Battery Cold Plate Layout for Uniform Coolant Flow Distribution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current battery cold plates experience uneven temperature distribution and poor heat dissipation balance due to high flow resistance differences within their branches, leading to inefficient heat dissipation as battery systems grow in size and power demand.
Innovation Solution
A battery cold plate design featuring external interfaces, convergence pipelines, and branches with throttling ports and sub-branches, where the cross-sectional area of throttling ports varies to reduce flow resistance, and flow guide strips are used to direct cooling liquid flow, ensuring balanced and efficient heat dissipation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the battery pack size and power demand are increased to meet higher power requirements, then the heat dissipation demand increases, but the flow resistance difference in the cold plate branches becomes larger, resulting in non-uniform temperature distribution and poor heat dissipation balance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by setting different throttling port cross-sectional areas in different branches of the cold plate. Specifically, branches closer to the inlet have smaller throttling port areas while branches farther away have larger areas, creating localized flow resistance adjustments that compensate for the increased flow resistance in longer branches, thereby achieving uniform temperature distribution across the battery pack even at high power demands
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of throttling port cross-sectional area along the flow direction to optimize heat dissipation balance. By gradually increasing the throttling port area from inlet to outlet branches, the system adjusts flow distribution parameters to maintain consistent flow rates across all branches, ensuring uniform temperature distribution under high power operating conditions
2Area of stationary object
If the cold plate size is increased to accommodate larger battery packs, then the heat dissipation capacity increases, but the flow resistance difference between branches becomes more significant, leading to poor heat dissipation balance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses the increased device complexity by implementing local quality variations in the throttling ports. Each branch is equipped with a throttling port having a cross-sectional area specifically tailored to its position in the cold plate, creating localized flow resistance compensation that simplifies the overall flow distribution and achieves uniform heat dissipation across the enlarged cold plate structure
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional cold plate designs are used with uniform throttling ports, then the structure is simple, but the temperature distribution across the cold plate is non-uniform, resulting in poor heat dissipation balance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and temperature uniformity by applying local quality to the throttling ports. While the overall cold plate structure remains simple and easy to manufacture, the throttling ports are designed with varying cross-sectional areas at different locations, providing the necessary flow resistance adjustment to achieve uniform temperature distribution without significantly complicating the manufacturing process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves uniform temperature distribution and improved heat dissipation efficiency across the battery cold plate, reducing the power demand for circulation pumps and lowering system costs while maintaining effective heat exchange performance.
Implementation Method 1
the flow resistance difference of the branch inside the cold plate is bigger
Implementation Method 2
a liquid cooling plate is mainly designed for liquid cooling
Data Source
AI summary
A battery cold plate includes two external interfaces, two convergence pipelines, and multiple branches. The two external interfaces are respectively in communication with the middle positions of the two convergence pipelines, so that the flow path of cooling liquid in the convergence pipeline is enabled to be half of the length of the convergence pipeline. The multiple branches are arranged side by side, and both ends of each of the branches are respectively in communication with the two convergence pipelines through multiple throttling ports. The total cross-sectional area of multiple throttling ports in a branch close to the external interface is less than the total cross-sectional area of multiple throttling ports in a branch away from the external interface, the cross-sectional areas of various sub-branches are the same.