Ternary lithium VS Lithium iron phosphate

Battery Protection Circuit Boards (PCBs),, often termed the Battery Management System (BMS), play a vital role in ensuring the safety, efficiency, and longevity of rechargeable batteries used in a wide range of electronic devices. As the demand for portable gadgets and electric vehicles increases, the need for reliable and robust battery management systems becomes even more critical.

These intelligent electronic controllers are designed to monitor and regulate key parameters of the battery, including voltage, current, and temperature. By doing so, they protect against potential hazards like overcharging, over-discharging, short circuits, and overheating, which can lead to catastrophic failures and pose serious safety risks. The Battery PCB’s ability to safeguard batteries and optimize their performance is crucial for enhancing user experience, prolonging battery life, and contributing to a sustainable future by reducing electronic waste.

Voltage Protection

The battery is protected for both High voltages and low voltages. 

Current Protection

This feature ensures that the battery functionality during too much loading and short circuit. Normally, in case of a short circuit load is disconnected from the entire circuitry. Once the fault condition is fixed BMS continues the normal operation. Normally, in BMS current and voltage protection are ensured by using MCU that are processing real-time data using shunt resistors or independent ICs that are responsible for the operation. The overcurrent protection for a single Li-ion battery used by a BMS is almost 150mV. This voltage level is entirely dependent upon the sense Resistor value.

Short Circuit Protection

A short circuit occurs when there is an unintended direct connection between the positive and negative terminals of the battery, resulting in a sudden surge of current. This can lead to rapid and uncontrollable current flow, overheating, and potentially dangerous situations, such as fire or explosion.

Temperature Monitoring

Temperature is a crucial parameter that significantly impacts the performance, efficiency, and safety of battery packs. Typically it incorporates temperature sensors, such as thermistors or integrated temperature sensors, which are strategically placed in or near the battery cells. These sensors measure the temperature and provide real-time data to the main controller. If the battery temperature exceeds a predefined threshold, the BMS activates safety measures to protect the battery and the connected devices. It might reduce the charging or discharging rate to lower the temperature, or in extreme cases, shut down the battery to prevent any potential hazards. In addition, temperature monitoring helps in estimating the State of Health of the battery, which refers to its overall health and capacity. High temperatures can accelerate battery aging, and by tracking the temperature over time, the BMS can assess the battery’s condition and predict its remaining useful life. Generally, BMS operates in safe operating ranges from 0°C to 45°C. Beyond that limits, the temperature monitoring system operates and disrupts the operation.

Balancing

There are primarily two methods of balancing: active balancing and passive balancing. In active balancing, the system uses additional circuitry, such as resistors, switches, or semiconductor devices, to transfer charge between cells actively. When the system detects that one cell is approaching its upper voltage limit, it diverts some of the charge from that cell to the cells with lower voltages.Passive balancing relies on the natural differences in cell internal resistance to equalize their SOC. The BMS achieves this by disconnecting the fully charged cell from the circuit, allowing it to self-discharge slightly while the other cells continue to discharge. Over time, this process brings all the cells to a similar SOC.