Elastic Cooling Plates for Battery Thermal Runaway Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-voltage lithium-ion energy storage cells in electromobility face safety concerns due to increasing energy density, where thermal events in one cell can propagate to adjacent cells, potentially leading to uncontrolled heat release and safety hazards.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of energy storage modules with cooling plates and elastic inserts that route coolant or refrigerant through a channel structure, providing effective cooling and counterpressure to prevent thermal event propagation, combined with temperature-sensitive materials that stiffen above 130°C to enhance stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If energy density of lithium-ion cells is increased to improve energy storage capacity, then the stored amount of energy per unit volume increases, but thermal stability decreases and thermal events can propagate to adjacent cells
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage system is divided into modular units with individual cooling plates between each cell. Each cooling plate independently manages thermal conditions for adjacent cells, preventing thermal propagation through segmentation of the thermal management system.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling plates with elastic inserts serve as intermediary components between adjacent energy storage cells. These intermediaries actively manage thermal conditions and provide mechanical cushioning, preventing direct thermal and mechanical interaction that could lead to thermal runaway propagation.
2Reliability
If cooling plates with rigid channel structures are used to ensure stable coolant flow, then cooling efficiency improves, but the system cannot accommodate cell expansion or manufacturing tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling plate incorporates an elastic insert with cooling channels instead of rigid structures. This flexible design maintains reliable coolant flow while adapting to cell expansion, manufacturing tolerances, and assembly variations through the elastic deformation of the insert material.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling plate transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure. The elastic insert can deform under compression from expanding cells while maintaining coolant flow pathways, allowing the system to adapt to changing operational conditions throughout the battery lifecycle.
3Stability of the object's composition
If support frames are added to stabilize cell positioning, then mechanical stability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support frame function is merged with the cooling plate structure. The cooling plate itself provides both thermal management and mechanical positioning functions, eliminating the need for separate support structures and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining cell positioning stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling plate is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously provides thermal management, mechanical support, and cell positioning. This universal component approach reduces the total number of parts and simplifies the overall system architecture.
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 prevents or delays thermal event propagation, ensuring safety by maintaining thermal stability and efficient cooling of energy storage cells, even at higher energy densities.
Implementation Method 1
coolant or refrigerant is distributed over the surface of the cooling plate as extensively as possible, so as to have the best possible cooling effect
Implementation Method 2
coolant or refrigerant is able to be introduced into which coolant or refrigerant is able to be introduced
Implementation Method 3
The elastic insert inside the support frame allows the energy storage cells to bulge slightly, which arises as the cells age, but in doing so also exerts a certain counterpressure against this bulging
Implementation Method 4
temperature-sensitive materials that stiffen above 130°C to enhance stability
Data Source
AI summary
An energy store has a plurality of electrical energy storage cells, which are connected electrically in series or parallel and are combined to form an energy storage module. Cooling plates are arranged between the energy storage cells and into which coolant or refrigerant can be introduced. Each cooling plate has a support frame, which extends around an elastic insert. The elastic insert forms a channel structure, which guides the coolant or refrigerant through the elastic insert. A method for producing the energy store has the following steps: adhesively bonding a first electrically insulating film to a side of a support frame of a cooling plate; arranging an elastic insert within the support frame, whereby the elastic insert is also adhesively bonded to the first electrically insulating film, and alternately stacking energy storage cells and cooling plates to form an energy storage module.