Battery-powered fire extinguishing system and its operating method

Abstract

A battery fire extinguishing device for preventing heat from spreading to the entire battery pack in the event of a fire occurring in some of the battery modules, the battery fire extinguishing device including: a plurality of extinguishing liquid storage units located respectively within a plurality of battery modules and configured to discharge extinguishing liquid when heated; a plurality of resistance units adjacent to each of the plurality of extinguishing liquid storage units; and a control circuit that monitors the voltage across both ends of the plurality of resistance units and increases the current flowing through each of the plurality of resistance units when the voltage becomes higher than a reference voltage.

Claims

1. Multiple fire extinguishing fluid storage units, each located inside multiple battery modules and configured to discharge the fire extinguishing fluid by heating; Multiple resistive sections, each adjacent to one of the multiple fire extinguishing liquid storage sections, electrically connected in parallel to one another, and each of which is destroyed by heating to open the connected circuit; and The power supply unit includes a circuit that supplies power to the plurality of resistors and a circuit connected to a series resistor connected in series with the plurality of resistors, and includes a control circuit that monitors the voltage across the plurality of resistors. When a heating pad included in at least one of the plurality of resistors is destroyed, the voltage across the plurality of resistors becomes higher than the reference voltage. When the voltage across the multiple resistors becomes higher than the reference voltage, the control circuit increases the current flowing through each of the multiple resistors by interrupting the electrical connection between the multiple resistors and the series resistor. A battery-powered fire extinguishing device is configured such that when the current increases, the fire extinguishing liquid storage section adjacent to each resistance section is heated and discharges the fire extinguishing liquid.

2. The battery fire extinguishing device according to claim 1, wherein the fire extinguishing liquid is composed of a substance that prevents the electrolyte gas in the battery module from coming into contact with oxygen and thereby lowers the temperature inside the battery module.

3. The aforementioned control circuit is A comparator for comparing the voltage across the multiple resistors with a reference voltage; and The battery fire extinguishing device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one switch for electrically connecting or disconnecting the plurality of resistors and the series resistor.

4. The battery fire extinguishing device according to claim 3, wherein the series resistor has a resistance value even greater than the total resistance value of the plurality of resistors.

5. The battery fire extinguishing device according to claim 3, wherein the control circuit further includes a regulator that maintains the voltage supplied from the power supply unit at a constant level and supplies it to the comparator.

6. A step of monitoring the voltage across multiple resistors adjacent to each of the multiple fire extinguishing fluid storage units located inside each of the multiple battery modules; and When the voltage becomes higher than the reference voltage, the process includes a step of increasing the current flowing through each of the plurality of resistors by interrupting the electrical connection between the plurality of resistors and the series resistor connected in series with the plurality of resistors. The plurality of resistors are electrically connected in parallel to one another, and each resistor includes a heating pad that is destroyed by heating in order to open the connected circuit. The monitoring step and the increasing step are performed by a control circuit including a power supply unit that supplies power to the plurality of resistors and the circuit connected to the series resistors. When a heating pad included in at least one of the plurality of resistors is destroyed, the voltage across the plurality of resistors becomes higher than the reference voltage. A method for operating a battery-powered fire extinguishing device, wherein when the current flowing through each of the aforementioned resistors increases, the fire extinguishing liquid storage unit adjacent to each resistor is configured to discharge the fire extinguishing liquid by heating.

7. The step of increasing the current flowing through each of the aforementioned plurality of resistors is: A step of comparing the voltage across the multiple resistors with a reference voltage; The method for operating a battery fire extinguishing device according to claim 6, further comprising the step of controlling a switch circuit to interrupt the electrical connection between the plurality of resistors and a series resistor having a larger resistance value than the plurality of resistors when the voltage across both ends of the plurality of resistors becomes higher than the reference voltage.

8. The method for operating a battery-powered fire extinguishing device according to claim 7, further comprising the step of heating the plurality of resistance units and the fire extinguishing liquid storage unit so that fire extinguishing liquid is discharged from the fire extinguishing liquid storage unit.

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