Battery Pack Sidewall Conduction and Cell Insulation for Thermal Runaway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in preventing chain thermal runaways due to inadequate heat management, leading to increased size and inefficiencies in heat dissipation.
Innovation Solution
The battery pack incorporates a heat insulating member with low thermal conductivity between cells and a side surface member with higher thermal conductivity in contact with the cells' side surfaces, optimizing heat storage and dissipation without excessive space increase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the distance between adjacent cells is increased to reduce heat transfer, then the heat transfer from thermally runaway cell to other cells is reduced, but the volume of the battery pack increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing heat insulating members only at specific locations between adjacent cells, rather than uniformly increasing distance throughout the battery pack. The insulating members are positioned at sites where heat transfer risk is highest, allowing localized heat management that prevents chain thermal runaway without globally increasing pack volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat insulating members act as intermediary elements between adjacent cells. These members have lower thermal conductivity than the cells themselves, serving as thermal barriers that intercept heat transfer paths. This intermediary approach reduces heat transfer effectiveness without requiring increased cell spacing.
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 configuration effectively reduces heat transfer between cells, enhancing the suppression of thermal runaway chains while minimizing the battery pack's size.
Implementation Method 1
a heat insulating member provided between the cells adjacent to each other among the plurality of cells; in the heat insulating member, a thermal conductivity is lower
Implementation Method 2
a side surface member disposed in contact with a side surface of the plurality of cells excluding a site including the heat insulating member, with higher thermal conductivity than the heat insulating member
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes a heat insulating member between adjacent cells, and a side surface member disposed in contact with side surfaces of the plurality of cells excluding a site including the heat insulating member, with thermal conductivity higher than the heat insulating member. When λa denotes thermal conductivity of the heat insulating member, and Ca denotes a product value of a specific heat and a density, 0.001 W/(m×K)<λa<0.05 W/(m×K) and 0<Ca<2.5 J/(cm3×K) are satisfied. When λb denotes thermal conductivity of the side surface member, and Cb denotes a product value of a specific heat and a density, 0.1 W/(m×K)<λb<1.0 W/(m×K) and 1.75<Cb<3.25 J/(cm3×K) are satisfied or 1.0 W/(m×K)<λb<1000 W/(m×K) and 0.75<Cb<3.25 J/(cm3×K) are satisfied.