A practical example of our specialization Energy which fits well in this time is a Battery Management System (BMS) that Betronic has developed for EST Floattech. The BMS is used in the world’s safest battery system and is an essential component.
What does a Battery Management System actually do?
The electronic battery management system manages the rechargeable cells of a battery. The primary task is to ensure that the battery is safe and does not break down by, for example, preventing too much energy from being put into a cell or too much energy being extracted from it. Secondary task is to make the battery life as long as possible, this is done by, for example, keeping the voltage of all cells exactly the same. Furthermore, before using the battery, it is important to know how full the battery is (State Of Charge, SOC) and how healthy the battery is (State Of Health, SOH).
Characterize
The main features of the Battery Management System are:
- Continuous, active cell balancing for maximum system up-time guarantee
- High resolution redundant individual cell voltage and temperature measurements
- Synchronized flow measurement with a long range
- Redundant hardware and software security layers
Communication
In order for multiple batteries to work well together, each battery is also equipped with a communication connection. This allows the different batteries to communicate with an overhead Battery Control Unit. A communication connection to, for example, the ship’s system ensures that the status of the batteries can be read out at this level.
Application
The battery with the BMS is used by EST Floattech in various applications. Various vessels such as a luxury yacht, ferry, tugboat and boats for garbage collection. But also happers / cranes or stationary containers to store energy.