An electric cell module, a battery cluster

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of battery module, including several battery units, pole is equipped in the top of battery unit and safety valve, several the battery unit is stacked along the thickness direction of battery, and the bottom of battery unit is provided with bottom hole;Still including fire-fighting mechanism;The top of fire-fighting mechanism is provided with exhaust liquid passage that is communicated with safety valve, the bottom of fire-fighting mechanism is provided with liquid inlet passage that is communicated with bottom hole.This application several battery units are stacked to form large-capacity battery module, using existing mass production battery package production, multiple battery parallel design, greatly reduce the acquisition cost of battery module;And design fire-fighting mechanism, when battery thermal runaway occurs, fire-fighting water can be introduced into liquid inlet passage, and then into the battery unit of thermal runaway to carry out thermal runaway suppression, thermal runaway suppression effect is good, safety is high, other adjacent battery module cannot be damaged, and single module can be replaced and maintained, greatly reduce the high after-sales cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of energy storage battery technology, specifically to a cell module and a battery cluster. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells account for the largest proportion of electrochemical energy storage, and large capacity and high safety are the key technological directions that LFP battery development is focusing on. Increasing the capacity of individual cells and reducing the number of cells collected is currently the best technical path to reduce the cost of energy storage systems. However, when the capacity of individual cells is increased, the safety of the cells deteriorates, and the low yield rate is a current research and development challenge for large-capacity cells. Currently, the mainstream energy storage LFP cells are usually square cells. In order to ensure that thermal runaway of a single cell does not spread to adjacent cells, aerogel pads are required between cells for thermal barrier.

[0003] Currently, most battery cells have small capacities, and a single battery cluster has many cells connected in series, resulting in a large number of sampling channels in the battery cluster and high sampling costs. When thermal runaway occurs in a cell, it will damage other cell modules, making the entire pack unusable and scrapped, resulting in high after-sales costs. To prevent thermal runaway between cells from spreading, aerogel is now required between each cell, which increases the cost of heat insulation. Utility Model Content

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by this utility model is: how to solve the problem of thermal runaway diffusion between battery cells, which in turn affects other battery cells and leads to high after-sales costs.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, this utility model provides the following technical solution:

[0006] A battery cell module includes several battery cell units, each battery cell unit having a terminal post and a safety valve at its top, the several battery cell units being stacked along the thickness direction of the battery cell, and a bottom hole being formed at the bottom of each battery cell unit;

[0007] It also includes fire protection equipment, which covers all battery cell units;

[0008] The fire-fighting device has an exhaust and drainage channel at the top that is connected to the safety valve, and an inlet channel at the bottom that is connected to the bottom hole.

[0009] This application stacks several battery cell units along the thickness direction to form a large-capacity battery cell module, which is manufactured using existing mass-produced battery cell packaging and features a parallel design of multiple battery cells, greatly reducing the acquisition cost of the battery cell module. In addition, it is designed with a fire-fighting mechanism, which can introduce fire-fighting water into the liquid inlet channel when thermal runaway of a battery cell occurs, and then enter the thermal runaway battery cell to suppress thermal runaway. The thermal runaway suppression effect is good, the safety is high, and it will not damage other adjacent battery cell modules. Moreover, individual modules can be replaced and repaired, which greatly reduces after-sales costs.

[0010] As a further embodiment of this utility model: the exhaust and drainage channel includes an exhaust hood arranged along the thickness direction of the battery cell, the exhaust hood is installed on the top of the fire-fighting mechanism and located above the safety valve, and an exhaust and drainage connector is provided at the end of the exhaust hood.

[0011] As a further embodiment of this utility model: the liquid inlet channel includes a receiving cavity opened along the thickness direction of the battery cell, the receiving cavity is opened on the bottom plate of the fire-fighting mechanism, and the receiving cavity is connected to the liquid inlet connector provided at the end of the fire-fighting shell.

[0012] As a further embodiment of this utility model, an electrolyte overflow hole is provided on the base plate.

[0013] As a further embodiment of this utility model: the fire-fighting mechanism includes a protective cover, the top of which is provided with a pole clearance hole corresponding to the pole and the safety valve, and a safety valve clearance hole, wherein the exhaust and liquid discharge channel is connected to the safety valve clearance hole.

[0014] As a further embodiment of this utility model: a sealing patch is installed on the top of the battery cell unit, and the sealing patch has clearance holes for the pole and the safety valve.

[0015] As a further embodiment of this invention, the sealing patch is made of silicone rubber.

[0016] As a further embodiment of this utility model: the large surface of the battery cell unit is provided with a spiral frame.

[0017] As a further embodiment of this utility model, the assembly gap between the two narrow sides of the battery cell unit and the protective cover is filled with potting material.

[0018] This utility model also discloses a battery cluster, including several cell modules, wherein the several cell modules are connected in series / parallel.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are:

[0020] 1. This application designs a fire-fighting mechanism that allows fire-fighting water to be introduced into the inlet channel when thermal runaway of a battery cell occurs. This water then enters the thermally runaway battery cell to suppress the runaway and is discharged through the exhaust and drainage channels. This design provides good thermal runaway suppression, high safety, and prevents damage to other adjacent battery cell modules. Furthermore, individual modules can be replaced and repaired, greatly reducing after-sales costs.

[0021] 2. This application forms a large-capacity battery cell module by stacking several battery cell units along the thickness direction, using existing mass-produced battery cell packaging, and designing multiple battery cells in parallel. A group of battery modules only needs to be collected once, which greatly reduces the collection cost of battery cell modules.

[0022] 3. This application sets a U-shaped frame on the large surface of the cell unit. The U-shaped frame is made of PP material or foam material. No thermal insulation aerogel is set between the cells, which greatly reduces the cost of thermal runaway insulation protection. In addition, the U-shaped frame can reserve an expansion gap for two cells. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the battery cell unit in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a bottom view of the battery cell unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is an exploded view of a battery cell module with thermal runaway water fire suppression according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 This is an exploded view from another perspective of the battery cell module with thermal runaway water fire suppression according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a partially exploded view of a battery cell module with thermal runaway water fire suppression according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the battery cell module with thermal runaway water fire suppression according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a bottom view of a battery cell module with thermal runaway water fire suppression according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 8 for Figure 7 Sectional view along line AA in the middle;

[0031] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0032] 1. Battery cell unit; 11. U-shaped frame; 12. Bottom hole; 13. Sealing patch; 14. Safety valve; 15. Terminal post;

[0033] 21. Protective cover; 22. Base plate; 221. Receiving cavity; 23. Liquid inlet connector; 24. Exhaust and drain connector; 25. Safety valve clearance hole; 26. Pole clearance hole; 27. Exhaust hood;

[0034] 3. Assembly gap. Detailed Implementation

[0035] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present utility model clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments of the present utility model. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present utility model, rather than all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present utility model without any creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present utility model.

[0036] Embodiment 1

[0037] A battery cell module can be applied in an energy storage container, and includes a battery cell unit 1 and a fire protection mechanism. The battery cell unit 1 is installed inside the fire protection mechanism, and the fire protection mechanism can perform thermal runaway water fire protection and exhaust on the battery cell unit 1.

[0038] Refer to Figure 3 , there are several groups of battery cell units 1, and several groups of battery cell units 1 are stacked and connected in parallel along the thickness direction of the battery cell. The specific number of battery cell units 1 is selected according to the battery capacity, and this application does not make a limit.

[0039] Furthermore, the battery cell unit 1 uses currently existing square energy storage battery cells, which are divided into six surfaces including a top surface, a bottom surface, two large surfaces, and two narrow surfaces. Among them, the top surface is provided with a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, and a safety valve 14 is provided between the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal;

[0040] Refer to Figure 1 , a sealing patch 13 is installed on the top surface of the battery cell unit 1. Avoidance holes for the positive electrode terminal, the negative electrode terminal, and the safety valve 14 are reserved on the sealing patch 13. The sealing patch 13 can adopt a silicone rubber patch, etc., and can withstand high temperatures and electrolyte corrosion;

[0041] Refer to Figure 2 , a bottom hole 12 is opened on the bottom surface of the battery cell unit 1, and the bottom hole 12 is an elliptical structure;

[0042] Refer to Figure 1 , a "return" shaped frame is arranged on the two large surfaces of the battery cell unit 1 to reserve an expansion gap for two battery cells. The return shaped frame 11 can adopt a pp material or a foam material.

[0043] Refer to Figure 3 , the fire protection mechanism can cover all battery cell units 1. The fire protection mechanism includes a protective cover body 21, a bottom plate 22, a liquid inlet joint 23, an exhaust and drainage joint 24, a safety valve avoidance hole 25, a terminal avoidance hole 26, and an exhaust hood 27. Among them, the protective cover body 21 is a rectangular frame structure with an open bottom, and is fixed at its bottom opening using the bottom plate 22; after stacking several battery cell units 1 into a battery cell module, it is inverted and placed into the protective cover body 21, and after being tightly pressed and welded through the sealing bottom plate 22, a sealed battery cell module is formed;

[0044] Furthermore, refer to Figure 4 A recessed receiving cavity 221 is formed in the middle of the inner side of the sealing base plate 22 along the thickness direction of the cell unit, thereby forming a cavity structure above the opening at the bottom of the cell. The sealing base plate 22 is placed on top when adding electrolyte, and on the bottom during normal use. An electrolyte overflow hole can be provided on the sealing base plate 22. After all the cell units 1 are installed into the protective cover 21 and the entire cell module is completed, electrolyte is added through the liquid inlet connector 23. If electrolyte is discharged from the overflow hole, it is determined that the electrolyte is full. After the electrolyte is added, the overflow hole is sealed by welding. This is a conventional design and will not be described in detail here.

[0045] Reference Figure 5 The top of the protective cover 21 is provided with pole clearance holes 26 and safety valve clearance holes 25 corresponding to the pole 15 and safety valve 14. Through the overpressure fit of the sealing patch 13, the interior of the protective cover 21 is sealed and isolated from the exterior. An exhaust hood 27 is welded and fixed to the top of the protective cover 21 along the thickness direction of the battery cell, and the exhaust hood 27 completely covers all the safety valve clearance holes 25. An exhaust and drain connector 24 is installed at the end of the exhaust hood 27. A liquid inlet connector 23 is also installed on one side wall at the bottom of the protective cover 21. The liquid inlet connector 23 and the exhaust and drain connector 24 can be located on the same side or on different sides. Figure 5 The two are placed on the same side for illustrative purposes only.

[0046] Reference Figure 8 The assembly gap 3 between the two narrow sides of the battery cell unit 1 and the protective cover 21 is filled with potting material.

[0047] The upper part of the safety valve 14 of this application can form a flow channel by fitting / welding the cavity exhaust hood 27 with the protective cover body 21. One end of the exhaust hood is provided with an exhaust and liquid drain connector 24 with a one-way valve. The exhaust and liquid drain connector 24 can only exit and not enter. The exhaust and liquid drain connector 24 can be connected to the exhaust gas collection cylinder of the container through a pipe. The liquid inlet connector 23 is equipped with a one-way valve or a solenoid valve, which can only enter and not exit, and is connected to the fire interface of the container through a pipe.

[0048] The specific operating principle of this application is as follows:

[0049] When a thermal runaway occurs in a cell unit 1 within the battery module, the sealed battery module is flooded with electrolyte. The exhaust path inside the thermally runaway cell unit is the shortest, and the pressure is the highest. The safety valve 14 of that cell will open first. At this time, when the system determines that a cell has thermal runaway, it opens the fire hydrant. Because the pressure balance inside the battery module is disrupted, fire hydrant with a certain water pressure will enter from the inlet connector 23 and enter the thermally runaway cell. It will then be discharged from the safety valve 14 along with the high-temperature gas, thereby continuously cooling the cell until the thermal runaway stops. When the runaway spreads to adjacent cells, the adjacent cells will also suppress the thermal runaway in the same way, thus suppressing the thermal runaway within a single module.

[0050] Example 2

[0051] A battery cluster includes several cell modules with thermal runaway water fire suppression as described in Embodiment 1, wherein the several battery modules are connected in series / parallel.

[0052] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this utility model, and are not intended to limit it. Although this utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model.

Claims

1. A battery cell module, comprising a plurality of battery cell units, wherein each battery cell unit is provided with an electrode post and a safety valve at its top, characterized in that, A plurality of the aforementioned cell units are stacked along the thickness direction of the cell, and a bottom hole is formed at the bottom of the cell unit; It also includes fire protection equipment, which covers all battery cell units; The fire-fighting device has an exhaust and drainage channel at the top that is connected to the safety valve, and an inlet channel at the bottom that is connected to the bottom hole.

2. The battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The exhaust and drainage channel includes an exhaust hood arranged along the thickness direction of the battery cell. The exhaust hood is installed on the top of the fire protection mechanism and above the safety valve. An exhaust and drainage connector is provided at the end of the exhaust hood.

3. A battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid inlet channel includes a receiving cavity opened along the thickness direction of the battery cell. The receiving cavity is opened on the bottom plate of the fire protection mechanism and is connected to the liquid inlet connector provided at the end of the fire protection shell.

4. A cell module according to claim 3, characterized in that: An electrolyte overflow hole is provided on the base plate.

5. A battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fire protection mechanism includes a protective cover, and the top of the protective cover is provided with a pole clearance hole and a safety valve clearance hole corresponding to the pole and safety valve, wherein the exhaust and liquid discharge channel is connected to the safety valve clearance hole.

6. A battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top of the battery cell is equipped with a sealing patch, which has pre-drilled clearance holes for the terminal post and safety valve.

7. A battery cell module according to claim 6, characterized in that: The sealing patch is made of silicone rubber.

8. A battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The large surface of the battery cell unit is provided with a spiral frame.

9. A battery cell module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The assembly gap between the two narrow sides of the battery cell and the protective cover is filled with potting material.

10. A battery cluster, characterized in that: It includes several battery cell modules as described in any one of claims 1-9, wherein the several battery cell modules are connected in series or in parallel.

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