US-12626968-B2 - Cell temperature regulation

US12626968B2US 12626968 B2US12626968 B2US 12626968B2US-12626968-B2

Abstract

An energy storage system includes an energy storage component. It further includes heat generating electronics. It further includes a fluid circulator that transfers fluid between the energy storage component and the heat generating electronics. The circulator is controlled to alternatively transfer fluid from the battery to the heat generating electronics or from the heat generating electronics to the energy storage component based at least in part on a thermal state of the energy storage system.

Inventors

Bozhi Yang
Tanner Bruce DeVoe
Tahina Christine Felisca
Kevin Richard Fine
Mark Daniel Goldman
Mark Holveck
Erica Viola Lewis
Conrad Xavier Murphy
Ian Gregory Spearing

Assignees

Lunar Energy, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240329

Claims (12)

1 . An energy storage assembly, comprising: a vertical stack of modules, each module comprising: a plurality of energy storage components; a thermally conductive shell comprising the plurality of energy storage components; and a divider, wherein the divider partitions the module into a first sub-module and a second sub-module, and wherein the divider is in contact with the thermally conductive shell; and wherein a pouch of thermally absorptive material is placed between a first module and a second module that are adjacent to each other in the vertical stack of modules.
2 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein a shell top of the first module comprises an indentation for locating the pouch of thermally absorptive material.
3 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thermally absorptive material comprises a phase change material.
4 . The energy storage assembly of claim 3 , wherein the phase change material comprises a vaporizing liquid.
5 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein each module further comprises a top insulating layer above the plurality of energy storage components.
6 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein each module further comprises a bottom insulating layer below the plurality of energy storage components.
7 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein a first portion of the plurality of energy storage components is located in the first sub-module, and a second portion of the plurality of energy storage components is located in the second sub-module.
8 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein each module further comprises an exhaust port, and wherein the divider provides an exhaust pathway to the exhaust port of the module.
9 . The energy storage assembly of claim 8 , wherein the exhaust port is covered by a sticker.
10 . The energy storage assembly of claim 8 , wherein the exhaust port is in communication with an exhaust diffuser.
11 . The energy storage assembly of claim 10 , wherein the exhaust diffuser is in common with modules in the vertical stack of modules.
12 . The energy storage assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of energy storage components comprises an inner set of battery pouches.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/544,791, entitled CELL TEMPERATURE REGULATION filed Dec. 7, 2021 which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/245,004, entitled MODULAR ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM filed Sep. 16, 2021 which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Energy storage systems are complex, where various considerations must be taken into account when designing an energy storage system, from safety considerations due to the risk of fire, to on-site installation of battery systems. Thus, the design of energy storage systems can be challenging. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a power system. FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of an electrical layout of a battery block. FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 4C illustrates an embodiment of air flow in a battery block to facilitate cooling. FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a cooling structure of a battery block. FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a battery module. FIG. 8A illustrates an embodiment of a top-down view of a battery module. FIG. 8B illustrates an embodiment of a cross-section view of a battery module. FIG. 8C illustrates an embodiment of a busbar for connecting battery sub-modules. FIG. 9A illustrates an embodiment of a sensor interface of a battery module. FIG. 9B illustrates an embodiment of sensor wiring of a battery module. FIG. 10A illustrates an embodiment of a battery module. FIG. 10B illustrates an embodiment of thermally absorptive pouches between battery modules. FIG. 10C illustrates an embodiment of a central rib of a battery module. FIG. 11A illustrates an embodiment of exhaust ports of a battery module. FIG. 11B illustrates an embodiment of an exhaust port of a battery module. FIG. 12A illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 12B illustrates an embodiment of a battery block. FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of a power system. FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of bi-directional fan control and logic. FIG. 15A illustrates an embodiment of an open-air loop operation mode for cooling. FIG. 15B illustrates an embodiment of an open-air loop operation mode for heating. FIG. 15C illustrates an embodiment of a closed-air loop operation mode. FIG. 16A illustrates an embodiment of an open-loop operation mode. FIG. 16B illustrates an embodiment of a closed-loop operation mode. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage medium; and/or a processor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions stored on and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In this specification, these implementations, or any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as a processor or a memory described as being configured to perform a task may be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or a specific component that is manufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term ‘processor’ refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores configured to process data, such as computer program instructions. A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured. FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a power system. In this example, the power system 100 includes an inverter (102). The power system also includes an energy storage system (ESS) 104. In this example, ESS 10