CN116072937B - All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system - Google Patents

All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN116072937B
CN116072937B CN202310221106.3A CN202310221106A CN116072937B CN 116072937 B CN116072937 B CN 116072937B CN 202310221106 A CN202310221106 A CN 202310221106A CN 116072937 B CN116072937 B CN 116072937B
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
electrolyte
negative electrode
leakage
fault
pipeline
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
CN202310221106.3A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Other versions
CN116072937A (en
Inventor
鲁昆昆
王宇
熊仁海
陈广新
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hangzhou Dehai Aike Energy Technology Co ltd
Original Assignee
Hangzhou Dehai Aike Energy Technology Co ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hangzhou Dehai Aike Energy Technology Co ltd filed Critical Hangzhou Dehai Aike Energy Technology Co ltd
Priority to CN202310221106.3A priority Critical patent/CN116072937B/en
Publication of CN116072937A publication Critical patent/CN116072937A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN116072937B publication Critical patent/CN116072937B/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04298Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems
    • H01M8/04313Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems characterised by the detection or assessment of variables; characterised by the detection or assessment of failure or abnormal function
    • H01M8/04664Failure or abnormal function
    • H01M8/04679Failure or abnormal function of fuel cell stacks
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/04Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
    • H01M8/04298Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems
    • H01M8/04992Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems characterised by the implementation of mathematical or computational algorithms, e.g. feedback control loops, fuzzy logic, neural networks or artificial intelligence
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02EREDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/30Hydrogen technology
    • Y02E60/50Fuel cells

Abstract

The invention discloses a fault detection method and a fault detection system for an all-vanadium redox flow battery, at least comprising the following steps: step S1: measuring to obtain the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen gas concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline, the hydrogen concentration in a box body, the temperature in the box body, the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the electric pile voltage and the electric pile temperature; step S2: calculating leakage parameters, liquid path parameters and cell parameters; step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; obtaining fault parameters; step S4: judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by utilizing the fault parameters; step S5: and positioning a fault occurrence area according to the fault state. The invention not only can greatly simplify the detection flow and realize the highly integrated automatic fault detection, but also can accurately position the position where the fault occurs.

Description

All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of all-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection, in particular to a method and a system for detecting all-vanadium redox flow battery faults.
Background
The all-vanadium redox flow battery has the advantages of good safety, high reliability, flexible design, high response speed, long cycle life, low electricity cost and the like, and has wide market application prospect. However, the energy storage system of the all-vanadium redox flow battery relates to a large number of pipelines, circuits, cells and stacks, and once faults occur, the detection flow is very complex, so that the requirement of system detection automation is strong. In order to solve the problem, the invention provides a fault detection method and system for an all-vanadium redox flow battery.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a fault detection method and system for an all-vanadium redox flow battery, which not only can greatly simplify the detection flow and realize highly integrated automatic fault detection, but also can accurately position the position of fault occurrence.
The technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows:
the fault detection method of the all-vanadium redox flow battery at least comprises the following steps:
step S1: continuously sampling for a plurality of times within a preset time, and measuring to obtain the volume of positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen gas concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline, the hydrogen concentration in a box body, the temperature in the box body, the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile voltage and the galvanic pile temperature;
step S2: calculating leakage parameters according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure; calculating liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile; calculating cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature;
step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters;
step S4: judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by utilizing the fault parameters;
step S5: and positioning a fault occurrence area according to the fault state.
Preferably, in step S2, the specific manner of calculating the leakage parameters according to the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile leakage conductivity, the positive electrode electrolyte volume, the negative electrode electrolyte volume, the positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure is as follows:
wherein, L is a leakage parameter,is the electrolyte leakage conductivity->For the electric pile leakage conductivity, < >>Is positive electrode electrolyte volume->A=10 to 500 is the leakage volume coefficient for the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, +.>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>And b=100-1000 is the hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline, and the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage.
Preferably, the specific mode for calculating the liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of the positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline and the pile voltage is as follows:
wherein Y is a liquid path parameter,is positive electrode electrolyte volume->C=100 to 500 is the liquid path voltage coefficient, which is the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, and +.>For the stack voltage of the nth cell in the stack,/for>For a preset voltage of a single cell in the stack, < >>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>And the negative pipeline hydraulic pressure, d=20-300 is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the liquid path.
Preferably, the specific mode for calculating the cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature is as follows:
wherein D is a parameter of the battery cell,hydrogen concentration of negative electrode electrolyte->For the hydrogen concentration in the box, k=1 to 10 is the hydrogen concentration coefficient of the battery cell, and +.>Stack voltage of nth cell in stack,/-for>For the preset voltage of a single cell in a cell stack, m=1-10 is the voltage coefficient of the cell, +.>Stack temperature of nth cell in stack,/-for>Is the average temperature of n cells in the stack.
Preferably, the data is normalized by using a linear normalization method, and the calculation is performed according to the normalized leakage parameter, the normalized liquid path parameter and the normalized cell parameter, so that the specific mode for obtaining the fault parameter is as follows:
wherein G is a fault parameter,for the normalized leakage parameters, +.>For normalized liquid path parameters, +.>For normalized cell parameters, +.>=1 to 50 is leakage coefficient, +.>=1 to 50 is the liquid path coefficient, +.>=1 to 50 is the cell coefficient.
Preferably, the specific method for judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by using the fault parameters comprises the following steps:
when the fault parameter is a positive value, the fault of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is indicated;
and when the fault parameter is zero or negative, the fault parameter indicates that the all-vanadium redox flow battery has no fault.
Preferably, the specific method for locating the fault occurrence area according to the fault state comprises the following steps:
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the electrolyte leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the electrolyte area has faults;
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the pile leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the pile area has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the positive pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the positive pipeline has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the negative electrode pipeline has faults;
when the cell parameter is more than or equal to 3 and the cell stack voltage of the nth cell in the cell stack is more than or equal to 1.75, the cell in the current cell stack has a fault;
otherwise, no fault exists.
The invention also provides a system for realizing the fault detection method of the all-vanadium redox flow battery, which at least comprises the following steps:
the two ends of the computer terminal are respectively and electrically connected with the electrolyte module and the galvanic pile module;
the electrolyte module is electrically connected with the computer terminal at one end, and is connected with the galvanic pile module through a pipeline at the other end;
the electric pile module, one end of the electric pile module is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the electric pile module is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline;
and the box body is used for installing the computer terminal, the electrolyte module and the galvanic pile module.
Preferably, the electrolyte module includes at least:
the electrolyte data transmitter is electrically connected with the computer terminal at one end, and is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter at the other end;
one end of the electrolyte signal converter is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the electrolyte signal converter is electrically connected with the positive electrode detection unit, the negative electrode detection unit and the electrolyte leakage detection device respectively;
the positive electrode detection unit comprises a positive electrode electrolyte barrel, a positive electrode volume sensor, a positive electrode liquid inlet pump and a positive electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor; the positive electrode volume sensor is arranged in the positive electrode electrolyte barrel and is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter; the positive electrolyte barrel is connected with the pile module through a positive liquid inlet pump and a positive pipeline hydraulic sensor which are arranged on the pipeline; the positive pipeline hydraulic sensor is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter;
the negative electrode detection unit comprises a negative electrode electrolyte barrel, a negative electrode volume sensor, a negative electrode hydrogen sensor, a negative electrode liquid inlet pump and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor; the negative electrode volume sensor and the negative electrode hydrogen sensor are arranged in the negative electrode electrolyte barrel and are electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter; the negative electrode electrolyte barrel is connected with the pile module through a negative electrode liquid inlet pump and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor which are arranged on the pipeline; the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter;
electrolyte leakage detection device, including leakage detection pond, electrically conductive medium and electrolyte conductivity sensor, electrically conductive medium install in the leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor is fixed in the cell wall in leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor's lower part metal probe with electrically conductive medium contacts, electrolyte conductivity sensor with electrolyte signal converter electricity is connected.
Preferably, the pile module at least includes:
the electric pile data transmitter is electrically connected with the computer terminal at one end and is electrically connected with the electric pile data converter at the other end;
the system comprises a pile data converter, a pile data transmitter, a box body temperature sensor, a box body hydrogen sensor, a pile temperature sensor, a pile voltage sensor and a pile leakage detection device, wherein one end of the pile data converter is electrically connected with the pile data transmitter; the box body temperature sensor and the box body hydrogen sensor are both arranged on the inner wall of the box body;
a galvanic pile, wherein the galvanic pile temperature sensor and the galvanic pile voltage sensor are installed in the galvanic pile; and the electric pile is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline and is used for realizing the operation of the all-vanadium redox flow battery.
The beneficial effects of the invention are as follows: according to the invention, the fault evaluation parameters are calculated by detecting the parameters such as the volume, the conductivity, the hydrogen concentration, the voltage, the hydraulic pressure and the like of the all-vanadium redox flow battery on line in real time, so that whether the all-vanadium redox flow battery has faults or not is accurately and rapidly evaluated, and the fault occurrence area is accurately positioned. The detection method and the detection system can not only greatly improve the fault test rate and accuracy of the all-vanadium redox flow battery, but also provide technical support for realizing automation and intellectualization of use, maintenance and monitoring of the all-vanadium redox flow battery.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a fault detection method of an all-vanadium redox flow battery;
fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an all-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection system according to the present invention.
Description of the reference numerals
The system comprises a computer terminal, a 102-box, a 1-electrolyte data transmitter, a 2-electrolyte signal converter, a 3-electrolyte leakage detection device, a 4-positive electrolyte barrel, a 5-positive volume sensor, a 6-positive feed pump, a 7-positive pipeline hydraulic sensor, an 8-negative electrolyte barrel, a 9-negative volume sensor, a 10-negative hydrogen sensor, a 11-negative feed pump, a 12-negative pipeline hydraulic sensor, a 13-galvanic pile data transmitter, a 14-galvanic pile data converter, a 15-box temperature sensor, a 16-box hydrogen sensor, a 17-galvanic pile temperature sensor, a 18-galvanic pile voltage sensor, a 19-galvanic pile leakage detection device, a 20-galvanic pile and a 21-single cell.
Detailed Description
The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
Referring to fig. 1, a fault detection method of an all-vanadium redox flow battery at least comprises the following steps:
step S1: continuously sampling for a plurality of times within a preset time, and measuring to obtain the volume of positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen gas concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline, the hydrogen concentration in a box body, the temperature in the box body, the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile voltage and the galvanic pile temperature;
step S2: calculating leakage parameters according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure; calculating liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile; calculating cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature;
the concrete mode for calculating the leakage parameters according to the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile leakage conductivity, the positive electrode electrolyte volume, the negative electrode electrolyte volume, the positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure is as follows:
wherein L is a leakage parameter,is the electrolyte leakage conductivity->For the electric pile leakage conductivity, < >>Is positive electrode electrolyte volume->A=10 to 500 is the leakage volume coefficient for the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, +.>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>And b=100-1000 is the hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline, and the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage.
The concrete mode for calculating the liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of the positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline and the pile voltage is as follows:
wherein Y is a liquid path parameter,is positive electrode electrolyte volume->C=100 to 500 is the liquid path voltage coefficient, which is the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, and +.>For the stack voltage of the nth cell in the stack,/for>For a preset voltage of a single cell in the stack, < >>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>And the negative pipeline hydraulic pressure, d=20-300 is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the liquid path.
The specific mode for calculating the cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature is as follows:
wherein D is a parameter of the battery cell,hydrogen concentration of negative electrode electrolyte->For the hydrogen concentration in the box, k=1 to 10 is the hydrogen concentration coefficient of the battery cell, and +.>Stack voltage of nth cell in stack,/-for>Is a galvanic pileThe preset voltage of a single cell in the battery is m=1-10, and the voltage coefficient of the cell is +.>Stack temperature of nth cell in stack,/-for>Is the average temperature of n cells in the stack.
Step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters;
the data is normalized by using a linear normalization method, and the specific mode for obtaining the fault parameters is as follows:
wherein G is a fault parameter,for the normalized leakage parameters, +.>For normalized liquid path parameters, +.>For normalized cell parameters, +.>=1 to 50 is leakage coefficient, +.>=1 to 50 is the liquid path coefficient, +.>=1 to 50 is the cell coefficient.
Step S4: judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by utilizing the fault parameters;
the specific method for judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by utilizing the fault parameters comprises the following steps:
when the fault parameter is a positive value, the fault of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is indicated;
and when the fault parameter is zero or negative, the fault parameter indicates that the all-vanadium redox flow battery has no fault.
Step S5: and positioning a fault occurrence area according to the fault state.
The specific method for positioning the fault occurrence area according to the fault state comprises the following steps:
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the electrolyte leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the electrolyte area has faults;
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the pile leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the pile area has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the positive pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the positive pipeline has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the negative electrode pipeline has faults;
when the cell parameter is more than or equal to 3 and the cell stack voltage of the nth cell in the cell stack is more than or equal to 1.75, the cell in the current cell stack has a fault;
otherwise, no fault exists.
Referring to fig. 2, a system for implementing the above-mentioned method for detecting a fault of an all-vanadium redox flow battery at least includes:
a computer terminal 101, wherein two ends of the computer terminal 101 are respectively and electrically connected with the electrolyte module and the galvanic pile module;
the electrolyte module, one end of the electrolyte module is electrically connected with the computer terminal 101, and the other end of the electrolyte module is connected with the galvanic pile module through a pipeline;
the electrolyte module includes at least:
an electrolyte data transmitter 1, wherein one end of the electrolyte data transmitter 1 is electrically connected with the computer terminal 101, and the other end of the electrolyte data transmitter 1 is electrically connected with an electrolyte signal converter 2;
an electrolyte signal converter 2, wherein one end of the electrolyte signal converter 2 is electrically connected with the computer terminal 101, and the other end of the electrolyte signal converter 2 is electrically connected with a positive electrode detection unit, a negative electrode detection unit and an electrolyte leakage detection device 3 respectively;
the positive electrode detection unit comprises a positive electrode electrolyte barrel 4, a positive electrode volume sensor 5, a positive electrode liquid inlet pump 6 and a positive electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor 7; the positive electrode electrolyte barrel 4 is internally provided with the positive electrode volume sensor 5, and the positive electrode volume sensor 5 is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter 2; the positive electrolyte barrel 4 is connected with the pile module through a positive liquid inlet pump 6 and a positive pipeline hydraulic sensor 7 which are arranged on the pipeline; the positive electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor 7 is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter 2;
the negative electrode detection unit comprises a negative electrode electrolyte barrel 8, a negative electrode volume sensor 9, a negative electrode hydrogen sensor 10, a negative electrode liquid inlet pump 11 and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure sensor 12; the cathode volume sensor 9 and the cathode hydrogen sensor 10 are arranged in the cathode electrolyte barrel 8, and the cathode volume sensor 9 and the cathode hydrogen sensor 10 are electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter 2; the negative electrode electrolyte barrel 8 is connected with the pile module through a negative electrode liquid inlet pump 11 and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor 12 which are arranged on a pipeline; the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor 12 is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter 2;
electrolyte leakage detection device 3, including leakage detection pond, electrically conductive medium and electrolyte conductivity sensor, electrically conductive medium install in the leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor is fixed in the cell wall in leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor's lower part metal probe with electrically conductive medium contacts, electrolyte conductivity sensor with electrolyte signal converter electricity is connected.
A pile module, one end of which is electrically connected with the computer terminal 101, and the other end of which is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline;
the galvanic pile module at least comprises:
a pile data transmitter 13, wherein one end of the pile data transmitter 13 is electrically connected with the computer terminal 101, and the other end of the pile data transmitter 13 is electrically connected with a pile data converter 14;
a pile data converter, wherein one end of the pile data converter 14 is electrically connected with the pile data transmitter 13, and the other end of the pile data converter 14 is electrically connected with the box body temperature sensor 15, the box body hydrogen sensor 16, the pile temperature sensor 17, the pile voltage sensor 18 and the pile leakage detection device 19 respectively; the tank body temperature sensor 15 and the tank body hydrogen sensor 16 are both installed on the inner wall of the tank body 102;
a pile, in which the pile temperature sensor 17 and the pile voltage sensor 18 are installed in the pile 20; the electric pile 20 is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline and is used for realizing the operation of the all-vanadium redox flow battery, and the electric pile 20 consists of a plurality of single electric cells 21.
And a case 102 for mounting the computer terminal 101, the electrolyte module, and the galvanic pile module.
Example 1: the anode electrolyte barrel 4 and the cathode electrolyte barrel 8 are respectively provided with 1.7M vanadium electrolyte 200L, the adopted cell stack 20 is of a 5-cell structure, and the reaction area of a single cell 21 is 200cm 2 The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the The electrolyte flows through the pile 20 through the positive electrode liquid inlet pump 6 and the negative electrode liquid inlet pump 11 to realize the operation of the all-vanadium redox flow battery. The positive electrode volume sensor 5 is arranged at a position 20cm above the liquid level in the positive electrode electrolyte barrel 4, and the volume V of the positive electrode electrolyte is measured in real time 1 The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the The negative electrode hydrogen sensor 10 and the negative electrode volume sensor 9 are arranged at the position 20cm above the liquid level in the negative electrode electrolyte barrel 8, and the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte is measured in real timeAnd volume V 2 . The electrolyte leakage detection device 3 is arranged at the position 10cm below the electrolyte module, the galvanic pile leakage detection device 19 is arranged at the position 10cm below the galvanic pile module, and the conductance of the electrolyte leakage is measured in real timeRate->And galvanic pile leakage conductivity->. A cell voltage sensor 18 and a cell temperature sensor 17 are installed at the upper edge 2cm of each single cell 21 and are in contact with the bipolar plate, and cell voltage U and temperature T are measured in real time. The hydrogen sensor 16 is installed at 10cm of the top of the tank 102 to measure the hydrogen concentration +.>. After the measurement is finished, all sensor signals in the system are collected and converted in the electrolyte signal converter 2 and the galvanic pile data converter 14 and are sent to the computer terminal 101 through the electrolyte data transmitter 1 and the galvanic pile data transmitter 13; the computer terminal 101 performs an operational analysis on the set of data to obtain a fault parameter.
Step S1: sampling for several times in preset time, and measuring to obtain volume V of positive electrolyte 1 Volume of negative electrode electrolyte V 2 Hydrogen concentration C of negative electrode electrolyte 1 Positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure P 1 Negative pipeline hydraulic pressure P 2 Hydrogen concentration C in the tank 2 Temperature T in the box 0 Electrolyte leakage conductivity sigma 1 Conductivity sigma of pile leakage 2 Stack voltage U (1.65,1.64,1.67,1.81,1.66), and stack temperature T n
Step S2: calculating leakage parameters according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure; calculating liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile; calculating cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature;
calculating a leakage parameter L according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure:
calculating a liquid path parameter Y according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile:
calculating a cell parameter D according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature:
step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters;
carrying out normalization processing on the data by using a linear normalization method, and calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters G:
step S4: and judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by using the fault parameters, wherein G=6.3 > 0, so that the all-vanadium redox flow battery has faults.
Step S5: and positioning a fault occurrence area according to the fault state.
Since l=923 is greater than or equal to 800, and σ 1 =62+.50, so electrolyte area has weeping trouble. At the same time D=5.6 is larger than or equal to 3, and U 4 Because of the fact that =1.81+.1.75, there is a failure of the single cell 21 in the stack, specifically the 4 th single cell 21 failure.
Example 2: the anode electrolyte barrel 4 and the cathode electrolyte barrel 8 are respectively provided with 1.6M vanadium electrolyte 300L, the adopted cell stack 20 is of a 5-cell structure, and the reaction area of a single cell 21 is 240cm 2 The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the The electrolyte flows through the pile 20 through the positive electrode liquid inlet pump 6 and the negative electrode liquid inlet pump 11 to realize the operation of the all-vanadium redox flow battery. The positive electrode volume sensor 5 is arranged at a position 20cm above the liquid level in the positive electrode electrolyte barrel 4, and the volume V of the positive electrode electrolyte is measured in real time 1 The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the The negative electrode hydrogen sensor 10 and the negative electrode volume sensor 9 are arranged at the position 20cm above the liquid level in the negative electrode electrolyte barrel 8, and the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte is measured in real timeAnd volume V 2 . The electrolyte leakage detection device 3 is arranged at the position 10cm below the electrolyte module, the galvanic pile leakage detection device 19 is arranged at the position 10cm below the galvanic pile module, and the electrolyte leakage conductivity is measured in real time>And galvanic pile leakage conductivity->. A cell voltage sensor 18 and a cell temperature sensor 17 are installed at the upper edge 2cm of each single cell 21 and are in contact with the bipolar plate, and cell voltage U and temperature T are measured in real time. The hydrogen sensor 16 is installed at 10cm of the top of the tank 102 to measure the hydrogen concentration +.>. After the measurement is finished, all sensor signals in the system are collected and converted in the electrolyte signal converter 2 and the galvanic pile data converter 14 and are sent to the computer terminal 101 through the electrolyte data transmitter 1 and the galvanic pile data transmitter 13; the computer terminal 101 performs an operational analysis on the set of data to obtain a fault parameter.
Step S1: sampling for several times in preset time, and measuring to obtain volume V of positive electrolyte 1 Volume of negative electrode electrolyte V 2 Hydrogen concentration C of negative electrode electrolyte 1 Hydraulic pressure of positive electrode pipelineP 1 Negative pipeline hydraulic pressure P 2 Hydrogen concentration C in the tank 2 Temperature T in the box 0 Electrolyte leakage conductivity sigma 1 Conductivity sigma of pile leakage 2 Stack voltage U, and stack temperature T n
Step S2: calculating leakage parameters according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure; calculating liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile; calculating cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature;
calculating a leakage parameter L according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure:
calculating a liquid path parameter Y according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile:
calculating a cell parameter D according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature:
step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters;
carrying out normalization processing on the data by using a linear normalization method, and calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters G:
step S4: and judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by using the fault parameters, wherein G= -0.8 < 0, so that the all-vanadium redox flow battery has no fault.
The above description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, but various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. The fault detection method of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is characterized by at least comprising the following steps of:
step S1: continuously sampling for a plurality of times within a preset time, and measuring to obtain the volume of positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen gas concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline, the hydrogen concentration in a box body, the temperature in the box body, the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile voltage and the galvanic pile temperature;
step S2: calculating leakage parameters according to electrolyte leakage conductivity, galvanic pile leakage conductivity, positive electrode electrolyte volume, negative electrode electrolyte volume, positive electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure and negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure; calculating liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of a positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of a negative electrode pipeline and the voltage of a galvanic pile; calculating cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the box body, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature;
step S3: respectively carrying out normalization processing on the liquid leakage parameter, the liquid path parameter and the battery cell parameter; calculating according to the normalized leakage parameters, the normalized liquid path parameters and the normalized cell parameters to obtain fault parameters;
step S4: judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by utilizing the fault parameters;
step S5: positioning a fault occurrence area according to the fault state;
wherein: in step S2, the specific way of calculating the leakage parameters according to the electrolyte leakage conductivity, the galvanic pile leakage conductivity, the positive electrolyte volume, the negative electrolyte volume, the positive pipeline hydraulic pressure and the negative pipeline hydraulic pressure is as follows:
wherein L is a leakage parameter,is the electrolyte leakage conductivity->For the electric pile leakage conductivity, < >>Is positive electrode electrolyte volume->A=10 to 500 is the leakage volume coefficient for the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, +.>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>The hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline is b=100-1000, and the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the leakage;
wherein: in step S2, the specific way of calculating the liquid path parameters according to the volume of the positive electrode electrolyte, the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydraulic pressure of the positive electrode pipeline, the hydraulic pressure of the negative electrode pipeline and the pile voltage is as follows:
wherein Y is a liquid path parameter,is positive electrode electrolyte volume->C=100 to 500 is the liquid path voltage coefficient, which is the volume of the negative electrode electrolyte, and +.>For the stack voltage of the nth cell in the stack,/for>For a preset voltage of a single cell in the stack, < >>Is hydraulic for the positive pipeline>The negative pipeline hydraulic pressure, d=20-300 is the hydraulic pressure coefficient of the liquid path;
wherein: in step S2, the specific manner of calculating the cell parameters according to the hydrogen concentration of the negative electrode electrolyte, the hydrogen concentration in the tank, the cell stack voltage and the cell stack temperature is as follows:
wherein D is a parameter of the battery cell,hydrogen concentration of negative electrode electrolyte->For the hydrogen concentration in the box, k=1 to 10 is the hydrogen concentration coefficient of the battery cell, and +.>Stack voltage of nth cell in stack,/-for>For the preset voltage of a single cell in a cell stack, m=1-10 is the voltage coefficient of the cell, +.>Stack temperature of nth cell in stack,/-for>The average temperature of n electric cores in the electric pile;
wherein: in step S3, the data is normalized by using a linear normalization method, and the specific manner of obtaining the fault parameters is as follows:
wherein G is a fault parameter,for the normalized leakage parameters, +.>For normalized liquid path parameters, +.>For normalized cell parameters, +.>Is the leakage coefficient>Is the fluid path coefficient, +.>Is the cell coefficient.
2. The method for detecting the fault of the all-vanadium redox flow battery according to claim 1, wherein in step S4, the specific method for judging the fault state of the all-vanadium redox flow battery by using the fault parameter is as follows:
when the fault parameter is a positive value, the fault of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is indicated;
and when the fault parameter is zero or negative, the fault parameter indicates that the all-vanadium redox flow battery has no fault.
3. The fault detection method of an all-vanadium redox flow battery according to claim 1, wherein in step S5, the specific method for locating the fault occurrence area according to the fault state is as follows:
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the electrolyte leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the electrolyte area has faults;
when the leakage parameter is more than or equal to 800 and the pile leakage conductivity is more than or equal to 50, the pile area has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the positive pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the positive pipeline has faults;
when the liquid path parameter is more than or equal to 30 and the negative electrode pipeline hydraulic pressure is more than or equal to 0.6, indicating that the negative electrode pipeline has faults;
when the cell parameter is more than or equal to 3 and the cell stack voltage of the nth cell in the cell stack is more than or equal to 1.75, the cell in the current cell stack has a fault;
otherwise, no fault exists.
4. A system for implementing the method for detecting a fault in an all-vanadium redox flow battery as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising at least:
the two ends of the computer terminal are respectively and electrically connected with the electrolyte module and the galvanic pile module;
the electrolyte module is electrically connected with the computer terminal at one end, and is connected with the galvanic pile module through a pipeline at the other end;
the electric pile module, one end of the electric pile module is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the electric pile module is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline;
and the box body is used for installing the computer terminal, the electrolyte module and the galvanic pile module.
5. The all-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection system of claim 4, wherein the electrolyte module comprises at least:
the electrolyte data transmitter (1), one end of the electrolyte data transmitter (1) is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the electrolyte data transmitter (1) is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter (2);
the electrolyte signal converter (2), one end of the electrolyte signal converter (2) is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the electrolyte signal converter (2) is electrically connected with the positive electrode detection unit, the negative electrode detection unit and the electrolyte leakage detection device (3) respectively;
the positive electrode detection unit comprises a positive electrode electrolyte barrel (4), a positive electrode volume sensor (5), a positive electrode liquid inlet pump (6) and a positive electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor (7); the positive electrode volume sensor (5) is arranged in the positive electrode electrolyte barrel (4), and the positive electrode volume sensor (5) is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter (2); the positive electrolyte barrel (4) is connected with the pile module through a positive liquid inlet pump (6) and a positive pipeline hydraulic sensor (7) which are arranged on the pipeline; the positive pipeline hydraulic sensor (7) is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter (2);
the negative electrode detection unit comprises a negative electrode electrolyte barrel (8), a negative electrode volume sensor (9), a negative electrode hydrogen sensor (10), a negative electrode liquid inlet pump (11) and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor (12); the negative electrode volume sensor (9) and the negative electrode hydrogen sensor (10) are arranged in the negative electrode electrolyte barrel (8), and the negative electrode volume sensor (9) and the negative electrode hydrogen sensor (10) are electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter (2); the negative electrode electrolyte barrel (8) is connected with the pile module through a negative electrode liquid inlet pump (11) and a negative electrode pipeline hydraulic sensor (12) which are arranged on the pipeline; the negative pipeline hydraulic sensor (12) is electrically connected with the electrolyte signal converter (2);
electrolyte leakage detection device (3), including leakage detection pond, electrically conductive medium and electrolyte conductivity sensor, electrically conductive medium install in the leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor is fixed in the cell wall in leakage detection pond, electrolyte conductivity sensor's lower part metal probe with electrically conductive medium contacts, electrolyte conductivity sensor with electrolyte signal converter electricity is connected.
6. The all-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection system of claim 4, wherein the galvanic pile module comprises at least:
a pile data transmitter (13), wherein one end of the pile data transmitter (13) is electrically connected with the computer terminal, and the other end of the pile data transmitter (13) is electrically connected with a pile data converter (14);
one end of the electric pile data converter (14) is electrically connected with the electric pile data transmitter (13), and the other end of the electric pile data converter (14) is electrically connected with the box body temperature sensor (15), the box body hydrogen sensor (16), the electric pile temperature sensor (17), the electric pile voltage sensor (18) and the electric pile leakage detection device (19) respectively; the tank body temperature sensor (15) and the tank body hydrogen sensor (16) are both arranged on the inner wall of the tank body;
a pile, wherein the pile temperature sensor (17) and the pile voltage sensor (18) are installed in the pile (20); the electric pile (20) is connected with the electrolyte module through a pipeline and is used for realizing the operation of the all-vanadium redox flow battery.
CN202310221106.3A 2023-03-09 2023-03-09 All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system Active CN116072937B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202310221106.3A CN116072937B (en) 2023-03-09 2023-03-09 All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202310221106.3A CN116072937B (en) 2023-03-09 2023-03-09 All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN116072937A CN116072937A (en) 2023-05-05
CN116072937B true CN116072937B (en) 2023-07-18

Family

ID=86169963

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN202310221106.3A Active CN116072937B (en) 2023-03-09 2023-03-09 All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN116072937B (en)

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN106910919A (en) * 2017-05-05 2017-06-30 湖南省德沃普储能有限公司 All-vanadium flow battery energy-storage system pile electrolyte leakproof automatic checkout system and method
CN106935888A (en) * 2017-05-05 2017-07-07 湖南省德沃普储能有限公司 All-vanadium flow battery energy-storage system pile electrolyte leakproof detecting system and method

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20050079620A1 (en) * 2003-10-10 2005-04-14 Eberhard Douglas P. Leak testing of hermetic enclosures for implantable energy storage devices
RU2747794C2 (en) * 2016-12-19 2021-05-14 Ларго Клин Энерджи Корп. Systems and methods for storing electrolyte and detecting failures in flow batteries
JP6950870B2 (en) * 2017-11-22 2021-10-13 住友電気工業株式会社 Redox flow battery
KR20200042568A (en) * 2018-10-15 2020-04-24 현대자동차주식회사 Fuel cell hydrogen supply fault diagnosis system and diagnosis method
CN111983482B (en) * 2019-05-24 2021-05-28 江苏泛宇能源有限公司 Detection method of environment-friendly all-vanadium redox flow battery
US11251452B2 (en) * 2020-01-08 2022-02-15 Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. Method of restoring electrolyte of vanadium redox flow battery through electrolysis
CN113809360B (en) * 2021-09-08 2023-04-07 中车株洲电力机车有限公司 Hydrogen leakage detection method and system for hydrogen fuel cell system and rail transit vehicle
CN115051011B (en) * 2022-08-17 2022-11-15 杭州德海艾科能源科技有限公司 Liquid flow battery galvanic pile liquid path partition system
CN115655383B (en) * 2022-12-27 2023-04-07 杭州德海艾科能源科技有限公司 Method and system for detecting valence state imbalance state of electrolyte of all-vanadium redox flow battery

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN106910919A (en) * 2017-05-05 2017-06-30 湖南省德沃普储能有限公司 All-vanadium flow battery energy-storage system pile electrolyte leakproof automatic checkout system and method
CN106935888A (en) * 2017-05-05 2017-07-07 湖南省德沃普储能有限公司 All-vanadium flow battery energy-storage system pile electrolyte leakproof detecting system and method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN116072937A (en) 2023-05-05

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
CN108736049B (en) On-line measuring system for internal temperature and humidity of fuel cell
US6582840B2 (en) Fuel cell stack coolant conductivity sensor using differential voltage measurements
CN113036189B (en) Method and device for detecting running state of proton exchange membrane fuel cell
CN107014884A (en) A kind of in-situ test fixture and system for solid polymer electrolyte system
CN114094146A (en) Method for testing hydrogen permeation current of fuel cell proton exchange membrane
CN111525158A (en) Method and device for detecting physical state of air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell
CN114492087B (en) Fault diagnosis method and device for proton exchange membrane fuel cell of hydrogen energy storage power station
CN104914144A (en) Hydrogen concentration on-line monitoring device used for nuclear power plants
CN108172870A (en) It is a kind of for the deficency detection device of fuel cell and deficency detection method
CN113611900A (en) Membrane dry fault diagnosis method of proton exchange membrane fuel cell
CN115047044A (en) Electrolyte gas detection device and method of micro-fluidic gas sensor technology
CN116072937B (en) All-vanadium redox flow battery fault detection method and system
US3425873A (en) Process of automatically controlling fuel concentration in fuel cell
CN109461953B (en) Method and device for testing electrolyte distribution condition in vanadium cell stack
CN115425267A (en) Fault diagnosis method for proton exchange membrane of fuel cell
CN101261244B (en) Method for measuring hydrogen gas content of air by hydrogen sensor
CN111504414B (en) Battery cell gas production rate detection method and battery cell gas production rate detection device
CN211877842U (en) Deionization tank performance monitoring device
CN207765546U (en) A kind of deficency detection device for fuel cell
CN111063923A (en) Method for judging single-chip battery fault through differential curvature method
CN212587541U (en) Air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell physical state detection device
CN204594925U (en) A kind of used in nuclear power station density of hydrogen on-Line Monitor Device
CN114628740B (en) Method and device for detecting fluid distribution consistency of fuel cell stack
CN214043733U (en) Alcohol fuel cell stack
CN115436441A (en) Flexible film type hydrogen sensitive sensor and hydrogen leakage monitoring and protecting system

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PB01 Publication
PB01 Publication
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant