Systems and methods for selective cell and/or stack control in a flowing electrolyte battery
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for individual stack control for a flowing electrolyte battery, the system comprising:
- a flowing electrolyte battery including at least a first battery cell stack and a second battery cell stack interconnected with each other and sharing a common flowing electrolyte;
a first stack controller configured and arranged to individually control a charging condition of the first battery cell stack, at least by regulating a duty cycle of a first control signal to one or more first switches, based at least in part on information regarding an operating condition of the first battery cell stack; and
a second stack controller, separate from the first stack controller, configured and arranged to individually control a charging condition of the second battery cell stack, at least by regulating a duty cycle of second control signal to one or more second switches, based at least in part on information regarding an operating condition of the second battery cell stack;
wherein the first and second stack controllers are capable of simultaneously controlling the respective charging conditions of the first and second battery cell stacks differently from one another within the same flowing electrolyte battery.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides in various embodiments methods and systems relating to controlling energy storage units in flowing electrolyte batteries.
69 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A system for individual stack control for a flowing electrolyte battery, the system comprising:
-
a flowing electrolyte battery including at least a first battery cell stack and a second battery cell stack interconnected with each other and sharing a common flowing electrolyte; a first stack controller configured and arranged to individually control a charging condition of the first battery cell stack, at least by regulating a duty cycle of a first control signal to one or more first switches, based at least in part on information regarding an operating condition of the first battery cell stack; and a second stack controller, separate from the first stack controller, configured and arranged to individually control a charging condition of the second battery cell stack, at least by regulating a duty cycle of second control signal to one or more second switches, based at least in part on information regarding an operating condition of the second battery cell stack; wherein the first and second stack controllers are capable of simultaneously controlling the respective charging conditions of the first and second battery cell stacks differently from one another within the same flowing electrolyte battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16)
-
-
14. A system for individual stack control for a flowing electrolyte battery, the system comprising:
-
a flowing electrolyte battery including a plurality of interconnected battery cell stacks sharing a common flowing electrolyte; a first stack controller for operable interconnection with at least a first one of the plurality of battery cell stacks; a second stack controller for operable interconnection with at least a second one of the plurality of battery cell stacks; a first sensor input in communication with the first stack controller for providing information regarding an operating condition of the at least a first one of the plurality of battery cell stacks; a second sensor input in communication with the second stack controller for providing information regarding an operating condition of the at least second one of the plurality of battery cell stacks; a first control output in communication with the first stack controller for individually controlling a charging condition of the at least a first one of the plurality of battery cell stacks based at least in part on the information regarding the operating condition of the at least a first one of the plurality of battery cell stacks, at least by regulating a duty cycle of a first control signal to one or more first switches; and a second control output in communication with the second stack controller for individually controlling a charging condition of the at least a second one of the plurality of battery cell stacks based at least in part on the information regarding the operating condition of the at least a second one of the plurality of battery cell stacks, at least by regulating a duty cycle of a second control signal to one or more second switches; wherein the first and second stack controllers are capable of simultaneously controlling the respective charging conditions of the first and second battery cell stacks differently from one another within the same flowing electrolyte battery.
-
-
15. A method for correcting a fault in a flowing electrolyte battery including at least a first battery cell stack and a second battery cell stack interconnected with each other and sharing a common flowing electrolyte, the method comprising:
-
detecting a fault in the first battery cell stack; and regulating a duty cycle of a control signal to one or more switches to reduce charging current to the first battery cell stack to correct the fault in the first battery cell stack, without substantially affecting charging current to the second battery cell stack, and without taking the flowing electrolyte battery offline.
-
Specification