Heat battery assemblies and monitoring system therefor

1. A thermal energy storage system comprising a thermal energy store containing a single or a plurality of battery casings having

internal heat exchangers and phase change materials and an integral system controller for controlling the operation of said thermal energy store,

wherein each of said battery casing independently contains: (i) a battery comprising one or more heat exchangers anchored within said casing, (ii) a phase change material, and (iii) one or more pressure relief valves, or one or more pressure rupture discs for protection against over pressurisation of said battery, and

wherein the integral system controller is provided by one or a plurality of sensors for the measurement of power at one or multiple points within the system, and

wherein the integral system controller is adapted to determine the status of the batteries within the thermal energy storage system via the following series of algorithms:

o) If Q IN =1 and δP≤P L1 OR Q IN =1 and P BC ≤P A , then:

Battery case is not air tight

Activate appropriate alarm/warning

Put this battery in standby mode

p) If (Q IN =1 and δP≥P L2 ) OR Q IN =1 and P BC ≥P L3 , then:

Battery case pressure is exceeding the maximum operating limit

Activate appropriate alarm/warning

Put this battery in standby mode

q) If (Q IN =0 and T BC ≤T E ), then:

Put this battery in charging mode Q=1

SOC=0

r) If (Q IN =1 and δT≥T L2 ) OR Q IN =1 and T BC ≥T L3 , then:

Battery case temperature is exceeding the maximum operating limit

Activate appropriate alarm/warning

Put this battery in standby mode

s) If P AB1 ≤ABS(δP)≤P AB2 OR P A ≤P BC ≤P B OR T E ≤T BC ≤T F OR T EF1 ≤ABS(δT)≤T EF2 , then the battery is operating in zone AB corresponding to zone EF

SOC=100· m PCM ·Cp s ·δT s /E TOT

t) If P BC1 ≤ABS(δP)≤P BC2 OR P B ≤P BC ≤P C OR T F ≤T BC ≤T G OR T FG1 ≤ABS(δT)≤T FG2 , then the battery is operating in zone BC corresponding to zone FG

SOC=100·( Es L +F BC ·C BC ·P B )/ E TOT

u) If P CD1 ≤ABS(δP)≤P CD2 OR P C ≤P BC ≤P D OR T G ≤T BC ≤T H OR T GH1 ≤ABS(δT)≤T GH2 , then the battery is operating in zone CD corresponding to zone GH

SOC=100·( Es L +E L +m PCM ·Cp L ·δT L )/ E TOT

wherein the preceding symbols are defined as follows:

Q IN =Battery charging state;

δP=Rate of pressure change;

P L1 =Minimum rate of pressure change limit;

P BC =Battery case pressure;

P A =Base reference pressure;

P L2 =Maximum rate of pressure change limit;

P L3 =Maximum battery case working pressure;

T BC =Battery case temperature;

T E =Base reference temperature;

SOC=State of charge of the battery;

δT=Rate of temperature change

T L2 =Maximum rate of temperature change limit;

T L3 =Maximum battery case working temperature;

P AB1 =Rate of pressure change in zone AB-Lower limit;

P AB2 =Rate of pressure change in zone AB-Upper limit;

P A =Battery pressure at operating point A in FIG. 6( a ) ;

P B =Battery pressure at operating point B in FIG. 6( a ) ;

T F =Battery temperature at operating point F in FIG. 6( b ) ;

T EF1 =Rate of temperature change in zone EF-Lower limit;

T EF2 =Rate of temperature change in zone EF-Upper limit;

δT s =Temperature difference between battery temperature T BC and minimum reference temperature T E ,

P BC1 =Rate of pressure change in zone BC-Lower limit;

P BC2 =Rate of pressure change in zone BC-Upper limit;

P C =Battery pressure at operating point C in FIG. 6( a ) ;

T G =Battery temperature at operating point Gin FIG. 6( b ) ;

T FG1 =Rate of temperature change in zone FG-Lower limit;

T FG2 =Rate of temperature change in zone FG-Upper limit;

F BC =Scaling factor for-Zone BC;

C BC =Correction factor (Power & PCM);

P CD1 =Rate of pressure change in zone CD-Lower limit;

P CD2 =Rate of pressure change in zone CD-Upper limit;

P C =Battery pressure at operating point C in FIG. 6( a ) ;

P D =Battery pressure at operating point D in FIG. 6( a ) ;

T G =Battery temperature at operating point Gin FIG. 6( b ) ;

T H =Battery temperature at operating point H in FIG. 6( b ) ;

T GH1 =Rate of temperature change in zone GH-Lower limit;

T GH2 =Rate of temperature change in zone GH-Upper limit; and

δT L =Temperature difference between battery temperature T BC and upper temperature of the melting zone T G .

2. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein said integral system controller is adapted to provide measurements of the charging and discharging circuit flow rates of said system via one or more power sensors.

3. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein said integral system controller is adapted to provide efficient charging of the individual batteries within the assembly via one or more input temperature sensors and one or more diverter valves.

4. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein said integral system controller is adapted to provide measurements of energy stored within, and power input of individual batteries within said system via said one or more input temperature sensors.

5. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein said integral system controller is adapted to provide measurements of the energy delivered by each battery within the assembly and the residual energy in each of said batteries during discharging via one or more output temperature sensors.

6. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the phase change materials within the system are protected from contact with external contaminants or degrading components via the provision of sealed battery casings.

7. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the battery casings are contrasted from metals, alloys, plastics, composite sandwiches or composite materials.

8. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the battery casings can withstand an internal pressure of from 0.0 bar to 4.0 mbar.

9. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein multiple battery casings can be stacked without intermediate supports.

10. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein said one or more heat exchangers are integrated loading and unloading heat exchangers which are anchored within the batteries and wherein the contact area between each heat exchanger and each battery casing is minimal.

11. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the phase change materials utilised within the batteries have a solid to liquid phase change within a temperature range of from 0° C. to 100° C. and wherein the operative range of said phase change materials is between a 4 and 8 degree difference in temperature; and

external or internal volume compensation features, or pressurised case design features, in relation to each individual battery within said assembly in operative connection with a vapour barrier, and either a pressure relief valve, or a burst disc assembly for phase change material expansion management.

12. A thermal energy storage system according to claim 1 , additionally comprising a series of sensors for determining the energy inputs and outputs of, and the balance within, any individual battery ( 8 ) within the system via a series of sensors for the determination of Q IN , Q ON and Q N wherein

Q IN =[Σ( F I ×ρ I ×Cp I )×( T 5 −T 4 )]/3600; and

Q ON =[Σ( F O ×ρ O ×Cp O )×( T 10 −T 9 )]/3600; and

Q N =Q N-1 +Q IN −Q ON ; and

wherein

Q IN =Energy input to the battery during the last charge cycle;

Q ON =Energy output from the battery during the last discharge cycle;

Q N =Current stored energy in the battery;

Q N-1 =Energy stored in the battery before current audit;

F I =Charging circuit flow rate;

F O =Discharging circuit flow rate;

ρ I =Density of charging circuit fluid;

ρ O =Density of discharging circuit fluid;

Cp I =Specific heat of charging circuit fluid;

Cp O =Specific heat of discharging circuit fluid;

T 5 =Battery X charging circuit flow temperature;

T 4 =Battery X charging circuit return temperature;

T 10 =Battery X discharging circuit flow temperature; and

T 9 =Battery X discharging circuit return temperature.