Battery bank system for floating fish farms

Abstract

The invention relates to a battery bank system for a fish cage (1) with a floating part (2), wherein the battery bank system comprises a waterproof battery container (5) comprising a heat exchange part (6) and a cable outlet (7). Furthermore, the battery bank system comprises batteries (8) positioned inside the battery container (5) wherein the weight of the batteries (8) and the battery container (5) relative to the volume of the battery container (5) provides buoyancy. The battery container (5) is directly or indirectly attached to the floating part (2) such that the heat exchange part (6) of the battery container is at least partially submerged in water and wherein the buoyancy ensures that the weight of the batteries provides a reduced load on the floating part (2).

Description

[0001] Battery bank system for floating fish farms

[0002] Description

[0003] Field of the invention

[0004] The invention relates to power supply for fish farms. More specifically, the invention relates to a battery bank system that prevents power outages on important functions associated with a fish cage.

[0005] Background

[0006] Many fish cages in fish farms have electrical installations of various types. It is also common to have lights both for work and to provide light for the fish. Sensors and electric motors are also operated with electricity to a large extent. Therefore, it has become common to connect the fish cages to shore power. However, in the event of a power outage, there have been some events in the industry where fish have become stressed and died. For this reason, it is desirable to have a battery bank on each fish cage, but this is problematic because batteries have a high specific weight and can be a challenge if a high storage capacity is desired. LED lighting for fish farming plants requires a lot of energy, even though in many cases there is no requirement for the lights to work for many hours.

[0007] The industry has experienced that a fish cage for year-round operation can create challenges in the summer months with high temperatures, especially when the sun heats up the electronics cabinets. The ambient temperature can exceed 50 degrees Celsius in direct sunlight and this can create challenges for high-energy electronics that also produce their own heat and cause further temperature increases. The extra heat in the cabinets also increases the risk of fire. The risk of fire increases in particular if batteries are positioned together with the electronics in the cabinets.

[0008] It is not advantageous to have many technical cabinets on the rim of the fish cage because the cabinets will be in the way of operators walking along a walkway that extends around the perimeter of the fish cage. If batteries are also placed in the cabinets, the extra weight will be affected by the wave-induced movements of the fish cage, causing the attachment to the cabinet to have problems with fatigue failure and be at risk of causing damage to the net and escape from the fish cage.

[0009] It is an object of the invention to solve one or more of these problems.

[0010] It is an object of the invention to provide a fireproof battery bank system for use on a fish cage. It is an object of the invention to provide a battery bank system with cooling for use on a fish cage.

[0011] It is an object of the invention to provide a battery bank system for use on a fish cage where the weight of the batteries does not burden the fish cage.

[0012] Brief Summary of the Invention

[0013] In a first aspect of the invention, a battery bank system for a fish cage with a floating part is described, wherein the battery bank system comprises a watertight battery container comprising a heat exchange part and a cable outlet for cables going to and from equipment in the battery container and batteries positioned within the battery container where the weight of the batteries and the battery container relative to the volume of the battery container provides buoyancy. The battery bank system further comprises that the battery container is directly or indirectly attached to the floating part so that the heat exchange part of the battery container is at least partially submerged in water and where the buoyancy ensures that the weight of the batteries provides a reduced load on the floating part.

[0014] The battery container may comprise a container lid to facilitate access to the batteries.

[0015] The floating part of the fish cage may comprise two floating rings with a space between them where a spacer keeps the floating rings at a constant distance from each other, where the battery container is attached to the spacer by means of an elastic attachment.

[0016] A bottom of the battery container box may be made of heat-conducting metal and may constitute the heat exchange part of the battery container.

[0017] The batteries may comprise lithium-titanate or lithium-iron phosphate batteries.

[0018] The battery container may be connected to an external power source and may contain a charger.

[0019] The external power source may be shore power.

[0020] The ability to float or the buoyancy of the battery container may be between 60 - 120% of the weight of the battery container. The percentage is obtained by taking the weight of the battery container with contents and dividing it by the weight of the water displaced by the entire battery container.

[0021] The battery container, with the exception of the heat exchange part, may comprise a heat insulating layer.

[0022] The battery container may be attached to the floating rings by means of an elastic attachment. It is also conceivable that the battery container may be attached by means of brackets. The batery bank system is configured to supply power to electrical installations on the fish cage if the shore power is interrupted.

[0023] Brief description of the figures

[0024] To facilitate the understanding of the invention, we have attached some drawings where the same feature has the same reference number in all figures.

[0025] Figure 1 shows a section of an embodiment of the battery container seen from the side.

[0026] Figure 2 shows a fish cage with an embodiment of the battery bank system mounted.

[0027] Figure 3 shows an embodiment where the floating part comprises two floating rings.

[0028] Detailed description

[0029] Below is described a battery bank system for a fish cage 1 with a floating part 2. Atypical fish cage, of which there are many along the Norwegian coast, comprises a floating part 2 with a walkway extending around the fish cage and a railing also extending around the fish cage as shown in Fig. 2. The battery bank system comprises a watertight battery container 5 as shown in Fig. 1 and comprises a heat exchange part 6 and a cable outlet 7 and at least one batery 8 positioned inside the battery container 5. The weight of the batteries 8 and the batery container 5 relative to the volume of the battery container 5 provides an ability to float also called buoyancy, which reduces the load on the floating part 2 in such a way that the floating part has to compensate to a small extent for the extra weight from the batteries because the batery container has its own buoyancy.

[0030] Fig 2 shows a fish cage 1 with the battery container 5 attached to the floating part 2. The batery container 5 can be directly or indirectly attached to the floating part 2. The battery container 5 can be attached so that the heat exchange part 6 of the battery container 5 is at least partially immersed in water to achieve cooling. The purpose of the heat exchange part 6 is to conduct heat away from the battery container 5. The battery container can be atached to a buoy which in turn is attached to the floating part 2 if, for example, the entire fish cage 1 is submersible. Alternatively, the battery container 5 can follow the fish cage 1 downwards in the water masses.

[0031] The batery container 5 may comprise a container lid 4 for easy access to the batteries or the batery container may be a sealed box without any possibility of opening where the bateries 8 are charged by means of cables passing through the cable outlet 7.

[0032] In one embodiment, the floating part 2 of the fish cage comprises two floating rings 9a and 9b with a space between them where the two floating rings 9a and 9b are held in position relative to each other by means of a spacer 13. The battery container 5 may be attached to the respective floating rings 9a and 9b or more advantageously to the spacers 13. A good solution is to attach the battery container by means of two flexible attachments 17 on each side of the battery container as shown in Fig. 3.

[0033] Preferably, the heat exchange part 6 of the battery container 5 comprises a bottom 10 of the battery container which is made of heat-conducting metal. Examples of usable metals are aluminum and / or copper. Other metals and alloys can also be used. In one embodiment, the heat exchange part 6 extends a distance up the sides of the battery container 5.

[0034] Any type of battery is to a certain extent possible to use in the battery bank system, but many lithium ion batteries also bum underwater and lead batteries are subject to hydrogen explosions. Two battery types that are considered very fire-resistant are lithium-titanate or lithium-iron phosphate batteries. These batteries have a somewhat higher specific gravity than conventional lithium ion batteries, but the desired buoyancy of the battery container can still be achieved by adjusting the volume of the battery container accordingly. Advantageously, parts of the internal volume of the battery container 5 can be filled with flotation agent so that the buoyancy is not reduced by leakage.

[0035] In most cases along the coast of Norway, the fish cages are connected to a power source and in most cases the power source is shore power taken from the power grid. Preferably, the battery container 5 is connected to an external power source and contains a charging device 11. A charging device 11 generates heat and therefore it is more advantageous to have the charging device in the battery container 5, as indicated in Fig. 1, than in a separate box or in a cabinet attached to the railing 14 of the fish cage 1. Preferably, the external power source is shore power.

[0036] In an advantageous embodiment, the buoyancy (buoyancy) of the battery container 5 is between 60 - 120% of the weight of the battery container. 60% buoyancy means that the buoyancy lifts 60% of the weight of the battery container. Buoyancy below 100% means that the battery container sinks and buoyancy above 100% means that the battery container 5 floats.

[0037] In an advantageous embodiment, the battery container 5, with the exception of the heat exchange part 6, comprises a heat insulating layer 12. In the event of a fire or other heat development inside the battery container 5, the heat insulating layer 12 will cause the heat to be largely conducted out through the heat exchange part 6 which will normally be in contact with seawater.

[0038] The battery container 5 is preferably attached to a spacer 13 which keeps the floating rings 9a and 9b at a constant distance from each other. As shown in Fig. 3, it is advantageous to attach the battery container by means of an elastic container attachment 17. The elastic container attachment 17 may comprise a rubber mooring spring. Other attachment means such as brackets may also be used.

[0039] The battery bank system is primarily intended as a back-up to supply power to electrical installations on or at the fish cage 1 if the shore power is interrupted. However, it is also conceivable that the battery bank system is used as the sole power source and that the batteries are charged using solar cells, wind or other renewable sources such as waves or tides.

[0040] The battery bank system may be connected to a control cabinet 16 which is attached to the railing 14 of the fish cage as indicated in Fig. 2 and 3. It is possible to distribute electronics and control units between the control cabinet and the battery container, but in a preferred embodiment only parts for the control interface such as switches, indicators, screens and / or fuses are placed in the control cabinet 16 while most of the electronics are placed in the battery container 5.

[0041] To provide easy access to the battery container, it may be advantageous to have a hatch in the walkway 15. As batteries are often heavy, it may also be a good solution to provide a lifting mechanism to lift the battery container 5 when replacing or servicing.

[0042] References

[0043] 1 Fish cage

[0044] 2 Floating part

[0045] 4 Container lid 5 Battery container

[0046] 6 Heat exchange part

[0047] 7 Cable outlet

[0048] 8 Battery

[0049] 9a and 9b Inner and outer floating ring 10 Bottom (of battery container)

[0050] 11 Charger

[0051] 12 Heat insulating layer

[0052] 13 Spacer

[0053] 14 Railing 15 Walkway

[0054] 16 Control cabinet

[0055] 17 Elastic container attachment.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS1. Battery bank system for a fish cage (1) with a floating part (2), wherein the battery bank system comprises: a waterproof battery container (5) comprising a heat exchange part (6) and a cable outlet (7), batteries (8) positioned within the battery container (5) wherein the weight of the batteries (8) and the battery container (5) relative to the volume of the battery container (5) provides buoyancy, and wherein the battery container (5) is directly or indirectly attached to the floating part (2) such that the heat exchange part (6) of the battery container is at least partially submerged in water and wherein the buoyancy ensures that the weight of the batteries provides a reduced load on the floating part (2).

2. Battery bank system according to claim 1, wherein the battery container (5) comprises a container lid (4) to facilitate access to the batteries (8).

3. Battery bank system according to claim 1, wherein the floating part (2) of the fish cage comprises two floating rings (9a and 9b) with a space between them where a spacer (13) keeps the floating rings (9a and 9b) at a constant distance from each other, wherein the battery container is attached to the spacer (13) by means of an elastic container attachment (17).

4. Battery bank system according to claim 1 or (2), wherein a bottom (10) of the battery container (5) is made of heat-conducting metal and constitutes the heat exchange part (6) of the battery container.

5. Battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the batteries (8) comprise lithium-titanate or lithium-iron phosphate batteries.

6. Battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the battery container (5) is connected to an external power source and contains a charger (11).

7. Battery bank system according to claim 5, wherein the external power source is shore power.

8. Battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the buoyancy of the battery container is between 60 - 120% of the weight of the battery container.

9. Battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the battery container (5) with the exception of the heat exchange part (6) comprises a heat insulating layer (12).

10. Battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the battery container is attached to the floating rings (9a and 9b) by means of an elastic attachment (17).

11. A battery bank system according to any one of the preceding claims 6-9, wherein the battery bank system is configured to supply power to electrical installations on the fish cage (1) if the shore power is interrupted.

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