from chemistry to pack
Most explanations of a battery management system, including our own BMS overview, describe it stage by stage: here’s how coulomb counting works, here’s how a contactor gets driven, here’s what isolation resistance means This is useful, but it leaves out something engineers actually have to design: the order these pieces run in, and what gets … Read more
Virtual temperature sensors (also referred to as “soft sensors” or “sensorless estimators”) are software-based algorithms that estimate the temperature of battery cells without relying on a direct, physical hardware sensor at the measurement location [2]. Instead of measuring heat directly, these virtual sensors act as real-time state reconstruction algorithms running within the Battery Management System … Read more
The exact number of temperature sensors you need depends on the size of your battery pack, its physical configuration, rate of charge/discharge (C-rate), and the required level of thermal observability. In commercial Battery Management Systems (BMS), it is common practice to use one temperature sensor for every 4 to 20 cells, depending on the specific … Read more
The Overlooked Weak Link: Flexible Printed Circuits in High-Voltage Batteries Key Takeaway Flexible Printed Circuits (FPCs) are the hidden nervous system of high-voltage batteries, yet their reliability is often overlooked. This article highlights common FPC failure modes, explains how they can mimic cell or BMS faults, and shares practical design guidelines to prevent premature failures. … Read more
Electrolyte detection is a possible way of seeing early cell failures where a soft vent results in electrolyte being vented and dispersed into the pack volume. This soft venting of electrolyte happens prior to a cell going into thermal runaway. Liu et at [1] look at the development of an electrolyte sensor that measures Ethyl … Read more
Looking at the thermocouple vs thermistor for temperature sensing in the world of battery design. Cell temperature is a critical parameter. Although you might not be able to measure every cell, you need to measure a few in order that you can estimate the maximum and minimum. Thermocouple A thermocouple functions based on the Seebeck … Read more
Prof James Marco WMG Energy Group Significant advances have been made in recent years in our understanding of the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), their degradation, safety, manufacturability and recyclability – in part, through innovations in experimental methods and mathematical modelling. WMG is at the heart of this research through our involvement in projects … Read more