Recovering defective branches and/or cells of battery packs by deep discharges
AssigneeStoreDot Ltd.
InventorsZvi Ioffe, Leonid Krasovitsky, Daniel Aronov
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods of managing a lithium ion battery and of recovering branches and/or cells in the battery are provided, as well as battery management systems (BMS) and batteries implementing the methods. Branches and/or cells may be recovered by slow and deep discharging, followed by slow charging—to increase capacity, cycling lifetime and/or enhance safety thereof. BMSs may be configured to diagnose defective branches and/or cells and manage the recovery procedure with respect to changing operational loads the battery and the available internal and external charging sources.
Claims21
A method of managing a lithium ion battery that comprises at least one branch having corresponding at least one lithium ion cell, the method comprising:
- monitoring operational parameters of the at least one branch and/or of the at least one lithium ion cell,
- detecting at least one defective cell and/or branch, wherein the defective branch includes at least one defective cell,
- redistributing an operation load of the lithium ion battery among cells and/or branches other than the at least one detected defective cell and/or branch,
- performing a recovery procedure on the at least one detected defective cell and/or branch, the recovery procedure comprising discharging thereof, with a first specified procedure, down to a recovery voltage threshold followed by charging thereof, with a second specified procedure, up to an operation voltage threshold—to increase capacity, cycling lifetime and/or enhance safety thereof, and
- reinstating the operation load distribution on all cells and/or branches of the lithium ion battery.
A recovery method comprising:
- discharging at least one cell of a lithium ion battery, with a first specified procedure, down to a recovery voltage threshold, followed by
- charging the at least one cell, with a second specified procedure, up to an operation voltage threshold—to increase capacity, cycling lifetime and/or enhance safety thereof,
- wherein the first and second specified procedures, each independently comprises at least one of CCCV (constant current, constant voltage), CC (constant current), CV (constant voltage), CI (constant impedance) and/or CP (constant power) procedures, each comprising at least one recurring corresponding step.
A lithium ion battery comprising:
- a plurality of branches, each comprising a plurality of serially-connected cells, and
- a battery management system (BMS) configured to manage an operation of the lithium ion battery by distributing an operational load among the branches;
- wherein the BMS is further configured to:
- detect at least one defective cell and/or branch, wherein the defective branch includes at least one defective cell,
- redistribute the operation load among cells and/or branches other than the at least one detected defective cell and/or branch,
- recover the at least one detected defective cell and/or branch, by discharging thereof, with a first specified procedure, down to a recovery voltage threshold followed by charging thereof, with a second specified procedure, up to an operation voltage threshold—to increase capacity, cycling lifetime and/or enhance safety thereof, and
- reinstate the operation load distribution on all cells and/or branches of the lithium ion battery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.