Battery Cell State of Health Estimation via End-of-Discharge Voltage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for estimating the state of health (SOH) of battery cells require memorizing voltage evolution throughout discharging or charging, which is restrictive, especially for large batteries due to the high quantity of data needed.

Innovation Solution

A method that measures voltage at each cell's terminal during discharging or charging, interrupts when a predefined condition is reached, and uses a mathematical function to calculate the capacity of other cells based on end-of-discharge/charge voltages, reducing data storage requirements.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If voltage evolution is memorized throughout discharging or charging phase, then SOH estimation can be performed, but data storage requirements become high for large batteries

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveSOH estimation accuracyVSAvoiddata storage requirements
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential information needed for SOH estimation by interrupting the discharge/charge process when a first cell reaches end-of-discharge or end-of-charge condition. Instead of storing complete voltage evolution curves for all cells, the method stores only end-of-discharge/end-of-charge voltages and uses these to calculate capacities through mathematical functions, thereby extracting minimal necessary data while preserving estimation accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary characterization of the battery to determine mathematical functions that relate cell voltages to capacities before actual SOH estimation. These pre-determined functions (including polynomial regression models) are stored instead of complete voltage curves, allowing rapid SOH calculation without requiring extensive data storage during operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If complete voltage curves are stored for all cells, then accurate capacity determination is possible, but measurement and storage complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecapacity determination accuracyVSAvoiddata storage and processing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The method extracts only critical voltage measurements (end-of-discharge/end-of-charge voltages) rather than storing complete voltage curves. This extraction approach maintains capacity determination accuracy while dramatically reducing storage and processing complexity by eliminating redundant data points

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of storing actual complete voltage curves for each cell, the patent creates simplified mathematical representations (copies) of the voltage-capacity relationships through predetermined functions. These mathematical models serve as compact substitutes for full voltage curves, enabling accurate capacity calculation without complex data storage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentEP3667345B1Method for determining the state of health of the cells of a battery
Publication Date: 2021.04.21 COMMISSARIAT A LENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
  • EP3667345B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3667345B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3667345B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

This description relates to a method for determining the health status of the cells (Ci) of a battery, comprising: a) during a phase (101) of battery discharge, measuring the voltage Ui across each cell (Ci); b) when a first cell (Ci_lim) reaches a predefined end-of-discharge condition, interrupting (102) the discharge and recording, for each cell (Ci), the voltage Ui of the cell at the end of the discharge phase; c) determining (103) a value QCi_lim representative of the capacity of the first cell; and d) determining (104), for each other cell of the battery, from the value QCi_lim determined in step c) and the end-of-discharge voltages Ui recorded in step b), using a predetermined mathematical function f, a value QCi representative of the cell's capacity.