CH715056A2 - Method and system for loading mobile ultracaps. - Google Patents

Abstract

To charge mobile ultracaps at a charging station, the method according to the invention is used to connect them to stationary charged ultracaps several times in succession. The charge of the stationary ultracaps is higher than that of the mobile ultracaps in each charging step. A system for carrying out this charging method comprises charging stations with charged stationary ultracaps, with which the mobile ultracaps are connected in several charging steps in different connection combinations. The invention further relates to a system for charging mobile capacitors.

Description

Description: The present invention relates to a method for quickly charging capacitors according to the preamble of claim 1 and a system according to claim 3 for carrying out this method.

According to the current state of the art, electric cars obtain the electrical energy necessary for locomotion predominantly from accumulators on an electrochemical basis. Of the storage elements for electrical energy, these are currently those with the greatest energy density and thus allow the greatest range in terms of their weight. Alternative storage devices, which are also already used in vehicles, are capacitive storage devices, which, however, currently only achieve around 10% of the energy density of accumulators and can therefore only be used where charging is possible at short intervals.

The advantage of the high energy density of batteries is offset by some major disadvantages, such as the long charging time, the comparatively short lifespan etc. In this regard, capacitive storage offers advantages. But although the charging time of capacitive memories, for example, is significantly shorter than that of accumulators, this is not enough to compensate for the disadvantage of the shorter range.

The invention is therefore based on the object to shorten the time for charging capacitors, in particular mobile ultracaps in vehicles, so that the comparatively lower energy density of capacitors is no longer a disadvantage.

According to the invention this is achieved by the characterizing features of claims 1 and 4.

Preferred embodiments are characterized by the features specified in the subclaims.

The following definitions are used in the present description:

The term “ultracaps” refers to capacitors of different technologies with high capacities in the range of 1 F and more, which are suitable in principle for driving electric vehicles. The charging method according to the invention is fundamentally not only suitable for ultracaps, but for all types of capacitors.

»Energy density» is the measure of the storable electrical energy. It is based on the mass of the capacitor and is given as the gravimetric energy density in Wh / kg. “Power density” means the speed at which the energy can be delivered to a load or taken up by an energy source. The power density is determined by the heat development during the current load via the internal resistance.

[0010] »Defined limit values of the current flow» are those in which no damage to lines or components occurs. They depend on various factors and can easily be determined by a person skilled in the art. The limit values are important because, due to the low internal resistance of capacitors, extremely high currents can occur both during charging and discharging.

The term "virtual" in connection with reserves refers to the technically correct, scientifically proven and well-founded definition "thanks to the logical reorganization of existing physical units, newly acquired, deliberately selected and absolutely precisely defined new objects for the purpose of optimized, more efficient management" as it is z. B. is standard in computer science regarding virtual computers.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It shows

Fig. 1 shows a typical course of a charging current

2 shows a schematic representation of a system for charging mobile ultracaps,

Fig. 3 is a tabular representation of a practical charging process.

In Fig. 1, a mobile capacitor 1 is shown on the left side and a battery 2 of stationary capacitors 3-10 is shown on the right side. The individual capacitor shown as a mobile capacitor 1 can, and usually will, also consist of a battery of several capacitors. The stationary capacitors 3-10 are available with different charges at a charging station for charging mobile capacitors.

1 shows a basic possibility for step-by-step charging of mobile ultracaps, which are installed, for example, as a power store in an electric car. The stationary ultracaps are part of a charging station 2. In rows a) -i) which are arranged one below the other, different connection steps are shown between the mobile and the stationary ultracaps, with which the mobile ultracaps are gradually charged up to 100%, ie full charge , Of course, any other suitable number of ultracaps is possible in a battery, both in the vehicle and in the charging station. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed for the exemplary embodiment described that the mobile ultracaps 1 and the stationary ultracaps 3-9 have the same capacity.

The first line a) shows the starting situation in which an electric car with an empty Ultracap 1 arrives at a charging station in order to charge. The Ultracaps 3-10 of the charging station are charged differently.

CH 715 056 A2 line b) shows the connection of the mobile Ultracap 1 with the stationary Ultracap 3 with a charge of 25%. With this connection, a charge balance takes place between the two connected ultracaps, after which both have the same charge of 12.5%. Despite the low internal resistance of the ultracaps, only a limited current flows because of the small charge difference, as shown in FIG. 1. On the other hand, due to the low internal resistance, the charge is balanced within milliseconds. The duration of charging the mobile Ultracaps 1 from 0% to 12.5% is negligible.

If in this charging step the Ultracap 1 was connected to a stationary Ultracap with a larger charge, such a large current would initially flow that connecting lines and or the Ultracaps themselves could be damaged. If the difference in charges between the ultracap to be charged and the charging is smaller, the initial current flow is also smaller, so that no damage occurs. The charge difference between the ultracap to be charged and the charging must always be selected so that a defined limit value of the current flow is not exceeded. This means that completely or almost empty mobile ultracaps must not be connected directly to higher-loaded ultracaps.

With the first charging step according to FIG. 2b), the initially empty mobile Ultracap 1 is first brought to a minimum charge before the actual rapid charging begins.

The necessary minimum charge can also be achieved in other ways, for example with an accumulator or the use of an auxiliary combustion engine, solar cells, etc.

Of course, the high currents could also be avoided by interposing resistors. However, this would result in losses that do not occur when charging on partial loads with partially charged stationary ultracaps.

Line c) shows the next step, the connection of the mobile Ultracaps 1, which is charged to 12.5%, with the stationary Ultracap 4, with a charge of 37.5%. The mobile ultracap achieves a charge of 25% thanks to the charge balance.

The following lines d) -h) show the successive connection of the mobile ultracaps with further stationary ultracaps 5-9 each with a higher charge of 50%, 62.5%, 75%, 87.5%, 100% ,

In line I of Fig. 2, the last charging step is shown, which brings the mobile Ultracap to full charge. For this purpose, the stationary Ultracap 10 has a higher charge than the previously connected Ultracap 9, namely a charge that corresponds to 112.5% of a full charge of an ultracap of the same size. This charge is achieved by two series-connected ultracaps with 60.25% charge each. It should therefore be noted that the individual stationary ultracaps do not have to be fully charged. Alternatively, one with a larger capacity can be used for the Ultracap 10.

The choice of the individual steps can be varied in a variety of ways. The process can also be varied by using ultracaps with different capacities in the charging station without deviating from the basic process.

Thus, according to an alternative embodiment, the charging steps shown in FIG. 2 and described above, in which the mobile and the stationary ultracaps have the same capacity, but the latter have different charges, are carried out with stationary ultracaps of different capacity, but always with full charge. If the mobile ultracaps are completely or largely discharged, stationary ultracaps with a smaller capacity are first connected to the charging station, but they are fully charged and thus transfer a maximum of charge.

For example, a mobile ultracap with 1000 F, which only has a charge of 4% corresponding to 0.108 V, is connected for the first charging step with a fully charged stationary ultracap with a capacity of only 5% of the mobile ultracap. In the following steps, the connection is made one after the other with fully charged stationary ultracaps with higher capacities. In this way, the flowing charging current can also be limited to the permissible strength.

The step-by-step procedure according to FIG. 2 shows the basic type of step-by-step loading process. In practice, an alternative is used in which it is avoided that energy remains in different and sometimes remarkably charged Ultracaps after each charging step. Such an alternative method is shown in the table attached as FIG. 3. In this table, the first two lines represent the initial state. In the second line, the symbol "X" stands for the mobile Ultracap, and the eight symbols A-H for stationary Ultracaps. The charge of these ultracaps is indicated above in the first line. The individual loading steps are shown below in frames 0-7. The first two steps 0 and 1 are the same as steps b) and c) in FIG. 2.

The following steps 2-7 show a different procedure in the following phases. Individual ultracaps are combined in series. In step 2, the stationary ultracaps A B and C are connected in series with the charge still remaining after the previous charging step 1 and connected to the mobile Ultracap X. At the end of step 1, Ultracap A still has 12.5%, Ultracap B still 25% and Ultracap C the original 12.5% charge. In series this results in 50% charge of the network, which charge the mobile Ultracap X to 37.5%. Accordingly, in step 3, the Ultracaps C and D are connected in series and connected to the mobile Ultracap. The network has 62.5% charge, with which the mobile Ultracap is charged to 50%. The further steps can be seen directly from the table.

CH 715 056 A2 Through the series connection in the next following steps it is achieved that less energy "remains" in the ultracaps remaining in the charging station, that "units without internal resistance" are avoided, i.e. The design of ultracaps, which are problematic with regard to loading, means that the charging station can be recharged more quickly to make it “ready for charging a mobile unit” (since less energy has to be “bunkered”), and that the process can therefore be carried out more efficiently, more economically and in a timely manner.

If a charging station is used, at which mobile units are successively charged, the different, and in some cases considerably, remaining charging ultracaps are not a problem, since they continue to be used and, if the dimensions are suitable, only the most powerful loaded Ultracap must be reintroduced into the network. An Ultracap that has dropped out of the loading, stationary network because it is too weakly charged must be recharged so fully that it can step to the top in the cascade.

In a method in which a number of mobile ultracaps are charged simultaneously, it is irrelevant how strongly excreted ultracaps are charged. The only decisive factor is that a charging composite can be put together in series, the sum of the electrostatic fields having a charge which corresponds to the ultracap to be inserted at the top in the cascade. Charging stations of this type are designed for massive throughput. Therefore, in contrast to the charging stations mentioned above, they have to have a significantly higher number of “free”, i.e. not be able to keep 100% loaded »Ultracaps in stock and load them as soon as they become free. Furthermore, such a charging station must be able to group them dynamically and situatively into virtual units. These can also be called virtual reserves and make the difference of this type from the previously mentioned type, which only has physical reserves, which makes it much cheaper and easier, but also inefficient.

A method of load balancing web servers is round robin: the available servers are numbered consecutively, each new request from the web receives an increment of the index by one, and when the last server is reached, the process continues at the beginning. An analogy to this is a “row-around procedure” to be used: in the manner of a dial of a clock, every minute corresponds to a sixtieth of a full circle and is equated to a connection point.

If the charging process of a mobile unit is divided into sixty individual units, each connection point represents a subunit of the charging station which is charged higher by a difference in the charging process than the connection point lying next to it in the counterclockwise direction. The completely empty mobile unit is first connected to the «Minute 1» point and thus charged, a second later to the «Minute 2» point, etc., until it is 100% charged when connected to the last point.

All points corresponding to the dial have each given a quantum of charge and have to be shifted one position counterclockwise in the case of a renewed pass / charge process. The “top position in the cascade” is thus unoccupied and must be replaced or filled up with a fully charged unit. The system is then ready to fully charge a new mobile unit.

The gradual connection of the stationary ultracaps in the charging station with the mobile ultracaps in the vehicle is carried out by a technically simple electronic control that can be easily created by a person skilled in the art. A control can also be provided in the on-board electronics in the vehicle, which ensures that the state of charge of the mobile battery does not fall below a minimum value in order to carry out quick charging directly at the charging station and to avoid the previous step for partial charging.

The step-by-step charging method for mobile ultracaps described is more than two orders of magnitude faster than charging a traction battery with electrochemical batteries. Since the charge equalization takes less than a second in each individual step, a full charge of a mobile battery is possible in a few minutes even with a large number of steps. This advantage significantly overcompensates for the disadvantage of the shorter range because of the lower energy density of capacitive memories compared to the accumulators.

[0037] Ultracaps are ideal for recovering the kinetic energy when braking. Conventional accumulator batteries are only suitable for this to a limited extent. This must be taken into account in the design of a vehicle, including also to increase the range, especially in urban areas.

Due to the extremely short loading times, diverse system expansions are close at hand: This enables users to drive into a box similar to motorway toll booths, have the vehicle loaded automatically and continue driving after a minute or two. A monitoring system uses e.g. of the registration number, the vehicle, checks the creditworthiness and loads without human intervention e.g. the mobile unit from below.

A similar system can be installed at high traffic lights. Loading takes place during the red phase and only switches to green after the loading process has ended. Since the phases and their length are known to the traffic light system, both control systems integrate harmoniously and result in an additional benefit.

Optionally, a functionality can be installed that e-cars can load other e-cars if necessary.

CH 715 056 A2

Claims (7)

claims 1 XI 12.5 X14B1 25 25 al 12.5 1Z.5 bl 375 25 25 Cl 12.5 12.5 DI 25 25 El 25 25 Fl 25 25 gl 25 25 hl 25 25 2 X2 al B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 H2 25 12.5 25 12.5 25 25 25 25 25 A1 + B2 + C2 12.5 + 25 + 12.5 50 {= compound $ cell) X2 + (A1 + B2 + C2 37.S 37.5 37.5 37.5 25 25 25 25 25 1. A method for charging mobile capacitors at a charging station, characterized in that the mobile capacitors at the charging station are connected several times in succession to stationary charged capacitors, the charge of which is higher than that of the mobile capacitors. 2 ~ hig.L CH 715 056 A2 0 25 37.5 12.5 25 25 25 25 25 X A D G H 0 XO AO 60 CO DO EO FO GO HO 0 25 37.5 12.5 25 25 25 25 25 XO + AO 125 12.5 12.5 12.5 37.5 12.5 25 25 25 25 25 2. Charging method according to claim 1, characterized in that the stationary capacitors for the initial charging steps have a fraction of the capacity of the mobile capacitors and stationary capacitors are connected with higher capacitance, the stationary capacitors being fully charged. 3 X3 37.5 X3 + [C3 + D3) C3 D3 E3 F3 37.5 25 25 25 C3 + D3 37.5 + 25 62.5 (= compound $ cell) G3 25 H3 25 SO 50 50 50 25 25 25 25 3. Charging method according to claim 1, characterized in that the capacitors are ultracaps. 4 X4 D4 E4 F4 G4 H4 SO 50 25 25 25 25 D4 + E4 X4 + (O4 + E4) 50 + 25th 75 (= Verbundszel (e = VZ) 62.5 625 62.5 625 25 25 4. System for charging mobile capacitors according to claim 1, characterized by a charging station with stationary charged capacitors, the charge of which is higher than that of the mobile capacitors. 5. Charging system according to claim 3, characterized in that the capacitors are ultracaps. CH 715 056 A2 CH 715 056 A2 6 X6 75 X6 + (G6 + D4) F6 G6 H6 75 25 28 F6 G6 + 75 * 25 100 (= VZ) 375 875 87.5 875 25 7 X7 875 X7 + (G7 * H7J G7 H7 875 25 G7 + H7 87.5 + 25 1125 100 100 100 1C0 (νζι