US 12,230,982 B2
State-of-charge balancing with parallel and series output connected battery power modules
Mohamed Ahmed Kamel Ahmed, Rochester, MI (US); Regan A. Zane, Hyde Park, UT (US); and Dragan Maksimovic, Boulder, CO (US)
Assigned to Utah State University, Logan, UT (US); and University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (US)
Filed by Mohamed Ahmed Kamel Ahmed, Rochester, MI (US); Regan A. Zane, Hyde Park, UT (US); and Dragan Maksimovic, Boulder, CO (US)
Filed on Nov. 18, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/529,962.
Application 17/529,962 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/350,880, filed on Jun. 17, 2021, granted, now 11,735,782.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/040,431, filed on Jun. 17, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0393485 A1, Dec. 8, 2022
Int. Cl. H02J 7/00 (2006.01); H01M 10/42 (2006.01); H01M 10/44 (2006.01); H01M 10/48 (2006.01); H01M 50/204 (2021.01); H01M 50/509 (2021.01)
CPC H02J 7/0016 (2013.01) [H01M 10/425 (2013.01); H01M 10/441 (2013.01); H01M 10/482 (2013.01); H01M 50/204 (2021.01); H01M 50/509 (2021.01); H02J 7/0048 (2020.01); H02J 7/00712 (2020.01); H01M 2010/4271 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a battery pack comprising a plurality of N battery bricks (“bricks”), wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, an output of each of the N bricks of the battery pack comprising a direct current (“DC”) output voltage, wherein output terminals of each of the N bricks are connected in series and provide a bus voltage, wherein each of the N bricks comprises a plurality of m battery power modules (“BPMs”), wherein m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, each of the m BPMs comprising a DC output voltage, wherein output terminals of each of the m BPMs is connected in parallel and together provide the output voltage of each of the N bricks and each of the m BPMs of a jth brick of the N bricks has an input connected to a battery cell, wherein j is an integer between 1 and N, wherein each of an ith BPM of the m BPMs is controllable to charge and discharge the battery cell connected to the ith BPM;
a battery brick controller for each of the N bricks, the battery brick controller for each of a jth brick of the N bricks is configured to provide a control signal to each of the m BPMs of the jth brick, wherein a control signal of an ith BPM of the m BPMs of the jth brick is derived from a BPM error signal comprising a battery cell current of the battery cell connected to the ith BPM subtracted from a summation of an average current signal, a local droop current and a balancing current, the balancing current based on a current state-of-charge (“SOC”) of the battery cell connected to the ith BPM and a desired SOC for the battery cell connected to the ith BPM; and
a battery management system (“BMS”) configured to derive the balancing current for each of the m BPMs of the N bricks of the battery pack.