Battery Rack Coolant Linking to Contain Thermal Runaway Spread
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional energy storage systems face challenges in quickly preventing the propagation of flame and heat to adjacent battery modules when ignition occurs in one battery module, leading to potential serious property damage or personal injury.
Innovation Solution
The energy storage system incorporates a rack container with multiple battery racks, each equipped with a coolant tank and a flux supplement unit that connects the coolant tanks of adjacent battery racks. A valve system and temperature sensors ensure that coolant is efficiently supplied to overheated battery modules, while flux supplement units maintain coolant flow even when levels are low.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a plurality of battery modules are disposed adjacently in a rack case, then the energy storage capacity and output voltage are improved, but the risk of flame and heat propagation to adjacent modules increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the battery rack into multiple independent cooling zones, each with its own coolant tank and flux supplement unit. This segmentation allows isolated cooling of affected battery modules while maintaining operational status of other modules, preventing cascading thermal runaway.
Solution Approach 2:
The flux supplement unit acts as an intermediary mechanism that detects temperature abnormalities and rapidly responds by supplementing coolant flow to affected battery modules. This intermediary system intercepts heat propagation before it can spread to adjacent modules.
2Temperature
If coolant is rapidly discharged to cool an overheated battery module, then the temperature is reduced quickly, but the coolant flux decreases as the coolant tank level is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The flux supplement unit is pre-positioned and pre-filled with coolant, ready to immediately supplement the coolant flow when temperature abnormalities are detected. This preliminary preparation ensures continuous high-flux cooling without interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recycles and reuses coolant by having the flux supplement unit draw coolant from the same coolant tank after discharge, maintaining a closed-loop system. This allows the coolant to be recovered and reused multiple times, sustaining cooling flux without continuous replenishment.
3Device complexity
If conventional cooling systems are used without flux supplement units, then the system complexity is reduced, but the response time to prevent flame propagation is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The flux supplement unit operates autonomously, automatically detecting temperature abnormalities through integrated sensors and immediately supplementing coolant flow without requiring external control intervention. This self-service capability dramatically reduces response time while maintaining manageable system complexity.
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 configuration enables rapid cooling of overheated battery modules and maintains coolant flow, effectively preventing the spread of flame and heat to adjacent modules, thereby reducing the risk of serious damage or injury.
Implementation Method 1
a valve provided between the pipe and the coolant tank and configured to be opened when at least one battery module of the plurality of battery modules has a temperature over a predetermined temperature to discharge the coolant of the coolant tank to the pipe so that the coolant is supplied to the at least one battery module over the predetermined temperature
Implementation Method 2
When the valve is opened, the at least one flux supplement unit may supply the coolant to the coolant tank connected to the opened valve unit so as to prevent the flux of the coolant input to the battery module over the predetermined temperature from decreasing as the amount of the coolant in the coolant tank is reduced
Data Source
AI summary
An energy storage system includes a rack container having a predetermined accommodation space, a plurality of battery racks disposed in the rack container and respectively having a coolant tank in which a predetermined coolant is contained, and at least one flux supplement unit configured to connect the coolant tanks of the plurality of battery racks.