Heat-Activated Multiphase Fluid Pump for Battery Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current battery and electric motor cooling systems rely on bulky, weight-additive, and energy-consuming mechanical pumps that can fail, produce heat, and are costly, lacking redundancy and efficiency, especially in temperature control for batteries and electric motors.
Innovation Solution
A heat-activated multiphase fluid-operated pump system that utilizes heat to convert a working fluid into vapor, which displaces the fluid to be pumped, integrated with pressure-control and check valves to maintain efficient temperature regulation, and can be adapted for both cooling and heating applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If mechanical pumps are used for battery and motor cooling, then temperature control is achieved, but weight increases and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical pumps with a thermally-driven pump system that uses phase change of working fluid (liquid to vapor and back) to create pressure differentials for fluid circulation. This eliminates motors, bearings, and mechanical moving parts, significantly reducing weight while maintaining cooling functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes phase transitions of a working fluid between liquid and vapor states to generate pumping action. When the working fluid evaporates in the evaporator, it creates pressure that drives circulation through the system, eliminating the need for mechanical pumping while controlling battery and motor temperatures.
2Temperature
If mechanical pumps are used for battery and motor cooling, then temperature control is achieved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces energy-consuming mechanical pumps with a passive thermal system that uses phase change and pressure differentials to drive fluid circulation. The system leverages waste heat from batteries and motors to evaporate the working fluid, creating natural circulation without external energy input for pumping.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is self-driven by the thermal energy it manages. The phase change of the working fluid automatically generates the pressure needed for circulation, eliminating the need for external power sources to operate the pump. The system uses the heat it is designed to remove to power its own operation.
3Temperature
If mechanical pumps are used for battery and motor cooling, then temperature control is achieved, but reliability decreases due to wear and failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates mechanical components (motors, bearings, seals, impellers) that are prone to wear, failure, and maintenance issues. The thermally-driven pump system has no moving parts, significantly improving reliability and eliminating pump failure modes while maintaining effective temperature control for batteries and motors.
4Temperature
If AC compressor is used for battery cooling, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases and redundancy is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a separate, dedicated thermal management system for batteries and motors that operates independently of the vehicle's AC compressor. This specialized system uses phase-change-based cooling tailored to the specific thermal requirements of powertrain components, providing effective cooling without the complexity and space requirements of adapting the AC system.
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
The system provides efficient, lightweight, and cost-effective temperature control for batteries and electric motors by leveraging heat-activated vapor expansion to displace pumped fluid, reducing weight, energy consumption, and operational costs while ensuring redundancy and improved performance.
Implementation Method 1
The one or more fluid passageways collectively form an evaporator, where working fluid in the passageways are receptive of applied heat from the cells, which converts the working fluid into a vapor
Implementation Method 2
The received vaporized working fluid expands adiabatically and displaces liquid within the liquid-piston chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A heat-activated pump regulates the temperature of a battery or motor. For a battery, an evaporator has fluid passageways arranged in a serpentine path or multiple parallel paths, in direct contact with battery cells. For a motor, the passageways wrap around its casing or within. Working fluid in the passageways is converted to vapor. Whenever a target pressure is exceeded, a pressure-control valve allows vaporized working fluid to escape into a liquid-piston chamber, where it expands adiabatically and displaces pumped liquid, expelling it in a pumping stage from the liquid-piston chamber through a check valve into a condenser. Another check valve allows the pumped liquid to return in a suction stage to the chamber. An injector valve between the liquid-piston chamber and the evaporator returns jets of condensed working fluid to the evaporator in successive brief spurts responsive to periodic pressure pulses in the liquid-piston chamber.