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power consumption demand. In this way, the waste heat generated by the battery can be effectively utilized, and a backup power supply for the battery system is improved.

[0073] The above primarily describes the solutions of the embodiments of this application from the perspective of the method execution process. It is understood that, in order to achieve the above functions, mobile electronic devices include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, in conjunction with the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in the embodiments provided herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0074] This application embodiment can divide the electronic device into functional units according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit. It should be noted that the unit division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0075] Please see Figure 6 This application also provides a power supply device 60 based on battery thermal energy, applied to the control unit of a battery system, the battery system including the control unit, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices; the device includes:

[0076] The determining unit 61 is used to determine that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, and then send a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit. The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy.

[0077] Output unit 62 is used to output a second control signal to the energy storage unit, the second control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy;

[0078] Acquisition unit 63 is used to acquire multiple power consumption information corresponding to the multiple first electrical devices;

[0079] The determining unit 61 is further configured to determine, based on the plurality of power consumption information, a second power consumption device among the plurality of first power consumption devices that requires power supply; and to determine the power consumption demand of the second power consumption device;

[0080] The output unit 62 is further configured to output a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

[0081] As can be seen, in this embodiment, by determining that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy; a second control signal is sent to the energy storage unit to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy; multiple power consumption information corresponding one-to-one with the multiple first electrical devices is obtained; based on the multiple power consumption information, a second electrical device that needs power supply is determined among the multiple first electrical devices; the power consumption demand of the second electrical device is determined; and a third control signal is output to the energy storage unit according to the power consumption demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power consumption demand. In this way, the waste heat generated by the battery can be effectively utilized, and a backup power supply for the battery system is improved.

[0082] In one possible embodiment, the third control signal includes a fourth control signal and a fifth control signal; in the aspect of outputting the third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand, the output unit 62 is specifically configured to: predict whether the power of the energy storage unit can meet the power demand; if the power can meet the power demand, directly output the fourth control signal to the energy storage unit, the fourth control signal being used to instruct the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy; if the power cannot meet the power demand, calculate the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency that meets the power demand according to the power demand; and adjust the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency; and output the fifth control signal to the energy storage unit, the fifth control signal being used for...

[0083] In one possible embodiment, the output unit 62 is specifically configured to: determine the current scenario of the target battery unit, including a battery thermal runaway scenario and a battery overload scenario; if it is a battery thermal runaway scenario, determine that the energy storage unit cannot meet the power demand; if it is a battery overload scenario, determine that the energy storage unit can meet the power demand.

[0084] In one possible embodiment, the thermoelectric conversion unit includes a heat-absorbing subunit and a cooling subunit respectively disposed at the hot end and cold end of the thermoelectric conversion unit; the step of converting and adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency is an invention, and the output unit 62 is specifically used to: determine the target heat difference corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency; switch the heat-absorbing subunit and the cooling subunit connected to the thermoelectric conversion module according to the target heat difference; or, switch the thermionic unit according to the target heat difference, with each thermionic unit corresponding to a different thermoelectric conversion rate.

[0085] In one possible embodiment, the aspect of calculating the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency to meet the power demand is specifically configured to: determine the first voltage required by the second electrical device; calculate the first power consumption based on the first voltage; calculate the first power consumption per unit time based on the first power consumption; calculate the thermoelectric conversion efficiency required by the thermoelectric conversion unit to convert the first power consumption, and obtain the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

[0086] In one possible embodiment, each power consumption information includes a supply voltage and a rated voltage; the aspect of determining the second power consumption device that needs power supply among the plurality of first power consumption devices based on the plurality of power consumption information, the determining unit 61 is specifically configured to: perform the following processing for each power consumption information: compare the supply voltage of the current power consumption information with the rated voltage; if the supply voltage is less than the rated voltage, calculate the absolute value of the difference between the supply voltage and the rated voltage; if the absolute value of the difference is greater than a second preset value, determine that the first power consumption device corresponding to the current power consumption information is the second power consumption device.

[0087] In one possible embodiment, after the aspect of outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the electricity demand, the device further includes:

[0088] The determining unit 61 is further configured to determine the current energy storage stage of the energy storage unit, the energy storage stage indicating the percentage of the stored electricity in the energy storage unit; and to determine a heat generation level associated with the energy storage stage, the heat generation level indicating the current heat generation rate of the target battery unit; and to control the load power of the target battery unit according to the heat generation level.

[0089] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more sets of available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. A semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0090] This application also provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program for electronic data interchange, which causes a computer to perform some or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments, wherein the computer includes an electronic device.

[0091] This application also provides a computer program product, which includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program operable to cause a computer to perform some or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer program product may be a software installation package, and the computer may include an electronic device.

[0092] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0093] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, apparatuses, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units is merely a logical functional division, and other division methods may exist in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0094] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0095] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be physically comprised separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit described above can be implemented in hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0096] The integrated units implemented as software functional units described above can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. These software functional units, stored in a storage medium, include several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute some steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a USB flash drive, a portable hard drive, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, volatile memory, or non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous linked DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM), etc., various media capable of storing program code.

[0097] While the present invention has been disclosed above, it is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of variations or substitutions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and various modifications and alterations can be made, including combinations of the different functions and implementation steps described above, as well as software and hardware implementation methods, all of which are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A power supply method based on thermal energy of a battery, characterized by, A control unit applied to a battery system, the battery system including the control unit, a target battery cell, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices; the method includes: If the temperature of the target battery cell is determined to be greater than a first preset value, a first control signal is sent to the thermoelectric conversion unit. The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy. A second control signal is sent to the energy storage unit, the second control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy; Obtain multiple power consumption information corresponding to the plurality of first electrical devices, each power consumption information including the supply voltage and the rated voltage; Determining the second electrical device requiring power supply from among the plurality of first electrical devices based on the plurality of electricity consumption information includes: performing the following processing for each piece of electricity consumption information: comparing the supply voltage of the current electricity consumption information with the rated voltage; if the supply voltage is less than the rated voltage, calculating the absolute value of the difference between the supply voltage and the rated voltage; if the absolute value of the difference is greater than a second preset value, determining the first electrical device corresponding to the current electricity consumption information as the second electrical device; Determine the power requirements of the second electrical device; According to the power demand, a third control signal is output to the energy storage unit, and the third control signal is used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The step of outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the electricity demand includes: Determine whether the energy storage unit can meet the electricity demand; If the power supply is sufficient to meet the power demand, then a third control signal is directly output to the energy storage unit. If the amount of electricity cannot meet the power demand, then calculate the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency that the thermoelectric conversion unit needs to achieve to meet the power demand; and adjust the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency; and output a third control signal to the energy storage unit.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The thermoelectric conversion unit includes multiple heat-absorbing subunits and multiple cooling subunits. The multiple heat-absorbing subunits are used to connect to the hot end of the thermoelectric conversion unit, and the multiple cooling subunits are used to connect to the cold end of the thermoelectric conversion unit. The step of adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency includes: The first equipment combination corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency is queried from a preset first lookup table. The first lookup table stores multiple equipment combinations. Each equipment combination includes a corresponding heat absorption subunit and a cooling subunit. The multiple equipment combinations include the first equipment combination. The first equipment combination includes a first heat absorption subunit and a second cooling subunit. The hot end of the thermoelectric conversion unit is switched to the first heat absorption subunit, and the cold end is switched to the first cooling subunit.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, The thermoelectric conversion unit includes multiple thermionic units, and each thermionic unit corresponds to a heat difference; The step of adjusting the current first thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion unit to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency includes: The second equipment combination corresponding to the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency is queried from a preset second lookup table. The second lookup table stores multiple equipment combinations, each of which includes a corresponding thermionic unit. The multiple equipment combinations include the second equipment combination, and the second equipment combination includes a first thermionic unit. Switch the connection between the first thermionic unit and the battery unit.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of calculating the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency to meet the electricity demand includes: Determine the first voltage required by the second electrical device; Calculate the first power consumption based on the first voltage; Calculate the first power consumption per unit time based on the first power consumption; The thermoelectric conversion efficiency required by the thermoelectric conversion unit to convert the first power consumption is calculated to obtain the target thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After outputting a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the electricity demand, the method further includes: Determine the current energy storage stage of the energy storage unit, wherein the energy storage stage is used to indicate the percentage of electricity stored by the energy storage unit; Determine the heat level associated with the energy storage phase, the heat level being used to indicate the rate of heat generation that needs to be adjusted for the target battery cell; The load power of the target battery cell is controlled according to the heat level.

7. A power supply device based on battery thermal energy, characterized in that, A control unit applied to a battery system, the battery system including the control unit, a thermoelectric conversion unit, an energy storage unit, and multiple first electrical devices; the device includes: A determining unit is used to determine that the temperature of the target battery cell is greater than a first preset value, and then sends a first control signal to the thermoelectric conversion unit. The first control signal is used to control the thermoelectric conversion unit to collect the heat of the target battery cell and convert the heat into electrical energy. An output unit is used to output a second control signal to the energy storage unit, the second control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to receive and store the electrical energy; The acquisition unit is used to acquire multiple power consumption information corresponding to the multiple first electrical devices, each power consumption information including the supply voltage and the rated voltage; The determining unit is further configured to determine, based on the plurality of power consumption information, a second power consumption device among the plurality of first power consumption devices that requires power supply, including: performing the following processing for each power consumption information: comparing the power supply voltage of the current power consumption information with the rated voltage; if the power supply voltage is less than the rated voltage, calculating the absolute value of the difference between the power supply voltage and the rated voltage; if the absolute value of the difference is greater than a second preset value, determining that the first power consumption device corresponding to the current power consumption information is the second power consumption device; and determining the power consumption demand of the second power consumption device; The output unit is further configured to output a third control signal to the energy storage unit according to the power demand, the third control signal being used to control the energy storage unit to supply power to the second electrical device according to the power demand.

8. An electronic device, characterized in that, The method includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs, said one or more programs being stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, said programs including instructions for performing the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1-6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program for electronic data interchange is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute instructions for the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1-6.

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