Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to technology for diagnosis of abnormal degradation of a battery.

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the demand for portable electronic products such as laptop computers, video cameras and mobile phones, and with the extensive development of electric vehicles, accumulators for energy storage, robots and satellites, many studies are being made on high performance batteries that can be recharged repeatedly.

Currently, commercially available batteries include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, lithium ion batteries and the like, and among them, lithium ion batteries have little or no memory effect, and thus they are gaining more attention than nickel-based batteries for their advantages that recharging can be done whenever it is convenient, the self-discharge rate is very low and the energy density is high.

A battery gradually degrades over time by the charge, discharge and rest from the product release. The degradation of the battery appears in various aspects such as a decrease in the maximum allowable charge capacity and an increase in the internal resistance.

One of the causes of the rise of internal resistance is an increase in tortuosity of a negative electrode of the battery. The tortuosity of the negative electrode is a parameter indicating how much a flow path of a reactant ion in the negative electrode is tortuous. In the present disclosure, the tortuosity of the negative electrode may be defined as a ratio of the actual movement distance of the reactant ion to the shortest movement distance (the thickness of a negative electrode active material layer) when the reactant ion passes through the negative electrode active material layer. When the battery is a lithium ion battery, the reactant ion is a lithium ion.

The degradation of the battery causes the increased tortuosity of the negative electrode, and as the tortuosity of the negative electrode increases, the battery degrades faster due to non-uniform charge/discharge reaction at the negative electrode.

<CIT> discusses an apparatus and method of obtaining degradation information of a lithium ion battery cell. The apparatus estimates a first positive electrode usage region related to a first state of health of the lithium ion battery cell. The apparatus estimates a second positive electrode usage region related to a second state of health of the lithium ion battery cell. Then, the apparatus calculates an amount of change of maximum storage capacity of a positive electrode of the lithium ion battery cell with respect to a usage period from the first state of health to the second state of health, based on the first positive electrode usage region and the second positive electrode usage region.

<CIT> discusses a method of controlling a battery. The method includes training an artificial neural network to calculate an internal characteristic parameter value of the battery corresponding to a sensed input/output parameter value using training data, sensing the input/output parameter value of the battery, acquiring the characteristic parameter value corresponding to the sensed input/output parameter value using the trained artificial neural network, and controlling charging or discharging of the battery based on the acquired characteristic parameter value.

The inventors recognized that a capacity curve indicating a relationship between voltage and residual capacity of a battery is changed by an increase in tortuosity of a negative electrode of the battery.

The present disclosure is designed to solve the above-described problem, and the present disclosure is directed to providing a battery diagnosis apparatus, a battery diagnosis method, a battery pack and an electric vehicle in which a capacity curve of a battery having degraded from the fresh condition is obtained through a constant current procedure and/or a constant current charging procedure and used to determine whether the tortuosity of the negative electrode of the battery abnormally increased.

These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be understood by the following description and will be apparent from the embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, it will be readily understood that the objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by the means set forth in the appended claims and a combination thereof.

The mentioned problems are solved by the subject-matter of the independent claims.

The control circuit may be configured to determine an approximate capacity curve by fitting the measured capacity curve to a polynomial function. The control circuit may be configured to determine the measured differential curve by differentiating the residual capacity of the approximate capacity curve with respect to the battery voltage.

The control circuit may be configured to determine a first voltage of interest which is a voltage at which a size of a difference in the differential capacity between the measured differential curve and the reference differential curve is at maximum. The control circuit may be configured to determine a signal distance between the measured differential curve and the reference differential curve over a voltage range of interest from the first voltage of interest to a second voltage of interest larger than the first voltage of interest. The control circuit may be configured to determine that the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery abnormally increased when the signal distance is equal to or larger than a reference distance.

The control circuit may be configured to determine the second voltage of interest to be equal to a smaller one of a sum of the first voltage of interest and a reference voltage and the upper voltage limit.

The control circuit may be configured to determine the signal distance using dynamic time warping.

The control circuit may be configured to determine a cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery over a total usage duration of the battery. The control circuit may be configured to determine the reference distance based on the cumulative charge/discharge capacity.

The control circuit may be configured to determine the reference distance using the following equation: <MAT> where m is a predetermined natural number, C[i] is an ith predetermined positive coefficient, x is the cumulative charge/discharge capacity, and y is the reference distance.

A battery pack according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes the battery diagnosis apparatus.

An electric vehicle according to still another aspect of the present disclosure includes the battery pack.

A battery diagnosis method according to yet another aspect of the present disclosure may be performed by the battery diagnosis apparatus. The battery diagnosis method may include determining a measured capacity curve indicating a relationship between the battery voltage and a residual capacity over a predetermined set voltage range based on the voltage signal and the current signal collected at each unit time for a constant current period during which the battery is charged or discharged at a predetermined current rate over the set voltage range; determining a measured differential curve indicating a relationship between the battery voltage and a differential capacity over the set voltage range based on the measured capacity curve, wherein the differential capacity is a ratio of a change in the residual capacity for each unit time to a change in the battery voltage for each unit time; and determining whether a negative electrode tortuosity of the battery abnormally increased by comparing the measured differential curve with the reference differential curve, wherein the reference differential curve is given as the relationship between the battery voltage and the differential capacity over the set voltage range when the battery is in fresh condition.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to determine whether the tortuosity of the negative electrode of the battery abnormally increased using the capacity curve obtained through the constant current procedure and/or the constant current charging procedure for the battery having degraded from the fresh condition.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to determine whether the tortuosity of the negative electrode of the degraded battery abnormally increased based on a similarity (refer to a 'signal distance' described below) between a differential curve corresponding to the capacity curve obtained from the degraded battery and another differential curve associated with the fresh condition over a specific voltage range.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to set a reference value (refer to a 'reference distance' described below) used to determine whether the tortuosity of the negative electrode of the degraded battery abnormally increased based on the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the degraded battery.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and these and other effects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the appended claims.

Therefore, the embodiments described herein and the illustrations shown in the drawings are just a most preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, but not intended to fully describe the technical aspects of the present disclosure, so it should be understood that a variety of other equivalents and modifications could have been made thereto at the time that the application was filed.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, it will be understood that the term "comprises" when used in this specification, specifies the presence of stated elements, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. Additionally, the term "control unit" as used herein refers to a processing unit of at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware and software either alone or in combination.

<FIG> is an exemplary diagram showing an electric vehicle according to the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the electric vehicle <NUM> includes a battery pack <NUM>, an inverter <NUM>, an electric motor <NUM>, a charge/discharge circuit <NUM> and a vehicle controller <NUM>.

The battery pack <NUM> includes a battery B, a switch SW and a battery management system <NUM>.

The battery B may be coupled to the inverter <NUM> and/or the charge/discharge circuit <NUM> through a pair of power terminals provided in the battery pack <NUM>. The battery B is a rechargeable battery, and may be, for example, a lithium ion battery.

The inverter <NUM> is provided to convert the direct current (DC) from the battery B to alternating current (AC) in response to a command from the battery management system <NUM>. The electric motor <NUM> may be, for example, a <NUM>-phase AC motor. The electric motor <NUM> operates using the AC from the inverter <NUM>.

The switch SW is connected in series to the battery B. The switch SW is installed on a current path for the charge/discharge of the battery B. The on/off control of the switch SW is performed in response to a switching signal from the battery management system <NUM>. The switch SW may be a mechanical relay that is turned on/off by the magnetic force of a coil or a semiconductor switching device such as a Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect transistor (MOSFET).

The charge/discharge circuit <NUM> is provided to regulate the charge power and the discharge power for the battery B in response to a command from the control circuit <NUM>. When the battery voltage of the battery B is equal to or lower than a lower voltage limit VL of a set voltage range as described below, the control circuit <NUM> may command constant current charge to the charge/discharge circuit <NUM>. When the battery voltage of the battery B is equal to or higher than an upper voltage limit Vu of the set voltage range, the control circuit <NUM> may command constant current discharge to the charge/discharge circuit <NUM>.

The battery management system <NUM> is provided to take responsibility for overall control in relation to the charge/discharge of the battery B. The battery management system <NUM> includes a battery diagnosis apparatus <NUM>. The battery management system <NUM> may further include at least one of a temperature sensor <NUM> or a communication circuit <NUM>. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the battery management system <NUM> includes the battery diagnosis apparatus <NUM>, the temperature sensor <NUM> and the communication circuit <NUM>.

The battery diagnosis apparatus <NUM> includes a voltage sensor <NUM>, a current sensor <NUM> and a control circuit <NUM>.

The voltage sensor <NUM> is connected in parallel to the battery B, and is configured to detect a battery voltage across the battery B, and generate a voltage signal indicating the detected battery voltage.

The current sensor <NUM> is connected in series to the battery B through the current path. The current sensor <NUM> is configured to detect a battery current flowing through the battery B, and generate a current signal indicating the detected battery current.

The temperature sensor <NUM> is configured to detect a temperature of the battery B, and generate a temperature signal indicating the detected temperature.

The control circuit <NUM> may be implemented in hardware using at least one of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors or electrical units for performing the other functions.

The control circuit <NUM> may have a memory device. The memory device may include, for example, at least one type of storage medium of flash memory type, hard disk type, Solid State Disk (SSD) type, Silicon Disk Drive (SDD) type, multimedia card micro type, random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or programmable read-only memory (PROM). The memory device may store data and programs required for computation by the control circuit <NUM>. The memory device may store data indicating the result of computation by the control circuit <NUM>.

The control circuit <NUM> may be operably coupled to the switch SW, the charge/discharge circuit <NUM>, the voltage sensor <NUM>, the current sensor <NUM>, the temperature sensor <NUM> and/or the communication circuit <NUM>. Operably coupled refers to connected to transmit and receive a signal in one or two directions. The control circuit <NUM> may periodically or aperiodically collect a sensing signal in a repeated manner. The sensing signal indicates the synchronization-detected voltage signal, current signal and/or temperature signal.

The control circuit <NUM> may determine a state of charge (SOC) of the battery B based on the sensing signal at a predetermined time interval during the charge/discharge of the battery B. The well-known algorithms such as ampere counting, an SOC-open circuit voltage (OCV) curve and Kalman filter may be used to determine the SOC.

The communication circuit <NUM> may include a communication circuit configured to support wired or wireless communication between the control circuit <NUM> and the vehicle controller <NUM> (for example, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU)). The wired communication may be, for example, controller area network (CAN) communication, and the wireless communication may be, for example, Zigbee or Bluetooth communication. The communication protocol is not limited to a particular type and may include any communication protocol for supporting wired/wireless communication between the control circuit <NUM> and the vehicle controller <NUM>.

The communication circuit <NUM> may include an output device (for example, a display, a speaker) to provide information received from the vehicle controller <NUM> and/or the control circuit <NUM> in a recognizable form. The vehicle controller <NUM> may control the inverter <NUM> based on battery information (for example, voltage, current, temperature, SOC) collected via communication with the battery management system <NUM>.

<FIG> is an exemplary diagram showing a capacity curve obtained through the constant current procedure of the battery shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, a measured capacity curve <NUM> indicates a relationship between battery voltage and residual capacity of the degraded battery B obtained through the constant current procedure. A reference capacity curve <NUM> indicates a relationship between battery voltage and residual capacity of a sample battery in fresh condition obtained through the constant current procedure. The sample battery is fabricated with the same electrochemical specification as the battery B. The fresh condition refers to a completely new and faultless condition.

The constant current procedure is a discharge or charge event of the battery B using a predetermined current rate (for example, <NUM>. <NUM> C-rate) for a constant current period from the time at which the battery voltage is equal to any one of the upper voltage limit Vu or the lower voltage limit VL of a predetermined set voltage range to the time at which the battery voltage reaches the other. The upper voltage limit Vu (for example, <NUM> V) is preset below a predetermined end-of-charge voltage to which the charge of the battery B is allowed. The lower voltage limit VL (for example, <NUM> V) is preset above a predetermined end-of-discharge voltage to which the discharge of the battery B is allowed.

<FIG> shows the two capacity curves <NUM>, <NUM> obtained through the discharge event for the constant current period. The control circuit <NUM> may determine the measured capacity curve <NUM> based on the voltage signal and the current signal collected and recorded at each unit time over the constant current period. As the battery B degrades, the full charge capacity decreases, and thus the time tB at which the measured capacity curve <NUM> reaches the lower voltage limit VL is earlier than the time tc at which the reference capacity curve <NUM> reaches the lower voltage limit VL. As the battery B degrades, the shape of the measured capacity curve <NUM> changes, and thus a difference between the reference capacity curve <NUM> and the measured capacity curve <NUM> gradually increases.

<FIG> is an exemplary diagram showing differential curves associated with the capacity curves shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> is an exemplary diagram showing a differential capacity difference between the differential curves shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, a measured differential curve <NUM> is a dataset that may be obtained from the measured capacity curve <NUM> of <FIG>, and indicates a relationship between (i) the battery voltage V and (ii) the differential capacity dQ/dV, including a time series defining the measured capacity curve <NUM>. The differential capacity dQ/dV is a ratio of a change dQ in the residual capacity Q for each unit time to a change dV in the battery voltage V for each unit time. For example, the control circuit <NUM> may determine an approximate capacity curve which is the result of fitting the relationship between battery voltage and residual capacity of the measured capacity curve <NUM> of <FIG> to a polynomial function through curve fitting. A noise component present in the measured capacity curve <NUM> is removed by converting the measured capacity curve <NUM> to the approximate capacity curve. Subsequently, the control circuit <NUM> may obtain the measured differential curve <NUM> as a result of differentiating the approximate capacity curve with respect to the input variable, i.e., the battery voltage.

A reference differential curve <NUM> is a time-series dataset that may be obtained from the reference capacity curve <NUM> of <FIG>, and indicates a relationship between (i) the battery voltage and (ii) the differential capacity, including a time series defining the reference capacity curve <NUM>. That is, the reference differential curve <NUM> may be given as a result of differentiating the residual capacity of the reference capacity curve <NUM> with respect to the battery voltage.

Each of the above-described curves <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be treated as a type of signal (time-series). The control circuit <NUM> may determine whether the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B abnormally increased by comparing the measured differential curve <NUM> with the reference differential curve <NUM>. The control circuit <NUM> may calculate a difference in differential capacity between the differential curves <NUM>, <NUM> over the set voltage range from the upper voltage limit Vu to the lower voltage limit VL. <FIG> shows the result of subtracting the differential capacity of the reference differential curve <NUM> from the differential capacity of the measured differential curve <NUM> over the set voltage range.

The control circuit <NUM> may determine a first voltage of interest which is a voltage at which the size of the difference in differential capacity is at maximum. The first voltage of interest may be determined within the voltage range in which the measured differential curve <NUM> has a smaller differential capacity than the reference differential curve <NUM>. In <FIG>, the differential capacity difference between the measured differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> is at minimum at a voltage Vi within the set voltage range, and thus the control circuit <NUM> may determine the voltage Vi as the first voltage of interest. Additionally, the control circuit <NUM> determines a second voltage of interest V<NUM> based on the first voltage of interest Vi. The second voltage of interest V<NUM> may be equal to a smaller one of the sum of (i) the first voltage of interest Vi and a reference voltage Vref and (ii) the upper voltage limit Vu.

The reference voltage Vref may be given as an optimal width (for example, <NUM> V) of the voltage range of interest required to measure a similarity of the two differential curves.

Alternatively, the control circuit <NUM> may determine the reference voltage Vref based on the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B. The memory device may pre-record a look-up table defining a predetermined correlation between the cumulative charge/discharge capacity and the reference voltage. In the look-up table, the reference voltage may have a linear or nonlinear inversely proportional relationship to the cumulative charge/discharge capacity. That is, in the look-up table, the larger cumulative charge/discharge capacity may be associated with the smaller reference voltage. As the battery B degrades, the measured differential curve <NUM> has a large difference from the reference differential curve <NUM>. Accordingly, when the reference voltage Vref which is the width of the voltage range of interest decreases with the increasing cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B, it is possible to compare the differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> with sufficient accuracy at low computational complexity for similarity measurement.

The control circuit <NUM> may determine a signal distance between the measured differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> over the voltage range of interest from the first voltage of interest Vi to the second voltage of interest V<NUM>. As the measured differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> are more similar to each other in the voltage range of interest, the signal distance decreases. At least one of a variety of well-known similarity calculation methods such as the Pearson correlation coefficient may be used to determine the signal distance. In relation to this, due to the internal resistance of the battery B, as the battery B degrades, the battery voltage in the discharging procedure is shifted to low voltage while the battery voltage in the charging procedure is shifted to high voltage. Accordingly, in determining the signal distance, dynamic time warping which is a function of outputting the signal distance between two signals having different patterns as similarity may be used to offset the shift of the battery voltage during charging/discharging.

The control circuit <NUM> may determine that the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B abnormally increased when the signal distance is found equal to or larger than the reference distance as a result of comparing the signal distance with a reference distance. The abnormal increase in the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B indicates that the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B is equal to or larger than the upper limit value of the negative electrode tortuosity corresponding to the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B. The cumulative charge/discharge capacity may be the sum of the cumulative value of discharge current and the cumulative value of charge current flowing through the battery B for the total usage duration from the release time of the battery B to the start time (or the end time) of the constant current period. The signal distance corresponds to the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B, and the reference distance corresponds to the upper limit value of the negative electrode tortuosity corresponding to the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B. To compare the signal distance with the reference distance, the control circuit <NUM> may determine the reference distance using the following equation pre-recorded in the memory device.

In the above equation, m denotes a predetermine natural number, C[i] denotes an ith predetermined positive coefficient, x denotes the cumulative charge/discharge capacity, and y denotes the reference distance. The above equation may be preset through testing (or computing simulation) for obtaining a relationship between the cumulative charge/discharge capacity and the negative electrode tortuosity of sample batteries having the same electrochemical specification as the battery B.

When it is determined that the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B abnormally increased, the control circuit <NUM> may perform a predetermined safety function. In an example, the control circuit <NUM> may transmit a warning message to the vehicle controller <NUM> through the communication circuit <NUM>. In another example, the control circuit <NUM> may reduce the maximum allowable value of the charge current and/or the discharge current. The reduction in the maximum allowable value may be proportional to a difference between the signal distance and the reference distance.

<FIG> is an exemplary flowchart showing a battery diagnosis method that may be performed by the battery diagnosis apparatus shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> is an exemplary flowchart showing the sub-steps of the step S540 of <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, in step S500, the control circuit <NUM> commands the charge/discharge circuit <NUM> to start the constant current period. The constant current period is a period of time during which the battery B is charged or discharged at the predetermined current rate over the predetermined set voltage range VL~VU.

In step S510, the control circuit <NUM> collects the voltage signal and the current signal at each unit time for the constant current period. That is, the control circuit <NUM> generates a time series of battery voltage and a time series of battery current over the constant current period.

In step S520, the control circuit <NUM> determines the measured capacity curve <NUM> indicating the relationship between the battery voltage and the residual capacity over the set voltage range based on the voltage signal and the current signal collected for the constant current period.

In step S530, the control circuit <NUM> determines the measured differential curve <NUM> indicating the relationship between the battery voltage and the differential capacity over the set voltage range based on the measured capacity curve <NUM>. The differential capacity is a ratio dQ/dV of a change in the residual capacity for each unit time to a change in the battery voltage for each unit time.

In step S540, the control circuit <NUM> determines whether the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B abnormally increased by comparing the measured differential curve <NUM> with the reference differential curve <NUM>. When a value of the step S540 is "Yes", step S550 may be performed.

In step S550, the control circuit <NUM> performs the predetermined safety function.

Referring to <FIG>, in step S610, the control circuit <NUM> determines the first voltage of interest Vi which is a voltage at which a size of a difference in differential capacity between the measured differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> is at maximum.

In step S620, the control circuit <NUM> determines the second voltage of interest V<NUM> based on the first voltage of interest Vi. The second voltage of interest may be equal to one (for example, a smaller one) of the sum of (i) the first voltage of interest Vi and the reference voltage Vref (for example, <NUM> V) and (ii) the upper voltage limit Vu.

In step S630, the control circuit <NUM> determines the signal distance between the measured differential curve <NUM> and the reference differential curve <NUM> over the voltage range of interest between the first voltage of interest Vi as the lower limit and the second voltage of interest V<NUM> as the upper limit.

In step S640, the control circuit <NUM> determines the reference distance based on the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B (see Equation). Alternatively, as described above, when the reference voltage Vref is determined based on the cumulative charge/discharge capacity, the step S640 may be omitted and the predetermined value may be used as the reference distance.

In step S650, the control circuit <NUM> determines whether the signal distance is equal to or larger than the reference distance. The signal distance that is equal to or larger than the reference distance indicates that the negative electrode tortuosity of the battery B abnormally increased above an expected upper limit value from the cumulative charge/discharge capacity of the battery B.

The embodiments of the present disclosure described hereinabove are not implemented only through the apparatus and method, and may be implemented through programs that perform the functions corresponding to the configurations of the embodiments of the present disclosure or recording media having the programs recorded thereon, and such implementation may be easily achieved by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the embodiments described above.

While the present disclosure has been hereinabove described with regard to a limited number of embodiments and drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto within the technical aspects of the present disclosure and the scope of the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A battery diagnosis apparatus (<NUM>), comprising:
a voltage sensor (<NUM>) configured to measure a battery voltage across a battery (B) and generate a voltage signal indicating the measured battery voltage;
a current sensor (<NUM>) configured to measure a battery current flowing through the battery (B) and generate a current signal indicating the measured battery current; and
a control circuit (<NUM>) configured to collect the voltage signal and the current signal at each unit time,
characterized in that the control circuit (<NUM>) is configured to:
determine a measured capacity curve indicating a relationship between the battery voltage and a residual capacity over a predetermined set voltage range based on the voltage signal and the current signal collected at each unit time for a constant current period during which the battery (B) is charged or discharged at a predetermined current rate over the set voltage range,
determine a measured differential curve indicating a relationship between the battery voltage and a differential capacity over the set voltage range based on the measured capacity curve, wherein the differential capacity is a ratio of a change in the residual capacity for each unit time to a change in the battery voltage for each unit time, and
determine whether a negative electrode tortuosity of the battery (B) abnormally increased by comparing the measured differential curve with a reference differential curve, wherein the reference differential curve is given as the relationship between the battery voltage and the differential capacity over the set voltage range when the battery (B) is in fresh condition.