Innovations in Thermal Management Systems for EVs

Thermal management system to manage the temperature of heat generating electronic devices like battery packs to improve safety and performance. The system uses a composite heat sink material with integrated phase change material (PCM) to absorb and dissipate heat. The PCM absorbs heat from the device to prevent overheating. The heat sink material provides mechanical support and high thermal conductivity. The PCM absorbs heat rapidly during peak power conditions, preventing thermal runaway. The composite structure allows thin, flexible films for compact electronics. The PCM can be tailored to specific melting points.

Battery assembly that reduces the risk of thermal runaway by delaying or preventing the spread of heat from a defective cell to adjacent cells. The assembly wraps the cell in a thermal management multilayer sheet. This sheet includes a thermally-insulating layer sandwiched between two heat-spreading layers. This reduces thermal conductivity between cells and can prevent a thermal runaway chain reaction.

Battery module that uses a phase change material (PCM) capsule on the heat sink to maintain uniform cooling fluid temperature. The battery module includes a stack of cells, a heat sink to absorb and dissipate cell heat, and a PCM capsule on the heat sink. The PCM capsule contains a material that changes phase between solid and liquid at a specific temperature. When the cell heat raises the cooling fluid temperature, the PCM melts to absorb heat and cool the fluid. When the fluid cools, the PCM solidifies and releases heat to warm the fluid. This maintains a consistent fluid temperature across the module for uniform cell cooling.

Thermal management system for heat producing devices like engines or batteries using a solid state alloy with a tunable temperature-dependent thermal conductivity switch. The alloy is a ternary Ni-Mn-based Heusler alloy with a selected post-transition metal or metalloid dopant like indium or gallium. This alloy undergoes a pronounced change in thermal conductivity with temperature due to changes in carrier mobility. The alloy is used as a thermoregulating layer applied to the device surface to enhance heat retention at low temperatures and heat dissipation at high temperatures.

Providing an effective and efficient thermal management system for battery packs in electric vehicles. The system uses a combination of phase change material (PCM) and heat flux rectifiers to absorb, regulate, and dissipate heat from the battery pack. It surrounds the battery pack with a casing containing PCM that absorbs heat during operation. Heat flux rectifiers on the casing transfer the absorbed heat to external cooling systems, like air or liquid coolant. This prevents localized hotspots and maintains uniform battery temperatures.

Regulating the state of charge of a thermal battery that includes a phase change material. The method measures the coolant temperature as it exits the thermal battery after the battery and coolant have reached thermal equilibrium. This temperature measurement is used to estimate the state of charge of the battery.

Thermal management system for an energy storage device like a battery pack to improve cooling efficiency without the complexity and weight of active cooling. The system uses two phase change materials (PCMs) with different melting temperatures to create a heat transfer path between the PCMs. One PCM surrounds the energy storage components like battery cells and absorbs their heat. The other PCM has a lower melting temperature and absorbs heat from the first PCM. A heat exchanger can be placed between the PCMs to transfer heat to the surroundings. This dual PCM arrangement improves heat transfer from the energy storage components compared to just using a single PCM.

Compact thermal management solution to cool heat-generating devices like IC chips in electronic devices like smartphones. It uses a phase-change material (PCM) and silicon heat sinks to absorb and dissipate the heat. The PCM surrounds the chips and absorbs heat during operation. Silicon heat sinks on the chips transfer the heat to the PCM. An enclosure contains the PCM and chips. This prevents the heat from transferring to the device housing. The PCM absorbs and dissipates the heat internally rather than letting it transfer to the device exterior. This prevents the outside of the device from getting hot during operation.

Thermal management system for battery packs. The system involves using phase change materials (PCMs) that can absorb and release large amounts of heat during charging and discharging cycles. The PCM is in thermal contact with the battery cells and absorbs heat generated during operation, preventing overheating. It then releases the heat back to the cells when needed to maintain optimal operating temperature.

Temperature conditioning unit with optimized airflow for cooling and heating objects like batteries and electronics in vehicles. The unit has a blower with a fan case that is shorter in height near the object being conditioned, allowing increased radial airflow towards it. This improves cooling effectiveness compared to a fan case of uniform height. The blower can have a partial cutout outlet hole in the short height section to further direct airflow towards the object.

Battery cooling system that cools battery cells in an enclosed case using forced air circulation with heat radiation and convection through the case walls to outside the case.

Thermal management system for batteries in electric vehicles that can effectively cool or heat the battery coolant without requiring complex external systems. The system uses a thermal manager, coolant circulation line, and heat exchanger containing a thermoelectric element. The element can change polarity to cool or heat the coolant based on battery temperature measurements.

Cooling system for batteries modules in electric vehicles that efficiently cools battery cells to mitigate overheating and improve longevity. The cooling system uses cooling plates with integrated air vents that align with the cell vents. Fluid flows through the chamber formed between the plates and through the apertures to directly cool the cells. This provides more direct and efficient cooling compared to external cooling methods.

Battery pack cooling system to control battery temperature, battery input/output and detect cell clogging using minimum number of temperature sensors. The system has multiple cell modules in parallel cooling passages. It puts a minimum temperature sensor upstream in one module, a maximum sensor downstream in another module, and a temperature sensor in one more module. A controller diagnoses sensor issues by comparing temperature gradients from the sensors.

Air cooled thermal management system for battery modules, particularly for vehicles like electric vehicles. The system uses air as the coolant to prevent overheating of battery cells. It involves a cooling manifold with fins that contacts the battery housing. The fins help draw heat away from the cells. The manifold directs cool air flow over the fins to enhance heat transfer. This provides effective cooling using cabin air without requiring liquid coolants or additional fluids.

Cooling technology for a battery module used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems. The module has a cell assembly with battery cells and air channels between them. An inlet duct with a fan distributes cooling air to the channels. The duct has an inlet facing the central channels and guide vanes to evenly distribute the airflow. An outlet duct collects the air from the channels. This provides uniform cooling of the battery cells by ensuring even air flow distribution throughout the channels.

Battery cooling system for electric vehicles that improves battery performance and longevity by cooling the battery more efficiently. The system has a separate cooling unit for each battery module that introduces cool air into each module and separately suctions and discharges the heated air. This allows independent airflow through each module, preventing interference between modules and enabling optimized cooling of each one.

Detecting blockage of battery cooling air flow in an electric vehicle and alerting the driver when the battery cooling system is impaired. The system uses temperature sensors inside the battery cooling intake passage and the cabin to monitor the temperature difference. If the temperature difference exceeds a threshold, it indicates blockage of the air flow through the battery. This can occur if the intake or exhaust passages are obstructed.

Battery pack design for cooling battery cells in electric vehicles to improve performance and lifespan. The battery pack includes a plenum with an air inlet that directs air through gaps between adjacent cells in the pack. The gaps are narrower near the inlet and wider farther away to balance airflow velocities across the cells. This equalizes cell cooling to prevent hotspots.

Battery cooling system for electric vehicles that improves cooling efficiency and prevents battery degradation by securely bonding the cooling tube to the battery cells. It uses an insulator with an inclined inner wall and tube accommodation part that forms a gap filler application space between the tube and cells. This allows applying a precise amount of gap filler to enhance adhesion. A compression material on the insulator absorbs assembly variation.

Battery cooling system for electric vehicles that has improved cooling performance and a simplified, robust design compared to conventional designs. The system uses indirect water cooling to extract heat from battery cells mounted in frames. Pipes pass through frame apertures to connect coolant inlets and outlets on the frames. This allows coolant to flow around the cells for cooling. The frames with cells are stacked and covered to form the battery pack.

Direct cooling of battery cells in an accumulator arrangement for electric vehicles to improve performance and lifespan. The arrangement uses a cooling liquid that can flow around and partly through the battery block. This is achieved by having passage walls in the housing that create flow paths around the battery block.

Cooling battery cells, particularly for automotive applications. The design immerses the end of cylindrical battery cells in a non-conductive liquid coolant to extract heat. The cells protrude through openings in a holder into a coolant-filled container. Electrical contacts within the container connect the cell terminals. The holder seals around the cell ends and contacts to prevent coolant leakage. This allows efficient cell cooling using an electrically isolated immersion method.

Preventing thermal runaway in liquid cooled batteries by using a passive cooling system that prevents cell-to-cell propagation of thermal events. The system uses cooling fins with a secondary coolant channel that contains a melting material blocking coolant flow below a threshold temperature. When a battery section reaches the threshold, the material melts allowing coolant to exit the fin and cool the adjacent sections. This prevents overheating from spreading.

A battery cooling system for electric vehicles that effectively cools the battery module without using the vehicle's air conditioning system. The system includes injecting a liquid onto the outer surface of the battery module to leverage evaporative cooling. A supply unit provides the liquid to injection nozzles that spray it onto the battery. This cools the battery as the liquid evaporates. The injection system allows targeted cooling of the battery rather than needing to circulate coolant throughout the vehicle.

Water-cooled battery module design for electric vehicles that cools the battery cells more efficiently compared to traditional designs. It uses a heat exchange pad made of a highly thermally conductive material, like copper, with a cooling flow path. The pad is placed between the battery cells and heat dissipation plates. Coolant flows through the pad to extract heat from the cells. The high conductivity pad enhances heat transfer compared to using just metal plates.

Electric vehicle battery cooling system that reduces weight compared to traditional liquid cooling. A radiator in front of the battery cools a low density liquid refrigerant. The battery directly contacts a high density liquid refrigerant. These two liquids exchange heat in a rear heat exchanger. The high density liquid absorbs battery heat and carries it to the radiator for dissipation. By separating the coolant types and using a rear heat exchanger, the system reduces weight from less high density coolant in the front radiator compared to cooling the entire battery with high density coolant.

Cooling system for batteries in vehicles that improves cooling efficiency and battery life. The cooling channel design uses flow guides to make the cooling water flow uniformly through branch channels rather than concentrating flow in the center. This improves heat exchange efficiency with the battery modules and reduces pressure drop compared to conventional parallel channels.

Operating cyclic-process-based systems such as heat pumps or heat engines using mechanocaloric materials for efficiency. The key principle is to use latent heat transfer between the fluid and mechanocaloric material in the heat exchanger unit. This involves allowing the fluid to condense and evaporate on the mechanocaloric material to transfer heat, rather than just using liquid flow. The method also involves compressing the mechanocaloric material to induce its temperature change for more effective energy conversion. The compression can be done mechanically or using electromagnetic forces. The system allows heat pumps and engines with higher efficiency and frequency compared to conventional designs.

Thermal management system for energy storage systems using oscillating heat pipes to provide efficient cooling of energy cells while isolating cells from each other to prevent thermal runaway propagation. The system includes a cold plate cell holder to surround and cool the cell, and an oscillating heat pipe cover around another portion of the cell to cool it. If a cell goes into thermal runaway, the heat pipe on that cell dries out and stops transferring heat, preventing adjacent cells from overheating.

Electric vehicle battery pack cooling system to dissipate heat generated during charging and discharging. The battery pack contains lithium-ion cells with a cooling conduit running between them. Coolant flows through the conduit to remove heat from the cells. This allows hot coolant to be circulated externally to dissipate heat. The flow path must be reliable and have enough capacity.

Battery pack with thermal management to prevent overheating and extend life. A flat heat pipe transfers heat from battery cells to a thermal electric cooler (TEC) that can cool or heat the pack as needed. The heat pipe and TEC are positioned centrally in the battery pack with cells arranged symmetrically around them. This allows even cooling of all cells and prevents hotspots. The TEC can adjust its cooling/heating level based on the heat transferred via the heat pipe.

Battery temperature control system using a heat pipe to efficiently cool and heat a battery so that it operates at optimal temperature. One end of the heat pipe is thermally connected to the battery and the other end is connected to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is placed in an airflow path that branches downstream of the exchanger outlet. This allows heat from the battery to be effectively transferred to the exchanger fins for dissipation. By using a heat pipe to connect the battery and heat exchanger, the battery temperature can be regulated without adding mass or power consumption to the vehicle.

Indirectly cooling the battery module of an eco-friendly vehicle using an interfacial plate with embedded heat pipes. The interfacial plate is placed between battery cells and a heat sink on an air cooling path. The embedded heat pipes provide thermal conductivity between the cells and the external cooling. This maximizes heat emission to prevent internal expansion. It also improves adherence between cells and plate to prevent any separation.

Passive thermal management of batteries using heat pipes with pressure relief devices to reduce the risk of thermal propagation during thermal runaway events. The heat pipe contains a heat transfer fluid that absorbs and releases heat from the battery cells. The pressure relief device activates when the heat causes excessive fluid pressure, allowing it to escape and rapidly remove heat from the pipe. This prevents thermal runaway from spreading to adjacent cells.

Heat transfer arrangement for a motor vehicle that efficiently recovers and reuses waste heat from the exhaust pipe. The arrangement comprises a heat exchanger connected to the exhaust pipe, a heat sink like a vehicle heater, a heat pipe connecting the exchanger and heat sink, and a latent heat accumulator connected to the exchanger. The accumulator stores and releases heat as needed, like a phase change material. This setup allows capturing and utilizing waste exhaust heat for vehicle heating by selectively transferring it through the heat pipe to the latent heat accumulator, rather than dissipating it into the environment.

An assembly for cooling battery packs in electric vehicles using heat pipes. The assembly includes a cold plate and heat pipes attached to the plate. The heat from the battery cells is conducted through the plate and dissipated by the heat pipes. The pipes extend outside the battery enclosure to exchange heat with a coolant.

A cooling system for electric vehicle equipment that uses the internal air conditioning coolant loop to cool the equipment while also having separate coolant loop with a heat exchanger and pump allowing a different coolant to be circulated inside the equipment housing to cool the hot components. This setup allows using the cabin AC coolant as the primary cooling source but when that is insufficient due to high component temperatures it can supplement with the secondary coolant loop.

Cooling system for battery arrays in electric vehicles to prevent overheating. It uses low-profile heat pipes placed between the batteries. The heat pipes have multiple hollow tubes containing a heat transfer fluid. The heat pipes conduct heat from the batteries to an external heat sink to dissipate it. This cooling system allows efficient, compact, and economical cooling of battery arrays.

Battery pack for electric vehicles that utilizes immersion cooling to dissipate heat from the battery cells. The battery pack has a modular battery array subassembly surrounded by an outer shell. The array uses compressible spacer plates and columns to hold the battery cells. A non-conductive fluid is contained inside the shell and flows around the cells for cooling. Inlet/outlet ports allow circulation of the fluid. The compressible spacers allow cell compression for better thermal contact and prevent damage from thermal expansion. The immersible and modular design enables efficient heat transfer and cooling.

An immersion cooling system for electric vehicle batteries that directly contacts the battery to achieve improved cooling performance. The system uses a cooling block containing a cooling fluid that surrounds and immerses the battery. To enhance heat transfer, the cooling block has vortex generators protruding from its inner wall towards the battery. These generators induce turbulent fluid flow around the battery to provide more efficient cooling compared to traditional external cooling methods.

An immersed heat dissipation system for electric vehicle batteries. The batteries are fully submerged in a coolant liquid to efficiently dissipate heat. The system has multiple sealed modules, each containing one or more battery cells immersed in a high thermal conductivity insulating liquid. Coolant is circulated through the modules to exchange heat with the batteries. The immersion cooling provides direct and uniform heat extraction from the batteries, improving cooling efficiency compared to air or surface cooling methods.

Thermal management system for cooling electrical storage devices in electric vehicles. The system uses a two-fluid closed-loop heat exchanger design to cool battery packs. The system has one circuit containing a heat-transfer fluid that passes through a plate to cool the dielectric fluid in the other circuit, which is sprayed into the battery chamber. The dielectric fluid evaporates on contact with the hot batteries, then condenses on the chamber walls and plate.

Battery module design with effective cooling for keeping electric vehicle batteries at optimal temperature during high power operation. The battery module design uses partial immersion cooling around battery cell electrodes to efficiently extract heat. The module casing contains cooling layers with dielectric liquid around the electrodes. This directly cools the hottest spots of the cells where heat is generated. The cooling fluid surrounds the electrodes to more efficiently extract heat from the cells during high power operation. The battery pack has multiple modules using this cooling design. The pack controller software predicts power requirements and adjusts the cooling and charging parameters to optimize performance and minimize resistance.

Cooling battery cells in an array within a battery housing to improve performance and reliability by preventing hotspots. It involves diverting coolant flow to impinge on the terminal tabs of the busbars that connect the cells together. This ensures the hottest parts of the cells are directly cooled and reduces the likelihood of electrical shorting.

Immersion cooling liquid to improve thermal management of power lithium battery packs. The cooling liquid has a high boiling point range of 40-60°C, which is below battery operating temperatures. It contains a hydrofluoroether compound, halogenated hydrocarbon, alcohol, antioxidant, preservative, and nano metal oxide additive. The hydrofluoroether forms a low boiling azeotrope when mixed with other components.