Battery Pack Fire Suppression Using Early Smoke Triggering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-power secondary battery packs face challenges in temperature management and fire extinguishing due to the connection of multiple battery cells, which can lead to increased risk of fire and difficulty in extinguishing it promptly.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design that includes a smoke generating device to detect abnormal temperatures, a smoke detection device to trigger an alarm, an agent storage unit with a fire extinguishing tube, and a fire extinguishing receiver to rapidly supply a fire extinguishing agent to the affected area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If multiple battery cells are connected to form high-power battery packs, then the power and capacity of the battery pack increase, but the heat generation increases and temperature management becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple modular units, each with its own temperature monitoring and fire suppression system. This segmentation allows independent management of heat in each module, preventing heat accumulation across the entire pack while maintaining high overall power output.
Solution Approach 2:
A smoke generating device acts as an intermediary indicator between the battery cells and the external monitoring system. When battery cells overheat, the smoke device provides visible warning before actual fire occurs, enabling early intervention and preventing temperature escalation.
2Device complexity
If traditional fire detection methods are used, then the system structure remains simple, but the fire detection time is delayed and fire extinguishing is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The smoke generating device performs preliminary detection of abnormal temperature conditions before actual fire occurs. By detecting smoke or thermal changes in advance, the system triggers early warning and activates fire suppression systems before flames develop, dramatically reducing response time while maintaining relatively simple system architecture.
3Reliability
If fire occurs in the battery pack, then the fire extinguishing agent can suppress the fire, but the response time is too long allowing fire to spread
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by detecting smoke or abnormal temperature conditions before actual fire spreads. The early warning system triggers fire suppression mechanisms proactively, preventing fire escalation and ensuring rapid response before flames can propagate to adjacent battery cells.
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 enables early detection of potential fires, generates visible smoke to alert personnel, and rapidly deploys a fire extinguishing agent, significantly reducing the time to extinguish a fire and preventing its spread.
Implementation Method 1
a smoke generating device configured to generate smoke in response to a temperature of at least one of the battery cells being higher than a reference temperature
Implementation Method 2
a smoke detection device configured to detect the smoke generated from the smoke generating device and to generate an alarm signal in response to detection of the smoke
Implementation Method 3
an agent storage unit including a fire extinguishing tube having one end proximate to the battery module and configured to store a fire extinguishing agent supplied to the fire extinguishing tube
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A battery pack capable of detecting the ignition of battery cells before ignition and thereby shortening a fire extinguishing time to improve safety. The battery pack includes a battery module having battery cells electrically connected and including vents; a smoke generating device configured to generate smoke in response to a temperature of the battery cells being higher than a reference temperature; a smoke detection device configured to detect the smoke generated from the smoke generating device and to generate an alarm signal; an agent storage unit including a fire extinguishing tube connected to the battery module and configured to store a fire extinguishing agent supplied to the fire extinguishing tube; and a fire extinguishing receiver configured to receive the alarm signal of the smoke detection device and to generate a supply signal causing the fire extinguishing agent in the agent storage unit to be supplied to the fire extinguishing tube.