Battery Pack Design

The purpose of a battery pack is to provide a convenient integrated power source for portable applications. The advantages of using custom designs are outlined in the section on Benefits of Custom Packs. The pack may fulfil several functions:-

• Battery packs allow constructing high voltage, high capacity batteries from lower voltage, lower capacity cells. The battery pack interconnects the cells into a single unit.
• The battery pack encases the cells and any needed monitoring, protection circuits, and other electronics in one convenient package. It can also include features like indicators, heating, cooling, and solar panels.
• The battery pack's mechanical design matches the cavity in the target product, providing both electrical connections and physical mounting.
• Unique electrical and mechanical interfaces on the battery pack ensure compatibility with the intended product and charger. The custom interfaces prevent mismatches.

Two examples of battery packs from Axeon Power are shown below.

	The pack on the left is a 12 Volt 30 Ah Lithium Ion battery used for seismic instrumentation. It uses 32 pouch cells in a 4 series, 8 parallel configuration. The pack incorporates heaters which enable it to work down to -30°C and a solar panel which keeps the battery charged.

The pack on the right is a 3.6 Volt 800 mAh battery employing three Nickel Metal Hydride cells used in mobile phones. The gold plated connector is moulded into the plastic frame.

Capacity and Voltage

With a simple series chain of cells, the battery capacity in AmpHours is the same as the capacity of the individual cells since the current flows equally through all the cells in the chain.

High battery voltages are achieved by adding more cells in a series chain. The voltage of the battery is the voltage of a single cell multiplied by the number of cells in the chain. This does not increase the AmpHour capacity of the battery , but it increases the WattHour capacity, or the total stored energy, in proportion to the number of cells in the chain.

Battery capacity can increased through adding more parallel cells. This increases the AmpHour capacity as well as the WattHour capacity without increasing the battery voltage. For batteries with parallel chains the capacity of the battery is the capacity of the individual chain multiplied by the number of parallel chains.

Whereas cell voltage is fixed by the cell chemistry, cell capacity depends on the surface area of the electrodes and the volume of the electrolyte, - that is, the physical size of the cell. If at all possible the number of cells in a pack should be minimised to simplify the design and to minimise potential reliability problems. Fewer cells require fewer support electronics. Thus parallel chains should be avoided by specifying the highest capacity cells available. Design issues for multi-cell batteries are considered further in the section on Cell Balancing.

NOTE Cells with different capacities or cell chemistries should not be mixed in a single battery pack.

Pack Design Options

The design of the outer package or housing of the battery depends to a great extent on the components it has to accommodate and the physical protection it has to provide for them. These components are not just the cells, but also protection devices, electronic circuits, interconnections and connectors which must all be specified before the final battery case can be designed. For high power, high energy batteries robust packaging is required for safety reasons.

Cell Configuration

The ultimate shape and dimensions of the battery pack are mostly governed by the cavity which is planned to house it within the intended application. This in turn dictates the possible cell sizes and layouts which can be used. Prismatic cells provide the best space utilisation, however cylindrical cells provide simpler cooling options for high power batteries. The use of pouch cells provides the product designer more freedom in specifying the shape of the battery cavity permitting very compact designs.

The orientation of the cells is designed to minimise the interconnections between t he cells.

Battery Electronics

Besides the cells many battery packs now incorporate associated electronic circuits. These may be protection devices and circuits, monitoring circuits, charge controllers, fuel gauges, and indicator lights. Electronics for high power multi-cell packs also include cell balancing and communications functions.

The packs may also be designed to deliver more than one voltage from the basic cell combination, although applications requiring multiple voltage sources are more likely to make provision for this within the application. See Multiple Voltages

In addition to the basic battery support electronics the battery pack may include other functions such as heaters to extend the lower working temperature or solar cells to keep the battery fully charged. These circuits in turn have their own control circuits.

Space, fixing points and methods and interconnections need to be allocated for all these electronic circuits.

Software

Sofware is a major component of Lithium batteries, particularly for automotive applications. See the section on Battery Management Systems (BMS) . Control systems are required to keep the cells within their specified operating range and to protect them from abuse. Fuel gauging needs complex algorithms to estimate the state of charge (SOC). Communications with other vehicle systems are needed for monitoring the battery status and controlling energy flows.

Internal Interconnections

Low power cells are usually connected together using nickel strips which are welded to the cell terminals or the case. Soldering is not recommended since the soldering process is apt to apply large, uncontrolled amounts of heat to the battery components which may damage the separators or the vents which are normally made of plastic. Modern computer controlled resistance welders allow much more precise control of the welding process, both limiting the amount of heat applied to the battery and localising the heat to a small desired area. Welding also provides a stronger, low resistance joint. The interconnecting strips often have complex shapes and profiles which may be stamped out of flat strip in a progressive die.

High power cells may use solid copper bus bars or braided straps.

The electronic components are usually mounted on a conventional printed circuit board (PCB).

Flexible PCBs may cost more than rigid PCBs but they can be used to reduce the overall product costs. Not only do they save weight and space but they also provide more packaging options and they simplify physical interconnections and assembly operations as well as eliminating the need for connectors. Connectors may in fact be specified to facilitate assembly and disassembly if the design requires that individual battery components need to be changed or serviced but there is usually a cost and reliability penalty associated with such designs.

External Connections

The type of terminals or connections to the external circuits depend on, the current to be carried, the frequency with which the battery may be connected and disconnected and the design of the design of the circuit to which the battery will be connected.

For low power circuits, gold plated contacts are the terminals of choice for connectors which are subject to frequent insertions. Gold is hard wearing, it has low contact resistance and doesn't oxidise. Flying leads with spade terminals or snap on studs are also used for low power applications. Metal tabs are also used on pouch cells.

Terminals for high power applications are usually threaded metal studs to ensure a reliable connection. Safety requirements on high voltage batteries may also dictate shrouded terminals to prevent accidental exposure of the operator to dangerous voltages or of the battery to short circuits. Keyed or terminals or connections are also advisable to prevent connection to incorrect chargers or loads.

Thermal Design

Thermal management is a major issue in high power designs, particularly for automotive applications. See details in the Thermal Management section. As part of the battery system, it may be necessary to provide air or water cooling ducts, pumps or fans and heat exchangers for high temperature working or heaters for operating in low temperature environments. The layout of the cells should be conducive to managing heat flows within the pack.