Battery Cluster Linkage Control for Shared Thermal Runaway Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current firefighting strategies for energy storage containers, such as total-flooding firefighting, are inefficient in suppressing thermal runaway in battery clusters and fail to effectively prevent fire spreading, especially when inhibitors are not activated or insufficient.
Innovation Solution
A linkage control system for battery clusters that disperses inhibitors across clusters, allowing for centralized invocation of firefighting resources and efficient suppression by connecting detector modules and isolation-and-suppression devices through pipelines, prioritizing data reading to continuously monitor and address thermal runaway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If total-flooding firefighting strategy is adopted, then the entire container is filled with fire suppressant, but the suppression efficiency is not high and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the energy storage container into multiple battery clusters, each equipped with its own isolation-and-suppression device. Instead of flooding the entire container, the system segments the fire suppression action to target only the specific cluster experiencing thermal runaway, thereby improving suppression effectiveness while reducing unnecessary consumpt ion of fire suppressant in other areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies fire suppression locally to the specific battery cluster where thermal runaway is detected, rather than uniformly across the entire container. The control host directs fire suppressant only to the affected cluster through dedicated pipelines, ensuring concentrated effectiveness at the problem location while minimizing overall resource consumption.
2Speed
If inhibitor is stored in each battery cluster, then response time is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the fire suppression infrastructure by placing isolation-and-suppression devices within each battery cluster, enabling immediate local response. Each cluster becomes an independent unit with its own suppression capability, improving response speed while the modular design keeps individual cluster complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The isolation-and-suppression devices are designed as universal components that can be replicated across all battery clusters. This multi-functional design allows the same device structure to serve multiple clusters, simplifying the overall system architecture despite the distributed configuration, as each cluster uses identical standardized components.
3Productivity
If linkage control system is implemented, then suppression efficiency is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control host continuously monitors temperature data from detector modules in each battery cluster and uses this feedback to make real-time decisions about isolation and suppression actions. When thermal runaway is detected in a specific cluster, the system automatically triggers the corresponding isolation-and-suppression device, creating a closed-loop control system that improves suppression efficiency through responsive decision-making.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed to automatically detect thermal runaway events and activate the appropriate isolation-and-suppression devices without human intervention. The control host autonomously processes detector data, determines which clusters need isolation, and activates suppression mechanisms, allowing the system to serve itself and reducing the need for complex manual control procedures.
4Measurement precision
If detector modules continuously monitor environmental data, then detection accuracy is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Detector modules continuously monitor environmental data such as temperature in each battery cluster, providing accurate real-time detection. The periodic sampling of environmental parameters ensures high measurement precision for detecting thermal runaway conditions, while the continuous nature of monitoring is essential for early detection and rapid response.
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
Enhances suppression efficiency by utilizing available firefighting resources across clusters, preventing fire spreading, and ensuring continuous monitoring and inhibitor supply, thereby improving the overall containment of thermal runaway events.
Implementation Method 1
switch on a solenoid valve of an isolation-and-suppression device B in the second target battery cluster to let the inhibitor in the isolation-and-suppression device B be conveyed to the first target battery cluster through the pipeline
Data Source
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AI summary
A linkage control system and a linkage control method for battery clusters are provided in the disclosure. In the system, when thermal runaway occurs to a certain battery cluster, in the condition that an inhibitor in an isolation-and-suppression device in the battery cluster is in a normal state, the control host can suppress thermal runaway of the battery cluster by the inhibitor in the isolation-and-suppression device, thereby realizing accurate suppression of a cluster-level. Meanwhile, compared with total-flooding spraying, suppression for a single cluster is beneficial to saving the inhibitor. In the condition that the inhibitor in the isolation-and-suppression device is in an abnormal state, the control host can determine, from adjacent battery clusters, a battery cluster capable of supporting an inhibitor to solve thermal runaway by the inhibitor in the isolation-and-suppression device in the battery cluster. Thus, firefighting resources among clusters can be invoked and shared.