Dual Cooling Plate Battery Pack With Merged Refrigerant Piping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Secondary battery cells in a battery pack are prone to overcharging and exposure to high-temperature environments, posing a risk of ignition or explosion due to their dense arrangement, and existing cooling systems are inefficient and complex, affecting assembly and space utilization.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating first and second cooling plates with integrated inlet and outlet pipes, a main supply and outlet pipe, and a pack unit body, utilizing a refrigerant circulation system that enhances cooling efficiency and assembly efficiency by reducing component size and weight, while ensuring uniform refrigerant distribution and venting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple secondary battery cells are densely arranged to increase capacity and output, then the battery pack achieves higher energy density and performance, but the risk of overcharging and thermal runaway increases due to exposure to high-temperature environments
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple independent cooling plates (first cooling plate, second cooling plate) that can be selectively applied to different battery cell groups. Each cooling plate has its own cooling path and can be independently controlled, allowing targeted cooling of specific high-risk cells while maintaining overall system cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling plates are introduced as intermediary components between the battery cells and the external environment. These plates act as heat transfer mediators, conducting heat away from the battery cells through integrated cooling paths and refrigerant circulation systems, thereby preventing direct thermal exposure and reducing thermal runaway risk.
2Reliability
If traditional cooling systems are used with separate inlet and outlet pipes for each cooling plate, then cooling coverage is comprehensive, but the system becomes complex and assembly efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple inlet pipes from different cooling plates are merged into a single main supply pipe, and multiple outlet pipes are merged into a single main outlet pipe. This consolidation reduces the number of individual pipe connections required, simplifies the overall piping system, and improves assembly efficiency while maintaining comprehensive cooling coverage through the integrated refrigerant circulation path.
Solution Approach 2:
The main supply pipe and main outlet pipe serve multiple functions: they collectively supply refrigerant to all cooling plates and collect cooled refrigerant from all cooling plates. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate dedicated pipes for each cooling plate, reducing system complexity while ensuring uniform refrigerant distribution across all cooling zones.
3Reliability
If multiple separate cooling plates with individual piping are used, then cooling efficiency can be maintained, but assembly efficiency and space utilization are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The piping systems of multiple cooling plates are merged into unified main supply and outlet pipes. This integration reduces the total number of connection points and simplifies the assembly process, allowing for faster installation and maintenance while preserving the cooling efficiency of individual cooling plates through proper refrigerant flow management.
4Reliability
If multiple separate cooling plates with individual piping are used, then cooling coverage is comprehensive, but space utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The main supply pipe and main outlet pipe are positioned to serve multiple cooling plates in a compact arrangement. This merged piping configuration reduces the overall space required for the cooling system compared to having separate individual pipes for each cooling plate, while still ensuring comprehensive cooling coverage through the integrated refrigerant circulation system.
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
Improves cooling efficiency, assembly efficiency, and space utilization by minimizing component size and weight, reducing manufacturing costs, and preventing refrigerant leakage into battery cells, thereby enhancing safety and performance.
Implementation Method 1
a first cooling plate including a first cooling path, along which a refrigerant is circulated... a second cooling plate including a second cooling path, along which a refrigerant is circulated
Implementation Method 2
a first cooling plate including a first cooling path, along which a refrigerant is circulated... a main supply pipe branching from the first inlet pipe or the second inlet pipe and supplying a refrigerant
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes: a first cooling plate including a first cooling path, along which a refrigerant is circulated, and a first inlet pipe connected to the first cooling path; a second cooling plate including a second cooling path, along which a refrigerant is circulated, and a second inlet pipe connected to the second cooling path and sealingly engaged to the first inlet pipe; a main supply pipe branching from the first inlet pipe or the second inlet pipe and supplying a refrigerant to the first inlet pipe and the second inlet pipe; and a pack unit body including at least one battery cell and disposed between the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate.