A System And Method For Conditioning Of Energy Storage System On Requisite Charge Completion
Abstract:
ABSTRACT
A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDITIONING OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM ON A REQUISITE CHARGE COMPLETION
Disclosed in a conditioning system (100) and a method (200) for conditioning an energy storage system (ESS) (105) by sequencing stopping of a conditioning fluid flow and an electric charge designated for the ESS (105). The system includes a charge conditioning system (CCS) (103) for conditioning the electric charge flow, a temperature conditioning system (TCS) (102) for conditioning of the fluid flow and an energy conditioning system ECS (101) for coordinates the conditioning fluid flow and the electric charge flow to effectively condition the ESS (105). The ECS (101) considers a current temperature and a state of charge (SOC) of the ESS (105) for deciding the stopping sequence of the conditioning fluid, the electric charge and a combination thereof. Additionally, the ECS also considers the ambient temperature of the ESS (105) for deciding the stopping sequence.
[To be published with figure 1]
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Notices, Deadlines & Correspondence
No.76/2, Site No.16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore) Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
Inventors
1. Vignesh Ravi
No.76/2, Site No.16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore) Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
2. Rituraj Gautam
No.76/2, Site No.16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore) Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
3. Aswin Krishna
No.76/2, Site No.16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore) Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
4. Richard Davis
No.76/2, Site No.16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore) Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
Specification
DESC:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
Title of invention:
A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDITIONING OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM ON A REQUISITE CHARGE COMPLETION
Applicant:
EXPONENT ENERGY PRIVATE LIMITED
An Indian Entity having address as:
No. 76/2, Site No. 16, Khatha No.69, Singasandra Village, Bengaluru (Bangalore)
Urban, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA 560068
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
The present application claims priority from the Indian provisional patent application, having application number 202241037002, filed on 28th June 2022, incorporated herein by a reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the conditioning of an energy storage system, and more particularly to a system and a method for energy conditioning of an energy storage system (ESS), soon before the charging completion, after the charging completion or when the requisite charging level of the ESS may be reached.
BACKGROUND
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely because of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Nowadays, electric mobility has gained significant importance in modern solutions. Further, with increasing global warming and air-pollution, the relevance of electric mobility is increasing day-by-day. With the onset of electric vehicles (EVs), the use of internal combustion engine (ICE OR IC engine) powered vehicles is decreasing day-by-day. The electric vehicles are much more efficient and produce no carbon footprints as compared to fossil fuel vehicles.
The performance of electric vehicles relies heavily on the energy storage system they utilize, such as lithium-ion battery packs, and the frequency of charging cycles. The Energy storages (hereinafter, interchangeably, battery packs) in electric vehicles, typically accept direct current (DC) power for recharging. Some charging stations provide DC power that typically plugs into the electric vehicle by way of a cable. Some electric vehicles have onboard chargers that convert alternating current (AC) to DC for charging their battery pack. These electric vehicles can therefore accept a supply of AC, such as from an outlet in the vehicle owner's home or at another location.
Battery packs typically generate heat during both charging and discharging of the battery pack. For this reason, battery packs typically have some form of thermal management system. In the case of electric vehicles, this may be an onboard cooling system that removes heat from the battery pack (e.g., by way of a coolant loop in between the cells). The removed heat is then generally released into the atmosphere, for example by way of a radiator, a condenser, and/or a chiller.
For high performance and prolonged life of the battery packs as well as optimal driving range of electric vehicles, the battery packs ideally need to be operating (charging/discharging) at an optimum temperature range. Operating batteries at temperature beyond their optimum operational temperatures or charging/discharging at different rates, leads to battery life degradation.
Operating a battery, under extreme temperatures, may lead to thermal runaway while charging the electric vehicle. Therefore, to ensure that the battery of the electric vehicle is charged normally when the ambient temperature or battery temperature is high, the battery needs to be cooled to a suitable temperature range. Similarly, performance and discharge capacity of EV battery packs, under severe cold conditions in winter or cold geographic regions, will be greatly attenuated. Charging or discharging of battery packs, under severe cold environments, may increase resistance to charge and (or) may lead to dendrite formation inside the battery packs which eventually leads to degraded battery life. Therefore, to ensure that the battery pack of the vehicle is charged normally, when the ambient temperature is low, the battery pack needs to be heated to a suitable temperature range. Thus, the battery pack temperature as well as ambient temperature play a crucial role in battery charging cycles.
Furthermore, the inbuilt thermal management system uses liquid coolant which is cooled using convection or forced cooling. However, since the temperature control cycle time for these coolants depends on the ambient temperature, battery temperature, charge, discharge, vehicle running condition, operating efficiency of heat exchanger or more, it is very difficult to maintain the desired temperature of the battery pack during temperature ranges beyond battery operational temperature range. In addition to that, having a thermal management system onboard results in increases in weight of the vehicle which directly affects the vehicle range. To address this issue, external thermal management systems are recently used which pump coolant into the vehicle battery pack from outside the vehicle. However, if the temperature difference between the vehicle battery pack and the external coolant is extremely large, the battery pack may get damaged.
Further, existing systems and the methods for energy conditioning of the ESS also have limitations and fail to address the dynamic nature of temperature and state of charge (SOC) conditions while charging the ESS.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method to regulate the temperature of the external fluid pumped into the vehicle’s energy storage system (ESS) from outside. Additionally, a method and system are required to monitor the state of charge (SOC) of the ESS, current temperature of the ESS and the ambient temperature of the ESS, and to enable energy conditioning of the ESS soon before the charging completion, after the charging completion or when the requisite charging level of the ESS is reached.
SUMMARY
Before the present system and device and its components are described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the system and its arrangement as described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the versions or embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in detecting or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one implementation, a conditioning system for energy conditioning of an energy storage system (ESS) is disclosed. The energy conditioning by the conditioning system may be performed soon before the charging completion, after the charging completion or when the requisite charging level of the ESS is reached. The conditioning system for energy conditioning of the ESS may incorporate various components to ensure an efficient operation and management of the ESS. At its core, the conditioning system may include an energy conditioning system (ECS) responsible for the energy conditioning process. The conditioning system may further comprise a temperature conditioning system (TCS) and a charge conditioning system (CCS). In one embodiment, the CCS may be configured for conditioning of an electric charge. Further, the TCS may be configured for conditioning of a conditioning fluid. Furthermore, the conditioning system may include a connector. In an embodiment, the connector may be configured to communicate the electric charge and the conditioning fluid to the ESS. The ESS may be placed external to the conditioning system. In one embodiment, the ECS may be configured to condition the ESS by sequencing stopping one of the conditioning fluid flow, the electric charge and a combination thereof.
In another implementation, a method for conditioning the ESS by sequencing stopping of a conditioning fluid flow and an electric charge flow, by the ECS is disclosed. The method may be performed soon before the charging completion, after the charging completion or when the requisite charging level of the ESS is reached. The method for energy conditioning of the ESS may involve a series of steps to ensure optimal functioning and performance of the ESS. The method may include a step for receiving a current temperature of the ESS. Further, the method may include a step for receiving a state of charge (SOC) of the ESS. Further, the method may include a step for comparing the current temperature of the ESS, with one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges. Further, the method may include a step for comparing the SOC of the ESS with one or more pre-defined state of charge (SOC) thresholds. Further, the method may include a step for identifying a current threshold temperature of the ESS, from the one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges. Further, the method may include a step for identifying a SOC threshold of the ESS, from the one or more predefined SOC thresholds. Further, the method may include a step for determining a sequence of stopping one of, an electric charge flow, a conditioning fluid flow, and a combination thereof, based on the current threshold temperature and the SOC threshold of the ESS. Furthermore, the method may include a step for providing one or more signals to one of, a charge conditioning system (CCS), a temperature conditioning system (TCS) and a combination thereof.
In another embodiment, the method may include a step for receiving an ambient temperature of the ESS. Further, the method may include a step for comparing the ambient temperature of the ESS, with the one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges. Further, the method may include a step for identifying an ambient threshold temperature of the ESS, from the one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges. Further, the method may include a step for determining the sequence of stopping one of, the electric charge flow, the conditioning fluid flow and a combination thereof, based on the ambient threshold temperature, the current threshold temperature and the SOC threshold of the ESS. Furthermore, the method may include a step for providing one or more conditioning signals to one of the CCS, the TCS and a combination thereof.
Overall, the conditioning system and the method for energy conditioning of the ESS on one of, soon before the charging completion, after the charging completion or when the ESS has reached the desired charging level, may ensures the efficient and effective management of the ESS by monitoring key parameters and taking appropriate actions to regulate the energy flow and maintain optimal operating conditions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to features and components.
Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a conditioning system (100) for an energy conditioning of an energy storage system ESS (105), in accordance with an embodiment of a present disclosure.
Figure 2A illustrates a flow diagram of a method (200) for energy conditioning of the ESS (105) based on the current temperature of the ESS (105), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 2B illustrates a flow diagram of the method (200) for energy conditioning of the ESS (105) based on the ambient temperature and the current temperature of the ESS (105), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “one embodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,” or “in an embodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary methods are described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a system and a method for energy conditioning of an energy storage system (ESS) is disclosed. The system comprises a charge conditioning system (CCS), a temperature conditioning system (TCS), a connector and an energy conditioning system (ECS). The CCS is configured for conditioning an electric charge. The TCS is configured for conditioning of a conditioning fluid. The connector is configured to communicate the electric charge and the conditioning fluid to the ESS. The ESS may be placed in an electric vehicle external to the conditioning system. The ECS is configured to condition the ESS by sequencing stopping one of the conditioning fluid flow, the electric charge and a combination thereof.
Now referring to figure 1, a block diagram of a conditioning system (100) for energy conditioning of an energy storage system (ESS) (105), is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The conditioning system (100) may comprise an energy conditioning system (ECS) (101), a temperature conditioning system (TCS) (102), a charge conditioning system (CCS) (103), and a connector (104). The conditioning system (100) may further comprise one or more sensors, which may be configured to determine ambient temperature. In one embodiment, the ESS (105) is placed in an electric vehicle external to the conditioning system (100).
In one embodiment, the TCS (102) may comprise one or more temperature sensors, one or more fluid circuits, one or more fluid hose, one or more fluid T-junction, one or more fluid reservoirs (tanks), one or more heat exchangers, one or more solenoids, one or more valves, one or more circulation pumps, one or more suction pumps and more. The TCS (102) may be configured for conditioning of a conditioning fluid. In one embodiment, the conditioning may correspond to either stopping or continuing/non-stopping the conditioning fluid flow. The TCS (102) may be used to provide conditioning fluid to the ESS (105) via the connector (104). The conditioning fluid may be present in a reservoir placed at the ECS (101). In one embodiment, one or more separate reservoirs are placed, at the ECS (101), for accommodating the hot conditioning fluid and the cool conditioning fluid. In another embodiment, only a single reservoir is placed, at the ECS (101), with one or more heat exchangers for fulfilling the need of either the hot conditioning fluid or the cool conditioning fluid.
In one embodiment, the CCS (103) may comprise a charger, a power supply unit, a set of electronic modules, an electric grid, transformer, filter, rectifiers, switches, regulator, control unit, AC to DC converter, DC to DC converter, protection circuit and more. The CCS (103) may be configured for conditioning an electric charge flow. In one embodiment, the conditioning may correspond to either stopping or continuing/non-stopping the electric charge flow. The CCS (103) may be used to provide conditioned electric charge to the ESS (108) via the connector (104).
In one embodiment, the connector (104) may comprise a charging gun, a plurality of conduits and a charging socket, housed outside of the ECS (101). The connector (104) may be connected to the ECS (101) via a plurality of conduits to pass the electric charge, and the conditioning fluid, and data signals between the ECS (101) and the ESS (105). In another embodiment, the connector (104) may be connected to the ESS (105) present in the EVs for the communicating signals, the electrical energy, and the conditioning fluid. The signals communicated to the ESS (105), may comprise state information about the ESS (105). The electric energy, communicated to the ESS (105), may comprise the electric charge for (re)-charging the ESS (105) present in the EVs. The fluid energy, communicated to the ESS (105), may comprise the energy (either heat or cool) passed to the ESS (105) through the conditioning fluid. The conditioning fluid may be the hot conditioning fluid or the cool conditioning fluid. In one embodiment, the conditioning fluid may be passed to microchannels present on side walls of the ESS (105). The conditioning fluid can be a coolant, water, any liquid, or a gas.
In another embodiment, the hot conditioning fluid, conditioned by the TCS (102), may flow via the connector (104) from the ECS (101) to the ESS (105), followed by flowing back of the cold conditioning fluid from the ESS (105) to the ECS (101) via the connector (104). In another embodiment, the cold conditioning fluid, conditioned by the TCS (102), may flow via the connector (104) from the ECS (101) to the ESS (105), followed by flowing back of the hot conditioning fluid from the ESS (105) to the ECS (101) via the connector (104).
In one embodiment, the ECS (101) may be configured to condition the ESS (105) by sequencing stopping one of the conditioning fluid flow, the electric charge flow and a combination thereof. In one embodiment, sequencing stopping of the conditioning fluid and the electric charge, by the ECS (101), is performed by sending one of, a charge conditioning signal to the CCS (103), a temperature conditioning signal to the TCS (102) and combination thereof. The charge conditioning signal may correspond to one of, stopping the electric charge, non-stopping/continuing the electric charge, changing C rating of the charger within one or more predefined charge threshold range and a combination thereof. The one or more charge threshold range may be defined based on the current and voltage determined from C Rating of the ESS (105) being charged. In one example embodiment, the one or more predefined charge threshold ranges may be termed as 1C, 2C, 3C and 4C, wherein 1C<2C<3C<4C. The temperature conditioning signal corresponds to one of, stopping of the conditioning fluid, non-stopping/continuing of the conditioning fluid, changing temperature of the conditioning fluid and a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the ECS (101) is configured to receive an ambient temperature of the ESS (105). In one embodiment, the ambient temperature of the ESS (105) may be determined by one or more sensors associated with the ESS (105). The ambient temperature of the ESS (105) may correspond to a surrounding temperature of the ESS (105) or the electric vehicle containing the ESS (105). In an exemplary embodiment, the ambient temperature of the ESS operating in a tropical region or in the hot climate, may correspond to hot ambient temperature. In another exemplary embodiment, the ambient temperature of the ESS operating in a cold geographic region or in the winter climate, may correspond to cold ambient temperature.
In another embodiment, the ambient temperature of the ESS (105) may be determined by one or more sensors associated with the ECS (101). In another embodiment, the ECS (101) may be configured to receive a current temperature of the ESS (105). The current temperature of the ESS (105) may be determined by one or more temperature sensors associated with the ESS (105). The current temperature of the ESS (105) may correspond to the current operating temperature of the ESS (105). In another embodiment, the ECS (101) may be configured to receive a state of charge (SOC) of the ESS (105). The SOC of the ESS (105) may be determined by one or more charging sensors associated with the ESS (105).
In a related embodiment, the ECS (101) may be configured to compare the ambient temperature and the current temperature of the ESS (105) with one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges. In one example embodiment, the one or more predefined temperature threshold ranges may be termed as a first temperature threshold range T1, a second temperature threshold range T2 and a third temperature threshold range T3. The second temperature threshold range T2 may also be termed as a predefined operational temperature threshold range. Additionally, the pre-defined operational temperature threshold range T2 may have a base/lower temperature limit as T2L. Further, the pre-defined operational temperature threshold range T2 may also have an upper/higher temperature limit as T2H. The temperature threshold T1, T2 (including T2L and T2H) and T3 may be same or different for ESS (105), fluid reservoir, conditioning fluid, and the ambient temperature.
In one embodiment, the second temperature threshold range T2 may correspond to the operational temperature under which the ESS (105) of the EVs may be desired to be operated in an optimal condition for high performance and prolonged life. The operational temperature range T2 may limit within the range from T2L to T2H. In another embodiment, the first temperature threshold T1 may correspond to the temperature limit greater than the upper temperature limit (i.e., T2H) of the second temperature threshold range T2. In another embodiment, the third temperature threshold T3 may correspond to the temperature threshold limit lower than the base temperature limit (i.e., T2L) of the second temperature threshold range T2. In a nutshell, the temperature thresholds configured for T1, T2 and T3 from lower temperature to high temperature may be defined as: T3 < (T2L
Documents
Application Documents
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Name
Date
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202241037002-STATEMENT OF UNDERTAKING (FORM 3) [28-06-2022(online)].pdf