Corrugated Energy Storage Housing for Passive Heat Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy storage modules face challenges in reliable heat dissipation, leading to potential overheating without the use of special cooling devices like cooling fins or thermally connected cooling plates.
Innovation Solution
The energy storage module features a cuboid housing with side walls made of thermally conductive materials, having a wave-shaped cross section on both the outside and inside, clad with electrically insulating but thermally conductive materials, forming a sandwich structure to increase surface area for heat dissipation, and optionally includes a circulation device for fluid flow to distribute heat homogeneously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the housing uses flat side walls made of thermally conductive material, then heat dissipation is limited by the small surface area, but adding special cooling devices like cooling fins or cooling plates increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are formed with a corrugated cross-section featuring alternating raised and recessed areas, creating a wave-like curved surface instead of a flat plane. This curvature increases the surface area of the housing by approximately 30-50% compared to flat walls, enabling significantly improved heat dissipation to the ambient atmosphere without requiring additional cooling devices such as cooling fins or thermally connected cooling plates
2Temperature
If the side walls are made of thermally conductive material to improve heat dissipation, then heat transfer efficiency increases, but electrical conductivity may cause safety issues with storage cells
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are constructed as composite structures consisting of multiple layers: an inner layer of thermally conductive electrically insulating material (such as aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, or aluminum nitride ceramics) provides both thermal conduction and electrical insulation, while outer layers may include electrically conductive materials for electrostatic discharge protection. This composite approach simultaneously achieves efficient heat transfer and electrical safety, preventing both overheating and electrical hazards
3Temperature
If the housing surface area is increased to improve heat dissipation, then cooling performance improves, but the housing volume and material consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the housing volume or adding external cooling components, the invention utilizes the existing housing surface by transforming it from a flat two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional corrugated structure. The corrugated cross-section with raised and recessed areas creates additional surface area within the same footprint, effectively using the vertical dimension to multiply the heat dissipation surface without expanding the overall housing envelope
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 enhances heat dissipation without additional cooling devices, preventing overheating and maintaining a stable temperature by increasing the surface area for heat transfer and ensuring efficient heat distribution within the module.
Implementation Method 1
the wave-shaped cross-section of the side wall areas results in an increase in the surface area of the housing, which enables heat dissipation to the outside or to the ambient atmosphere of the housing
Implementation Method 2
enables heat dissipation to the outside or to the ambient atmosphere of the housing without having to provide special cooling devices such as cooling fins or a separate cooling plate
Implementation Method 3
the insides of at least the side wall areas are each clad or coated with an electrically insulating, but thermally conductive material
Implementation Method 4
optionally includes a circulation device for fluid flow to distribute heat homogeneously
Data Source
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AI summary
An energy storage module comprises at least a cuboid housing with four side walls and two end walls, in which at least two storage cells are arranged. Characteristically, at least two of the housing's side walls are made of a thermally conductive material and each has at least one side wall area with a corrugated cross-section on both the outer and inner surfaces.