FORCED CONVECTION FOR COOLING AND GAS DETECTION IN A BATTERY SYSTEM

The present invention relates to a battery system (50) that comprises at least one battery module (20) which is interconnected between a first system terminal (51) and a second system terminal (52) by a plurality of high current connectors (63), a housing (70) with a plurality of exterior walls (71) that enclose the at least one battery module (20) and the plurality of high current connectors (63) and with at least one partition wall (72) that is arranged within the housing (70), and a battery disconnect unit, BDU, (83) electrically connected between at least one of the first and second system terminal (51, 52) and the at least one battery module (20). Within the housing (70) a flow channel loop (73) is formed by the at least one partition wall (72) and the exterior walls (71), and a gas conveyor (80) that is configured for providing a gas flow circulation (74) through the flow channel loop (73) and at least one gas sensor (81) that is configured for detecting an excess concentration of at least one gas species in the gas flow circulation (74) are arranged in the flow channel loop (73). The BDU (83) comprises BDU elements (86, 87, 88, 89) that are configured for selectively disconnecting at least one of the first and second system terminal (51, 52) and the at least one battery module (20). Further, the BDU (83) is disposed within the gas flow circulation (74) such that the BDU elements (86, 87, 88, 89) are cooled by the gas flow circulation (74). Another aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle comprising the battery system (50) of the invention and another aspect of the invention relates to a method for cooling a battery disconnect unit, BDU, (83) and determining an abnormal condition of a battery system (50).