Battery Pack Cooling Port Geometry for Sealed Refrigerant Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in maintaining effective sealing and assembly properties for water-cooling systems, leading to potential refrigerant leakage and inadequate heat dissipation, particularly in large-sized battery modules used in vehicles where high temperatures and increased heat generation are common.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a battery module with a heat sink, pack refrigerant pipe, cooling port, and cooling connector, featuring an inclined surface and ring-shaped sealing member to enhance sealing and assembly, ensuring stable refrigerant circulation and improved cooling performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a water-cooling type cooling structure is used to improve cooling performance, then heat dissipation efficiency is improved, but sealing reliability deteriorates due to potential refrigerant leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling port is designed with an inclination part that guides the cooling connector into the correct position during assembly. This preliminary positioning action ensures proper alignment before the sealing member engages, preventing misalignment-induced leakage while maintaining effective sealing under thermal expansion and contraction during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A ring-shaped sealing member is introduced as an intermediary element between the cooling port and cooling connector. This sealing member fills gaps and compensates for dimensional variations, ensuring reliable refrigerant containment while allowing the water-cooling system to operate efficiently at various temperatures.
2Temperature
If a water-cooling type cooling structure is used to improve cooling performance, then cooling efficiency is improved, but assembly difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inclination part on the cooling port performs a preliminary guiding function during assembly. As the cooling connector approaches the cooling port, the inclined surface automatically aligns the components, making assembly straightforward despite the complexity of the water-cooling system. This eliminates the need for precise pre-positioning while maintaining high cooling efficiency.
3Power
If battery capacity and output are increased to improve performance, then power delivery is improved, but heat generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
A water-cooling cooling system is implemented to actively remove heat from high-capacity battery modules. The system uses circulating coolant through channels in the battery module to dissipate the increased heat generation from high-power operations, enabling sustained high output without thermal degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system dynamically adjusts coolant flow parameters (flow rate, temperature) to match the thermal output of the battery. When battery capacity and output are increased, the cooling system compensates by increasing coolant circulation, maintaining optimal operating temperature despite higher heat generation from enhanced power delivery.
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 design improves sealing and assembly properties, preventing refrigerant leakage and enhancing cooling efficiency, thereby extending battery lifespan and reducing the risk of explosions or ignitions, while allowing for increased capacity and output in battery packs.
Implementation Method 1
a water-cooling type cooling structure rather than an air-cooling type is required to control the increased amount of heat generation
Implementation Method 2
a refrigerant circulation path extending along both sides of the battery cell stack in which the refrigerant flows
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a battery module that includes a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked, a module frame that houses the battery cell stack and a heat sink located below the module frame; a pack refrigerant pipe through which a refrigerant flows; a cooling port that is connected to a through hole formed in the heat sink; and a cooling connector that connects the pack refrigerant pipe and the cooling port, wherein the cooling port includes an inclination part formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cooling port, wherein a width in a horizontal direction of the inclination part becomes narrowed as it goes in the direction in which the cooling connector is located, and wherein a ring-shaped sealing member is located between the inclination part and the cooling connector.