The primary function of a Battery Management System (BMS) in lithium ion batteries is to effectively control and manage the battery, ensuring its durability, power output, and safety. It performs a range of functions, including signal measurement of battery cells and packs, state estimation, battery pack consistency evaluation, battery pack balancing, safe charging, fault diagnosis, and thermal management.
BMS is undergoing a constant evolution, transitioning through different stages. Researchers such as H. Dai et al. have categorized this evolution into four distinct stages: No management, Simple management, Advanced management, and Next-generation management. Currently, BMS is in the advanced management stage and is moving towards the development of next-generation BMS, characterized by intelligence and advanced capabilities.
Zero Management:
- Primarily involves voltage detection and simple charge and discharge control for lead-acid batteries.
- Focus is on basic monitoring and control functionalities.
Simple Management:
- Capable of monitoring battery data, such as current, voltage, and temperature, for a few LIBs.
- Incorporates a simple control algorithm to prevent overcharging and over-discharging.
Advanced Management:
- Advanced management involves the property and safety management of a large number of batteries with high intelligence.
- Includes functions such as state estimation, fault diagnosis, thermal management, and fast charging.
- Techniques like state estimation algorithms, fault diagnosis methodologies, and thermal management strategies are employed.
Intelligent Management:
- For long-term and accurate management of large-scale batteries under complex conditions.
- Encompasses advanced BMS functionalities along with features like ultrafast charging, active safety control, and strong interaction capabilities (V2G, V2H/B, V2V).
- Personalization, flexibility, customization, and the integration of advanced technologies like intelligent sensing, big data analysis, AI algorithms, digital twin, and blockchain are key aspects.
- Evolves from passive and distributed management to active and cooperative management, and from stage control to full life cycle control.
The evolution of BMS reflects the increasing demands imposed by the growing number of batteries and higher energy density requirements. The necessity of incorporating intelligence into the next-generation BMS has become imperative.