Patent Application
20240360945
The present application relates to the technical field of expansion kettle, and in particular to an integrated expansion kettle, a cooling system and a vehicle.
Expansion kettles are used in many industries, especially in the field of vehicles. Due to the thermal expansion and contraction of water in the heating system, when the hot water is heated, the water volume in the system increases. When there is no place to accommodate this part of the expansion of water, the water pressure in the heating system increases, which will affect normal operation. The expansion tank accommodates the expansion of the system water, which can reduce the water pressure fluctuation caused by the expansion of water in the system, and improve the safety and reliability of the system operation. When the system leaks for some reason or the system cools down, the water level of the expansion tank drops to replenish the system. In addition to playing the role of stabilizing pressure and unloading, the expansion kettle can play a buffering role when the pressure changes slightly.
After the entire cooling system is vacuum-filled on the production line and statically filled during after-sales maintenance, there will be a large amount of air in the system. The presence of air will affect the life of the water pump, the heat dissipation efficiency, and produce abnormal noise. The air needs to be separated and stored above the liquid level of the expansion kettle. In the related art, the expansion kettle does not have a dedicated gas-liquid separation function. Generally, gas-liquid separation is performed through an external gas-liquid separator. For the gas-liquid separator, the buoyancy of the air is generally used to achieve gas-liquid separation. However, the liquid entering the separator has a certain flow rate. When the liquid pushes the bubbles to float to the liquid surface, if part of the kinetic energy is not removed, it will impact the liquid surface, thereby generating abnormal noise. Especially when degassing at a large flow rate, the flow rate is large and the abnormal noise generated by the impact is more obvious. On the contrary, if too much kinetic energy of the liquid is removed by other means, such as a tortuous design of the inlet and outlet flow routes by isolating multiple chambers. On the one hand, such design only uses air buoyancy for gas-liquid separation, and the separation efficiency is not high; on the other hand, the coolant stays in the gas-liquid separator for a long time, and excessive heat exchange occurs, which is prone to excessive heat leakage, resulting in a large temperature difference between the inlet and outlet liquids.
In view of the above shortcomings in the related art, the purpose of the present application is to provide an integrated expansion kettle, a cooling system and a vehicle, which solves the problem that the existing expansion kettle has no special gas-liquid separation function, and at the same time solves the problems of low efficiency, abnormal noise and large inlet and outlet temperature difference in the gas-liquid separation process.
To achieve the above purpose, the present application provides the following technical solutions:
In an embodiment, the first opening and the second opening of each group of the gas-liquid separation mechanisms are provided on a same side of the coolant flow channel or opposite sides of the coolant flow channel.
In an embodiment, the first opening and the second opening of each group of the gas-liquid separation mechanisms are provided opposite to each other, or the first opening and the second opening are staggered along a flow direction of the coolant flow channel or a circumferential direction of the coolant flow channel.
In an embodiment, one or more fluid redirection portions are provided on the coolant flow channel, and the first opening and the second opening are provided on the fluid redirection portion; and
In an embodiment, the fluid redirection portion is a bent section or a bending section; the first opening is provided at an inner bending side of the bent section or an inner bending side of the bending section, and the second opening is provided at an outer bending side of the bent section or an outer bending side of the bending section.
In an embodiment, one side of the coolant flow channel is concave or convex to form the fluid redirection portion.
In an embodiment, in response to that the kettle body is working, the first opening and the second opening are submerged below a liquid level of the chamber.
In an embodiment, a vertical distance between the first opening and the second opening and the liquid level is greater than or equal to 5 mm.
In an embodiment, the coolant flow channel includes a liquid inlet section communicated with the liquid inlet, a liquid outlet section communicated with the liquid outlet, and a gas-liquid separation section connected between the liquid inlet section and the liquid outlet section; and
In an embodiment, an installation height of one end of the gas-liquid separation section communicated with the liquid outlet section is lower than or equal to an installation height of one end of the gas-liquid separation section communicated with the liquid inlet section.
In an embodiment, the gas-liquid separation section includes a downstream channel groove and an upper cover; a first end surface of the upper cover is covered on the downstream channel groove, and a second end surface of the upper cover is abutted against a top of the kettle body; and
In an embodiment, an edge of the first opening and an edge of the second opening are configured to extend towards the first end surface of the upper cover and are flush with the first end surface of the upper cover.
In an embodiment, an edge of the upper cover is provided with at least one diversion portion extending outward, and the diversion portion is corresponding to the second opening.
In an embodiment, a first reinforcing rib is provided on the first end surface of the upper cover corresponding to an edge of the downstream channel groove, and a second reinforcing rib is provided on the second end surface of the upper cover; and
In an embodiment, a clamping member is provided on the sidewall of the downstream channel groove, and the upper cover is assembled with the downstream channel groove through the clamping member.
In an embodiment, the kettle body includes a lower kettle body and an upper kettle cap, and the downstream channel groove is provided in the lower kettle body;
In an embodiment, the kettle body is further provided with a motor filling port, a degassing liquid inlet and an after-sales switch, and the degassing liquid inlet is communicated with the after-sales switch and is configured to control an opening state and a closing state of the degassing liquid inlet through the after-sales switch; and
In an embodiment, a pressure relief valve and a liquid level sensor are further provided on the kettle body.
The present application also provides a cooling system, including a motor cooling circuit, a battery cooling circuit and the expansion kettle.
The present application also provides a vehicle, including the cooling system.
In summary, the present application provides an integrated expansion kettle, a cooling system and a vehicle with beneficial effects: the liquid and gas in the coolant flow channel flow into the chamber from the second opening, thereby bringing the gas of the cooling circuit into the expansion kettle, and the liquid in the chamber is replenished into the coolant flow channel from the first opening, thereby bringing the liquid of the expansion kettle into the cooling circuit, and realizing a primary separation of gas and liquid, which does not affect the overall flow rate of the cooling circuit, and ensure the efficiency of gas-liquid separation. After the gas is exported from the coolant flow channel to the chamber, a secondary separation of gas and liquid is realized by the buoyancy of the gas, so that the increasing of the flow rate of the cooling circuit does not push the gas and liquid to impact the liquid surface to produce abnormal noise. The over degassing time of the gas-liquid separation is reduced, the heat leakage is reduced, and the temperature difference between the liquid inlet and the liquid outlet of the coolant flow channel is greatly reduced.
In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or in the related art more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the related art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only part of embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained according to the structures shown in these drawings without any creative effort.
The following is an explanation of the implementation of the present application through specific examples. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present application can also be implemented or applied through other different specific implementations, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application. It should be noted that the following embodiments and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict. It should also be understood that the terms used in the embodiments of the present application are intended to describe specific implementations, not to limit the scope of the present application. The test methods for which specific conditions are not specified in the following examples are usually carried out under conventional conditions or under the conditions recommended by the manufacturers.
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When the embodiment gives a numerical range, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified in the present application, the two endpoints of each numerical range and any value between the two endpoints can be selected. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the present application are consistent with the related art knowledge of technicians in this technical field and the records of the present application. The present application can also be implemented using any methods, devices and materials in the related art that are similar or equivalent to the methods, devices and materials in the embodiments of the present application.
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It should be noted that when the present embodiment is applied to a vehicle or other walking device, tilting may occur from time to time during operation. In order to prevent the kinetic energy of the liquid and gas from the second opening 14 from being quickly converted into kinetic energy in the vertical direction, reduce the flow rate in the vertical direction, and prevent the water flow from impacting the liquid surface and causing abnormal noise, the water outlet direction of the second opening 14 needs to maintain a large angle with the vertical direction. Therefore, when placed horizontally, the water outlet direction of the second opening 14 is preferably parallel to the liquid surface, and will not cause obstruction to the water outlet.
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In summary, the technical solutions of the above embodiments provide an integrated expansion kettle and a cooling system. The expansion kettle integrates the gas-liquid separation function, which is communicated with the battery cooling circuit 16 through the liquid inlet and liquid outlet of the kettle body 1, and is communicated with the motor cooling circuit 17 through the motor filling port 5 and the degassing liquid inlet 6. The motor cooling circuit 17 and the battery cooling circuit 16 share one expansion kettle, and a single kettle replaces a double kettle. There is no need for a special gas-liquid separator, and the after-sales switch 7 is integrated. The number of expansion kettles and liquid level sensors 4 is reduced, as well as the number of pipes, pipe clamps, etc., so that the cost and weight of the entire cooling system are reduced sharply.
In the integrated gas-liquid separation function, the coolant flow channel 8 adopts a curved design, and the first opening 13 and the second opening 14 are respectively opened on the inner rounded sidewall and the outer rounded sidewall of the bent section of the coolant flow channel 8. When the fluid passes through the bent section, the flow velocities in the first opening 13 area and the second opening 14 area will be different. The flow velocity in the second opening 14 area is greater than the flow velocity in the first opening 13 area, and the pressure near the second opening 14 is less than the pressure near the first opening 13 area. Therefore, the liquid in the coolant flow channel can carry the gas and flow into the expansion kettle from the opening of the outer rounded sidewall, and the liquid in the expansion kettle can flow into the coolant flow channel from the opening of the inner rounded sidewall, so as to realize the primary separation of gas and liquid and ensure the efficiency of gas-liquid separation. After the gas-liquid mixture is discharged from the flow channel hole, the secondary separation of gas and liquid can be realized by the buoyancy of the air. In this way, the high flow velocity of the cooling circuit will not push the gas-liquid mixture to impact the liquid surface to produce abnormal noise. The degassing time of gas-liquid separation is reduced, the heat leakage is reduced, and the temperature difference between the liquid inlet 1-1 and the liquid outlet 1-2 is also greatly reduced. The problems in the expansion kettle such as high coolant flow rate and incomplete degassing, low flow rate and low degassing efficiency, and large inlet and outlet temperature difference caused by heat leakage are completely solved.
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The technical solution of this embodiment provides a vehicle, including the cooling system as described in the above embodiment.
The above embodiments only illustrate the principle and effect of the present application, and is not intended to limit the present application. Those skilled in the art can modify or change the above embodiment without violating the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or changes made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical ideas disclosed in the present application should still be covered by the claims of the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202210524219.6 | May 2022 | CN | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/CN2023/090797, filed on Apr. 26, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210524219.6, filed on May 13, 2022. The disclosures of the above-mentioned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2023/090797 | Apr 2023 | WO |
| Child | 18766988 | US |
