Battery Pack With External Refrigerant Channel for Leakage Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs using liquid refrigerants for cooling face issues with refrigerant leakage due to vibration, leading to potential insulation breakdowns and short circuits, complicating manufacturing and increasing maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design where the refrigerant channel is isolated from the inner space, with the refrigerant flowing outside the pack case, eliminating the need for internal connections and reducing the risk of leakage, and using a thermally conductive pack case to effectively dissipate heat without internal refrigerant channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If refrigerant channels are provided inside the pack case to cool battery cells, then cooling efficiency is improved, but the risk of refrigerant leakage increases due to vibration and connection failures
Solution Approach 1:
The refrigerant channel is extracted from the inner space of the pack case and relocated to the outer surface. This separation removes the source of potential leakage away from sensitive battery components, eliminating the risk of refrigerant contact with bus bars and connectors while maintaining cooling functionality through thermal conduction via the pack case wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is segmented into two distinct zones: the refrigerant channel on the outer surface and the battery cell cooling zone inside the pack case. This spatial segmentation allows independent optimization of each zone, enabling effective cooling while isolating the refrigerant from potential failure points such as joints and connections within the inner space.
2Temperature
If refrigerant channels with joints and connection members are installed inside the pack case, then cooling capability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the refrigerant channel from the inner space and positioning it on the outer surface of the pack case, the design eliminates the need for multiple joints and connection members that would be required to route refrigerant channels through the complex internal structure. This significantly simplifies the device architecture and reduces manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pack case structure is merged with the refrigerant channel function, where the pack case wall itself serves as the thermal conduction path. This integration eliminates the need for separate internal channels and multiple connection components, reducing device complexity while maintaining effective heat transfer from battery cells to refrigerant.
3Temperature
If refrigerant channels are installed inside the pack case, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but safety against insulation breakdown and short circuit deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The refrigerant channel is extracted from the inner space containing bus bars, wires, and connectors, and relocated to the outer surface of the pack case. This physical separation eliminates the harmful interaction between liquid refrigerant and electrical components, preventing insulation breakdown and short circuit risks while maintaining cooling effectiveness through the pack case's thermal conduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The pack case wall serves as an intermediary thermal conduction medium between the battery cells and the refrigerant. This intermediary structure allows heat transfer to occur effectively while maintaining physical isolation between the refrigerant and sensitive electrical components, thereby preventing harmful effects such as insulation breakdown and short circuits.
4Temperature
If connection members for fixing refrigerant channels are disposed in the inner space, then cooling function is achieved, but ease of manufacture and maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the refrigerant channel and its associated connection members from the inner space of the pack case, the design simplifies the manufacturing process. The refrigerant channel can be installed on the outer surface as a single integrated component, eliminating the need for complex internal assembly operations and reducing manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of installing the refrigerant channel from the inside of the pack case outward, the design inverts the approach by installing the channel on the outer surface and having it thermally conduct through the pack case wall to cool the battery cells. This inverted installation approach simplifies manufacturing and improves ease of assembly and maintenance.
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
Prevents refrigerant leakage into the battery pack's inner space, simplifies manufacturing, reduces the risk of insulation breakdowns, and maintains a compact structure while ensuring effective heat dissipation.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid refrigerant isolated from an inner space of the pack case removes heat conducted from the battery cells through cooling of the pack case
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a battery pack including at least one battery module including a battery cell stack constituted by two or more stacked battery cells that can be charged and discharged and a pack case for surrounding an outside of the battery module, wherein a liquid refrigerant isolated from an inner space of the pack case removes heat conducted from the battery cells through cooling of the pack case.