Smart Manager for Battery Array Reconfiguration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in efficiently utilizing aged rechargeable electrical energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, which are no longer suitable for transportation applications due to limited capacity, and the lack of established recycling infrastructure, necessitating innovative methods to maximize their remaining capacity before recycling, especially considering the high cost of lithium recycling.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for utilizing an array of electrical energy storage devices, where a smart manager dynamically reconfigures the connections between devices based on their status, isolating faulty units and categorizing them for concurrent depletion, allowing for efficient power distribution and utilization of remaining capacity, thereby extending the life of the battery array.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If aged electrical energy storage devices are discarded due to limited capacity, then transportation application requirements are met, but resource waste occurs and recycling costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters of aged batteries by transitioning them from high-power transportation applications to lower-power stationary backup applications. The system monitors state of charge, state of health, and cycling history to dynamically adjust discharge rates and operational limits, enabling aged batteries to reliably provide backup power for extended periods without compromising safety or performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a multi-functional system where aged batteries serve dual purposes: initially powering transportation vehicles and subsequently providing stationary backup power. The same physical battery units are reused across different application contexts, maximizing their utility lifecycle and preventing premature disposal based on application-specific capacity thresholds
2Object-affected harmful factors
If lithium-ion batteries are recycled through existing infrastructure, then environmental impact is reduced, but recycling costs are five times higher than brine-based production
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary utilization of battery capacity in stationary backup applications before recycling occurs. By extracting remaining value through controlled discharge cycles and monitoring, the system maximizes the economic and environmental benefit of each battery unit, reducing the net environmental cost by extending productive service life rather than proceeding directly to expensive recycling processes
3Device complexity
If a fixed configuration of batteries is used, then system simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different power requirements and battery degradation states is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic reconfiguration of the battery array through a monitoring and control system that adjusts operational parameters in real-time. The system dynamically allocates discharge loads among individual batteries based on their state of charge, state of health, and cycling history, enabling the fixed physical configuration to deliver variable power distribution patterns that adapt to changing requirements and degradation states
Data Source
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AI summary
A system for utilizing an array of electrical energy storage devices utilizes a smart manager that categorizes electrical energy storage devices in the array based on electrical energy storage device age and/or internal resistance level and causes those electrical energy storage devices with similar ages and/or resistance levels to be concurrently depleted. This is followed by concurrently depleting the electrical energy storage devices in a different category. The system also disconnects faulty electrical energy storage devices in the array and helps alleviate the need to carefully consider and reconfigure the location of individual electrical energy storage devices in the array. The system facilitates forecasting actual capacity and thus helps to guarantee available capacity and to actively maintain capacity via maintenance crews that need simply remove and replace cells as advised by the smart manager. The system 100 facilitates permitting a quality of service (QoS) to be provided to mission critical entities (banks, hospitals, etc.).