Patent Application
20250219431
This application is based on and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0193652 filed on Dec. 27, 2023, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for setting a charging protocol, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for setting a charging protocol of a battery.
As the demand for portable electronic devices such as notebook computers, video cameras and portable telephones has increased sharply, and electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites and the like have been developed in earnest in recent years, studies for high-performance batteries allowing repeated charging and discharging are being conducted actively.
Currently commercialized batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, and lithium batteries. Among the batteries, lithium batteries are attracting more attention than others due to their advantages over other batteries, including a substantially low memory effect to allow a high degree of freedom in charging and discharging, a low self-discharge rate, and high energy density, compared to nickel-based batteries.
Meanwhile, as the power-driven devices such as electric vehicles, electric motorcycles, and electric bicycles are commercialized, the demand for high-capacity and high-performance batteries is increasing.
The present disclosure provides an apparatus and a method for setting a charging protocol.
The present disclosure may be understood from the following detailed description and will become more fully apparent from embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, it will be easily understood that the present disclosure may be implemented by the means indicated in the appended claims and combinations thereof.
An apparatus for setting a charging protocol according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a profile acquisition unit configured to acquire a resistance profile indicating a corresponding relationship between a state of charge (SOC) and resistance for a battery charged at a predetermined C-rate; and a control unit configured to determine a target SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile, and set a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the predetermined C-rate and the target SOC.
The control unit may be configured to determine a target section in the resistance profile, and determine the target SOC among SOCs within the target section.
The control unit may be configured to determine a first reference SOC and a second reference SOC satisfying the predetermined condition in the resistance profile, and determine an SOC section including the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC as the target section.
The control unit may be configured to determine the second reference SOC in the SOC section exceeding the first reference SOC.
The control unit may be configured to determine a minimum point with a corresponding maximum SOC in the resistance profile, and determine the SOC corresponding to the determined minimum point as the first reference SOC.
The control unit may be configured to determine a target point with a corresponding maximum change rate in the resistance profile, and determine the SOC corresponding to the determined target point as the second reference SOC.
The control unit may be configured to set the target SOC to a charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the predetermined C-rate.
The profile acquisition unit may be configured to acquire a plurality of resistance profiles with different corresponding C-rates.
The control unit may be configured to determine the target SOC in each of the plurality of resistance profiles, and set the charging protocol to include a corresponding relationship between the C-rate and the target SOC for the plurality of resistance profiles.
The resistance profile may be set to indicate a corresponding relationship between an SOC in a resting state and resistance according to a voltage drop in the resting state during charging of the battery at the predetermined C-rate while repeating a charging state and the resting state of the battery.
A charging control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure may be configured to control charging of a charging target battery, based on the charging protocol set by the apparatus for setting a charging protocol according to one aspect of the present disclosure.
A battery pack according to still another aspect of the present disclosure may include the charging control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure.
A vehicle according to still another aspect of the present disclosure may include the charging control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure.
A method for setting a charging protocol according to still another aspect of the present disclosure may include acquiring a resistance profile indicating a corresponding relationship between a state of charge (SOC) and resistance for a battery charged at a predetermined C-rate; determining a target SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile; and setting a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the predetermined C-rate and the target SOC.
An apparatus for setting a charging protocol according to still another aspect of the present disclosure includes: a profile acquisition unit configured to acquire a resistance profile indicating a corresponding relationship between a state of charge (SOC) and resistance for a battery charged at a predetermined C-rate, and a differential resistance profile indicating a resistance change rate for the SOC; and a control unit configured to determine a first reference SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile and a second reference SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the differential resistance profile, determine a target SOC between the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC, and set a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the predetermined C-rate and the target SOC.
The control unit may be configured to determine a minimum point with a corresponding maximum SOC in the resistance profile, and determine the SOC corresponding to the determined minimum point as the first reference SOC, and determine a target point with a corresponding maximum change rate in the differential resistance profile, and determine the SOC corresponding to the determined target point as the second reference SOC.
The control unit may be configured to set the target SOC to a charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the predetermined C-rate.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, deterioration of a battery due to charging is prevented or suppressed, so that the battery may be safely charged, and life expectancy of the battery may be increased.
For example, the apparatus for setting a charging protocol has an advantage of setting a charging protocol capable of increasing life expectancy of the battery by preventing or suppressing unnecessary deterioration of the battery.
The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.
The following drawings attached to this specification serve to further understand the technical idea of the present disclosure together with the detailed description of the present disclosure described below, so the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited to matters described in such drawings.
The terms and words used in the specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meanings and concepts consistent with the technical idea of the present disclosure based on a principle that an inventor may appropriately define the concepts of terms in order to explain his or her invention in the best possible manner.
Therefore, embodiments in the specification and configurations illustrated in the drawings are merely provided as examples and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present disclosure, so it should be understood that there may be various equivalents and modifications that could replace the technical ideas at the time of filing this application.
Also, in the description of the present disclosure, when it is deemed that explanation of related well-known constructions or functions may obscure the essence of the present disclosure, their detailed description thereof is omitted.
The terms including the ordinal number such as “first”, “second”, and the like, may be used to distinguish one element from another element among various elements, but these terms are not intended to limit the elements by the terms.
Throughout the specification, when a portion is referred to as “comprising” or “including” any element, it means that the portion may include other elements further, without excluding other elements, unless specifically stated otherwise.
In addition, throughout the specification, when a portion is referred to as being “connected” to another portion, it is not limited to the case that they are “directly connected”, but it also includes the case where they are “indirectly connected” with another element interposed therebetween.
As the capacity of batteries increases, the time required to charge the batteries also increases, which emerges as a problem in using high-capacity batteries. In order to solve this problem, technologies for rapidly charging the batteries are being developed, but there is a concern that rapid charging may accelerate deterioration of the batteries. Therefore, in order to prevent or suppress deterioration of the batteries due to rapid charging, a rapid charging protocol capable of efficiently charging batteries is required.
The present disclosure provides an apparatus and a method for setting a charging protocol capable of preventing or suppressing deterioration of batteries even during rapid charging.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
Referring to
The profile acquisition unit 110 may be configured to acquire a resistance profile indicating a corresponding relationship between a state of charge (SOC) and resistance for a battery, which is charged at a predetermined C-rate.
Here, the battery means a single, physically separable independent cell including a negative terminal and a positive terminal. For example, the battery may be a lithium-ion battery or a lithium polymer battery. The type of the battery may be a cylindrical type, a prismatic type, or a pouch type. The battery may refer to a battery bank, a battery module, or a battery pack in which a plurality of cells are connected in series and/or in parallel. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the battery is described as meaning a single independent cell.
The resistance profile may be set to indicate a corresponding relationship between the SOC in a resting state and the resistance according to a voltage drop in the resting state, during charging of the battery at the predetermined C-rate while repeating a charging state and the resting state of the battery.
For example, charging of the battery may start from a charging start SOC with a preset SOC or 0% of SOC, and continue until the battery reaches a preset charging termination SOC or 100% of SOC. In addition, during a charging process, the battery may enter the resting state each time the SOC of the battery increases by a preset unit of SOC. Here, the time of the resting state may be a preset unit time.
For example, a charging device may charge the battery in the charging state. The charging device may maintain the resting state for 1 second each time the SOC of the battery increases by 1%. Thereafter, the state of the charging device may be switched to the charging state where the battery is charged until the SOC of the battery increases by 1%.
In the embodiment of
The resistance of the battery may be calculated based on the charging current and a voltage drop during the resting period. For example, when assuming that the state of the battery is switched to the resting state each time the SOC of the battery increases by 1%, the resistance corresponding to the SOC may be calculated each time the SOC of the battery increases by 1%. In the embodiment of
For example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may receive and acquire the resistance profile of the battery from the outside.
As another example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may receive information regarding the SOC and resistance of the battery from the outside. The profile acquisition unit 110 may generate and acquire the resistance profile by mapping the SOC and the resistance corresponding to each other.
As still another example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may directly measure a current and a voltage of the battery, and calculate the SOCs and resistance for each SOC based on the measured current and voltage. The profile acquisition unit 110 may generate the resistance profile based on the calculated SOC and the resistance for each SOC. For example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may directly generate and acquire the resistance profile.
The profile acquisition unit 110 may be communicatively connected to the control unit 120. For example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may be connected to the control unit 120 in a wired and/or wireless manner to transmit the acquired differential profile to the control unit 120.
The control unit 120 may be configured to determine a target SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile.
For example, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a target section in the resistance profile. Here, the target section may be an SOC section within the entire SOC section of the battery.
According to an embodiment, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a first reference SOC and a second reference SOC that satisfy a predetermined condition in the resistance profile, and determine an SOC section including the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC, as the target section.
Here, the first reference SOC may be equal to or greater than 0%, and may be equal to or less than the second reference SOC. The second reference SOC may be equal to or greater than the first reference SOC, and may be equal to less than 100%. When the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC are the same, the target section (the section from the first reference SOC to the second reference SOC) may include only the first reference SOC (or the second reference SOC), but for the convenience of explanation, is described as a target section. The control unit 120 may be configured to determine the second reference SOC in the SOC section exceeding the first reference SOC.
The control unit 120 may be configured to determine the target SOC among the SOCs within the target section.
For example, in the embodiment of
The control unit 120 may be configured to set a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the predetermined C-rate and the target SOC. For example, the control unit 120 may be configured to set the target SOC to a charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the predetermined C-rate. Here, the charge upper limit SOC is an SOC value set to terminate charging of the battery corresponding to the predetermined C-rate, and may also be referred to as a charge termination SOC.
In general, during a rapid charging process, a lithium plating phenomenon in which lithium metal is precipitated may occur due to an uneven reaction within the battery. For example, a decrease in the resistance of the battery that appears in the vicinity of 100% of SOC in the resistance profile is caused by a lithium plating phenomenon due to the precipitation of lithium metal. For example, a point at which the decrease in the resistance of the battery appears in the vicinity of 100% of SOC may be regarded as a point at which lithium plating starts. Therefore, in order to terminate the charging of the battery before the lithium plating starts, the control unit 120 may set the target SOC between the first SOC S1 and the fourth SOC S4, which is the target section, to the charge upper limit SOC corresponding to charging at the corresponding C-rate.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control unit 120 may be configured to set a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the C-rate and the charge upper limit SOC.
For example, the control unit 120 may set a charging protocol by mapping the C-rate and the charge upper limit SOC. The charging protocol may include mapping information of the C-rate and the charge upper limit SOC. When the battery is charged at a first C-rate according to the charging protocol, the charging of the battery may be terminated when the SOC of the battery reaches the charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the first C-rate.
The apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, may effectively prevent or suppress the occurrence of a lithium plating phenomenon during a charging process by determining the charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate. Accordingly, since battery deterioration due to charging is prevented or suppressed, the battery may be safely charged, and life expectancy of the battery may be increased.
Hereinafter, embodiments of a reference battery and first to third batteries to which different charging protocols are applied will be described.
Here, the reference battery is a battery, which is charged according to a conventional charging protocol without applying the charging protocol of the present disclosure.
The first battery is a battery, which is charged according to a first charging protocol including the charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate corresponding to the first SOC S1 of
The second battery is a battery, which is charged according to a second charging protocol including the charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate corresponding to a third SOC S3 of
The third battery is a battery, which is charged according to a third charging protocol including the charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate corresponding to the fourth SOC S4 of
It is generally known that when the negative electrode voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage, a lithium electrodeposition reaction occurs. For example, when the negative electrode voltage decreases to a predetermined voltage or less, a lithium plating phenomenon may occur. Hereinafter, descriptions are made that the predetermined voltage is −0.1 [V].
Referring to the reference negative electrode profile, it may be confirmed that the negative electrode voltage of the reference battery is lower than −0.1 [V]. For example, when the charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate is not set, the negative electrode voltage may be lower than −0.1 [V], so that lithium metal may be precipitated on the surface of the negative electrode.
In the meantime, referring to the first negative electrode profile Rn1, the second negative electrode profile Rn2, and the third negative electrode profile Rn3 to which the charging protocol of the present disclosure is applied, the negative electrode voltages of the first battery, the second battery, and the third battery may be maintained at a voltage greater than −0.1 [V]. For example, a lithium plating phenomenon due to charging may not occur in the first battery, the second battery, and the third battery.
The capacity profile of
The capacity profile is a diagram illustrating the capacity retention rate of the battery according to a charging and/or discharging cycle. The capacity of the battery may be a fully charged capacity or a fully discharged capacity. The capacity retention rate refers to the capacity in a target cycle compared to the capacity in a beginning of life (BOL) state. For example, it is assumed that the capacity in a first cycle is Qi and the capacity in the target cycle is Qt. The capacity retention rate in the target cycle may be calculated according to Equation “Qt÷Qi×100”.
Referring to
As described above, when the battery is charged according to the charging protocol set by the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the occurrence of a lithium plating phenomenon in the battery due to charging may be effectively prevented or suppressed.
The apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol has an advantage of setting a charging protocol capable of increasing life expectancy of a battery by preventing or suppressing unnecessary deterioration of the battery. For example, by preventing or suppressing deterioration of the battery due to charging, the battery may be safely charged, and life expectancy of the battery may be increased.
Meanwhile, the control unit 120 included in the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol may selectively include a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a chipset, a logic circuit, a register, a communication modem, and a data processing device, which are known in the art to execute various control logics performed in the present disclosure. When the control logic is implemented as software according to an embodiment, the control unit 120 may be implemented as a set of program modules. At this time, the program modules may be stored in a memory and executed by the control unit 120. The memory may be located inside or outside the control unit 120 and may be connected to the control unit 120 by various means well-known in the art.
The apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol may further include a storage unit 130. The storage unit 130 may store data or programs required for each component of the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol to perform operations and functions, or data generated in the process of performing operations and functions. The type of the storage unit 130 is not particularly limited as long as it is a known information storage means that is known to be able to record, erase, update, and read data. As an example, the information storage means may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and a register. In addition, the storage unit 130 may store program codes in which processes executable by the control unit 120 are defined.
For example, the resistance profile and the charging protocol of the battery may be stored in the storage unit 130.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC will be described.
According to an embodiment, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a minimum point where the corresponding SOC is maximum (minimum point with a corresponding maximum SOC) in the resistance profile, and determine the SOC corresponding to the determined minimum point as the first reference SOC.
For example, the resistance profile of the battery may include one or more minimum points. The control unit 120 may determine a minimum point with the corresponding maximum SOC among one or more minimum points included in the resistance profile, as the first reference SOC. Here, when the resistance profile includes one minimum point, the control unit 120 may determine an SOC at the corresponding minimum point as the first reference SOC.
Referring to the definition of the minimum point, it may be confirmed that the resistance of the battery decreases in an SOC section below the SOC at the minimum point, and the resistance of the battery increases in an SOC section above the SOC at the minimum point. Considering this, the SOC section below the first reference SOC includes no lithium plating phenomenon, and the SOC section above the first reference SOC includes an SOC where a lithium plating phenomenon starts. Therefore, the control unit 120 may set the first reference SOC as a start point of the target section where the occurrence of the lithium plating phenomenon is suspected.
For example, in the embodiments of
Meanwhile, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a target point where a corresponding resistance change rate (differential resistance) is maximum in the resistance profile, and determine an SOC corresponding to the determined target point as the second reference SOC.
For example, the control unit 120 may determine the second reference SOC in the SOC section above the first reference SOC. According to an embodiment, the control unit 120 may determine a target point with the maximum resistance change rate in the SOC section above the first reference SOC.
The resistance change rate for the SOC may gradually decrease in an SOC section after the target point with the maximum resistance change rate. For example, since the negative electrode voltage decreases in the SOC section after the target point, the resistance change rate of the resistance profile of the battery may appear to decrease. Therefore, the control unit 120 may determine the target point, which is estimated as a start point where the negative electrode voltage starts to decrease, and set the SOC corresponding to the target point as the second reference SOC.
For example, in the embodiments of
For example, the resistance change rate (differential resistance) at the point corresponding to the fourth SOC S4 may be maximum in the differential resistance profile DP of
The target section which has been set based on the minimum point of the resistance profile RP in
For example, a battery including an excessive-lithium manganese oxide containing an excessive amount of lithium as a positive electrode active material is a representative battery in which the increase in the resistance of the positive electrode PE is more dominant than the decrease in the resistance of the negative electrode NE. Here, the excessive-lithium manganese oxide containing an excessive amount of lithium has a crystal structure in which a layered phase (LiMO2) and a rock salt phase (Li2MnO3) are mixed. While the rock salt phase is activated during a charging and/or discharging process, an additional capacity is exhibited by an oxygen redox reaction, so that a high capacity may be implemented. For example, since the oxygen redox reaction causes a manganese (Mn) redox reaction, the additional capacity of the battery may be exhibited.
As described above, when the negative electrode voltage drops below a predetermined voltage, lithium metal may be precipitated on the surface of the negative electrode by the lithium electrodeposition reaction. However, in the case of a battery in which an increase in the resistance of the positive electrode is dominant, such as a battery including an excessive-lithium manganese oxide, the decrease in the resistance of the negative electrode may not clearly appear in the resistance profile of the battery. In this case, since the battery may be charged until the negative electrode voltage drops below the predetermined voltage, a lithium plating phenomenon may occur in the battery. In order to prevent or suppress the lithium plating phenomenon, the charging protocol of the present disclosure utilizes the differential resistance profile illustrated in
Therefore, the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol may determine an appropriate charge upper limit SOC for each C-rate by considering a decrease in the resistance of the negative electrode, without being limited to the type of battery. Therefore, the charging protocol set by the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol has an advantage of preventing or suppressing the occurrence of a lithium plating phenomenon in the battery during the charging process.
The profile acquisition unit 110 may be configured to acquire a plurality of resistance profiles with different corresponding C-rates.
For example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may acquire a plurality of resistance profiles generated by charging of one reference battery at each of the plurality of C-rates. As another example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may acquire a plurality of resistance profiles generated by charging each of a plurality of batteries of the same type at the corresponding C-rate.
For example,
The control unit 120 may be configured to determine a target SOC in each of the plurality of resistance profiles. For example, the C-rates corresponding to each of the plurality of resistance profiles may be different from each other. Therefore, the control unit 120 may determine a target SOC corresponding to each C-rate by determining a target SOC in each of the plurality of resistance profiles.
The control unit 120 may be configured to set a charging protocol to include a corresponding relationship between the C-rates and the target SOC for the plurality of resistance profiles.
For example, in the embodiment of
As described above, the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol has an advantage of providing an optimal charging protocol capable of preventing or suppressing a lithium plating phenomenon from occurring in a battery due to charging, by setting the charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between the C-rate and the charge upper limit SOC.
Referring to
For example, a charging protocol set by the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol may be stored in the memory 210. When the processor 220 needs to control charging of a charging target battery, the processor 220 may access the memory 210 to obtain the stored charging protocol. The processor 220 may be configured to control charging of the charging target battery based on the charging protocol.
Meanwhile, the processor 220 included in the charging control device 200 may selectively include a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a chipset, a logic circuit, a register, a communication modem, and a data processing device, which are known in the art to execute various control logics performed in the present disclosure. When the control logic is implemented as software according to an embodiment, the processor 220 may be implemented as a set of program modules. At this time, the program modules may be stored in a memory and executed by the processor 220. The memory may be located inside or outside the processor 220 and may be connected to the processor 220 by various means well-known in the art.
The memory 210 included in the charging control device 200 may store data or programs required for each component of the charging control device 200 to perform operations and functions, or data generated in a process of performing operations and functions. The type of the memory 210 is not particularly limited as long as it is a known information storage means that is known to be able to record, erase, update, and read data. As an example, the information storage means may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and a register. In addition, the memory 210 may store program codes in which processes executable by the processor 220 are defined.
The charging control device 200, according to the present disclosure, may be included in a battery pack 1. For example, the battery pack 1 according to the present disclosure may include the charging control device 200 described above and one or more battery cells. In addition, the battery pack 1 may further include electrical components (such as a relay and a fuse) and a case.
The positive terminal of the battery 10 may be connected to the positive terminal P+ of the battery pack 1, and the negative terminal of the battery 10 may be connected to the negative terminal P− of the battery pack 1.
A measurement unit 20 may be connected to a first sensing line SL1, a second sensing line SL2, and a third sensing line SL3. For example, the measurement unit 20 may be connected to the positive terminal of the battery 10 through the first sensing line SL1, and may be connected to the negative terminal of the battery 10 through the second sensing line SL2. The measurement unit 20 may measure the voltage of the battery 10 based on the voltage measured from each of the first sensing line SL1 and the second sensing line SL2.
The measurement unit 20 may be connected to a current measurement unit A through the third sensing line SL3. For example, the current measurement unit A may be an ammeter or a shunt resistor that may measure a charging current and a discharging current of the battery 10. The measurement unit 20 may measure the charging current and the discharging current of the battery 10 through the third sensing line SL3.
The battery information measured by the measurement unit 20 may be transmitted to the charging control device 200. For example, the measurement unit 20 and the charging control device 200 may be communicatively connected in a wired and/or wireless manner. The battery information received from the measurement unit 20 may be stored in the memory 210 and may be input to the processor 220. The processor 220 may access the memory 210 to obtain the stored battery information.
A charging device 2 may be connected to the positive terminal P+ and the negative terminal P− of the battery pack 1. Here, the charging device 2 is a device for charging the battery 10.
The processor 220 may be communicatively connected to the charging device 2 via a communication line CL in a wired and/or wireless manner. For example, the processor 220 may perform a power-line communication (PLC) with the charging device 2. The processor 220 may determine whether the SOC of the battery 10 has reached the charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the current C-rate, based on the charging protocol stored in the memory 210. When the SOC of the battery 10 has reached the charge upper limit SOC, the processor 220 may command the charging device 2 to decrease the C-rate. For example, the processor 220 may select a C-rate less than the current C-rate in the charging protocol and command the charging device 2 to charge at the selected C-rate.
The battery pack 1 may include the battery 10, the measurement unit 20, and a battery management system (BMS) 30. Here, the BMS 30 is a battery management system that diagnoses the state of the battery, and controls charging and discharging of the battery. For example, the BMS 30 may have a configuration widely used in the conventional art.
The charging device 2 may include the charging control device 200. For example, the charging device 2 may output a charging current at a C-rate set by the charging control device 200.
The BMS 30 may be communicatively connected to the charging device 2 via the communication line CL in a wired and/or wireless manner. For example, the charging device 2 may receive battery information from the BMS 30. The battery information may be stored in the memory 210 and input to the processor 220. In addition, the processor 220 may access the memory 210 to obtain the stored battery information.
The processor 220 may determine whether the SOC of the battery 10 has reached the charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the current C-rate, based on the charging protocol stored in the memory 210. When the SOC of the battery 10 has reached the charge upper limit SOC, the processor 220 may decrease the charging C-rate. For example, the processor 220 may decrease the charging current output from the charging device 2. For example, the processor 220 may select a C-rate less than the current C-rate in the charging protocol, and change the C-rate of the charging current output from the charging device 2 to the selected C-rate. Accordingly, the charging current corresponding to the decreased C-rate in the charging device 2 may be output to the battery 10.
Referring to
Referring to
Each step of the method for setting a charging protocol may be performed by the apparatus 100 for setting a charging protocol. Hereinafter, for the convenience of explanation, the contents overlapping with the aforementioned contents will be omitted or briefly described.
The step S100 of acquiring the profile is a step of acquiring a resistance profile that indicates a corresponding relationship between a state of charge (SOC) and resistance for a battery, which is charged at a predetermined C-rate, and may be performed by the profile acquisition unit 110.
According to an embodiment, the profile acquisition unit 110 may receive and acquire the resistance profile of the battery from the outside.
As another example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may receive information regarding the SOC and the resistance of the battery from the outside and map the SOC and resistance corresponding to each other, thereby generating and acquiring the resistance profile.
As another example, the profile acquisition unit 110 may directly measure the current and the voltage of the battery. The profile acquisition unit 110 may directly calculate the SOCs and the resistance for each SOC based on the measured current and voltage, and directly generate and acquire the resistance profile, based on the calculated SOCs and the resistance for each SOC.
The step S200 of determining a target SOC is a step of determining the target SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile and the differential resistance profile, and may be performed by the control unit 120.
For example, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a first reference SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the resistance profile, and a second reference SOC satisfying a predetermined condition in the differential resistance profile. The control unit 120 may determine an SOC section including the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC as a target section.
For example, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a minimum point with the corresponding maximum SOC in the resistance profile, as illustrated in
In addition, the control unit 120 may be configured to determine a target point with a corresponding maximum change rate in the differential resistance profile as illustrated in
The step S300 of setting a charging protocol sets a charging protocol including a corresponding relationship between a predetermined C-rate and the target SOC determined between the first reference SOC and the second reference SOC, and may be performed by the control unit 120.
The control unit 120 may be configured to set the target SOC to a charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the predetermined C-rate.
The charging protocol may include mapping information between the C-rate and the charge upper limit SOC. For example, when the battery is charged at a first C-rate according to the charging protocol, the charging of the battery may be terminated when the SOC of the battery reaches the charge upper limit SOC corresponding to the first C-rate.
The embodiments of the present disclosure described above are implemented not only through the devices and methods, but also through a program that implements the functions corresponding to the configurations of the embodiments of the present disclosure, or a recording medium in which the program is recorded. The implementation may be readily implemented by an expert in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs, from the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure described above.
Although the present disclosure has been described above through limited embodiments and drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and it is obvious that various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present disclosure and the equivalent scope of the patent claims to be described below by an ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs.
In addition, the present disclosure described above allows for various substitutions, modifications, and changes thereof within the scope of the technical idea of the present disclosure by an ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited by the aforementioned embodiments and attached drawings, but the entirety or part of each of the embodiments may be selectively combined and configured so that various modifications thereof may be made.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2023-0193652 | Dec 2023 | KR | national |
