Method for compensating state of charge of battery, battery management system using the method, and hybrid vehicle having the battery management system

• US 20070145948A1
• Filed: 12/15/2006
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung SDI Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Samsung SDI Company Limited
• Inventors: Seo, Se-Wook, Lim, Gye-Jong, Yun, Han-Seok
• Granted Patent: US 7,679,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/132
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/33 by cooling
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/40 for controlling a combination of batteries and fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/13 in order to stay within battery power input or output limits; in order to prevent overcharging or battery depletion
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/367 Software therefor, e.g. for battery testing using modelling or look-up tables
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

In an SOC compensation method, a first SOC having at least two sections is detected, and a first OCV corresponding to the first SOC is calculated; a second OCV is calculated by using the measured pack current and voltage, and an internal resistance, and a second SOC corresponding to the second OCV is calculated; when a difference between the first and second OCVs is greater than a first reference, a first compensation value corresponding to the first SOC among at least two first compensation values corresponding to the two sections is used to compensate the first SOC; and when a difference between the first and second OCVs is less than a second reference, a second compensation value corresponding to the first SOC among at least two second compensation values corresponding to the two sections is used to compensate the first SOC value.

Claims

1. A state of charge (SOC) compensation method that compensates an SOC of a battery, the SOC compensation method comprising:

detecting a first SOC having at least two sections, and calculating a first open circuit voltage (OCV) corresponding to the first SOC;

measuring a pack current and a pack voltage of the battery, calculating a second OCV by using the pack current, the pack voltage, and an internal resistance, and calculating a second SOC corresponding to the second OCV;

comparing the first OCV and the second OCV, and, when a difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is greater than a first reference value, using a first compensation value corresponding to the first SOC among at least two first compensation values corresponding to the at least two sections so as to compensate the first SOC; and

when the difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is less than a second reference value, using a second compensation value corresponding to the first SOC among at least two second compensation values corresponding to the at least two sections to compensate the first SOC.

2. The SOC compensation method of claim 1, further comprising, when a difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is greater than a first reference value:

determining whether the first SOC is included in a first section among the at least two sections; and

determining whether the first SOC is included in a second section that is different from the first section among the at least two sections,

wherein the first SOC is reduced by the first compensation value corresponding to the first section among the plurality of first compensation values when the first SOC is included in the first section, the first SOC is reduced by the first compensation value corresponding to the second section when the first SOC is included in the second section, and the first SOC is reduced by another compensation value when the first SOC is not included in either the first or second section.

3. The SOC compensation method of claim 1, further comprising, when the difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is less than a second reference value:

determining whether the first SOC is included in a first section among the at least two sections; and

determining whether the first SOC is included in a second section that is different from the first section among the at least two sections,

wherein the first SOC is increased by the second compensation value corresponding to the first section among the plurality of second compensation values when the first SOC is included in the first section, the first SOC is increased by the second compensation value corresponding to the second section when the first SOC is included in the second section, and the first SOC is increased by another second compensation value when the first SOC is not included in either the first or second section.

4. The SOC compensation method of claim 1, wherein, in the at least two respective sections, changes of the first SOC corresponding to changes of the first OCV differ.

5. The SOC compensation method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of first compensation values are respectively determined in correspondence with the change of the first SOC corresponding to the change of the first OCV.

6. The SOC compensation method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of second compensation values are determined in correspondence with the change of the first SOC corresponding to the change of the first OCV.

7. The SOC compensation method of claim 4, wherein an absolute value of the first reference value is the same as an absolute value of the second reference value.

8. The SOC compensation method of claim 4, wherein the first and second compensation values respectively corresponding to the at least two sections have the same value.

9. The SOC compensation method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the first SOC to a communications unit when the difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is less than a first reference value and greater than a second reference value and outputting a compensated SOC when the difference between the first OCV and the second OCV is greater than a first reference value or less than a second reference value.

10. The SOC compensation method of claim 9, wherein the battery is used in a hybrid vehicle and wherein the first SOC or compensated SOC is outputted to an engine control unit (ECU).

11. A state of charge (SOC) compensation method that compensates an SOC of a battery, the SOC compensation method comprising:

detecting a first SOC and calculating a first open circuit voltage (OCV) corresponding to the first SOC, wherein a range of possible SOCs is divided into at least two sections, each section being assigned a compensation value;

measuring a pack current and a pack voltage of the battery, calculating a second OCV by using the pack current, the pack voltage, and an internal resistance, and calculating a second SOC corresponding to the second OCV; and

comparing the first OCV and the second OCV, and, when the first OCV differs from the second OCV by an amount greater than a predetermined value, compensating the first SOC using the compensation value assigned to the section of the range of possible SOCs corresponding to the first SOC.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the compensation value is subtracted from the first SOC when the first OCV is greater than the second OCV by the predetermined value.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the compensation value is subtracted from the first SOC when the first OCV is greater than the second OCV by the predetermined value.

15. The battery management system of claim 13, wherein:

when the difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV is greater than a first reference value, the SOC compensator detects the section to which the estimation SOC is included, and subtracts a first compensation value corresponding to the detected section among the plurality of first compensation values from the estimation SOC; and

when the difference between the reference OCV and the detected SOC is less than a second reference value, the SOC compensator detects the section to which the estimation SOC is included, and adds a second compensation value corresponding to the detected section among the plurality of second compensation values to the estimation SOC.

16. The battery management system of claim 15, wherein the first and second reference values are respectively determined according to an acceptable error range of the estimation SOC.

17. The battery management system of claim 16, wherein the first and second reference values have the same absolute value having opposite signs.

18. The battery management system of claim 15, wherein the section to which the estimation SOC is included is determined to be one of at least two sections according to a change of the estimation SOC corresponding to a change of the OCV, in the data relating to the OCV corresponding to the estimation SOC.

19. The battery management system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of first and second compensation values respectively correspond to one of the at least two sections, and are determined according to a change of the estimation SOC corresponding to the change of the OCV.

20. The battery management system of claim 19, wherein the first and second compensation values corresponding to the same section among the at least two sections have the same value.

21. The battery management system of claim 13, wherein the estimation SOC calculator integrates the charged or discharged pack current to calculate the estimation SOC.

22. The battery management system of claim 21, wherein the reference SOC calculator adds the pack voltage to a value obtained by multiplying the pack current and the internal resistance to calculate the reference SOC.

14. A battery management system coupled to a battery comprising a plurality of battery cells as one battery pack, the battery management system comprising:

an estimation state of charge (SOC) calculator that calculates an estimation SOC by using a pack current of the battery;

a data base that stores data relating to open circuit voltages (OCV) corresponding to the estimation SOC;

a reference SOC calculator that uses values of the pack current, a pack voltage and an internal resistance of the battery to calculate a reference OCV, and that uses the data base to calculate a reference SOC corresponding to the reference OCV; and

an SOC compensator that uses the data base to detect the OCV corresponding to the estimation SOC, that compares a difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV to determine whether to perform compensation, and varying a compensation value according to a section, the section being that to which the estimation SOC is included, to perform the compensation.

23. A battery management system coupled to a battery comprising a plurality of battery cells as one battery pack, the battery management system comprising:

an estimation state of charge (SOC) calculator that calculates an estimation SOC by using a pack current of the battery;

a data base that stores data relating to open circuit voltages (OCV) over a range of SOCs, wherein the range of SOCs is divided into at least two sections;

a reference SOC calculator that uses values of the pack current, a pack voltage and an internal resistance of the battery to calculate a reference OCV, and that uses the data base to calculate a reference SOC corresponding to the reference OCV; and

an SOC compensator that uses the data base to detect the OCV corresponding to the estimation SOC, that compares a difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV with a predetermined reference value to determine whether to perform compensation, and that compensates the estimation SOC according to a compensation value according to the section in which the estimation SOC is included if the reference OCV and the detected OCV differ by a value greater than the predetermined reference value.

24. The battery management system of claim 23, further comprising an SOC output unit that outputs a compensated SOC or, if the difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV is less than the predetermined reference value, outputs the estimated SOC without compensation.

25. A hybrid vehicle comprising a battery management system that transmits a state of charge (SOC) of a battery to an engine control unit (ECU) controlling an engine of the vehicle, the hybrid vehicle comprising:

a sensing unit that measures a pack current, a pack voltage, and an internal resistance of the battery;

a main control unit (MCU) that uses the pack current, the pack voltage, and the internal resistance transmitted from the sensing unit to determine the SOC, and that controls the battery to be charged and discharged; and

a communication unit that transmits the SOC output from the MCU to the ECU, wherein the MCU comprises;

an estimation SOC calculator that uses the pack current of the battery to calculate an estimation SOC;

a reference SOC calculator that uses values of the pack current, the pack voltage and the internal resistance received from the sensor to calculate a reference open circuit voltage (OCV), and that calculates a reference SOC corresponding to the reference OCV; and

an SOC compensator that detects an OCV corresponding to the estimation SOC, using a difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV to determine whether to perform compensation, varying a compensation value according to a section, the section being that to which the estimation SOC is included, to compensate the estimation SOC when the SOC compensator is required to perform the compensation, and outputting the estimation SOC when the SOC compensator is not required to perform the compensation.

26. The hybrid vehicle of claim 25, wherein:

when a difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV is greater than a first reference value, the SOC compensator detects a first section in which the estimation SOC is included among the at least two sections of the estimation SOC, and subtracts a first compensation value corresponding to the first section among the at least two first compensation values from the estimation SOC; and

when the difference between the reference OCV and the detected OCV is less than a second reference value, the SOC compensator detects a second section in which the estimation SOC is included among the at least two sections, and adds a second compensation value corresponding to the second section among the plurality of second compensation values to the estimation SOC.

27. The hybrid vehicle of claim 25, wherein the battery management system further comprises a data base for storing data relating to the OCV corresponding to the estimation SOC.