Battery Pack Refrigerant Tube Assembly for Cooling and Leak Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery packs face challenges in effectively dissipating heat generated during charging and discharging, leading to potential battery deterioration and increased risk of explosion or ignition, especially in large-scale applications where heat management is complicated and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring a pack refrigerant tube assembly with a heat sink and cooling ports between battery modules, integrated with a module tray and housing to enhance cooling efficiency and prevent refrigerant leakage, utilizing a direct refrigerant flow path and gaskets to seal and direct leaks away from electrical components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a large number of battery cells are stacked to form a battery module, then capacity and output are improved, but heat dissipation becomes more difficult and temperature rises more quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple battery modules, each with its own cooling ports. The refrigerant flow paths are segmented to pass through each module separately, allowing distributed heat dissipation across the entire pack while maintaining high total output capacity
Solution Approach 2:
A refrigerant is introduced as an intermediary cooling medium that flows through heat sinks in each battery module. The refrigerant absorbs heat from the battery cells through the heat sinks, enabling efficient heat transfer and dissipation without direct contact with the batteries
2Temperature
If a refrigerant cooling system is implemented, then cooling performance is improved, but refrigerant leakage may occur causing fire hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The lower cover opening, which could potentially allow refrigerant leakage to cause harm, is converted into a beneficial feature by directing leaked refrigerant away from electrical components. The opening provides a controlled escape path that prevents the refrigerant from reaching areas where it could cause fire or short circuits
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful aspect of refrigerant leakage is extracted and isolated by providing a dedicated lower cover opening that channels leaked refrigerant to a safe location. This separates the refrigerant leakage path from the electrical components, eliminating the fire hazard while maintaining the refrigerant cooling system
3Temperature
If cooling ports are located on battery modules, then heat dissipation is improved, but refrigerant leakage may penetrate into battery modules causing short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The lower cover opening acts as an intermediary channel that intercepts refrigerant before it can penetrate into the battery modules. By providing this intermediate escape path, the system maintains cooling performance while preventing the harmful interaction between refrigerant and electrical components
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 design improves cooling performance, reduces the risk of fire due to refrigerant leakage, and increases the capacity and output of battery packs by simplifying the heat transfer path and enhancing space utilization.
Implementation Method 1
a heat sink formed on the bottom portion of the module frame
Implementation Method 2
a pack refrigerant tube assembly disposed between the battery modules facing each other among the plurality of battery modules
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of battery modules; a pack refrigerant tube assembly disposed between the battery modules facing each other among the plurality of battery modules; a pack refrigerant tube lower cover for covering the lower part of the pack refrigerant tube assembly; a module tray located at the lower side of the pack refrigerant tube lower cover; and a lower housing located at the lower side of the module tray, wherein a lower cover opening is formed in the pack refrigerant tube lower cover, and the lower cover opening is connected to a space formed between the module tray and the lower housing.