Battery Pack Cell Balancer Using Capacitive Energy Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aging electrical infrastructures face increased vulnerability due to rising electrical energy demand and the integration of renewable energy sources, leading to peak demand exceeding supply levels, necessitating more cost-effective and reliable energy storage solutions.
Innovation Solution
An electrical energy storage unit and control system featuring lithium ion battery cells, a battery system controller, battery pack controllers, cell balancers using resistors or capacitors, and a relay controller for scalable energy management, enabling precise state-of-charge monitoring and balancing across battery cells.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If electrical energy demand increases and renewable energy sources are integrated, then energy storage capacity needs to increase, but the complexity of the energy storage system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage system is divided into multiple battery packs, each containing multiple battery cells with individual cell balancers. This segmentation allows the system to scale in capacity while maintaining manageable complexity at each level, as each battery pack operates semi-independently with its own control and balancing circuitry.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery pack design integrates multiple functions into a standardized module: energy storage, cell monitoring, cell balancing, and charge management. This multi-functional approach allows the same basic architecture to serve different energy storage capacity requirements without proportionally increasing system complexity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If cell balancing is performed using resistors to discharge energy, then cell voltage uniformity improves, but energy loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
Capacitors are introduced as intermediary energy storage elements in the cell balancer circuit. These capacitors temporarily store energy from higher-voltage cells and release it to lower-voltage cells, enabling energy transfer without direct resistive discharge. This intermediary approach reduces energy loss while achieving cell voltage uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely resistive energy dissipation with a capacitive energy transfer mechanism. Instead of converting excess cell energy directly into heat through resistors, the system uses capacitors to store and redistribute energy, substituting a more efficient energy management approach that reduces thermal losses.
3Measurement precision
If state-of-charge monitoring is implemented for each battery cell, then energy management precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each battery cell is equipped with its own monitoring circuit integrated into the battery pack controller, allowing precise state-of-charge measurement at the cell level. This segmentation of monitoring functions enables high measurement precision while distributing the control complexity across multiple independent circuits rather than requiring a centralized complex system.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the energy storage system is designed to be highly scalable from kilowatt-hour to megawatt-hour sizes, then system versatility improves, but manufacturing and system integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage system employs a nested hierarchical structure where battery cells are grouped into battery packs, which are then assembled into larger energy storage systems. This nesting approach enables scalability from kilowatt-hour to megawatt-hour capacities by simply adding more standardized battery pack modules, reducing integration complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
A standardized battery pack design serves as a universal building block that can be configured in different quantities and arrangements to achieve various energy storage capacities. This universality allows the same basic module to scale from small kilowatt-hour applications to large megawatt-hour installations without redesigning the fundamental system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical energy storage unit and control system, and applications thereof. In an embodiment, the electrical energy storage unit includes a battery system controller and battery packs. Each battery pack has battery cells, a battery pack controller that monitors the cells, a battery pack cell balancer that adjusts the amount of energy stored in the cells, and a battery pack charger. The battery pack controller operates the battery pack cell balancer and the battery pack charger to control the state-of-charge of the cells. In an embodiment, the cells are lithium ion battery cells.