2024/06/25
MCube Thermal Management Solutions for ESS
With the rapid development of global energy transition and the wide application of renewable energy, the electrochemical energy storage industry has gradually developed into an important part of the new energy field, and the energy storage thermal management system(short for ESS) is the most critical component to ensure the reliable operation of the ESS and to prevent the thermal runaway of Li-ion batteries during charging and discharging.
Liquid cooling technology is an efficient thermal management solution applied to ES. It takes away the heat generated during the charging and discharging process of energy storage devices through liquid circulation flow to ensure stable operation and performance optimization of the system. The technology has the characteristics and advantages of high efficiency heat dissipation, precise temperature control, stability and reliability, uniform heat dissipation, energy saving and environmental protection.
As early as 2021, Midea Building Technologies (short for MBT) began to layout the thermal management market for ESS, and after 3 years, it has launched a large number of brand-new products leading the development of the ESS industry, with the product series covering industrial and commercial energy storage applications of 3~10kW plug-in frame and horizontal series, and large energy storage applications of 3~5MWH side/top discharge series. Many products have been highly recognized by customers in the industry once they are launched.
45kW Side Discharge Series
The new generation of 45kW side discharge series, which designed especially for 3~4MWh ESS, adopts self-developed high-efficiency fan and compressor with low pressure ratio, and the standard EER is as high as 3.1, which leads the ESS industry into the era of energy efficiency 3.0. The unit adopts the ultimate low-noise design, the bionic sawtooth noise reduction design of the wind blade and the most optimal flow channel design, with a specified mute box, the noise is as low as 60dB(A) to meet the demand of lower noise of the energy storage power station.
60kW Side Discharge Series
For 5MWh large storage applications, the industry's first 60kW side discharge with 440mm ultra-thin thickness, and the unit is equipped with AI intelligent O&M platform, which can realize the failure of the early warning, unit operation parameter monitoring, energy efficiency automatic optimization and other functions, leading the ESS industry to enter the era of intelligent O&M.
With strong product development capabilities and product innovation technology, Midea's energy storage thermal management solutions have been widely recognized by customers in the industry, and have formed good cooperation with well-known customers worldwide.
Energy Storage Thermal Management Technology Outlook
Midea Building Technologies made its debut at SNEC 17th (2024) International Solar Photovoltaic and Intelligent Energy (Shanghai) Conference and Exhibition during June 13th-15th.
Regarding the future technological development trend of energy storage thermal management, as Dr. Yan Libo, an energy storage thermal management expert of MBT, shared in the industry forum at the 2024 PV exhibition, "technical routes such as direct cooling thermal management system and centralized liquid-cooling system of ESS will provide more choices and directions for the development of ESS industry, and is expected to become an important future thermal management field of storage energy development trend."
Dr. Yan Libo, Energy Storage Thermal Management Expert
Midea Building Technologies
Nowadays, the main cooling methods for thermal management of ESS are traditional air cooling and liquid cooling. Along with the evolution of the ESS, the new direct cooling temperature control technology, as a new response to the thermal management of the battery, is gradually being promoted and applied. Compared with the traditional way, direct cooling technology uses refrigerant to directly cool the battery cell through fluorine cold plate, reducing the secondary heat exchange of the water system and lowering the heat exchange loss system with higher energy efficiency; On the other hand, because the water system is banned, there is no "water disaster", which greatly improves the reliability of the system, while the unit is smaller, the noise is lower, and the cooling capacity can be provided in a limited space, which conforms to the development trend of the energy density of the ESS is increasing and the available space is decreasing.
With the widespread popularity of large-scale energy storage power plants, the advantages of centralized energy storage thermal management technology are becoming more and more prominent. The centralized thermal management technology adopts large chillers and distributes the coolant to each energy storage container system by means of hydraulic modules; the chillers are installed at the site of the power station and do not need to be installed inside the energy storage containers, which improves the utilization rate of the container space. At the same time, the chillers can be modularized according to the needs of the combination of flexible deployment and installation to meet the needs of different sizes of power plants. Direct cooling technology and centralized technology will provide more choices and directions for the development of the ESS industry, and is expected to become the main development trend in the field of thermal management of ESS in the future.
Flexible factory boosts high-end manufacturing in ESS industry
Making products is like climbing a mountain, the higher you go, the harder it is to climb. This is also applicable to the manufacturing industry, due to the limitations of energy storage products, the factory wants to further improve production efficiency and product quality is extremely difficult.
As one of a Chinese manufacturing giant, MBT Chongqing factory in accordance with the automotive grade IATF16949 quality requirements, the construction of a new energy storage thermal management products flexible production line, to create the ultimate platform for energy storage thermal management products flexible benchmark production line, to create a stable, high-quality, stabilized production system, to achieve the full process of monitoring the production process, the whole process can be traced.
The energy storage production line is constructed as a benchmark line, based on key parts collection, equipment on-line, visual inspection, process digitalization, etc., and expanding business functions with the "Five Wisdom" mode of thinking, realizing anti-dumbness of products, automatic determination of equipment parameter inspection, and intelligent management of key positions.
The production line adopts design & process error prevention + VOC/VOP(Voice of customer, voice of process) to restore the "VOC/VOP data" to the process, and realizes the whole process of error prevention and leakage prevention through "design error prevention, process optimization, automation and information technology", etc., and at the same time, strengthens the quality of incoming materials, improvement, change of finished product inspection mode and daily management to achieve the quality goal of "no occurrence, no outflow". At the same time, we strengthen the quality of incoming materials, change the inspection mode of finished products and daily management to realize the quality goal of "no occurrence, no outflow". Establishing a benchmark production line in the energy storage and thermal management industry to create a stable, high-quality and stabilized production system.
High-end, intelligent, green, flexible, which is the endogenous value that Midea Building Technologies Chongqing plant follows, and it is also the evolutionary guide for China's smart manufacturing towards intelligence, green and integration.