Battery Cell Fire Extinguishing Unit for Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lithium secondary batteries face safety risks due to overheating and potential explosions from overcurrent, which existing protective circuits struggle to manage efficiently, leading to space inefficiencies and increased load on microcontrollers.
Innovation Solution
A battery cell design incorporating a fire extinguishing unit within the pouch case that ejects a fire extinguishing agent when a predetermined temperature is reached, preventing ignition and explosion by disconnecting the electrode tab and lead connection, thereby blocking current flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protecting circuit with fuse element and microcontroller is used to prevent overcurrent, then battery safety is improved, but device complexity and microcontroller load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the safety function from the complex microcontroller-based protecting circuit and implements it through a simple temperature-sensitive fuse element that automatically melts at predetermined temperatures, eliminating the need for complex control algorithms and reducing microcontroller load
Solution Approach 2:
The fuse element performs safety protection autonomously based on temperature conditions without requiring microcontroller intervention, achieving self-service protection that simplifies the overall system complexity
2Reliability
If a fire extinguishing unit is added to the battery cell, then safety against ignition and explosion is improved, but device volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fire extinguishing unit is nested within the existing pouch case structure, utilizing the available internal space efficiently without requiring additional external volume, thereby maintaining compact battery cell dimensions while enhancing safety
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly reduces the likelihood of ignition and explosion events within the battery cell while maintaining energy density, rapidly extinguishing fires and ensuring safety without the need for additional space or complex microcontroller algorithms.
Implementation Method 1
a fire extinguishing unit disposed in the pouch case and configured to eject a fire extinguishing agent when a temperature of the first extinguishing unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined limit temperature
Implementation Method 2
If the overcurrent flows, the lithium secondary battery is heated by the Joule heat, so the internal temperature of the battery rises rapidly
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a battery cell, which includes: an electrode assembly; an electrode lead connected to the electrode assembly; a pouch case surrounding the electrode assembly and sealed in a state in which the electrode lead extends through the pouch case and is exposed at an outside surface of the pouch case; and a fire extinguishing unit disposed in the pouch case and configured to eject a fire extinguishing powder when a temperature of the first extinguishing unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined limit temperature.