EV HVAC Grille Shutter Control for Battery Cooling Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
In electric vehicles, sharing a coolant between cabin air conditioning and battery cooling can lead to excessive decrease in coolant pressure, resulting in insufficient battery cooling due to reduced coolant flow, which complicates the system and increases costs.
Innovation Solution
An air conditioner system for vehicles that includes a compressor, heat exchangers, expansion valves, a pressure sensor, and a control unit with a grille shutter to manage airflow, ensuring the coolant pressure remains adequate for effective battery cooling by closing the grille shutter when pressure drops below a specified level, thereby maintaining sufficient coolant flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If coolant is shared between cabin air conditioning and battery cooling, then system complexity is reduced, but coolant pressure decreases excessively causing insufficient battery cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The grille shutter is made dynamically controllable based on coolant pressure conditions. When coolant pressure drops below a threshold during heating operation, the shutter closes to restrict airflow through the external heat exchanger, preventing excessive pressure drop and ensuring sufficient coolant pressure for battery cooling. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by adapting system operation to maintain reliable battery cooling while sharing coolant.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the external heat exchanger by controlling the grille shutter position. By adjusting the airflow parameter through the heat exchanger based on coolant pressure conditions, the system prevents excessive pressure drop while maintaining heat exchange functionality when needed, thus ensuring reliable battery cooling performance in a shared coolant system.
2Productivity
If grille shutter remains open during heating, then heat exchange efficiency is improved, but coolant pressure decreases excessively reducing coolant flow amount
Solution Approach 1:
The grille shutter transitions from a static component to a dynamically controlled element that adjusts its opening based on real-time coolant pressure conditions. During heating operation, when pressure drops below the threshold, the shutter closes to limit airflow and prevent excessive pressure drop, thereby maintaining sufficient coolant pressure and flow for battery cooling while still allowing heat exchange when conditions permit.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit continuously monitors coolant pressure and provides feedback control to the grille shutter actuator. When pressure drops below the predetermined threshold during heating, the system responds by closing the shutter to increase pressure, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that maintains coolant pressure within acceptable ranges for reliable battery cooling performance.
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 ensures sufficient battery cooling without increasing system complexity or costs, by maintaining adequate coolant pressure and flow, thus preventing deterioration of cooling performance.
Implementation Method 1
a compressor to compress coolant
Implementation Method 2
an external heat exchanger capable of introducing traveling air thereinto and to perform heat exchange between outside air and coolant
Implementation Method 3
an expansion valve for cooling and a heat exchanger for cooling which are provided to cool the cabin inside
Implementation Method 4
an expansion valve for battery and a heat exchanger for battery which are provided to cool the battery
Data Source
AI summary
Coolant flowing from a compressor passes through a heat exchanger and opening-degree adjustable type of expansion valves for heating, and an external heat exchanger. The coolant passing through the external heat exchanger is capable of passing through an expansion valve and a heat exchanger for cooling, and an expansion valve and a heat exchanger for cooling a battery. A grille shutter to change an introduction state of traveling air is provided in front of the external heat exchanger. When pressure of the coolant (particularly, pressure of the coolant at a timing after the coolant passes through the external heat exchanger) is a specified pressure or lower, the grille shutter is closed, whereby the heat-exchange performance of the external heat exchanger is lowered.