Direct cooling plates, heat exchangers, power battery packs and vehicles

Abstract

Direct cooling plate, heat exchanger, power battery pack and vehicle. The direct cooling plate comprises a plurality of heat exchange channels disposed within the direct cooling plate. Each heat exchange channel comprises an inlet for coolant to enter therein and an outlet for coolant to exit therefrom, at least one heat exchange channel being disposed circumferentially around the other heat exchange channels, each heat exchange channel forming a heat exchange unit in the direct cooling plate, the heat exchange unit being used to perform heat exchange in different temperature regions of the battery. The direct cooling plate can control the temperature of the coolant at the inlet of each heat exchange channel to target different temperature regions of the battery such that the overall temperature difference of the battery is improved, thereby extending the service life of the battery.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202221703985.0, entitled "DIRECT COOLING PLATE OF HEAT EXCHANGER, HEAT EXCHANGER AND POWER BATTERY PACK," filed on June 30, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of heat exchange for power batteries, and more particularly to direct cooling plates, heat exchangers, power battery packs, and vehicles. [Background technology]

[0003] In the related art, the cooler of the conventional power battery pack, which is made by stamping and brazing, exchanges heat with the power battery through the characteristics of refrigerant evaporation and heat absorption, thereby achieving the purpose of cooling the power battery. The flow path of the cooler adopts a structural design of one inlet and one outlet. When adjusting the flow rate of the cooler, it will affect the heat transfer efficiency of the entire contact area between the cooler and the battery. At present, the power battery has high energy density and large capacity, and the heat generation in different areas of the battery cell is also different. Therefore, the conventional power battery cooler can no longer meet the requirements when using the power battery, and thus does not contribute to the temperature difference management of the power battery, which affects the service life of the power battery. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The objective of the present disclosure is to provide a direct cooling plate, a heat exchanger, a power battery pack, and a vehicle, which can meet the cooling and / or heating requirements of different areas of the battery by controlling the temperature of each heat exchange channel, and each heat exchange channel can have different cooling and / or heating capacity, thereby improving the overall temperature difference of the battery and extending the service life of the battery. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a direct cooling plate including a plurality of heat exchange channels disposed therein, each heat exchange channel including an inlet for a coolant to enter therein and an outlet for the coolant to exit therefrom, at least one heat exchange channel being circumferentially disposed around the other heat exchange channels.

[0006] Each heat exchange channel forms a heat exchange unit directly on the cooling plate, the heat exchange unit being configured to provide heat exchange at different temperature regions of the battery.

[0007] In one embodiment, the inlet and outlet of the heat exchange channel are directly located on the same side of the cooling plate.

[0008] In one embodiment, the number of heat exchange channels is two, channel 1 and channel 2, with channel 1 being disposed around the outside of channel 2.

[0009] In one embodiment, the channel 2 is generally concave, the channel 1 includes two first cooling sections and a second cooling section connected between the two first cooling sections, the second cooling section extends into a recess formed by the channel 2, and the two first cooling sections are circumferentially disposed around the outside of the channel 2.

[0010] In one embodiment, channel 1 includes a first branch channel, the first branch channel, the first cooling channel, and the first merging channel are in communication with each other in sequence, and the first cooling channel and the first merging channel include at least two sub-channels, the number of sub-channels of the first cooling channel being greater than the number of sub-channels of the first branch channel and the first merging channel.

[0011] and / or the second flow path, which in turn communicates with one another, includes a second diverging channel, a second cooling channel, and a second merging channel, each of the second diverging channel and the second merging channel all including at least two sub-channels, and the number of sub-channels of the second cooling channel is greater than the number of sub-channels of the second diverging channel and the second merging channel.

[0012] In one embodiment, the number of sub-channels in the first branch channel and the first merge channel are the same.

[0013] The number of sub-channels in the second branch channel and the second merge channel is the same.

[0014] In one embodiment, the direct cooling plate includes interconnected plate 1 and plate 2, where plate 1 is provided with grooves 1 and 2 recessed away from plate 2, and groove 1 is disposed around the outside of groove 2. Plate 2 and groove 1 surround channel 1, while plate 2 and groove 2 surround channel 2.

[0015] In one embodiment, groove 1 and groove 2 are formed by stamping.

[0016] And / or, the first and second plates are connected by brazing.

[0017] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a heat exchanger is provided that includes the direct cooling plate described above.

[0018] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a power battery pack is provided including a power battery, the power battery pack further including a heat exchanger as described above, the heat exchanger attached to the power battery for cooling and / or heating the power battery.

[0019] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure also provides a vehicle including a power battery pack as described in the third aspect of the present disclosure.

[0020] According to the above technical solution, i.e. the disclosed direct cooling plate, the direct cooling plate includes a plurality of heat exchange channels, each of which includes an inlet and an outlet. Each heat exchange channel forms a heat exchange unit corresponding to a different temperature zone of the battery (such as a power battery). According to the cooling and / or heating requirements of the different temperature zones of the battery, the temperature inside the heat exchange channel can be adjusted by controlling the flow rate and pressure of the coolant at the inlet of each heat exchange channel, so that the cooling and / or heating capacity of each heat exchange unit is adapted to the temperature of the corresponding battery zone, improving the overall temperature difference of the battery, achieving a more accurate temperature difference management of the battery, and extending the service life of the battery.

[0021] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure are described in detail in the following section on specific implementations.

[0022] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and form a part of this specification, and are used in conjunction with the following specific embodiments to explain the present disclosure and are not intended to be limiting to the present disclosure. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a stamping and brazing cooler structure for a power battery pack in the related art. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of channel 1 and channel 2 of a direct cooling plate provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a channel 1 of a direct cooling plate provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a channel 2 of a direct cooling plate provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a front view of plate 1 of a direct cooling plate provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a front view of plate 2 of a direct cooling plate provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a power battery pack provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a front view of a power battery provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, showing two end positions of the power battery and an intermediate position of a battery cell. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a structural block diagram of a vehicle provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] Specific implementations of the present disclosure are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only intended to be illustrative and explanatory of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0025] In this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, directional terms such as "upper, lower, left, right" generally refer to the corresponding upper, lower, left, and right in the accompanying drawings, and "inside and outside" refer to the "inside and outside" with respect to the contour of the corresponding component itself. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. used in this disclosure are intended to distinguish one element from another, and do not have any order or importance. In addition, in the following description, when referring to the figures, the same reference numerals in different figures represent the same or similar elements, unless otherwise stated. The above definitions are only for the purpose of explaining and illustrating the present disclosure, and should not be construed as limitations to the present disclosure.

[0026] In the related art, a stamping and brazing cooler for a power battery pack is shown in Figure 1, which is composed of a stamping plate with an internal flow passage, a temperature equalizing plate, and a welded joint. The refrigerant enters the flow passage through the inlet of the joint, and flows in parallel through the flow passages arranged in parallel by splitting. The refrigerant circulates in the flow passage, eventually converges, and flows out from the outlet of the joint, completing the circulation of the refrigerant in the flow passage. This kind of cooler exchanges heat with the power battery by the evaporation and heat absorption characteristics of the refrigerant, thereby achieving the purpose of cooling the power battery.

[0027] The stamping and brazing cooler of this power battery pack has the following disadvantages: all channels are affected by the refrigerant flow rate at the inlet of the joint, and when adjusting the flow rate at the inlet of the cooler, it will affect the heat transfer efficiency of the entire contact area between the cooler and the battery. The channels of the cooler adopt a one-piece design, which increases the pressure drop across the cooler, resulting in different evaporation temperatures of the refrigerant at different pressures, and finally leads to an increase in the temperature gradient inside the cooler along the positive path. The long length of the channels leads to poor shunting effect of the branches arranged in parallel, as well as different heat transfer areas of the channels. As a result, the evaporation degree of the refrigerant in different branches changes, and finally causes the refrigerant in some branches to evaporate faster than usual, resulting in local overheating of the parallel channels.

[0028] 2 to 8, in order to achieve the above object, a first embodiment of the present disclosure provides a direct cooling plate 10 including a plurality of heat exchange channels 100 disposed inside the direct cooling plate. Each heat exchange channel 100 includes an inlet 101 for a refrigerant to enter therein and an outlet 102 for the refrigerant to exit therefrom, at least one heat exchange channel 100 is disposed circumferentially around the other heat exchange channels 100, and each heat exchange channel 100 forms a heat exchange unit in the direct cooling plate 10, which is used to perform heat exchange in different temperature regions of a battery (such as a power battery 300).

[0029] According to the above technical solution, i.e., the disclosed direct cooling plate 10, the direct cooling plate 10 includes a plurality of heat exchange channels 100, each of which includes an inlet 101 and an outlet 102. Each heat exchange channel 100 forms a heat exchange unit corresponding to a different temperature region of a battery (such as the power battery 300). According to the cooling and / or heating requirements of the different temperature regions of the battery, the temperature inside the heat exchange channel 100 can be adjusted by controlling the flow rate and pressure of the refrigerant at the inlet 101 of each heat exchange channel 100, so that the cooling and / or heating capacity of each heat exchange unit is adapted to the different temperature regions of the corresponding battery, improving the overall temperature difference of the battery and making it more precisely managed, and prolonging the service life of the battery. At the same time, at least one heat exchange channel 100 is circumferentially surrounded by other heat exchange channels 100, so that the circumferential direction of the battery can be preferentially heated or cooled, which is beneficial to improving the temperature difference of the battery in different environments and to a certain extent extending the service life of the battery.

[0030] It is worth noting that a coolant which can be used for cooling is introduced directly into the cooling plate 10 or a gas coolant which can be used for heating is introduced.

[0031] It can be seen that the structural form of the direct cooling plate 10 realizes the introduction of different refrigerants (gaseous or liquid refrigerants) into different temperature areas of the battery according to the required cooling and / or heating amount of heat, thereby enabling better and more accurate control of the overall temperature difference of the battery, while the separation of different heat exchange units of the direct cooling plate 10 also accelerates its response speed, and furthermore, compared with the conventional structure, the pressure drop due to friction of the direct cooling plate 10 can be greatly reduced by dividing the entire flow path into multiple individually controlled flow paths.

[0032] It should be noted that the above-mentioned battery may be a power battery 300, or other battery having different heating temperatures in different areas during charging, discharging or use. A specific structure of the direct cooling plate 10 is described below using the power battery 300 as an example, which should not be understood as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0033] The positions of the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of the multiple heat exchange channels 100 can be constructed in any suitable manner. Considering the convenience of connection with a cooling system (such as an air conditioning system), in some embodiments, the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of the heat exchange channels are placed on the same side of the direct cooling plate 10. For each heat exchange channel 100, the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of the heat exchange channel 100 are placed on the same side of the direct cooling plate 10. For multiple heat exchange channels 100, the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of the multiple heat exchange channels 100 are also placed on the same side of the direct cooling plate 10, making it suitable for connecting with an external air conditioning system through a joint 200, simplifying the overall structure and saving parts and space occupation.

[0034] The heat exchange channels 100 may be arranged according to actual requirements, and the arrangement method is not limited. A special arrangement may be made according to the heating area of ​​the battery.

[0035] The power battery 300 has a high energy density and a large capacity, and different parts of the battery cell often generate different amounts of heat. Among them, the heat generated by the electrodes at both ends of the battery cell is greater than that in the middle part of the battery cell. However, the conventional cooler uses a single inlet and outlet to uniformly cool or heat the temperature of the cold plate. Even if the maximum temperature of the battery cell can be reduced, it does not significantly improve the overall temperature difference of the battery cell, which greatly affects the service life of the power battery 300.

[0036] Meanwhile, due to the uneven heating of the battery, the demand for heat exchange varies at different locations. Current technology is actually designed based on the maximum heat transfer capacity of every part, which leads to a large energy waste and also affects the power distribution of the compressor at the end of the vehicle. In fact, due to the urgent demand for fast charging and the delayed development of high-power compressors, the thermal management of the battery under high-rate charging has become an urgent problem to be solved in the industry.

[0037] Considering the above situation, in order to improve the temperature difference of the power battery 300, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, there are two heat exchange channels 100, namely, channel 1 110 and channel 2 120, and channel 1 110 is surrounded by the outside of channel 2 120. Among them, channel 1 110 corresponds to the positive and negative poles at position A at both ends of the power battery 300, which is an area with high heat generation. Channel 2 120 corresponds to the middle position B of the battery cell of the power battery 300, which is an area with relatively low heat generation. The cooling capacities of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 can be controlled differently, i.e., the cooling capacity of channel 1 110 is greater than that of channel 2 120. The channel 1 110 with stronger cooling capacity is used to cool the two end positions A of the power battery 300 where the heat generation is higher, while the channel 2 120 with relatively weaker cooling capacity is used to cool the middle position B of the power battery 300 where the heat generation is lower, thereby solving the problem of uneven heating of the battery cells, reducing the temperature difference of the battery cells, and improving the service life of the battery pack. At the same time, the heat exchange channel 100 is set in two, forming two heat exchange units whose temperatures can be controlled and regulated individually, compared with the traditional arrangement of the heat exchange channel, it can reduce the pressure difference in the middle to a certain extent, thereby avoiding the uneven flow distribution in the middle, and improving the local overheating of the cooling plate.

[0038] It should be noted that in extremely cold regions where the outside temperature is low, it is necessary to heat the power battery 300 to ensure the performance of the power battery 300. At this time, the air conditioning system may be in a heating mode, in which case the channel 1 110 corresponds to the positive and negative poles at position A at both ends of the power battery 300, where the heat generation is relatively large, and the channel 2 120 corresponds to the middle position B of the battery cell of the power battery 300, where the heat generation is relatively small. The heating capacities of the channel 1 110 and the channel 2 120 can be controlled differently, i.e., the heating capacity of the channel 1 110 is smaller than that of the channel 2 120. By using channel 1 110 with weaker heating capacity to heat the two end positions A of the power battery 300 where heat generation is higher, and using channel 2 120 with relatively stronger heating capacity to heat the middle position B of the power battery 300 where heat generation is lower, the different heating requirements can be used to improve the temperature uniformity of the battery cells, reduce the temperature difference, and also improve the life of the battery pack.

[0039] In addition, cooling can also be achieved through channel 1 110 and heating can be achieved through channel 2 120. That is, of the multiple heat exchange channels 100 in the disclosed direct cooling plate 10, some are used for cooling and some are used for heating to meet the simultaneous cooling and heating requirements of the battery.

[0040] In addition, the coolant flow rate can be prioritized to channel 1 110. The area with the higher temperature can be cooled or heated first. After a certain time, the coolant flow rate can be allocated to channel 2 120 as needed to achieve both cooling or heating of the lower and higher temperature areas to improve the temperature difference.

[0041] It should be noted that the cooling or heating of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 can be achieved by separately introducing different refrigerants to control the cooling or heating capacity of the two channels, which can also be separately connected to the same refrigeration system, for example, in a vehicle air-conditioning refrigeration system, an electronic expansion valve is installed upstream of the flow of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 to control the flow rate and evaporation pressure of the refrigerant entering the two flow paths, achieve the distribution of compressor power, and also achieve different cooling or heating capacity of the two flow paths. The prior art on air-conditioning refrigeration systems will not be detailed here.

[0042] It can achieve precise control of partitions without having to design according to the maximum heat exchange capacity of every part, which leads to significant energy waste and affects compressor power distribution at the ends of the car, making it more energy efficient and providing more compressor power to the whole car.

[0043] The specific arrangement of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 can adopt any suitable structure, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. In some embodiments disclosed herein, channel 2 120 is generally concave. Channel 1 110 includes two first cooling sections 1121 and a second cooling section 1122 connected between the two first cooling sections 1121. The second cooling section 1122 extends into a recess 124 formed by channel 2 120, and the two first cooling sections 1121 are surrounded by the outer periphery of channel 2 120. As shown in FIG. 4, channel 2 120 is generally concave, which means that channel 2 120 mainly includes two parts, an upper part and a lower part, and a recess 124 with a right opening is formed between these two parts. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, the two first cooling parts 1121 of the channel 1 110 are placed outside the channel 2 120, and the second cooling part 1122 used to connect the two first cooling parts 1121 extends into the recess 124 of the channel 2 120. The two first cooling parts 1121 of the channel 1 110 correspond to the positive and negative poles of the two end positions A of the power battery 300, and the second cooling part 1122 corresponds to the middle position of the battery cell. This is mainly because the two end regions of the power battery 300 generate a large amount of heat, while the middle part of the battery cell generates a large amount of heat. Due to the difficulty of heat dissipation and the possibility of high temperature at position B, the second cooling section 1122 is set accordingly to realize rapid cooling by improving the cooling capacity, and at the same time, the upper and lower parts of channel 2 120, which correspond to the two ends and the middle position of the battery, are cooled in a relatively weaker form to control the temperature difference of the power battery 300, improve the service life of the battery, and ensure the normal use of the vehicle.

[0044] It should be noted that the inlet 101 and outlet 102 of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 are both located on the left side, i.e., both the inlet 101 and the outlet 102 are located on the left side, which can be connected via fitting 200 to simplify the connection structure.

[0045] In other embodiments, channel 1 110 may be approximately square shaped and channel 2 120 may be any other channel formed inside the square shaped channel 1 110. Channel 1 110 is configured to have a strong cooling capacity to cool the positive and negative poles at both ends of the battery at position A, while channel 2 120 is configured to have a weaker cooling capacity to cool the middle position B of the battery cell.

[0046] It should be noted that when heating is required, the coolants in channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 can be switched to heat the intermediate location B of the battery cell, which corresponds to channel 2 120 with the stronger heating power. Channel 1 110 is set to have a weaker heating power and is used to heat the positive and negative poles at location A on both ends of the battery.

[0047] It is worth noting that the specific structure of channel 1 110 and channel 2 120 may be designed according to the change of heat load, and is not limited to the above arrangement type.

[0048] 3, in some embodiments, the channel 1 110 includes a first diverging channel 111, a first cooling channel 112, and a first merging channel 113 connected in sequence, and each of the first diverging channel 111, the first cooling channel 112, and the first merging channel 113 includes at least two sub-channels. The number of sub-channels in the first cooling channel 112 is greater than the number of sub-channels in the first diverging channel 111 and the first merging channel 113. Among them, the first cooling channel 112 forms the two first cooling section 1121 and the second cooling section 1122 mentioned above, and the first diverging channel 111 and the first merging channel 113 form the inlet 101 and the outlet 102, respectively, at one end away from the first cooling channel 112. The number of sub-channels in the first cooling channel 112 is greater than that in the first branch channel 111 and the first merging channel 113, thereby allowing the cooling area to be increased to meet the requirements of the area to be cooled.

[0049] 4, at the same time, the channel 2 120 includes a second branch channel 121, a second cooling channel 122, and a second merging channel 123, which are connected in sequence, and each of the second branch channel 121, the second cooling channel 122, and the second merging channel 123 includes at least two sub-channels. The number of sub-channels of the second cooling channel 122 is greater than the number of sub-channels of the second branch channel 121 and the second merging channel 123. Among them, the second cooling channel 122, together with the second branch channel 121 and the second merging channel 123, forms the above-mentioned concave shape, and the second cooling channel 122 is concave from right to left and forms a recess 124 for accommodating the second cooling section 1122. The second branch channel 121 and the second merging channel 123 form an inlet 101 and an outlet 102, respectively, at one end away from the second cooling channel 122. The number of sub-channels in the second cooling channel 122 is greater than that in the second branch channel 121 and the second merging channel 123, which can also increase the cooling area to meet the requirements of the area to be cooled.

[0050] In some embodiments, the first diversion channel 111, the first confluence channel 113, the second diversion channel 121 and the second confluence channel 123 may all include two sub-channels, while the first cooling channel 112 may include four sub-channels, with each two sub-channels of the first cooling channel 112 connecting the sub-channels of the first diversion channel 111 and the first confluence channel 113, and the second cooling channel 122 may include eight sub-channels, with every four sub-channels of the second cooling channel 122 connected to a sub-channel of the second diversion channel 121 and the second confluence channel 123, to further improve the cooling uniformity of a certain temperature band while meeting the diversion requirements.

[0051] In order to further reduce the pressure drop, minimize the temperature difference caused by the pressure change in the direct cooling plate 10, and reduce the energy consumption loss, in some embodiments, the number of sub-channels of the first divergent channel 111 and the first converging channel 113 are the same, and the number of sub-channels of the second divergent channel 121 and the second converging channel 123 are the same. In channel 1 110, the refrigerant entering the first divergent channel 111 from the inlet 101 passes through the first cooling channel 112 and then discharges through the first converging channel 113 having the same number of sub-channels, allowing the pressure drop in channel 1 110 to be avoided; similarly, in channel 2 120, the refrigerant entering the second divergent channel 121 from the inlet 101 passes through the second cooling channel 122 and then discharges through the second converging channel 123 having the same number of sub-channels, thereby also avoiding the pressure drop in channel 2 120.

[0052] The direct cooling plate 10 can be constructed in any suitable manner, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. In some embodiments, the direct cooling plate 10 includes Plate 1 11 and Plate 2 12 that are interconnected. Plate 1 11 is provided with Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b recessed in a direction away from Plate 2 12, and Groove 1 11a is surrounded by the outside of Groove 2 11b. Plate 2 12 and Groove 1 11a surround Channel 1 110, while Plate 2 12 and Groove 2 11b surround Channel 2 120. It should be noted that Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b having the same shape can also be formed in Board 111 and Board 212 at the same time. Among them, Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b are partial structures of Channel 1 110 and Channel 2 120, respectively. When the board 111 and the board 212 are connected, the groove 1 11a of the board 111 and the groove 1 11a of the board 212 jointly surround the channel 1 110, and the groove 2 11b of the board 111 and the groove 2 11b of the board 212 jointly surround the channel 2 120. Among them, the shape of the groove 1 11a of the plate 111 and the plate 212 may be half the structure of the channel 1 110, that is, the two grooves 1 11a are mirror symmetric. For example, when the channel 1 110 is circular, both the grooves 1 11a are semicircular, and the structure of the groove 2 11b of the plate 1 11 and the plate 2 12 can refer to the groove 1 11a, which is not repeated here.

[0053] Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b can be constructed in any suitable manner, as shown in Figure 5. In some embodiments disclosed herein, Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b are formed by stamping, and Plate 1 11 and Plate 2 12 may both be metal plates, and Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b as mentioned above are formed using stamping techniques. It should be noted that Groove 1 11a and Groove 2 11b can also be formed by molding or machining.

[0054] Plate 1 11 and Plate 2 12 can be connected in any suitable manner. In some embodiments, Plate 1 11 and Plate 2 12 are connected by brazing, and the specific brazing process can be referred to in the related art, which will not be repeated here.

[0055] The present disclosure provides a direct cooling plate 10, which includes two independent heat exchange channels 100 to meet the heat exchange requirements of different areas of the battery. Unlike traditional coolers, the direct cooling plate 10 focuses on matching the cooling or heating requirements of different areas of the battery, and provides greater cooling capacity to the higher heat generating areas at both ends of the battery cells, improving the temperature difference of the battery. It has the following characteristics:

[0056] Two heat exchange channels 100 are adopted, and each heat exchange channel 100 includes an inlet 101 and an outlet 102 in a structural form. Each inlet 101 controls the flow rate in the heat exchange channel 100 corresponding to different regions separately, and the cooling distribution among different regions is achieved by adjusting the flow rate schemes of the different inlets 101. At the same time, the arrangement of the two heat exchange channels 100 is adopted to reduce the internal pressure drop, balance the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the channels, and reduce the temperature difference along the channels.

[0057] The two heat exchange channels 100 are designed independently with temperature control zones. Channel 1 110 is located in the high heat generation area of ​​the battery cells, and channel 2 120 is located in the low heat generation area of ​​the battery cells. This achieves different heat exchange rates of the refrigerant in different channels, thereby reducing the temperature difference of the battery.

[0058] The direct cooling plate 10 employs an integrated stamping and brazing design, integrating independent flow passages for high space utilization.

[0059] Compared with the related art, the present disclosure distinguishes the difference in heat load in different regions from the viewpoint of the effectiveness of thermal management, which is beneficial for managing the temperature difference of the battery and solving the problem of uneven heating inside the battery. From the viewpoint of design, it has a more flexible adjustment method and a faster response speed due to the use of the direct cooling plate 10 containing at least two heat exchange channels, so that the temperature difference of the battery can be better and more accurately controlled. The direct cooling plate 10 has good geometric flexibility and does not require a secondary design for the thermal management of small parts. The direct cooling plate 10 can reduce the friction resistance on the way and has good energy saving properties.

[0060] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a heat exchanger 1 is also provided that includes the above-mentioned direct cooling plate 10. The heat exchanger 1 therefore also has all the advantages of the direct cooling plate 10 mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0061] Among them, when the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of multiple heat exchange channels are placed on the same side of the direct cooling plate 10, the heat exchanger 1 also includes a joint 200. The joint 200 is equipped with multiple connection channels that correspond one-to-one with and connect with the inlets 101 and outlets 102 of each heat exchange channel 100, thereby simplifying the connection structure between the heat exchanger and the air conditioning system, improving the efficiency of the connection, and saving the occupation of space.

[0062] A third aspect of the present disclosure also provides a power battery pack 1000 including a power battery 300. The power battery pack 1000 further includes the aforementioned heat exchanger 1 attached to the power battery 300 for cooling and / or heating the power battery 300. It should be noted that the bonding of the heat exchanger 1 to the power battery 300 may be understood as a direct bonding of the heat exchanger 1 to the power battery 300 or a fixing with a thermally conductive adhesive between the two. The heat exchanger 1 is fixed to the power battery 300 via the thermally conductive adhesive.

[0063] Among others, the power battery 300 may be a blade battery, which is a long and thin battery stacked in one direction. Especially when equipped with high power charging, the positions A at both ends of the battery generate a large amount of heat, causing the temperature on both sides of the entire battery to be excessively high. The heat exchanger 1 receives the refrigerant from the air conditioning and refrigeration system. At this time, the channels 1 110 corresponding to both ends start to supply refrigerant at maximum output, lowering the temperature at both ends of the battery and reducing the heat accumulation at both ends, waiting until the temperature at the middle position B of the battery cell slowly rises, and then starts to allocate part of the compressor power to the middle area, slowly introducing refrigerant, and adjusting the amount of refrigerant introduced according to the temperature change in the middle area.

[0064] 9, the fourth aspect of the present disclosure also provides a vehicle 2000 including the power battery pack 1000 described in the third aspect of the present disclosure. Therefore, the vehicle 2000 also has all the advantages of the power battery pack 1000 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0065] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the embodiments described above. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present disclosure, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solutions of the present disclosure, all of which fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0066] Furthermore, it should be noted that the specific technical features described in the above embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction, and in order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present disclosure does not individually describe the various possible combinations.

[0067] In addition, the various different embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure can also be arbitrarily combined unless it is contrary to the ideas disclosed in the present disclosure, and they should also be considered as contents disclosed in the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A direct cooling plate (10), comprising a plurality of heat exchange channels (100) disposed within said direct cooling plate, each heat exchange channel (100) having an inlet (101) for a refrigerant to enter therein and an outlet (102) for said refrigerant to exit therefrom, at least one said heat exchange channel (100) being disposed circumferentially around the other said heat exchange channels (100); Each heat exchange channel (100) forms a heat exchange unit in the direct cooling plate (10), the heat exchange unit being configured to perform heat exchange in different temperature regions of the battery. Direct cooling plate (10).

2. The direct cooling plate (10) of claim 1, wherein the inlet (101) and the outlet (102) of the heat exchange channel (100) are located on the same side of the direct cooling plate (10).

3. 3. The direct cooling plate (10) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of the heat exchange channels (100) is two, a channel 1 (110) and a channel 2 (120), and the channel 1 (110) is disposed around the outside of the channel 2 (120).

4. 4. The direct cooling plate (10) of claim 3, wherein the channel 2 (120) is generally concave, the channel 1 (110) comprises two first cooling sections (1121) and a second cooling section (1122) connected between the two first cooling sections (1121), the second cooling section (1122) extending into a recess (124) formed by the channel 2 (120), and the two first cooling sections (1121) are circumferentially arranged around the outside of the channel 2 (120).

5. the channel 1 (110) comprises a first diverging channel (111), a first cooling channel (112), and a first merging channel (113) which are in sequential communication with each other, each of the first diverging channel (111), the first cooling channel (112), and the first merging channel (113) comprises at least two sub-channels, and the number of the sub-channels of the first cooling channel (112) is greater than the number of the sub-channels of the first diverging channel (111) and the first merging channel (113); and / or the second flow path (120) comprises a second diverging channel (121), a second cooling channel (122), and a second merging channel (123) which are in communication with each other in sequence, each of the second diverging channel (121), the second cooling channel (122) and the second merging channel (123) comprising at least two sub-channels, and the number of the sub-channels in the second cooling channel (122) is greater than the number of the sub-channels in the second diverging channel (121) and the second merging channel (123).

6. the number of the sub-channels of the first branch channel (111) and the first merge channel (113) is the same; The direct cooling plate (10) of claim 5, wherein the number of the sub-channels of the second branch channel (121) and the second merge channel (123) are the same.

7. 7. The direct cooling plate (10) according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the direct cooling plate (10) comprises interconnected plate 1 (11) and plate 2 (12), the plate 1 (11) being provided with grooves 1 (11a) and 2 (11b) recessed in a direction away from the plate 2 (12), the groove 1 (11a) being arranged around the outside of the groove 2 (11b), the plate 2 (12) and the groove 1 (11a) surrounding the channel 1 (110), while the plate 2 (12) and the groove 2 (11b) surrounding the channel 2 (120).

8. The groove 1 (11a) and the groove 2 (11b) are formed by stamping. And / or the directly cooled plate (10) according to claim 7, wherein said plate 1 (11) and said plate 2 (12) are connected by brazing.

9. A heat exchanger (1) comprising a direct cooling plate (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A power battery pack (1000) comprising a power battery (300), further comprising a heat exchanger (1) according to claim 9, said heat exchanger (1) being attached to said power battery (300) for cooling and / or heating said power battery (300).

11. A vehicle (2000) comprising a power battery pack (1000) according to claim 10.

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