Traction Battery Vent Exit Path Beneath Heat Exchanger Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traction battery packs face challenges in effectively managing battery vent byproducts during thermal events, which can lead to safety issues and damage to high voltage components.
Innovation Solution
The traction battery pack incorporates a heat exchanger plate with a barrier sheet that dislodges or deforms to expose vent openings, allowing battery vent byproducts to flow into a vent gas exit path beneath the heat exchanger plate, thereby isolating them from high voltage components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a barrier sheet is placed in the vent opening to block byproducts during normal operation, then electrical isolation is improved, but the vent opening must be blocked which could prevent legitimate venting
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier sheet is designed to be dynamic rather than static. It normally blocks the vent opening to provide electrical isolation, but automatically moves to expose the opening when thermal events occur and byproducts need to vent. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction by adapting the barrier's position based on operational conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier sheet's physical state changes in response to temperature parameters. During normal operation, it maintains a blocked state for isolation. During thermal events, temperature changes cause it to deform or dislodge, changing its state to allow venting. This parameter-based state change resolves the contradiction between isolation and accessibility.
2Reliability
If the barrier sheet remains in place during thermal events, then electrical isolation is maintained, but battery vent byproducts cannot be effectively directed away from high voltage components
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier sheet transitions from a static isolation barrier to a dynamic element that responds to thermal events. During thermal events, it moves or deforms to allow byproduct flow while still maintaining structural integrity and electrical isolation capabilities, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining isolation and protecting from harmful byproducts.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier sheet acts as an intermediary element between the battery cells and the heat exchanger plate. It provides electrical isolation during normal operation but allows controlled passage of thermal energy and byproducts during thermal events, mediating between the need for isolation and the need for thermal management and byproduct containment.
3Device complexity
If the vent gas exit path is positioned above the heat exchanger plate, then venting is simpler, but high voltage components are exposed to damaging battery vent byproducts
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger plate serves as an intermediary structure between the battery cells and the vent gas exit path. It provides a physical barrier that directs byproducts away from high voltage components while allowing thermal energy transfer, thus resolving the contradiction between simple venting configuration and protection from harmful byproducts.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent gas exit path is positioned in a different spatial dimension (beneath the heat exchanger plate) rather than directly above the battery cells. This dimensional repositioning allows the system to maintain simple venting functionality while using the heat exchanger plate as a shielding structure to protect high voltage components from byproduct exposure.
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 solution effectively directs battery vent byproducts away from high voltage components, enhancing safety and preventing damage during thermal events, while maintaining electrical isolation.
Implementation Method 1
The barrier sheet is configured to dislodge from the vent opening or otherwise plastically deform and thereby expose the vent opening in response to a flow of a battery vent byproduct against the barrier sheet
Data Source
AI summary
Vent path management concepts are provided for traction battery packs. An exemplary traction battery pack may include a vent gas exit path that extends beneath a heat exchanger plate of the traction battery pack. During a battery thermal event, battery vent byproducts released by one or more battery cells of a cell stack of the traction battery pack may be directed through exposed openings of the heat exchanger plate and then into the vent gas exit path. The battery vent byproducts may flow away from high voltage components of the cell stack within the vent gas exit path prior to being expelled from the traction battery pack. The openings of the heat exchanger plate may be sealed by barrier sheets during normal battery operating conditions.