Superb BCI User manual

Manual
BATTERY COMMUNICATION
INTERFACE (BCI)
Version
March 2022

2
User Manual Battery Communication Interface (BCI)
Dear customer,
This manual contains all the necessary information to install, use and maintain the Battery
Communication Interface (BCI). We kindly ask you to read this manual carefully before using
the product. In this manual the Battery Communication Interface will be referred to as the
BCI. This manual is meant for the installer and the user of the BCI. Only qualied personnel
may install and perform maintenance on the BCI. Please consult the index at the start of this
manual to locate information relevant to you.
During the use of the product, user safety should always be ensured, so installers, users,
service personnel and third parties can safely use the BCI.
Copyright© Super B All rights reserved. Licensed software products are owned by Super B
or its subsidiaries or suppliers, and are protected by national copyright laws and international
treaty provisions. Super B products are covered by Dutch and foreign patents, issued and
pending. Information in this publication supersedes that in all previously published material.
Specications and price change privileges reserved. Super B is a registered trademark of
Super B.
For more information please contact:
Super B Lithium Power B.V.
Europalaan 202
7559 SC Hengelo (Ov) The Netherlands
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
www: www.super-b.com

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Be in charge. Super B.
Table of content
1. Safety guidelines and measures 5
1.1. General 5
2. Introduction 5
2.1. Product description 5
2.2. Intended use 6
2.3. Glossary of Terminology 6
2.4. Used symbols 7
3. Product specifications 7
3.1. Typical setup of the BCI 7
3.2. Product features 8
3.3. BCI functional behaviour 9
3.3.1. General 9
3.3.2. Functionality of the power inputs 9
3.3.3. BCI States 11
3.3.4. Driver behaviour 13
3.4. BCI control functions 15
3.4.1. Auto-on 15
3.4.2. SoC shutdown/Switch-OFF 15
3.4.3. Reset 15
4. General product specifications 16
4.1. Electrical specications 16
4.2. Mechanical specications 16
4.3. Environmental specications 17
4.4. Scope of delivery 18
4.5. Connections, indicators and controls 18
4.5.1. CAN connector pinout (Master/Slave) 19
4.5.2. J3 (I/O Connection 10) 19
4.5.3. J4 (I/O Connection 10) 20
4.5.4. Indicators 20
4.6. Peripheral equipment 21
5. Installation 22
5.1. General information 22
5.2. Unpacking 22
5.3. Required tools for installation 22
5.4. Placement of the BCI 22
5.5. Connection wires 22
5.6. Electrical installation 23
5.6.1. Electrical installation - BCI power from battery bank 23

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5.6.2. Electrical installation - BCI externally powered 25
5.6.3. Manual control 26
5.6.4. Pre-charge selection 27
5.7. CAN Bus 29
5.7.1. General information 29
5.7.2. Connecting the CAN network cables 29
5.7.3. CAN Bus network topology 30
5.7.4. Termination Resistors 30
5.7.5. CAN bus power 30
5.7.6. Integrating CAN Protocol 31
5.7.7. General purpose I/O 31
6. BCI use 31
6.1. General information 31
6.2. Conguring the BCI and the battery bank 32
6.3. Battery ID’s 32
6.3.1. Battery ID renumbering procedure 32
6.3.2. Battery layout 36
6.3.3. Input level conguration 37
6.3.4. BCI Modules 38
6.3.5. Pre-charge adjustment 39
6.3.6. General settings: Automatic control 40
6.3.7. General settings: State-of-charge switch-OFF level 41
6.3.8. Saving a conguration 42
6.4. Status and control 43
6.5. Status of the battery bank 44
7. Inspection and cleaning 47
7.1. General information 47
7.2. Inspection 47
7.3. Cleaning 47
7.4. Maintenance 47
8. Storage 48
9. Transport 48
10. Disposal 48
11. Troubleshooting 49
12. Warranty and liability 50

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Be in charge. Super B.
1. Safety guidelines and measures
1.1. General
• Treat the BCI as described in this manual.
• Do not disassemble, crush, puncture or shred the BCI.
• Never install or use a damaged BCI
• Do not expose the BCI to heat or re.
• Do not remove the BCI from its original packaging until required for use.
• The BCI shall not be used outside the electrical and mechanical specications as specied in
this manual.
• Do not mix Li-ion batteries of different capacity, size or type. Only use Super-B Li-ion traction
batteries with the BCI.
• Retain the original product documentation for future reference.
• Always take safety precautions when working on battery systems.
• Never short circuit the Li-ion battery.
!
Warning! Only trained experts shall handle or install a BCI and/or the related battery
systems. These systems can deliver very large currents and/or high voltages.
!
Caution! A caution sign indicates problems may occur if a procedure is not carried out as
described. It may also serve as a reminder to the user.
2. Introduction
2.1. Product description
The Battery communication Interface (BCI) is a device intended to control contactors or
relays that must be used to protect Super B Li-ion batteries from improper use. The BCI
collects data from one or multiple Li-ion batteries by a CANopen communication bus. This
data contains information about the status and the current use of the Li-ion batteries. If one
or more Li-ion batteries reports an issue, the BCI will turn off the contactors and protect
the Li-ion batteries. Although the BCI can be used to manage a single Li-ion battery, it is
intended to collect data from multiple Li-ion batteries in series and/or parallel for controlling
contactors. Other typical functions are:
• Control pre-charge functionality. Therefore, an additional contactor and resistor is needed tailored to
the application.
• Protocol conversions (depending on BCI software version).
• Control charger by CAN or charge enable signal (depending on BCI software version).

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2.2. Intended use
Potential applications to use the BCI in combination with Li-ion batteries from Super B are:
• Off grid applications
• Marine applications
• Medium for (renewable) energy storage (traction)
• Battery for vehicles.
Depending on the application it can be necessary that additional components are used to
assure that the installation is compliant with the applicable regulations. See chapter 5.6 for
information on electrical installations.
The BCI is sold as a single device, the customer is expected to source necessary
components for protecting the Li-ion batteries. Super B cannot be held responsible for
installations made by the customer.
Super B also offers the option of supplying the complete installation. This can be a standard
solution or a custom solution. The standard solution can be found on our website or by
contacting sales. The custom solution needs to be aligned with your sales and application
engineering contact.
If this manual does not cover or address your application, please contact Super B.
Only qualied personnel may install and perform maintenance on the complete system -
always refer to chapter 1 of this manual for safety guidelines.
The boundaries of the BCI use, as described in this manual should always be upheld. The
BCI may not be used in medical, or in aviation related applications. The BCI may not be used
for any purposes other than described in this manual. Using the BCI for any other purposes
will be considered improper use and will void the warranty of the product. Super B cannot
be held responsible for any damage caused by improper, incorrect, or unwise use of the
product. Please read and understand this entire manual carefully before using the product.
2.3. Glossary of Terminology
BMS Battery Management System
BIB Battery Interface Box
BCI Battery Communication Interface
LiFeP04 Lithium Iron Phosphate
Be in Charge Software PC application for monitoring control and conguration

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Be in charge. Super B.
DC-bus Load / charger side of main contactor(s)
SoC State of charge
CANopen CAN bus protocol
48V system A system that consists of 4 batteries in series
24V system A system that consists of 2 batteries in series
Table 1. Glossary of Terminology
2.4. Used symbols
The following icons will be used throughout the manual:
!
Warning! A warning indicates severe damage to the user and/or product may occur when a
procedure is not carried out as described.
!
Caution! A caution sign indicates problems may occur if a procedure is not carried out as
described. It may also serve as a reminder to the user.
3. Product specications
3.1. Typical setup of the BCI
Figure 1, depicts a typical setup of the BCI. The circuit shows the interconnections of the BCI
in an installation to protect the Li-ion battery (bank).
main relay high
pre charge relay
main relay low
CANbus
DC bus -
DC bus +
control
fuse
fuse
BCI
CANbus
to other systems
Figure 1. Typical BCI setup

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3.2. Product features
• Three dry outputs to control the minus, the plus, and the pre-charge contactor of the Li-ion
battery bank.
• Four galvanic isolated inputs for manual operation (not shown in Figure 1).
• Collecting the status and alarm messages of all the Li-ion batteries connected to the CAN
bus. In case of an alarm from one of the Li-ion batteries the BCI will control the contactors to
disconnect from the DC bus.
• Scanning the CAN bus to see if all the Li-ion batteries that are congured are present. In
case of a missing Li-ion battery, the BCI will go in alarm state and will control the contactors
to disconnect the Li-ion battery bank from the DC bus.
• Collecting information of all Li-ion batteries in the battery bank and presenting it as one Li-ion
battery on the CAN bus.
• Programmable power down on user adjustable Li-ion battery (bank) SoC level.
• Programmable Auto-On function.
• Up to sixteen Li-ion batteries can be connected to the BCI Master side CAN bus without
the need of external CAN power (Super B Li-ion batteries need power on their CANOpen
Interface).
• Up to 100 Li-ion batteries can be connected to the BCI with use of external CAN power.
• Drive a Pre-charge contactor to switch a capacitive load and prevent inrush currents.
• A mechanism that allows temporary reconnection of the Li-ion battery bank to the DC-bus in
an undervoltage situation.
• Logging function of diagnostics.
• Complete power down in case of an undervoltage of the Li-ion battery bank (I < 1 µA).
• The BCI has an open collector output/input for various additional applications.
• The BCI is a standalone device.
• The BCI must be congured using a CAN-USB (see Table 11) converter and the Be in Charge
software.
• Three status LEDs to indicate the status of the BCI and the Li-ion battery bank.
• Two power supply inputs
1. To power the BCI from an external supply or supply from the DC bus.
2. To power the BCI from the battery bank, this power input has a self-disconnect feature.
• Two CAN communication ports
1. The master port indicated by J1. This port is dedicated for the Li-ion batteries. The communication
protocol is CANopen.
2. The slave port indicated by J2. This port is to communicate with an external network. It can also
be used for other CAN protocols.
All the Li-ion battery (bank) values can be monitored on both ports. The Li-ion battery bank
can also be controlled by both ports. If the slave port (J2) is used for another protocol than

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Be in charge. Super B.
CANopen, monitoring and control of the Li-ion battery bank using the Be in Charge software
can only be done on the master port (J1). Though controlling on both sides is possible,
changes are not forwarded to the other port. Hence, this is not advisable.
3.3. BCI functional behaviour
3.3.1. General
The BCI monitors all connected Li-ion batteries through the CAN bus. Whenever one or more
Li-ion batteries reports an alarm, or is missing on the bus, the BCI will drive the contactors to
disconnect the Li-ion battery (bank) from the DC bus to avoid misuse of the Li-ion battery or
to prevent an unsafe situation. The alarms from the Li-ion battery can differ with each battery
type. Because the alarm is indicated to the BCI as a general alarm, any Super B Li-ion battery
with CANopen communication can be used in combination with the BCI. For alarms detected
and signaled by the Li-ion battery consult the manual of the Li-ion battery.
3.3.2. Functionality of the power inputs
The BCI can be powered by an external power supply or, by the Li-ion battery bank. However,
when powered from the Li-ion battery bank, the maximum number of Li-ion batteries in series
is limited to four.
!
Caution! The BCI can only be powered by a Li-ion battery bank if the bank consist of 4 or less
Li-ion batteries in series.
The BCI has two supply and one GND/minus input, see chapter 4.5:
1. The battery supply input, J4 pin 9
2. The DC-bus / external supply input, J4 pin 10
3. GND/minus, J4 pin 1
The DC-bus / external supply input can be used if the Li-ion battery bank consists of more
than 4 Li-ion batteries in series or when the self-shutdown functionality is not used. In that
case the Li-ion battery supply input is not to be connected.
The Li-ion battery supply input has internal disconnect functionality to minimize self-
consumption in case of a shut down. If the Li-ion battery bank is drained and there is a risk of
damaging the Li-ion batteries, the BCI disconnects the Li-ion battery bank from the DC-bus
and shuts down itself to no longer drain the Li-ion batteries. Refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3
simplied connection diagrams, depicted with focus on how to supply the BCI.
Only when the BCI is powered from the Li-ion battery bank the self-shutdown functionality is
used. For this functionality, refer to chapter 5.6.

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main relay ...
DC bus -
DC bus +
control
battery bank
battery
supply
input
(J4, pin9)
BCI
DC-bus / external
suppply input ( J4, pin10)
GND(J4, pin1)
Figure 2. BCI supplied by the Li-ion battery bank
main relay...
DC bus -
DC bus +
control
battery bank
externally
supplied
BCI
DC-bus / external
suppply input ( J4, pin10)
GND(J4, pin1)
Figure 3. BCI supplied by external power supply
!
Caution! If Li-ion battery banks with a setup depicted in gure 2 are put in parallel by
connecting the DC-bus, the self-shutdown functionality will only occur when all BCI’s power
is off. Until that happens the BCI will be fed by the DC-bus and is not able to self-shutdown.