Immersed heat exchanger and thermal management system

Abstract

The utility model provides a submerged heat exchanger and a thermal management system. The immersed heat exchanger has plate pairs arranged in a stacked manner and includes: refrigerant inter-plate channels formed between two plates of each plate pair; the immersed heat exchanger comprises a plurality of plate pairs, and cooling liquid inter-plate channels formed between two adjacent plate pairs and defined by peripheral edges, the immersed heat exchanger is further provided with cooling liquid openings, and the cooling liquid openings are at least formed in the peripheral edges of at least one of the cooling liquid inter-plate channels. The heat exchange area of the refrigerant and the cooling liquid can be effectively increased, and the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an immersion heat exchanger and a thermal management system comprising the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] A plate heat exchanger is usually used in a thermal management system to achieve heat exchange between refrigerant and coolant, the refrigerant is in a gas-liquid two-phase state in the heat exchanger, and then the gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant enters the refrigerant inter-plate passage in the plate heat exchanger and exchanges heat with the coolant flowing into the coolant inter-plate passage of the plate heat exchanger. In a conventional heat exchanger, the refrigerant inter-plate passage and the coolant inter-plate passage are independent of each other and adjacent to each other to enable heat exchange, and the refrigerant and the coolant exchange heat inside the core of the heat exchanger. However, in the above-mentioned heat exchanger, the refrigerant and the coolant only exchange heat inside the core, which affects the heat exchange efficiency.

[0003] The skilled person in the art is committed to developing an immersion heat exchanger to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present disclosure aims to provide an immersion heat exchanger and a thermal management system comprising the same, the entire core of the heat exchanger can be immersed in coolant, not only the heat exchange between the refrigerant and the coolant inside the core, but also the heat exchange between the refrigerant and the coolant outside the core, thus increasing the heat exchange area of the refrigerant and the coolant and improving the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger; and the coolant is more uniformly distributed inside the core.

[0005] The present disclosure provides an immersion heat exchanger for a thermal management system, the immersion heat exchanger has plate pairs arranged in a stack and comprises: a refrigerant inter-plate passage formed between two plates of each plate pair; and a coolant inter-plate passage formed between two adjacent plate pairs and bounded by a peripheral edge, wherein the immersion heat exchanger further has a coolant opening formed at least at the peripheral edge of at least one of the coolant inter-plate passages.

[0006] Since the entire heat exchanger can be immersed in coolant, the coolant in the coolant containing device exchanges heat with the peripheral edge of the refrigerant inter-plate passage, which increases the heat contact area between the coolant and the refrigerant, thus improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0007] The heat exchanger according to the present disclosure can also have one or more of the following features, alone or in combination.

[0008] In one or more embodiments, the peripheral edge is a peripheral edge of a first plate of the plate pair or a peripheral edge of a second plate of the plate pair.

[0009] In one or more embodiments, a plurality of cooling liquid openings are formed on the peripheral edge. In this way, the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid containing device can flow to the cooling liquid inter-plate passage more quickly, further improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0010] In one or more embodiments, the plurality of cooling liquid openings are formed on each side edge of the peripheral edge. In this way, the cooling liquid can flow into the cooling liquid inter-plate passage from each side of the heat exchanger, thus improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0011] In one or more embodiments, the cooling liquid openings are arranged at the middle part of the side edge. In this way, the distribution of the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid inter-plate passage can be more uniform, and the arrangement of the cooling liquid collecting passage and the refrigerant collecting passage described below will not be affected.

[0012] In one or more embodiments, the peripheral edge of the cooling liquid inter-plate passage is provided with through holes, and the peripheral edge of the refrigerant inter-plate passage is provided with notches recessed from the free edge, the notches being aligned with the corresponding through holes to form the cooling liquid openings. Such a design is simple and easy to manufacture.

[0013] In one or more embodiments, the immersion heat exchanger further comprises at least one cooling liquid collecting passage in communication with the cooling liquid inter-plate passage.

[0014] In one or more embodiments, the immersion heat exchanger further comprises a first end plate and a second end plate, the first end plate and the second end plate respectively closing or partially closing two ends of the cooling liquid collecting passage.

[0015] By arranging the cooling liquid collecting passage to communicate with a plurality of cooling liquid inter-plate passages, the cooling liquid can be evenly distributed in each cooling liquid inter-plate passage, which improves the heat exchange efficiency.

[0016] In one or more embodiments, the immersion heat exchanger comprises a refrigerant inlet collecting passage and a refrigerant outlet collecting passage, and a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet in communication with the refrigerant inlet collecting passage and the refrigerant outlet collecting passage, respectively.

[0017] The present disclosure also provides a heat management system, characterized in that the heat management system comprises a cooling liquid containing device and an immersion heat exchanger as described above, wherein the core of the immersion heat exchanger is arranged in the cooling liquid containing device.

[0018] In one or more embodiments, the coolant containing device is provided with a first inlet and a first outlet, which are in fluid communication with the coolant opening. This arrangement makes the structure of the heat exchanger simpler and improves the flexibility of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be briefly introduced hereinafter. The drawings merely serve to show some embodiments of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings. In the drawings:

[0020] Figure 1 a schematic diagram of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 2 a schematic diagram of an A-A cross section of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 3 a schematic diagram of a B-B cross section of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 4 a schematic diagram of a part of a plate of a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 5 a schematic diagram of a part of a heat management system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the technical solutions of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely hereinafter in combination with the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The same reference signs in the drawings represent the same components. It should be noted that the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0026] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the ordinary meaning understood by persons of ordinary skill in the field to which the present disclosure belongs. The words "first", "second" and similar terms used in the patent application specification and claims of the present disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similarly, words such as "a" or "an" do not necessarily indicate a quantity limitation. Words such as "include", "comprise" or "have" mean that the elements or objects preceding the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Words such as "connected" or "connected" are not limited to the physical or mechanical connections or connections shown in the drawings, but may include equivalent connections or connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0027] The present disclosure provides an immersion heat exchanger and a thermal management system including the immersion heat exchanger. Specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows an immersion heat exchanger 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the immersion heat exchanger 1 can be used in a thermal management system and can be arranged in a coolant holding device 4 of the thermal management system. The immersion heat exchanger 1 can be a plate heat exchanger, such as a water-cooled condenser. The thermal management system includes a refrigerant circuit and a coolant circuit. The refrigerant used is, for example, R134a tetrafluoroethane, 1234yf tetrafluoropropylene, R-290 propane or other refrigerants with similar properties, and the coolant is, for example, a mixed liquid of water and ethylene glycol. The thermal management system is installed in a vehicle, such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, and is used for heating and cooling the vehicle's passenger compartment, battery, and motor to help them maintain a suitable operating temperature.

[0029] See also Figure 1 The immersion heat exchanger 1 is a plate heat exchanger, generally in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and includes stacked plate pairs 10. For example, each plate pair 10 includes a first plate 11 and a second plate 12, each stacked. For example, the first plate 11 is positioned above its paired second plate 12. For example, the first and second plates 11, 12 may be in the form of a tray.

[0030] Figure 2 Shown Figure 1 AA section of the submerged heat exchanger 1, Figure 3 Shown Figure 1Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the immersion heat exchanger 1 along the B-B section. See Figure 2 and 3 As shown in the cross-sectional view, the immersion heat exchanger 1 comprises refrigerant inter-plate channels 5 and coolant inter-plate channels 6. The refrigerant inter-plate channels 5 are formed between the two plates of each plate pair 10, for example, between the first plate 11 and the second plate 12 of each plate pair 10. The coolant inter-plate channels 6 are formed between two adjacent plate pairs 10 and are bounded by the peripheral edges 15. For example, the coolant inter-plate channels 6 are formed between the second plate 12 of one plate pair and the first plate 11 of the adjacent plate pair. The plurality of refrigerant inter-plate channels 5 and the plurality of coolant inter-plate channels 6 are arranged in an alternating stack, which can increase the heat exchange area of the refrigerant and the coolant.

[0031] As shown in Figures 1 to 4 The immersion heat exchanger 1 also has coolant openings 16 formed at least at the peripheral edges 15 of at least one of the coolant inter-plate channels 6. In this way, when the heat exchanger is immersed in the coolant containing device 4 filled with coolant, the coolant can enter the coolant inter-plate channels 6 from the coolant containing device 4 via the coolant openings 16 or exit the coolant inter-plate channels 6 into the coolant containing device 4 via the coolant openings 16. Since the entire heat exchanger can be immersed in the coolant, the coolant in the coolant containing device 4 exchanges heat with the peripheral edges of the refrigerant inter-plate channels 5, which increases the heat contact area of the coolant with the refrigerant, thus improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0032] Figure 4 Portions of the plates of the immersion heat exchanger 1 are shown, with adjacent plates hidden to clearly show the configuration of the refrigerant inter-plate channels 5, the coolant inter-plate channels 6 and the coolant openings 16. See Figure 4 In the upper plate pair in Figure 4 In the lower plate in

[0033] For example, as shown in Figures 2 to 4As shown, the peripheral edge 15 of the coolant inter-plate channel 6 is the peripheral edge of the first plate 11 in the plate pair 10. For example, the peripheral edge of the first plate 11 of each plate pair 10 is provided with a coolant opening 16. In other examples, the peripheral edge 15 may also be the peripheral edge of the second plate 12 in the plate pair 10. In one embodiment, any number and location of plate pairs 10 can be selected as needed to provide coolant openings 16, rather than providing coolant openings 16 for every plate pair 10 in the core.

[0034] For example, Figure 4 As shown, a plurality of coolant openings 16 are formed on the peripheral edge 15 of the inter-plate coolant channel 6. In other words, each inter-plate coolant channel 6 has a corresponding plurality of coolant openings 16. This allows the coolant in the coolant receiving device 4 to flow more quickly into the inter-plate coolant channel, further improving heat exchange efficiency.

[0035] For example, the plurality of coolant openings 16 are formed on each side of the peripheral edge 15 of the corresponding coolant inter-plate channel 6. The first plate 11 and the second plate 12 can have a rectangular shape, and their peripheral edges can also have a rectangular shape. In this case, coolant openings 16 can be provided on all four sides. For example, one coolant opening 16 can be provided on each side of the peripheral edge. Alternatively, multiple coolant openings can be provided on each side of the peripheral edge. This allows coolant to flow into the coolant inter-plate channel from every side of the heat exchanger, thereby improving heat exchange efficiency.

[0036] For example, the coolant opening 16 can be located in the middle of the side. This allows for a more even distribution of the coolant in the inter-plate channel without affecting the arrangement of the coolant and refrigerant collection channels described below. Of course, the coolant opening 16 can also be located anywhere on the side.

[0037] For example, the peripheral edge 15 of the cooling liquid inter-plate channel 6 is provided with a through hole 18, which can have various shapes, such as a rectangular shape. In some examples, the through hole 18 and the surrounding area are directly exposed to the outside. In some examples, the peripheral edge of the refrigerant inter-plate channel 5 partially covers the peripheral edge 15 of the cooling liquid inter-plate channel 6, and the peripheral edge of the refrigerant inter-plate channel 5 is provided with a notch 17 recessed from its free edge, such as Figure 4As shown, the notch 17 is aligned with the corresponding through hole 18 to form a coolant opening 16, which can fluidly communicate with the coolant containing device 4. The notch 17 can be sized smaller than the coolant opening 16 to facilitate the engagement between the plates. For example, the notch 17 can also have a rectangular shape, and the length of the notch 17 can be smaller than the length of the coolant opening 16. Such design is simple and easy to manufacture. In other examples, the coolant opening 16 can be formed only by the through hole 18 on the peripheral edge 15 of the coolant inter-plate channel 6.

[0038] Referring again to Figure 2 and 3 , the immersion heat exchanger 1 further comprises at least one coolant header channel extending vertically through the heat exchanger core and in communication with the plurality of coolant inter-plate channels 6. For example, the immersion heat exchanger 1 can comprise two coolant header channels, as indicated by 40 and 50 in Figure 2 and 3 .

[0039] Referring again to Figure 2 , the immersion heat exchanger 1 further comprises a first end plate 13 and a second end plate 14, which respectively close the two ends of the coolant header channel, i.e. the upper and lower ends in the figure. For example, the first end plate 13 can be engaged with an additional plate 21 (e.g. its upper surface) having no opening or notch on its peripheral edge, which is further engaged with one of the plates (e.g. the second plate 12) in the plate pair 10; the second end plate 14 can be engaged with another additional plate 22 (e.g. its lower surface) having no opening or notch on its peripheral edge, which is further engaged with one of the plates (e.g. the first plate 11) in the plate pair 10. In other embodiments, the first end plate 13 and the second end plate 14 can also respectively partially close or not close the two ends of the coolant header channel, or provide the coolant openings 16 at the corresponding positions.

[0040] By providing the coolant header channel to communicate the plurality of coolant inter-plate channels, it can be beneficial to evenly distribute the coolant in each of the coolant inter-plate channels, which improves the heat exchange efficiency.

[0041] Referring again to Figures 2 to 3The submersion heat exchanger 1 further comprises a refrigerant inlet header channel 20 and a refrigerant outlet header channel 30, and a refrigerant inlet 60 and a refrigerant outlet 70 in fluid communication with the refrigerant inlet header channel 20 and the refrigerant outlet header channel 30, respectively. The refrigerant inlet header channel 20 and the refrigerant outlet header channel 30 are disposed proximate to two opposite corners, extend vertically through the core and are each in fluid communication with the plurality of refrigerant inter-plate channels 5, such that refrigerant from a compressor of a thermal management system can flow into the refrigerant inter-plate channels 5 via the refrigerant inlet header channel 20 and out of the refrigerant inter-plate channels 5 via the refrigerant outlet header channel 30. The coolant inlet header channel 40 and the coolant outlet header channel 50 described above are disposed proximate to the other two opposite corners.

[0042] Figure 5 A thermal management system according to another embodiment of the disclosure is shown, comprising a coolant containment device 4 and a submersion heat exchanger 1 as described above, the core of the submersion heat exchanger 1 being for example submerged in the coolant containment device 4 which can be filled with coolant (as shown by the grey area used in the figures). In this case, the coolant containment device 4 has the form of a rectangular parallelepiped and the coolant inlet 2 and the coolant outlet 3 are disposed on the same side of the coolant containment device 4, in fluid communication with the coolant inter-plate channels 6 via the coolant openings 16. For example, coolant from a thermal management system can flow into the coolant containment device 4 via the coolant inlet 2, in fluid communication with the coolant inter-plate channels 6 via the coolant openings 16, and out of the coolant containment device 4 via the coolant outlet 3. In the case of coolant header channels, the coolant also flows through the coolant header channels, for example the coolant header channels 40 and 50 shown in Figures 1 and 2. Furthermore, the coolant in the coolant containment device 4 can flow out of the coolant containment device 4 via the coolant outlet 3 to other parts of the thermal management system. For example, the coolant inlet 2 and the coolant outlet 3 can be disposed on the same side of the coolant containment device 4 to facilitate connection with other parts of the thermal management system. The positions of the coolant inlet 2 and the coolant outlet 3 can be disposed on the respective surfaces of the coolant containment device 4 according to customer requirements, in sealed engagement with the coolant containment device 4 and also connected by piping to other parts of the thermal management system, thus providing high flexibility and a simpler structure of the heat exchanger. Figure 5 Figure 2 and 3 In the case of coolant header channels, the coolant also flows through the coolant header channels, for example the coolant header channels 40 and 50 shown in Figures 1 and 2. Furthermore, the coolant in the coolant containment device 4 can flow out of the coolant containment device 4 via the coolant outlet 3 to other parts of the thermal management system. For example, the coolant inlet 2 and the coolant outlet 3 can be disposed on the same side of the coolant containment device 4 to facilitate connection with other parts of the thermal management system. The positions of the coolant inlet 2 and the coolant outlet 3 can be disposed on the respective surfaces of the coolant containment device 4 according to customer requirements, in sealed engagement with the coolant containment device 4 and also connected by piping to other parts of the thermal management system, thus providing high flexibility and a simpler structure of the heat exchanger.

[0043] In an embodiment, the coolant containment device 4 is a coolant tank. Figure 5 ​The cooling liquid containing device 4 shown also has an upper cover (not shown), the refrigerant inlet 60 and the refrigerant outlet 70 of the immersion heat exchanger 1 extending from the upper cover and sealingly engaging with the upper cover, and can also be connected with other parts of the thermal management system through pipes. The refrigerant flows from the refrigerant inlet 60 into the refrigerant inlet header channel 20, flows through the inter-plate channels 5 of the core to the refrigerant outlet header channel 30, exchanges heat with the cooling liquid, and finally flows out from the refrigerant outlet 70.

[0044] For example, the thermal management system also includes a pump for the cooling liquid to circulate the cooling liquid in the system, thereby improving the heat exchange efficiency.

[0045] The entire core of the immersion heat exchanger of the present disclosure can be immersed in the cooling liquid, not only the heat exchange between the refrigerant and the cooling liquid in the core, but also the heat exchange between the refrigerant and the cooling liquid outside the core, thereby increasing the heat exchange area between the refrigerant and the cooling liquid and improving the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger. In addition, the immersion heat exchanger of the present disclosure communicates each cooling liquid inter-plate channel through the cooling liquid header channel, so that the distribution of the cooling liquid in the core is more uniform. Further, the structure of the immersion heat exchanger of the present disclosure is simple and has high flexibility. The thermal management system of the present disclosure has the advantages of the heat exchanger described above.

[0046] The technical features disclosed above are not limited to the combinations disclosed with other features, and those skilled in the art can also make other combinations between technical features according to the purpose of the application, and the purpose of the present disclosure is achieved.

Claims

1. An immersed heat exchanger (1) for a thermal management system, characterized in that, The immersion heat exchanger (1) has pairs of plates (10) arranged in a stack and comprises: - refrigerant inter-plate channels (5) formed between the two plates of each pair of plates (10); and - coolant inter-plate channels (6) formed between two adjacent pairs of plates (10) and delimited by a peripheral edge (15), wherein the immersion heat exchanger (1) further has coolant openings (16) formed at least in the peripheral edge (15) of at least one of the coolant inter-plate channels.

2. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The peripheral edge (15) is a peripheral edge of a first plate (11) of the pair of plates or a peripheral edge of a second plate (12) of the pair of plates.

3. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that A plurality of coolant openings (16) is formed in the peripheral edge (15).

4. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that The plurality of coolant openings (16) is formed on each side of the peripheral edge (15).

5. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that The coolant openings (16) are arranged at an intermediate portion of the side.

6. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The peripheral edge (15) of the coolant inter-plate channels (6) is provided with through holes (18) and the peripheral edge of the refrigerant inter-plate channels (5) is provided with notches (17) recessed from their free edge, the notches being aligned with the respective through holes to form the coolant openings (16).

7. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The immersion heat exchanger (1) further comprises at least one coolant sump channel in communication with the coolant inter-plate channels (6).

8. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that The immersion heat exchanger (1) further comprises a first end plate (13) and a second end plate (14) closing or partially closing the two ends of the coolant sump channel, respectively.

9. The submerged heat exchanger (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that The immersion heat exchanger (1) comprises a refrigerant inlet sump channel (20) and a refrigerant outlet sump channel (30) and a refrigerant inlet (60) and a refrigerant outlet (70) in communication with the refrigerant inlet sump channel (20) and the refrigerant outlet sump channel (30), respectively.

10. A thermal management system characterized by, The thermal management system comprises a coolant containment device (4) and an immersion heat exchanger (1) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the core of the immersion heat exchanger is housed in the coolant containment device (4).

11. The thermal management system of claim 10, wherein, The coolant containment device (4) is provided with a first inlet (2) and a first outlet (3) in fluid communication with the coolant openings (16). The coolant containment device (4) is provided with a first inlet (2) and a first outlet (3) in fluid communication with the coolant openings (16).

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