Battery pack spray system, control method and vehicle

Abstract

The present application relates to a battery pack spray system, control method and vehicle. The battery pack spray system includes a liquid storage tank, a pump, a control unit and a detection unit, wherein the liquid storage tank stores spray liquid, the pump is in fluid communication with the liquid storage tank, is in communication connection with the control unit, and is configured to provide power for delivering the spray liquid, the detection unit is configured to detect state parameters in the battery pack and is in communication connection with the control unit, when thermal runaway occurs, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a first power to deliver the spray liquid to the battery pack; when thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is entered, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a second power; when thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is not entered, the pump does not operate, wherein the first power is greater than the second power.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of thermal runaway of battery packs, and more specifically, to a battery pack spray system and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] As new energy vehicles account for a larger share of the market, thermal runaway of battery packs has also attracted great attention from all walks of life. How to make the spray system for thermal runaway of battery packs work safely and reliably is a key issue that designers consider.

[0003] The information provided in this section is for the purpose of generally presenting the background of the present application and therefore may contain information that does not constitute prior art in the art. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to solve or at least alleviate the problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] One aspect of the present application relates to a control method for a battery pack spray system, comprising the following steps:

[0006] Detect the status parameters in the battery pack;

[0007] Determining whether thermal runaway occurs in the battery pack according to the state parameters;

[0008] If thermal runaway occurs, controlling the pump to operate at a first power to deliver the spray liquid to the battery pack;

[0009] If thermal runaway does not occur, it is determined whether the self-test period has begun. When the self-test period has begun, the pump is controlled to operate at the second power. When the self-test period has not begun, the pump does not operate.

[0010] The first power is greater than the second power.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, when thermal runaway does not occur, the spray liquid does not enter the battery pack.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, when thermal runaway occurs, a valve disposed between the pump and the battery pack is opened; when thermal runaway does not occur, the valve is closed.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, the valve is a one-way stop valve, and when the pump operates at the first power, the pressure of the spray liquid exceeds the opening pressure of the valve, and when the pump is not operating or operates at the second power, the pressure of the spray liquid is less than the opening pressure.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, when the pump operates at the second power, the pump and / or the spray system is detected.

[0015] Another aspect of the present application relates to a battery pack spray system, comprising a liquid storage tank, a pump, a control unit and a detection unit, wherein:

[0016] The liquid storage tank stores spray liquid.

[0017] The pump is in fluid communication with the liquid storage tank, is in communication with the control unit, and is configured to provide power for delivering the spray liquid.

[0018] The detection unit is configured to detect the state parameters in the battery pack and is connected to the control unit for communication.

[0019] When thermal runaway occurs, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a first power to deliver spray liquid to the battery pack; when thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is entered, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a second power; when thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is not entered, the pump does not operate, wherein the first power is greater than the second power.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, when thermal runaway does not occur, the spray liquid does not enter the battery pack.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, a valve is further included between the pump and the battery pack, and when thermal runaway occurs, the valve is opened; when thermal runaway does not occur, the valve is closed.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present application, optionally, the valve is a one-way stop valve, and when the pump operates at the first power, the pressure of the spray liquid exceeds the opening pressure of the valve, and when the pump is not operating or operates at the second power, the pressure of the spray liquid is less than the opening pressure.

[0023] The present application also relates to a vehicle, which includes a battery pack spray system according to any one of the aforementioned contents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The disclosure of the present application will become more easily understood with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. In addition, similar numbers in the drawings represent similar components, wherein:

[0025] Figure 1 A battery pack spraying system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0026] Figure 2 A control method for a battery pack spray system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] First of all, it should be noted that the composition, characteristics and advantages of the battery pack spray system and control method according to the present invention will be described below by way of example, but it should be understood that all descriptions are given for illustration only and should not be construed as any limitation to the present invention. In this article, the technical terms "first" and "second" are only used for distinguishing purposes and are not intended to indicate their order and relative importance. The technical term "connection (or connection, etc.)" covers the direct connection of a specific component to another component and / or indirect connection to another component. In addition, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the dimensions, directions or positional relationships indicated by the technical terms "length", "width", "height", "upper", "top", "bottom" and the like are based on the dimensions, orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and cannot be understood as limitations on the present invention.

[0028] In addition, for any single technical feature described or implied in the embodiments mentioned herein, or any single technical feature shown or implied in the drawings, the present invention still allows any combination or deletion between these technical features (or their equivalents) without any technical obstacles, thereby obtaining more other embodiments of the present invention that may not be directly mentioned herein. In addition, general matters that are already known to those skilled in the art will not be repeated in this article.

[0029] refer to Figure 1 In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the battery pack spraying system of the battery pack 101 includes a liquid storage tank 102, a pump 103, a valve 105, a control unit 107, a detection unit (not shown), an external pipeline 104 and an internal pipeline 106. The liquid storage tank stores a spraying liquid for spraying, and the spraying liquid is optionally a low-conductivity medium. The pump 103 is in fluid communication with the liquid storage tank 102. The detection unit is usually located inside the battery pack, and it detects the state parameters in the battery pack in real time and sends the state parameters to the control unit 107. The control unit 107 determines whether thermal runaway occurs in the battery pack based on the control parameters. The state parameters may include one or more of temperature, voltage, air pressure, etc. The control unit 107 controls the operation of the pump 103. For example, the control unit 107 can be connected to the pump 103 via a wiring harness 108. Of course, it is also connected to the pump 103 by other wired or wireless methods commonly used in the art, so as to control the pump 103 and obtain parameter information from the pump 103. When thermal runaway occurs in the battery pack, the control unit 107 may control the pump to deliver the spray liquid to the inside of the battery pack. As is known in the art, thermal runaway may include high temperatures, combustion, and eruption of high-temperature substances in the battery pack.

[0030] Continue to refer Figure 1The battery pack spraying system may further include a valve 105. The valve 105 is disposed between the pump 103 and the battery pack. The opening and closing of the valve can control the fluid connection between the spraying liquid and the battery pack. By providing the valve 105, it can be ensured that the spraying liquid is isolated from the battery pack when thermal runaway does not occur, and the spraying liquid enters the battery pack when thermal runaway occurs. In this way, the spraying liquid does not enter the battery pack under normal circumstances, and leakage of the spraying liquid in the battery pack can be avoided. The spraying liquid enters the battery pack only when spraying is needed, and sprays to cool down and extinguish high temperature, flames, etc., to prevent the spread of thermal runaway. Optionally, the pipeline of the spraying system includes an external pipeline 104 and an internal pipeline 106. Figure 1 As schematically shown by the midpoint line, the inner pipe 106 is located inside the battery pack 101. The inner pipe 106 partially has hot-melt material, which melts when thermal runaway occurs in the battery cell, allowing the spray liquid in the pipe to flow out to spray the battery cell, thereby cooling the thermal runaway battery cell and avoiding heat diffusion.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present application, valve 105 may be a mechanical valve, such as a one-way stop valve. When pump 103 operates at a first power, the pressure of the spray liquid may cause valve 105 to open, thereby entering the battery pack through valve 105, wherein the first power is a relatively high power, such as the maximum power of pump 103. When the pump operates at the first power, valve 105 is opened to the maximum opening. When pump 103 is not operating, it is not sufficient to open valve 105, so that the spray liquid does not enter the battery pack. In addition, when the spray system or pump needs to be self-checked, control system 107 may control pump 103 to operate at a second power, which is a lower power, such as the minimum power of the pump. When pump 103 operates at the second power, it is not sufficient to open valve 105, so that the spray liquid will not pass through valve 105 during the self-check process, and therefore will not enter battery pack 101. In addition, if Figure 1 As shown in the figure, in the embodiment of the present application, the flow path of the spray system is a one-way flow path, that is, the spray liquid flows in the direction from the liquid storage tank 102 to the battery pack 101 without a loop. Through such a setting, the structure of the system is simplified, the cost is reduced, and the reliability of the system can be improved.

[0032] Optionally, the liquid storage tank 102 may be provided with a liquid level sensor, and when the liquid level in the tank is lower than a certain value, a reminder may be sent to the outside to replenish the spray liquid. Optionally, the liquid storage tank 102 may be arranged to be located above the battery pack and / or the pump, generally above the battery pack or the pump in the vertical direction, so that its liquid level is also higher than the battery pack or the pump.

[0033] The present application also relates to a control method for a battery pack spray system. Figure 2 An embodiment of the method of the present application is shown, comprising:

[0034] Detecting state parameters in the battery pack 101, for example, detecting state parameters such as temperature, air pressure, and voltage in the battery pack by a detection unit disposed in the battery pack 101;

[0035] Determine whether the battery pack has thermal runaway based on the detected parameters.

[0036] If thermal runaway occurs, the pump 103 is controlled to operate at a first power, so that the spray liquid is delivered to the battery pack 101 for spraying;

[0037] If the battery pack does not experience thermal runaway, it is determined whether the spray system has entered the self-test period. If it is determined that the spray system has entered the self-test period, the pump is controlled to operate at the second power and the pump and / or system is self-tested. If it is determined that the spray system has not entered the self-test period, the pump is not operated. The first power is greater than the second power.

[0038] Among them, when thermal runaway does not occur, the spray liquid will not be delivered to the battery pack. This means that when thermal runaway does not occur, regardless of whether the self-test period is entered, that is, regardless of whether the pump is running at the second power or not, the spray liquid will not enter the battery pack. Specifically, whether the spray liquid enters the battery pack can be controlled by opening and closing the valve. The valve can be an electrically controlled valve or a mechanical valve. For example, when valve 105 is a one-way stop valve, the valve will only be opened when the liquid pressure on the side of the valve close to the pump exceeds a certain value, and when the pump is running at the first power, the valve 105 can be opened. When the pump 103 is not running or running at the second power, it is not enough to open the valve. Optionally and similarly, it can also be set that when the pump runs at the first rate, the valve can be opened, and when the pump runs at the second rate or when the pump is not running, the valve is not enough to be opened. In this way, using a mechanical valve, the opening and closing of the valve can be controlled only by controlling the operating power or operating rate of the pump. Wherein the first rate is greater than the second rate, and optionally, the first rate is the maximum rate of the pump, and the second rate is the minimum rate of the pump. Optionally, when the pump is running at the first rate, the valve is opened to a maximum opening.

[0039] During the self-check period, the pump can be self-checked to determine whether it can operate normally. At the same time, other components of the spray system can also be self-checked to check whether the system is operating normally. Designers can design the self-check cycle according to the vehicle and usage conditions. For example, it can be self-checked once a year, once a month, or under certain trigger conditions. The control method of the spray system of the present application can be used to control the spray system of the present application.

[0040] According to the spray system and the control method of the spray system of the present application, the thermal runaway of the battery pack can be controlled, and the structure is simple and the cost is low. The thermal runaway can be controlled inside the battery pack, thereby improving safety, such as the safety of the vehicle equipped with the battery pack, and providing passengers with a longer escape time.

[0041] The specific embodiments described above in this application are only for more clearly describing the principles of this application, wherein each component is clearly shown or described to make the principles of the present invention easier to understand. Without departing from the scope of this application, those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications or changes to this application. Therefore, it should be understood that these modifications or changes should be included in the scope of patent protection of this application.

Claims

1. A control method for a battery pack spray system, comprising the following steps: Detect the status parameters in the battery pack; Determining whether thermal runaway occurs in the battery pack according to the state parameters; If thermal runaway occurs, controlling the pump to operate at a first power to deliver the spray liquid to the battery pack; If thermal runaway does not occur, it is determined whether the self-test period has begun. When the self-test period has begun, the pump is controlled to operate at the second power. When the self-test period has not begun, the pump does not operate. The first power is greater than the second power.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When thermal runaway does not occur, the spray liquid does not enter the battery pack.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When thermal runaway occurs, the valve disposed between the pump and the battery pack is opened; when thermal runaway does not occur, the valve is closed.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The valve is a one-way stop valve. When the pump operates at the first power, the pressure of the spray liquid exceeds the opening pressure of the valve. When the pump does not operate or operates at the second power, the pressure of the spray liquid is less than the opening pressure.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When the pump is operated at the second power, the pump and / or the sprinkler system is tested.

6. A battery pack spray system, comprising a liquid storage tank, a pump, a control unit and a detection unit, wherein: The liquid storage tank stores spray liquid. The pump is in fluid communication with the liquid storage tank, is in communication with the control unit, and is configured to provide power for delivering the spray liquid. The detection unit is configured to detect the state parameters in the battery pack and is connected to the control unit for communication. When thermal runaway occurs, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a first power to deliver the spray liquid to the battery pack; When thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is entered, the control unit controls the pump to operate at a second power; when thermal runaway does not occur and the self-test period is not entered, the pump does not operate, wherein the first power is greater than the second power.

7. The battery pack spraying system according to claim 6, characterized in that: When thermal runaway does not occur, the spray liquid does not enter the battery pack.

8. The battery pack spray system according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a valve arranged between the pump and the battery pack. When thermal runaway occurs, the valve is opened; when thermal runaway does not occur, the valve is closed.

9. The battery pack spray system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The valve is a one-way stop valve. When the pump operates at the first power, the pressure of the spray liquid exceeds the opening pressure of the valve. When the pump does not operate or operates at the second power, the pressure of the spray liquid is less than the opening pressure.

10. A vehicle comprising a battery pack spray system according to any one of claims 6-9.

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