Direct-Cooled Battery Module Without Hermetic Sealing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-voltage batteries for electric vehicles face challenges with direct cooling due to the need for hermetically sealed module casings, which are complex and costly to maintain, especially with hydrofluorocarbons that can diffuse through plastic, requiring extensive sealing and overpressure management to prevent thermal propagation.
Innovation Solution
A directly cooled battery module design that eliminates the need for hermetically sealed casings by allowing coolant to flow freely, reducing pressure within the module and eliminating the need for complex sealing and overpressure devices, with coolant inlet and outlet openings facilitating efficient heat dissipation and venting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If hermetically sealed module casings are used for direct cooling, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the hermetically sealed module casing entirely, extracting the sealing function from the system. The coolant flows directly over the battery cells without being contained by a sealed enclosure, eliminating the need for complex sealing mechanisms while maintaining effective cooling through direct contact between coolant and cell surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery module is segmented into individual cells that are directly exposed to the coolant flow. Each cell can be independently cooled without requiring a unified sealed enclosure, allowing the cooling system to function through open channels and surfaces rather than a closed system.
2Temperature
If hydrofluorocarbons are used as coolant, then cooling performance is improved, but reliability decreases due to diffusion through plastic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the plastic sealing components that would allow hydrofluorocarbon diffusion by removing the hermetically sealed casing. The open cooling system design avoids contact between the coolant and plastic materials, preventing diffusion issues while maintaining cooling performance through direct liquid-to-cell contact.
3Reliability
If hermetically sealed casings with overpressure management are used, then thermal propagation prevention is improved, but ease of manufacture decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the overpressure management system and hermetically sealed casing, extracting these safety functions from the design. Thermal propagation is prevented through direct cooling of individual cells and natural thermal isolation between cells, eliminating the need for complex pressure management mechanisms and simplifying manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery cells themselves provide thermal management through their inherent structure and spacing, which naturally limits thermal propagation. The open cooling system allows each cell to self-regulate temperature through direct coolant contact without requiring external overpressure management systems.
4Reliability
If sealed passages for current supply lines are used, then electrical safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the sealed passages for current supply lines, extracting the electrical isolation function from the mechanical structure. Electrical safety is maintained through inherent insulation on conductors and spatial separation of electrical components from the coolant flow paths, eliminating the need for complex sealed penetrations in the module casing.
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 simplifies the construction and safety of battery modules, reduces costs and weight, and enhances thermal management by allowing coolant to flow freely, effectively dissipating heat and preventing thermal propagation without the need for additional sealing or overpressure management.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling liquid 60 onto the battery cells 10... effectively dissipating heat
Implementation Method 2
allowing coolant to flow freely, effectively dissipating heat... coolant flows directly around the cells
Data Source
AI summary
A directly cooled battery module including at least one module casing and a plurality of battery cells arranged within the module casing. The module casing encloses the plurality of battery cells at least in some regions, and the battery cells have a vertical axis and first and second end faces, which are mutually spaced in the direction of the vertical axis, and are arranged successively in the form of a cell packet in a stacking direction which is transverse to the vertical axis. The battery module also includes a fluid supply device with at least one inlet opening, which conducts a cooling liquid to the battery cells when operated as intended, and at least one outlet opening for freely discharging the cooling liquid out of the module casing and/or the cell packet and into the surroundings of the module casing or a battery housing.