EE202300026A - Battery bank transportation system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery bank transport system and using thereof. The battery bank transport system includes a battery bank, a container for storing the battery bank and a hook lift car for the operational transport of the container containing the battery bank. Such a transportable battery bank can be used in places where electricity or additional electricity is needed, for example when charging electric cars or electric ferries or at outdoor events.

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to a system for transporting charged batteries to and from a place of use. More specifically, the invention relates to transporting a charged battery bank from a charging point to a place of use and transporting a discharged battery bank back to a charging point.

State of the art

The prior art has known the use of batteries in places where it is not possible to use a power connection from the electrical network or it is insufficient. For example, it is not possible to use a network connection on so-called mobile devices such as a telephone or an electric car. It is also not possible to use a network connection in places where there is no electrical network, for example in the wild, or the electrical network does not provide the necessary current capacity, for example at summer concerts or open-air events. Diesel generators are currently used in such places, i.e. the performer is on stage and a noisy diesel generator is running behind the stage.

In the military, diesel generators are used to provide electricity in uninhabited areas. The problem with these is that they have a large heat signature that is visible to infrared cameras (including those of the enemy). However, the heat signature of batteries is almost non-existent.

The impact of electric cars on network services has been studied by TTÜ Elektrilevi on behalf of https://www.elektrilevi.ee/-/doc/8644141/ettevottest/tutvustus/failid/vorguteenuse tähtääntä trendid.pdf

The study reveals: "The basis for establishing a network connection or increasing capacity is raised the most by establishing charging points for electric cars. The input to the model is that, if the Road Administration and Elering's car growth scenario is realized, one fast charger for every four cars will be installed at apartment buildings and company buildings, and regular chargers requiring a capacity of up to 31 A will be installed in homes." In connection with the mass adoption of electric cars, a problem arises with charging them, as there are no network resources necessary for charging. The problem is particularly serious in residential areas of large cities, especially in old residential areas (Mustamäe, Õismäe, Annelinn, etc.), where the growing electricity consumption in the built-up electricity networks has not been taken into account. It is also not possible for an apartment owner to install their own charger from the mains.

There is also a problem in private houses in garden cities, where the main fuses of the houses are small, usually 16 to 25 A and the electrical network does not allow for a larger main fuse. At the same time, various electrical appliances have come into the house, such as a washing machine/dryer, dishwasher, electric stove, etc., which were not taken into account during the network planning. The lowest-power electric car charger requires a capacity of 16 A https://www.elektrum.ee/ee/eraklient/elektriautolaaden/kodulaadiiad-5234. Therefore, it is not possible to charge an electric car quickly enough in many private houses.

On the other hand, many wind and solar parks are being developed in Estonia. Statistically, the sunniest weather in Estonia is in Western Estonia and Saaremaa. However, there are no transmission lines in Western Estonia and the islands to build large-scale solar parks there and send electricity to the grid.

Another problem is the overproduction of wind and solar power during favorable weather conditions, when the electricity price on the exchange is extremely low or even negative. At such times, it is not wise to sell electricity to the grid.

The state of the art is known for the Megacharger trailer charging stations developed by Tesla https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-megacharger/, which are monofunctional, built on a long chassis specially developed for this station. Such stations have poor maneuverability and require high road load capacity to deliver them. Often, residential areas and parking lots are built in such a way that they are not designed for the daily driving of such large trucks. Such vehicles require a large amount of maneuvering space, which residential areas and parking lots of the time do not allow, i.e. all traffic is blocked. They also take up a disproportionate amount of parking space in the parking lot, so that some cars that want to use the parking lot cannot fit there.

The state-of-the-art mobile charging solution announced by Porsche consists of the same 2.1 MWh Megapack battery system on a trailer https://www.autoindustriya.com/auto-industry-news/this-is-porsche-s-powerbank-forcharging-30-taycans.html, which can charge 10 electric cars at the same time. It has the same drawbacks as the previous trailer charging station developed by Tesla. They are monofunctional, built on a chassis specially developed for this station. Such stations have poor maneuverability and require road construction to deliver them.

high load capacity. Also economically, a 12 m long loading station, equipped with many wheels, brake systems, marker lights, etc., and which is idle most of the time, i.e. not in its intended use, makes the price of the chassis disproportionately expensive and therefore also burdensome to nature. In addition to the above, the tractor of the road train must make empty trips either back from the loading station installation site or to an empty loading station. Also, coupling and uncoupling the trailer is a significant time-consuming process.

The closest solution known from the state of the art is the mobile and flexible DC charging station Merlin One from Jolt Energy®, which is transported by Jolt together with a special automated crane truck developed by the Swedish company HIAB https://www.electrive.com/2021/02/24/jolt-enters-us-markets-with-merlinone-mobile-dcstations/. Unlike the previously mentioned mobile charging solutions known from the state of the art, the charging station is transported by a car that can maneuver in tight spaces. The disadvantages of this solution are its monofunctionality and the need for a special car built to transport the charging station. The number of operations required to replace such a charging station is large: to use the crane, the car must set the pawls in place, the driver must exit the cab to lift the empty charging station onto the car and set the new, filled station in place. Then, the pawls must be raised again, the crane must be set in place and the car must be ready to drive.

The car also travels with less weight, because conventional platform truck cranes have a higher carrying capacity. At the same time, a battery bank that weighs many times more than this has only a 10-20% higher transportation cost.

Hooklift trucks are known from the state of the art, which can unload their box for a longer filling period and then pick it up again and transport the load to the intended location. To load and unload a hooklift container, the driver can reverse the hooklift to the container and hook the hooklift container onto or off the car, respectively, i.e. the driver does not have to leave the cab or perform other operations that must be performed using a truck with a crane.

Such hooklift trucks are small, mobile and have good maneuverability. For example, a hooklift system can handle MAN 12.224, with a gross weight of 12 tons and a load capacity of 5 tons; MAN 18.284, with a gross weight of 18 tons and a load capacity of 9 tons; Man 27.414, with a gross weight of 26 tons and a load capacity of 14 tons, etc. Hooklift systems can additionally

For example, you can read about them on the HIAB website, where they are introduced under the multilift brand https://www.hiab.com/en/products/hooklifts-skiploaders/multilift-features.

Today, hooklift trucks are used as ordinary dump trucks. In the state of the art, hooklift trucks have not previously been used as a complete system, which is installed on a hooklift container for transporting it from one place to another, for unloading and loading. Also, hooklift trucks have not been used to transport a battery bank and the electricity it contains from one place to another. The technical implementation of such a novel and previously unknown idea in the state of the art solves all the problems raised above.

The essence of the invention

The present invention solves all of the aforementioned problems by providing a conventional, state-of-the-art hooklift truck for transporting a battery bank.

The electrical energy is stored in a battery bank permanently installed in a hooklift (www.multilift.ee) container, which can be transported by conventional hooklift trucks equipped with a hook. More precisely, the battery is mounted on the platform of the hooklift container, to which the hook support and hook are connected, forming a battery bank transported by a hooklift truck, or a hooklift battery bank. The weight of such a battery bank can be 5-30 tons (depending on the road requirements and the load capacity of the truck and/or road).

Using cars with a hooklift hook is the most useful for transporting a battery bank because the number of actions performed by the driver when unloading a fully charged battery bank and loading a battery bank that needs charging is reduced, and the driver does not have to get out of the car.

Thus, the present invention solves the following technical problems of the prior art solutions: the car used to transport the battery bank is capable of maneuvering/is allowed to enter a densely populated residential area; the car used to transport the battery bank is a car in normal use (versus a car known from the closest prior art, built for this purpose); the driver can load/unload the battery bank without leaving the car; the battery bank has no heat footprint.

Depending on the circumstances, a multi-lift rope system can also be used, but it is not as effective compared to a hook lift - the driver must get out of the car to attach the ropes and there is also limited maneuverability when loading/unloading.

The battery bank transport system can, if necessary, include an inverter in the hooklift container, which converts the battery bank's direct current into 3-phase alternating current. The battery bank has a wide range of uses. For example, it can be used to charge electric car batteries. Electric car chargers can be in the same container with the battery bank. However, they can also be in a separate container or in a separate area, so that the chargers do not have to be removed when changing the battery bank. In addition, the chargers can have their own small battery bank (for example, holding about 10 minutes of charging capacity) to continue charging the cars during the container change.

It is more economical to store the battery bank and chargers in separate containers. This allows multiple battery banks to be used with one charger, with one battery bank charging and the other powering the electric car chargers.

Battery cooling systems and current regulation systems can also be kept separate, but depending on the circumstances, they can all be in the charging container.

Unlike electric car chargers on the power grid, the limiting factor for a battery bank is not the charging capacity, which is sufficient to charge cars at maximum speed. A battery bank allows for significantly faster charging, as it does not require long transmission lines and charging takes place right next to it, i.e. it is possible to use a cable with the required current capacity.

Battery banks don't have to be used only for charging electric cars. They can also be used, for example, on electric ferries, specifically the container containing the battery bank contains the electric barge charger, and other places where a full battery bank is brought in by a hooklift container and swapped out with minimal time.

The battery bank in the hooklift container, or hooklift battery bank, can also be used, for example, on the planned new Saaremaa ferry, where it is possible to remove the hooklift battery bank from the ship and replace it with a new one, instead of creating a powerful electrical infrastructure in the port to charge the ferry's batteries in a short time during the loading/unloading of cars.

The battery bank in the hooklift container can also be used as a replacement for an electric generator. The latter does not have to make a mess and consume fossil fuels when it can be replaced with a battery bank charged by the sun or wind or other low-price electricity.

List of illustrations

The above and other features and advantages of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side view of a battery bank in a hooklift container, or a hooklift battery bank, and

Figure 2 shows a top view of a battery bank in a hooklift container, or hooklift battery bank.

Examples

Figure 1 shows a schematic front view of a hooklift container or hooklift battery bank 1 and Figure 2 shows a schematic top view of a hooklift container or hooklift battery bank 1. The hooklift container 1 has a platform 2. A hook 3 support and a connection to a platform 4 are attached to the platform 2, which is connected to the hook 3, a hooklift car (not shown) for gripping the hook to move the container 1 onto or off the hooklift car. A battery bank 5 is attached to the container 1, which in a specific embodiment is connected to an inverter 6. The inverter 6 is operatively connected to an electric car charger 7. In some other embodiments, the inverter 6 is not required. The electric car charger 7 may also be separately on the container 1 or installed stationary.

A hooklift or hooklift car is a car with a hooklift superstructure as intended in the patent application. Sometimes, instead of a hooklift, there can also be a tilting system equipped with ropes, which has the same purpose - to pull a box or container onto a car and, if necessary, unload it from the car. The mentioned tilting rope system is not as efficient, because again the driver has to get out of the car to attach the ropes to the container or platform = more time consuming (therefore, we can also speak only of a hooklift from now on, since the rope system is mentioned).

Under the hooklift container or hooklift battery bank 1, the battery bank 5 intended in the patent application is a hooklift truck towed by a car.

The battery bank 5 here refers to the battery bank 5 intended in the patent application, which is a nickel-metal hydride battery, a lead-acid battery, supercapacitors (lithium-ion, nickel-metal hydride, leadacid, ultracapacitors) or some other type of battery or battery system.

The exemplary embodiment uses a lithium-ion battery bank 5 with a capacity of 1,700 kWh, capable of delivering 96% of the stored electricity, and weighing 13 tons.

The lithium-ion battery bank 5 is connected to an electric car charger 7. For charging electric cars, a charger 7 Raption 150C is used, which has a charging capacity of 150 kW and has 2 charging cables, each 5.5 m long. The charger 7 weighs 450 kg and is capable of operating at temperatures from -30° to +50°. The charger 7 is placed in the same container 1 with the battery bank 5, on a separate hooklift container platform or is stationary at the charging point. It is clear to a person skilled in the relevant field that other chargers 7 can also be used, depending on the capacity of the battery bank 5.

In the exemplary embodiment, an inverter 6 is used, which is arranged between the battery bank 5 and the electric car charger 7 and which converts the direct current of the battery bank 5 into 3-phase alternating current. The charger 7 converts it back into direct current. It is clear to those skilled in the art that direct current from the battery bank 5 can be used directly in another charger 7 without converting it into alternating current in between.

The battery bank 5 is integrated into the hooklift container 1, which has a total weight of 15 tons and dimensions of 3 x 6 m. A person skilled in the art will understand that hooklift containers 1 with other dimensions and total weight can also be used. In a specific exemplary embodiment, an inverter 6 and a charger 7 are additionally integrated into the hooklift container, which together with the empty platform 2 weigh two tons.

The battery bank 5 placed in a hooklift container is transported by a vehicle equipped with a hooklift system.

The battery bank 5 placed on the hooklift container 1 is charged at the renewable energy production site, either in a wind and/or solar park. The battery bank 5 can also be charged during times when the price of electricity is cheap or negative.

The fully charged battery bank 5, located on the hook lift container 1, is loaded onto the hook lift car and transported to a previously agreed location where electricity or additional electricity is needed. As in the solution described in the embodiment, the fully charged battery bank 5 is transported to an electric vehicle charging point, where it replaces the discharged battery bank 5.

A hooklift truck can also have a trailer, which can also accommodate one battery bank 5. Its unloading is also significantly faster compared to the previously mentioned methods.

At the electric car charging point, the battery bank 5 is unloaded from the car by a hooklift and, if necessary, connected to the electric car charging device. The discharged battery bank 5 is taken to the car by a hooklift and taken to the battery bank 5 charging point placed on the container 1 by a hooklift for charging.

It is to be understood that the present embodiment is illustrative only and does not limit the invention as defined in the claims.

List of reference numbers

1 hooklift container

2 hook lift container platform

3 hooks that the hook lift car hook grabs to either pull it onto the car or push it off the car

4 hook support and connection to the platform

5 power bank

6 inverters

7 charger

Claims (4)

1. A battery bank transport system comprising a container (1) on which a battery bank (5) is placed and a vehicle for transporting the container (1) containing the battery bank (5), characterized in that the vehicle for transporting the container (1) containing the battery bank (5) is a hooklift vehicle. 2. A battery bank transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that an inverter (6) is connected to the battery bank (5) for converting the direct current of the battery bank (5) into 3-phase alternating current. 3. A battery bank transport system according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (1) containing the battery bank (5) additionally contains an electric car charger (7). 4. A battery bank transport system according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (1) containing the battery bank (5) further comprises an electric barge charger (7).