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KR-102963167-B1 - Fire suppression equipments for thermal runaway of lithium ion battery module unit

KR102963167B1KR 102963167 B1KR102963167 B1KR 102963167B1KR-102963167-B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device and method for detecting and extinguishing a fire caused by thermal runaway in a lithium-ion battery module unit, wherein a sensor assembly capable of detecting temperature, smoke, or flames is integrally provided in a fire extinguishing pipe and cable, and a heat detection sensor is additionally installed in each lithium-ion battery module so that when a fire occurs inside the battery pack while charging and transmitting the ESS lithium-ion battery module, the sensor assembly immediately detects it and injects a fire extinguishing agent into the battery pack to extinguish the fire only in the module where the fire occurred.

Inventors

  • 김종삼
  • 김형균

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20230309

Claims (9)

  1. A device for detecting and suppressing a fire installed in a battery composed of multiple cells, comprising: a sensor assembly capable of detecting temperature, smoke, or flames; a fire extinguishing agent supply means installed at the top of the battery and including a fire extinguishing agent pipe having multiple agent holes formed therein so that when a fire is detected by the sensor assembly, a fire extinguishing agent is sprayed into each cell installed inside the lithium-ion battery module; a fire extinguishing agent recovery means installed at the bottom of the battery to collect and discharge the fire extinguishing agent used for fire suppression; and a control device that controls the fire extinguishing agent supply means and the fire extinguishing agent recovery means according to a detection signal from the sensor assembly. The above-mentioned extinguishing agent piping is installed on the upper part of each lithium-ion battery module at the bottom of the battery case to prevent the sprayed extinguishing agent from leaking out to the outside through the battery case, and The above-mentioned fire suppression device for thermal runaway in a lithium-ion battery module unit comprises a module water collector installed at the bottom of each lithium-ion battery module to collect fire suppression agents used for fire suppression, and a rack water collector installed at the bottom of the battery to collect fire suppression agents collected from each module water collector and moved through a discharge pipe. The above control device detects the water levels of the module drip tray and the rack drip tray and controls the operation of the valve installed in the piping, and A fire hydrant and piping are connected to the fire extinguishing agent tank or fire extinguishing agent piping constituting the above-mentioned fire extinguishing agent supply means, so that a fire hose connection socket of a fire truck can be connected. A cooling device is further installed in the fire extinguishing agent tank constituting the above fire extinguishing agent supply means, and The above control device has a communication line connecting the main control device of the main rack and the sub-control device of the sub-rack, and the interior of the sub-rack is detected by the sub-control device and the module control device on a module basis, and A fire suppression device for thermal runaway in a lithium-ion battery module unit, characterized by additionally installing a pressure reducing valve in the fire extinguishing agent piping to buffer the pressure between the fire extinguishing agent tank and the fire hydrant.
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Description

Fire suppression equipment for thermal runaway of lithium ion battery module unit The present invention relates to a device and method for detecting and extinguishing fire in a lithium-ion battery module including an ESS, and more specifically, to a device and method for detecting and extinguishing a fire caused by thermal runaway in a lithium-ion battery module unit, wherein a sensor assembly capable of detecting temperature, smoke, or flames is integrally provided in a fire extinguishing pipe and a cable, and additionally a heat detection sensor is installed in each lithium-ion battery module so that when a fire occurs inside the battery pack while charging and transmitting the ESS lithium-ion battery module, the sensor assembly immediately detects it and injects a fire extinguishing agent into the battery pack to extinguish the fire only in the module where the fire occurred. In general, due to the strengthening of global environmental regulations and the trend of energy conservation, the development and dissemination of eco-friendly electricity production technologies are gradually expanding in countries around the world. Meanwhile, an Energy Storage System (ESS) can be included using only batteries charged with electrical energy produced by eco-friendly electricity production technologies. Recently in Korea as well, due to the government's strengthening of environmental regulations, solar power generation facilities are accelerating the supply of eco-friendly power generation facilities with high fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions, and with the proliferation of such eco-friendly power generation facilities, there is a need for the supply of ESS. Meanwhile, the lithium-ion battery module of the ESS primarily utilizes lithium secondary batteries, and the battery module, in which these lithium secondary batteries are stacked in layers and electrically connected in series and/or parallel, is housed inside a metal case to protect against external shocks or moisture. However, there is a possibility that a battery pack using the above-mentioned lithium secondary battery may ignite or explode due to thermal runaway (1350°C) in multiple battery modules, and since heat or flames may be transferred to adjacent secondary batteries and cause secondary ignition or explosion, it can lead to a very serious situation involving casualties, so the development of fire extinguishing technology to prevent such secondary ignition or explosion is actively underway, and examples of such are Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 is a battery pack comprising: at least two battery modules arranged in one direction; a linear temperature sensing sensor, a portion of which extends linearly along the at least two battery modules and detects when the temperature of at least one of the at least two battery modules is above a predetermined temperature; a fire extinguishing tank containing a fire extinguishing agent; piping connected to supply the fire extinguishing agent from the fire extinguishing tank to each of the at least two battery modules; and a fire extinguishing unit having a valve that opens to supply the fire extinguishing agent from the fire extinguishing tank to the battery modules above the predetermined temperature through the piping. Patent Document 2 describes a battery pack comprising: one or more battery modules; a housing in which the battery modules are housed; a Battery Management System (BMS) provided inside or outside the housing to generally control the operation of the battery pack; a fire detection sensor installed inside the housing to detect a fire; and a fire extinguishing device installed inside the housing to suppress a fire when a fire occurs in the battery modules, wherein the fire extinguishing device comprises an air intake blocking device that blocks the inflow of air from the outside and a fire extinguishing agent spraying device that sprays a fire extinguishing agent into the battery pack. Although various battery pack fire extinguishing technologies have been developed, using conventional fire extinguishing facilities such as sprinklers takes more than 4 hours to extinguish an ESS battery module and requires a large-capacity water supply. In addition, there was a problem in that the ESS power generation facility in operation could stop, potentially causing serious accidents, and the battery pack might need to be completely replaced to remove the fire extinguishing agent and restore the battery pack, resulting in significant economic losses. FIG. 1 is a top plate configuration diagram of a lithium-ion battery module according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the connection configuration of the medicinal material injection pipe for individual module control according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram of the bottom plate of a lithium-ion battery module according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the connection configuration of the medicin