Fire suppression system for electric vehicle

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fire suppression system for an electric vehicle, the system being characterized by comprising: a battery pack (100) disposed and installed on the bottom of a vehicle body of an electric vehicle (10); a pack case (200) installed to surround the outside of the battery pack (100) so that a passage (210) is provided at a predetermined distance from the surface, bottom surface, and four edge surfaces of the battery pack (100); a fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) installed on the outer surface of one side of the pack case (200) so that one end is connected to the passage (210); and an automatic fire extinguishing spray device (300) which includes a tank filled on the inside with a fire extinguishing agent for fire suppression, such as a fire extinguishing liquid or a fire extinguishing gas, and is installed on one side of the outside of the pack case (200) by being connected to the other end of the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) to inject the fire extinguishing agent filled therein into the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) by means of an opening and closing valve, operated in conjunction with a fire alarm system, when a fire occurs. The system rapidly extinguishes thermal runaway of the battery pack (100) in an early stage when a fire occurs.

Description

Electric vehicle fire suppression system

[0001] The present invention relates to a fire suppression system for an electric vehicle, and more particularly, to a fire suppression system for an electric vehicle that can more quickly suppress the thermal runaway phenomenon of an electric vehicle battery that has caught fire when a fire occurs in an electric vehicle, regardless of the region or location.

[0002] In general, the batteries used in electric vehicles currently on the market (hereinafter referred to as “electric vehicles”) are categorized into lithium-ion batteries, which have high energy density and long lifespan, and nickel-hydrogen batteries, which charge quickly and have good durability.

[0003] The batteries of these electric vehicles are subject to physical shocks from external collisions while driving, causing damage to the separator, or when the voltage increases due to overcharging during charging, causing swelling inside the battery and damaging the separator, etc., causing thermal runaway due to overheating, which can lead to a risk of fire and explosion.

[0004] And fires caused by thermal runaway of electric vehicle batteries are occurring not only when the vehicle receives a physical shock from the outside or is being charged, but also when the vehicle is running on the road or parked for a long time due to battery overheating of unknown cause. The cause of this thermal runaway phenomenon of batteries has not yet been precisely identified.

[0005] And the reason why it is difficult to extinguish fires in electric vehicles is because the batteries are covered with upper and lower metal cases, preventing water and fire extinguishing agents from penetrating from the outside.

[0006] Looking at the conventional methods used to extinguish fires in electric vehicles, the fire is extinguished by spraying liquid or gaseous fire extinguishing agents on the battery and body to prevent thermal runaway of the battery from the outside of the electric vehicle where a fire has broken out, or by covering it with a suffocating fire extinguishing cover.

[0007] A temporary water tank is installed to surround the vehicle body, and the tank is filled with fire extinguishing agents or water to extinguish the fire by submerging the battery of the electric vehicle in the fire extinguishing agent or water.

[0008] As mentioned above, the fire suppression method using a suffocation fire cover or a water tank can be said to be currently being implemented by the National Fire Agency as an accident response manual.

[0009] And as a prior art related to electric vehicle fire suppression, there is a 'Method for suppressing fire in an electric vehicle using a rapid installation tank' of the Republic of Korea Patent Gazette No. 10-2645759 (announced on March 11, 2024) disclosed in 'Patent Document 1' of the prior art document below.

[0010] The above-mentioned 'Patent Document 1' is a method of transporting a water tank to the area where an electric vehicle fire has occurred, installing the water tank to surround the electric vehicle on fire, and then filling the water tank with water to suppress the battery thermal runaway of the electric vehicle.

[0011] However, this has the problem that it consumes a lot of water to fill the tank, and it is not efficient to completely extinguish a fire caused by battery overload with the water filled in the tank, so it takes a long time to extinguish the fire.

[0012] Another prior art is the 'Fire Suppression System for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations', registered in the Republic of Korea Patent Gazette No. 10-2577099 (announced on September 12, 2023) and disclosed in 'Patent Document 2'.

[0013] The above 'Patent Document 2' detects the presence of a fire by installing a camera measuring device that charges general images and thermal images in a parking area equipped with an electric vehicle charger, and a flame retardant curtain folded over the charging parking area unfolds in the event of a fire to cover the parked electric vehicle, thereby blocking external exposure of the flame, and the fire extinguishing agent in the agent tank is sprayed into the flame retardant curtain to extinguish the fire.

[0014] And when the high-tech pole installed on the floor of the charging area penetrates the floor of the electric vehicle and enters the inside of the battery, the extinguishing agent in the chemical tank is injected into the inside of the battery through the high-tech pole to extinguish the fire.

[0015] This 'Patent Document 2' is only capable of extinguishing fires in electric vehicles parked in parking areas equipped with chargers, and has the problem that it is difficult to respond when a fire breaks out in an electric vehicle parked in a general parking area or due to a vehicle collision while driving on the road.

[0016] Additionally, if an electric vehicle fire breaks out in a place where fire trucks have difficulty entering, such as an underground parking lot of a building, and the initial extinguishment is not successful, the fire can spread to numerous vehicles parked nearby, causing massive property damage.

[0017] For example, recently, an electric vehicle parked in the underground parking lot of an apartment building in Incheon caught fire of unknown cause, and as the battery rapidly overheated and was not extinguished early, more than 140 of the hundreds of vehicles parked nearby were burned or burned to the ground, causing damage to their bodies. In addition, various pipes and cables installed on the ceiling of the underground parking lot melted, causing water and electricity outages.

[0018] [Prior Art Literature]

[0019] [Patent Document]

[0020] (Patent Document 1) 'Method for extinguishing fire in an electric vehicle using a rapid installation tank', Korean Patent Gazette No. 10-2645759 (announced on March 11, 2024)

[0021] (Patent Document 2) 'Fire Suppression System for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations', Republic of Korea Patent Gazette Registration No. 10-2577099 (announced on September 12, 2023)

[0022] The present invention has been developed to improve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional and prior art technologies, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide a fire suppression system for an electric vehicle that can quickly suppress the thermal runaway phenomenon of a battery anywhere, regardless of location, when a fire of unknown cause occurs as well as a vehicle collision while charging through a charger, while parked in a general parking line, or while driving on a road.

[0023] Another object of the present invention is to provide a fire suppression system for an electric vehicle that can effectively prevent not only thermal runaway of the battery but also fire from spreading to the vehicle body around the battery.

[0024] The fire suppression system of the electric vehicle of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises, in one embodiment, a battery pack installed on the floor of a body of the electric vehicle; a pack case that surrounds the exterior of the battery pack so that a passage is provided at a predetermined interval on the outer surface of the battery pack; a fire extinguishing agent supply pipe installed on one outer surface of the pack case so as to be connected to the passage; and an automatic fire extinguishing spray device installed on the exterior of the pack case and connected to the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe, which includes a tank filled with a fire extinguishing agent for suppressing fire inside, and which injects the fire extinguishing agent filled inside into the passage between the pack case and the battery pack when a fire occurs by an opening / closing valve that is operated in conjunction with a fire alarm system.

[0025] In another embodiment, the invention is characterized by comprising: a battery pack installed on the floor of a body of an electric vehicle; a pack case installed to wrap around the exterior of the battery pack so as to have a predetermined passage formed on the outer surface of the battery pack; an extinguishing medium supply pipe installed at one or more locations on the outer surface of the pack case so as to be connected to the passage at one end, and a nozzle connection provided at the other end so as to be placed on the surface of the body; and an extinguishing medium injection device having an extinguishing medium supply nozzle connected to the nozzle connection at the front end, and connected to an opening / closing valve of a tank filled with a fire extinguishing medium and a supply hose at the rear end to supply the extinguishing medium to the passage.

[0026] And the above pack case is characterized by having multiple fire extinguishing agent discharge ports on the upper surface and the edge side to discharge fire extinguishing agent, so that a portion of the fire extinguishing agent continuously injected into the passage is discharged around the surface and edge of the pack case.

[0027] An electric vehicle equipped with the fire suppression system of the present invention has the effect of quickly and efficiently suppressing the thermal runaway phenomenon of the battery in the event of a fire occurring anywhere, regardless of location, by allowing the battery pack to be quickly submerged in the fire suppression agent filled in the passage through an automatic fire extinguishing spray device equipped in the vehicle or through a fire suppression agent injection device installed outside the vehicle in the event of a fire occurring while charging, parking, or driving.

[0028] In addition, the fire extinguishing agent filled in the passage between the battery pack and the pack case is distributed and discharged to various parts of the vehicle body through the discharge ports provided on the upper surface and side edges of the pack case until the fire extinguishing agent filled in the tank is completely exhausted, effectively preventing the fire from spreading to other places.

[0029] Figure 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a state in which the fire suppression system of the present invention is mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0030] Figure 2 is a plan view showing an example of a state in which the fire suppression system of the present invention is mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment of the fire suppression system of the present invention mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0032] Figure 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the fire suppression system of the present invention mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0033] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure in which a pack case is installed in an assembly manner so that a passage for the evolution material is provided outside the battery pack in the present invention.

[0034] [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 10: Electric vehicles

[0036] 100: Battery pack

[0037] 200: Pack Case

[0038] 200a, 200b: Pack upper and lower cases

[0039] 201,202: Fastening flange

[0040] 210: Passage

[0041] 220: Evolutionary material supply pipe

[0042] 221: Nozzle connection

[0043] 230: exhaust port

[0044] 240: Support

[0045] 250: Fastening bolt

[0046] 300: Automatic fire extinguishing spray device

[0047] 510: Nozzle

[0048] 520: hose

[0049] The following description of the present invention is merely an example for structural and functional explanation. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the examples set forth herein. In other words, since the examples are capable of various modifications and may take various forms, the scope of the present invention should be understood to include equivalents that can realize the technical idea.

[0050] In addition, the purpose or effect presented in the present invention does not mean that a specific embodiment must include all of them or include only such effects, and therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be understood as being limited thereby.

[0051] The preferred technical configuration and operation for carrying out the present invention are described in detail for each embodiment with reference to the attached drawings as follows.

[0052] <Example 1>

[0053] FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a state in which the fire suppression system of the present invention is mounted on an electric vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a state in which the fire suppression system of the present invention is mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0054] The electric vehicle fire suppression system of the present invention illustrated in Example 1 is characterized by being composed of a battery pack (100), a pack case (200), a fire extinguishing material supply pipe (220), and an automatic fire extinguishing spray device (400).

[0055] The above battery pack (100) is installed and placed on the bottom of the body of the electric vehicle (10), and is composed of battery modules spaced apart and mounted in several compartments of the frame, a cooling plate installed on the bottom of the frame to protect the battery modules, and upper and lower covers installed on the surface and bottom to protect the battery modules, but some components may be manufactured differently.

[0056] The above pack case (200) is installed in a form that wraps around the outside of the battery pack (100) so that the surface, bottom, and four-sided edge surfaces of the battery pack (100) are provided with a passage (210) at a predetermined interval, and it is obvious that a predetermined support means is required between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) to support and firmly support the battery pack (100) in order to maintain the interval of the passage (210).

[0057] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure in which a pack case is installed in an assembly manner so that a passage for the evolution material is provided outside the battery pack according to the present invention.

[0058] As shown here, it is preferable to have a support member (240) for supporting the battery pack (100) on the inner surface of the pack case (200). In FIG. 5, the support member (240) is shown only at the bottom, but the support member (240) may be provided at the top or side as needed.

[0059] And the above-mentioned evolution material supply pipe (220) is installed on one outer surface of the pack case (200) so that one end is connected to the passage (210).

[0060] The above automatic fire extinguishing injection device (300) includes a tank filled with a fire extinguishing agent (hereinafter collectively referred to as “fire extinguishing agent”) such as a fire extinguishing liquid (meaning liquid fire extinguishing liquid, fire fighting water, fire extinguishing liquid for extinguishing) or a fire extinguishing gas, and is installed on one side of the exterior of the pack case (200) while connected to the other end of the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) so that when a fire occurs, the fire extinguishing agent filled inside is injected into the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) by an opening / closing valve that operates in conjunction with a fire alarm system.

[0061] That is, the fire alarm system exchanges necessary information with the battery management system (BMS) and display device of the electric vehicle through communication signals, and when an input signal is received from a temperature sensor and a flame detector, an output signal is sent to an automatic fire extinguishing spray device (300) to open the opening / closing valve, thereby injecting the fire extinguishing agent in the tank into the passage (210).

[0062] When an electric vehicle (10) equipped with a battery fire extinguishing device of the present invention is subjected to an external impact while charging, while parked, or while driving, and a fire occurs due to an unknown cause, the opening / closing valve of the automatic fire extinguishing spray device (300) that operates in conjunction with the fire alarm system installed in the vehicle opens, and the fire extinguishing agent filled in the tank is quickly injected into the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) through the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220).

[0063] Here, the passage (210) is formed to cover the entire surface, bottom, and four-sided edges of the battery pack (100), so that the entire outer circumference of the battery pack (100) is placed in the extinguishing material filled in the passage (210), and thereby the thermal runaway phenomenon of the battery pack (100) can be effectively suppressed.

[0064] <Example 2>

[0065] FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment of the fire suppression system of the present invention mounted on an electric vehicle, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the fire suppression system of the present invention mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0066] The electric vehicle fire suppression system of the present invention illustrated in Example 2 is characterized by being composed of a battery pack (100), a pack case (200), a fire extinguishing material supply pipe (220), and a fire extinguishing material injection device (not shown in the drawing).

[0067] The above battery pack (100) is installed and placed on the floor of the electric vehicle (10). The structure of the battery pack (100) is described in the battery pack described in 'Example 1' above, so it will be omitted here.

[0068] And the pack case (200) is installed in a form that wraps around the outside of the battery pack (100) so that the surface, bottom, and four-sided edge surfaces of the battery pack (100) and a passage (210) at a predetermined interval are provided. Here, in order to support the battery pack (100) to maintain the interval of the passage (210), a support member (240) that supports the battery pack (100) on the inside of the pack case (200) may be provided only on the bottom surface, or may be provided together on the top surface and the side surface, as needed.

[0069] And the above-mentioned evolution material supply pipe (220) is installed on the outer surface of the pack case (200) so that one end is connected to the passage (210), and the nozzle connection part (221) provided on the other end is installed so as to be placed on the body surface.

[0070] The fire extinguishing agent injection device, not shown in the drawing, has a nozzle (510) at the front end that is connected to the nozzle connection (221) of the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220), and includes a tank filled with a fire extinguishing agent such as a fire extinguishing liquid or a fire extinguishing gas at the rear end, and is connected to the tank's opening / closing valve and a hose (520) to supply the fire extinguishing agent to the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100).

[0071] In the case where a fire occurs in an electric vehicle (10) equipped with the fire suppression system of the present invention while charging, parking, or driving, the nozzle (510) at the tip of the fire extinguishing agent injection device is connected to the nozzle connection (221) of the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) from outside the vehicle, and the tank opening / closing valve is opened, the fire extinguishing agent filled in the tank is quickly injected into the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) through the fire extinguishing agent supply pipe (220).

[0072] At this time, since the passage (210) is formed to cover the entire surface, bottom, and four-sided edges of the battery pack (100), the battery pack (100) is immersed in the fire extinguishing material that fills the passage (210) on its entire outer circumference, and as a result, the thermal runaway phenomenon of the battery pack (100) can be well suppressed in the fire extinguishing material.

[0073] Here, the above-mentioned extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) may be installed in one place on the outer surface of the pack case (200), but it is preferable to install it in two or more places including the front and the rear, and then the extinguishing agent can be filled in the passage (210) in multiple places more quickly through the extinguishing agent injection device, which can be said to be very effective in suppressing the thermal runaway phenomenon.

[0074] In the first and second embodiments of the present invention, it is preferable that the extinguishing agent supply pipe (220) be formed into multiple sections so that one end is connected to the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) so that the extinguishing agent can be supplied in multiple places. Then, the extinguishing agent indicated by the blue dotted line in FIGS. 1 to 5 is quickly filled through multiple passages (210), making it more effective in suppressing the thermal runaway phenomenon.

[0075] In addition, it is preferable that the pack case (200) be provided with multiple fire extinguishing material discharge ports (230) for discharging fire extinguishing material on the upper surface and the edge side. Then, as the passage (210) is filled with the fire extinguishing material, a portion of the continuously injected fire extinguishing material is discharged outside the upper surface and the edge side of the pack case (200) for a certain period of time, thereby effectively preventing the flames from spreading to multiple parts of the vehicle body.

[0076] In addition, it is preferable that the pack case (200) be divided into a pack upper case (200a) and a pack lower case (200b) which are provided with corresponding fastening flanges (201) and (202) that are in contact with each other and are fastened with fastening bolts (250). As a result, the assembly process for installing the pack case (200) on the outer surface of the battery pack (100) is made easy, thereby improving productivity and improving workability for maintenance.

[0077] Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described according to the above embodiments, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims

1. A battery pack (100) installed and placed on the floor of the electric vehicle (10); A pack case (200) installed in a form that surrounds the exterior of the battery pack (100) so that the surface, bottom, and four-sided edge surfaces of the battery pack (100) and passages (210) at a predetermined interval are provided; First, a combustion material supply pipe (220) installed on one outer surface of the pack case (200) to be connected to the above passage (210); An automatic fire extinguishing spray device (300) is installed on one side of the exterior of the pack case (200) and is connected to the other end of the fire extinguishing material supply pipe (220) so that when a fire occurs, the fire extinguishing material filled inside is injected into the passage (210) between the pack case (200) and the battery pack (100) by an opening / closing valve that is operated in conjunction with a fire alarm system, and includes a tank filled with fire extinguishing material such as fire extinguishing liquid or fire extinguishing gas inside. A fire suppression system for an electric vehicle characterized by being configured to quickly and early extinguish thermal runaway of a battery pack (100) in the event of a fire.

2. A battery pack (100) installed and placed on the floor of the electric vehicle (10); A pack case (200) installed in a form that surrounds the exterior of the battery pack (100) so that the surface, bottom, and four-sided edge surfaces of the battery pack (100) and passages (210) at a predetermined interval are provided; First, the combustion material supply pipe (220) is installed in one or more places on the outer surface of the pack case (200) to be connected to the above passage (210), and the nozzle connection part (221) provided on the other end is installed to be placed on the body surface; The front end is equipped with a nozzle (510) connected to the nozzle connection (221), and the rear end is connected to a tank filled with fire extinguishing agent and an opening / closing valve and a hose (520) to supply the fire extinguishing agent to the passage (210); A fire suppression system for an electric vehicle characterized by being configured to quickly and early extinguish thermal runaway of a battery pack (100) in the event of a fire.

3. In paragraph 1 or 2, The pack case (200) is provided with several fire extinguishing material discharge ports (230) on the upper surface and the edge side to discharge fire extinguishing material. A fire suppression system for an electric vehicle, characterized in that a portion of the extinguishing agent filled in the passage (210) is discharged outside the upper surface and edge surface of the pack case (200).

4. In paragraph 1 or 2, The fire extinguishing material supply pipe (220) is formed by forming a plurality of distribution pipes at one end connected to the passage (210) so that the fire extinguishing material can be filled more quickly through multiple places in the passage (210). A fire suppression system for an electric vehicle, characterized in that the inner surface of the pack case (200) is provided with a plurality of support members (240) connected to the battery pack (100) so that the gap of the passage (210) is firmly maintained by the support members (240).

5. In paragraph 1 or 2, A fire suppression system for an electric vehicle characterized in that the pack case (200) is divided into a pack upper case (200a) and a pack lower case (200b) which are provided with mutually contacting fastening flanges (201) (202) and are assembled by fastening with fastening bolts (250).

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