Direct current (DC) microgrid charge/discharge system for secondary batteries connected in series

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9455578-B2
Application number	US-201414226412-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 26, 2014
Priority date	Mar 27, 2013
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

An algorithm and a direct current (DC) microgrid charge/discharge system with the algorithm are provided that noticeably increases charge/discharge voltage during charging and discharging by connecting a plurality of secondary batteries in series, compared to a single battery, that increases power conversion efficiency of a DC-to-DC (DC/DC) converter for charge/discharge power control by setting an appropriate voltage of a DC microgrid to be about twice a maximum voltage of a battery group, that enables charging and discharging to be stably performed regardless of a change in the battery group by adding a linear constant current source, that increases power conversion efficiency of the DC microgrid charge/discharge system by configuring a DC energy storage system (ESS) used for both charging and discharging with a combination of a typical electrolytic condenser and a super condenser or a group of the secondary batteries, and that simplifies the DC microgrid charge/discharge system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A direct current (DC) microgrid charge/discharge system for a plurality of secondary batteries that are connected in series, the DC microgrid charge/discharge system comprising:
a linear current source configured to permit charging and discharging of the plurality of secondary batteries;
a single bidirectional DC-to-DC (DC/DC) converter configured to supply power to the plurality of secondary batteries for charging of the plurality of secondary batteries and to permit discharging of the plurality of secondary batteries at a high power conversion efficiency, wherein the linear current source is located between the bidirectional DC/DC converter and the plurality of secondary batteries, and wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter operates at a voltage that is higher than a voltage of a single battery among the plurality of batteries; and
a DC energy storage system (ESS) to stably supply power to the bidirectional DC/DC converter, the DC ESS being disposed in a front side of the bidirectional DC/DC converter, wherein the DC ESS supplies power during power outage.

2. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller to control the plurality of secondary batteries to be simultaneously charged and discharged, the plurality of batteries having different capacities and different characteristics comprising an internal resistance.

3. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , wherein a relay or a switching circuit is connected to a front end of each of the plurality of batteries, to supply a current to each of the plurality of batteries or to cut off the current, under a control of a controller to control the plurality of secondary batteries to be simultaneously charged, the plurality of batteries having different capacities and different characteristics comprising an internal resistance.

4. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a voltmeter or an isolated battery management system (BMS) to measure a voltage of both ends of each of the plurality of secondary batteries, to control the plurality of batteries to be simultaneously charged, the plurality of batteries having different capacities and different characteristics comprising an internal resistance.

5. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 2 , wherein a control program is loaded in the controller, and is used to control each of the secondary batteries to be stably charged and discharged based on values received from an ammeter, a thermometer, and a voltmeter.

6. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a protection circuit to increase durability of a relay and to allow a charge/discharge current to stably operate when the relay is open and when the relay is connected to a contact after opening, to charge and discharge each of secondary batteries connected in series, the relay being installed between the batteries.

7. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a bidirectional zener diode or a diode, a condenser, and a resistor, and is configured to bypass a current to a battery in a next end when a relay is open and when the relay is connected to a contact after opening.

8. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an active balancing circuit to open and close a charging current of each of the plurality of secondary batteries based on a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal output from the controller, or to compute the PWM signal to a DC, to consume or bypass a part of the charging current, when the plurality of secondary batteries are charged in a constant voltage (CV) mode, the plurality of batteries being connected in series, and having different internal resistances or different capacities.

9. The DC microgrid charge/discharge system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a host computer to simultaneously control a plurality of trays to perform charging and discharging, the plurality of trays being configured to charge and discharge the plurality of secondary batteries connected in series, using the bidirectional DC/DC converter and the linear current source.

Assignees

• Lg Cns Co Ltd
• Hbl Corp

Inventors

• Kim Jeong Moog
• Lee Hwan Hee
• Ryu Tae Hyoung
• Shin Dong Hoon
• Han Cheol Kyu

Classifications

• H02J7/52 Primary

  for charge balancing, e.g. equalisation of charge between batteries · CPC title

• B60L58/19

  Switching between serial connection and parallel connection of battery modules · CPC title

• H02J7/1423

  with multiple batteries · CPC title

• Y02P80/14

  District level solutions, i.e. local energy networks · CPC title

• H02J7/00 Primary

  Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries · CPC title