Vehicle Battery Pack Dual Phase Change Material Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle battery packs face challenges in effectively cooling battery cells when the heat generated exceeds the melting capacity of the solid-liquid phase change material, leading to potential temperature exceedance beyond the battery's upper limit.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle battery pack design incorporating a casing with a heat dissipation property, a first solid-liquid phase change material in direct contact with the battery cells, a second solid-liquid phase change material with a higher phase change temperature, and a heat storage container with thermal conductivity, along with a thermal conductive member that extends to contact both the battery cells and the heat storage container, facilitating efficient heat transfer and absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a single solid-liquid phase change material is used to cool battery cells, then the battery cells can be cooled when heat generation is within the melting capacity, but the temperature may exceed the battery upper limit temperature when heat generation exceeds the melting capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into two distinct phase change materials with different phase change temperatures. The first phase change material (lower temperature) provides primary cooling, while the second phase change material (higher temperature) provides backup cooling, dividing the temperature control function into multiple stages to ensure reliable cooling under varying heat generation conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of phase change temperature by using two different phase change materials with distinct melting points. This allows the cooling system to adapt to different heat generation levels by utilizing the appropriate phase change material, ensuring temperature control reliability across a wider range of operating conditions.
2Reliability
If multiple phase change materials and heat storage containers are added to improve cooling effectiveness, then temperature control reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat storage container is nested within the housing space of the casing, and the first phase change material fills the remaining space around the battery cells. This nested arrangement allows multiple cooling components to coexist in a compact configuration, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliable temperature control through multiple phase change materials.
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
This design effectively suppresses temperature increases in battery cells by utilizing the phase change materials to absorb and dissipate heat, ensuring the battery cells remain within a safe temperature range even under high heat generation, thereby enhancing cooling efficiency and preventing overheating.
Implementation Method 1
heat absorption by the latent heat of the solid-liquid phase change material
Implementation Method 2
solid-liquid phase change material that directly comes in contact with the battery cell
Implementation Method 3
a second solid-liquid phase change material that has a heat storage property and has a second phase change temperature higher than a first phase change temperature
Implementation Method 4
second solid-liquid phase change material that has a heat storage property and has a second phase change temperature
Implementation Method 5
a heat storage container that has thermal conductivity and has an internal space filled with the second solid-liquid phase change material
Implementation Method 6
temperature increase can be suppressed due to convection cooling at the time of liquefaction
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle battery pack includes: a battery cell; a casing that has a heat dissipation property for discharging heat outside the casing and houses the battery cell in a housing space; a first solid-liquid phase change material that directly comes in contact with the battery cell and fills the housing space; a second solid-liquid phase change material that has a heat storage property and has a second phase change temperature higher than a first phase change temperature of the first solid-liquid phase change material; and a heat storage container that has thermal conductivity and has an internal space filled with the second solid-liquid phase change material. The heat storage container is housed in the housing space of the casing, and has an outer wall surface that comes in contact with an inner wall surface of the casing.