Every battery system needs to keep a constant temperature to guarantee safety and functionality. How do battery temp control chillers, and more specifically, battery chilled water cooling units, promote safety? The key is in how temperature is managed. Batteries heat when charging and discharging and, if excess heat is not managed, it can cause overheating, swelling, and, most dangerously, thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is an increase in temperature that is uncontrollable and can be deadly. A battery chilled water cooling unit uses chilled water to absorb, and dissipate, excess battery heat, and keeps the temperature in the safe zone. A battery chilled water cooling unit does this with battery packs in electric vehicles, industrial batteries, and energy storage systems. In the following blog, we will explain the unit’s role in safety and how it works.
To understand how a battery chilled water cooling unit improves safety, it’s first important to know how it operates. The components include a water circulation system, cooling mechanism, and temperature sensors.
The temperature sensors check the battery pack’s temperature in real time, and when it gets too high, the unit activates the cooling system to circulate water to the battery cells. The high temperature water is sent to a radiator or refrigeration system to lower its temperature and continue the cycle. This cycle is called the cooling cycle, and it helps maintain a constant temperature of the battery pack. This cycle prevents the formation of hotspots that cause major safety issues. When compared to air-cooling systems which have lower efficiency, a battery chilled water cooling unit is more effective and uniform in heat dissipation.
There are several key safety benefits of a battery chilled water cooling unit, the most important one being the prevention of thermal runaway. This happens when a battery cell gets too hot and starts a chain reaction which results in a fire or explosion. A battery chilled water cooling unit prevents this chain reaction by stabilizing the pack temperature.
Another important advantage for safety is the overheating and subsequently overheating. When a battery overheats, it wears down. This can cause the battery to leak, short circuit, or cause internal damage. Having precise temperature controls helps ensure a battery is in good, safe working condition, slows down overheating, and, most importantly, prolongs its life. Also, the unit maintains consistent performance across all the battery cells. When the temperature is uneven, some cells work much harder and can result in an imbalance that causes sudden failure. A battery Chilled water cooling unit helps ensure all cells operate at the same temperature, therefore reducing the chances of an unexpected failure. These safety benefits make this unit a must-have for large scale battery systems or high-performance systems.
Choosing the right battery chilled water cooling unit is critical for the improved battery safety. First, consider the cooling and temperature control precision. The unit’s cooling capacity must match the batteries heat output, overheating, or underheating. An efficient unit must also control temperature with precision.
To safeguard batteries against deterioration, a battery chilled water cooling unit should hold the temperature ranges ±2°C. Not every unit will do, however, so check compatibility. The design should match the battery pack size, with circulation channels or plates that make good contact with the cells for efficient heat transfer. An energy-efficient battery chilled water cooling unit will less inefficiently power while performing the same cooling function. This ultimately drives your operating costs down. The last of the features you should look for should be leak detection and emergency shutdown. These will ensure that the unit will not pose a threat (like a water leak) to the batteries.
The department of chilled water cooling units for batteries should not only focus their time on the safety issues of the unit. For that, you should make sure that during installation the unit circulation channels or plates are in line with the cells of the battery for coverage. If contact is not made, the unit could overheat the batteries to dangerous temperatures.To avoid water leakage, use high quality hoses and connectors. Remember that water and electricity together can be very dangerous. Make sure that the temperature sensors are installed at the right locations, and preferably near the heat generating cells, to properly monitor the temperature. For maintenance, the water level and the quality water in the unit should be checked regularly. Ineffective cooling will occur when there are low water levels and contaminated water will clog the circulation system. Periodically clean the cooling mechanism, whether it be the radiator or the refrigeration system, in order to remove dust and debris that may block airflow and prevent the system from transferring heat. Wear and damage should be checked in the hoses and connectors, and any issues should be promptly replaced. The temperature sensors should also be regularly calibrated in order to determine the accurate temperature. With the proper maintenance and installation, battery chilled water cooling units are able to protect the battery system safely and efficiently.
Battery chilled water cooling units are used in many different industries to improve battery safety for different systems, and the results have been excellent. For instance, an electric vehicle manufacturer put battery chilled water cooling units in their new line of EVs.
Before employing these units, some test vehicles showed overheating symptoms during fast charging, which were later found to be a potential safety hazard. After the installation of the battery chilled water cooling unit, the EVs maintained constant temperatures during rapid charging, eliminating overheating and potential safety concerns. The same principle applies to the large-scale energy storage facility that utilizes lithium-ion batteries. The facility used to have safety concerns over hotspots on battery packs, which significantly increased the risk of fires. Chilled water cooling units were added, and now, all cells have uniform temperature control which mitigates fire risk and allows the facility to store energy safely around the clock. The same can be applied to the manufacturing plant that uses batteries to power its automated equipment. The plant’s batteries tended to overheat during long work cycles, which posed high safety concerns. With the installation of a battery chilled water cooling unit, the plant no longer has to replace batteries as frequently and the batteries no longer overheat, and thus posing a danger to the workers or the automated equipment. The real-world examples of battery safety applications in different scenarios using a battery chilled water cooling unit is without question a validated application.
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