5 minutes to understand the basics of lithium battery PACK

China Energy Storage Network News:

The process of assembling lithium battery cells into groups is called PACK. It can be a single battery or a series or parallel battery module. Under the background of the new national standard, the demand for lithium batteries is increasing, and many lead-acid battery companies have also introduced lithium-ion products. In fact, the lithium-ion battery PACK process is not difficult. Mastering this technology can assemble batteries, instead of just acting as a manufacturer. The role of "battery porters", profits and after-sales are no longer subject to people; master a technology, there is "lithium" to travel all over the world.
PACK composition
PACK includes battery pack, bus bar, soft connection, protection board, outer packaging, output (including connector), auxiliary materials such as bark paper and plastic bracket to form PACK.

Lithium battery PACK instance
PACK features

1 Battery pack PACK requires a high degree of consistency (capacity, internal resistance, voltage, discharge curve, lifetime).
2 The cycle life of the battery pack PACK is lower than the cycle life of a single battery.
3 Use under limited conditions (including charging, discharging current, charging method, temperature, etc.).
4 Lithium battery pack PACK molding battery voltage and capacity have been greatly improved, must be protected, charge balance, temperature, voltage and overcurrent monitoring.
5 Battery pack PACK must meet the voltage and capacity requirements required by the design.
PACK method
1 string and composed: The battery is made up of single cells and connected in series. The capacity is increased in parallel, the voltage is constant, the voltage is doubled after series connection, and the capacity is unchanged. For example, the 3.6V/10Ah battery is composed of a single N18650/2Ah through 5 and. First and last strings: Parallel due to the difference in internal resistance, uneven heat dissipation, etc. will affect the battery cycle life after paralleling. However, the single battery failure automatically exits, except that the capacity is reduced, and the parallel connection process is not affected. When a unit battery in a parallel is short-circuited, the parallel circuit current is very large, and the fuse protection technology is usually avoided. After the first string and then: according to the entire battery capacity first series, such as the entire group capacity 1/3, and finally parallel, reducing the probability of large-capacity battery pack failure.
2 battery core requirements: according to their own design requirements to select the corresponding battery, parallel and series of batteries require the same type, the same model, the difference in capacity, internal resistance, voltage value is not more than 2%. Under normal circumstances, after the battery is combined in parallel and in series, the capacity loss is 2%-5%, and the more the number of batteries, the more capacity loss. Whether it is a flexible package or a cylindrical battery, multiple combinations are required. If the consistency is poor and the battery capacity is affected, the battery with the lowest capacity in a group determines the capacity of the entire battery. Large current discharge performance is required. The motor starting current is three times the normal operating current, and high current discharge can improve the motor dynamic performance. The battery is required to dissipate heat well. The number of batteries is large, and the temperature rise of the battery inside the battery box is not easily dissipated, resulting in uneven temperature between the batteries, and the discharge characteristics are different, and the battery performance is degraded for a long time. The production process is high. The battery should be able to withstand the vibrational impact of bumpy roads. High requirements are imposed on the production process, especially the spot welding process. After welding, test to prevent cold welding and desoldering.
3PACK process: The PACK of the battery is realized by two methods. One is laser welding or ultrasonic welding or pulse welding. This is a common welding method. The advantage is that the reliability is good, but it is not easy to replace. The second is through the contact of the elastic metal sheet, the advantage is that no welding is required, the battery replacement is easy, and the disadvantage is that the contact may be poor.

Pack instance
Charge and discharge time
Charging time (hours) = (battery capacity Ah x charging factor) / charging current A
Discharge rate: The discharge rate of the battery is expressed by the discharge time or the hourly coefficient required to discharge the rated capacity with a certain discharge current. Among them, discharge rate = rated capacity / discharge current

Assembly of busbar soft connections
In the PACK process, such as nickel sheets, copper-aluminum composite busbars, copper busbars, total positive total negative busbars, and aluminum busbars, copper soft connections, aluminum soft connections, and copper foil soft connections are also used. The processing quality of busbars and soft connections needs to be evaluated from these aspects.
1 Whether the material of the material is compounded or not, the material of the bus bar will not increase the resistivity, especially the need to confirm the requirements of the composite ROHS.
2 key size processing is in place. The out of tolerance of critical dimensions may result in insufficient safety distance between high voltage devices during assembly and cause serious safety hazards.
3 The bonding strength of the hard-bonded hard zone and the stress absorption of the soft zone.
4 Whether the actual processing of the soft connection and the overcurrent capability of the bus bar meet the design standard, and whether the insulated thermoplastic casing part is damaged.

中国储能网讯：锂电池电芯组装成组的过程称为PACK，可以是单只电池，也可以是串并联的电池模组等。当下新国标大背景下，锂电池需求量越来越大，很多铅酸电池企业也纷纷推出锂电产品；其实锂电池PACK工艺不难，掌握这一技术自己可组装电池，而不再仅仅充当厂家“电池搬运工”的角色，利润和售后不再受制于人；掌握一门技术，有“锂”走遍天下。

PACK组成

PACK包括电池组、汇流排、软连接、保护板、外包装、输出（包括连接器），青稞纸、塑胶支架等辅助材料这几项共同组成PACK。

锂电池PACK实例

PACK的特点

①电池组PACK要求电池具有高度的一致性（容量、内阻、电压、放电曲线、寿命）。

②电池组PACK的循环寿命低于单只电池的循环寿命。

③在限定的条件下使用（包括充电、放电电流，充电方式，温度等）。

④锂电池组PACK成型后电池电压及容量有很大提高，必须加以保护，对其进行充电均衡、温度、电压及过流监测。

⑤电池组PACK必须达到设计需要的电压、容量要求。

PACK的方法

①串并组成：电池由单体电池通过并串联而成。并联增加容量，电压不变，串联后电压倍增，容量不变，如3.6V/10Ah电池由单只N18650/2Ah通过5并组成。先并后串：并联由于内阻的差异、散热不均等都会影响并联后电池循环寿命。但单个电池失效自动退出，除了容量降低，不影响并联后使用，并联工艺较严格。并联中某个单位电池短路时，造成并联电路电流非常大，通常加熔断保护技术避免。先串后并：根据整组电池容量先进行串联，如整组容量1/3，最后进行并联，降低了大容量电池组故障概率。

②电芯要求：根据自己设计要求选取对应电芯，并联及串联的电池要求种类一致、型号一致，容量、内阻、电压值差异不大于2%。一般情况下，电池通过并联串联组合后，容量损失2%—5%，电池数量越多，容量损失越多。不管是软包装电池还是圆柱电池，都需要多串组合，如果一致性差，影响电池容量，一组中容量最低 的电池决定整组电池的容量。要求大电流放电性能。电机起步电流是正常工作电流的3 倍，大电流放电才能提高电机动力性能。要求电池散热良好。电池数量较多，电池箱内部的电池温升 不容易散出来，造成各电池间温度不均匀，放电特性不一，长 久造成电池性能下降。生产工艺水平高。电池要能承受颠簸路面的振动冲击。对生产工艺尤其是点焊工艺要求高。焊接完毕后进行测试以防虚焊、脱焊。

③PACK的工艺：电池的PACK通过二种方式实现，一是通过激光焊接或超声波焊接或脉冲焊接，这是常用的焊接方法，优点是可靠性较好，但不易更换。二是通过弹性金属片接触，优点是不需焊接，电池更换容易，缺点是可能导致接触不良。

pack实例

充放电时间

充电时间（小时）=（电池容量Ah x 充电系数）/ 充电电流A

放电倍率：电池的放电倍率用放电时间表示或者说以一定的放电电流放完额定容量所需的小时系数来表示。其中，放电倍率=额定容量/放电电流

汇流排软连接的组装

PACK过程中会用到诸如镍片、铜铝复合汇流排、铜汇流排、总正总负汇流排、铝汇流排，也会用到铜软连接、铝软连接、铜箔软连接等。汇流排和软连接的加工质量需要从这几方面去评估。

①材料材质是否复合要求，汇流排材质不达标将会增加电阻率，尤其需要确认是否复合ROHS相关要求。

②关键尺寸加工是否到位。关键尺寸的超差有可能会在装配过程中导致高压器件之间的安全距离不够，并造成严重的安全隐患。

③软连接的硬区的结合力以及软区的应力吸收状况。

④实际加工的软连接及汇流排的过流能力是否达到设计标准，绝缘的热塑套管部位是否存在破损的情况。