Marine vessel power systems and control methods
A power system for a marine vessel includes a plurality of battery cell packs powering a vessel load, including at least a first cell pack and a second cell pack, each battery cell pack comprising a plurality of battery cells encapsulated in an external housing configured to be separately mounted in the hull of the marine vessel. At least one low water sensor is positioned at a lowest point of the marine vessel occupied by at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs. At least one high water sensor is positioned higher on the marine vessel than the low water sensor. At least one hardware controller is configured to detect a submersion event based on an output of the high water sensor and an output of the low water sensor, and generate an ingress mitigation action in response to detection of the submersion event.
1 . A power system for a marine vessel, the system comprising: a plurality of battery cell packs, including at least a first battery cell pack and a second battery cell pack, each battery cell pack comprising a plurality of battery cells encapsulated in an external housing configured to be separately mounted in the hull of the marine vessel;
a vessel load powered by the plurality of battery cell packs;
a first disconnect switch positioned outside of the external housing of the first battery cell pack and configured to disconnect the first battery cell pack from the vessel load;
a second disconnect switch positioned outside of the external housing of the second battery cell pack and configured to disconnect the second battery cell pack from the vessel load;
at least one low water sensor positioned at a lowest point of the marine vessel occupied by at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs;
at least one high water sensor positioned higher on the marine vessel than the low water sensor;
at least one hardware controller configured to:
detect a submersion event based on an output of the high water sensor and an output of the low water sensor; and
generate an ingress mitigation action in response to detection of the submersion event, wherein the ingress mitigation action includes controlling the first disconnect switch and the second disconnect switch.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the low water sensor is configured to power on the at least one hardware controller when water is sensed, wherein upon powering on, the at least one hardware controller is configured to execute instructions to detect the submersion event.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the low water sensor is a float switch.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the ingress mitigation action includes generating a water ingress alert on a user interface device.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the ingress mitigation action includes controlling the first disconnect switch to disconnect the first cell pack from the vessel load and controlling the second disconnect switch to disconnect the second cell pack from the vessel load.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the ingress mitigation action includes controlling the vessel load to stop power draw from the battery cell packs prior to controlling the first disconnect switch to disconnect the first cell pack and controlling the second disconnect switch to disconnect the second cell pack.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vessel load comprises at least one marine drive and wherein the ingress mitigation action includes executing an automatic shut down of the marine drive to stop power draw by the marine drive from the battery cell packs.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the ingress mitigation action includes controlling at least one fuse to disconnect the vessel load from the plurality of battery cell packs.
9 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a first battery cooling system configured to cool the first cell pack and a second battery cooling system configured to cool the second cell pack, wherein the ingress mitigation action includes increasing the cooling activity of at least one of the first battery cooling system or the second battery cooling system.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein detection of the submersion event includes water being sensed by at least one of the low water sensor and the high water sensor for a predetermined exposure time.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein detection of the submersion event includes sensing water with both the low water sensor and the high water sensor.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one high water sensor comprises a plurality of high water sensors, including at least a first high water sensor on the external housing of the first cell pack and a second high water sensor on the external housing of the second cell pack; and
wherein detection of the submersion event includes sensing water with at least two of the low water sensor, the first high water sensor, and the second high water sensor.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first high water sensor is at or near a high point of the external housing of the first cell pack and the second high water sensor is at or near a high point of the external housing of the second cell pack.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one high water sensor comprises a plurality of high water sensors on at least one of the external housing of the first cell pack or the external housing of the second cell pack, wherein detection of the submersion event includes sensing water with at least two water sensors out of the low water sensor and the plurality of high water sensors.
15 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least a first gas sensor positioned adjacent to a vent of the external housing of the first cell pack and a second gas sensor positioned adjacent to a vent of the external housing of the second cell pack;
wherein the first gas sensor and the second gas sensor are each configured to sense at least one gas associated with a thermal event in the plurality of battery cells; and
wherein detection of the submersion event includes detecting with at least one of the first gas sensor or the second gas sensor the at least one gas associated with the thermal event.
16 . A method of controlling a power system for a marine vessel, the power system comprising a plurality of battery cell packs, including at least a first cell pack and a second cell pack, each marine battery cell pack comprising a plurality of battery cells encapsulated in an external housing configured to be separately mounted in the hull of the marine vessel, and a vessel load powered by the plurality of battery cell packs, the method comprising:
sensing a presence of water with a low water sensor at a lowest point of the marine vessel occupied by at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs and/or with at least one high water sensor positioned higher on the marine vessel than the low water sensor;
detecting an inversion of at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs;
in response to detecting the inversion, identify a logic for detecting a submersion event based on the output of the high water sensor and the output of the low water sensor;
detecting the submersion event based on the presence of water sensed by the high water sensor and/or the low water sensor; and
generating an ingress mitigation action in response to detection of the submersion event.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising starting a timer upon detecting water with the low water sensor; and detecting the submersion event upon the timer reaching a predetermined exposure time or upon sensing the presence of water with the high water sensor.
18 . A power system for a marine vessel, the system comprising:
a plurality of battery cell packs, including at least a first cell pack and a second cell pack, each battery cell pack comprising a plurality of battery cells encapsulated in an external housing configured to be separately mounted in the hull of the marine vessel;
an orientation sensor associated with at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs;
a vessel load powered by the plurality of battery cell packs;
at least one low water sensor positioned at a lowest point of the marine vessel occupied by at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs;
at least one high water sensor positioned higher on the marine vessel than the low water sensor;
at least one hardware controller configured to:
detect an inversion of the at least one of the plurality of battery cell packs;
in response to detecting the inversion, identify a logic for detecting a submersion
event based on the output of the high water sensor and the output of the low water sensor;
detect the submersion event based on an output of the high water sensor and an output of the low water sensor; and
generate an ingress mitigation action in response to detection of the submersion event.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein, in response to detecting the inversion, the controller is configured to operate the at least one high water sensor to sense water at a low portion of the plurality of battery cell packs.
20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the low water sensor is a float switch and wherein, in response to detecting the inversion, the at least one hardware controller is configured to interpret an off position of the float switch as sensing the presence of water.