Integrated Vehicle Cooling Circuit With Shared Radiator Layout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling systems for eco-friendly vehicles, such as fuel cell and hybrid vehicles, face challenges in minimizing ventilation resistance, ensuring stable cooling performance, and reducing weight and manufacturing costs, particularly due to high ventilation resistance and the need for multiple components like radiators, water pumps, and reservoirs.
Innovation Solution
An integrated cooling system with a closed circular cooling circuit that shares a radiator for electric power components and an air conditioner condenser, and a separate radiator for the fuel cell stack, minimizing the number of components and optimizing radiator placement to reduce ventilation resistance and improve cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate cooling circuits with multiple radiators are used for stack and electric power components, then cooling performance can be ensured, but ventilation resistance increases and weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooling circuits for the stack and electric power components into a single integrated cooling system that shares a common radiator. This consolidation reduces the total number of radiators from multiple separate units to one shared radiator, thereby decreasing vehicle weight while maintaining adequate cooling performance for all components through optimized coolant flow distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The common radiator serves multiple functions by cooling both the stack and electric power components simultaneously. This multi-functional design allows a single radiator to replace what would traditionally require separate dedicated radiators for each component, reducing overall system weight and component count while providing universal cooling capability.
2Reliability
If air-cooling type AC condenser is disposed between radiators, then AC cooling is achieved, but ventilation resistance increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the AC condenser from its traditional position between the radiators and relocates it to a separate location in the cooling system. This extraction eliminates the AC condenser's interference with the airflow path through the radiators, thereby removing the source of increased ventilation resistance while preserving the AC cooling function through the integrated cooling circuit.
3Reliability
If multiple separate cooling circuits are used, then each component can be cooled independently, but the number of parts increases and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate cooling circuits into a single integrated cooling system that uses one common radiator and shares coolant flow between the stack and electric power components. This merging reduces the number of discrete components such as radiators, water pumps, and reservoir tanks, thereby decreasing device complexity and manufacturing cost while maintaining the ability to cool each component effectively through the unified system.
4Reliability
If radiator capacity is increased to cool components at low temperature, then cooling performance improves, but ventilation resistance increases and heat dissipation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the radiator capacity parameters specifically for the lower operating temperatures of fuel cell components. By adjusting the radiator design parameters (such as surface area, fin density, and flow rate) to match the lower temperature range requirements, the system achieves effective cooling at these temperatures without unnecessarily increasing overall radiator size, thereby avoiding excessive ventilation resistance and maintaining good heat dissipation characteristics.
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 configuration reduces ventilation resistance, ensures stable cooling performance, improves fuel efficiency by lowering condensation pressure, and decreases the weight and manufacturing cost of the vehicle by eliminating unnecessary components, while enhancing cooling efficiency and reducing the volume of parts.
Implementation Method 1
a first radiator; electric power components disposed to be cooled in a closed circular cooling circuit including the first radiator
Implementation Method 2
a first radiator; electric power components disposed to be cooled in a closed circular cooling circuit including the first radiator
Implementation Method 3
a second radiator; a stack disposed to be cooled in a closed circular cooling circuit including the second radiator
Implementation Method 4
a second radiator; a stack disposed to be cooled in a closed circular cooling circuit including the second radiator
Implementation Method 5
an AC condenser disposed to be cooled in the a closed circular cooling circuit including the first radiator
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention makes it possible to integrate and control in one circuit the systems, such as electric power components, a driving motor, a stack, and an AC condenser which have the maximum enthalpy under similar operational temperature and use conditions, by using an integrated radiator. Therefore, it is possible to minimize air-through resistance of the radiator for cooling the stack and the electric power components and ensure smooth and stable cooling performance of the stack, electric power components, and AC condenser while improving fuel efficiency by reducing the condensation pressure of the air conditioner. Further, it is possible to improve cooling efficiency by non-repeatedly arranging heat exchangers, and reduce the weight of a vehicle, volume of the parts, and the manufacturing cost, by avoiding using too many parts, such as a radiator, a water pump, and a reservoir tank.