Battery Pack Cooling Layout for Thermal Runaway Fire Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery pack designs are insufficient in preventing thermal runaway and heat propagation during a fire, as they primarily cool the lower portions of battery cells, leaving the upper portions vulnerable to high temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design that incorporates both an upper cooling unit filled with coolant and spray holes, and a lower cooling unit in contact with the lower portion of the battery cells, allowing for the spraying of coolant from above or submerging portions of the battery pack in coolant when a fire occurs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If only lower cooling unit is used to cool the battery cells, then the structure is simple, but the fire suppression capability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into two independent units: an upper cooling unit with spray holes positioned above each battery cell, and a lower cooling unit in contact with the lower portions of the battery cells. This segmentation allows each unit to perform its specific cooling function independently, improving overall fire suppression capability while maintaining manageable structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling approach transitions from a single lower cooling unit to a three-dimensional cooling system that includes both upper and lower cooling units. The upper cooling unit adds a vertical dimension by spraying coolant from above, while the lower cooling unit maintains contact cooling from below, creating comprehensive spatial coverage for fire suppression
2Reliability
If upper cooling unit with spray holes is added, then the fire suppression capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The upper cooling unit is designed with spray holes positioned to correspond specifically with each battery cell's location. This localized cooling approach targets the upper portions of individual battery cells where thermal runaway most commonly propagates, providing precise heat propagation prevention without requiring a fully complex system
Solution Approach 2:
The upper cooling unit serves multiple functions: it cools the upper portions of battery cells during normal operation, provides fire suppression by spraying coolant onto burning cells, and prevents heat propagation to adjacent cells. This multi-functionality improves reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity
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 fires and prevents heat propagation by immediately extinguishing fires and cooling both upper and lower portions of the battery cells, thereby enhancing the safety and reliability of the battery pack.
Implementation Method 1
a coolant can lower the heat of the battery cells by absorbing heat from the battery cells while flowing along a flow path of the carrier plate
Implementation Method 2
a lower cooling unit in contact with a lower portion of the battery cell
Implementation Method 3
an upper cooling unit on the battery cells that is filled with (e.g. includes) a coolant and includes spray holes (e.g. a plurality of spray holes) corresponding to the vent holes
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A battery pack (10) configured to suppress a fire by spraying a coolant from above or submerging at least a portion of the battery pack in the coolant in response to a fire occurring in the battery pack. In response to a fire occurring in a battery pack, a coolant may be sprayed from above to serve as a sprinkler. The fire may be extinguished and heat propagation may be suppressed by submerging at least a portion of the battery pack in the coolant. Since the fire may be extinguished immediately and the heat propagation may be prevented even when a battery cell reaches thermal runaway, safety of the battery pack may be improved.