Intelligent composable multi-function battery pack

• US 10,742,054 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2014
• Issued: 08/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Charbiwala, Zainul M., Hazra, Jagabondhu, Kalyanaraman, Shivkumar, Seetharamakrishnan, Devasenapathi P., Vishwanath, Arun
• Primary Examiner(s): Isla, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dibenedetto, Michael N
• Application Number:
  US14/501,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20160094066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,142 Days
• Field of Search: 320101, 320134
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007 Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage

Abstract

A method of operating a battery pack includes identifying a plurality of batteries in the battery pack, estimating a state of charge of each of the plurality of the batteries, obtaining a plurality of parameters of each of the plurality of the batteries, and determining, selectively, a charge current or a discharge current for each of the plurality of batteries using the state of charge and the plurality of parameters of each of the plurality of the batteries.

Claims

1. A method of operating a composable multi-function (CMF) battery pack comprising a controller and at least one connected battery, the method comprising:

identifying, by the controller, a newly connected battery connected to the CMF battery pack;

estimating, by the controller, a state of charge of each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack, the batteries including the at least one connected battery and the newly connected battery;

tracking, by the controller, a plurality of parameters of each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack;

determining, by the controller, a charge current or a discharge current for each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack using the state of charge and the plurality of parameters of each of the batteries, including a parameter for each of the batteries that indicates a user preference, wherein a user preference for a first battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the first battery is not available for discharge to an electrical power supply system, and wherein a user preference for a second battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the second battery is to discharge for a specific application; and

operating the controller as a switch to charge or discharge the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack according to a respective charge current or discharge current determined for each of the batteries and the user preference for each of the batteries, wherein the controller is operated to discharge at least one of the batteries to the electrical power supply system other than the first battery associated with the user preference indicating that the first battery is not available for discharge to the electrical power supply system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling, by the controller, a charging rate or a discharging rate of each of the batteries in charging or discharging each of the batteries.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating a state of the electrical power supply system connected to the battery pack;

determining a reduction in voltage in the electrical power supply system; and

selecting at least one of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack, other than the first battery, to supply power into the electrical power supply system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating a state of the electrical power supply system connected to the battery pack, wherein the state of the electrical power supply system is determined according to at least one of a real time pricing (RTP) state, a time of use pricing (TOU) state, and a critical peak pricing (CPP) state; and

selecting at least one of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack, other than the first battery, to supply power into the electrical power supply system according to the state of an electrical power supply system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one parameter of the plurality of parameters is a user provided parameter specifying a condition for determining, selectively, the charge current or the discharge current.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising learning, by the controller, at least one parameter of the plurality of parameters specifying a condition for determining the charge current or the discharge current for each one of the batteries, individually.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising reserving by the controller, for the specific application, a portion of the capacity of the second battery being discharged according the user preference, where the user preference specifies to the controller the specific application, the second battery and the portion of the capacity.

8. The method of claim 1, iteratively performed upon determining a predetermined time elapse.

9. A computer program product for operating a composable multi-function (CMF) battery pack comprising a controller and at least one connected battery, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor of the controller to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

identifying a newly connected battery connected to the CMF battery pack;

estimating a state of charge of each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack, the batteries including the at least one connected battery and the newly connected battery;

tracking a plurality of parameters of each of the batteries;

determining, selectively, a charge current or a discharge current for each of the plurality of batteries using the state of charge and the plurality of parameters of each of the batteries, including a parameter for each of the batteries that indicates a user preference, wherein a user preference for a first battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the first battery is not available for discharge to an electrical power supply system, and wherein a user preference for a second battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the second battery is to discharge for a specific application; and

controlling a switch to charge or discharge each of the batteries according to a respective charge current or discharge current determined for each of the batteries and the user preference for each of the batteries, wherein the controller is operated to discharge at least one of the batteries to the electrical supply system other than the first battery associated with the user preference indicating that the first battery is not available for discharge to the electrical power supply system.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising controlling, by the switch, a charging rate or a discharging rate of each of the batteries.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising:

evaluating a state of the electrical power supply system connected to the CMF battery pack;

determining a reduction in voltage in the electrical power supply system; and

selecting the at least one of the batteries other than the first battery to supply power into the electrical power supply system.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the program instructions are iteratively executed upon determining a predetermined time elapse.

13. A method of operating a composable multi-function (CMF) battery pack comprising a controller and at least one connected battery, comprising:

identifying, by the controller, a newly connected battery connected to the CMF battery pack;

estimating, by the controller, a state of charge of each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack, the batteries including the at least one connected battery and the newly connected battery;

tracking, by the controller, a plurality of parameters of each of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack;

determining, by the controller, a state of an electrical power supply system to which the battery pack is connected; and

controlling, by the controller, one of a charging operation and a discharging operation using the state of the electrical power supply system, wherein the charging operation and the discharging operation are selectively applied to different ones of the batteries using the state of charge and the plurality of parameters of each of the batteries, including a parameter for each of the batteries including a user preference, wherein a user preference for a first battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the first battery is not available for discharge to the electrical power supply system, and wherein the controller is operated to discharge a second battery to the electrical supply system other than the first battery, wherein a user preference for the second battery connected to the CMF battery pack indicates that the second battery is to discharge in connection with a specific application.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising operating the controller as a switch to charge or discharge at least one battery of the batteries connected to the CMF battery pack according to the charging operation or the discharging operation applied to different ones of the batteries.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising controlling, by the controller, a charging rate of at least one batteries connected to the CMF battery pack according to the charging operation.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the state of the electrical power supply system to which the battery pack is connected further comprises:

determining a reduction in voltage in the electrical power supply system; and

selecting the at least one of the batteries other than the first battery to supply power into the electrical power supply system.

17. The method of claim 13, iteratively performed upon determining a predetermined time elapse.