Modular Cooling Apparatus for Battery Thermal Homogeneity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling systems for electric and hybrid vehicles face challenges in achieving homogeneous cooling across a large number of connected battery cells and modules, leading to temperature spreads and affecting vehicle range, service life, and performance.
Innovation Solution
A modular cooling apparatus with separate cooling modules connected in parallel, featuring expansion members at inlets to maintain high pressure refrigerant distribution, and a common feed and discharge line configuration that includes shut-off valves and a heat exchanger for efficient refrigerant separation, ensuring uniform temperature distribution across energy store modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the number of cells connected in series and/or parallel is increased to meet range and performance requirements, then the dimensions of the high voltage stores increase, but the temperature spread between cells and cell modules increases, making homogeneous cooling more difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling apparatus is divided into multiple separate cooling modules, each with its own inlet and outlet, allowing independent cooling zones for different cell modules. This segmentation enables targeted cooling of specific high-temperature regions while maintaining overall thermal homogeneity across the expanded battery pack.
Solution Approach 2:
Different cooling modules can be positioned at specific locations within the high voltage store to address local thermal hotspots. The cooling system adapts to the spatial distribution of heat generation by placing cooling modules strategically among the cell modules, ensuring each region receives appropriate cooling attention.
2Ease of manufacture
If a common feed line and common discharge line configuration is used with parallel cooling modules, then modular construction is achieved and production costs are reduced, but achieving homogeneous refrigerant distribution to all cooling modules becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
Expansion members are installed in the inlets of parallel cooling modules before the refrigerant enters each module. These expansion members pre-regulate the refrigerant flow and pressure distribution, ensuring homogeneous refrigerant delivery to all cooling modules from the common feed line, thereby solving the distribution challenge while maintaining modular architecture.
3Stress or pressure
If refrigerant distribution occurs after expansion, then the refrigerant pressure is reduced, but homogeneous distribution to parallel cooling modules becomes difficult due to low quantity of residual liquid
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion members are positioned in the inlets of parallel cooling modules, performing the expansion action before the refrigerant divides into separate module paths. This preliminary expansion ensures sufficient liquid refrigerant is available for distribution while maintaining the pressure needed for homogeneous flow division across all parallel modules.
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 solution achieves more uniform cooling, improving the range, service life, and performance of electric and hybrid vehicles by ensuring homogeneous refrigerant distribution and efficient heat management, thereby enhancing the overall thermal management of high voltage stores.
Implementation Method 1
expansion members are arranged in the respective inlets. By virtue of the fact that the expansion members are arranged in the respective inlets, the refrigerant upstream of the expansion members, that is to say in the common feed line, is held at a high pressure level
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of separate cooling modules for absorbing heat from the energy store, through which cooling modules refrigerant can flow
Implementation Method 3
a heat exchanger is provided downstream of the last outlet, which heat exchanger is configured for separating liquid and gaseous components of the refrigerant
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling device for stored energy sources, in particular for motor vehicles, is provided. The cooling device includes: multiple separate cooling modules, through which coolant can flow, for absorbing heat from the stored energy source, each module having an inflow and an outflow; a common feed line, from which the inflows of the cooling modules branch off; and a common discharge line, into which the outflows of the cooling modules open.