Battery management based on internal optical sensing
View Patent ↗A battery management system includes one or more fiber optic sensors configured to be disposed within an electrochemical battery. Each fiber optic sensor is capable of receiving input light and providing output light that varies based on the input light and an amount of free or dissolved gas present within the battery. A detector detects the output light and generates an electrical detector signal in response to the output light. Battery management circuitry determines the state of the battery based at least in part on the detector signal.
1. A system, comprising:
one or more fiber optic sensors configured to be disposed within an electrochemical battery, each fiber optic sensor configured to receive input light and to provide output light that varies based on the input light and an amount of free or dissolved gas present within the battery; a light source configured to provide the input light to the fiber optic sensors;
a detector configured to detect the output light and to generate an electrical detector signal in response to the output light; and
battery management circuitry configured to determine that the battery is in a first battery state based at least in part on the detector signal indicating that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a first threshold and to determine that the battery is in a second battery state based at least in part on the detector signal indicating that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a second threshold different from the first threshold.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising charging circuitry configured to charge the battery, wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to determine a state of charge of the battery and to control the charging circuitry based on the state of charge.
3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising load management circuitry coupled to a load, wherein battery management circuitry is configured to determine a state of charge of the battery and to perform one or more of decoupling the load from the battery, coupling the load to the battery, reducing the load, and increasing the load based on the state of charge.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises CO 2 .
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises at least one of O 2 and CH 4 .
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
a first fiber optic sensor is sensitive to CO 2 ; and
a second fiber optic sensor is sensitive to a second gas.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the second gas is a hydrocarbon gas.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the hydrocarbon gas comprises at least one of C 3 H 8 , C 2 H 6 , and CH 4 .
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the second gas comprises one or more of O 2 , HF, CO, and H 2 .
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to detect abnormal gas generation based on comparison of the detector signal to a threshold value.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to detect abnormal gas generation based on a rate of change of the detector signal.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to detect abnormal gas generation within the battery based on a mathematical combination of a present detector signal value and a rate of change of the detector signal.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to discriminate between one or more of a nominally charged state, an overcharged state and an overdischarged state of the battery based on the detector signal.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more fiber optic sensors comprises multiple fiber optic sensors respectively configured to sense multiple gases present within the battery;
the detector comprises multiple detector elements providing multiple detector output signals, each detector element receiving output light from a particular fiber optic sensor; and
the battery management circuitry is configured to identify an abnormal reaction within the battery by comparing values of the multiple detector signals respectively to values in a set of threshold values associated with the abnormal reaction.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to start, stop and/or adaptively tune a rate of charging and/or discharging the battery based at least in part on the detector signal.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to use the detector signal to measure pH of the battery and to determine the state of the battery based at least in part on the measured pH.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the gas comprises CO 2 ; and
the battery management circuitry is configured to compare the detector output signal to a CO 2 threshold value and to stop charging the battery if the detector output signal exceeds the CO 2 threshold.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the state of the battery comprises a state of health of the battery.
19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one optical sensor disposed externally to the battery and configured to sense presence of an external gas that has leaked from the battery.
20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to predict battery failure based on the detector signal.
21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to predict thermal runaway based on the detector signal.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the state of the battery comprises determining a state of charge of the battery; and
further comprising controlling at least one of charging and discharging the battery based on the state of charge.
23. A system, comprising:
one or more fiber optic sensors configured to be disposed within a case of an electrochemical battery, each fiber optic sensor configured to receive input light and to provide output light that varies based on an amount of a gas present within the battery;
a light source configured to provide the input light to the fiber optic sensors;
a detector configured to detect the output light and to generate an electrical detector output signal in response to the output light;
charging circuitry configured to charge the battery; and
battery management circuitry configured to determine that the battery is in a first battery state based at least in part of the detector signal indicating that the amount of gas is at or above a first threshold and to determine that the battery is in a second battery state based at least in part on the detector signal indicating that the amount of gas is at or above a second threshold different from the first threshold, the battery management circuitry further configured to provide feedback information to the charging circuit to control formation of the battery electrodes based at least in part on the detector signal.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the battery management circuitry is configured to control formation of a solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layer and/or avoid crack formation of the battery electrodes.
25. A method, comprising:
optically sensing within an electrochemical battery an amount of a free or dissolved gas present within the battery;
generating an electrical output signal in response to the sensed amount of gas;
determining that the battery is in a first battery state based at least in part on the detector signal indicating that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a first threshold; and
determining that the battery is in a second battery state based at least in part on the detector signal indicating that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a second threshold different from the first threshold.
26. A system, comprising:
one or more fiber optic sensors configured to be disposed within an electrochemical battery, each fiber optic sensor configured to receive input light and to provide output light that varies based on the input light and an amount of free or dissolved gas present within the battery; a light source configured to provide the input light to the fiber optic sensors; and
a detector configured to detect the output light and to generate an electrical detector signal in response to the output light, the electrical detector signal indicating that the battery is in a first battery state in response to a determination that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a first threshold and indicating that the battery is in a second battery state in response to a determination that the amount of free or dissolved gas is at or above a second threshold different from the first threshold.