In the production, R&D and quality inspection of lithium batteries, the battery aging cabinet is the core equipment to ensure the performance and safety of the battery - it simulates the charging and discharging cycle during the long-term use of the battery to screen out unqualified products with fast capacity decay and poor safety, and builds a solid quality defense line for downstream applications (such as new energy vehicles, energy storage systems, consumer electronics). In the aging test, "where does the electrical energy released when the battery is discharged" is a common question asked by many industry practitioners and concerns. Today, we will start from technical principles and comprehensively analyze the three core destinations of the discharge energy of the battery aging cabinet.
1. Core destination: energy recovery system - let "discharge" become "power storage" to achieve recycling
At present, the mainstream industrial-grade battery aging cabinets are equipped with intelligent energy recovery modules, which are the most important and environmentally friendly destinations for discharge energy. The core logic is to recycle and store the AC power (after conversion) released during the battery discharge process, and then reuse it for equipment operation or factory power supply, forming a closed loop of "discharge-recycle-reuse".
The specific process can be divided into three steps:
- Rectification conversion: The electrical energy released when the battery is discharged first enters the "rectifier module" of the aging cabinet, converting unstable AC power into DC power.
- Energy storage buffer: The converted DC power is stored in a dedicated energy storage unit (such as energy storage battery pack or supercapacitor) to avoid voltage fluctuations from impacting the power grid.
- Secondary use: The recovered electricity can be directly supplied to the aging cabinet itself (such as temperature control system, control unit), or connected to the internal power grid of the factory to power other production equipment (such as cell assembly lines and testing instruments).
Taking the aging test workshop of a new energy enterprise as an example, a set of 100-channel battery aging cabinets can reuse 70%-85% of the discharge energy through the energy recovery system, reducing the electricity consumption of the grid by nearly 100,000 kWh per year, which not only meets the requirements of the "double carbon" policy, but also reduces electricity costs for enterprises.
2. Necessary loss: Loss of heat energy - precisely controlled by the temperature control system
During battery discharge, due to resistance losses (battery internal resistance, discharge loop resistance) and electrochemical side reactions, there will be a natural loss of some energy in the form of thermal energy, which is a normal physical phenomenon that cannot be completely avoided. However, professional battery aging cabinets will accurately control this part of the thermal energy through an efficient temperature control system to avoid affecting the testing accuracy and equipment safety.
Common thermal energy treatment methods include:
- Air cooling: The cabinet has a built-in high-speed silent fan, which exports heat to the outside through the air duct design, which is suitable for small and medium-power aging test scenarios.
- Liquid cooling: It adopts an industrial-grade coolant circulation system, which quickly takes away the heat inside the cabinet through the combination of heat sinks and fans, which is suitable for high-power, long-term continuous testing scenarios, and the temperature control accuracy can reach ±2°C.
- Thermal isolation design: The cabinet is made of high-temperature insulation materials to avoid local heat accumulation affecting the test data of adjacent batteries, while protecting the life of electrical components in the cabinet.
Normally, the energy lost in the form of heat energy accounts for 5%-15% of the total discharge, and this part of the heat can be discharged in a directional manner through the temperature control system, without significantly affecting the ambient temperature of the workshop.
3. Micro consumption: The test system operates itself - to ensure accurate data collection
In addition to the above two major destinations, there is also a very small amount of discharge energy that will be used for the operation of the aging cabinet's own system, mainly concentrated in the core control and data acquisition unit, including:
- Control unit: such as PLC controller, industrial computer, need to maintain normal operation to regulate the charging and discharging process;
- Sensing unit: voltage sensor, current sensor, temperature sensor, etc., which need to collect battery test data in real time and transmit it to the system;
- Human-computer interaction unit: display, operation buttons, etc., need to maintain basic power supply to facilitate operator monitoring
This part of the energy consumption accounts for a very low proportion, usually only 1%-3% of the total discharge, which is necessary to ensure the stability of the testing process and accurate data without causing energy waste.
The core significance of energy treatment: high efficiency, energy saving, and precision
From the above three directions, it can be seen that the discharge energy of the battery aging cabinet does not "disappear out of thin air", but realizes the treatment mode of "recycling first, supplemented by reasonable loss" through scientific design, and its core value is reflected in three aspects:
- Energy saving and cost reduction: The energy recovery system greatly reduces the dependence on power grid and reduces the operating cost of enterprises;
- Environmental compliance: reduce energy waste and carbon emissions, in line with the national "dual carbon" policy and industry environmental protection standards;
- Accurate testing: Efficient temperature control and system power supply guarantee to avoid interference with energy loss to test data and ensure reliable battery quality.
-
Epilogue
The discharge energy of the battery aging cabinet is not only related to energy utilization efficiency, but also reflects the technical maturity of the equipment. As an enterprise focusing on the research and development of battery testing equipment, we have always taken "efficient recycling, precise temperature control, energy conservation and consumption reduction" as the core design concept, and integrated the third-generation energy recovery technology and intelligent temperature control system into the aging cabinet, so that every degree of discharge energy can be rationally utilized, and provide customers with better and more economical battery testing solutions.
If you want to know more about the technical details of the battery aging cabinet, or need to customize an exclusive test plan, please contact our technical consultant team for one-on-one professional service.
