Battery Module Cooling Structure with Spacer and Insulating Oil
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery modules face inefficiencies in cooling due to high contact thermal resistance between metal cooling fins and pouch-type cells, leading to potential performance degradation and safety risks from excessive heat in high-capacity and high-output applications.
Innovation Solution
A battery module design featuring a housing structure that allows direct contact between a cooling medium, such as insulating oil, and battery cells through a spacer system with supply and discharge tubes, minimizing contact thermal resistance and enhancing heat dissipation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If metal cooling fins are used to cool pouch-type cells, then cooling capability is provided, but contact thermal resistance increases due to material difference between cooling fin and cell surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cooling plate as an intermediary component between the pouch-type cells and the cooling system. The cooling plate has a cooling surface that directly contacts the cell surfaces, eliminating the need for metal cooling fins that create thermal resistance. The cooling plate material is selected to have good thermal conductivity and compatibility with the pouch-type cell surface, thereby reducing contact thermal resistance while maintaining effective heat dissipation.
2Temperature
If conventional cooling fins are applied, then cooling structure is provided, but sufficient cooling is not achieved in high heat generation situations
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling plate serves as an effective intermediary that enables direct thermal contact with the pouch-type cells. The cooling plate is designed with optimized thermal conductivity and surface contact area, allowing it to efficiently transfer heat from the cells to the cooling medium flowing through its internal channels. This intermediary structure overcomes the insufficient heat dissipation capacity of conventional cooling fins by providing a larger effective heat transfer area and better thermal contact.
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 solution effectively improves cooling efficiency, preventing overheating and associated safety hazards, such as ignition, by ensuring efficient heat emission and maintaining battery performance in high-capacity and high-output scenarios.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling structure for allowing the insulating oil to directly contact battery cells
Implementation Method 2
uses an insulating oil for cooling and has a cooling structure for allowing the insulating oil to directly contact battery cells
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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AI summary
Disclosed is a battery module, which includes a cell stack formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells; and a module housing configured to accommodate the cell stack and having a lower housing, a pair of side housing, a pair of front and rear housings and an upper housing for respectively covering a lower portion, both side portions, front and rear portions and an upper portion of the cell stack, and the lower housing includes a base plate configured to entirely cover a lower surface of the cell stack; a spacer interposed between the cell stack and the base plate to partially cover the lower surface of the cell stack so that an empty space is formed between the cell stack and the base plate; a supply tube connected to the spacer to supply a cooling medium to the empty space through the inside of the spacer; and a discharge tube connected to the spacer to discharge the cooling medium flowing in the empty space and the spacer to the outside.