Controller, system, and method for managing discharge or charge of heterogeneous battery packs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12500436-B2
Application number	US-202117506137-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 20, 2021
Priority date	Oct 20, 2021
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

A controller, a system including such a controller, and a method for controlling or managing discharge or charge of a plurality of battery packs are provided. The controller includes one or more processor and at least one tangible, non-transitory machine readable medium encoded with one or more programs configured to perform steps to determining a voltage distribution parameter of each battery pack based on its maximum voltage, its minimum voltage for discharge, and a present voltage, assign ranks to the plurality of battery packs based on the voltage distribution parameters, and determine a respective power discharge or charge based on the rank of each battery pack and a total power demand. The controller provides signals with instructions to the plurality of battery packs and/or the one or more power converters for discharging power from or charging power to the plurality of battery packs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system, comprising:
a plurality of battery packs; one or more power converters, each power converter coupled with at least one of the plurality of battery packs and configured to convert direct current (DC) from one battery pack to alternating current (AC) or vice versa; and a controller coupled to the plurality of battery packs and the one or more power converters, the controller comprising one or more processor and at least one tangible, non-transitory machine readable medium encoded with one or more programs configured to perform steps of:
receiving a total power demand (D) needed to be dispatched from the system or to be charged to the system;
collecting characteristic data of each battery pack including a maximum voltage (V i max ), a minimum voltage for discharge (V i min ), and a present voltage (V i );
determining a voltage distribution parameter (V i *) of each battery pack based on V i max , V i min , and V i ;
ranking the plurality of battery packs by assigning a rank to each battery pack as an order for discharging or charging based on the voltage distribution parameter (V i *) for each battery pack;
determining a respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack based on the rank of each battery pack and the total power demand (D); and
providing signals with instructions to the plurality of battery packs and the one or more power converters for discharging power from or charging power to the plurality of battery packs based on the respective power discharge or charge of each battery pack and/or keeping a certain battery pack idle,
wherein the controller is configured to determine the respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack by assigning the respective power discharge or charge in the order for discharging or charging, starting from the battery pack assigned with rank “1”, the power discharge or charge of the battery pack is equal to a respective maximum total rated power (d i max ) of the battery pack, until a total power discharge or charge reaches the total power demand (D), and wherein the maximum total rated power (d i max ) of each battery pack is calculated by dividing the capacity of the individual battery pack by a duration of the system, the duration being calculated by dividing the capacity of all the battery packs by the design charge power of the system.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of battery packs are heterogeneous battery packs selected from new batteries, second-use electric vehicle (EV) batteries, or combinations thereof.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more battery power management unit (BPMU), each BPMU connected with one or more battery packs and configured to monitor the one or more battery packs and provide characteristic data of the one or more battery packs to the controller.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to rank the plurality of battery packs in an increasing order, a decreasing order, or a random order of the voltage distribution parameter (V i *) of each battery pack, and the power is discharged or charged in the increasing order, the decreasing order, or the random order of the voltage distribution parameter (V i *), respectively.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is an electrical energy storage system, and the total power demand is provided from an upper level energy management system.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the signal with instructions for a pre-determined time interval, and re-determine the respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack after the time interval ends or when a voltage collapse occurs to a battery pack, by repeating steps.

7 . A controller for controlling discharge or charge of a system comprising a plurality of battery packs, comprising one or more processor and at least one tangible, non-transitory machine readable medium encoded with one or more programs configured to perform steps of:
receiving a total power demand (D) needed to be dispatched from the system or to be charged to the system; collecting characteristic data of each battery pack including a maximum voltage (V i max ), a minimum voltage for discharge (V i mm ), and a present voltage (V i ); determining a voltage distribution parameter (V i *) of each battery pack based on V i max , V i min , and V i ; ranking the plurality of battery packs by assigning a rank to each battery pack as an order for discharging or charging based on the voltage distribution parameter (V i *) for each battery pack; determining a respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack based on the rank of each battery pack and the total power demand (D); and providing signals with instructions to the plurality of battery packs and one or more power converters for discharging power from or charging power to the plurality of battery packs based on the respective power discharge or charge of each battery pack and/or keeping a certain battery pack idle, wherein the controller is configured to determine the respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack by assigning the respective power discharge or charge in the order for discharging or charging, starting from the battery pack assigned with rank “1”, the power discharge or charge of the battery pack is equal to a respective maximum total rated power (d i max ) of the battery pack, until a total power discharge or charge reaches the total power demand (D), and wherein the maximum total rated power (d i max ) of each battery pack is calculated by dividing the capacity of the individual battery pack by a duration of the system, the duration being calculated by dividing the capacity of all the battery packs by the design charge power of the system.

8 . The controller of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to rank the plurality of battery packs in an increasing order, a decreasing order, or a random order of the voltage distribution parameter (V i *) of each battery pack, and the power is discharged or charged in the increasing order, the decreasing order, or the random order of the voltage distribution parameter (V i *), respectively.

9 . The controller of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the signal with instructions for a pre-determined time interval, and re-determine the respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack after the time interval ends or when a voltage collapse occurs to a battery pack, by repeating steps.

10 . The controller of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to discharge power from the plurality of battery packs to a grid or load, or charge power from the grid or load to the plurality of battery packs.

11 . A method for controlling discharge or charge of a system comprising a plurality of battery packs through a controller therein, comprising:
receiving a total power demand (D) needed to be dispatched from the system or to be charged to the system; collecting characteristic data of each battery pack including a maximum voltage (V i max), a minimum voltage for discharge (V i min ), and a present voltage (V i ); determining a voltage distribution parameter (V i *) of each battery pack based on V i max , V i min , and V i ; ranking the plurality of battery packs by assigning a rank to each battery pack as an order for discharging or charging based on the voltage distribution parameter (V i *) for each battery pack; determining a respective power discharge or charge for each battery pack based on the rank of each battery pack and the total power demand (D); and providing signals with instructions to the plurality of battery

Assignees

• China Energy Investment Corp Ltd
• Nat Inst Clean & Low Carbon Energy

Inventors

• Sharma Ratnesh
• Singh Surinder
• Ohara Brandon
• Furukawa Motoko
• Keyes Roger

Classifications

• H02J7/585

  Sequential battery discharge in systems with a plurality of batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/80

  including monitoring or indicating arrangements · CPC title

• H02J7/44

  between battery management systems and power sources · CPC title

• H02J7/96 Primary

  in response to battery voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title