The present invention relates to a cooling module for an electric or hybrid motor vehicle, having a tangential-flow turbomachine.
A cooling module (or heat exchange module) of a motor vehicle conventionally comprises at least one heat exchanger and a ventilation device which is designed to generate a flow of air in contact with the at least one heat exchanger. The ventilation device thus makes it possible, for example, to generate an air flow in contact with the heat exchanger, when the vehicle is stationary or running at low speed.
In motor vehicles with a conventional combustion engine, the at least one heat exchanger has a substantially square form, with the ventilation device then being a bladed fan, the diameter of which is substantially equal to the side of the square formed by the heat exchanger.
Conventionally, the heat exchanger is then placed facing at least two cooling openings, formed in the front face of the body of the motor vehicle. A first cooling opening is situated above the bumper, while a second opening is situated below the bumper. Such a configuration is preferred as the combustion engine also must be supplied with air, with the air intake of the engine conventionally being situated in the passage of the air flow passing through the upper cooling opening.
However, electric vehicles are preferably only provided with cooling openings situated below the bumper, even more preferably with a single cooling opening situated below the bumper.
This is because the electric motor does not need an air supply. Also, a decrease in the number of cooling openings and in the size thereof makes it possible to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the electric vehicle. This also results in better range and a higher top speed of the motor vehicle. Thus, according to the requirements of the manufacturers, for electric and hybrid vehicles, in particular in order to improve the aerodynamic fineness, the height of the heat exchangers present in these cooling openings is led to be reduced, and their thickness is led to be increased.
However, the stacking of the heat exchangers in the direction of the flow of air passing through them means that each heat exchanger positioned upstream affects the performance of the exchanger(s) placed downstream.
One of the objectives of the present invention is therefore to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art at least partly, and to propose an improved cooling module which permits the best possible performance levels for the different heat exchangers.
The present invention thus relates to a cooling module for an electric or hybrid motor vehicle, said cooling module being designed to have an air flow passing through it, and comprising at least one heat exchanger and a receiver-dryer connected within a cooling circuit,
the receiver-dryer being positioned in an upstream part of the cooling module considered in a longitudinal direction extending from the front toward the rear of said cooling module, in the longitudinal direction of said cooling module, the receiver-dryer being positioned downstream of and facing a deflector element.
According to one aspect of the invention, the at least one heat exchanger positioned furthest upstream in the longitudinal direction of said cooling module and the receiver-dryer are arranged in the one same plane.
According to another aspect of the invention, the receiver-dryer is positioned in such a way that its axis is perpendicular to the axis of the height of said at least one heat exchanger
According to another aspect of the invention, the deflector element is a crossmember of a frame of a front-face shutoff device positioned upstream of the at least one heat exchanger.
According to another aspect of the invention, the deflector element is a cross-beam of the chassis of the motor vehicle, positioned upstream of the at least one heat exchanger.
According to another aspect of the invention, the cooling module comprises two heat exchangers which are positioned in the one same plane in the most upstream position in the longitudinal direction of said cooling module, the receiver-dryer being positioned between said heat exchangers.
According to another aspect of the invention, the cooling module comprises:
According to another aspect of the invention, the thermal management circuit comprises, in the direction of circulation of a heat-transport fluid:
According to another aspect of the invention, the cooling circuit comprises, in the direction of circulation of a refrigerant:
According to another aspect of the invention, the cooling circuit comprises a bypass leg connected in parallel with the first expansion device and with the first cooler, said bypass leg comprising a second expansion device positioned upstream of a third cooler.
According to another aspect of the invention, the second heat exchanger and the third heat exchanger are positioned in the same plane upstream of the first heat exchanger considered in the longitudinal direction of said cooling module.
According to another aspect of the invention, the cooling module comprises a fourth heat exchanger configured to be a low-temperature radiator, and positioned downstream of the first heat exchanger in the longitudinal direction of said cooling module.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent on reading the following description, which is provided by way of non-limiting illustration, and from the appended drawings, in which:
In the various figures, identical elements bear the same reference numbers.
The following embodiments are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, this does not necessarily mean that each reference relates to the same embodiment, or that the features apply only to one embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments can also be combined and/or interchanged to provide other embodiments.
In the present description, certain elements or parameters can be indexed, such as, for example, first element or second element and also first parameter and second parameter or else first criterion and second criterion, etc. In this case, this is simple indexing to differentiate and designate elements or parameters or criteria that are similar but not identical. This indexing does not imply priority being given to one element, parameter or criterion over another and such designations can be interchanged easily without departing from the scope of the present description. Neither does this indexing imply a chronological order, for example in evaluating any given criterion.
In the present description, “placed upstream” is understood to mean that an element is placed before another relative to the direction of circulation of an air flow. By contrast, “placed downstream” is understood to mean that one element is placed after another with respect to the direction of circulation of a flow.
In
In the present description, “low(er)” is understood to mean the position of an element relative to another in the direction Z determined above.
In
As shown in
The cooling module 22 comprises at least one heat exchanger 24, 26, 28, 29 as depicted in
The first heat exchanger 24 is configured in particular to dissipate heat energy into the air flow F. This first heat exchanger 24 can more particularly be a condenser of a cooling circuit A (shown in
The third heat exchanger 28 for its part is configured to be a sub-cooler connected within the air conditioning circuit A. This third heat exchanger 28 is thus also configured to dissipate heat energy into the air flow F.
The second heat exchanger 26 is also configured to release heat energy into the air flow F. This second heat exchanger 26 can more particularly be a radiator connected to a thermal management circuit C (visible in
In the example illustrated in
Again according to
The cooling module 22 also comprises a collector housing 41 positioned downstream of the set of heat exchangers 23 in the longitudinal direction X of the cooling module 22. This first collector housing 41 comprises an outlet 45 for the air flow F. This first collector housing 41 thus makes it possible to recover the air flow passing through the set of heat exchangers 23, and to orient this air flow toward the outlet 45. The first collector housing 41 can be integral with the fairing 40 or else can be an added-on part secured on the downstream end 40b of said fairing 40.
The cooling module 22 also comprises at least one tangential fan, also known as a tangential-flow turbomachine 30, which is configured such as to generate the air flow F destined for the set of heat exchangers 23. The tangential-flow turbomachine 30 comprises a rotor or turbine (or tangential propeller), not represented. The turbine has a substantially cylindrical shape. The turbine advantageously comprises a plurality of stages of blades (or vanes). The turbine is mounted such as to rotate around an axis of rotation A, which for example is parallel to the direction Y. The diameter of the turbine is for example between 35 mm and 200 mm so as to limit its size. The turbomachine 30 is thus compact.
The tangential-flow turbomachine 30 can also comprise a motor 31 which is configured to rotate the turbine. The motor 31 is for example designed to drive the rotation of the turbine at a speed of between 200 rpm and 14 000 rpm. This notably makes it possible to limit the noise generated by the tangential-flow turbomachine 30.
The tangential-flow turbomachine 30 is preferably positioned in the first collector housing 41. The tangential-flow turbomachine 30 is then configured to aspirate air in order to generate the air flow F passing through the set of heat exchangers 23. The first collector housing 41 then forms a volute at the center of which the turbine 32 is positioned, and from which the evacuation of air at the outlet 45 of the first collector housing 41 allows the air flow F to exit.
In the example illustrated in
It is nevertheless possible to conceive of the tangential-flow turbomachine 30 being in a low position, in particular in the lower third of the first collector housing 41. This would make it possible to limit the space taken up by the cooling module 22 in its upper part. Alternatively, the tangential-flow turbomachine 30 can be in a median position, in particular in the median third of the height of the first collector housing 41, for example for reasons of integration of the cooling module 22 into its surroundings.
In addition, in the example illustrated in
The cooling module 22 can also comprise a second collector housing 42 positioned upstream of the set of heat exchangers 23. This second collector housing 42 comprises an inlet 42a for the air flow F coming from outside the vehicle 10. The inlet 42a can in particular be positioned facing the cooling opening 18. This inlet 42a can also comprise the protective grille 20. The second collector housing 42 can be integral with the fairing 40 or else be an attached component fastened to the upstream end 40a of said fairing 40.
In addition, the inlet 42a of the second collector housing 42 can comprise a front-face shut-off device 421 (visible in
A heat transport fluid is designed to circulate inside the thermal management circuit C, represented in broken line. The thermal management circuit C can thus comprise, in the direction of circulation of a heat transport fluid, a pump 80, a first cooler 82 and the second heat exchanger 26. The first cooler 82 can notably be a heat-exchange interface for example positioned in the vicinity of electrical elements such as the electric motor 12 and/or the power electronics, in order to manage the temperature thereof.
As mentioned above, in the example illustrated in
In
This appended loop B can in particular comprise a pump 70 and a thermal management interface 72, for example a cold plate, in contact with the batteries. The appended loop B can also comprise a bypass B′ for bypassing the fifth heat exchanger 67, and comprising a valve 74 in order for example to provide homogenization of the temperature of the batteries.
The cooling circuit A can comprise a bypass leg A′ connected in parallel with the first expansion device 63 and with the first cooler 64. This bypass leg A′ comprises a second expansion device 66 positioned upstream of a third cooler 67. This third cooler 67 can notably be an evaporator intended to have passing through it an air flow destined for the vehicle interior.
Between the first 24 and the third 28 heat exchanger, the cooling circuit A comprises a receiver-dryer 61. This receiver-dryer 61 is in particular connected within the cooling circuit A downstream of the first heat exchanger 24, between said first heat exchanger 24 and the third heat exchanger 28, in the direction of circulation of the refrigerant circulating in said cooling circuit A.
As shown by
Again as illustrated in
As a preference, the cumulative height of the second 26 and the third 28 heat exchangers is substantially equal to that of the first heat exchanger 24. This therefore makes it possible to maintain a set of heat exchangers 23 in which each layer or stratum of heat exchanger has similar dimensions. This also makes it possible to limit the number of heat exchangers through which the air flow F passes, thereby limiting the drops in pressure head. It is thus possible for example to add the fourth heat exchanger 29 downstream of the first heat exchanger 24 in the air flow F.
Still according to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In instances in which the cooling module 22 comprises two heat exchangers, in this instance the second 26 and third 28 heat exchangers which are positioned in the one same plane and positioned furthest upstream in the longitudinal direction X of said cooling module 22, the receiver-dryer 61 can more particularly be positioned between said heat exchangers 26, 28, as illustrated in
As a preference, the deflector element 70 is an element that already exists within the motor vehicle 10 or within the cooling module 22. Thus, by siting the receiver-dryer 61 behind this element, the turbulence or disturbance affecting the air flow F is no greater than it already was.
According to a first alternative form illustrated in
According to a second alternative form illustrated in
It can thus be clearly seen that siting the receiver-dryer 61 downstream of and facing a deflector element 70 allows better circulation of the air flow F and therefore optimal performance for the various heat exchangers and allows the cooling module 22 to occupy a smaller amount of space.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
FR2011326 | Nov 2020 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2021/076990 | 9/30/2021 | WO |