Distributed Battery Pack Cooling With Fire Suppression Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery thermal management systems face challenges in preventing overheating and thermal runaway, which can lead to fires and explosions, particularly in electric vehicles, due to limitations in cooling efficiency and increased weight, volume, and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A distributed cooling and fire protection system for battery assemblies, featuring a case with empty spaces for cooling liquids and heat spreader elements made of high thermal conductivity materials like graphene, which activate the delivery of fire-suppressing liquids upon temperature thresholds, preventing cell-to-cell propagation of thermal runaway or fires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional air cooling is used, then the system is simple and low cost, but it cannot meet cooling requirements under high discharge rates
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple zones with individual cooling channels distributed among battery cells. Each cooling channel can be independently controlled to deliver cooling liquid to specific high-heat-generation zones, enabling targeted thermal management without requiring a complex centralized cooling system.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system dynamically adjusts the flow rate and distribution of cooling liquid based on real-time temperature monitoring and discharge rate conditions. During high discharge rates, cooling liquid is directed to cells generating excessive heat, while during normal operation, the system maintains simpler operation with reduced cooling demand.
2Reliability
If liquid cooling system is implemented with cold plates along both surfaces, then cooling efficiency is improved, but weight and volume increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of implementing full cold plates on both surfaces of each cell, the invention uses segmented cooling channels positioned at strategic locations around battery cells. This segmented approach provides sufficient cooling to high-heat-generation zones while minimizing the total amount of cooling liquid and cooling structure required, thereby reducing weight.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling liquid is delivered locally to specific regions around battery cells where heat generation is most intense, rather than uniformly cooling all surfaces. This localized cooling approach uses minimal cooling liquid volume and reduces the weight of cooling system components while maintaining effective thermal management.
3Temperature
If coolant velocity and cooling structure size are increased, then average temperature and temperature uniformity are improved, but pack volume and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system uses multiple small distributed cooling channels instead of a few large centralized cooling structures. This segmentation allows cooling liquid to reach multiple localized hot spots simultaneously, improving temperature uniformity across the battery pack without requiring large cooling structures that would increase pack volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling liquid acts as an intermediary that can be rapidly directed to specific high-heat-generation zones. By using a movable fluid medium rather than fixed large cooling structures, the system achieves good temperature uniformity while keeping the cooling system compact and minimizing pack volume.
4Reliability
If fire protection system is added to prevent thermal runaway, then safety is improved, but weight, volume, and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling liquid serves dual functions: it provides thermal management during normal operation and acts as a fire suppression agent during thermal runaway events. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate fire protection systems, reducing overall system complexity, weight, and volume while maintaining battery safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the thermal management function and fire protection function into a single integrated system using the same cooling liquid circulation infrastructure. By combining these functions, the system avoids duplicating components and reduces overall complexity while providing both cooling and fire suppression capabilities.
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 system effectively suppresses thermal runaway and fires, ensuring safe battery operation without significant increases in weight, volume, or complexity, by rapidly dissipating heat and delivering fire-suppressing liquids to prevent cascading reactions.
Implementation Method 1
The cooling liquid is in thermal contact with a heat spreader element... acts to dissipate heat transferred from the battery cell
Implementation Method 2
heat spreader element... configured to transport heat away from the battery cells through the heat spreader element to the pipes
Implementation Method 3
the first cooling liquid comprises a fire protection or fire suppression substance which, on contact with the cell, prevents, retards, or extinguishes a cell fire and prevents a propagation or cell-to-cell cascading reactions
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a battery assembly having a distributed cooling and fire protection system, the battery assembly comprising: (a) a plurality of battery cells; (b) a case configured to hold the plurality of battery cells; and (c) a cooling liquid distribution system, having a cooling liquid reservoir and/or pipes that are in proximity to at least a subset of the plurality of the cells and configured to deliver, on demand, a desired amount of the first cooling liquid on a cell or multiple cells in the vicinity of the cell when a temperature of the cell exceeds a threshold temperature; wherein the first cooling liquid comprises a fire protection or fire suppression substance which, on contact with the cell, prevents, retards, or extinguishes a cell fire and prevents a propagation or cell-to-cell cascading reactions of a thermal runaway or fire event.