Battery Module Support Plates With Offset Vent Holes for Uniform Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Energy storage modules face uneven thermal loads due to differences in properties among cells, leading to potential malfunctions and accelerated aging, as conventional thermal management methods fail to uniformly distribute heat across cells.
Innovation Solution
A support structure with strategically arranged ventilation holes in the bottom and top plate members of energy storage modules, creating fluid paths that reduce temperature differences between cells, allowing for more uniform cooling and reduced thermal resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional thermal management methods are used, then cooling is provided, but temperature distribution remains uneven across cells
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating cell-specific flow paths through strategically positioned ventilation holes in support plates. Each cell receives customized cooling airflow based on its thermal characteristics, with flow paths designed to address local thermal hotspots rather than applying uniform cooling across all cells. This localized approach ensures each cell operates within optimal temperature ranges, improving both temperature distribution uniformity and cell performance consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is segmented into multiple regions with individually configured ventilation holes and flow paths for different cells. Rather than a single centralized cooling system, the patent divides the thermal management function into cell-specific segments, allowing independent optimization of cooling parameters for each cell based on its thermal load and operational characteristics.
2Temperature
If ventilation holes are added to support plates, then cooling efficiency improves, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support plates serve multiple functions: they provide mechanical support for cells, create sealed flow paths for cooling air, and act as distribution manifolds for thermal management. By integrating these functions into a single component rather than adding separate cooling hardware, the patent improves cooling efficiency while minimizing increases in structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the structural support function with the thermal management function by incorporating ventilation holes directly into the support plates. This integration combines what could be separate components (support structure and cooling system) into a unified design, achieving enhanced cooling without proportionally increasing overall 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
The solution achieves a nearly 17% reduction in maximum cell temperature increase and a 20% reduction in temperature spread, with thermal resistance consistently 10% lower than comparative examples, promoting uniform aging and performance across cells.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid path length of a laminar fluid flow entering through an arbitrary chosen bottom ventilation hole and exiting through an arbitrary chosen top ventilation hole is greater than a plate distance between the bottom plate and the top plate
Data Source
AI summary
A support structure for an energy storage module, the support structure configured for supporting a plurality of energy storage cells and comprising a bottom plate arranged and configured to the plurality of energy storage cells and a top plate arranged and configured to cover the one or more stacks of energy storage cells. The bottom and the top plate are spaced apart along a vertical direction orthogonal to both plates. One or both of the plates includes a plurality of ventilation holes, wherein the ventilation holes are arranged such that, when viewed along the vertical direction through an arbitrarily chosen ventilation hole, only a holefree portion of the respective plate member is visible through that chosen ventilation hole.