Cooling plate and battery thermal management system

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure is a cooling plate. A liquid flow channel of the cooling plate comprises a flow channel inlet section and a flow channel outlet section, wherein refrigerants enter the liquid flow channel via the flow channel inlet section, and then flow out via the flow channel outlet section; and a refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section can exchange heat with a refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section. By means of the above design in the present disclosure, the cooling plate can function as an intermediate heat exchanger, thereby preventing the problems of increased costs, a large occupied space, etc. caused by the additional provision of an intermediate heat exchanger of a complex structure and a connecting component.

Description

Cooling plate and battery thermal management system TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooling plate and a battery thermal management system comprising the same, in particular to a cooling plate integrated with an intermediate heat exchanger function. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of the automobile manufacturing industry towards electrification and intelligence, the requirements for the integration and compactness of the battery thermal management system of the automobile are also increasing.

[0003] The battery thermal management system comprises a battery, a cooling plate and an intermediate heat exchanger, wherein the cooling plate is a two-plate structure, specifically comprising a flat plate and a grooved plate, which cooperate to form flow channels in the cooling plate. Generally, the cooling plate and the intermediate heat exchanger of the above structure are arranged away from each other, and additional connecting components are needed to fluidly connect the intermediate heat exchanger and the cooling plate, which results in a long fluid passage, reduces the efficiency of the battery thermal management system, and increases the energy consumption of the automobile. In addition, the additional connecting components also occupy a large space, which is not conducive to the integration of the battery thermal management system. Moreover, the intermediate heat exchanger is mostly built by stacked plates, which has a complex structure and is expensive.

[0004] Therefore, the skilled in the art is committed to developing a new type of cooling plate to solve the above-mentioned defects of the prior art. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling plate with an intermediate heat exchanger function, by designing the cooling plate to contain a fluidly connected flow channel inlet section, a cooling flow channel and a flow channel outlet section, and the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section and the flow channel outlet section can exchange heat, so that the cooling plate has the function of the intermediate heat exchanger, avoiding the problems of cost increase, large space occupation caused by additional setting of the complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components.

[0006] The present disclosure provides a cooling plate, wherein the liquid flow channel of the cooling plate comprises a flow channel inlet section and a flow channel outlet section, so that the refrigerant enters the liquid flow channel through the flow channel inlet section and flows out through the flow channel outlet section; wherein the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section can exchange heat with the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section.

[0007] The present disclosure can make the cooling plate have the function of the intermediate heat exchanger by the above design of the cooling plate, avoiding the problems of cost increase and large space occupation caused by additional setting of the complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components.

[0008] The cooling plate according to the present disclosure can also have one or more of the following features, alone or in combination.

[0009] In one or more embodiments, the flow channel inlet section overlaps with the flow channel outlet section.

[0010] The present disclosure can make sufficient heat exchange between the flow channel inlet section and the flow channel outlet section, and improve the heat exchange efficiency of the two sections.

[0011] In one or more embodiments, the cooling flow channel further comprises a guide flow channel and a main cooling flow channel in fluid communication, wherein the guide flow channel is connected between the flow channel inlet section and the main cooling flow channel, and the main cooling flow channel is connected between the guide flow channel and the flow channel outlet section.

[0012] In one or more embodiments, the cooling plate has a base plate, a main flow channel plate, and a sub-flow channel plate arranged in a stack, wherein the base plate is arranged between the main flow channel plate and the sub-flow channel plate.

[0013] The present disclosure can simplify the structure of the cooling plate, facilitate manufacturing, and reduce costs by the above design of the cooling plate.

[0014] In one or more embodiments, the main flow channel plate is provided with a main groove to form the flow channel outlet section and the main cooling flow channel with the base plate.

[0015] In one or more embodiments, the sub-flow channel plate is provided with a sub-groove to form the flow channel inlet section and the guide flow channel with the base plate.

[0016] In one or more embodiments, the base plate is provided with at least one opening, and the guide flow channel is in fluid communication with the main cooling flow channel via the at least one opening.

[0017] In one or more embodiments, the flow channel inlet section comprises a plurality of flow channels arranged in parallel, the guide flow channel is one flow channel, and the flow channels of the flow channel inlet section converge into the guide flow channel.

[0018] The present disclosure can fully cover the flow channel outlet section and make sufficient heat exchange with the flow channel outlet section by the above design of the flow channel inlet section.

[0019] In one or more embodiments, the flow channel outlet section and the main cooling flow channel each comprise a plurality of flow channels, the number of flow channels of the main cooling flow channel is greater than that of the flow channel outlet section, the flow channels of the main cooling flow channel converge into the flow channels of the flow channel outlet section, and the guide flow channel does not overlap with the main cooling flow channel.

[0020] The present disclosure also provides a battery thermal management system, comprising: a battery; and the cooling plate as described above, wherein the cooling plate exchanges heat with the battery.

[0021] The battery thermal management system of the present disclosure can simplify the structure of the battery thermal management system, improve the efficiency of the battery thermal management system, avoid the problems of high cost and large space occupation caused by separately arranging the complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components, and reduce the battery temperature to avoid overheating of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is a top view of a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a sub-channel plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main channel plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a base plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cooling plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the base plate is a transparent piece. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below through specific specific embodiments, and other advantages and effects of the present disclosure can be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the content disclosed in the present specification.

[0029] It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the accompanying drawings of the present specification are only used to cooperate with the content disclosed in the present specification for the understanding and reading of those skilled in the art, and do not have technical significance to limit the implementation conditions of the present disclosure, so any modification of the structure, change of the proportional relationship or adjustment of the size, without affecting the effects and purposes that can be achieved by the present disclosure, should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed by the present disclosure. At the same time, the terms such as "upper" and "one" used in the present specification are only for the clear understanding of the description, and not to limit the implementation range of the present disclosure, and the change or adjustment of the relative relationship without substantially changing the technical content is also regarded as the implementation scope of the present disclosure.

[0030] In order to more clearly understand the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be specifically described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0031] The present disclosure provides a cooling plate 1 integrated with an intermediate heat exchanger function. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cooling plate 1 has a liquid flow channel through which a fluid such as refrigerant can flow. The liquid flow channel of the cooling plate 1 includes a flow channel inlet section 20 and a flow channel outlet section 30, and the refrigerant can enter the liquid flow channel through the flow channel inlet section 20 and flow out through the flow channel outlet section 30, and the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 can exchange heat with the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30. In this way, the cooling plate 1 has the function of an intermediate heat exchanger, avoiding the problems of increased cost and excessive volume occupation caused by separately arranging a complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components.

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid flow channel of the cooling plate 1 can further include a guide flow channel 11 and a main cooling flow channel 12, wherein the guide flow channel 11 is connected between the flow channel inlet section 20 and the main cooling flow channel 12, the main cooling flow channel 12 is connected between the guide flow channel 11 and the flow channel outlet section 30, and the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30 are arranged in an overlapping manner, which can effectively improve the heat exchange efficiency of the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30.

[0033] Specifically, in the present embodiment, the cooling plate 1 can have a three-plate structure, which is simple in structure, low in cost, and easy to manufacture. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the cooling plate 1 can be composed of a base plate 40, a main flow plate 50, and a sub-flow plate 60 arranged in a stacked manner, wherein the base plate 40 can be substantially a rectangular flat plate (as shown in FIG. 5), and is located between the main flow plate 50 and the sub-flow plate 60.

[0034] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the sub-flow plate 60 can be substantially in a strip shape, and is provided with a sub-groove 61. The sub-flow plate 60 is stacked on a first side (for example, the upper side of the base plate 40, as shown in FIG. 1) of the base plate 40 to cooperate with the base plate 40 to form the flow channel inlet section 20 and the guide flow channel 11 of the cooling plate 1. One end of the flow channel inlet section 20 has an opening 21 penetrating through the sub-flow plate 60, which is used to connect to an external component such as an electronic expansion valve to serve as a refrigerant inlet of the cooling plate 1. The other end of the flow channel inlet section 20 is connected to the guide flow channel 11. In an embodiment, the flow channel inlet section 20 includes a plurality of flow channels arranged in parallel (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the present disclosure illustrates three flow channels, but is not limited thereto), which can fully cover the flow channel outlet section 30 and exchange heat with it sufficiently, and the flow channels of the flow channel inlet section 20 can guide the gas-liquid mixed state refrigerant after the electronic expansion valve to the liquid flow channel of the cooling plate 1, especially to the guide flow channel 11 of the liquid flow channel. The guide flow channel 11 can be a flow channel, and the flow channels of the flow channel inlet section 20 converge into the guide flow channel 11 to converge and guide the refrigerant flowing through the flow channel inlet section 20 to the main cooling flow channel 12.

[0035] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the main runner plate 50 can be substantially rectangular and has a main recess 51 formed thereon. The main runner plate 50 is stacked on the second side (e.g., the lower side) of the base plate 40 to cooperate with the base plate 40 to form the flow channel outlet section 30 and the main cooling flow channel 12 of the cooling plate 1, wherein the second side is opposite to the first side of the base plate 40. One end of the flow channel outlet section 30 has an opening 31 formed through the main runner plate 50 for connecting to an external component, such as a compressor, as the refrigerant outlet of the cooling plate 1. The other end of the flow channel outlet section 30 is connected to the main cooling flow channel 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the base plate 40 can have at least one opening 41 (six openings 41 are shown in the present disclosure, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto) formed thereon for connecting the flow guide flow channel 11 and the main cooling flow channel 12. That is, the main cooling flow channel 12 is in fluid communication with the flow guide flow channel 11 via the opening 41, so that the flow guide flow channel 11 can guide the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 to the main cooling flow channel 12, and then to the flow channel outlet section 30. In an embodiment, the flow channel outlet section 30 and the main cooling flow channel 12 each include a plurality of flow channels arranged in parallel, and the number of flow channels in the main cooling flow channel 12 is greater than that in the flow channel outlet section 30 (three flow channels are shown in the flow channel outlet section 30 in the present disclosure to coincide with the flow channels in the flow channel inlet section 20, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto). The refrigerant flowing through the main cooling flow channel 12 converges to the flow channel outlet section 30 and then flows out of the cooling plate 1 via the opening 31.

[0036] In order to clearly show the positional relationship between the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30, and between the flow guide flow channel 11 and the main cooling flow channel 12, the base plate 40 in the cooling plate 1 shown in FIG. 6 is transparent.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 6, the flow channel inlet section 20 of the cooling plate 1 is arranged in overlapping manner with the flow channel outlet section 30 in the direction perpendicular to the base 40, or in other words, the flow channel inlet section 20 covers the flow channel outlet section 30, so that the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 can exchange heat with the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 sufficiently, and the heat exchange efficiency between the two can be improved, and the above arrangement can make the cooling plate 1 have the function of an intermediate heat exchanger. Specifically, the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 has a larger pressure and a higher temperature compared with the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30, and since the flow channel inlet section 20 covers the flow channel outlet section 30, the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 will be cooled by the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 first, and then enter the main cooling flow channel 12 through the flow guide flow channel 11 and the opening 41, so that the refrigerant after entering the main cooling flow channel 12 can absorb more heat (for example, can absorb more heat of the externally arranged battery), and the heat exchange efficiency is improved; at the same time, the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 will be heated by the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 which has a larger pressure and a higher temperature, and the superheat degree of the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 is improved, so that the refrigerant flowing out of the opening 31 is completely gasified, so as to protect the compressor which is connected to the opening 31, and effectively prevent liquid strike of the compressor.

[0038] Please continue to refer to FIG. 6, the flow guide flow channel 11 is located above one end of the main cooling flow channel 12, and is respectively in fluid communication with the plurality of flow channels of the main cooling flow channel 12 through at least one opening 41 (for example, 6 openings 41 of the present disclosure) on the base 40, that is, in the top view of the cooling plate 1, the flow guide flow channel 11 can be arranged to intersect (rather than completely overlap) with the plurality of flow channels of the main cooling flow channel 12, and the opening 41 on the base 40 is arranged at the intersection position, so that not only the fluid communication between the flow guide flow channel 11 and the main cooling flow channel 12 can be realized, but also the flow guide flow channel 11 can guide the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 to the plurality of flow channels of the main cooling flow channel 12 respectively.

[0039] The flow process and morphological change of the refrigerant in the cooling plate 1 will be described below in combination with FIG. 6.

[0040] The refrigerant after the electronic expansion valve is a gas-liquid mixed refrigerant with high temperature and high pressure. The gas-liquid mixed refrigerant can enter the flow channel inlet section 20 through the opening 21. The gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 is cooled by the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30. The cooled refrigerant enters the main cooling flow channel 12 through the flow guide flow channel 11 and the opening 41 of the base plate 40. Since the refrigerant needs to overcome resistance when flowing in the flow channel, the refrigerant has a pressure loss (i.e., the pressure of the refrigerant decreases). The lower the pressure, the lower the temperature. Therefore, the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant gradually decrease when flowing through the main cooling flow channel 12. Since the battery (not shown) can be arranged close to the cooling plate 1, especially close to the first side of the base plate 40 where the sub-flow channel plate 60 is not stacked, the refrigerant with gradually decreasing temperature and pressure in the main cooling flow channel 12 can exchange heat with the battery to reduce the temperature of the battery. It should be noted that since the main cooling flow channel 12, especially the main groove 51, is densely arranged on the entire main flow channel plate 50, and the area of the main flow channel plate 50 is large, the temperature of the refrigerant decreases more than the temperature of the battery increases when flowing through the main cooling flow channel 12. That is, even if the refrigerant in the main cooling flow channel 12 absorbs heat from the battery, the temperature of the refrigerant in the main cooling flow channel 12 is still lower than the temperature of the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20. Since there is a temperature difference, and the refrigerant after flowing through the main cooling flow channel 12 enters the flow channel outlet section 30, the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 can exchange heat with the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20, i.e., the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section 30 can absorb heat from the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20, so that the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant is fully converted into gaseous refrigerant. Subsequently, the gaseous refrigerant can flow out of the cooling plate 1 through the opening 31 and enter the compressor connected to the opening 31, and the liquid strike of the compressor is avoided.

[0041] Although the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure are described by way of example with the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30 arranged in overlap / overlap, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30 can be arranged close to each other without overlap, as long as the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section 20 and the flow channel outlet section 30 can exchange heat to make the cooling plate 1 have the function of an intermediate heat exchanger.

[0042] The present disclosure provides a cooling plate, by designing a liquid flow channel of the cooling plate to include a flow channel inlet section and a flow channel outlet section in fluid communication, and the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section and the flow channel outlet section can exchange heat, so that the cooling plate has the function of an intermediate heat exchanger, avoiding the problems of increasing cost and occupying large space caused by additionally setting a complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components; at the same time, since the cooling plate is a three-plate structure, i.e. the cooling plate is stacked by a base plate, a main flow channel plate and a sub-flow channel plate, and the base plate is located between the main flow channel plate and the sub-flow channel plate, so that the structure of the cooling plate can be simplified, and the cooling plate is convenient to manufacture and has low cost.

[0043] The present disclosure also provides a battery thermal management system. The battery thermal management system includes a battery and the aforementioned cooling plate 1, wherein the battery can be arranged on the cooling plate 1, especially on the first side of the base plate 40 which is not stacked with the sub-flow channel plate 60, so that the cooling plate 1 can exchange heat with the battery to reduce the temperature of the battery and avoid overheating of the battery. At the same time, since the battery thermal management system includes the aforementioned cooling plate 1, the structure of the battery thermal management system can be simplified, the efficiency of the battery thermal management system can be improved, and the problems of increasing cost and occupying large space caused by separately setting a complex intermediate heat exchanger and connecting components can be avoided.

[0044] The exemplary embodiments of the cooling plate integrated with the intermediate heat exchanger function and the battery thermal management system provided by the present disclosure are described above with reference to preferred embodiments, however, those skilled in the art can understand that various modifications and changes can be made to the above specific embodiments, and various technical features and structures proposed by the present disclosure can be combined without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, and the protection scope of the present disclosure is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cooling plate (1), characterized in that The liquid flow channel of the cooling plate (1) comprises: a flow channel inlet section (20) and a flow channel outlet section (30) for the refrigerant to enter the liquid flow channel via the flow channel inlet section (20) and flow out via the flow channel outlet section (30); wherein the refrigerant in the flow channel inlet section (20) can exchange heat with the refrigerant in the flow channel outlet section (30).

2. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The flow channel inlet section (20) overlaps with the flow channel outlet section (30).

3. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that The liquid flow channel further comprises a pilot flow channel (11) and a main cooling flow channel (12) in fluid communication, wherein the pilot flow channel (11) is connected between the flow channel inlet section (20) and the main cooling flow channel (12), and the main cooling flow channel (12) is connected between the pilot flow channel (11) and the flow channel outlet section (30).

4. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that The cooling plate (1) has a base plate (40), a main flow channel plate (50) and a sub flow channel plate (60) arranged in a stack, wherein the base plate (40) is arranged between the main flow channel plate (50) and the sub flow channel plate (60).

5. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that The main flow channel plate (50) is provided with a main groove (51) to form the flow channel outlet section (30) and the main cooling flow channel (12) with the base plate (40).

6. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that The sub flow channel plate (60) is provided with a sub groove (61) to form the flow channel inlet section (20) and the pilot flow channel (11) with the base plate (40).

7. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that The base plate (40) is provided with at least one opening (41), and the pilot flow channel (11) is in fluid communication with the main cooling flow channel (12) via the at least one opening (41).

8. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that The flow channel inlet section (20) comprises a plurality of flow channels arranged in parallel, the pilot flow channel (11) is one flow channel, and the flow channels of the flow channel inlet section (20) converge into the pilot flow channel (11).

9. The cooling plate (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that The flow channel outlet section (30) and the main cooling flow channel (12) each comprise a plurality of flow channels, and the number of flow channels of the main cooling flow channel (12) is greater than that of the flow channel outlet section (30), and the flow channels of the main cooling flow channel (12) converge into the flow channels of the flow channel outlet section (30); the pilot flow channel (11) does not overlap with the main cooling flow channel (12).

10. A battery thermal management system, characterized by, The battery thermal management system comprises: a battery; and The cooling plate (1) according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the cooling plate (1) exchanges heat with the battery.

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