Battery-Supercapacitor Power Switching for Sustained Marine Boosts
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional power sources, such as batteries, struggle to provide continuous high-power boosts required by modern waterborne vehicles, leading to strain and reduced lifespan due to restricted discharge rates, while supercapacitors offer rapid discharge but deplete quickly, necessitating a solution for sustained power delivery.
Innovation Solution
A power system comprising multiple supercapacitors and batteries, managed by a master controller, allows for the switching of current delivery between supercapacitors and batteries to maintain peak power, with supercapacitors providing high current and batteries recharging them when not in use, enabling continuous power boosts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a battery is used to provide high current for power boosts, then the required power output is achieved, but the battery experiences strain and reduced lifespan due to restricted discharge rates
Solution Approach 1:
The power system is segmented into two distinct components: a battery for energy storage and a supercapacitor for high-power delivery. Each component performs its specialized function, with the supercapacitor handling peak power demands and the battery providing sustained energy supply, thereby preventing battery strain during high-current discharge events
Solution Approach 2:
The supercapacitor acts as an intermediary between the battery and the electrical load. It buffers the high-current demands by absorbing power spikes from the battery and delivering them to the load, protecting the battery from direct exposure to stressful discharge conditions while maintaining system power output requirements
2Speed
If a supercapacitor is used to provide rapid discharge for power boosts, then the discharge rate is improved, but the energy storage capacity is depleted quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage function is segmented between two technologies: the supercapacitor handles rapid discharge for short-duration power boosts, while the battery provides long-duration energy storage. This division allows each component to operate within its optimal performance range without compromise
Solution Approach 2:
The system operates in periodic duty cycles where the supercapacitor is discharged during high-power demand intervals and then recharged from the battery during lower-demand intervals. This periodic charge-discharge pattern allows the supercapacitor to maintain high discharge rates while the battery replenishes its energy reserves over time
3Power
If a custom high-discharge rate battery is designed to provide continuous high power output, then the power delivery capability is improved, but the cost increases and energy storage capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges two commercially available and cost-effective technologies (battery and supercapacitor) to achieve the performance of a custom-designed high-discharge battery. This combination leverages the strengths of each component while avoiding the high development and manufacturing costs associated with specialized battery designs
Solution Approach 2:
The battery-super capacitor hybrid system provides multi-functionality: it delivers high instantaneous power like a high-discharge battery, maintains long-term energy storage like a standard battery, and does so using off-the-shelf components rather than expensive custom designs, making the solution universally applicable
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 system reduces battery stress, extends battery lifespan, and provides sustained high-power output to waterborne vehicles, such as torpedoes, for propulsion and sonar systems, while avoiding the need for high-cost custom batteries.
Implementation Method 1
a supercapacitor may be used to boost the flow of electricity and thereby provide the required electric discharge at the required rate
Implementation Method 2
a battery's flow of electricity is restricted to a low discharge rate
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a power system for a vehicle, the power system for a vehicle, the power system comprising a plurality of supercapacitors, a plurality of batteries, at least one electronic load and a master controller, arranged so that at least one battery is connected with at least one supercapacitor, such that power from the at least one battery may be supplied to the at least one supercapacitor, wherein the master controller ability to switch the at least one supercapacitor to a further at least one supercapacitor and wherein at least one battery and/or at least one supercapacitor of the plurality of supercapacitors supplies power to the electronic load.