Patent Application
20240128546
The disclosure relates generally to a cooling arrangement. In particular aspects, the disclosure relates to a cooling arrangement for an electrical storage system. The disclosure can be applied in heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks, buses, and construction equipment. Although the disclosure may be described with respect to a particular vehicle, the disclosure is not restricted to any particular vehicle. The disclosure could further be applied to stationary electrical storage systems, or to electrical storage systems in aviation or marine applications.
An electrical storage system stores energy for subsequent use. One example of an electrical storage system is a battery, such as a rechargeable battery for an electric vehicle. Electrical storage systems may comprise battery cells for storing of energy in chemical bonds. During charging and recharging of the electrical storage system, the battery cells produce heat. To avoid damage and improve performance of the electrical storage system, a cooling arrangement may be used to cool the battery cells.
One previously known cooling method is immersion cooling. During immersion cooling the battery cells are immersed in a cooling liquid for cooling the cells through direct contact.
Another known method is cold-plate cooling. During cold-plate cooling, the battery cells are put into contact with a plate, the plate comprising a coolant channel for transporting the coolant into thermal contact with the battery cells.
Both of these previously known solutions come with limitations. While immersion cooling provides greater thermal contact with all sides of the battery cells, and thereby achieves a more homogenous cooling within each battery cell, the method may demand a large amount of pump power to provide a sufficiently high flow rate for achieving proper cooling of all battery cells and to reduce spatial thermal variation between different cells in the system.
The cooling plate transports the coolant in a channel physically separated from the battery cells and may require less pump power to achieve homogenous cooling among the battery cells but may instead result in inhomogeneous temperature distribution within the battery cells as they are typically cooled from one direction only.
The present disclosure relates to a cooling arrangement for an electrical storage system which may remediate some of these problems.
According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a cooling arrangement for an electrical storage system is provided, the cooling arrangement comprising an inlet conduit via which a first coolant is supplied to the cooling arrangement and deposited via one or more openings of the inlet conduit into a cooling arrangement enclosure for setting the first coolant into direct contact with at least one battery cell accommodated within the enclosure, the inlet conduit extending along a side of the enclosure. The cooling arrangement further comprising a coolant channel carrying a second coolant, the coolant channel being configured to be in thermal contact with the at least one battery cell. A coolant channel inlet of the coolant channel being arranged at an opposite side of the enclosure in relation to the inlet conduit and the flow direction of the second coolant at the coolant channel inlet being configured to be orthogonal to a flow direction of the first coolant exiting said one or more openings.
The first aspect of the disclosure may seek to solve the problem of reducing cooling arrangement pump power while still achieving homogeneous cooling of the battery cells.
By providing the cooling arrangement with two separate coolants and by arranging the inlets of these coolants opposite to each other with respect to the enclosure and the battery cells enclosed therein, the two separate coolants will cooperate to provide a more homogenous cooling of the at least one battery cell, as the arrangement allows the two separate coolants to move in opposite and orthogonal directions, thus compensating for the successively decreased cooling effect of the coolants due to heat exchange with the battery cells.
Furthermore, the combination of indirect cooling and direct cooling could further improve the cooling capabilities. As the indirect cooling may cool the at least one battery cell from a specific direction, such as from below, while the direct cooling partly or entirely immerses the at least one battery cell in coolant, different cooling properties are archived.
When the coolant is allowed to come into direct contact with the at least one battery cell, a more homogenous cooling within the battery cell may be achieved, as the battery cell may be cooled from several directions. The indirect cooling allows the one or more battery cells to be cooled using a lower flow rate, as the coolant of the indirect cooling is not physically hindered by the battery cells.
A technical benefit may thus include a cooling arrangement with more homogenous cooling and with lowered pumping demands.
In some examples, the first coolant is supplied to the inlet conduit at an inlet point, the inlet point being arranged diagonally from the coolant channel inlet of the coolant channel, with respect to a bottom section of the enclosure. A technical benefit might be that a more homogenous cooling of the at least one battery cell may be achieved.
In some examples, the first coolant is disposed from the cooling arrangement at a coolant outlet point and the second coolant is disposed from the cooling arrangement at a channel coolant outlet.
In some examples, the cooling arrangement is configured to immerse the entire at least one battery cell with the first coolant. A technical benefit may include a more homogenous cooling within the battery cells.
In some examples, the inlet conduit is arranged at a bottom section of the enclosure.
In some examples, the coolant outlet point is connected to an outlet conduit, the outlet conduit extending substantially horizontally along a side of the enclosure. A technical benefit may include that the first coolant is more evenly distributed into the disclosure. A technical benefit may include an efficient dispose of the coolant from the cooling arrangement.
In some examples, the outlet conduit is arranged at a top section of the enclosure.
In some examples, the coolant channel comprises a copper tube. A technical benefit may include a good thermal exchange between the coolant channel and the battery cells of the electrical storage system.
In some examples, the coolant channel is arranged inside a cooling plate. A technical benefit may include that a more even thermal distribution of coolant could be achieved.
In some examples the cooling plate is configured to form a bottom of the enclosure. A technical benefit may include a cooling arrangement with less components and better heat exchange.
In some examples the at least one battery cell is affixed to the top of the cooling plate.
In some examples the first coolant is a dielectric fluid. A technical benefit may include that good insulating properties can be achieved.
In some examples, the enclosure comprises polycarbonate.
According to a second aspect of the disclosure, an electrical storage system comprising the proposed cooling arrangement is provided.
According to a third aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle comprising the proposed electrical storage including the proposed cooling arrangement is provided.
The above aspects, accompanying claims, and/or examples disclosed herein above and later below may be suitably combined with each other as would be apparent to anyone of ordinary skill in the art.
Additional features and advantages are disclosed in the following description, claims, and drawings, and in part will be readily apparent therefrom to those skilled in the art or recognized by practicing the disclosure as described herein. There are also disclosed herein control units, computer readable media, and computer program products associated with the above discussed technical benefits.
With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of aspects of the disclosure cited as examples.
Aspects set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure.
The cooling arrangement exemplified in
As the first coolant 9 is supplied at a bottom section of the electrical storage system 2, it rises within the enclosure 4 and thereby successively immerses the battery cells 3 with the first coolant 9. As the first coolant 9 reaches a certain level it flows into the outlet conduit 16 at the top section of the enclosure 4 from where it can be transported away from the cooling arrangement 1 via the coolant outlet point 8. The first coolant 9 could immerse the battery cells 3 partly or entirely depending on the placement of the outlet conduit 16.
The cooling plate 10 could be installed in other ways in relation to the battery cells 3 of the electrical storage system 2, such as at an upper side of the electrical storage system 2, on top of the battery cells 3.
As is illustrated by the plurality of arrows in
The cooling arrangement exemplified in
As the first coolant 9 is supplied to the electrical storage system 2, it successively immerses the battery cells 3 with the first coolant 9. As the first coolant 9 reaches the coolant outlet point 8 at a top section of the electrical storage system 2, the coolant is expelled from the cooling arrangement 1.
An outlet conduit 16 is connected to the coolant outlet point 8. As the first coolant 9 reaches a certain level it flows into the outlet conduit 16 whereby it can be transported away from the cooling arrangement 1 through the coolant outlet point 8.
The cooling plate 10 could be installed in other ways in relation to the battery cells 3 of the electrical storage system 2, such as at an upper side of the electrical storage system 2, on top of the battery cells 3.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including” when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Relative terms such as “below” or “above” or “upper” or “lower” or “horizontal” or “vertical” may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element to another element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims. In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed aspects for purposes of illustration only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventive concepts being set forth in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22202142.0 | Oct 2022 | EP | regional |
