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The secret of battery balancing: Why do each battery in the same battery pack have a different fate?
In the rapidly growing world of battery technology, battery balancing is a growing concern. It's not just about the performance of the device, it's also about battery life and safety. Each cell in a battery pack may exhibit different characteristics, which means it is necessary to understand the inner workings of the battery to promote safer and more efficient use.
Cell balancing is a technology designed to increase the usable capacity of multiple cells and extend their life.
Each cell in a battery pack will naturally have varying capacities due to manufacturing differences, aging, or environmental effects such as heat. The state of charge (SOC) of these cells may vary during charge and discharge cycles. This causes some cells to be depleted prematurely while others remain fully charged, which affects the efficiency of the entire battery pack.
In order to achieve the best performance of the battery pack, the battery management system (BMS) needs to constantly monitor the temperature and voltage of each unit to detect potential abnormalities at any time to avoid failures. Of course, different balancing techniques, such as active balancing and passive balancing, are used to maintain stability between these units.
Passive balancing aims to achieve equilibrium by dissipating excess energy, while active balancing transfers energy from fully charged units to less charged units.
In passive equilibrium, excess energy is converted into heat, which means that some part of the energy is wasted. This can lead to inefficiencies in some situations. In active balancing, since energy is transferred directly, it is relatively more efficient, but its technical and cost complexity also increases.
It is worth noting that battery safety is crucial to users. Unbalanced batteries may malfunction during charging and discharging, causing permanent damage, or even causing explosions or other catastrophic failures. For example, when lithium batteries are mishandled, internal gases can be released, causing them to swell and, in extreme cases, explode.
The unit that runs out of power the earliest will determine the discharge stop of the entire battery pack, which avoids further discharge of other units that still have power.
So, how do you ensure that each unit reaches its peak performance? This requires relying on a mature battery management system, which is not only a monitoring tool, but also an important device that promotes balance. Depending on the different needs of the equipment, it is crucial to select the appropriate balancing technology. With the right design, these technologies can be incorporated into a variety of devices, including laptops and electric vehicles, improving their performance and longevity.
The evolution of batteries continues. As technology advances, more efficient balancing methods may emerge in the future, making battery performance more reliable and even subverting existing technical standards. The development of technology sometimes comes with risks, which makes understanding battery technology more important than ever.
As battery technology continues to evolve, can we find a solution that allows all battery cells to enjoy maximum performance together?
