Battery Pack Cell Spacing With Cooling Plates to Block Thermal Runaway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs face challenges in managing heat propagation between adjacent cells, leading to potential thermal runaway, especially in high-power and high-capacity applications like electric vehicles, where efficient heat management is crucial to prevent overheating and ensure safety and performance.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a cooling plate and heat insulation sheet arrangement between battery cells, where the cooling plate promotes thermal flow and the heat insulation sheet blocks heat propagation, maintaining an asymmetric and alternating arrangement to prevent heat transfer between cells, thereby preventing thermal runaway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If battery cells are arranged closely to increase power and capacity, then energy density and output are improved, but heat propagation between adjacent cells increases leading to thermal runaway risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cooling plates and heat insulation sheets as intermediary components between adjacent battery cells. The cooling plate absorbs and dissipates heat from battery cells, while the heat insulation sheet blocks heat propagation pathways. This intermediary structure allows close arrangement of battery cells for high power density while preventing thermal runaway through active cooling and passive insulation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite thermal management structures combining cooling plates (typically metal with high thermal conductivity for heat dissipation) and heat insulation sheets (materials with low thermal conductivity for heat blocking). This composite approach creates a multi-functional barrier that simultaneously manages heat extraction and heat propagation prevention, resolving the contradiction between close cell arrangement and thermal safety.
2Reliability
If cooling plates and heat insulation sheets are arranged between all adjacent battery cells, then heat propagation is effectively blocked, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies cooling plates and heat insulation sheets selectively at specific locations between battery cells rather than uniformly across all interfaces. The arrangement focuses thermal management components on high-risk heat propagation pathways, particularly between cells with largest surface area contact. This localized approach maintains thermal safety while reducing the total number of components and simplifying assembly procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the thermal management system into modular cooling plate units and heat insulation sheet segments that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows for standardized production of individual components and flexible assembly configurations, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining effective heat propagation blocking across the entire battery pack.
3Temperature
If asymmetric arrangement of cooling plate and heat insulation sheet is used, then heat distribution uniformity is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric arrangement of cooling plates and heat insulation sheets between adjacent battery cells, where the relative positions of these components differ on opposite sides of each battery cell. This asymmetry compensates for non-uniform heat generation and propagation characteristics of individual cells, promoting more uniform heat distribution across the battery pack. The asymmetric design is implemented with standardized component dimensions and simplified positioning features to maintain manufacturing feasibility.
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 blocks heat propagation and ensures even heat distribution, preventing thermal runaway and enhancing the safety and performance of battery packs by maintaining a stable temperature across the cells.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling plate and a heat insulation sheet located between battery cells adjacent to each other in the first direction
Implementation Method 2
a cooling plate and a heat insulation sheet located between battery cells adjacent to each other in the first direction
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes battery cells arranged in a row in a first direction and a cooling plate and a heat insulation sheet located between each pair of adjacent battery cells in the row. An arrangement between the cooling plate and the heating insulation sheet is a same between each of the pair of adjacent battery cells in the row such that heat propagation is effectively blocked between adjacent battery cells, and a chain of thermal runaway due to the heat propagation is prevented.