KR-20260063445-A - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTING BATTERY

Abstract

A battery classification device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a profile acquisition unit configured to acquire a differential profile representing a correspondence relationship between the voltage and differential capacity of a plurality of batteries; and a control unit configured to determine a target peak in each of the plurality of differential profiles, classify the plurality of batteries into one or more groups based on the voltage of the determined plurality of target peaks, and set a grade of a plurality of target batteries belonging to a target group among the one or more groups.

Inventors

• 박선호
• 정희석
• 배윤정

Assignees

• 주식회사 엘지에너지솔루션

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241030

Claims (10)

1. A profile acquisition unit configured to acquire a differential profile representing the corresponding relationship between the voltage and differential capacity of a plurality of batteries; and A battery classification device comprising a control unit configured to determine a target peak in each of a plurality of differential profiles, classify the plurality of batteries into one or more groups based on the voltage of the determined plurality of target peaks, and set a grade of the plurality of target batteries belonging to the target group among the one or more groups.
2. In paragraph 1, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to set the grade of the plurality of target batteries based on the differential capacity of the plurality of target batteries.
3. In paragraph 2, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to set multiple differential capacity ranges for the target group based on the differential capacities of the multiple target batteries, and to set a grade for each of the multiple target batteries based on the differential capacity range to which the differential capacities of the multiple target batteries belong.
4. In paragraph 3, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to select the maximum differential capacity and minimum differential capacity of the plurality of target batteries and to divide the differential capacity range including the maximum differential capacity to the minimum differential capacity into a preset number of the plurality of differential capacity ranges.
5. In paragraph 1, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to classify batteries into the above groups such that the voltage difference of the above target peak is below a preset threshold voltage.
6. In paragraph 1, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to determine a plurality of target peaks in each of a plurality of differential profiles and to classify the plurality of batteries into one or more groups based on the voltage of the determined plurality of target peaks.
7. In paragraph 6, The above control unit is, A battery classification device configured to classify batteries into groups such that the voltage difference between each of the plurality of target peaks is less than or equal to a preset threshold voltage.
8. A battery pack comprising a plurality of batteries of the same grade set by a battery classification device according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 7.
9. In paragraph 8, A battery pack further comprising a Battery Management System (BMS) configured to determine a charge/discharge profile corresponding to the grade of the plurality of batteries included in the battery pack among a plurality of preset charge/discharge profiles, and to control the charge/discharge of the plurality of batteries included in the battery pack according to the determined charge/discharge profile.
10. A profile acquisition step for acquiring a differential profile representing the correspondence relationship between the voltage and differential capacity of multiple batteries; A target peak determination step for determining a target peak in each of a plurality of differential profiles; A group classification step of classifying the plurality of batteries into one or more groups based on the voltage of a plurality of determined target peaks; and A battery classification method comprising a grade setting step for setting the grade of a plurality of target batteries belonging to a target group among one or more of the above-mentioned groups.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Distributing Battery The present invention relates to a battery classification device and method. Recently, as the demand for portable electronic products such as laptops, video cameras, and mobile phones has increased rapidly, and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, and satellites has accelerated, research on high-performance batteries capable of repeated charging and discharging is actively underway. Currently commercialized batteries include nickel-cadmium, nickel-hydrogen, nickel-zinc, and lithium batteries. Among these, lithium batteries are gaining attention for their advantages, such as having almost no memory effect compared to nickel-based batteries, allowing for free charging and discharging, a very low self-discharge rate, and high energy density. However, as batteries are used, their performance deteriorates compared to batteries in the BOL (Beginning of Life) state. Furthermore, as technological advancements expand the fields in which batteries are used, the number of degraded batteries (hereinafter referred to as waste batteries) is also increasing. Disposing of waste batteries requires significant resources and manpower, and the generation of toxic substances creates environmental problems. Therefore, simply disposing of waste batteries as is can cause significant environmental and economic issues. However, even if they are waste batteries, their utility can vary depending on the application. For example, even waste batteries that have low utility due to performance degradation in electric vehicles can still have high utility in ESS (Energy storage system), etc. Furthermore, reusing spent batteries can reduce carbon emissions associated with the production of new batteries or recycling. For example, when new batteries are produced to replace spent ones, significant greenhouse gases are emitted during processes such as the extraction and processing of raw materials and battery manufacturing. Additionally, substantial greenhouse gases are emitted due to physical and chemical treatments during the recycling process of extracting materials such as lithium and nickel from spent batteries. Therefore, reusing waste batteries can create significant environmental, economic, and social value. However, using waste batteries with significantly different conditions together may lead to unexpected problems (e.g., inrush current) and reduce overall usage efficiency. Therefore, to reuse waste batteries, it is necessary to accurately diagnose their current condition. Furthermore, appropriate classification of the batteries to be reused is required, taking into account their current state, so that batteries in identical or similar conditions can be reused together. The following drawings attached to this specification serve to further enhance understanding of the technical concept of the invention in conjunction with the detailed description of the invention set forth below; therefore, the invention should not be interpreted as being limited only to the matters described in such drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a battery classification device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 and FIGS. 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating differential profiles of a plurality of batteries according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a battery classification method according to one embodiment of the present invention. Terms and words used in this specification and claims should not be interpreted as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, but should be interpreted in a meaning and concept consistent with the technical spirit of the invention, based on the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the terms to best describe his invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations illustrated in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention; thus, it should be understood that various equivalents and modifications that can replace them may exist at the time of filing this application. In addition, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known components or functions may obscure the essence of the invention, such detailed description is omitted. Terms including ordinal numbers, such as first, second, etc., are used for the purpose of distinguishing one of the various components from the rest, and are not used to limit the components by such terms. Throughout the specification, when a part is described as "including" a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other comp