Battery Pack Energy Drainer for Thermal Runaway Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery packs face challenges in rapidly suppressing heat propagation or thermal runaway, which can lead to fire spread within battery modules, necessitating effective fire suppression and prevention mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a pack case with multiple battery modules, insulation members, and an energy drainer system that includes a relay and resistor unit to externally short-circuit a battery module and convert stored energy into heat, utilizing a cooling agent and insulation oil to manage thermal runaway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional battery packs are used without additional fire suppression mechanisms, then the device complexity is low, but the ability to rapidly suppress heat propagation and prevent fire spread is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple battery modules, with insulation members provided between adjacent modules. This segmentation isolates thermal runaway to individual modules, preventing fire spread to neighboring modules and improving fire suppression capability without requiring a completely new system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
An insulation member is introduced as an intermediary component between battery modules. This insulation member acts as a thermal barrier that slows heat transfer between modules during thermal runaway, providing fire suppression functionality while maintaining the existing battery pack structure.
2Reliability
If insulation members are added between battery modules, then fire spread prevention is improved, but the device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation member is designed as a thin plate-like structure that provides effective thermal insulation between battery modules without occupying significant space. This thin film approach achieves fire spread prevention while minimizing the increase in battery pack volume.
3Speed
If the energy drainer is positioned close to the insulation member for rapid energy discharge, then fire suppression speed is improved, but the risk of thermal interference and insulation effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation member serves as a thermal intermediary that separates the energy drainer from the battery module. This allows the energy drainer to be positioned close enough for rapid energy discharge while the insulation member prevents thermal interference from affecting the insulation's effectiveness.
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
The solution effectively suppresses heat propagation and thermal runaway, preventing fire spread by rapidly dissipating heat energy and reducing the risk of explosions, enhancing safety in battery packs and energy storage systems.
Implementation Method 1
the relay may be switched on, and storage energy of at least one battery cell of the first battery module may be converted into heat energy through the resistor
Implementation Method 2
at least one insulation member provided between the plurality of battery modules
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes a pack case configured to form an appearance, a plurality of battery modules configured to include at least one battery cell; at least one insulation member provided between the plurality of battery modules; and an energy drain unit spaced apart from the insulation member and connected to any one battery module, the energy drain unit being configured to externally short-circuit any one battery module when thermal runaway occurs in at least one battery module.