Side-Mounted Vehicle Cooling Module With Three-Row Heat Exchangers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles face challenges in cooling unit installation due to spatial restrictions, leading to decreased cooling efficiency when cooling units for engines, stacks, batteries, and electrical components are mounted separately, often resulting in inefficient heat management.
Innovation Solution
A cooling module with a three-row mounting system is designed for placement on the side of a vehicle, featuring a main radiator, sub-radiator, and condenser arranged to maximize space utilization and cooling efficiency, with components like unit cooling fans and header tanks optimized for horizontal and vertical coolant flow to enhance heat exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cooling units for engine, stack, battery, and electrical components are mounted separately, then each component can be cooled independently, but the number of cooling units increases and spatial restrictions make installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cooling units (engine cooling unit, stack cooling unit, battery cooling unit, and electrical component cooling unit) into a single integrated cooling unit. This merging approach reduces the total number of separate cooling units while maintaining the ability to independently cool each component through separate cooling passages and heat exchangers within the unified structure, thereby resolving the contradiction between independent cooling capability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated cooling unit serves multiple functions by incorporating separate cooling passages and heat exchangers for different components (engine, stack, battery, electrical components) within a single unit. This multi-functional design allows one cooling unit to replace multiple separate units, reducing installation complexity while maintaining independent cooling control for each component.
2Reliability
If cooling units are installed on the front and ceiling of the vehicle, then cooling capacity is sufficient, but spatial restrictions limit installation locations and reduce space utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional front and ceiling installation locations to a side installation position for the cooling unit. This dimensional change in installation location allows the cooling unit to utilize previously unused side spaces in the vehicle, improving space utilization while maintaining sufficient cooling capacity through the integrated multi-component design.
Solution Approach 2:
By merging multiple cooling functions into a single integrated unit, the patent reduces the overall space required for installation. This consolidation allows the cooling unit to be positioned in side areas of the vehicle that would be insufficient for multiple separate units, thereby improving space utilization while maintaining adequate cooling capacity.
3Area of stationary object
If cooling units are installed on the side of the vehicle, then space utilization improves, but cooling efficiency decreases due to structural limits
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated cooling unit incorporates segmented cooling passages and separate heat exchangers for different components (engine, stack, battery, electrical components). This segmentation allows each component to be cooled through dedicated passages optimized for its specific thermal requirements, maintaining high cooling efficiency even when installed in the space-efficient side position of the vehicle.
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 cooling module effectively increases space utilization and maximizes cooling efficiency by strategically arranging components to ensure optimal heat exchange, even when installed in spatially constrained areas, such as the side of a vehicle, thereby improving the thermal management of hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
a radiator for cooling the coolant
Implementation Method 2
a condenser for condensing the refrigerant
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a cooling module for a vehicle, and more particularly, a cooling module placed on a side of the vehicle with three-row mounting parts, in which components are mounted, to maximize cooling efficiency and space utilization inside the vehicle.