EV Battery Cooling via Charging Station Gas-Liquid Mixture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric energy accumulators in motor vehicles experience significant heating during driving and charging phases, particularly during fast charging, which conventional cooling systems at the vehicle side are unable to adequately address, necessitating enhanced cooling solutions.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a detachable electrical connection for charging and a detachable cooling fluid connection that combines a liquid cooling fluid with gas to form a cooling fluid/gas mixture, allowing for evaporation and enhanced thermal energy transfer from the accumulator, using water as the cooling fluid and ambient air as the gas, with optional phase separation and circulation to optimize cooling performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling systems at the vehicle side are used, then the system complexity is low, but the cooling performance is insufficient during fast charging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the vehicle-side cooling system with the charging station cooling system into an integrated cooling solution. The charging station provides additional cooling capacity through a connected cooling circuit, allowing the system to handle the high thermal loads during fast charging while maintaining reasonable system complexity through shared infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is designed to serve multiple functions: it can operate independently at the vehicle side during normal driving and charging, and can be supplemented by the charging station during fast charging operations. This multi-functional design allows the same cooling infrastructure to handle varying thermal demands without requiring completely separate systems.
2Productivity
If fast charging is performed, then the charging speed is high, but the thermal energy generated is excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes phase change materials in the cooling system that absorb thermal energy during phase transitions (e.g., solid to liquid). During fast charging, these phase change materials absorb the excessive thermal energy generated by the battery, converting it into latent heat of fusion or vaporization, thereby maintaining effective cooling capacity proportional to the high charging speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling fluid acts as an intermediary between the battery and the heat dissipation system. During fast charging, the cooling fluid circulates through the battery cooling plates, absorbing thermal energy from the battery and transporting it to the charging station's heat exchanger, where the thermal energy is dissipated to the environment, thus managing the excessive heat generation.
3Loss of energy
If the cooling fluid circulation is increased, then the thermal energy removal capacity is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system employs dynamic control of fluid circulation, where the flow rate and circulation paths are adjusted based on real-time thermal demands. During fast charging, the system increases cooling fluid circulation through the battery cooling plates and charging station heat exchanger. During normal operation, the circulation is reduced or redirected, allowing the system to optimize thermal energy removal capacity while avoiding the complexity of continuously operating high-capacity cooling infrastructure.
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 method effectively increases the thermal energy removal capacity from the accumulator by leveraging evaporation energy, providing improved cooling performance during charging and driving operations, while being environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
Implementation Method 1
thermal energy from the energy accumulator is transferred via the cooling element to the cooling fluid
Implementation Method 2
at least a portion of the cooling fluid evaporates into the gas during the transfer of the thermal energy from the energy accumulator to the cooling fluid
Implementation Method 3
Since a certain energy is needed for the evaporation process, also known as the evaporation enthalpy, this brings about a cooldown of the cooling fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A method for charging at least one electric energy accumulator of a motor vehicle, wherein electric energy from a charging station external to the motor vehicle is transferred via a detachable electrical connection to the energy accumulator, wherein a cooling fluid is taken from the charging station via a detachable cooling fluid connection to at least one cooling element of the motor vehicle, so that thermal energy from the energy accumulator is transferred via the cooling element to the cooling fluid and taken away by the cooling fluid, wherein the liquid cooling fluid is mixed with a gas before and/or during its transfer to the cooling element, so that a cooling fluid/gas mixture is formed, wherein at least a portion of the cooling fluid is evaporated into gas during the transfer of the thermal energy from the energy accumulator to the cooling fluid.