Battery pack thermal management system and method

1. A battery pack thermal management system, comprising:

a plurality of battery cells connected to at least one DC power bus;

at least one thermoelectric device operatively disposed in thermal contact with the plurality of battery cells;

at least one temperature measuring device operatively connected to the thermal management system, and configured to measure a temperature of a predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells;

a cell balancing circuit operatively connected to the plurality of battery cells, and configured to selectively divert a portion of electric current from at least one of the plurality of battery cells to the at least one thermoelectric device; and

an electronic controller directly and operatively connected to the cell balancing circuit, and configured to control a flow of electric current to the at least one thermoelectric device.

2. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 1 wherein the electronic controller is configured to: compare the temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells to an upper temperature reference and a lower temperature reference; and generate an upper error value and a lower error value for the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells.

3. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 2 wherein the electronic controller controls the flow of electric current to the at least one thermoelectric device based on the upper error value and the lower error value for the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells.

4. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one thermoelectric device is disposed in thermal contact with at least one thermally conductive structure opposed to the plurality of battery cells.

5. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 4 wherein the at least one thermally conductive structure is disposed in thermal contact with a heat exchanging fluid.

6. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 5 wherein the heat exchanging fluid is air or a liquid coolant.

7. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of electric current diverted is between about 0 mA and about 200 mA per battery cell.

8. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one temperature measuring device comprises a thermal imaging device, or at least one temperature transducer.

9. The battery pack thermal management system as defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one thermoelectric device is a Peltier device, and the plurality of battery cells includes lithium ion battery cells.

10. A method for battery pack thermal management, comprising:

balancing a voltage of each battery cell in a plurality of battery cells operatively connected to at least one DC power bus by shunting a portion of electric current from at least one of the plurality of battery cells to at least one thermoelectric device in thermal contact with a predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells;

determining a temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells;

comparing the temperature of the predetermined portion with an upper temperature reference and a lower temperature reference; and

controlling a magnitude and direction of the flow of electric current flowing to the at least one thermoelectric device based upon the comparison, thereby heating or cooling the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells.

11. The method as defined in claim 10 wherein the at least one thermoelectric device is a Peltier device.

12. The method as defined in claim 10 , further comprising:

generating an upper error value and a lower error value for the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells by respectively finding a difference between the temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells and the upper temperature reference and finding a difference between the temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells and the lower temperature reference; and

when the upper error value indicates that the temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells is high, controlling the thermoelectric device to cool the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells; or

when the lower error value indicates that the temperature of the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells is low, controlling the thermoelectric device to heat the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 wherein the portion of electric current flowing to the at least one thermoelectric device is proportional to the upper error value or the lower error value.

14. The method as defined in claim 10 , further comprising actively transferring heat between the predetermined portion of the plurality of battery cells and at least one thermally conductive structure operatively connected to the plurality of battery cells through the at least one thermoelectric device.

15. The method as defined in claim 14 , further comprising transferring heat between the at least one thermally conductive structure and a heat exchanging fluid.