Multi-path cooling system and cooling system for environmentally friendly vehicles using the same

Abstract

The present application provides a multi-path cooling system, which includes: a first cooling path, in which a refrigerant circulates through a first pump; a second cooling path, in which a refrigerant circulates through a second pump; a liquid storage tank, in which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path enters or is discharged from the liquid storage tank; and an air separator, which is arranged on the second cooling path to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the air separator when the refrigerant circulating through the second cooling path passes through the air separator, and the liquid storage tank and the air separator are connected to each other.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a multi-path cooling system having a plurality of cooling paths for supplying a refrigerant to a cooling target and a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle to which the multi-path cooling system is applied. Background Art

[0002] Generally, an environmentally friendly vehicle (or environmentally friendly vehicle) that generates vehicle power by using an electric energy drive motor may include a high-power motor that provides driving force to the wheels, a high-voltage battery that stores electric energy supplied to the motor, various power conversion components that convert direct current (DC) power stored in the high-voltage battery into three-phase alternating current (AC) power for driving the motor, and a charger that receives power from an external device to charge the high-voltage battery.

[0003] In an environmentally friendly vehicle, when a high-voltage battery is charged with electric energy by a charger or the electric power of the high-voltage battery is converted, a large amount of heat is generated by the charger, the battery, several power conversion components, the motor, etc. At the same time, if too much heat is generated, the risk of accidents increases due to component failure, and the performance of the component itself decreases and the durability decreases due to degradation. Therefore, a cooling system that can effectively release the heat generated by the components is required.

[0004] Since the air cooling method using air in the cooling system requires the application of a pipe structure for cooling the module inside the battery module, the volume of the high-voltage battery increases, which is not conducive to the vehicle's indoor marketability (e.g., storage space and riding space) and limits the capacity of the high-voltage battery.

[0005] The water cooling method using a liquid refrigerant such as coolant in the cooling system mainly adopts a comprehensive cooling method (e.g., an integrated cooling method) that uses one or more coolant flow paths to cool a high-voltage battery and several electronic components. The problem with this comprehensive cooling method is that the path for cooling becomes complicated and it is necessary to apply expensive components such as a three-way valve in the coolant pipeline to form various paths through which the refrigerant can flow, thus resulting in increased costs.

[0006] In particular, environmentally friendly vehicles require high capacity and high voltage. Therefore, as the number of electronic components to be cooled increases, the installation positions of the electronic components are very limited. In particular, with regard to the on-board charger, it is difficult to determine a suitable position for receiving the power supplied through the charging port at a close distance while being included in the cooling path.

[0007] The description provided above as a related art of the present disclosure is only for helping understanding the background of the present disclosure and should not be construed as being included in the prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0008] The present disclosure provides a multi-path cooling system having multiple cooling paths and a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle using the multi-path cooling system, which has multiple cooling paths for refrigerant flow and the multiple cooling paths can be integrated with each other, thereby reducing the number of components used to form the cooling paths and thereby reducing the complexity of the cooling paths, and improving the installation freedom of several electronic components to be cooled.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides a multi-path cooling system, which includes: a first cooling path, in which a refrigerant can circulate through a first pump; a second cooling path, in which a refrigerant can circulate through a second pump; a liquid storage tank, in which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path enters or is discharged from the liquid storage tank; and an air separator, which is arranged on the second cooling path to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the air separator when the refrigerant circulating through the second cooling path passes through the air separator, and the liquid storage tank and the air separator can be connected to each other.

[0010] The air separator may include an exhaust port at its upper end to exhaust the separated air, and the exhaust port and a lower portion of a liquid storage tank storing the refrigerant may communicate with each other. The air separator may be disposed at a lower portion of a bottom end of the liquid storage tank.

[0011] In addition, in order to achieve the purpose of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle that applies a multi-path cooling system, and the cooling system may include: a first cooling path, in which a refrigerant can circulate in the first cooling path by a first pump; a power electronic component, which is arranged on the first cooling path and is cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the first pump; a second cooling path, in which a refrigerant can circulate in the second cooling path by a second pump; a battery, which is arranged on the second cooling path, is cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the second pump, and is configured to store energy supplied to the power electronic component; a liquid storage tank, in which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path enters or is discharged from the liquid storage tank; and an air separator, which is arranged on the second cooling path to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the air separator when the refrigerant circulating through the second cooling path passes through the air separator, and the liquid storage tank and the air separator may be connected to each other.

[0012] The air separator may include an exhaust port at its upper end to exhaust the separated air, and the exhaust port and the lower portion of the liquid storage tank storing the refrigerant may be connected to each other. The air separator may be disposed at the lower portion of the bottom end of the liquid storage tank. The cooling system may further include: a radiator disposed on the first cooling path to cool the refrigerant circulated by the first pump. The cooling system may further include: a refrigerator disposed on the second cooling path to cool the refrigerant circulated by the second pump. In addition, the cooling system may further include: an on-board charger disposed on the second cooling path, cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the second pump, and configured to convert power supplied from an external device to generate power for charging the battery.

[0013] The power electronic components, the fluid tank and the air separator can be installed in the engine compartment of the vehicle, and the battery can be installed on the lower outside of the vehicle. In addition, the power electronic components, the fluid tank and the air separator can be installed in the engine compartment of the vehicle, the battery can be installed on the lower outside of the vehicle, and the on-board charger can be installed behind the second row of seats in the vehicle.

[0014] According to the multi-path cooling system and the cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle using the multi-path cooling system, a liquid storage tank installed on one cooling path and an air separator installed on another cooling path are connected to each other, so the two cooling paths can be managed separately, thereby eliminating expensive components such as a three-way valve and a liquid storage tank on a cooling path, etc., thereby reducing the complexity of the cooling system, reducing the cost for implementing the cooling system, and ensuring space for installing the cooling system in the engine compartment of the environmentally friendly vehicle.

[0015] Furthermore, according to the multi-path cooling system and the cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle to which the multi-path cooling system is applied, the battery can be installed outside the vehicle under the center floor of the vehicle and the on-board charger can be installed behind the second row of seats, so a charger with sufficient capacity and size can be installed, thereby shortening the charging time. The battery and the on-board charger can be cooled through one cooling path, so that energy required for cooling electronic components that do not need to be cooled during charging can be saved. Furthermore, since the on-board charger can be set behind the second row of seats, it is easier to standardize the position of the charging port of the vehicle connected to the external charging device to a position corresponding to the position of the fuel filler port of a general internal combustion engine vehicle.

[0016] The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and those skilled in the art will clearly understand other effects from the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a multi-path cooling system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 2 is a diagram showing an exemplary embodiment according to the present disclosure Figure 1 A diagram showing an example of a connection relationship between a liquid storage tank and an air separator as shown; and

[0020] Figure 3 The present invention is an example of an application example of the present invention. Figure 1 An illustration of an installation example of a multi-path cooling system for a cooling system of an environmentally friendly vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] It is understood that the term "vehicle" or "vehicle-like" or other similar terms used herein generally include motor vehicles, for example, passenger vehicles including sport utility vehicles (SUVs), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including various boats and ships, aircraft, etc., and include hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel (e.g., fuels derived from resources other than petroleum) vehicles. As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle having two or more power sources, such as a gasoline and electric dual-power vehicle.

[0022] Although the exemplary embodiments are described as using multiple units to perform the exemplary processes, it is understood that the exemplary processes may also be performed by one or more modules. In addition, it is understood that the term "controller" / "control unit" refers to a hardware device including a memory and a processor. The memory is configured to store the modules, and the processor is specifically configured to run the modules to perform one or more processes described further below.

[0023] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used in this article are intended to also include plural forms, unless the context clearly states otherwise. It will be further understood that when used in this specification, the terms "including" and / or "including" specify the existence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or their groups. The term "and / or" used in this article includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant listed items.

[0024] Unless otherwise indicated or apparent from the context, the term "about" as used herein is understood to be within the normal tolerance range in the art, such as within 2 standard deviations of the mean. "About" may be understood to be within 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.05%, or 0.01% of the value. Unless otherwise clearly indicated from the context, all numerical values ​​provided herein are modified by the term "about".

[0025] Hereinafter, a multi-path cooling system and a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle to which the multi-path cooling system is applied according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0026] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a multi-path cooling system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a multi-path cooling system may include: a first cooling path 10, in which a refrigerant circulates through a first pump 11; a second cooling path 20, in which a refrigerant circulates through a second pump 21; a liquid storage tank 12, in which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path 10 may enter or be discharged from the liquid storage tank 12; and an air separator 22, in which the air contained in the refrigerant is separated when the refrigerant circulating through the second cooling path passes through the air separator 22.

[0027] The first cooling path 10 may include: a coolant pipe (see Figure 1 ), liquid refrigerant may flow through the coolant pipe; and a first pump 11 may be configured to circulate the liquid refrigerant. The first pump 11 may be configured to inject the liquid refrigerant into the first cooling path 10 under high pressure to circulate the refrigerant. The first cooling path 10 may include a liquid storage tank 12, and when the refrigerant circulating in the first cooling path 10 enters the liquid storage tank 12 or is discharged from the liquid storage tank 12, the liquid storage tank 12 appropriately adjusts the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the first cooling path 10, while removing the air contained in the refrigerant circulating in the first cooling path 10.

[0028] Typically, the liquid storage tank 12 may include: an input port for inputting circulating liquid; an output port through which the liquid can be output or discharged to the circulation path; and a cover that discharges the air collected from the stored liquid to the outside when the pressure reaches a predetermined level or above. Since the structure of the liquid storage tank 12 is known to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. In addition, the components (131, 132, and 133) to be cooled may be disposed on the first cooling path 10 to reduce the temperature by heat exchange with the liquid refrigerant flowing through the first cooling path 10. The radiator 14 is a device for reducing the temperature of the liquid refrigerant by heat exchange with the liquid refrigerant flowing through the first cooling path 10, and may be disposed on the first cooling path 10.

[0029] The second cooling path 20 may include: a coolant pipe (see Figure 1 ), liquid refrigerant flows through the coolant pipe; and a second pump 21, configured to circulate the liquid refrigerant. The second pump 21 may be configured to discharge or inject the liquid refrigerant into the second cooling path 20 under high pressure to circulate the refrigerant. In addition, the components 23 and 25 to be cooled may be disposed on the second cooling path 20 to reduce the temperature by heat exchange with the liquid refrigerant flowing through the second cooling path 20. The refrigerator 24 is a device that reduces the temperature of the liquid refrigerant by heat exchange with the liquid refrigerant flowing through the second cooling path 20, and may be disposed on the second cooling path 20.

[0030] Specifically, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, unlike the first cooling path 10, there is no liquid storage tank in the second cooling path 20 for appropriately adjusting the amount of liquid refrigerant circulating in the second cooling path 20. Instead, the second cooling path 20 may include an air separator 22 configured to separate air from the refrigerant while the refrigerant circulating through the second cooling path 20 passes through the air separator 22.

[0031] Typically, the air separator 22 can be configured to separate air from a fluid inside a closed system (in the present disclosure, equivalent to the liquid refrigerant flowing through the second cooling path 20) using flow rate reduction and centrifugal force. The liquid refrigerant introduced into the air separator 22 can be rotated inside the air separator 22 by a structure formed inside the air separator 22. Therefore, according to Henry's law that solubility is proportional to pressure, the pressure of the central part of the rotating refrigerant decreases, so that the air dissolved in the refrigerant can be separated. Due to the difference in specific gravity between air and refrigerant, the separated air can flow above the refrigerant, and the refrigerant passing through the air separator 22 can flow through the second cooling path 20 again. The air separated by the air separator 22 can be discharged through an exhaust port provided at the upper portion of the air separator 22.

[0032] Figure 2 It is shown Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a connection relationship between a liquid storage tank and an air separator. Figure 2 In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the exhaust port 221 provided at the upper portion of the air separator 22 may be configured to be always connected to the lower portion of the liquid storage tank 12 provided on the first cooling path 10, that is, the area storing the refrigerant. Therefore, the air separated by the air separator 22 may flow toward the liquid storage tank 12 and then be discharged to the outside through the air exhaust structure provided on the cover of the liquid storage tank 12. If necessary, the refrigerant of the liquid storage tank 12 provided on the first cooling path 10 may be supplemented to the second cooling path 20.

[0033] When considering that the air in the liquid moves to the top of the liquid due to the difference in specific gravity and the liquid always flows in the direction of gravity, that is, toward the ground, e.g. Figure 2 As shown, the air separator 22 may be disposed at a lower portion of a bottom end of the liquid storage tank 12 in a direction perpendicular to the ground.

[0034] Figure 3 It shows the application Figure 1 An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle to which the above-described multi-path cooling system is applied.

[0035] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle may include: a first cooling path 10, in which a refrigerant may circulate through a first pump 11; power electronic components 131, 132, and 133, which may be disposed on the first cooling path 10 and may be cooled by the refrigerant circulated through the first pump 11; a second cooling path 20, in which a refrigerant may circulate through a second pump 21; a battery 23, which is disposed on the second cooling path 20, is cooled by the refrigerant circulated through the second pump 21, and is configured to store energy supplied to the power electronic components 131, 132, and 133; a liquid storage tank 12, in which the refrigerant circulated through the first cooling path 10 may enter or be discharged from the liquid storage tank 12; and an air separator 22, which is installed on the second cooling path 20 and is configured to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the air separator 22 when the refrigerant circulated through the second cooling path 20 passes through the air separator 22.

[0036] As described above, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the reservoir tank 12 and the air separator 22 may be communicated with each other, and thus, the air separated by the air separator 22 may flow toward the reservoir tank 12, and the refrigerant stored in the reservoir tank 12 may flow to the second cooling path 20 through the air separator 22. In the cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first cooling path 10 may include an electronic component 13 such as a hybrid power control unit (HPCU) 131 having an inverter configured to convert power stored in the battery 23 to drive a motor, etc., an oil pump unit (OPU) 132, or a hybrid starter generator 133 as a cooling object, the hybrid power control unit (HPCU) 131 having an inverter configured to convert power stored in the battery 23 to drive a motor, etc., and the oil pump unit (OPU) 132 receiving power stored in the battery 23 in a converted form to operate.

[0037] Furthermore, as described above, the first cooling path 10 may include the radiator 14 configured to cool the refrigerant flowing through the first cooling path 10. Motors configured to drive the environmentally friendly vehicle, oil pumps related to the driving of the engine, etc., and power conversion devices configured to convert electric power to supply the above-mentioned components may be installed in the engine room 110 of the vehicle 100 so that the components can receive the refrigerant cooled by the radiator 14 and then be cooled.

[0038] Specifically, since the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure can omit the reservoir tank required for the second cooling path 20, it is easier to ensure the space of the engine room 110 where the components required for cooling can be installed. The second cooling path 20 may include a battery 23 as a cooling object and an on-board charger (OBC) 25 configured to supply charging power to the battery 23. Among environmentally friendly vehicles, electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles require a battery 23 of a larger capacity than ordinary hybrid vehicles, and also require an on-board charger 25 for charging the battery 23. Since a large-capacity battery is too large to be installed in the engine room of the vehicle or the trunk of the vehicle, the battery 23 can be installed at the bottom of the vehicle, that is, outside the vehicle chassis under the center floor.

[0039] In particular, the on-board charger 25 can be installed in the trunk area of ​​the vehicle, that is, behind the second row of seats 120 of the vehicle. In particular, since the charging port 30 for charging the battery of the environmentally friendly vehicle can be installed in the area corresponding to the fuel filler port of the ordinary internal combustion engine vehicle, it is suitable to standardize the position of the charging port of the environmentally friendly vehicle. In addition, since sufficient installation space can be ensured behind the second row of seats 120, even if the size of the on-board charger increases due to the increase in the capacity of the on-board charger, the on-board charger 25 can be fully accommodated. In other words, the restriction on the increase in the capacity of the on-board charger 25 can be lifted, which can shorten the charging time by adding sufficient capacity.

[0040] Since the battery 23 and the on-board charger 25 are mounted on the second cooling path 20, only the battery 23 and the on-board charger 25 that generate heat when charging the battery 23 can be selectively cooled by driving only the second pump 21. In other words, since there is no need to supply refrigerant to the electronic components 13 cooled by the first cooling path 10, refrigerant can be selectively supplied only to the target to be cooled during charging without energy loss, so that energy loss caused by driving the cooling system can be reduced.

[0041] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the specific exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as described in the claims.

Claims

1. A multi-path cooling system, comprising: a first cooling path in which a refrigerant circulates via a first pump; a second cooling path in which the refrigerant circulates via a second pump; a liquid storage tank, into which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path enters or is discharged from the liquid storage tank; as well as an air separator disposed on the second cooling path to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the second cooling path when the refrigerant circulating through the air separator passes through the air separator, The liquid storage tank disposed in the first cooling path and the air separator disposed in the second cooling path are communicated with each other, The air separator includes an exhaust port at the upper end of the air separator to exhaust the separated air, and the exhaust port and the lower part of the liquid storage tank storing the refrigerant are connected to each other, so that the exhaust port is always connected to the area storing the refrigerant.

2. The multi-path cooling system according to claim 1, wherein: The air separator is arranged at the lower part of the bottom end of the liquid storage tank.

3. A cooling system for an environmentally friendly vehicle using a multi-path cooling system, comprising: a first cooling path in which a refrigerant circulates via a first pump; a power electronic component disposed on the first cooling path and cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the first pump; a second cooling path in which the refrigerant circulates via a second pump; a battery provided on the second cooling path, cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the second pump, and storing energy supplied to the power electronic component; a liquid storage tank, into which the refrigerant circulating through the first cooling path enters or is discharged from the liquid storage tank; as well as an air separator disposed on the second cooling path to separate air from the refrigerant passing through the second cooling path when the refrigerant circulating through the air separator passes through the air separator, The liquid storage tank disposed in the first cooling path and the air separator disposed in the second cooling path are communicated with each other, The air separator includes an exhaust port at the upper end of the air separator to exhaust the separated air, and the exhaust port and the lower part of the liquid storage tank storing the refrigerant are connected to each other, so that the exhaust port is always connected to the area storing the refrigerant.

4. The cooling system according to claim 3, wherein: The air separator is arranged at the lower part of the bottom end of the liquid storage tank.

5. The cooling system according to claim 3, further comprising: A radiator is provided on the first cooling path to cool the refrigerant circulated by the first pump.

6. The cooling system according to claim 3, further comprising: A refrigerator is provided on the second cooling path to cool the refrigerant circulated by the second pump.

7. The cooling system according to claim 3, further comprising: An on-vehicle charger is provided on the second cooling path, is cooled by the refrigerant circulated by the second pump, and converts electric power supplied from an external device to generate electric power for charging the battery.

8. The cooling system according to claim 3, wherein: The power electronic components, the reservoir tank, and the air separator are mounted in an engine room of the vehicle, and the battery is mounted on an outer side of a lower portion of the vehicle.

9. The cooling system according to claim 3, wherein: The power electronic components, the fluid tank, and the air separator are installed in an engine room of the vehicle, the battery is installed on the outside of a lower portion of the vehicle, and an on-board charger is installed behind a second row of seats of the vehicle.

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