About ZUBR LI-ION battery monitoring systems

The 1AK-GROUP holding company is actively developing both lead-acid and Li-Ion battery technologies. This allows it to meet the diverse needs of the market in both traditional and new energy storage solutions. Given the growing interest in innovative energy storage technologies, 1AK-GROUP is an active participant in the formation of a low-intensity energy storage industry in the Republic of Belarus.

In 2024, the Research and Production Center for Energy Storage Systems was established on the basis of Aktiv OMZ LLC. The Research and Production Center has mastered the assembly of industrial Li-Ion batteries produced under the ZUBR LI-ION brand (chemistry type — LiFePO4). Lithium iron phosphate batteries belong to the Li-ion group of power elements, but due to significant differences in characteristics, they are allocated to a separate subgroup. Like lithium-ion models, they accumulate a large amount of energy in a compact size and light weight, do not require maintenance and do not have a pronounced memory effect.
The main characteristics of any battery are:
— Nominal voltage, V
— Nominal capacity, Ah
— Remaining charge level, SoC (State of charge)
— Permissible depth of discharge, DoD (Depth of discharge)

In lead-acid batteries designed to operate in a cyclic mode (regular discharges to a depth of more than 60% DoD), the remaining charge level of the battery can be determined by voltage, a simple voltmeter. Other parameters of the SCA battery can only be measured using external devices, since there is no electronics in the battery. A completely different picture appears when using LI-ION batteries, since In fact, each battery is equipped with an on-board computer (BMS system), which controls the processes inside the battery and monitors many parameters, such as the voltage on each cell, the total voltage, the temperature inside the case, the current value, the remaining charge level, and much more.

Lithium iron phosphate batteries have some differences from lead-acid batteries when discharging. One of these differences is a flat shelf of operating voltage over almost the entire range of the SoC charge level, while on lead-acid batteries the voltage drops noticeably as they discharge.

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Figure — Comparison of the discharge of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries

Because of this feature, the standard battery charge level indicator on equipment may show incorrect information: for a long time after starting work on a LI-ION battery, the indicator will display 90-95% of the charge level, and then there will be a sharp drop in the value. ZUBR LI-ION batteries in the basic configuration are equipped with a remote indicator that shows data directly from the BMS system. In addition to the remaining charge, the BMS collects many other battery parameters.

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Figure — BMS system

But it is not always convenient to use a remote indicator, and for such cases, all ZUBR LI-ION batteries are equipped with a Bluetooth connection system. Using the application, you can connect to the battery from any smartphone, like to headphones or a car, and get all the detailed information directly on the screen.

In addition to the charge level, you can see the current current values, battery temperature, voltage on each cell, maximum voltage difference, the number of completed charge-discharge cycles, warnings, error codes and battery status. All data and events that occur during battery operation are recorded in a log, which can be viewed on the screen or sent to e-mail in a table format.

In addition to Bluetooth, the battery can be equipped with a Wi-Fi connection system. For this system to work, the equipment with the battery must at least occasionally enter a place with good Wi-Fi coverage. The BMS system also records all events and battery statuses in logs, and when connected to the network, it uploads data to the cloud service. Data in the cloud service is available online from anywhere in the world, is systematized and analyzed automatically, allows you to collect statistics and determine the actual operating modes of each unit of equipment. Such solutions are convenient when operating a large fleet, where it is necessary to analyze the operation of a group of machines for certain periods of time. For example, you can highlight periods of downtime or find other inefficiencies in the operation of equipment, determine whether the battery capacity is excessive or insufficient, and much more.

The 1AK-LI-ION Research and Production Center offers a full Li-Ion battery service, including log decoding services, battery operation analysis, cycle calculation according to VDI and individual battery configuration to user requirements. Based on the analysis results, you can expect increased warehouse efficiency, reduced equipment downtime and cost optimization.

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