Vehicle and thermal management system thereof

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention belongs to the technical field of thermal management of vehicles, and particularly provides a vehicle and a thermal management system thereof, the thermal management system comprises a refrigerant loop which is provided with a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger and an evaporator; the cooling liquid loop unit comprises a first cooling liquid loop and a second cooling liquid loop, and a heat management intermediate heat exchanger is arranged on the first cooling liquid loop; a vehicle-mounted refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger is arranged on the second cooling liquid loop; the expansion valve group comprises a first expansion valve which is arranged between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger; the second expansion valve is arranged between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator; the third expansion valve is arranged between the outdoor heat exchanger and the heat management intermediate heat exchanger, and the fourth expansion valve is arranged between the outdoor heat exchanger and the vehicle-mounted refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger. With such a configuration, it is possible to ensure the refrigeration capacity of a vehicle-mounted refrigerator integrated into a thermal management system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of vehicle thermal management technology, specifically to a vehicle and its thermal management system. Background Technology

[0002] Heat pump systems mainly include direct heat pump systems, which exchange heat directly with the air, and indirect heat pump systems, which exchange heat indirectly with the air by introducing a coolant circulation loop. Currently, with the development of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles, the control of vehicle thermal management is becoming increasingly complex. To meet the system's needs under different conditions (such as different driving conditions, cooling / heating requirements of the cabin space, and the state of the power battery under different environments), direct heat pump systems may require a large number of valves to meet mode switching requirements. While indirect heat pump systems have relatively fewer valves, the introduction of coolant as an intermediate heat exchange medium between the refrigerant and the air inevitably leads to a loss of heat exchange efficiency.

[0003] More and more car models are now equipped with in-car refrigerators; however, most of these refrigerators are currently independent electrical components. Current in-car refrigerators mainly come in two forms: those using semiconductors and those using compressors for cooling. Refrigerators using semiconductors are less expensive but have relatively weaker cooling capacity. Refrigerators using compressors offer better cooling performance, but require a compressor and an independent refrigeration system, which increases costs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application aims to solve at least part of the above-mentioned technical problems and / or solve at least part of the above-mentioned technical problems. Specifically, while using a direct heat pump system to ensure the heat exchange efficiency of the heat pump system, the structural complexity of the heat pump system is reduced as much as possible, such as by reducing the number of valves.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a vehicle thermal management system, the thermal management system comprising: (1) a refrigerant circuit having a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an evaporator disposed thereon; (2) a coolant circuit unit having: a first coolant circuit having a thermal management intermediate heat exchanger disposed thereon; and / or a second coolant circuit having a vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger disposed thereon; (3) an expansion valve assembly having: a first expansion valve disposed between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger; a second expansion valve disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator; and a third expansion valve and / or a fourth expansion valve, the third expansion valve being disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the thermal management intermediate heat exchanger, and the fourth expansion valve being disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger; wherein the diameter of the first expansion valve and / or the third expansion valve is larger than that of the second expansion valve.

[0006] This configuration allows for the integration of the vehicle refrigerator into the vehicle's thermal management system, enabling the refrigerator to function as a refrigerator while sharing a compressor.

[0007] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the on-board refrigerator includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element, the hot end of which is capable of exchanging heat with the second coolant circuit.

[0008] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, a vehicle refrigerator water chamber is provided on the second coolant circuit. The vehicle refrigerator water chamber is connected to the coolant passage of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator, and the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is capable of exchanging heat with the vehicle refrigerator water chamber.

[0009] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the at least one semiconductor cooling element is at least partially immersed in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0010] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted on the coolant line of the second coolant circuit in a wall-mounted manner.

[0011] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted in a wall-mounted manner on the coolant pipe on the coolant outlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator in the second coolant circuit.

[0012] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the vehicle includes a controller configured to: cause the first expansion valve to act as a throttling element and to open the second expansion valve in order to: dehumidify the vehicle's interior space.

[0013] If dehumidification is required in the vehicle's cabin, the refrigerant, after being condensed by the indoor condenser, undergoes secondary condensation through the outdoor heat exchanger, and then dehumidifies by cooling the air in the cabin through the evaporator.

[0014] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, which includes a temperature damper and the interior condenser. The controller is further configured to: adjust the temperature damper in order to: regulate the temperature of the cabin space.

[0015] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, which includes a temperature damper and the interior condenser. The vehicle includes a controller, which is configured to: adjust the temperature damper to connect the interior condenser to the vehicle's cabin space; and configure the third expansion valve as a throttling component and as a passage component to heat the cabin space.

[0016] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the controller is further configured to: regulate the intake air volume of ambient air exchanging heat with the outdoor heat exchanger; and / or regulate the water flow rate in the first coolant circuit.

[0017] With this configuration, the thermal management system can recover waste heat from heat-generating components such as power batteries and electric drives when operating in heating mode.

[0018] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, a heating element is provided on the first coolant circuit.

[0019] This configuration allows for an improvement in the heating capacity of the thermal management system in low-temperature environments.

[0020] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, at least one heat exchange component capable of generating heat and / or requiring heat replenishment is provided on the first coolant circuit, wherein, in the case where the heat exchange component comprises multiple components: the thermal management intermediate heat exchanger comprises at least one; and the branches in the first coolant circuit corresponding to the multiple heat exchange components can be independent of each other or at least integrated to a certain extent.

[0021] For example, each heat exchange component can be configured with a separate intermediate heat exchanger, or all or part of multiple heat exchange components (two or more) can share a single intermediate heat exchanger. Independent branches can be understood as being connected in parallel, and necessary components such as water pumps can be configured on the corresponding branches. Integration can be achieved to at least a certain extent, such as a part of the piping in a shared branch, or water pumps belonging to two branches.

[0022] In a second aspect, this application provides a vehicle that includes the thermal management system of any of the preceding claims.

[0023] It is understandable that this vehicle possesses all the technical effects of the aforementioned vehicle's thermal management system, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0024] Proposal 1. A thermal management system for a vehicle, characterized in that the thermal management system comprises:

[0025] (1) A refrigerant circuit, on which a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger and an evaporator are installed;

[0026] (2) A coolant circuit unit, which includes:

[0027] The first coolant circuit is equipped with a thermal management intermediate heat exchanger; and / or

[0028] The second coolant circuit is equipped with an intermediate heat exchanger for the vehicle refrigerator.

[0029] (3) An expansion valve assembly, which includes:

[0030] A first expansion valve is disposed between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger;

[0031] A second expansion valve is disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator; and

[0032] A third expansion valve and / or a fourth expansion valve, wherein the third expansion valve is disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the intermediate heat exchanger of the thermal management unit, and the fourth expansion valve is disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0033] Wherein, the diameter of the first expansion valve and / or the third expansion valve is larger than that of the second expansion valve.

[0034] Proposal 2. The thermal management system according to Proposal 1, characterized in that the vehicle refrigerator includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element, the hot end of which is capable of exchanging heat with the second coolant circuit.

[0035] Proposal 3. The thermal management system according to Proposal 2, characterized in that a vehicle refrigerator water chamber is provided on the second coolant circuit, the vehicle refrigerator water chamber can be connected to the coolant channel of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator, and the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element can exchange heat with the vehicle refrigerator water chamber.

[0036] Proposal 4. The thermal management system according to Proposal 3, characterized in that the at least one semiconductor cooling element is at least partially immersed in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0037] Proposal 5. The thermal management system according to any one of Proposals 2 to 4, characterized in that the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is disposed on the coolant pipeline of the second coolant circuit in a wall-mounted manner.

[0038] Proposal 6. The thermal management system according to Proposal 5, characterized in that the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is installed in the second coolant circuit on the coolant outlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator in a wall-mounted manner.

[0039] Proposal 7. The thermal management system according to Proposal 1, characterized in that the vehicle includes a controller, the controller being used for:

[0040] The first expansion valve is used as a throttling component, and the second expansion valve is opened so that:

[0041] The vehicle's interior space is dehumidified.

[0042] Proposal 8. The thermal management system according to Proposal 7, characterized in that the thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, the air conditioning unit includes a temperature damper and the indoor condenser, and the controller is further configured to:

[0043] Adjust the temperature damper so that:

[0044] Adjust the temperature of the cabin space.

[0045] Proposal 9. The thermal management system according to Proposal 1, characterized in that the thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, the air conditioning unit includes a temperature damper and the indoor condenser.

[0046] The vehicle includes a controller, the controller being used for:

[0047] Adjust the temperature damper to connect the interior condenser with the vehicle's cabin space; and

[0048] The third expansion valve is configured as a throttling component and as a passage component, so that:

[0049] The cabin space is heated.

[0050] Proposal 10. The thermal management system according to Proposal 9, characterized in that the controller is further configured to:

[0051] Adjust the intake air volume of the ambient air that exchanges heat with the outdoor heat exchanger; and / or

[0052] Adjust the water flow rate in the first coolant circuit.

[0053] Proposal 11. The thermal management system according to Proposal 1, characterized in that a heating component is provided on the first coolant circuit.

[0054] Proposal 12. The thermal management system according to Proposal 11, characterized in that at least one heat exchange component capable of generating heat and / or requiring heat replenishment is provided on the first coolant circuit.

[0055] Among them, the heat exchange component includes several cases:

[0056] The thermal management intermediate heat exchanger includes at least one; and

[0057] The branches in the first coolant circuit corresponding to the multiple heat exchange components can be independent of each other or at least integrated to some extent.

[0058] Proposal 13. A vehicle, characterized in that the vehicle includes a thermal management system for the vehicle as described in any one of Proposals 1 to 12. Attached Figure Description

[0059] This application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with vehicle models such as two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. In the accompanying drawings:

[0060] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the principle of a conventional vehicle thermal management system (non-heat pump system, indirect heat pump system) is shown.

[0061] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle thermal management system (heat pump system, direct heat pump system) according to an embodiment of this application without an integrated vehicle refrigerator.

[0062] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle thermal management system integrated with an onboard refrigerator, according to one embodiment of this application.

[0063] Figure 4 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the principle of a vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present application in the modes of cooling the cabin space and cooling the power battery.

[0064] Figure 5This paper illustrates a schematic diagram of the thermal management system of a vehicle in dehumidification mode according to an embodiment of this application.

[0065] Figure 6 This paper illustrates a schematic diagram of the thermal management system of a vehicle in heating mode according to an embodiment of this application.

[0066] Figure 7 This diagram illustrates the principle of a thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present application when applied to a single front-wheel drive / single rear-wheel drive vehicle.

[0067] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of a thermal management system according to an embodiment of this application applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle (excluding / not integrating an onboard refrigerator); and

[0068] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the principle of a thermal management system according to an embodiment of this application when applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle (with / integrated vehicle refrigerator not omitted). Detailed Implementation

[0069] Preferred embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are merely for explaining the technical principles of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, although this embodiment is described in conjunction with a specific valve and its corresponding installation position, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can adjust the type of valve and its specific installation position, such as replacing the five-way valve with a combination of multiple two-way / three-way valves. Furthermore, the radial dimension of the large-diameter expansion valve in the 100% fully open state can be flexibly selected according to actual needs.

[0070] It should be noted that in the description of this application, terms such as "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," indicating directions or positional relationships, are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. These are used merely for ease of description and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation; therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0071] Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "setup," and "connection" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a direct connection, an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or a connection within two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.

[0072] Furthermore, to better illustrate this application, numerous specific details are provided in the following detailed embodiments. Those skilled in the art should understand that this application can still be implemented without certain specific details. In some examples, thermal management systems, specific control methods of temperature dampers, and the structure / principle of heat pump systems that are well-known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail, in order to highlight the main points of this application.

[0073] Main reference Figure 1 In one possible implementation, the thermal management system for a vehicle corresponding to an indirect heat pump system includes a compressor, condenser, evaporator, and battery cooler (such as a plate heat exchanger, with a coolant circuit) forming a refrigerant circuit. The evaporator is equipped with an evaporator expansion valve, and the battery cooler is equipped with a battery expansion valve. Thermal management of components such as the power battery can be achieved through heat exchange between the coolant in the refrigerant circuit and the coolant circuit within the plate heat exchanger.

[0074] Main reference Figure 2 In one possible implementation, the vehicle's thermal management system includes a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger, an evaporator, an expansion valve assembly, and a battery cooler. The expansion valve assembly includes three expansion valves, such as first expansion valve, second expansion valve, and third expansion valve. The first expansion valve is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor condenser; the second expansion valve is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the battery cooler (at the inlet side of the refrigerant passage); and the third expansion valve is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator. The second expansion valve (e.g., Electronic Expansion Valve, EXV) and... Figure 1Similar to the evaporator expansion valves shown, the first and third expansion valves function to reduce their diameter when needed for throttling, while ensuring sufficient diameter for forming a passage. In this example, the first and third expansion valves can be referred to as the first large-diameter expansion valve and the second large-diameter expansion valve (e.g., Electronic Refrigerant Valve, ERV), respectively. An electronic expansion valve with only throttling function has a diameter of approximately 2.1 mm, while a large-diameter expansion valve capable of multiple functions such as shut-off, full-flow, and throttling can have a diameter of approximately 10 mm (e.g., greater than or equal to the pipe's inner diameter) in full-flow mode, ensuring no resistance to the pipe when achieving full-flow functionality. In other words, the large-diameter expansion valve reduces its diameter when acting as a throttling component, while maximizing its diameter when needed for passage, such as opening it to its maximum. Therefore, the relationship between the expansion valves in the expansion valve assembly is as follows: the orifice diameters of the first and third expansion valves are significantly larger than those of the second expansion valve. The orifice diameters of the first and third expansion valves can be the same or different. Furthermore, the thermal management system also includes a gas-liquid separator, which is mainly used to store excess refrigerant in the system. If the system is in different modes, the refrigerant circulation demand varies, and therefore excess refrigerant may be generated during mode switching.

[0075] It should be noted that the battery cooler mentioned here should be understood as follows: the power battery, as a component with strict requirements for its operating temperature range, is a typical component that can participate in thermal management. However, in addition to thermal management for the power battery, the coolant circuit can also include any reasonable heat-generating / heat-requiring component with heat exchange needs / possibility, such as the electric drive. In other words, the battery cooler is a simple example of an intermediate heat exchanger for thermal management of heat-generating / heat-requiring components, such as an intermediate heat exchanger (which can be called a thermal management intermediate heat exchanger) that allows the coolant circuit to exchange heat with heat-generating / heat-requiring components, including but not limited to the power battery and electric drive. The thermal management heat exchanger includes heat-exchangeable refrigerant channels and coolant channels, where the refrigerant channels can form the refrigerant circuit in the thermal management system, and the coolant channels can form the first coolant circuit in the thermal management system.

[0076] It can be seen that, with Figure 1 In comparison, the thermal management system of this application only requires the addition of an indoor condenser and a large-diameter expansion valve, as well as changing the battery expansion valve on the inlet side of the battery cooler to a large-diameter expansion valve.

[0077] Main reference Figure 3In one possible implementation, the thermal management system includes an on-board refrigerator, an on-board refrigerator coolant circuit, and an on-board refrigerator refrigerant branch, wherein the on-board refrigerator uses semiconductors. Exemplarily, the on-board refrigerator includes a freezer end corresponding to a freezing function and a refrigerator end corresponding to a refrigeration function. The freezer end and the refrigerator end are respectively equipped with a first semiconductor cooling element and a second semiconductor cooling element, such as a semiconductor cooling chip. The cold end of the first / second semiconductor cooling element can release cooling energy to the freezer end / refrigeration end, and the hot end of the first / second semiconductor cooling element can maintain the cooling level of the on-board refrigerator (absorbing cooling energy from the coolant circuit or releasing heat to the coolant circuit) through heat exchange with the coolant circuit.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the thermal management system includes an intermediate heat exchanger for the vehicle refrigerator, similar to the aforementioned battery cooler. The intermediate heat exchanger (its coolant passage) and the vehicle refrigerator water chamber are connected via piping to form a second coolant circuit of the thermal management system. A vehicle refrigerator water pump (such as a miniature water pump) is also installed on the second coolant circuit. A refrigerant branch associated with the vehicle refrigerator is located between the outlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger and the compressor return port. The refrigerant liquid passage of the intermediate heat exchanger is located within the refrigerant piping, and a vehicle refrigerator expansion valve (including a fourth expansion valve assembly) is installed on the refrigerant inlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger. Based on this structure, through heat exchange between the refrigerant in the intermediate heat exchanger and the coolant flowing through the vehicle refrigerator water chamber, cooling capacity can be distributed to the freezing / refrigeration end of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0079] In this example, the hot end of the first semiconductor refrigeration element is immersed in the coolant in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator, and the hot end of the second semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted against the wall on the coolant pipe on the coolant outlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator (near or just at the outlet side). Obviously, the heat exchange method between the hot ends of the first / second semiconductor refrigeration elements and the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit is only an exemplary description. Those skilled in the art can determine the specific method of heat exchange according to actual needs. For example, both the first and second semiconductor refrigeration elements can be immersed (e.g., fully or partially immersed) in the vehicle refrigerator water chamber, the vehicle refrigerator water chamber can contain two elements, or the hot end of the second semiconductor refrigeration element can be configured in the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit in other ways that enable heat conduction (e.g., by means of a heat transfer medium, or by circumferentially covering a local area of ​​the pipe). Furthermore, the vehicle refrigerator may only have freezing or refrigeration functions, or additional functions such as preservation / soft freezing / ice making can be added to these two functions. Correspondingly, the vehicle refrigerator includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element. The cold end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can deliver cooling to the functional end of the vehicle refrigerator, and the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can draw cooling from the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit or release heat to the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit.

[0080] As can be seen, in the preferred embodiment of this application, based on the vehicle refrigerator using semiconductors, by adding a small vehicle refrigerator coolant circulation loop and by adding a refrigeration branch between the outdoor heat exchanger and the compressor exhaust port (gas-liquid separator), the vehicle refrigerator and the thermal management system can be integrated. In this way, the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator is guaranteed while sharing the compressor with the thermal management system.

[0081] Specifically, in traditional semiconductor-based vehicle refrigerators, the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element is directly exposed to the ambient air. When the vehicle refrigerator needs to cool down, the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element can only dissipate heat through heat exchange with the ambient air, thus achieving air cooling. In high ambient temperatures, the temperature of the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element limits the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator, including its cooling speed and achievable cooling temperature. However, in the vehicle refrigerator integrated with the vehicle's thermal management system according to this application embodiment, when the vehicle refrigerator needs to cool down quickly to meet freezing / refrigeration requirements, the thermal management system can cool the coolant in the vehicle refrigerator's water chamber through heat exchange between the heat transfer medium and the coolant. In this case, since the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element at the freezing end of the vehicle refrigerator is immersed in the water chamber, the hot end of the first semiconductor cooling element corresponding to the freezing end can be maintained at a low temperature level. This continuously provides cooling to the cold end of the first semiconductor cooling element, thereby ensuring the vehicle refrigerator's cooling capacity and cooling rate. Furthermore, by controlling the driving power of the first / second semiconductor refrigeration element corresponding to the freezing end and the refrigeration end of the vehicle refrigerator respectively, a dual-temperature zone refrigeration function for the vehicle refrigerator can be achieved.

[0082] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 4 In one possible implementation, when cooling of the cabin space (and the power battery) is required, the temperature damper located in the air conditioning unit is closed to prevent the refrigerant from exchanging heat with the air in the cabin space as it flows through the indoor condenser. Simultaneously, the first large-diameter expansion valve on the outlet side of the indoor condenser is opened to its maximum. At this point, the portion of the pipeline corresponding to the indoor condenser and the first large-diameter expansion valve forms a refrigerant circulation loop. Based on this, the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor's exhaust port begins to condense after entering the outdoor heat exchanger (which acts as the condenser in the refrigerant circulation loop). Subsequently, after being throttled by the evaporator expansion valve and the second large-diameter expansion valve before the battery cooler (on the refrigerant inlet side), it enters the evaporator (which exchanges heat with the air in the cabin space to cool the cabin) and the battery cooler (which cools the power battery through heat exchange between the refrigerant and the coolant) for evaporation. This is expected to meet the cooling needs of both the cabin space and the power battery. For example, closing one of the evaporator expansion valves and the second large-diameter expansion valve can cool the cabin space or the power battery.

[0083] If the vehicle includes a controller (which may be a vehicle controller or one or more controllers specifically configured for the thermal management of this application, etc., in any reasonable form, such as when the controller receives a corresponding cooling or heating request or needs to perform corresponding cooling or heating based on the detection results, it can achieve the corresponding thermal management by adjusting the operating parameters of the pump / fan, such as switching the expansion valve, adjusting the temperature damper, etc.

[0084] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 5 In one possible implementation, when dehumidification of the cabin space is required, the temperature damper of the indoor condenser is opened (e.g., the temperature damper before the indoor condenser is opened) to allow the indoor condenser to exchange heat with the air in the cabin space. At this time, the condensing pressure of the indoor condenser and the temperature of the air supplied to the cabin space can be adjusted by regulating the opening degree of the first large-diameter expansion valve (as a throttling component). The refrigerant from the outlet of the first large-diameter expansion valve then undergoes secondary condensation through the outdoor heat exchanger. After flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger, it passes through the evaporator expansion valve and enters the evaporator, where it exchanges heat with the high-humidity air in the cabin space to achieve cooling and dehumidification. Furthermore, by adjusting the opening and closing state, specific opening degree, and opening and closing method of the temperature damper before the indoor condenser, the air supply path is adjusted, thereby regulating the temperature of the cabin space.

[0085] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 6 In one possible implementation, when heating of the cabin space is required, the temperature damper located in the air conditioning unit is opened to allow the indoor condenser to exchange heat with the air in the cabin space. The refrigerant from the compressor outlet is condensed in the indoor condenser and then throttled through the first large-diameter expansion valve. The throttled refrigerant flows sequentially through the outdoor heat exchanger and the battery cooler. At this time, the second large-diameter expansion valve before the battery cooler is fully open (as a passage component). Therefore, the outdoor heat exchanger acts as an evaporator, while the passage before the battery cooler only serves as a passage in the refrigerant circulation loop. By adjusting the intake air volume of the ambient air exchanging heat with the outdoor heat exchanger (e.g., by adjusting the operating parameters of the fan configured in the outdoor heat exchanger) and the water flow rate in the coolant circulation loop of the battery cooler (e.g., by adjusting the operating parameters of the circulation pump configured in the battery coolant circulation loop), the thermal management system can recover waste heat from the power battery when operating in heating mode.

[0086] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 7In one possible implementation, the first coolant circuit, including the battery cooler, can not only regulate the temperature of the power battery (e.g., the power battery is equipped with a battery cold plate with channels, which transfers cold energy to the power battery as the coolant flows through the channels of the battery cold plate), but also recover waste heat from other heat-generating components such as the electric drive. In this example, the heat-generating components include the power battery and the electric drive, where the electric drive is either a single front-drive or a single rear-drive. To improve the heating effect in low-temperature environments (increasing the temperature of the power battery), a heating component (such as a water heater) can be added before the battery cooler (on the coolant inlet side) to increase the heat that the thermal management system can absorb in low-temperature environments, thereby improving the heating capacity of the thermal management system in low-temperature environments.

[0087] In this example, the valve assembly of the coolant circulation loop includes a five-way valve. The expansion tank of the first coolant loop in the coolant loop unit is located on the main pipe and thus can supply coolant to each branch. A circulating water pump is installed on each branch corresponding to each heat exchange component. The five connecting sides of the five-way valve can connect to the battery cooler, the electric power battery, the electric drive, the inlet side of the expansion tank, and the outlet side of the expansion tank, respectively. A low-temperature radiator is installed on the connecting pipe between the five-way valve and the inlet side of the expansion tank. In this example, the aforementioned water heater is configured on the connecting pipe between the five-way valve and the power battery.

[0088] Obviously, those skilled in the art can flexibly adjust the number / type / location of valves and the configuration of pipelines in the coolant circuit unit according to actual needs. For example, it may include, but is not limited to: setting the coolant circuit for electric drive and power battery as two parallel branches, and configuring an intermediate heat exchanger capable of exchanging heat with the refrigerant for each branch; the first coolant circuit and the second coolant circuit sharing an expansion tank; and any reasonable integration of circuits in the first coolant circuit for different heat exchange components.

[0089] In this example, the valve assembly of the coolant circulation loop includes a five-way valve. Clearly, those skilled in the art can flexibly adjust the number, type, and location of valves according to actual needs. For example, the coolant loops for the electric drive and the power battery can be configured as two parallel branches, and each branch can be equipped with an intermediate heat exchanger capable of exchanging heat with the refrigerant.

[0090] The central computing platform belongs to the centralized and integrated architecture of intelligent computing modules. For example, functions from different domains, such as intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving, can be centralized on the central computing platform to significantly reduce the number of controllers. In this example, the central computing platform is located on the coolant circuit corresponding to the electric drive. For instance, calculations show that the front drive currently requires a water flow rate of 10 L / min, while the central computing platform only requires 3 L / min. In this case, the coolant flow rate between the central computing platform and the front drive can be adjusted by using a narrow-diameter pipe configured on the central computing platform. Specifically, when the coolant flows through the central computing platform, the narrow-diameter pipe increases the flow resistance of the coolant pipe, so that of the 10 L / min water flow rate, 3 L / min passes through the central computing platform, while the remaining 7 L / min passes through the narrow-diameter pipe.

[0091] Main reference Figure 8 In this example, the thermal management system and Figure 7 Similarly, however, in this example, the electric drive is four-wheel drive (including front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive), and the central computing platform is located on the coolant line corresponding to the front drive.

[0092] Main reference Figure 9 In this example, the thermal management system is... Figure 8 It integrates the aforementioned vehicle-mounted refrigerator. The thermal management system can be adjusted according to the cooling / heating needs of the cabin space, the cooling needs of the vehicle-mounted refrigerator, the cooling / heating needs of the power battery, and the cooling needs of the electric drive.

[0093] In a preferred embodiment of this application, by adding an indoor condenser to the thermal management system and configuring a second coolant circuit and a refrigerant branch in the function corresponding to the vehicle refrigerator, and ensuring the flow function of the first expansion valve (located between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger) and the third expansion valve (located in the refrigerant branch corresponding to the vehicle refrigerator) in the expansion valve assembly as passage components, the vehicle refrigerator using semiconductors and the heat pump system can exchange heat while sharing a compressor. This improves the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator, increases the integration of the thermal management system, and reduces the cost of separately configuring the vehicle refrigerator.

[0094] The technical solutions of this application have been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of this application is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principles of this application, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will all fall within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A thermal management system for a vehicle, characterized in that, The thermal management system includes: (1) A refrigerant circuit, on which a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger and an evaporator are installed; (2) A coolant circuit unit, which includes: The first coolant circuit is equipped with a thermal management intermediate heat exchanger; and / or The second coolant circuit is equipped with an intermediate heat exchanger for the vehicle refrigerator. (3) An expansion valve assembly, which includes: A first expansion valve is disposed between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger; A second expansion valve is disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator; and A third expansion valve and / or a fourth expansion valve, wherein the third expansion valve is disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the intermediate heat exchanger of the thermal management unit, and the fourth expansion valve is disposed between the inlet side of the refrigerant passage of the outdoor heat exchanger and the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator. Wherein, the diameter of the first expansion valve and / or the third expansion valve is larger than that of the second expansion valve.

2. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted refrigerator includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element, the hot end of which is capable of exchanging heat with the second coolant circuit.

3. The thermal management system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The second coolant circuit is provided with a vehicle refrigerator water chamber, which can be connected to the coolant channel of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator, and the at least one semiconductor refrigeration element can exchange heat with the vehicle refrigerator water chamber.

4. The thermal management system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The at least one semiconductor cooling element can be at least partially immersed in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator.

5. The thermal management system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The at least one semiconductor cooling element is mounted on the coolant pipe of the second coolant circuit in a wall-mounted manner.

6. The thermal management system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The at least one semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted in a wall-mounted manner on the coolant pipe on the coolant outlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator in the second coolant circuit.

7. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle includes a controller, the controller being used for: The first expansion valve is used as a throttling component, and the second expansion valve is opened so that: The vehicle's interior space is dehumidified.

8. The thermal management system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, the air conditioning unit includes a temperature damper and the indoor condenser, and the controller is further configured to: Adjust the temperature damper so that: Adjust the temperature of the cabin space.

9. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thermal management system includes an air conditioning unit, which includes a temperature damper and the indoor condenser. The vehicle includes a controller, the controller being used for: Adjust the temperature damper to connect the interior condenser with the vehicle's cabin space; and The third expansion valve is configured as a throttling component and as a passage component, so that: The cabin space is heated.

10. The thermal management system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The controller is also used for: Adjust the intake air volume of the ambient air that exchanges heat with the outdoor heat exchanger; and / or Adjust the water flow rate in the first coolant circuit.

Images